Shortly after its creation, homeopathy divided the medical world, pitting proponents of innovative and less aggressive therapy against skeptical practitioners who were reluctant to change. Quickly, many doctors protested and stated loud and clear that the conclusions drawn by Hahnemann at the end of his various experiments were hardly convincing. At the heart of the controversy is mainly the theory of dynamization, which, for the vast majority of Hahnemann's contemporaries, can in no way be corroborated by scientific logic. Nevertheless, after the death of the German doctor in 1843, some of his colleagues, convinced by the many healings they had witnessed, chose to perpetuate the Hahnemannian tradition by opting in turn for a new therapeutic method.
Today, homeopathy continues to make the headlines despite many results that can hardly be questioned. Over the past few years, thousands of practitioners and patients around the world have chosen to trust a form of medicine whose therapeutic efficacy was beyond doubt for them. Relieved of their most stubborn ailments, thousands of them have definitively opted for a therapeutic method capable of bringing them a truly lasting physical and mental healing. But although the number of homeopathy enthusiasts is growing, the controversy continues to divide minds and spark new debates. Described a few years ago as pseudo-science and quackery, homeopathy has repeatedly found itself in the dock despite its effectiveness that can be demonstrated without difficulty.
A treatment method based on observations, experiments and reliable clinical studies
Homeopathy has often been criticized because of the lack of clinical studies capable of highlighting its real therapeutic effectiveness. Thus, it has often been said that, unlike allopathy, homeopathy is a purely empirical method of treatment that is based only on a series of observations and experiments that are not very conclusive. However, it is important to know that at the time when homeopathy was developed by Hahnemann, the remedies traditionally used to treat diseases were then prescribed only on the basis of their reputation, without any particular study having contributed to establishing their therapeutic effectiveness. By testing his remedies on himself and several of his patients, Hahnemann was the first to discover the dynamic action of drugs on the body, thus paving the way for the pharmacodynamic study of active ingredients that was to regulate the elaboration of allopathic drugs two centuries later.
Homeopathy is therefore one of the first treatment methods to have been the subject of reliable observations and experiments, both on healthy and sick subjects. Of course, given the lack of technical means at the time, Samuel Hahnemann was not able to scientifically prove that his theory was well founded. As a result, he had to rely on his own observations and experiments to support his thesis. Nevertheless, thanks to the immense progress made since then, several reliable clinical studies have been conducted on hundreds of different subjects in order to establish the effectiveness of homeopathic remedies. Thus, with the abundant evidence available today, it is possible to say with certainty that homeopathy is much more than an empirical medicine based only on a set of dubious or past experiences.
A treatment method with real effectiveness
Although homeopathy is a treatment method used by thousands of patients around the world, it is common to hear that its therapeutic effectiveness is not real. In short, by following this logic for a few moments, it would be possible to compare homeopathic remedies to simple placebos whose therapeutic action would be only psychological. However, since placebo is by definition a totally inactive pharmaceutical product, it is obvious that no real cure can be obtained through such a substance. However, it is clear that over the years and centuries that have passed, thousands of patients have been cured of acute ailments, chronic diseases and serious pathologies thanks to the use of homeopathic remedies. And if homeopathy can only be reduced to a simple placebo therapy, this would mean that these various pathologies were hardly real from the start, which of course is more than unlikely.
It is therefore obvious that homeopathy can only be reduced to a simple placebo therapy conditioned by psychological remission alone. While it is true that some diseases are hypochondrias, it is also true that the vast majority of pathologies from which patients suffer are indeed real. As a result, the use of placebos is completely ineffective in the treatment of genuine conditions, as the disease can only be treated with appropriate remedies. How can we explain then that homeopathic remedies manage to overcome serious respiratory ailments, cardiovascular disorders, bone diseases and gastrointestinal disorders, serious diseases that require the use of real treatments? For several years now, many patients have claimed to have been definitively rid of these ailments thanks to homeopathy. In addition, these various healings have also been observed by experienced practitioners whose experience and professionalism are difficult to dispute.
