Homeopathy
Homeopathy is a type of Alternative Medicine that holds to the belief that ‘like cures like’. What this means is that in order to cure something, the thinking is that you need to put small doses of that substance in your body. Now keep in mind that the doses for all of the substances in Homeopathy are so small, they definitely would not cause any harm to the body. The goal is to use this theory to help build up the immune system and help the body become immune to whatever it is. The term Homeopathy came about by a German physician named Christian Friedrich Samuel Hanemann who was alive in the mid 1700’s and mid 1800’s. He derived the term from two Greek words meaning ’similar’ and ’suffering’. This is a small definition of what the concept actually is.
If the idea that ‘like cures like’ seems rather strange, consider that this is the idea behind our modern day vaccination system. If you get a small pox vaccine, for example, that means that you are getting a very tiny dose of the disease into your system. It is not large enough to make you sick. However, it is the perfect amount to kick your immune system into gear. The immune system is busy defending itself against the invasion which then strengthens your system. When you encounter small pox for real, it will not make you sick because you will develop an antibody against it.
Homeopathy is not quite the same as vaccinations. However, the concept is similar. The idea is to put a small dose of something into your system. The dose needs to be small enough so that it will help your body adapt to it and fight it off but not large enough that it could actually do physical harm. However, not all of the homeopathic remedies are like this. Arnica, for example, is an herb that is used to help treat bruising and sprains and other sports injuries. You can apply it topically, but the plant actually should not be taken into the body unless it is within a homeopathic dose. Arnica can be harmful if taken at full dose. But the idea of helping the body through these small doses is what fuels homeopathy.
