Homeopathy Tips for 4/18/17 Is Homeopathy Scientific?

Samuel Hahnemann gave us the Organon of Medicine in the early 1800’s. This is the bible for understanding homeopathy. We have a system of medicine in our modern age that claims to be scientific. Double blind studies are performed and protocol is written for drug evaluation. This is done by the same company wanting to sell the drug. Results can be skewed and ignored making a drug seem far more efficacious than it really is. Once marketed and sold at very little cost of materials the drug companies make billions of dollars. They claim that this is all scientific and that homeopathy is quackery.

There is a different reality when it comes to understanding homeopathy. It is truly scientific and stands up to what true science is about. Websters New World Dictionary defines Science as, 1) originally, state or fact of knowing; knowledge, often as opposed to intuition, belief etc. 2) Systematized knowledge derived from observation, study, and experimentation carried on in order to determine the nature or principles of what is being studied. 3) A branch of knowledge or study, especially one concerned with establishing and systematizing facts, principles, and methods, as by experiments and hypothesis: as, the science of homeopathy. 4) The systematized knowledge of nature and the physical world. 5) Skill based on training; as in the science of homeopathy.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines science as “the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through Observation and experimentation.”

Key elements of science are clearly observation, ideas and experimentation. Using these steps in the scientific process will either approve or disapprove of the idea. Conclusions are made through observation and experimentation. This is exactly what Hahnemann did. He started out with a few observations that inspired his ideas about the healing process and confirmed them with experimentation.

One of Hahnemann’s first observations was that the allopathic method seemed to fail him. Drugs did not have curative effects. This is why he was so strongly opinionated about the allopathic method. He was searching for a gentler and truly curative method. This led to experiments to prove his ideas. His first observations were;

• Contraries are not curative. He condemned the use of strong, powerful medicines, strong palliatives and called this the “antipathic method”. Aphorism 57
• Mixed drugs are not curative. He was very against mixing more than one drug at a time as the combined effect of the drug was not known, and many were extremely poisonous.
• Strong doses are not curative. Strong medicines often do more harm than good. Aphorism 60
• Medicine in general was at best palliative and not curative. Aphorism 61
• Traditional Materia Medicas of the day were not useful. The information was not proven or tested and was merely speculative.

From these observations Hahnemann then hypothesized that;

• Similars might be a better was to approach dis-ease. He used the “Law of Similars” as his guide.
• Single drugs might be a better drug approach to be curative.
• Smaller doses might be better.
• A gentle approach with medicine would be safer
• Poisoning from different drugs might suggest their curative powers. This led to provings of many substances.

Hahnemann then did his first proving with Cinchona bark. He discovered the curative powers of this medicine by experiencing the effects of the drug on himself. He then assembled as much information as he could about different poisonings and the effects they had. From this he began to collate information about these medicines to for his first Repertory and Materia Medica. He proved to himself that single drugs were better at expressing their curative powers.

Hahnemann developed this form of medicine, Homeopathy, based on pure scientific methods. He went on to collect much information and recorded his observations in the Organon of Medicine. Because this was a lifetime of scientific work there were 6 editions of the Organon in his lifetime. The 6th edition was not yet published before he died. his wife published it years later. His contribution based on scientific methods have brought to the world the most effective and gentle form of medicine on the planet.

Yes, Hahnemann was a true scientist. In honor of World Homeopathy Week, I dedicate this to our illustrious father of Homeopathy, Samuel Hahnemann. May he rest in peace.