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healing powers of nutrition and exercise (this was a radical idea at the time). He experimented with other methods of treatment, often testing potential remedies on himself. In one experiment, Hahnemann tested cinchona (also known as Peruvian bark), which is the natural source of quinine. When he took small doses of cinchona, Hahnemann developed the symptoms of malaria: fever, chills, thirst, and a throbbing headache. He hypothesized that cinchona would be effective in treating malaria because of its ability to produce similar symptoms to those of the disease.
The results of this experiment led to Hahnemann’s first theory, the Law of Similars, or “like cures like.” According to the theory, certain illnesses can be cured by giving the sick person minuscule doses of natural substances—plants, minerals, chemicals, and animal substances—that would produce the symptoms of the disease in a healthy person.
As one might expect, Hahnemann found that higher concentrations of substances caused more side effects. However, in further experiments he found that he could dilute a medication and still preserve its healing powers through a pharmacological process he called “potentization.” Hahnemann determined that by repeatedly dilutinga substance with distilled water or alcohol and shaking it vigorously between each dilution, he could increase the potency of the medicine. These findings resulted in Hahnemann’s theory, the Law of Infinitesimals, which states that the smaller the dose of active ingredient, the more potent the cure.
Homeopathy was put to the test in dealing with epidemic diseases, such as cholera, typhoid, yellow fever, and scarlet fever. The success of the treatment led to widespread interest in its practice. The first homeopathy college opened in Philadelphia in 1836, and eight years later a group of homeopaths formed the American Institute of Homeopathy, the first national medical organization in the country. By the end of the nineteenth century, there were fifteen thousand homeopaths and twenty-two schools of homeopathy nationwide. Homeopathy also flourished and continues to thrive in Europe, particularly in Great Britain, where the Queen of England has her own homeopathic physician and the British National Health Service covers homeopathic procedures.
In the United States, however, homeopathy rapidly fell out of favor. At the end of the nineteenth century one out of every five American doctors practiced homeopathy, but by the middle of the twentieth century the American practice of homeopathy had all but disappeared. The discovery of antibiotics and other advancesin modern medicine lured people to support a more “scientific” approach to healing. Professional medical groups, influenced by these developments, began to expel physicians who practiced homeopathy or consulted with homeopaths. Hahnemann’s theories have never been accepted by scientifically oriented physicians in the United States, who charge that homeopathic remedies are placebos.
Only recently has the homeopathic revival begun in the United States, in part because skeptics have been quieted by a number of studies showing that homeopathic remedies do help in the healing process. In 1991 the
British Medical Journal
tried to put the question to rest by publishing an analysis of 105 clinical studies involving the efficacy of homeopathy. More than eighty of the studies showed that the homeopathic treatment was more effective than a placebo.
No one knows exactly why homeopathy works, but some experts theorize that the repeated dilution and shaking establishes a certain electrochemical pattern in the water. Then, when someone takes a homeopathic remedy, the electrochemical pattern in the remedy affects the electrochemical pattern of the water in the human body. Other experts suggest that the potentization changes the electromagnetic fields in the body in some subtle way. Both of these theories involve energychanges at a subatomic level, a
The results of this experiment led to Hahnemann’s first theory, the Law of Similars, or “like cures like.” According to the theory, certain illnesses can be cured by giving the sick person minuscule doses of natural substances—plants, minerals, chemicals, and animal substances—that would produce the symptoms of the disease in a healthy person.
As one might expect, Hahnemann found that higher concentrations of substances caused more side effects. However, in further experiments he found that he could dilute a medication and still preserve its healing powers through a pharmacological process he called “potentization.” Hahnemann determined that by repeatedly dilutinga substance with distilled water or alcohol and shaking it vigorously between each dilution, he could increase the potency of the medicine. These findings resulted in Hahnemann’s theory, the Law of Infinitesimals, which states that the smaller the dose of active ingredient, the more potent the cure.
Homeopathy was put to the test in dealing with epidemic diseases, such as cholera, typhoid, yellow fever, and scarlet fever. The success of the treatment led to widespread interest in its practice. The first homeopathy college opened in Philadelphia in 1836, and eight years later a group of homeopaths formed the American Institute of Homeopathy, the first national medical organization in the country. By the end of the nineteenth century, there were fifteen thousand homeopaths and twenty-two schools of homeopathy nationwide. Homeopathy also flourished and continues to thrive in Europe, particularly in Great Britain, where the Queen of England has her own homeopathic physician and the British National Health Service covers homeopathic procedures.
In the United States, however, homeopathy rapidly fell out of favor. At the end of the nineteenth century one out of every five American doctors practiced homeopathy, but by the middle of the twentieth century the American practice of homeopathy had all but disappeared. The discovery of antibiotics and other advancesin modern medicine lured people to support a more “scientific” approach to healing. Professional medical groups, influenced by these developments, began to expel physicians who practiced homeopathy or consulted with homeopaths. Hahnemann’s theories have never been accepted by scientifically oriented physicians in the United States, who charge that homeopathic remedies are placebos.
Only recently has the homeopathic revival begun in the United States, in part because skeptics have been quieted by a number of studies showing that homeopathic remedies do help in the healing process. In 1991 the
British Medical Journal
tried to put the question to rest by publishing an analysis of 105 clinical studies involving the efficacy of homeopathy. More than eighty of the studies showed that the homeopathic treatment was more effective than a placebo.
No one knows exactly why homeopathy works, but some experts theorize that the repeated dilution and shaking establishes a certain electrochemical pattern in the water. Then, when someone takes a homeopathic remedy, the electrochemical pattern in the remedy affects the electrochemical pattern of the water in the human body. Other experts suggest that the potentization changes the electromagnetic fields in the body in some subtle way. Both of these theories involve energychanges at a subatomic level, a
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