Answers to your queries about homoeopathy
Homoeopathic system has been long practiced in India and around the world by thousands of practitioners. Its popularity has soared due to its safe, gentle and effective way of healing the patient. Despite this there are many people who have doubts and are skeptical about this system of medicine. My aim is to clarify these doubts about Homoeopathy. Homoeopathy is based on experiments and clinical data. Homoeopathic medicines are extensively studied by single blind and double blind trials for their efficacy in various clinical conditions. The research is conducted on basis of international standards and is conducted on human beings, animals and plants too
This article is an effort to answer the most commonly asked questions about homoeopathy.
What is Homoeopathy?
Homoeopathy is based on natural law ‘SIMILIA SIMILIBUS CURENTUR’ which means let like be cured by like. As per this law the disease of a sick person can be cured by a substance which has the ability to produce similar symptoms as that of the disease when given to a healthy human being.
Is homoeopathy slow acting?
The pace of homoeopathic medicines depends on many factors like the duration of the disease whether it is acute for example fever or chronic like arthritis, asthma. In long standing cases it takes longer time to achieve cure because of the nature of the disease. Most people take recourse to homoeopathy only after trying other systems of medicine, this causes delay in cure of the disease. In case of acute disease the cure is achieved in a short duration when accurately selected medicine is administered.
Does Homoeopathy treats by first aggravating the symptoms and then cure?
The answer here is NO in most cases it doesn’t. In certain cases there tends to be an initial aggravation of symptoms. It may be because of administration of slightly higher potency than required. This causes transient intensification of the existing symptoms, this aggravation is mild and lasts only for a short period of time.
Can diabetics take homoeopathic pills?
Yes diabetics can take these pills as they do not cause change in blood sugar level.
Also these medicines can be administered in dilution from, that is in liquid form.
Can a patient under homoeopathic treatment take any other form of medicines in cases of emergency?
If a patient on homoeopathic treatment develops any emergency condition which cannot be controlled by homoeopathic medicines then he or she can take different form of treatment like allopathy.
What are the conditions that can be and cannot be treated by Homoeopathy (Scope and limitation)?
Just like any other system of medicine Homoeopathy has its own scope and limitation. One can treat any acute or chronic disease by homoeopathy. Cases where surgery is absolutely required have to be referred to a surgeon. The disease which fall under Medicine and certain surgical diseases such as enlarged tonsils, nasal polyps, kidney stones, anal fissure, piles etc can be treated by homoeopathy.
What is the expiry date of a homoeopathic medicine?
Homoeopathic medicines which are in form of globules can be used if the globules haven’t changed colour from white to yellow. If the medicine is in liquid form the change in colour or sediment formation can be held as criteria to reject the medicine and consider that it is expired.
On purchase of medicated globules from the pharmacy they have a smell of alcohol as they are freshly medicated. This smell diminishes with time but this does not alter the efficacy of the medicated globules.
Store the homoeopathic medicines in a cool dry place away from sunlight.
What are the advantages of homoeopathic medicines?
- The research conducted before bringing out a homoepathic medicine for public use is done on human beings and not animals. Hence they are absolutely safe to use.
- They are easy to administer and palatable and hence can be used in all age groups of society.
- They are cost effective.
Do homoeopaths advise laboratory investigations?
The criteria for prescription of homoeopathic medicines are symptoms similarity, but the lab investigations are necessary for diagnosis of the disease and general management of the patient, for example on diagnosis of diabetes a correct diet and change in lifestyle can be employed which helps in correct management of the patient.
The prognosis (further course of disease) of the disease can also be determined after the investigations