What is homeopathy?

Homeopathy

is not a slow medicine ;

is not medicine dedicated to children and minor pain only 

is not medicine that fights “pain by pain”;

is not a medicine using herbs or plants;

is not a panacea.

But then, what is Homeopathy?

Homeopathy has been discovered by a German physician, Samuel Hahnemann, in the 18th century. It defines a set of laws and methods to rationalise drug prescription. Hahnemann published the first edition of his work, The Organon of the Healing Art, in 1810, in which is defined what he has called the homeopathic method, that he opposes to ancient medicine, that he qualifies as allopathic as its basic principle is (still) based on the anti, the against. Homeopathy depends on four cardinal points. The practitioner must follow these points to obtain the best results :

1.The law of Similars (individualization)

2.Single dose (patient considered as a global entity).

3.Dynamised dose (dynamic origin of diseases).

4.Minimal dose (primary action of the drug and reaction of the vital force).

1 The law of Similars: individualization principle

This natural law, dimly perceived by Hippocrates only, has been described for the first time by Hahnemann, who deduced it experimentally by observation, and confirmed it by clinical experience at the patient’s bedside. Therefore, and years before the famous physiologist Claude Bernard, Hahnemann has also been the first in medical history to base medicine on experimentation (even if most classical books shamefully neglect such an information) and no more on vague hypothesis or woolly theories, very popular in his century.

This law can be formulated as follows: any substance can affect a healthy and sensitive subject. This affection is defined by a set of symptoms. This substance will thus be able to cure a patient presenting with the same symptoms.

This major law still isn’t very well known today: aspirin poisoning induces fever and intense joint pain, cortisone induces eczema, etc.

The principles discovered by Hahnemann are universal principles, which govern the prescription of all active substances in the organism, may they be raw or dynamised, or of vegetal, mineral, animal or synthetic origins. The active substance will disturb the functioning of the organism and the patient will be cured if and only if the artificial disease induced by the drug is similar to the patient’s natural disease. The degree of similarity between the drug and the natural disease is the only factor that allows to expect recovery (it is what we call homeopathicity).

The methods used by a homeopath physician are quite similar to those used by a mushroom picker: make sure to know the maximum species as well as their characteristics by heart. On first view, a mushroom can look like another mushroom you are used to see, but its gills, the colour of the spores, or a different taste or odour may indicate that it is not the same species. In order to treat by similars, the physician must study thoroughly the artificial tables created by drugs (there are approximately a thousand common tables) but also analyse in detail the patient’s symptoms, it is what we call individualization.

This reality is diametrically opposed to the way classical medicine treats its patients. It persists in ignoring the fact that all ill patients are dissimilar and cannot become sick in the same way, or benefit from the same treatment. The concept of “personalised medicine” has only been mentioned recently by big pharmaceutical industries looking for new sources of income. Genetic mapping is then supposed to predict a patient’s intolerance to such or such drug, and thus facilitate the choice between classical treatments and predict their tolerance. According to the homeopath, used to work with his intellect and sense of observation only, this big and expensive enterprise is doomed to failure.

2 The single dose: the patient is considered as a global entity

Hahnemann has used the Law of similars to cure acute diseases and obtained sensational results, which has made the medical profession of that period extremely jealous, and apothecaries resentful as they felt cheated. Scarlet fever, pneumonia, cholera; all the diseases once greatly feared were successfully treated and their mortality was extremely reduced.

Despite the underlying desire to erase History, we could show many statistics dating from that century that clearly prove the superiority of the homeopathic treatment. For example, records of the French army could reveal how homeopathic physicians saved most of the patients suffering from dysentery during the siege of Sebastopol, which led to a victory. Thousands of American cities keep statistics showing how homeopathy has reduced the mortality of the yellow fever, the diphtheria, or the cholera. As for pneumonia, the classical medicine resulted in a mortality of 30 to 34%, while homeopathic hospitals only reported a mortality of 0.3 to 0.7, with the same amount of patients…etc.

