Saturday, August 2, 2008

Introduction To Homeopathy

By Mark Archer

You may have heard of homeopathy, but do you know what it is? Some people confuse it with aromatherapy or acupuncture. Homeopathy began in Europe in the 18th century and was once more highly respected than traditional medicine. Today in the United States, homeopathy is the second most sought out medical treatment after traditional allopathic medicine.

The foundation of homeopathy is the law of similarities. This is similar to the theory behind vaccinations. When you get a vaccination for say, the measles, you get a very small, diluted dose of the disease. Your immune system detects it and fights it off, creating antibodies. The majority of healthy people who get vaccinated will suffer a minor illness which clears quickly. This is because their immune system was stimulated and fought off the disease. Once the disease has been cured by the immune system, you have the antibodies to detect it should you ever come back in contact with it.

Homeopathy is similar. There are approximately thirty common remedies used to treat a variety of ailments. You get a small dose of the remedy that has been highly diluted. This remedy would create the symptoms of your ailment in a healthy person. Homeopathy depends on and strengthens the immune system to come to the rescue. This is why homeopathy works so well for many ailments.

In addition to using the natural immune system in the body, homeopathy also treats the entire body and seeks the cause of the illness instead of just treating the symptoms, as in the case of traditional medicine. In traditional medicine, if you go to the doctor for an ache or a pain, only the ache or pain will be treated.

Instead of traditional medications such as chemotherapy and radiation to treat cancer that may or may not work, homeopathy uses the natural immune system to fight off the cancer. This has been known to work in some people. There has been a medical link between the immune system and cancer. Most people, however, choose to use traditional medicine when treating cancer. Actress Suzanne Somers was criticized for using homeopathic remedies to treating her breast cancer, but she survived her ordeal. Other celebrities with this disease were not so fortunate, yet they went the traditional medicine route.

Homeopathy may not necessarily work for you. Many homeopaths have the belief that it is a disturbance in the life force that causes illnesses within the body. If the illness is inherent, then it means that nothing will cure it. Very often this is noted when people turn to homeopathy as a last resort where traditional medicine has failed.

Homeopathy is nothing new and has seen quite a comeback since being introduced in the 18th century. Today it is becoming a very popular alternative to traditional medicine.

About the Author:



No comments: