Homeopathic Principles
"What type of Dis-eases can Homeopathy Treat?"
Research in Homeopathy

HOMEOPATHIC PRINCIPLES

HOMEOPATHIC REMEDIES focus on the whole person and the body's own natural defense systems. Homeopathy recognizes the body's built-in abilities to heal itself and maintain a healthy vibrant state of well being. Homeopathy teaches us that the symptoms of a dis-ease represent the body's own intelligent way of saying it needs help through the sensory nervous system. We can reinforce the body's efforts by administering very small or infinitesimal doses of a substance which, if taken in large quantities over a period of time, would produce the same symptoms as the dis-ease.

THE LAW OF POTENTIZATION refers to the specific dilution procedure of homeopathic formulas. These specific dilution ratios with succussions or shaking are continued to various levels called potencies. The lesser dilutions are known as low potencies and the greater dilutions are known as high potencies. Higher potencies act deeper into the nervous system, therefore creating a more potent effect upon the body's natural healing responses.

HERING'S LAW OF CURE - The father of American homeopathy, Connstantine Hering, M.D., was one of the first to observe specific ways that the healing process develops. He made three observations of the true healing process which have been called "Hering's Law of Cure":

1) The human body seeks to externalize disease. One of the miraculous functions of the body is to move dis-ease from more serious internal levels to more superficial, external levels. During the homeopathic treatment process, a patient treated for an allergy or asthma may, during the curative process, develop a skin rash. Someone with a deeper mental or emotional condition may commonly notice an improvement in their mental or emotional condition when physical symptoms occur. Sadly, most conventional medical treatment would act to control or suppress the physical symptoms as a unique and unconnected phenomenon, thus possibly reactivating the patient's original condition. The human body is closely interconnected mentally, emotionally, and physically, and must be managed in this way.

2) Hering's second observation is that healing progresses from the top of the body to the bottom. A person with a skin rash or arthritis over their entire body may notice relief in the upper body before the lower body. Understanding this law of healing helps the Physician to differentiate a true cure from temporary relief, suppression, or a placebo response.

3) Hering's third observation was that healing proceeds in the reverse chronological order of the appearance of the symptoms. As healing progresses, a patient may sometimes re-experience symptoms that he or she previously suffered. This may occur when symptoms were conventionally suppressed or not handled properly.

In the past, many have had difficulty understanding these laws; however, the power of minute quantities is all too well established in this nuclear age. (Note: See research section for documentation of this phenomenon.)

WHAT TYPE OF DIS-EASES CAN HOMEOPATHY TREAT?

Homeopathy does not treat dis-eases per se. Homeopathy activates the body's own healing processes at both the physical and mental/emotional levels. The range of problems in which homeopathy can be effectively used is extensive and includes first aid, acute illnesses and all manners of chronic conditions.

RESEARCH IN HOMEOPATHY

Whenever critics may say that homeopathy does not have any good research, we can confidently inform them that they are not familiar with the scientific literature. The following summarizes a number of double-blind studies including both laboratory studies as well as clinical research. Homeopathy also has a most impressive accumulation of statistics that has been acquired over the last 200 years.

In an age when medicines have a rapid turnover due to harmful side effects or ineffectiveness, homeopathy has stood the test of time. As basic truths will always exist, so have the remedies of homeopathy. It should be known that in 1975, the U.S. Congress Office of Technology Assessment estimated that only 10-20% of all conventional medical practices have been shown to be efficacious by controlled trial.1

EARLY RESEARCH – To the surprise of most, the first doublle-blind crossover study ever performed was done in 1906 by homeopaths. This impressive study was done concurrently in eleven different cities on fifty-one subjects. This particular experiment consisted of 665 pages, which was the Research Provings of Belladonna.2

Also at the turn of the century, a book was published called "The Logic of Figures or Comparative Results of Homeopathic and Other Treatments." This book provides dozens of charts comparing dis-ease and death rates in Homeopathic and Allopathic Hospitals. This also included the epidemic diseases of scarlet fever, yellow fever, typhoid, etc. The homeopathic hospitals usually had 50 to 80% less deaths per 100 people, depending on the disease compared.

