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Homeopathy
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Homeopathy is a branch of alternative medicine that is based around the surmise that an individual may be treated using minute doses of natural materials which in larger doses would be expected to cause the same symptoms. Remedies are made by a sequence of dilutions of the starting material in purified water or aqueous ethanol with considerable agitation (called succussion). It is gaining popularity but its efficasy is disputed. The cornerstone of homeopathy that the whole clinical picture is considered on an individual basis is not in dispute. In fact, consideration of the person is clearly becoming more important as information concerning an individual's genome becomes clearer. However criticism is levelled at homeopathic 'drugs'.
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Homeopathy is a medical system that was introduced by a German doctor Samuel Hahnemann over two hundred years back. The system is based on the Law of Similars, which was described by Hahnemann using a Latin phrase, "Similia Similibus Curentur", which means, "Let likes be cured by likes". Hahnemann named the system as Homeopathy. The philosophy is that the symptoms produced by a drug when given in strong doses to a healthy person, can be cured by the same medicine in higher dilutions in potentized form. In other words, minimal doses can relieve diseases that have symptoms similar to those created by strong doses of the drug. This is a philosophy that works excellently but is not understood by those used to material doses of modern medicines.
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Homeopathy is not a new therapy. The oldest medical society in America is the American Institute of Homeopathy established in 1844. At the turn of the last century, there were over 200 Homeopathic hospitals and 22 Homeopathic medical schools. The first medical school to admit women was homeopathic. The only statue of a physician in Washington, D.C. is a monument to the founder of homeopathy, Samuel Hahnemann. Homeopathy became less popular when antibiotics were discovered, but it is growing in popularity again due to concerns over the side effects of medications and people searching for safer and more effective solutions to chronic health problems.
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Homeopathy, a system of medicine developed by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann in the 1790s, was introduced in the United States in the 1820s by Hahnemann's colleagues and students. One of these, Constantine Hering, founded the world's first homeopathic medical school in Allentown, Pennsylvania, in 1835. With Hering and his students in the vanguard, American homeopathy became the world leader in the field for the rest of the nineteenth century. After falling into relative obscurity after the 1910s, homeopathy has enjoyed a significant revival among consumers and medical professionals since the 1970s.
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Homeopathy's principles have been refuted by the basic sciences of chemistry, physics, pharmacology, and pathology. Homeopathy meets the dictionary definitions of a sect and a cult—the characteristics of which prevent advances that would change Hahnemann's original principles. Most homeopathic studies are of poor methodological quality, and are subject to bias. Homeopathic product labels do not provide sufficient information to judge their dosages. Although homeopathic remedies are generally thought to be nontoxic due to their high dilutions, some preparations have proved harmful. The ostensible value of homeopathic products can be more than a placebo effect because some products have contained effective amounts of standard medications or have been adulterated.
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Homeopathy was introduced to North America in 1826 and quickly gained enormous popularity in Canada and the United States. By 1844, homeopaths had organized the American Institute of Homeopathy, America's first national medical society. It was not until three years later that the American Medical Association was formed. By the late nineteenth century, one out of every six physicians was a homeopath. The resurgence of interest in homeopathic medicine expresses a desire from the general public for alternative health care.
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