Local Healers Directory-Homeopathy

Homeopathy
is a form of alternative medicine that treats patients with heavily diluted
preparations that are thought to cause effects similar to the symptoms
presented, first expounded by German physician Samuel Hahnemann
in 1796. Homeopathic remedies are prepared by serial dilution with
shaking by forceful striking ("succussing") after each step under the
assumption that this increases the effect of the treatment; this process
is referred to as "potentization". Dilution often continues until none
of the original substance remains.
Apart from the symptoms of the disease, homeopaths use aspects of the
patient's physical and psychological state in recommending remedies.
Homeopathic reference books known as repertories are then consulted,
and a remedy is selected based on the index of symptoms. Homeopathic
remedies are generally considered safe, with rare exceptions. However,
homeopaths have been criticized for putting patients at risk with advice
to avoid conventional medicine, such as vaccinations, anti-malarial
drugs, and antibiotics. In many countries, the laws that govern the
regulation and testing of conventional drugs do not apply to
homeopathic remedies. Claims of homeopathy's efficacy beyond
the placebo effect are unsupported by the collective weight of
scientific and clinical evidence. Supporters claim that studies published
in reputable journals support the efficacy of homeopathy; however, there
are only a handful of them, they are not definitive and they have not
been replicated. Several high-quality studies exist showing no evidence
for any effect from homeopathy, and the few positive studies of
homeopathic remedies have generally been shown to have problems
that prevent them from being considered unambiguous evidence
for homeopathy's efficacy. Homeopathic remedies generally contain
few or no pharmacologically active ingredients, and for such remedies
to have pharmacological effect would violate fundamental principles of
science. Modern homeopaths have proposed that water has a memory
that allows homeopathic preparations to work without any of the
original substance; however, the physics of water are well understood,
and no known mechanism permits such a memory. The lack of
convincing scientific evidence supporting homeopathy's efficacy and its
use of remedies lacking active ingredients have caused homeopathy to
be described as pseudoscience and quackery.
See Category:
Alternative Health Services + Supply