Homeopathy is an alternative medicine practice that seeks to help the body fend off disease by treating illnesses with very small amounts of a substance that, in larger doses, would cause the same symptoms—a concept known as formally as the similia principle and popularly as “like cures like.”

In the late 1700s, common medical treatments included bloodletting, purging, blistering, and the use of sulfur and mercury as medications. A German physician and chemist named Samuel Hahnemann (1755–1843) proposed a less-threatening approach to treating illness after reading an old herbal remedy that used cinchona bark to treat malaria. Hahnemann observed that cinchona bark, in large quantities, caused malaria-like symptoms in healthy people. The idea that smaller quantities might jump-start the immune system in those already sick became the basis of homeopathy.

The practice was imported to the United States in 1835, and dozens of homeopathic hospitals opened. Medical advances such as Louis Pasteur’s (1822–1895) germ theory, the development of antiseptic techniques, and the discovery of ether anesthesia, however, diminished the popularity of homeopathy as a first-line medical therapy. Most homeopathic institutions closed down by the 1930s.

Homeopathy has experienced a bit of a revival in the United States and other countries. People all over the world seek homeopathic remedies as complementary or alternative forms of treatment for chronic medical conditions. According to a 1999 survey, more than 6 million Americans had used homeopathy in the preceding year.

Plants and other natural sources provide many homeopathic treatments, although the key ingredients are usually highly diluted by a process called potentization— sometimes so much that not one molecule of the original substance remains. Homeopaths believe that dilution extracts the vital essence of the substance and actually makes a formula more effective. These products are marketed as dietary supplements and do not undergo testing or regulation by the Food and Drug Administration.

ADDITIONAL FACTS

  1. The similia principle can be traced back to Hippocrates (c. 460–c. 377 BC) in ancient Greece, who noted that recurrent vomiting could be treated with an emetic (such as ipecacuanha), which would be expected to make the condition worse.
  2. In the United States, most homeopathy is practiced along with another health care practice for which the practitioner is licensed, such as conventional medicine, dentistry, chiropractic, naturopathy, acupuncture, or (when used to treat animals) veterinary medicine. Arizona, Connecticut, and Nevada license medical doctors specifically for homeopathy.
  3. Homeopathic treatment is tailored to individual patients, with practitioners selecting remedies according to a person’s symptoms, lifestyle, emotional and mental states, and other factors. In fact, two people with the same symptoms may receive different treatments.