Dr. Samuel Hahnemann
The Founder of Homoeopathy
Homeopathy's roots emerge from the findings, teachings and writings of Dr. Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843). Hahnemann graduated from medical school in 1779 and started his own medical practice. He soon began his first homeopathic experiments in 1790, as a result of his disillusionment with such common medical practices of the day such as purging, bloodletting, and the use of toxic chemicals.
At one point, he gave up his own daily practice to begin working as a chemist while translating medical texts. It was when Hahnemann began working on a project to translate William Cullen's Materia Medica into German that he began his quest for a better way of providing healthcare using the principles of "Similars." While working on this project, he became fascinated with a species of South American tree-bark (cinchona) which was being used to treat malaria-induced fever. Hahnemann ingested the bark and discovered that it caused symptoms similar to malaria. He continued his research into "cures" and the idea of "similar suffering," and began compiling his findings. Similia similibus curentur, the Latin phrase meaning "let likes be cured by likes," is the primary principle of homeopathy. A homoeopath searches for a substance that produces in a healthy person those same symptoms a patient experiences.
Although the United States experienced a dwindling interest in homoeopathy in the 20th century, other nations, including countries in Europe and Asia, were experiencing a steady growth of homeopathic teachings and interest.
Today, nearly all French pharmacies sell homeopathic remedies and medicines; and homeopathy has a particularly strong following in Russia, India, Switzerland, Mexico, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, England, and South America.
Homeopathy is also rising again in the United States. This resurgence has been documented by the National Center for Homeopathy in Virginia, which stated that Americans spent 230 million dollars on homeopathic remedies in 1996. It has also been said that sales are rising rapidly at about 12 – 15% each year.
http://www.wholehealthnow.com/homeopathy_info/history.html
Clinical Trials
“In conventional medicine, all new drugs must undergo clinical trials before being licensed for prescription by doctors. Until recently there have been few well-run clinical trials in homeopathy. In 1854, there was an outbreak of cholera in London. The mortality rates were compared for homeopathic and orthodox hospitals. The former had a mortality rate of 16.4 per cent, while the rate in the latter was 51.8 per cent. The Board of Health at the time attempted to suppress these damning figures. It was only after the matter was raised in Parliament that the figures were duly recorded.
During World War II there were experiments on the homeopathic treatment of mustard gas burns, for the Ministry of Defence. Controlled trials of mustard gas nosode 30c, and a remedy called Rhus tox 30c, showed a protective effect when these were given as a preventative measure.
A more recent study was conducted in 1980 by Gibson and colleagues, in Glasgow. It compared homeopathic treatment of rheumatoid arthritis with orthodox treatment by the drug aspirin. The results showed that the improvement rate was higher among the former group. However, a combination of aspirin and homeopathic remedies was even more effective.
Smaller trials have shown that Arnica 30c can significantly control pain and bleeding after dental treatment, and that Borax 30c and Candida nosode 30c are effective treatments for vaginal discharge.
In 1986 there was a double-blind study of the homeopathic treatment for hayfever, by Reilly. This showed significantly reduced symptoms in patients taking prescribed homeopathic remedies, compared with those taking a placebo. This trial was followed by a further two trials in hayfever and asthma, which were eventually combined into one trial (called metanalysis), which showed conclusively that homeopathy was better than placebo. These trials were so well conducted that the author challenged the orthodox establishment for a statement that either homeopathy did not work or that clinical trials were meaningless. So far no one has satisfactorily answered this challenge.
Another recent trial by Jennifer Jacobs in the USA showed that homeopathy was more effective than placebo in treating acute infantile diarrhea, while a huge metanaylsis conducted by conventional medical researchers grudgingly concluded that for some conditions homoeopathy could now be considered a suitable other treatment although they still felt that further evidence was necessary.”
Extract from:
Locke, A.,1998. The Family Guide to Homeopathy: The safe form of medicine for the future. Revised Edition. London. Pg 14 - 15.
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