Homeopathic treatment| An alternative medical method

Introduction: Homeopathic treatment is a medical system invented by the German medical scientist Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann. Based on the principle of ‘Samah: Samah: Samayati’, the motto of this treatment method is ‘like cures like’. However, homeopathic treatment has some advantages as well as some disadvantages. There is controversy over homeopathy. However, homeopathic treatment has been going on for ages. Today I will discuss the ancient and modern age of homeopathy. I will present the details of this medical philosophy.

What is homeopathic treatment?

Homeopathy is a medical system discovered in the late 18th century (1796) by Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann. The principle of this treatment is ‘like cures like’. Hence, another name for this treatment is’similar provision’.

According to this principle, consumption of a particular substance in a certain amount causes certain disease symptoms in the body of a healthy person, and the same disease symptoms should be cured by consumption of a finer dose of that substance.

History and Origin of Homeopathy:

The German allopathic physician Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843) introduced homeopathic medicine. In 1890, Samuel Hahnemann observed that consumption of the bark juice of a plant called Cinchona produced symptoms similar to malarial fever. Cinchona was used to cure malarial fever at that time. That is, if the herb that cures the disease is consumed by a healthy person, the same disease will be created! He noticed this strange thing. Based on this understanding (Like cures like), he established the homeopathy treatment system on the principle of ‘like cures like’.

Origin of the word Homeopathy:

The Greek word ‘Homoios’ means ‘similar’. And the word ‘pathos’ means ‘disease’. From this word ‘Homoios’ comes ‘Homeo’ and ‘ Pathy’ comes from ‘Pathos’. This is why homeopathic medicine is a medical system based on the principle of ‘like cures like’. Samuel Hahnemann recorded all the details along with the principles of this treatment in his famous book ‘Organon of Medicine’. In the 19th century, homeopathy became popular worldwide. This treatment is currently being used as an alternative treatment method in many countries around the world.

Samuel Hahnemann

Principles of Homeopathy:

The universal naturopathic principle ‘homeopathy’ is founded on the third law of motion of the scientist Sir Isaac Newton. Newton’s third law of motion states, ‘When one object exerts a force on a second object, the second object exerts an equal and opposite force on the first object’. According to this principle, only like can drive out like. When two objects with equal mass are in the same place, they repel each other. As practical proof, we see that if the north poles of two magnetic poles are brought to the same place, they repel each other. So the healing principle of homeopathy is ‘Similia similibus curenter’ or ‘Let like be cured by like’. In Sanskrit, it is called ‘samāh: samāh: shamāyati’. That is, if the disease energy and the disease energy are similar, the disease will be banished. This is one of the main principles of this treatment.

Some other important principles of this treatment are:

Totality: Not on a particular disease, but by collecting all the physical and mental symptoms manifested in the patient’s body (totality of symptoms), a single homeopathic potency medicine is applied at the same time in accordance with that symptom.

Individualization: According to this principle, the same medicine cannot be selected for two patients with different symptoms for the same disease. That is, different drugs can be used for the same disease in different people.

Single medicine: According to homeopathic principles, the patient should be treated, not the disease. It is said, ‘Treat the patient, not the disease’. Treatment is done by applying only one potency medicine at a time.

Potency medicine: The main herbal ingredients are in crude form. It has to be taken to dynamic levels by dilution and dynamization.

Minimum Dose: Homeopathic medicine should be administered as little or as small a dose as possible.

Preparation and application of homeopathic medicines:

Homeopathic potency medicines are generally formulated and prepared from 7 sources. Sources are vegetable, mineral, animal, nosed, sarcoid, etc.

Medicinal ingredients collected from these sources are taken to a dynamic level by dilution and dynamization according to the rules of homeopathic pharmacopoeia.

Generally, in complex, severe, and fatal diseases, potentized homeopathic medicines should be used in the smallest doses.

Medicinal Potency: Herbs are taken to an appropriate level of potency for dilution and dynamization as per Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia rules. For example, Nux Vomica 200 or 10M. Sulphur 1M etc. These are homeopathic, potency medicines.

Dosing: When a potency medicine is selected for a disease, this potency medicine has to be reconstituted for administration to the patient. If one drop of Sulphur 200 potency medicine is mixed in a cup of water, it is a gross dose. But if one drop of medicine is added to this one cup of water, instead of taking all of it, a spoonful is taken from it, then it is a finer dose.