However, Hahnemann soon got to face setbacks: homeopathy, in patients suffering from chronic diseases, could cure the first acute attack, but was less efficient on recurrences, and the treatment often failed afterwards. In other words, a remedy similar to the disease symptoms can relieve the symptoms, but the chronic affection will not be cured: the ill patient is not cured even if all body organs are relieved one after the other.

So, during nearly 12 years, Hahnemann will learn from his failures and reach the following conclusion: the Law of similars is not to be blamed as it is universal and “works” well on non chronic diseases. The problem is thus linked to the fact that the acute remedy is similar to part of the disease to be treated only, that is similar to the group of symptoms linked to the “re emergence” of the chronic disease, which is only the “visible part of the iceberg”.

In the treatment of a chronic disease, the physician must find a remedy similar to the symptoms of the ill patient when he is not undergoing an acute attack, and only partially take into account the acute symptoms (although there always exists a correlation between the acute remedy and the “underneath” chronic remedy). This is why a homeopath will question you on many aspects that seem completely unrelated to what you are complaining about. This also explains why a physician will never give you more than one medicine at the time: the medicine that will treat the general disorder (see below “Diseases and treatments”). There is always more than one organ affected: in fact, the symptoms felt in one area correspond to the local expression of a general affection. The role of the homeopath is to synthesize the different symptoms.

3 The potentized dose: dynamic origin of diseases

Hahnemann will learn by experience that the patient is hypersensitive to the drug prescribed and that drug response can be violent. The goal of homeopathy is to prescribe the minimum necessary, while the goal of classical medicine is to prescribe the maximum tolerated (Dr. P. Schmidt).

So, Hahnemann will juggle with quantities so as to avoid such reactions as much as possible. He will first dilute to one-tenth, than to one-hundredth, than to one-fifty thousandth. This remarkable chemist (he worked with Lavoisier) will write that “experience shows that, despite very high dilutions of the active substance, initial aggravation of the disease remains followed by the curative effect”.

He will call dynamisation the process consisting in shaking vigorously and diluting progressively the substances, so as to give them new properties. Paradoxally, the drug acts more rapidly, deeper, and longer on the organism with a significant dynamisation.

Observations made for more than two centuries now by practitioners from all over the world lead us to the conclusion, just like the vitalist Hahnemann, that “the origin of the unpleasant phenomena we have called diseases is only based on vital force “derangements””. In other words, raw matter undergoes a transformation during the homeopathic preparation that gives it properties probably linked to the vibratory domain. A dynamic remedy only will be able to affect the vital force, which is responsible for diseases when affected. Homeopathy proves that the effect of chemical drugs can be – at best - only palliative.

4 The minimal dose: primary action of the drug and reaction of the vital force

Hahnemann has spent his whole life trying to circumvent the phenomenon of homeopathic aggravation so as to reach results in accordance with the objectives of the Organon, which aims at “a quick, soft and permanent health recovery”. The aggravation is due to an excessive primary action of the medicine thus overwhelming the vital force and preventing its response to the medicine’s initial solicitation. Hahnemann’s obsession to avoid aggravation was not only linked to the patient’s comfort, but most of all to the fact that recovery only depends on the medicine side-effects under the control of the vital force and not at all on the primary action of the medicine.

Aggravation is not a sign the physician must look for. On the contrary, it is important to know how to control and to avoid such a phenomenon, while many physicians (and patients) think aggravation is a necessary step in the homeopathic treatment. At the time when I only knew how to prescribe dry dosages, I tried to limit aggravation as much as I could by giving my patients only a few little globules of the dose. After several years of practice, I realised dry dosages had limits, and deplored the uncontrollable activity of the remedy, comparable to an explosion that cannot be predicted or prevented. Another disadvantage of the dry dosage is that it is inert: it always delivers the same signal even after shaking. The organism thus responds negatively to repetition as long as the effects of the previous solicitation are felt. The dry dosage thus prevents us from using the medicine regularly as it could induce further aggravation.

