Homeopathy was developed in the eighteenth century by Samuel Hahnemann, a German physician and chemist. He proposed that the cause of a disease can be used for the treatment of that disease. Samuel Hahnemann put forth the law of similars, which says that “like cures like” (similia similibus curentur). Using this principle, he found that cinchona can produce the symptoms of malaria. He succeeded in getting relevant results with a large number of extracts prepared from plants, animals and minerals.

Philosophical Background

Homeopathy is based on seven principles, namely individualization, principle of similia, principle of simplex, principle of minimum dose, law of proving, law of dynamization and vital force.

The concept of individualization maintains that no two individuals in the world are alike, and therefore, the diseases affecting the two individuals cannot be similar. Although common symptoms could be possessed by a number of individuals, the response to the same disease would differ from person to person. Thus, the medicine used to cure the same disease is different for different individuals.

The principle of ‘similia similibus curentur’ patronizes the treatment of a disease by a medicine, that produces similar symptoms in healthy individuals by ‘drug proving’.

Note: The study of the effect of drugs on healthy human beings is called homeopathic ‘Drug Proving’. This is carried out by administering a drug in various potencies to a number of healthy volunteers of both genders and various age groups and collecting the symptoms produced by that drug.

The principle of simplex emphasizes giving only one single simple medicine at a time and the practice of combining medicines is not allowed. Though the patient may have a number of symptoms, only a single medicine is selected from the materia medica, which has the capacity to produce all these symptoms in an healthy individual (as ascertained by drug proving study).

The principle of minimum dose means minimum medicine at a time, which is just sufficient to arouse the vital force of an individual. Dr. Hahnemann describes vital force as a dynamic power that preserves life force and its normal state indicates good health.

Diagnosis

Detailed information is gathered about the patient’s mood and behavior, likes and dislikes, responses to stress conditions, reactions to food and personality. The study of the detailed case history helps to build up a symptom picture of the patient. This is matched with the drug picture mentioned in the homeopathic materia medica and the treatment is provided accordingly.

Treatment

In the homeopathic system, the drug treatment is not specified, but the choice of drug depends on the symptoms and the clinical condition of the patient. This is based on the concept of proving and prover. In a healthy person called prover, the symptoms created by different doses of drug extracts are noted, which is called proving, and it specifically considers physical, mental and economical changes of the prover. Consequently, these symptoms are compared with a patient with similar symptoms, and accordingly, the same type of extract is given for treatment. During the treatment, the drug extracts are extremely diluted, which is believed to cause potentiation and enhancement of curative effect. The drugs are extracted in the form of mother tincture, which is further diluted in terms of decimal, centesimal, or millesimal potencies. The following are the various medicinal plants used in homeopathy:

1. Vegetable drugs—examples are Belladonna, Arnica, Ipecacuanha, Aconite and Ergot
2. Animal drugs—examples are honey bee, calcium carbonate and cantharis
3. Minerals and metals—examples are sulfur, copper, phosphorus and barium carbonate