Homeopathic remedies are normally considered harmless, with rare exceptions, though homeopaths have been criticized for putting patients at stake by advising them to avoid conventional medicine, such as vaccinations, anti-malarial drugs and antibiotics.
Homeopathy is normally a safe treatment, as it uses medicines in extremely watered down quantities, and there are mostly negligible side effects.
Homeopathy is much more common in Europe than in the United States, even though the American Institute of Homeopathy is the oldest national medical body.
During the 19th century homeopathy grew in popularity, while it is based upon values first defined by Samuel Hahnemann in 1796.
Hippocrates used homeopathy extensively and 15th century doctor Paracelsus documents homeopathic medicines.
Homeopathy uses many animal, plants, mineral, and man-made substances in its remedies.
The excessive dilutions used in homeopathic preparations as a rule leave not a hint of the effective ingredient in the final product.
Which makes you wonder what the creation actually contains as an active ingredient? Water and sugar 99.
999% of the time, and in all probability a little pixie magic dust! Homeopathic remedies, even if ineffective, would more or less surely produce no damage, making the users of homeopathic remedies less likely to be killed by the medicine that was supposed to be helping them.
Treatment involves giving very small doses of substances called remedies that, according to homeopathy, would produce the same or similar symptoms of illness in healthy people if they were given in larger doses.
For homeopathy to work, nearly all of this stuff, the consequence of a hundred years of experimental research, consistent with the recognized laws of physics and chemistry and literally tens of thousands of assorted experiments, would have to be incorrect.
In European countries, education in homeopathy is commonly pursued either as a primary qualified degree completed over 3 to 6 years or as postgraduate training for doctors.
Although the majority of evidence suggests it is not better than placebo, enough customers and believers are around to make certain a good supply of profit fodder.
If you randomly substitute homeopathy remedy pills for placebo there is no diversity in outcome between those treated homoeopathically and those treated with pills that make no declaration to have magic powers, however if something works on a mental basis making a patient feel healthier, then it can be classed as having worked, even if it has done nothing physically.
Single remedies which homeopaths profess to work the greatest are not as readily obtainable.
These remedies can be found in health food stores, natural pharmacies or on the Internet.
Right now, though, a fierce dispute is raging involving those, like me, who trust homeopathy because it works for them, and those who call it shamanistic nonsense, without clinical proof or any logical base.
Some homeopathic preparations are: Aconite, Anthracinum bovum, Arnica, Antimonium tartaricum, Calcarea carbonica, Ferrum phosphoricum, Hepar sulphuris calcareum, Kalium bichromicum, Mercurius vivus, Natrum muriaticum, Picricum acidum, Urtica urens.
You can find much more detailed information on these by searching the Internet.
If you elect to use or try homeopathic preparations please talk with a medical expert first, and NEVER stop taking any prescribed medication without your doctors say-so.