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What is homeopathy?

Home > About homeopathy > What is homeopathy?

Homeopathy is a system of medicine which involves treating the individual

with highly diluted substances, given mainly in tablet form, with the aim of

triggering the body’s natural system of healing. Based on their specific

symptoms, a homeopath will match the most appropriate medicine to each

patient.

Like with like

Homeopathy is based on the principle that you can treat ‘like with like’, that

is, a substance which causes symptoms when taken in large doses, can be

used in small amounts to treat those same symptoms. For example, drinking

too much coffee can cause sleeplessness and agitation, so according to this

principle, when made into a homeopathic medicine, it could be used to treat

people with these symptoms. This concept is sometimes used in

conventional medicine, for example, the stimulant Ritalin is used to treat

patients with ADHD, or small doses of allergens such as pollen are sometimes used to de-sensitise allergic patients.

However, one major difference with homeopathic medicines is that substances are used in ultra high dilutions, which makes

them non-toxic.

To read more about safety studies: click here

The science

Homeopathic medicines (which homeopaths call remedies) are prepared by specialist pharmacies using a careful process

of dilution and succussion (a specific form of vigorous shaking).

As yet, science has not been able to explain the mechanism of action of ultra high dilutions in the body, but laboratory

experiments have repeatedly demonstrated that homeopathically prepared substances cause biological effects. For

example, the hormone thyroxine prepared as a homeopathic ‘30C’ dilution can slow down the process of metamorphosis of

tadpoles into frogs.1

To find out more about the basic science of homeopathy: click here

One theory is that during the production of a homeopathic medicine, the dilution and agitation processes cause an

interaction between the original material (e.g. a plant such as Belladonna) and the water and alcohol it is mixed with. This

creates tiny new structures (nanostructures) which are the ‘active ingredient’ and remain present even when the sample

has been diluted many, many times.2

There is also a growing body of research evidence that homeopathic medicines have clinical effects.

To read more about clinical trials: click here

Its origins

The principle of treating “like with like” dates back to Hippocrates (460-377BC) but in its current form, homeopathy has

been widely used worldwide for more than 200 years.

It was discovered by a German doctor, Samuel Hahnemann, who, shocked with the harsh medical practises of the day

(which included blood-letting, purging and the use of poisons such as arsenic), looked for a way to reduce the damaging

side-effects associated with medical treatment.

He began experimenting on himself and a group of healthy volunteers, giving smaller and smaller medicinal doses, and

found that as well as reducing toxicity, the medicines actually appeared to be more effective the lower the dose. He also

observed that symptoms caused by toxic ‘medicines’ such as mercury, were similar to those of the diseases they were

being used to treat e.g. syphilis, which lead to the principle he described as ‘like cures like’.

Hahnemann went on to document his work, and his texts formed the foundations of homeopathic medicine as it is practised

today. A BBC Radio 4 documentary aired in December 2010 described Hahnemann as a medical pioneer who worked

tirelessly to improve medical practice, insisting that medicines were tested before use.

References

1) Endler PC, Heckmann C, Lauppert E, et al. The metamorphosis of amphibians and information of thyroxine. In:

Schulte J, Endler PC (eds). Fundamental Research in Ultra High Dilution and Homoeopathy. Dordrecht: Kluwer

Academic Publishers, 1998

2) Montagnier L et al. Electromagnetic signals are produced by aqueous nanostructures derived from bacterial DNA

sequences. Interdiscip Sci Comput Life Sci, 2009; 1: 81-90

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