Does Homoeopathy Really Work or Not?

Law of similars: Samuel Hahneman

Perhaps the question of ‘does homoeopathy really work or not?’ should be addressed by an inquiry about the founder of homeopathy, as well as delving into what he discovered. The law of similars, proposed by Samuel Hahnemann, addressed an important health question, during his time as a doctor.

Christian Freidrich Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843), was a German physician, who founded homoeopathy. He grew up in Meissen, Saxony, which was a place that was famous for porcelain. It is interesting that he chose another occupation, as most of his family members were in the porcelain painting and design business.

Samuel Hahnemann was fluent in twenty languages and worked as a teacher of languages, as well as a translator. He studied medicine in Leipzig, for two years, Vienna for another ten months and then, graduated with honors as a MD, from the University of Erlangen, on August 10, 1779, after another term of study and writing a thesis on the treatment of cramps.

He began his medical practice in Mansfeld, Saxony and married Johanna Henriette Kuchler. Together, they had eleven children.

Hahnemann was concerned about unknown medicines that were being used, some of the medical practices of his era and the frequency of medical errors. He gave up his practice because of it and decided to focus on chemistry and writing instead.

He translated William Cullen's works entitled, "A Treatise on the Materia Medica" and became interested in cinchona, a Peruvian bark used to treat malaria. He found that it brought on malaria-like symptoms, in him.

This discovery led him to postulate the theory ‘like cures like’, or the ‘law of similars’ which became the basis of his approach to medicine, or homoeopathy. Hahnemann began to test substances on healthy people and used different dilutions prepared through succession and potentization. He referred to these as provings.

His first article was published in a German medical journal in 1796. "Organon of the Medical Art", the first treatise on homoeopathy, was written in 1810.

Hahnemann moved back to Leipzig. On June 26, 1812, he presented his thesis, in Latin. This was entitled "A Medical Historical Dissertation on the Hellborism of the Ancients". Hahnemann continued his research and the practice of homoeopathy. He does have other works, including "Materia Medica Pura" and "Chronic Diseases".

Hahnemann passed away in Paris, at age 88 and is entombed in a mausoleum there.

The practice of homoeopathy was controversial in Hahnemann's time and is still controversial today. Perhaps it will be many generations down the road, before his work is comprehended, but for those who have read and understood his medical message to humankind, at least in part, there is an affirmation of the credibility of his work and the practice of homoeopathy, well documented in his writings.

Note that further information about Samuel Hahnemann and his writings about homoeopathy, are available on the following web site, the source of this information.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Hahnemann