The Basic Principles of Homeopathy

Homeopathy ( 'hoh-mee-OP-uh-thee' ), also known as homeopathic ( 'hoh-mee-uh-PATH-ik' ) medicine, is a whole medical system that originated in Europe and has been practiced in the United States since the early 19th century.

Homeopathy is based on three principles:

• Like Cures Like. Homeopathic treatment involves giving extremely small doses of substances that produce characteristic symptoms of illness in healthy people when given in larger doses. To choose the right homeopathic medicine, you need to match your symptoms to those that active ingredients address.
• Minimum Dose. Unlike conventional medicines, a homeopathic medicine is believed to be more effective when its active ingredient is diluted. An active ingredient is diluted through a special preparation process called dilution and succession. Data indicate that the homeopathic medicine gains increased effectiveness as dilution is increased. At the same time, the safety profile of the medicine increases with increased dilution.
• Individualized Medicines. Ideally homeopathic treatment is tailored to each person. In this case, practioners select medicines according to a total picture of the patient, including not only symptoms but also lifestyle, emotional and mental states, and other factors.

To make the process of selecting the right remedy easier, you can purchase a combination remedy- which is several homeopathic ingredients to treat the most common symptoms of an ailment.

Why choose homeopathy?

Developed by pharmacists, homeopathic medicines are aimed to be strong in relieving symptoms but gentle in the way they work:

• They can be taken by nearly anyone at any time, from infants to the elderly, including anyone taking prescription medications
• High margin of safety. They can be given to young children without fear of mis-dosing or overdosing.
• 100% Natural
• No drug interactions
• Non-habit forming

Understanding Homeopathic Drug Potency

A homeopathic medicine is believed to be more effective when its active ingredient is diluted: this is the minimum dose approach of homeopathy. The purpose of potency is to dilute the active ingredient until it can do no harm and to invigorate the base substance with energy such that the qualities are preserved while the substance itself is diluted out.

On a homeopathic drug product, the drug strength or potency appears directly after the name of the active ingredient. Unlike conventional medicines that typically report drug potency in milligrams, homeopathic potency is indicated by a numeral followed by an X or C. the potency of a medicine such as 6X or 30C says how many times and by what ration the base substance has been diluted. While counterintuitive, the potency is higher though the concentration of an active ingredient is lower.