The British Government sponsored another early double blind study during World War II. The experiment demonstrated that those given homeopathic remedies experienced significant improvement in burns from mustard gas in comparison to those given a placebo. A 1982 review provided further substantiation of the statistical significance of the research.3,4

LABORATORY EVIDENCE – The number one criticism of the scientific community has been the "infinitesimal" nature or the dilution principle of homeopathy. Homeopaths do agree that once a remedy is diluted beyond 24x or 12c potencies, they are diluted beyond Avogadro's Number (6.02 x 1023) which theoretically indicates that no molecules are present of the original substance. However, both laboratory and clinical results over the last 190 years have demonstrated definite effectiveness with remedies beyond this dilution.

A recent Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) study showed that all twenty-three different homeopathic remedies and potencies tested had distinctive readings of submolecular activity, while the placebos did not. This demonstrates that homeopathy's function is not so much chemical but energetic.5

ANTIVIRAL - A recent double-blind study has shown the antiviral effect of homeopathic remedies. Eight of the ten remedies tested inhibited viruses in chicken embryos from 50 to 100 percent depending on the potencies used.6

HEAVY METALS - The respected journal, Human Toxicology, published a study showing that homeopathic doses of arsenic eliminated crude doses of trapped arsenic that had been previously fed to rats.7

LOWERED SERUM CHOLESTEROL - Four German Scientists at a veterinary college showed that homeopathic Chelidonium had lowered serum cholesterol when given twice a day to rabbits on a cholesterol rich diet.8

REDUCED LABOR PROBLEMS - British Veterinarian, Christopher Day, had conducted several pilot studies demonstrating how homeopathic remedies had reduced labor problems in cattle, stillbirths in pigs, and mastitis in cattle.9

ANTI-CANCER - The Cancer Research Center in India found that of the 77 mice that received a transplant in fibrosarcoma, 52 percent survived more than one year with homeopathic remedies. The 77 mice that were untreated died within 10-15 days.10

PAIN CONTROL - Scientists at a British school of pharmacy found that rodents given Hypericum were able to inhibit pain responses. Rodents were able to remain on a hot plate longer than the control group. When given NaLoxone, which inhibits pain-killing endorphins, the protective effects of Hypericum were reduced, showing that homeopathic Hypericum activates endorphins when needed. These rodents were free to walk off the hot plate whenever discomfort was noticed.11

ALLERGIES - Homeopathic Apis and Histamine have a significant effect on reducing the release of certain allergy-causing chemicals from Basophils, which demonstrates one reason for homeopathy's positive effects on allergies.12

In 1994, the internationally respected medical journal, The Lancet, published a study by David Reilly, M.D., demonstrating the effective homeopathic treatment of allergic asthma.13

IMPROVED IMMUNE FUNCTION - A respected pharmacology journal showed that homeopathic Silica had a significant effect on stimulating macrophages in mice, which destroy foreign particles, bacteria, and old cells.14

RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS CLINICAL EVIDENCE - The British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology published a double-blind experiment on patients with rheumatoid arthritis. An impressive 82 percent of those given a homeopathic medicine experienced some relief of symptoms, while only 21 percent of those given a placebo experienced any similar degree of improvement.15

DENTAL NEURALGIA - Another double-blind trial was conducted on patients with dental neuralgic pain following tooth extraction. An impressive 76 percent of those given the homeopathic medicine Arnica and Hypericum experienced relief of pain.16

VERTIGO & NAUSEA - The respected German Pharmacological Journal demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in reducing vertigo and nausea with a homeopathic combination formula.17

REDUCED LABOR TIME & COMPLICATIONS - French researchers recently completed a double-blind trial using a homeopathic formula to treat pregnant women. The study found this homeopathic formula to reduce labor time and decrease abnormal labor. The average labor time of the women given the homeopathic formula was 5.1 hours, while the placebo group was 8.5 hours. Only 11.3 percent of the women given the homeopathic formula had any abnormal labor, while 40 percent of the placebo group had an abnormal labor.18

CHILDHOOD DIARRHEA - A study published in the May 1994 issue of Pediatrics showed the effectiveness of homeopathy in treating childhood diarrhea. The study, conducted by Jennifer Jacobs, M.D., was a randomized double blind clinical trial comparing homeopathic medicine with placebo in treating acute childhood diarrhea.19