Homeopathy – An Outline Of Homeopathic Philosophy In Health And Disease

Homeopathy is a system of medicine that seeks to enhance the immunity of the patient rather than chemically alter their delicate internal balance. Homeopathy understands the complexity of being alive. No living thing deliberately destroys itself, even when affected by external influences. If we get sick the body tries to deal with this in the safest way possible, sometimes sacrificing the less ‘important’ bits in order that the vital core is preserved. Think of getting cold as an example. The body takes vital heat away from the extremities (you can live without arms and legs) and locks it safe within the core (you can’t live without your vital organs). Another example is osteoporosis. Very simply put this is, ultimately, a calcium deficiency or imbalance. The body needs calcium to exist on a cellular level. If it cannot find enough calcium to do so through the normal channels of diet etc, it will ‘steal’ calcium from the bones in order that the cells survive. You can live without strong bones but you cannot live without healthy cells. The living being is extraordinarily clever – all by itself.

Homeopathy seeks to correct any imbalance that is causing the effects of illness to go too far. By using medicines that have been proven to produce symptoms in healthy people, it acts like an instruction manual to the sick person as how to best heal themselves. Homeopathy understands that no part of the body is affected on it’s own, ever! Think of a wasp sting. Conventionally we see the affected part being the small area around the sting, but in reality it is all of us that feels it. There is a whole mind and body reaction to a wasp sting, we are shocked or angry, children cry and need lots of cuddles, we can become fearful of wasps in the future and learn very quickly to avoid them. This is an example of the plethora of events that can stem from one small injury to a specific part of the body. Homeopathy looks at the whole effect, the movement from ‘normal’ to ‘diseased’ in any individual. Everybody is different and has different reactions to things. Homeopathy treats them as individuals rather than something off a production line.

In this day and age we are often looking for a quick fix for our ailments. If we have a headache we can take painkillers to ease our suffering. Our need to get on with our lives often overtakes our ability to look at the fact that ‘our lives’ may be the cause of the headache. Our bodies and minds react in many different ways to all sorts of influences: infection, poor diet, stress etc. We must remember that feeling poorly is our very own reaction to something that has happened to us either physically, mentally or emotionally. Homeopathy looks very closely at this individual reaction and seeks to understand the pattern of events that have led to the current suffering. In acute illness this pattern is short and strong, from feeling fine to having a fever and chills for example, but chronic illness reveals a much deeper pattern that may have led from one little thing to another over a long period of time with the resulting illnesses being more and more serious.

By using medicines that have been proven to produce symptoms in healthy individuals, a homeopathic remedy acts like an instruction manual to the individual patient as to how best overcome his or her current disease pattern. The homeopath will take a full medical history from the patient and will try and match the pattern that is being presented to them with a remedy that has been proven to instigate a similar pattern in a healthy person. Remember that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. It is this equal and opposite reaction that homeopathy tries to encourage in the diseased individual – turning sickness into health. Self prescribing can be difficult because it is the pattern that needs to be ascertained – and it is often really hard to be objective about the way we are feeling. In the same way that you should visit your doctor if at all concerned about your symptoms, so should you see a registered homeopath if you truly want to start out on the quest towards full health. Homeopathy has been proven to be capable of curing almost any illness, from the minor ailments to the most life threatening of diseases.

You have probably heard all sorts of anti-homeopathy stories, which, inevitably, focus on two things: 1) The lack of any molecule of the original substance being present in the remedies prescribed and 2) The lack of evidence of efficacy through trialling.

Point number 1 will not be contested by any homeopath. There is plenty of evidence, however, in physics and throughout industry telling us that the preparation method used to create remedies allows changes to take place that ultimately leave the ‘imprint’ of the original substance in the prepared remedy thus giving it the qualities of the original substance without actually containing a single, physical, molecule of the stuff!

Point number 2 is simply asking the wrong questions. Trialling homeopathy in the same way that invasive manufactured medicines are trialled will be unsuccessful as the method of treatment is so entirely different. My analogy is this: If we have two paintings in front of us, one a portrait and one a landscape, conventional trialling methods are akin to claiming that the landscape is not, in fact, a painting as it doesn’t have any people in it. The methods used to trial conventional medicines will not show positive results when used with regards to homeopathic remedies. They are attempting to trial the remedies using the wrong parameters. This is why we mustn’t be put off by the views of conventional science, which does not seem to appreciate that there are other methods out there besides their own.

I have been involved with the practice and education of homeopathy now for 15 years and have not yet noticed that it doesn’t work. In fact, all the evidence I have gathered prompts me to say, quite categorically, that it does!

Copyright 2008 Lulu Badger RS Hom. Lulu Badger is an experienced practitioner of homeopathic medicine and is registered with The Society of Homeopaths. She lives and practices in West Cornwall, between Falmouth and Helston. She is also the vice principal of the Salisbury Homeopathic College in Wiltshire where students are taken through a four year part time course resulting in a recognised qualification in the practice of homeopathic medicine. Lulu can be contacted with regards to either homeopathic treatment or education on 01326 341200 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            01326 341200      end_of_the_skype_highlighting. Her website can be viewed at www.homeopathycornwall.co.uk