Homeopathy for self help: Homeopathy is the new green!

Homeopathy is the new green!

13. April 2011, 09:40 | by There's a remedy for that

Celebrating World Homeopathy Awareness Week
April 10 - 16, 2011

Every April, the world celebrates the birth of the founder of homeopathy, German doctor Samuel Hahnemann. This year, it will be the 256th anniversary of Hahnemann's birth. Shocked by the harsh medical practices of the day (which included blood-letting, purging and the use of poisons such as arsenic), Hahnemann 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 more highly dilute the medicines were, the stronger the effect they appeared to have on the body. He discovered that a substance which causes symptoms when taken in large doses, can be used in minute amounts to treat those same symptoms, or the principle of 'like cures like'. With the aim of triggering the body’s natural system of healing, a homeopath will match the most appropriate medicine to each patient based on their specific symptoms.

Hahnemann himself found himself faced with stern opposition from colleagues and even more so from the apothecaries, who felt that he was undermining the foundations of their profession: since he was recommending the use of small doses and was against multiple prescriptions, this new medicine was perceived as a serious threat to their profits.

Today, homeopathy is practised around the world and is the second leading form of medical care. Says Genie Rowson, Regional Director SA: British Institute of Homeopathy International, "Homeopathy is an affordable, gentle, non-toxic and highly effective system of medicine. It is used all over the world and is growing in popularity in South Africa."

"Because it is such a gentle system of medicine with no harmful side-effects, it is ideal for self-help when treating common everyday ailments. It can also be used to good effect in conjunction with allopathic medicine. While allopathic medicine generally works by suppressing the symptoms we see, homeopathy works to boost the body's innate healing ability and encourage and complete those healing mechanisms, bringing about true healing. Homeopathy offers a greener, safer, more effective way to improve your family's health," says Rowson.

BENEFITS OF HOMEOPATHY

1. Homeopathy is safe - even in pregnancy and for tiny infants - it cannot harm

2. It treats emotional and physical symptoms

3. It is effective, and works very fast (contrary to popular belief)

4. It treats the WHOLE person on both an emotional and a physical level, not just certain symptoms

5. It can be used with allopathic medicine to boost the body's healing mechanisms. Allopathic medicine is the first system of medicine to be considered for crisis intervention, while homeopathy is the most effective system of medicine for healing.

6. It strengthens immunity and general resistance

7. It is made from natural substances, promoting healing as nature intended

8. It is easy and pleasant to take

9. It helps prevent disease when taken as a prophylactic

10. It is affordable and universal - available under the same names the world over.

FIT FOR A QUEEN

The British Royal Family is known for being exceedingly conservative and embodying traditional ideals of family and public service, but they are also known to have special appreciation and advocacy for certain complementary treatments, whether conventional medicine accepts them or not. From the beginning of the reign of Queen Victoria, to the present day, the Royal Family of Britain has always had homeopaths as their personal physicians. Since 2001, homeopath Dr Peter Fisher has been physician to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. He also serves as Clinical Director and Director of Research at the Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine, Europe's largest integrative medical facility.

Other famous advocates of homeopathy include:

Paul McCartney, David Beckham, Twiggy, Annie Lenox, Caprice, Susan Hampshire, Tina Turner, Louise Jameson, Catherine Zeta Jones, Axel Rose, Cher, Cindy Crawford, Sting, Kellie Slater, David Moncoutie, Jude Law, Sadie Frost, Hermann Maier, Nadia Sawalha, Marie-Helene Premont, Jennifer Aniston, Pamela Anderson, Tobey Maguire and Orlando Bloom. (Source: http://www.embodyhealth.ca/history.html)