Do homeopathic medicines really work? How does homeopathy treat a disease? These are a few questions that often confuse us. Many of us want to know if this form of medicine can really help cure illness.
To answer all your queries about the effectiveness of this treatment, The Week spoke to Saron Tiwari, Homeopathic Physician at Jyoti Homeo Clinic in Dillibazar Kathmandu. Here’s what the practitioner had to say.
What is the philosophy of homeopathy?
The basic principal of homeopathy is to activate our body’s natural system of healing. Homeopathy believes in holistic treatment where the cure of a disease is based on total mental, physical, emotional, and psychological wellbeing of a person.
Also known as the Similia Sililbus Curentur or the ‘like cures like’ principle, medication used to cure a certain disease has similar patterns as the disease itself. The remedy can often trigger the same disease in a healthy person.
For example, a person suffering from malaria may have fluctuating fever and vomiting. The medicine used by homeopaths to cure this disease will also cause similar symptoms if consumed by a totally healthy person. Hence, the remedy is based on empirical data and medicine given matches the pattern of a person’s illness.
Are there any specialised treatments for specific diseases?
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One of the major principles of homeopathy is ‘individualisation of treatment.’ Homeopaths often examine each patient’s mean physical and psychological abilities before prescribing a medicine. Their physical structure, family history, and the environment in which the patient lives are also taken into account. Patients suffering from the same disease may have different characteristics. For example, two people ill with viral fever may have different symptoms. One might have a runny nose while the other may suffer from a severe headache. Hence, homeopathy believes in giving personalised treatments for each patient.
Is homeopathic treatment fast-acting?
If you have fever, allopathic medicine can immediately suppress your fever for four hours after which you will be required to have another dose of medicine. This is why these medicines might only give you temporary relief and may make you feel even more tired and depressed.
On the other hand, homeopathy believes in curative action which means curing a disease from its roots. Homeopathic medicines make sure that your disease does not reoccur. It aims at completely destroying an illness rather than just suppressing it. Hence, this process may take a little bit longer than allopathic remedies.
However, if you visit a homeopathic physician at the initial stage of your illness, chances are that you can get an immediate cure to your disease. People mostly visit a homeopathic physician when the disease is in its chronic stage. The treatment may take longer at this stage.
Is it true that only one homeopathic remedy is given to a person at a time?
Theoretically, homeopathic treatments are based on ‘the single remedy’. This means only one remedy is given to a person for a certain period of time.
This philosophy is however not applicable in our country due to various factors such as unhealthy food and polluted surroundings. Hence, in Nepal’s context, homeopaths use patterned medicine that help in healing a disease.
How do you cure a disease?
Curing a disease through homeopathic treatment takes place in a certain ‘order of healing’. Firstly, homeopaths prescribe medicines for at least 15 days based on the patient’s symptoms, lifestyle, habits, posture, surroundings etc.
The second step is to improve and strengthen the vital organs of the patients by prescribing them a certain medicine and asking them to improve their lifestyle.
And the third step is to focus on the head and the upper body before focusing on the legs. As mentioned earlier, homeopathy aims at curing a disease from its roots. So to cure a disease homeopathic medicine focuses on the treatment of the entire body rather than just a specific part. As opposed to allopathic medicines, homoeopathy does not believe in subdividing the body parts as components that function independently.
Are there no side effects of these medicines?
Homeopathic medicines work with the philosophy of ‘vital force’. These medicines deal with enhancing the vital force of our body and help in strengthening our immune system. They also regulate body’s own healing mechanism. This way, it is an extremely natural treatment. So it’s safe to say that there are no side effects.
Can homeopathic treatment cure all kinds of diseases?
The diseases that need immediate surgery cannot be cured by homeopathic treatment. In case of illness such as big cysts or huge kidney stones, it is advisable to go to an allopathic doctor. But homeopathy is a complete remedy for other kinds of illnesses.
We can also remove small stones or cysts without operating on the patient. Since homeopathy believes in removing all causes that lead to a certain disease, it is also important for the patient to improve their lifestyle and rectify his/her eating and drinking habits as well.
