Homeopathy (page 2)
 What it is (continued):
- By the time 24X is reached, there is not even a molecule of the original substance remaining. This is why homeopathy is generally considered free from side effects. Because the homeopath adds energy to the remedy at each step, the more the remedy is diluted, the stronger the effect it has on the patient. It is the effect on the patient, not the amount of medication, that demonstrates the strength of the remedy. If you double or triple the volume (number of pills or drops of liquid) of a homeopathic remedy, you are not increasing the strength of the dose. So there is no increased chance of side effects. Perhaps taking three times as much aspirin as directed would not have similar safety. Think about that the next time you hear a commercial comparing how many milligrams (mg) their product has versus a competitor's.
Prescription drugs also differ from homeopathic remedies in the manner they are used. If a "germ" is treated with penicillin and one tablet works, two might even be better (providing you aren't allergic!). You will continue to take your medicine as long as your doctor sees a positive response. Then you will take it a while longer to make certain all the "bugs" are gone. It is common to take a homeopathic remedy until some positive response is seen and then either stop the remedy or reduce its potency.
What it is not:
- Homeopathy is not a "seat of the pants", "guess I'll try this" collection of untried medicines. Some people may feel that the homeopath (one who practices homeopathy) doesn't seem to know what they're doing because the remedies keep changing or the way you are supposed to take them keeps changing. This confusion stems in part from our Western medicine frame of reference. Western medicine, as practiced in the U.S., tends to isolate symptoms, organs, and disease-causing agents. One "flu" is treated like another, until complications set in. If you have "strep throat" the treatment is basically the same if you are twenty or eighty, male of female, work in the city or farm in the Corn Belt.
Homeopathy considers every person an individual so the signs of disease must be viewed in light of everything unique to that individual. Two individuals may both have osteoarthritis but one feels better in the dry heat of Palm Springs, California while the other finds relief in the damp heat of Palm Beach, Florida. A homeopath would consider these different disease states and likely choose different remedies.
Homeopathic remedies are not "drugs" in the usual sense. While homeopathic remedies and many modern drugs are both made from naturally occurring minerals, plant, and animal tissues, the principles of use are almost exactly opposite.
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