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About Homeopathy

What is constitutional about homeopathic prescribing?

Samuel Hahnemann, the founder of homeopathy, wrote his first paper on the subject in 1796. Dr. Hahnemann was a medical doctor who was upset with the side effects of large amounts of toxic drugs and the way medicine was practiced in his day. Sick people were purged and drained of large amounts of blood to get rid of the ‘ill humors’ in the body.

Hahnemann felt people got better in spite of this treatment, not because of it, and he wanted something more humane, gentle, non-toxic and consistent. His research led him to administer diluted forms of different herbs and medicines of the day, based on their similar action.

The name homeopathy is derived from the Greek homoios meaning likes and pathos meaning disease or suffering. So homeopathy is based on the application of the ‘law of similars’. Today in the marketplace we see many substances that are advertised as homeopathic medicines but they are not really homeopathic unless they are administered according to the law of similars. There is a difference between a remedy that is made according to specifications laid down by Hahnemann and a remedy that is applied homeopathically.

When a person is ill, his total symptom picture is elicited by the homeopath who gives small doses of a remedy that, if given to a healthy person, would produce similar symptoms. A simple example would be coffee. A healthy person who takes coffee might have a heightened mind state and sleeplessness. A person who is ill and has these same symptoms of sleeplessness and a heightened mind state, might be given a very small amount of coffee prepared according to instructions laid down by Hahnemann.

When Hahnemann first started practicing homeopathy in the late 1700s, he discovered that he could treat acute diseases such as bronchitis, ear complaints, menstrual problems, indigestion and colds quite effectively. However he also noticed that in many instances these problems returned. So what he surmised was that these were not really acute diseases but were actually chronic diseases because they kept coming back – they were recurrent acute outbreaks of a chronic situation. He then decided that it was not enough to look solely at the disease when it occurred. It was not enough to look just at the symptoms at the time of the outbreak. He had already decided that the whole person must be treated but he was restricting this totality of symptoms to the person at the time when they had the acute attack.

He now realized that disease couldn’t be seen as something separate from the host. It cannot be seen as an independent entity separate from the person who has that disease. He then started to look at the person even when they did not have the specific attack. He started to look at the constitution. The constitution is the source of the illness. We develop certain diseases due to our susceptibility to these diseases. This susceptibility can be inherited or acquired through improper or stressful life style, upbringing, or diet and in many cases it is a combination of both our inherited susceptibility and these different aspects of our life.

What does a homeopath mean by the constitution?

It means the totality of how a person is functioning. This means taking into account the mental, emotional and physical state of the person. It means the reaction on these three levels to stress and to different kinds of weather conditions, different kinds of food, the nature of the person’s sleep, the parts of their body that tend to weakness, etc. It is what makes one person’s constitution unique and individual. Disease to Hahnemann was always an individual matter. Five people can have the same "disease," but these five people are all different and each one needs a different homeopathic remedy.

One person with a disease may be angry and sensitive to the cold. That person will need one homeopathic remedy. Another person may be very hot-blooded and timid. This person in spite of having the same "disease," is in a different state. They are different persons and will need a different homeopathic medicine or remedy. It is not solely the ‘disease’ that is to be treated – it is the constitution, the individual. The constitution is where the disease arises from in relationship to possible external factors. The external factor in itself is not the true cause of disease; if that were so, then everyone would react to it in the same manner. The true cause of disease lies in the susceptibility of the person to that factor. It lies in the constitution. Everyone will react differently to an external factor whether it is a bacterium, a situation of grief, certain foods, etc. This individual reaction is the reaction of the constitution. Through an understanding of the constitution, a homeopath will selecta remedy which will strengthen the person’s constitution so that they are not so susceptible to these factors.

What type of information is needed for constitutional prescribing?

The first consultation with a classical homeopath will last anywhere from one to two hours. The homeopath will not only focus on your chief complaint but will also focus on you as a person. The homeopath will want to know the factors that make the chief complaint better or worse, how the complaint started and what was going on in your life at that time. The homeopath will want to know if you have experienced any mental or emotional traumas. What is your sleep like? Do you have any dreams, especially with reoccurring themes? Was there an acute disease that you never recovered from? The homeopath will want to know about your fears, stresses in life, grief, anxiety, and mental and emotional background. You will be asked what type of foods you desire or have aversion to, and what type of foods make you better or worse. What your digestion is like. What your menstrual flow is like. Every complaint will be asked about and the homeopath will want to know what the complaints feel like and what makes every complaint better or worse. The homeopath will also want to know about your family history.

What will the homeopath do with this information?

The homeopath will collect all the information and look for any pattern that runs persistently throughout this information. The homeopath will see what is strange, rare or peculiar, what it is that makes your illness individual to you, and what makes it different from another person. There are over 2000 homeopathic remedies, mostly from plant and mineral sources. The homeopath may need to refer to specific books on these remedies. Or the homeopath may decide to give you a homeopathic remedy immediately after the consultation or may need some time to study all the information. The purpose of collecting all this information and studying it is to find the one homeopathic remedy that is specifically suited for you at that time.

What can I expect from treatment?

It is virtually impossible to say how long it will take for chronic disease to be cured because, just as the remedy choice is individual, the duration and extent of cure is also individual

It really depends on many factors. In simple chronic diseases, where no deep structural changes are present and there is not a long history of strong allopathic (orthodox) drugs, we can expect to see positive changes within a couple of weeks to a couple of months. This also depends on whether the homeopath has been able to elicit all the information needed to understand the state of the person’s constitution.

The purpose of homeopathy is to cure, not simply to eradicate symptoms or to manage symptoms or to keep them under control. True cure from the inside out takes time.

Situations where there has been a lot of drug or emotional suppression will take longer. Where there are chronic degenerative disorders, even more time may be required and the patient may never be able to be fully cured. Treatment of these two situations could take up to several years and a homeopath should be seen every one to six months for a long period of time.

In some situations symptoms that have been suppressed as a result of extensive drugging may return before cure can take place. It can take a period of time before the vitality has been raised to such a degree that this can happen.

Lifestyle factors that could be contributing to disease may also determine the length of treatment. These factors include such things as diet, habit and living situations. A person with chronic bronchitis may get better sooner if they stop smoking. A woman who is in a physically abusive situation and develops menstrual problems may get better faster if it is possible to leave this situation. The factors that cause the woman to stay in this abusive situation may actually be an important part of understanding the homeopathic remedy that is needed for her.

Homeopathy is a truly holistic therapeutic approach. It takes the entire person into account as a totally integrated functioning being in health and disease. Homeopathy sees no separation between mind and body. One does not cause the other but they function together as a unity. Homeopathy looks only at the individual and therefore has no formulas. This is one of the hardest things for us to understand and makes it very demanding for the practitioner and yet is the most beautiful aspect of this wonderful system of healing.