What is homeopathy

Learn About Homeopathy

How Homeopathic Medicines are Made

Lean about Homeopathy

“Homoeopathy simply means treating diseases with remedies, prescribed in minute doses, which are capable of producing symptoms similar to the disease when taken by healthy people. It is based on the natural law of healing- which means "likes are cured by likes” Homoeopathy has a holistic approach towards the sick individual through promotion of inner balance at mental, emotional, spiritual and physical levels. This type of treatment is individualistic and it takes into account the patient details like food habits, likes and dislikes, environments, habits, diet, appetite, fear, sleeping habits everything which describes a person’s overall outlook”. Ref: National Health Portal, Govt. of India.
Homeopathy is one of health system widely practiced in almost all continents. Dr. Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann M. D. [10 April 1755 – 2 July 1843] a German physician, the founder of the system, introduced an unconventional approach in the preparation of the medicines and a new therapeutic principle for the treatment of the sick.
Homoeopathy treats patients through a holistic approach; it removes the prime cause of the disease by individualisation of each patient. Which means all the patients, suffering from a same medical condition, may not be prescribed the same medicine. Even a single person suffering from the same ailment during various period of his life may not be prescribed with same medicine or potency every time. Homoeopathic doctors can only decide the homoeopathic prescription. Homeopathic remedies when used as directed, are without any apparent side-effects and thus completely safe for everyone – including pregnant and nursing women, infants, children, and adults.

1. How Homeopathic Medicines are Made

Homeopathic medicines are drug products made by homeopathic pharmacies in accordance with the standards and processes described in the government approved various Pharmacopoeia like India – Homeopathic Pharmacopeia of India (HPI), British Homoeopathic Pharmacopoeia, Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States (HPUS). Nearly 70 % of homeopathic medicines are derived from herbs. These are prepared from any part of the plant like fruit, seed, stem, bark, flower, leaf, stigma or root as well as a non-woody plant. The other substances used to prepare homeopathic medicines also come from mineral and animal products found in nature. The prime raw materials of homeopathic medicines are almost similar to other drug systems. The difference lies primarily in the method of final medicine preparation and its’ use in the treatment.

2. Some Facts about Homeopathy

  • Since its discovery, none of the homeopathic medicines are recalled, as like in other system of medicine.
  • The system was propounded by a German physician Dr. Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann
  • Homeopathy can be defined as a “dynamic, holistic and vitalistic system of individualistic drug therapeutics, based on the law of similars, potentially capable to cure diseases that are curable and relieves symptoms of incurable nature”. ~NHP-GoI
  • Because of potential public health benefits associated with the use of homeopathy, further research on this modality and targeted studies of users are warranted. “The Harvard Clinical and Translational Science Centre, the National Institutes of Health- Harvard University.
  • The use of homoeopathy is steadily growing in India and as per an analysis by Ministry of AYUSH, this sector exhibited an annual growth rate of 26.3% in the past year, the highest among the other AYUSH modalities
  • India leads in terms of number of people using homeopathy, with 100 million people depending solely on homeopathy for their medical care.
  • More than 100 million people depend solely on this form of therapy for their health care, the popularity of the dilute remedies shows no signs of abating. ~SPECIAL REPORT- The LANCET
  • Worldwide, over 200 million people use homeopathy on a regular basis with legal recognition as an individual system of medicine in more than 42 countries.

3. Some great people on Homeopathy

  •  “Homeopathy cures a larger percentage of cases than any other form of treatment and is beyond doubt safer and more economical. Homeopathy is the latest and refined method of treating patients economically and non-violently.”― Mahatma Gandhi
  • “The introduction of homeopathy forced the old school doctor to stir around and learn something of a rational nature about his business. You may honestly feel grateful that homeopathy survived the attempts of the allopath to destroy it.” – Mark Twain
  • As quoted from The Brothers Karamazov – “Homeopathic doses are perhaps the strongest.”
    • Feodor Dostoevsky
  • I have long been an ardent believer in the science of homeopathy, and I feel happy that it has got now a greater hold in India than even in the land of its origin. It is not merely a collection of a few medicines, but a real science with a rational philosophy as its base”- Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941) Nobel laureate, also a self-taught homeopath.
  • “Holistic Healthcare remains a very big attraction. Best of the doctors are moving towards Homeopathy. There is a mood for Holistic Healthcare. There is a mood to go forward stress free life from a stressful life.”- Narendra Modi, Prime Minister, Government of India.
  • “Take a step towards Homeopathy for better Health” – Narendra Modi, Prime Minister, Government of India.
  • “I believe in Homeopathy” – Abdul Kalam Azad, Ex-President of India, Scientist
  • “ Homeopathy is supposed to work miracles”- Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel.
  • “I believe Homeopathy as a system of cure has great scope in a poor country like India and deserves encouragement”- Rajendra Prasad, Ex-President of India.
  • Homeopathy did not merely seek to cure a disease but treated a disease as a sign of disorder of the whole organism. This was also recognized in Upanishad which spoke of Human organs as combination of body mind and spirit. Homeopathy would play and important part in the public health of the country along with other systems”- Dr. S. RadhaKrishnan- Ex-President of India.

How Homeopathic Medicines are Made

Homeopathic medicines are drug products made by homeopathic pharmacies in accordance with the standards and processes described in the Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States (HPUS)—the official homeopathic manufacturing manual for the United States. Homeopathic medicines are regulated by the FDA and homeopathic pharmacies must comply with the FDA’s current Good Manufacturing Practices. The substances used to prepare homeopathic medicines come from plants, mineral and animal products found in nature.

Homoeopathic Principle of Treatment

“The curative effect of the homeopathic medicines is elicited through a process called drug proving or homeopathic pathogenetic trials (HPTs). In this the effect of a medicine is studied on healthy volunteers. The medicine that produced a set of symptoms during the drug proving is given to cure similar symptom in a sick person. The theory behind this concept is that the substance that could induce artificial symptoms in a healthy person could cure those symptoms in natural disease. This principle is called "like cures like," (Law of Similia).”

Ref: National Health Portal, Govt. of India.