Homeopathic Medicine and Homeopathic Remedies: Placebo or Miracle? - Philadelphia Holistic Clinic

Homeopathic Medicine and Homeopathic Remedies: Placebo or Miracle? - Philadelphia Holistic Clinic

Homeopathic medicine (homeopathy) takes its name from the Greek terms “like” and “suffering.” The underlying premise of homeopathic medicine, “like cures like,” originated in Egypt and ancient Greece. In the late 18th century, German physician Samuel Hahnemann read that quinine-containing Peruvian bark (chinchona) could heal malaria. Hahnemann took a dose of Peruvian bark and became hot, tired, exceedingly thirsty, and agitated, all of which are indications of malaria. Hahnemann began to explore further and developed his hypothesis of like cures like, also known as the Law of Similars: that if a chemical causes a particular symptom in big doses, it can treat such symptoms in small doses.

Homeopathic treatments can be made using herbs, minerals, snake venom, and other things. They are diluted repeatedly and “succussed,” or aggressively shaken, in between each dilution. The process of sequential dilution and succussion is known as potentization.

Herbal treatments and holistic medicine frequently mix with homeopathic medicine. The latter becomes particularly problematic when homeopathic remedies originate from botanicals that share a common nomenclature. Nonetheless, homeopathic medicine differs in both toxicity and therapeutic paradigms, with significant consequences for use and future studies.

Many studies have shown an increase in the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) over the last decade. Manufacturer promises of extraordinary benefits for nutritional and herbal supplements have helped to feed this growing use since the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) was passed in 1994. Unfortunately, patients sometimes lack the sophistication to assess the quality of the evidence for these recommendations, and doctors usually lack the time or inclination to investigate papers documenting these possible benefits in obscure publications. Doctors are growing more conscious of possible herb-drug interactions in the hospital environment, especially during the perioperative phase. They also study the sporadic toxicity reports on the use of herbs. Under these circumstances, doctors could find it easy to write off the whole field as useless and dangerous. This disregard of the field raises the possibility of patients not sharing information regarding the supplements they use. Under the presumption that “natural” implies “safe,” this increases the likelihood that patients would utilize drugs improperly, leading to potentially disastrous results. This is illustrated by a case study.
Jones and Lawson reported in 1998 a concerning case of neonatal congestive heart failure (CHF) related to the mother’s use of blue cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides), an herb that is also used in homeopathy. Despite ruling out other obvious causes of CHF, the supposed causal agent remains unknown. Jones and Lawson say the mother took three tablets daily instead of the advised one for three weeks and that the tablets originated from a store offering “naturopathic products.” New Zealand doctors responded to their study, pointing out another case with a similar result.
On the other hand, the author, an obstetrician, has given homeopathic preparations of Caulophyllum many times. One patient, gravida para, had two prior Caesarean sections following failed inductions at 43 weeks. Her cervix stayed hard, long, and closed at 40 weeks for her third pregnancy, indicating that a similar result was probably in store. Every three days, she received one dose of Caulophyllum 1M (a concentration of 10−1000). After receiving three dosages, she gave birth to a healthy baby three hours into her labor at 41 weeks.
Jones and Lawson do not state the source or dosage of the Caulophyllum preparation utilized nor whether the preparation was chemically tested following the discovery of the problem. The study thus leaves unclear if herbal or homeopathic Caulophyllum was consumed, was a standardized extract, was manufactured under good manufacturing standards (GMP), or may have been contaminated. The need to elucidate these problems is the main emphasis of this paper.

Herbs, minerals, or even animal byproducts are the building blocks of homeopathic medicines. Prior to storage, these materials are mechanically ground and dissolved in a liquid, typically grain alcohol or lactose. You may call this type of mixture the “mother tincture.” Afterwards, homeopaths add more alcohol or lactose to the tinctures, either 1 part to 10 (or “x”) or 1 part to 100 (or “c”). You can get a 1x or 1c dilution by shaking these tinctures. Homeopaths can further dilute the tinctures by factors of two, three, and so on. Professional homeopaths frequently use much larger dilutions because they believe the substance’s healing abilities improve with dilution.
Homeopathic medicines work by triggering the body’s innate healing processes. Physical symptoms (like feverishness), the patient’s present emotional and psychological condition (like worry and restlessness), and the patient’s constitution are all part of a homeopathic diagnosis since, according to homeopaths, mental and emotional aspects are often involved in physical sickness. A person’s physical sensitivity, stamina, initiative, attention, tenacity, and inventiveness are all parts of their constitution. All of these factors are considered when determining the best treatment for a patient, which means that every diagnosis and treatment plan is unique.

