Homeopathy was introduced by Samuel Hahnemann, born in 1755. By chance he discovered that cinchona produces exactly those symptoms in a healthy person, against which it has been used in patients. He made further experiments and concluded that medicaments produce certain symptoms in healthy people which they cure in sick people. He was the first in the medical field to carry out controlled experiments with drugs on healthy people.
The three basic principles of homeopathy are:
- similars: A treatment with that drug, which generates the most similar symptoms in a healthy person, can cure the disease (simila similibus curentur).
- drug testing: The totality of all symptoms caused by a substance shows the so-called drug picture of the substance. All tested substances and their drug pictures are summarized in the Materia Medica.
- potentiation: According to Hahnemann, a reinforcing effect can be achieved by potentiation (in the broadest sense a dilution series). This is certainly the most obvious contradiction to so-called conventional medicine, because with each further dilution the active ingredient becomes less and less. With potentiation the substance (matter) is reduced but the energy of a substance increases.
How does homeopathy function?
First, a homeopathic case history is taken by the therapist. This lasts about 1 ½ hours and is significantly longer than usual because the therapist not only notes the current, disease-related issues. In addition, he tries to gain an overall picture of the patient and his medical history, because even seemingly small problems can be a key for the right therapy. The therapist seeks out a suitable homeopathic medicine in an appropriate potency. This is usually given in small globules and drops, occasionally also as injections.
What are the areas of application?
Homeopathy can be used in virtually all diseases; exceptions are acute life-threatening diseases.