Homeopathy is a therapeutic method that appeared at the end of the 18th century. How did it come about? It was all thanks to the work of the doctor Samuel Hahnemann, who described the method of preparation of homeopathic medicines and who thought that the medicine of that time caused more harm to patients than the disease itself.

What is homeopathy? It is based on 3 basic principles:

-Law of similarity or similarity: This law means that, if 10 grams of a substance causes vomiting, then 10 centigrams (a microdose) will cause the vomiting to stop.

-Individualization of the patient and not the disease: It focuses on alleviating the patient’s particular symptoms. Homeopathy, unlike traditional medicine, is responsible for treating sick people, not diseases. That is, if you have a headache, in allopathic medicine (medicine used by general practitioners) they would prescribe the same medicine that they prescribe to everyone who has a headache. However, the homeopathic method would look for the most suitable remedy for you.

-Infinitesimal doses: This method consists of administering substances in infinitesimal doses to the patient, which in higher doses would cause the effects of the disease to be treated. However, due to its diluted format, it alleviates the patient’s symptoms.

Does homeopathy work?
Nowadays many people prefer to use homeopathy because it guarantees that the treatment will be personalized to their needs and symptoms, but does this method work?
In an investigation carried out by a German insurer, the insured were divided into 2 groups and analyzed for 3 years: in the first group, children consumed homeopathic medicines when they fell ill, with the passage of this 3-year period, these children tended to to get sick less and need fewer antibiotic treatments (-17%), while in the second group, where the insured were treated with allopathic drugs, they required 74% more antibiotic treatments than in the first group.

Now that you know this information, would you consider using it when receiving any treatment?

Author: Nerissa Álvarez Review: Betzabe Guido References Avello L, Marcia, Avendaño O, Cristian, & Mennickent C, Sigrid. (2009). General aspects of homeopathy. Medical Journal of Chile, 137 (1), 115-120. Echamp (2020). Homeopathy: economical and effective. Echamp.eu Ugarte Libano, R .. (2010). Homeopathy and AEPap. Pediatrics Primary Care, 12 (45), 165-167.