There is a wide variety of effective methods for administering homeopathic treatments.
Homeopathic practitioners typically administer most therapies as small, round sugar pills or liquid drops, but they also use tablets, sprays, lotions, and powders.
Liquids have certain benefits over pills, but they taste more like water and aren’t as sweet. However, pills, which are derived from sucrose or lactose and taste like sugar, are easy to consume and enjoyable for children and adults alike.
One way to modify the strength of a liquid medicine is through succussion, which involves tapping the bottom of the container against your palm to stir the contents. Due to the invariability of the dry pill’s efficacy, such an adjustment is not possible.
Every dose of the cure works slightly more thoroughly than the last one, and there’s less chance of irritation because the potency is adjusted just by succussion.
The procedure allows for more frequent dosing of the liquid medicine without the negative side effects that would result from using the same method with dry pills, provided that the dosage is not excessive. This means your symptoms will go away faster.
To avoid upsetting the sensitive, it’s best to take dry pills only after treatment has stalled. This brings us to the second benefit of liquids: they can be repeated to promote a better reaction when improvement is slow.
Some people are very sensitive and react excessively to even the most innocuous stimulus, such as repeated doses of a dry tablet, regardless of whether or not the effects of the pill have plateaued. These annoyances aren’t harmful and won’t last forever, but they’re nonetheless superfluous.
Liquids dilute and soften the action of remedies, allowing people with extreme sensitivity to receive them without exacerbating their symptoms.
What then, oral or intravenous fluids? While both options are effective, a liquid solution is preferable if you want to regulate increased sensitivity or speed up the rate of healing.

Homeopathic medicine is utilized by more than 200 million individuals worldwide on a consistent basis. Homeopathic medicine has been utilized by six out of ten individuals in 16 countries that were surveyed, and 55% of the global population intends to use it in the future.
Homeopathic medicine is incorporated into the national health systems of numerous countries, including Brazil, Chile, India, Mexico, Pakistan, and Switzerland.

About 29% of the EU’s population, or 100 million EU citizens, use homeopathic remedies in their daily healthcare. Homeopathic medicine is implemented in 40 of the 42 European nations.

India is the country with the highest number of individuals utilizing homeopathic medicine, with approximately 1.2 billion individuals (83% of the Indian population) relying exclusively on homeopathic medicine for their medical care.
Currently, there are more than 200,000 registered homeopathic physicians, with an additional 12,000 being added each year.

In the United Kingdom, approximately 32 million individuals, accounting for 49% of the population, utilize homeopathic medicine.
Conventional medicine and alternative remedies, including homeopathic medicine, are regarded as complementary by 77% of the UK population.

About 193 million people in the United States, or 58% of the population, use homeopathic medicine. Ninety percent of respondents expressed satisfaction with their homeopathic treatment.

People in the public eye, from politicians to comics, often say strong things against homeopathic medicine. But it’s difficult to find people who know the truth about what they’re saying. We closely examine the most significant news stories:

For two decades, Philadelphia Homeopathic Clinic has administered classical homeopathic therapeutic philosophy to individuals with various medical conditions. Victor Tsan, MD, is a homeopath, hypnotherapist, and acupuncturist with over 40 years of clinical and academic experience. He received his homeopathic education from the Academy of Classical Homeopathic Medicine in Kyiv, Ukraine, the foremost homeopathic institution in the world. Doctor Tsan’s qualifications are acknowledged by the World Education Services in New York, NY.

For more information about our clinic and to schedule an appointment with Dr. Victor Tsan, contact us at (267) 403-3085