Homeopathic Medicine
In the words of Dr Andrew Stanway, who wrote a book entitled ‘Alternative Medicine: A Guide To Natural Therapies’, published 1980 and 1986 by Chancellor Press, London:
- “Homeopathy is not a cranky, way-out type of medicine practised by a handful of odd-ball doctors.” Homeopathy has been around for almost 200 years now.
- “This form of medicine is available under the British National Health Service and the Faculty of Homeopathy in London is recognised in law just like all the other learned medical faculties.”
- There are six homeopathic hospitals within the National health Service: at least there were when Dr Stanway’s book was published in the 1980’s
- I know that the Queen has her own homeopathic physician. The Royal homeopath has taken care of the health of the Royal family for many years. The Queen Mother used homeopathic medicine for much, if not all, of her life. She lived beyond her ‘seven score years and ten’ to the fabulous age of 100 years or more.
So What Is Homeopathy?
Homeopathy treats like with like: Disease-fighting mechanisms are stimulated by the homeopathic equivalent to the disease. When the minimal dose of a homeopathic remedy is given, it causes a response in the immune system of the individual which, when the right remedy is chosen, will effect a cure.
Homeopathy is a form of medicine which was discovered in the late 19th century by Dr Samuel Hahnemann, a doctor from Leipzig.
His discovery involved the use of cinchona bark which was used to treat malaria at the time. Dr Hahnemann found that when he took cinchona bark, it gave him symptoms of malaria, the same symptoms which cinchona bark was being used to treat.
Dr Hahnemann began to experiment with other remedies. He tested his potions out on himself and on many other healthy people, then he began proving his remedies with people who had the real ailments: He got “excellent reproducable results”, in Dr Stanway’s words, except that some people were made worse by the medicine. But he didn’t give up there……….
Principle of the Minimum Dose: The next thing that he discovered, was that when the dose was diluted, the remedy became stronger in that it was more immediately effective. The other remarkable thing about the miminal dose, was that it did not produce the side effects which the stronger remedies had done.
The ‘like treats like’ principle is used in modern orthodox medicine in another form all over the world today: The treatment of cancer cells with radiation therapy is a ‘like-treats-like’ treatment, as radiation in itself is capable of causing cancer.
Another ‘like-treats-like’ instance: Dr Stanway cites the example of digitalis being administered in modern medicine to cure specific heart problems. When patients are given medicinal digitalis, when they would already seem to have the symptoms of an overdose of digitalis, the heart function is restored to normal. NOTE: NEVER TRY USING DIGITALIS AS A HOME REMEDY. IT IS EXTREMELY TOXIC AND WILL KILL YOU.
Digitalis when prescribed as a homeopathic remedy, though, is safe because the dosage is microscopic.
Microscopic Dosage: These microscopic amounts are arrived at in a remedy by a serious of dilutions. Each time, a small portion of the mother remedy is diluted in a larger quantity of water and alcohol. This is ‘succussed’, which is really just an energetic shake-up of the remedy. Then a portion of this dilution is again used, to form another even weaker dilution. Succussion is again applied to the remedy….. And so on. The more times a remedy is diluted in this way, the stronger it becomes, even though the amount of mother remedy is reduced dramatically each time.
Commonly Used Remedies:
Arnica, Ars alb, Aconite, Belladonna, Bryonia, Calc.fluor., Coffea, Ledum, Pulsatilla, Sepia, Thuja are just a few of my favourite remedies which proved invaluable in helping to keep my children free of sickness.
Arnica For Pain Relief and Shock: Arnica is one of the most widely used homeopathic remedies in the world. It is often added to first aid kits in families which have small children who hurt themselves a lot.
Arnica For Bruises: Arnica alleviates the pain of bruises very quickly, minimises the extent of bruising, and is very useful in cases of emotional shock. Arnica is good for fresh bruises and shock, but it can heal the aches and trauma experienced from old injuries which were incurred many years ago. Arnica is harmless, non addictive, and IT WORKS.
Coffea Is a Mild Sedative: Coffea? Yes, that’s right, it’s derived from coffee. But in homeopathic form, in minimal dose, it has the opposite effect to cofee. Homeopathic coffea is a mild sedative, conducive to a good night’s sleep, good for soothing frayed nerves, and helpful to those who are trying to give up coffee.
Ledum as a Prophylactic for Tetanus: Ledum has many uses, which I will need to revise. I used Ledum as an alternative to tetanus shots for my children when they were growing up. Of course, they never had tetanus, but who does these days? I read somewhere that even the orthodox shots for tetanus had never been proved as a reliable cure, but they were given anyway.
So one cannot say that Ledum was actually effective in preventing tetanus, or in treating a tetanus infection, but it surely was effective in quickly healing up infections after severe cuts and bruises which the children got.
Don’t Copy My Example: Take your child to a health professional for all cuts, bruises, and infections.
Personally, I was against giving my children any injections of any kind after seeing my first-born child swell out and become a ‘difficult’ baby once the first injections had been given. I allowed the plunket nurse to come back six months later, saw the same reaction, witha break-out of eczema and lots of crying for weeks. I decided then that there would be no more inoculations of any kind, unless it was a matter of life and death. I began a study of homeopathic medicine at a college, which I did not complete, however, that course, and much reading, equipped me to use the basic remedies.
Occasionally, I would visit a professional homeopath for needed advice.
Homeopathic Medicine For the Family: Your family will benefit hugely if you can find a clever and experienced homeopathic doctor to help you through the ups and downs of childhood illness.
Homeopathic medicine, when prescribed by a qualified homeopath, is not toxic or damaging to organs. It is not addictive. Using homeopathic medicine as an alternative to orthodox drugs will help towards building a strong immune system for your child.
If you investigate the matter, you will find that there is a homeopathic cure for EVERYTHING. There are even homeopathic nosodes which can be taken as a prophylactic, or preventative, of serious diseases.
It usually takes a professional homeopath to prescribe just the right remedy for any given ailment, but there are many homeopathics which I think are very useful to have in the first aid kit, and Ledum is one of them.