The solution, in the two senses of the word, has been discovered by Hahnemann: it is the liquid dosage. The pharmacodynamic properties of two globules are diluted into 250 ml of water. The heights of sophistication of the homeopathic technique is that the strength of the treatment can be adapted to the patient’s sensitivity thanks to the dynamisation process (shaking the preparation renders it more and more active) and to the quantity of active substance (according to the number of spoonfuls administrated). Less than a hundred physicians in the whole world use liquid dosages. It took years of research and experimentations for my students and I to be able to use the liquid dosage. We have borrowed Hahnemann’s works from the Stuttgart records to study how he worked in Paris. Thanks to these efforts, our patients can now benefit from treatments with a quick, precise and long lasting action.

What are your drugs made of?

Many of the numerous medicines we have at our disposal are made from plant macerates, such as Belladonna, monkshood, Byronia, etc., that is substances that were used in the ancient official medicine. However, most of these medicines are short-lasting, do not treat the organism in depth, and are dedicated to acute conditions. The mineral, chemical, organic or metallic remedies such as Sulfur, Kalium carbonicum, Ambra grisea, Phosphorus (respectively: sulphur, potassium carbonate, grey amber, phosphorus), have a much more powerful and durable action and can thus eradicate chronic diseases. In a general way, all the substances dynamised according to the homeopathic mode of preparation and administered repeatedly to receptive healthy subjects can induce symptoms. A substance is used as a medicine once all the symptoms it induces are listed.

Thus, substances perfectly inert in their raw state such as ordinary kitchen salt, coal, silica, can become, once dynamised, precious medicines. This is another of Hahnemann’s major discoveries.

How long can the medicines be kept?

The homeopathic preparation induces a deep transformation of the matter, so that the dynamisation can only be altered with much difficulty. However, aromatic smells, essence fragrances or perfume fragrances, and intense heat, inactivate the medicine. The physical form of the substance, that is sugar granules or globules can deteriorate with time. Keep your doses away from light and moisture. In practice, a homeopathic tube bought in a pharmacy can be kept for an undetermined lapse of time, although an expiration date can be found on the tag. I have used preparations dating from the 1910s, still very effective…

How are the medicines prepared?

Homeopathic medicines can be prepared in various ways.

Centesimal method

For liquid substances: 1 part of raw mother tincture is poured into 99 parts of pure alcohol. The solution is then vigorously shaken so as to be dynamised. The theoretical quantity of belladonna has just been divided by 100: it is the first hahnemannian centesimal dilution (1 CH).

The operation must be repeated 29 times to obtain 30 CH. Solid or insoluble substances are mixed into 99 parts of lactose, and thoroughly triturated during several hours.

Shaking is essential to activate the remedy. It is what Hahnemann has called the dynamisation. A simple dilution of the mother tincture will not create a medicine: if belladonna is poured into the Rhone in Geneva, the water in Marseilles will not become an active preparation of Belladonna…

An alcoholic solution is used – as for the mother tincture - from 3 CH, when substances become soluble. The centesimal method, the best adapted for sensitive people who do not tolerate LMs, has been rediscovered thanks to the liquid dosage. I also use them on acute conditions.

Korsakovian method

The hahnemannian method is not adapted to very high dilutions, for the simple reason that a considerable number of recipients would be necessary, for each remedy.

A Russian physician called Korsakoff thus elaborated a new method (named after him): instead of changing the recipient after each series of dilution, it may as well be emptied and filled in again with solvent. Accuracy is replaced by the practical aspect of this method, but perfectly reproducible preparations have been obtained with modern devices.

Kent potencies

These are the dosages I use the most frequently: the initial substance is a 30 CH dilution, which is then further diluted using the korsakovian method. This enables to benefit both from the properties of the centesimal method and from the single recipient dilution. These dosages generally present an activity much superior to that observed in usual K preparations. I have been one of the specialists in France of this type of dosage. When I used dry dosages only, very significant dynamisations were necessary to obtain satisfying results, which sometimes induced severe aggravations. Nowadays, we can treat hypersensitive patients who could not have tolerated aggravations thanks to the liquid dosage.

LM Potencies

This new scale also called one-fifty thousandth has been discovered by Hahnemann “after countless attempts”, according to witnesses from that century. This specific scale was specially created for liquid dosages. The effects of such dosages are amazing, as they combine in-depth action to softness of the effects. They are prepared according to a process derived from the centesimal method: put one drop of the solution on 500 little grains, then put one grain into a solution made out of 100 drops, etc.

