DEFINITION
A therapeutic method of treating patients using preparation of substances whose effect on healthy subjects is similar to the manifestation of the disorder in these patients.
Thesaurus : European Commitee for Homeopathy
Classical homeopathy is a system of medicine using preparation of substances whose effect is when administered to healthy subjects corresponds to the manifestation of the disorder in the individual patients.
National Pharmaceutical Control Bureau, Ministry of Health Malaysia.
A system for treating diseases based on the administration of minute doses of a drug that in massive amounts produces symptoms in healthy individuals similar to those of the disease itself. “ traditional & complementary medicine program in Malaysia”.
T&CM Division, MoH, October 2011.
BASIC PRINCIPLES OF HOMEOPATHY
The fundamental idea of homeopathy is the similarity (or similia) principle: “ similia similibus curentur” (let like be cured by like) stated by the german physician samuel hahnemann (1755 – 1843) in 1796. This implies that substances capable of causing disorder in healthy subjects are used as medicines to treat similar patterns of disorder experienced by ill people. Hippocrates wrote of curing ‘like with like’ more than 2,000 years ago but is was formally sysematized by hahnemann.he viewed health as a dynamic process tending to maintain a state of optimum equilibrium. Homeopathic medicines are aimed to direct and stimulate the body’s self – regulatory mechanisms.
A second principle in homeopathy is individualization of treatment for the patient. The characteristics of the chosen medicine should be as similar as possible to the characteristics of the illness in the patient. This closest match is called the ‘simillimum’. Similarity may be at the’whole person’ level, taking into account the symptoms and sign of the disease , the patient’s physical build, personality, temperament and genetic predispositions. This high level of individualization is not always required: ‘similarity’ may be at a more specific, local level, especially in the treatment of acute conditions.
A third principle is the use of the minimum dose. The doses used in homeopathy range from those that are similar in conconcentration to some conventional medicines to very high dilutions containing no material trace of the starting substance – the latter are referred to as ‘ultra-molecular’ dilution. Vigorous shaking of the solution together with impact or ‘elastic collision’ (known as succussion) during the manufacturing process is a key element in the production of homeopathic medicines.
THE HOMEOPATHIC PHYSICIAN MISSION
The physician’s high an only mission is to restore the sick to health, to cure as it is termed.
The highest ideal of cure is rapid, gentle & permanet restoration of the disease in its whole extent, in the shortest , most reliable & most harmless way, on easily comprehensible principles – organon 6th edition: aphorism 1 & 2
HEALTH
Who definition of health: “health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”.
Coming from preamble to the contitution of the world health organization as adopted by the international health conference. New york, 19-22 june 1946: signed on 22 july 1946 by the representatives of 61 states (official records of the world health organization. No 2.p. 100) and entered into force on 7 april 1948.
Organon definition of health 6th edition,aphorism 9:in the healthy condition of man, the spiritual vital force (autocracy), the dynamis that animates the material body (organism), rules with unbounded sway, and retains all the parts of the organism in admirable, harmonious, vital operation, as regards both sensations and functions, so that our indwelling, reason-gifted mind can freely employ this living, healthy instrument for the higher purpose of our existence