Never heard the term, “homeopathy”? Homeopathy is a form of alternative medicine that is based on the thesis that a person who is ill can be treated by a substance that if given to a healthy individual would make that person ill with the same symtpoms that the person who is ill is suffering from. The physical and psychological state of the patient is considered when deciding on a treatment.

A detailed examination is how homeopathy begins. This examination includes a physical, mental and emotional state assessment. A formula of symptoms is then formed including body type, predispositions, likes and dislikes. Drugs are matched from these symptoms to the drugs in the homeopathic materia medica.

There are two types of homeopathy, the “Classical” and the “clinical”.

The symptoms and the corresponding drugs designed are what make the choice of remedy the correct one for the particular patient. The homeopathic practitioner relies on the Materia medicae and the repertories. the homeopathic Materia medica is a collection of drug pictures that have been sorted by remedy and describes the symptoms they coorelate to. the homeopathic repertories are indexes of disease symptoms and a list of remedies for each specific symptom.

The remedies consist of many plant, mineral, synthetic and animal substances. Nosodes are also used in the treatments. Nosodes are made from diseased or fecal matter, urine, or respiratory discharges, tissue or blood. Sarcodes are those remedies made from healthy specimens.

In 1938, the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act recognized homeopathic remedies included in the Homeopathic Pharmacopeia of the United States, as marketable drugs. They are marketed in health-food stores, in practitioner offices, through the mail, on the Internet, and in pharmacies.

By 1970 most of the approvals given by the FDA were withdrawn

In 1988, the FDA too action against companies that were doing illegal marketing and making false claims about certain homeopathic drugs.

Homeopathic Remedies:

Remicade and Kali Bromatum have been met with some success for treating the tricky condition of psoriasis both of which are homeopathic remedies.

Sulphur Iod is the advised remedy for rosaceae

Lilium Tigrinum a remedy for hemorrhagic ovarian cyst

The above are just examples of remedies based on criteria. The prescription given may be based on one or more of the following criteria accessed by the practitioner:

The individual’s history, the history of the parents, a listing of the current symptoms, the mom’s history during pregnancy, history between the patient’s birth through current day, etiology of symptoms (when did the patient first not feel well), present state of condition today, what recurrent symptoms can be listed, mental and emotional state, keynotes, peculiar or characteristic symptoms, patient dynamic, relationship of remedies, Vithoulkas, Eizayaga, Morphologies, Eclectism, and Nosodal.

Still have questions about homeopathy? Here are some books to explore:

The Homeopathy Bible: The Definitive Guide to Remedies by Ambika Wauters

Homeopathy: An A to Z Home Handbook by Alan Schmukler

The Complete Homeopathy Handbook: Safe and Effective Ways to Treat Fevers, Coughs, Colds and Sore Throats, Childhood Ailments, Food Poisoning, Flu, and a Wide Range of Everyday Complaints by Miranda Castro