History Of Homeopathy-Pt. 2

So what happened after Dr. Hahnemann discovered the Law of Similars? How did homeopathy become a thing and who used it? And more importantly, how and where is it being used today?

Dr. Hahnemann's Theories Tested

Dr. Hahnemann's discovery of the Law Of Similars was more of a process than it was a one time "Aha! Moment". Over the course of several years, most notably 1796-1799, he did scientifically solid experiments using medicines (both homeopathic and allopathic) on live, healthy subjects while observing and notating the symptoms they produced.

This is something no one up to this time had done in the field of medicine. Some attribute the invention of the "double blind" study to Dr. Hahnemann-or at least to his early followers.

In 1796, Hahnemann officially publishes an essay announcing his Law Of Similars theory, creating a bit of an uproar in the medical community.

By 1797 he was actively being persecuted, according to his own writings, by various medical associations because of his criticism of their methods of treatment and the decidedly un-scientific way allopathic medicines were applied.

This continued for the rest of his life, in spite of the fact that his methods, especially as they were perfected, bore fruit that was much more effective than that of traditional treatments.

Examples Widespread Homeopathic Effectiveness

One such example of this is from two Scarlet Fever outbreaks in the late 1700's and early 1800's.

During the first outbreak, in 1799, Hahnemann, who had resumed medical practice after discovering homeopathic medicines, noticed that a little girl he was treating for joint issues had not gotten Scarlet Fever, in spite of the fact that she was always the first in her family to get sick and that she had several healthier siblings whom she was living with that had severe cases of the disease.

The medicine Dr. Hahnemann had this girl on was Belladonna (for her joints) and he surmised that Belladonna may be able to treat the sick children with Scarlet Fever and maybe prevent the rest of the family from getting it as well. He tried his idea and it worked.

The sick children got better and the healthy children never came down with the fever. He tested this on other patients and it worked with them also!

He was greatly criticized by the rest of the medical community, in spite of his mortality rates amongst his patients being much better than his colleagues, for coloring outside the lines and using a different treatment than what was typical during that time. Go figure.

In the second instance, Germany was swept with yet another Scarletina epidemic between 1800 and 1808. This time, Belladonna was not as effective but Hahnemann figured out that Aconite was quite effective, both as a treatment and also as a prophylactic.

Dr. Hahnemann's Theories Published
In spite of the fact that the good doctor discovered many of these principals and medicines beginning in the early 1790's, he doesn't publish his first real book about homeopathy until 1810. He calls it The Organon of Rational Healing and over the course of the rest of his life, he writes a total of six updated editions as he learns and discovers more.

In 1811 he publishes his first true Materia Medica--this is a list of medicines and their related illnesses. And though these works are only the beginning of his published works on homeopathy, I feel this quote from the preface of the 1811 Materia Medica gives a good idea of Dr. Hahnemann's state of mind as it related to science, his role, thoroughness and accuracy when it came to the art of medicine.

"Through this enquiry I found the road to truth, upon which I have to tread alone, a road far removed from the common highway of medical routine. The further I advanced from truth to truth, the further did my conclusions move from that ancient structure, which, having been built out of opinion, was upheld only by opinions, although I allowed no single one of my conclusions to stand unless fully confirmed by experiment...The results.. are stated in this book."

The Growth of the Homeopathic System of Medicine

By the 1830's, homeopathy as a medical approach had fully taken effect. It was widespread enough that the government of Prussia ordered the doctors of their nation to use Belladonna as a treatment for a new outbreak of Scarlet Fever that swept the country during that time, saving thousands of lives.

By that period, even well-known people like Bethoven had used homeopathy and it was gaining in popularity.

Over the course of the next 100 years, this method of medicine would be as widely used as more "traditional" approaches in Europe, South America, India and even in the United States.

In fact, 40% of the doctors in the U.S practiced homeopathy until the 1940's. Entire medical schools were devoted to it and over 50% of the hospitals in the United States used to be Homeopathic hospitals.

The Near Death of Homeopathy In the United States

Was it proven ineffective? Did people have injuries from its use? The answer to both of those questions is a resounding NO!

The simple and fast answer is, homeopathic medicines cannot be patented and therefore, you cannot make ungodly amounts of money pedaling them.

And because they are so effective--much more effective (and side-effect free) than allopathic meds, certain influential and powerful organizations did not want doctors to use these methods, knowing it would threaten their bottom lines.

(Look for a future article outlining what that process looked like and the big player who was behind it all.)

Are you surprised?

Who Is Using Homeopathy Today?

Now to answer our final question. Who is still using homeopathy today and what are the results?

The most well-documented use of homeopathic medicines has been at a clinic in India run by medical doctors (meaning trained at traditional medical schools) who also became homeopathic practitioners and have used homeopathy almost exclusively to treat over 1000 patients (yes, one thousand) per day between 10-12 doctors in Calcutta, India.

Their clinic and research center has been treating and documenting treatment using homeopathy for many years and have systematically and scientifically created protocols for pretty much every illness and disease known to man.

These protocols (called the Banerji Protocols) have been proven to be effective for thousands of patients over the last 50 years and the Drs. Banerji have shared their knowledge with the world.

Unfortunately, in the last 3 years, both of the doctors Banerji, who led this research, have passed away, but their legacy continues, as their clinic and the doctors they trained are still practicing medicine.

Practical Homeopathy

The good news is, these protocols are now being used in the United States by a handful of homeopaths--including myself--and the lives that are being affected is increasing by the day.

It is an emerging approach that moves much more quickly than what you see in the Classical homeopathic approach and the protocols used have been clinically proven and therefore, this approach is much more sweeping and faster acting.

The term Practical Homeopathy was coined by my mentor, Joette Calabrese, whose school produces Practical Homeopaths like me!

How To Research For Yourself

I sincerely hope you will take the information you learn on this blog and investigate homeopathy yourself. Be aware however, that the internet is full of naysayers that are promoted by those who are most threatened by this gentle yet effective approach.

You probably know who I am talking about--those that profit from the use of medicines that often suppress symptoms and almost never promote your body's ability to heal itself.

And if you REALLY want to learn-join a homeopathic study group.

More posts will be coming about the history of homeopathy because history is my favorite subject!

Until then, stay healthy, my friends!

Note: I would like to give credit for the research and information found in this and also part one of this series, to a course I took during my homeopathic studies by Kim Allea, whose history of homeopathy course, that drew from original source documentation, was excellent and gave me what I needed to pass the overview of the history of homeopathy onto you.