One drop of Nux Vomica 200 potency medicine moistens 200 globules from which one globule is ingested, which is the smallest dose. If one of these globules is mixed with a cup of water and a spoonful is taken from it, then it is the smallest dose. It’s somewhat unbelievable in general, but it’s proven to work in practice.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Homeopathy:

That homeopathy has spread all over the world from one Hamiman despite more or less controversy and criticism is surely homeopathy’s own achievement. Homeopathy has survived for ages because of the patients benefiting from this treatment. Like everything else, homeopathy has its pros and cons. Now we will discuss that.

Benefits of Homeopathy:

Safe and free of side effects: Except in some exceptional cases, the side effects caused by the wrong use of medicine are relatively few. Homeopathic medicines generally have no side effects. As a result, homeopathic potency medicine is 100% safe and effective for children and adults, and even for mothers and children during pregnancy.

Effective treatment: Homeopathy has treatments for almost all types of complex and chronic diseases.

Naturopathy: Homeopathic potency medicine does not contain any chemical ingredients. Any herbal crude material is diluted and dynamized to a level that contains invisible, subtle energies.

Holistic treatment: Homeopathy does not prescribe medicine for any particular disease of the patient. Medicines are administered by considering the patient as a whole. As a result, the patient’s vitality and overall health improve.

Low Cost: Homeopathy treatment is much cheaper than other treatment methods.

Disadvantages of Homeopathic Medicine:

Controversy over efficacy: Some people do not believe in the efficacy of homeopathy. As a result, they are not interested in this treatment and discourage others from taking it.

Misconceptions about speed of healing: Many people think that homeopathic medicines work slowly. Actually, this idea is not correct. Experience has shown that if the right medicine is selected and the strength and dosage of the medicine are correct, it can cure the patient several times faster than other treatments. But there are some diseases, such as large tumors, warts, old eczema, etc, that have no effective treatment with other medical methods. For example, a tumor cannot be cured by any medicine except surgery.

The same goes for warts. Homeopathy can work magic in these cases. Tumors, warts can be cured only by homeopathic medicine without a surgical operation. But in these cases, you have to take the medicine regularly for a few days. Many people consider homeopathy a slow treatment method, seeing that the speed of healing in all these diseases is somewhat slow. But many other diseases are cured by homeopathy so fast that it is unimaginable.

Lack of qualified doctors: The basic theory of homeopathy is somewhat subtle. So it is difficult to become an ideal homoeopathic physician without considerable practice and patience. Such homeopathic doctors are relatively few. In other words, homeopathy has beautiful medicines for difficult and incurable diseases, but there are less skilled doctors to find them. Because the process of diagnosis and selection of medicine in homeopathy is more complicated than other medical methods.

Side Effects of Homeopathic Medicines:

There are both positive and negative discussions and criticisms about the side effects of homeopathic medicines. Some think that the side effects of homeopathic medicines are temporary and very mild, but some side effects are bound to occur due to overuse of the medicine. Side effects include temporary worsening of symptoms, allergic reactions, etc.

Some critics believe that since homeopathic medicines contain no active ingredients, they have no side effects. They consider the medicinal response to be the placebo effect.

But the standard consideration is that homeopathic medicines definitely have side effects. While proving the drugs, the provers were made to take the same drug repeatedly for a few days. All of them had similar symptoms in his body. And those symptoms are written as medicinal symptoms in homeopathic materia medica. That is, it is certain that long-term use of homeopathic medicines will cause medicinal side effects.

Also, if the potency of the medicine is greater than the potency of the disease, there will be a medicinal aggravation. Overdosage of the wrong medicine can lead to side effects. In the case of demented patients, whose vital energy is weak, the medicine must be mixed with water and fed. Hahnemann’s Organon states that our vital force does not take a second dose of the same potency of homeopathic dynamic medicine. So mixing the medicine with a little water and shaking it a few times varies the potency of the medicine. Then it is usable. Frequent, repeated use of drugs of the same potency may lead to exacerbations. And sensetive patients may not be able to tolerate such medicinal increases.

Homeopathy in Bangladesh:

Homeopathic medicine entered and flourished in Bangladesh in the mid-19th century and quickly became popular. Currently, there are many public and private hospitals, clinics, and health care institutions in Bangladesh for homeopathic treatment. Many homeopathic doctors are providing homeopathic medical services in many private clinics and chambers, especially on private initiative. Homeopathic doctors are being appointed by the Bangladesh government in all district headquarters hospitals and upazila health centers.

Before taking homeopathic treatment:

1) Consult an experienced homeopathic physician for any disease.
2) Tell the doctor all the history of the disease.
3) Tell the doctor if you are taking any other medicines.
4) Be patient. Give the doctor time. Do not change doctors too often. Take a rational decision after waiting a certain period of time to change the doctor.

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Dr. Dipankar Mondal
Registered Homeopath.
11.03.2024