A treatment method based on the dynamization of its active substances
One of the bases of homeopathy being dynamization, it has often been mentioned that the high dilutions to which the elaborate remedies were subjected nullify all the healing properties of the active ingredients used. Indeed, in homeopathy, it is fundamental to dilute the mother tinctures obtained from the maceration or crushing of the strains several times in a row so that the medicines can not present any risk of toxicity at the end of their preparation. However, it was established that after only a few dilutions, no active molecule of the active ingredient used to develop the remedy could be found in the solvent used.
It was precisely to fill this gap that the dynamization of active substances, i.e. the use of specific succussions after each dilution, was developed by Hahnemann. Thus, despite the very small percentage of active substance remaining at the end of the dilutions carried out, the therapeutic virtues of the remedy are in fact only amplified thanks to the impregnation of the active ingredient in the solvent used. And it is this impregnation that gives the remedies all their curative power despite the many dilutions, even though scientists claim that no molecule can then be dissociated from the solvent. Qualified as quackery because of the dynamization, homeopathy is no less effective in terms of therapeutic action. In addition, it is now known that only highly diluted drugs are suitable for treating chronic conditions, which thus proves that the principle of dynamization is based on much more than mere conjecture.
A treatment method capable of combining tradition and innovation
When Samuel Hahnemann defined the fundamental principles on which homeopathy was based, he recommended not consuming remedies prepared with sugar so as not to reduce their effectiveness. He also advises not to delay in consuming them after their preparation so that patients can take full advantage of their healing properties. However, the granules and globules that are now manufactured in the various laboratories contain a certain proportion of sugar and are obviously not intended to be consumed by patients immediately. For these precise reasons, it has often been said that homeopathy as we know it today can in no way be compared to the therapeutic method initiated by Hahnemann at the end of the 18th century.
Of course, it is obvious that compared to all the medical progress made over the years, homeopathy has also been able to benefit from the numerous researches necessary for its improvement. Thus, the few modifications that have been made can in no way be considered as an obstacle to its effectiveness, but as a vector of improvement that has allowed thousands of patients to benefit in turn from a therapy that is extremely beneficial to health. Indeed, without these innovations, it would have been difficult to be able to produce remedies in greater quantities in order to be able to satisfy an increasingly important demand. It is essential, however, not to lose sight of the fact that homeopathy as it is practiced today is still based on the principles of similarity, dilution and dynamization created by Hahnemann. Similarly, homeopathic remedies are always made from the strains tested by the German practitioner, with the greatest respect for the tradition he has bequeathed. Moreover, these few changes do not mean that the therapeutic efficacy of homeopathic medicines is diminished or reduced to nothing.
A treatment method that provides a quick and appropriate response
It was long thought that homeopathy was a treatment method that only worked after a long period of time and that it was therefore much too slow for patients to hope to obtain quick relief. It is now certain that this belief is erroneous, knowing that homeopathic remedies are very often prescribed as part of attack treatments intended to cure the disease quickly. To this extent, it is possible to say that the first results always appear without delay, so that the patient can quickly feel relieved. As far as chronic conditions are concerned, relief also occurs quite quickly, even if the final results are only visible after a specific treatment, which is therefore not very different from the classic treatment regimen followed in allopathy.
Finally, it was also said that homeopathy could constitute a real danger to the health and survival of patients insofar as it would prevent them from having recourse to treatments that were really capable of treating them. Thus, in the context of the treatment of serious and severe pathologies, it has often been suggested that this therapeutic method is dangerous because of its inability to act appropriately on the disease. However, it should not be forgotten that homeopathy has never claimed to overcome this type of pathology since, in this type of case, it intervenes in a complementary way in order to optimize the effectiveness of allopathic treatments and reduce the side effects they inevitably cause.
Consequently, homeopathic remedies must then be used as part of an adjunctive treatment intended to complement the action of the allopathic treatment followed. In short, when homeopathy is used judiciously with respect for the various parameters that must be taken into consideration, it can never be harmful to the body. On the contrary, it is always able to provide beyond immediate relief appropriate therapeutic responses that allow for the most lasting healing and well-being.