What do these little granules contain?

Globules are composed of pure lactose. A solution containing the dynamised medicine is poured onto the globules, which thus acquire new properties. Once dried, the globules are either packaged into single-dose tubes or transformed into granules. I strongly recommend you not to use granules, much too voluminous to respect the minimal quantity principle. Granules are as adapted to homeopathy as cast iron to aviation… The surface of granules or globules is thus covered with the active principle; this is why they must not be manipulated with the fingers: sweat may dissolve the medicine.

But is there any medicine left at such dilutions ?

Detractors of homeopathy argue – smiling - that molecules of the raw substance must have completely disappeared beyond the 12th centesimal dilution, and thus that homeopathy limits itself to a placebo effect.

Let’s first remind that scientists in the beginning of the century had demonstrated that heavier than the air could not fly, that the human being would never tolerate going faster than 60 km/h, etc. So, the fact that modern sciences cannot explain a phenomenon does not mean the phenomenon does not exist.

Daily practice on patients shows unquestionably that high dilutions are active. They have also been proved to be highly active (even if, as in any physician-patient relation, placebo responses sometimes occur). Only people with very little knowledge of homeopathy can still talk about a placebo effect.

Anyways, it is obvious that the activity of homeopathic preparations – when recognised - is not induced by a chemical agent, but by specific physical properties of unknown nature.

Benveniste’s first works on the “memory of water” have led to numerous reactions, often unworthy of the scientific spirit. Michel Schiff’s “Censorship as part of the normal scientific process” highlights the fact that these works have been systematically denigrated. We have thus assisted to poor reproductions which did not report the effects described by Benveniste and avoided using his methodology… Recently, a second series of works on guinea pig hearts seems to validate the first researches, and confirms the electromagnetic nature of homeopathic preparations.

The future promises enthralling discoveries and enough data to keep generations of researchers occupied...

Are your medicines natural ?

The homeopathic remedy is diluted and dynamised until a solution with new properties is obtained. These new properties have nothing to do with the molecules of the initial component: it can thus not be defined as “natural” in the word’s general meaning.

For example, many people believe a plant treatment is more natural than a treatment by chemical drugs from the classical pharmacopoeia. It is probably wrong for several reasons. The first reason is that phytotherapy is fundamentally not very different from allopathy, as the patient is given a drug that can soothe the symptoms thanks to its toxic action on the organism. The second reason is that, under such conditions, it is probably safer to use a product with a thoroughly defined pharmacological action than to use plant extracts containing dozens of different substances, the properties of which are often unclear.

You do not know precisely the mode of action of the medicines you prescribe

This is also often reproached to homeopaths. I do admit I do not know how the remedy prescribed works precisely, but I do know the law that helps me find the remedy: the law of similars. In physics, Newton’s laws, defined three centuries ago, enable to describe with which intensity two celestial bodies are attracted to one another: it is the law of universal gravitation. But up to today, nobody has explained why these bodies are attracted to one another. In homeopathy, the Hahnemann’s law of similars, defined two centuries ago, enables the determination of the curative remedy. But up to today, nobody has explained why such a remedy cures the patient.

However, the mode of action of dynamisation will, for sure, be deciphered by science one day.

Until then, we can try to cure patients… which is our sole duty as physicians.

Diseases and their treatment

Old school medecine.

Let’s take the example of a patient with rhinitis and a blocked nose. The physiology will teach us that the obstruction comes from a congestion of the mucous membrane of the nose. The histological study shows that the contractions of the muscle fibres present in the little arterioles of the mucous membrane regulate the blood flow.

We thus have a solution to treat our patient’s congestion: administer locally a substance that will induce the contraction of the muscles of the dilated blood vessel walls. In the case of a patient suffering from asthma, it is the contrary: a drug likely to relax muscles of the bronchial wall will be administered, and the patient will breathe! In short, the classical treatment consists in giving the patient a drug that will interact with other chemical or biochemical elements of the human body so as to soothe such or such symptom. But the patient realises after several asthma attacks that he is still sick, and that the medicine only prevents asthma attacks without curing their underlying causes.

