We live in ‘a pill for every ill’ society.
Most people today have been ‘coached’ through print and other media to accept the idea that pharmaceutical, or conventional, drugs are the best, or, perhaps, the only answer to most medical problems, or issues.
Our drug-inclined society has also been taught to ‘take something’ in order to stop the symptoms of the body and control — in fact, suppress — any distressing sensations, such as a runny nose, sinus congestion, headache, hyperacidity, gas, diarrhoea, and so on, the moment they appear. This essentially seems innocuous, because taking a conventional over-the-counter [OTC] medication, is often passé. The tricky thing also is people don’t care a damn as to what ‘symptoms’ really mean, or are.
Let’s take fever, for example.
High temperature, along with sniffles, cough, and body ache, are the body’s response to the offending organism, bacteria or virus. The organism did not ‘make’ the fever, although this is part of the process. It is in point of fact the body that produces certain delicate changes to expel the virus.
The point is, by taking an anti-flu medication, you have not treated the reaction, but stifled the body’s natural resistance against the virus. When one swallows a conventional pill for every ill, the drug may actually hamper the body’s own natural ability to surmount the problem. Following years of such suppressed symptoms, the same drug can actually preclude the immune system, or defence, from reacting promptly and also efficiently on its own. This leads to drug-resistance, or what is referred to as iatrogenic disorders — or, drug-induced diseases.
Symptoms, from the homeopathic standpoint, are the external expression of the illness, not the cause of it. From the homeopathic perspective, therefore, a ‘specific’ remedy that is ‘appropriate’ to the illness is needed to trigger the body’s own natural response to the illness, or disease process.
Homeopathy is a complete, safe, holistic form of complementary medicine. What’s more, homeopathic treatment:
- Respects the body’s own healing processes
- Avoids needless medication
- Recognises that every individual is unique.
Disease = Opportunity
Homeopathy interprets disease, not as an adversary, but as a prospect for change and growth. In ancient systems of medicine too, it was believed that the body was self-regulating, and that disease occurred when this self-regulatory process became disrupted. In contemporary terms, we speak of feedback loops. When these feedback mechanisms get ‘jammed’ or disrupted, imbalances and dissonance occur. We call this, being ‘sick’ in mind-body. Homeopathic treatment aims to help our body return to dynamic [re]alignment.
Homeopathy focuses not only on the endpoint, or pathological state, but also on the pulsating, vibrant processes that underlie and herald it. While recognising the existence of pathology as well as a need to understand it, homeopathic treatment focuses on the causal processes. It uses a holistic path of therapy — one that engages such essential, or contributing, events.
Homeopathy looks at how you are ‘doing’ and ‘feeling’ — your life, your well-being, what you eat, your work environment, your relationships and communication with others, how you relax and play, your hobbies, what medications you’ve taken, or take, how well your digestive system functions, and what chemicals, pollutants and allergens, you’ve been exposed to. Your treatment programme is engaged to reflect your individualised, or personal, needs — and, not just your illness needs.
Modern medicine talks about ‘prevention.’ Picture this — pap smears, cholesterol and blood pressure screening, and cancer testing, for example, are all tests for early detection of disease, not their prevention. Homeopathy is concerned with real prevention of disease. It pays attention to small, tiny details, or health issues, with which one can prevent large problems, before they raise their unpleasant heads.
Homeopathy: Focused Medicine
Homeopathic remedies are derived from natural substances that come from plants, minerals, or animals.
- Patient-centred medicine. Homeopathy emphasises on ‘patient care’ rather than ‘disease care.’ Homeopathy believes that it is imperative to know what individual has the illness than to know what illness the individual has
- Treats the interconnected web of functional factors. New research supports the homeopathic view that the human body functions as an orchestrated, synchronous network of interconnected systems, rather than individual systems functioning autonomously and without effect on each other. For example, we now know that immunological dysfunctions can trigger heart disease, dietary flaws can cause hormonal disturbances, and environmental factors can precipitate neurologic syndromes — e.g., Parkinson’s disease
- Preventative medicine. Homeopathy does not only treat symptoms alone; it fuels the body’s natural defence mechanisms. It investigates a patient’s temperament, personality, lifestyle and background to be able to think of them as a unique individual. Homeopathy builds up your immunity, while taking into account your well-being and helping your systems to prevent illness and disease before they get established
- No side-effects. Homeopathic remedies have no side-effects. They can be used on infants, babies, children, during breastfeeding and pregnancy, youth, adults and in the elderly. However, it is always important to consult a professional homeopathic physician for proper guidance and appropriate treatment
- Low-cost. Conventional medicine seems to be getting far too expensive. Homeopathic treatment is quite inexpensive that most people can afford to using them without upsetting their monthly budgets. In countries like France, for example, expenses incurred on homeopathic medicines, when prescribed by a doctor, are reimbursed by the government
- Ease-of-use. Children, even the fussiest of them, love those little ‘sugar pills.’ It is easy-to-take. Homeopathic remedies can be dissolved under the tongue, or taken as a liquid, or drops. They are best taken dissolved in water
- Reduces the use of antibiotics. Antibiotics for viral infections can be unsafe. Antibiotics are effective in treating bacterial infections; their overuse, or misuse, which is common, can increase the risk of developing antibiotic resistance, the bugbear of conventional medical practice today. Homeopathy is effective for viral and bacterial infections; it is also much less expensive than antibiotics, or other conventional medicines
- Effective before and after surgery. Homeopathic remedies can be used to prepare a patient physically and psychologically for surgery, including dental procedures, and hasten the healing process. They can also be used to prevent bruising, bleeding, nausea and anxiety, preoperatively and also post-operatively
- Treats a wide range of medical conditions. From treating simple fever, other illnesses and allergies to gynaecological conditions, homeopathy can be effectively used in emotional, psychological and a host of chronic physical, or bodily, illnesses. It is also useful in alleviating symptoms caused by pregnancy and menopause. There are dozens of effective homeopathic remedies for nearly every medical condition, except certain medical emergencies, such as major accidents, heart attack, or stroke and mechanical problems like hernia. They can, however, be used, with good effect, alone, or to complement and optimise the effects of conventional medicine, especially in disorders such as high blood pressure and diabetes
- Not tested on animals: Conventional drugs undergo extensive laboratory testing, mostly on animals. Homeopathic remedies are non-toxic; they are tested on healthy people who can best describe — subjectively and independently — how each remedy affects them in both health and illness
- FDA approved: Although the FDA advises individuals to consult a professional homeopathic physician, or therapist, for homeopathic treatment and to keep remedies out of the reach of children, the regulating body suggests that homeopathic remedies can be bought without a doctor’s prescription. Just a few homeopathic preparations have, so far, been pulled out of the market by the FDA, unlike conventional drugs, which make such news — ‘withdrawn from the market’ — practically every day.
