Homeopathy was discovered in 1790 by Dr. Samuel Hahnemann of Germany. A brilliant physician, he was dissatisfied with conventional medicine as was then practiced and became a translator of medical texts (1784). When translating a text by the Scottish physician William Cullen, A Treatise on the Materia Medica, he disagreed with Cullen’s description of how Cinchona bark, the drug used to treat malaria, acted on the body. To explain the action of the bark more clearly, he took some himself, and he developed the symptoms of malaria. After some time, the symptoms wore off and he was normal again. He tried it again and reproduced the same symptoms.
Thus, was born the new Natural Law of similia similibus curentur, which translates, let like be cured by like.
Samuel Hahnemann, a German Physician wrote:
Every medicine which, among the symptoms it can cause in a healthy body, reproduces those most present in each disease, can cure the disease in the swiftest, most thorough and most enduring fashion.
Hahnemann was a true scientist and over the next 20 years he tested his hypothesis using close to 70 natural substances on himself, his family, friends and medical school volunteers. Every symptom, however minute, was recorded and was compiled in what is called the Materia Medica. It was a documentation of the symptoms each substance (remedy) produced in a healthy person, which was then used to cure the same symptoms in a sick person.
Hahnemann had an abrasive personality and alienated his fellow physicians by writing articles about them and decrying conventional medicine. He could not, however, convince them that what he was doing was effective— that is until the war of 1812. Napoléon was marching across Europe and reached Leipzig, where Hahnemann lived. When typhus broke out, at that time a frequently fatal infectious disease, Hahnemann treated 180 cases and only 2 died. In 1831, a student of his treated 154 cases of Cholera and lost 6 (just under 4%), whereas conventional doctors treated 1500 cases and lost 821 patients (almost 55%).
Christopher Day in his book The Homeopathic Treatment of Small Animals likens homeopathy to the art of judo. He says, “To apply a force opposite to the aggressor, if the aggressor is strong, will fail, whereas if only one applies a force in the same direction as the aggressor (the art of judo) a very powerful adversary can be defeated with small use of force. Superficially, this is the strength of homeopathy.” Homeopathy, which fell out of favor once antibiotics entered the picture, is enjoying an enormous resurgence, and is used worldwide. In some European countries, veterinarians are trained in homeopathy, as well as allopathic medicine. In Britain, the royal family is one of homeopathy’s greatest proponents.
Short Summary of Homeopathy
Homeopathy is a therapeutic method that uses diluted substances to relieve symptoms. The active ingredients in homeopathic medicines include diluted plants, animals or minerals that relieve the same symptoms they cause at full strength.
How Does Homeopathy Work?
How do homeopathic remedies work? Once you stop thinking about substances in terms of molecules and atoms and instead, begin to think in terms of energy, you can see how and why homeopathy works. The highly diluted solutions of medicinal materials (nanoparticles) contain the energy of the original undiluted medicinal materials. Some scientists believe that the alcohol or water with which the diluted solutions are made carry memory at an energetic level. They point out that once you do stop thinking in terms of molecules and atoms and allow yourself to think of the energy fields of substances, this will go a long way in explaining how homeopathy works.
Homeopathy and Our Furry Friends
The whole animal as a unique individual is taken into consideration when prescribing a remedy. The homeopathic practitioner takes into account the personality of the dog, the time of the year the symptoms are worse, the time of the day when the dog seems uncomfortable, the past illnesses the dog has had, what he eats, how he is housed, and perhaps most important, his relationship with his owner. This is called taking the symptoms and developing a drug picture or “repetoirizing.” The owner becomes a part of the healing process. In using conventional medicine with drugs to target a specific organ or disease, palliation or suppression of that disease has taken place, rarely is it cured. Skin conditions are a good example. Through antibiotics and steroids, it is easy to suppress the symptoms of itching skin. While the drugs are being used, the dog is comfortable. As soon as the drugs are withdrawn and have worn off, the disease returns, usually worse than it was before. It has not been cured. With the proper use of the correct homeopathic remedy, the disease will not return.
From the editor: Much of what you have just read are excerpts from: Holistic Guide for a Healthy Dog by Wendy Volhard and Kerry Brown D.V.M. Get the full scoop on your pet’s diet by reading the full book today!