By Dr. George Springer
History
Although discovery of the art of homeopathy is generally credited to Hippocrates, in 1899 a pharmacist named Knufman claimed that the first application of homeopathy actually occurred in the case of the Greek king, Telephos. In Greek mythology, Telephos was hurt during the Trojan war by the spear of Achilles. Supposedly, he was only cured after Apollo advised to treat the wound with some rust from Achilles’ spear. Probably not very sound clinical practice, but this example does reflect the principle of treating “like with like”, the basis of homeopathy which indeed does date back to Hippocrates.
After laying fairly dormant for hundreds of years, homeopathy was given the kiss of life 200 years ago by German doctor, Samuel Hahnemann, who recognized that many of the harsh medical treatments of his day (the use of poisons such as arsenic, for example) lead to side-effects which were as damaging as the ailment itself.
He experimented on healthy volunteers and found that by giving smaller and smaller medicinal doses, in addition to reducing toxicity, the medicines were actually more effective. He also observed that the symptoms caused by toxic medicines were very similar to those of the diseases they were being used to treat e.g. the toxic effects of mercury were almost the same as the symptoms of syphilis, the disease it was supposedly curing. This lead to the re-discovery of the “like with like” principle.
Resurgence
The term homeopathy comes from the Greek words homeo, meaning similar, and pathos, meaning suffering or disease. Homeopathy has been practiced in the United States since the early 19th century and in the early 1900s there were 22 homeopathic medical schools in the US, including Boston University and Stanford.
Homeopathy, also known as homeopathic medicine, treats the patient with a highly diluted substance which aims at triggering the body’s natural system of healing and is used for wellness and protection as well as treating many different diseases and conditions.
Homeopathic remedies are based on these principles:
- Like cures like – meaning if the symptoms of your flu’ are similar to those of salmonella poisoning, then salmonella would be the homeopathic remedy.
- Minimal dose – the remedy is taken in an extremely dilute form. The designation of X, D or C followed by a number indicates the level of dilution that has been performed.
Popularity
Homeopathy has grown in popularity in the US by 25-50% per year throughout the last decade. As more and more people look for alternatives to conventional medicine and prescription drugs, many are finding homeopathic remedies. This widely-used system of medicine is used in most countries of the world and has many famous exponents from Mark Twain to Gandhi, through 11 US Presidents to Paul McCartney who is quoted as saying, “I can’t live without homeopathy”.
Homeopathy is extremely effective, is safe, natural, works in harmony with the immune system and it treats all the symptoms as one, which means it addresses the cause and not the illness.
Homeopathy at LifeWorks
At LifeWorks Wellness Center, homeopathy is a natural fit with the medicine we practice. We don’t do “cover-up-the-symptom” medicine, we get to the root of the problem and we treat it.
The first thing we do is to listen to the unique circumstances affecting you and the resulting symptoms. We will then do a preliminary functional evaluation to determine all of the issues that are contributing to your problem. Laboratory tests will often be ordered to gather more information so the issues can be identified.
A personalized program utilizing natural supplementation, allergy elimination, and in many cases, homeopathy will be used to help your problems. The homeopathic remedies at LifeWorks go beyond classical homeopathic remedies. They are customized to the particular allergens, toxins or microorganisms contributing to the particular health issues.
Many of our patients benefit from our homeopathic remedies and you could too.call the New Patient Scheduler on (727) 466-6789 today for an appointment.