Homeopathy

We will be led here to the formulation of certain hypotheses that are not yet scientifically proven, but are very convenient to explain the phenomena observed. All these hypotheses will remain as long as physicists will not find how homeopathic remedies work.

The healthy subject

Hahnemann, although reluctant to any kind of medical theory, admits (Organon §9) that “in the healthy condition of man, the vital force (autocracy), the dynamis that animates the material body (organism), rules with unbounded sway”. (§11) “It is only the vital force, deranged to such an abnormal state, that can furnish the organism with its disagreeable sensations, and incline it to the irregular processes which we call disease; for, as a power invisible in itself, and only cognizable by its effects on the organism, its morbid derangement only makes itself known by the manifestation of disease in the sensations and functions of those parts of the organism exposed to the senses of the observer and physician, that is, by morbid symptoms, and in no other way can it make itself known”.

The organism thus seems to be maintained in a good functioning state thanks to a “vital force” – in the physical sense of the word, that governs the organs and up to the least cell in a harmonious functioning.

In the ill patient

A derangement of the dynamic force produces perceptible peripheral material changes, which may, at the beginning, only be manifested by symptoms felt by the patient, then by chemical changes detectable in laboratories, or even objective signs observed in a clinical examination.

Hahnemann adds (§7) “the totality of symptoms, the expression of which reflects the origins of the disease, that is the deranged vital force, well this universality of symptoms must be the principal or only means for the disease to allow us to find the appropriate remedy”.

The universality of symptoms reflects the internal derangement, may it be natural, or induced by drug intake. The advantage of this indirect reasoning is that we do not need to determine the nature of the derangement, which remains a mystery anyways. The Law of Similars shows that two derangements with quite similar manifestations will destroy one another. The natural disease is cured by a resembling drug-induced artificial disease.

Why do you only prescribe one medicine at the time?

The habit in classical medicine is to give as many drugs as there are symptoms to treat: a drug for hypertension, for the eyes, the mouth, the nose, etc.

Homeopathy, contrarily to this analytic approach, uses a synthetic approach that corresponds to the pathological reality. Remember that the notion of disease is a purely medical invention. A single name is given to the numerous signs defining the affection. For example, a migraine sufferer will report signs such as headaches, visual disorders and vomiting very easily. Very well! But if you have a better look, you will see that the patient also feels bloated, has digestion problems, and cannot wear anything tight around the waist. She suffers from one or two anginas per month in the winter, and is unable to become pregnant (she was told her ovaries did not function). How is it possible not to understand that all these signs are induced by one derangement only that affects the whole organism? The physician must not treat the organs, but the patient!

A homeopath’s prescription is thus limited to one remedy: the remedy that induces symptoms similar to the patient’s symptoms and that will help organs work properly again. And it works very well: indeed, patients frequently tell us after a treatment that symptoms they had not mentioned have also disappeared. Cure the patient, said Hahnemann, and you will be able to cure any of his parts.

What about specific homeopathic preparations against such or such affection ?

They are nonsense! Such cough mixtures, fever mixtures, etc., are bad imitations of homeopathy, and go against its fundamental principle of individualization in prescribing. It is homeopathy using allopathic principles. These drops contain a mixture of about a dozen medicines likely to treat the affection…This absurd reasoning would mean that all we have to do is to mix up all the remedies we know into one flask so as to obtain a universal medicine...

Moreover, we believe homeopathic drugs should not be given over-the-counter. It leads to unlimited self-medication, and allows all kinds of disreputable practices ...

Is it possible to use local treatments ?

For reasons I have mentioned above, a real homeopathic treatment should not use local treatments, except of course in the case of a traumatism, or for hygienic care, etc.

Let’s take the example of a patient presenting with a wart, and who will be treated according to the universality of symptoms (the homeopathic physician will not cure the wart, but the affected patient with a skin hosting warts…). Symptoms only can help us define the remedy: if warts disappear, we know that the dynamic affection that has created them has been destroyed. If they do not disappear, we will probably have to find a new remedy.

If warts are also treated locally, how can we know if the patient has been cured correctly ?

What about allopathy in your prescriptions ?

Acute diseases

All acute diseases can, at first sight, be treated with homeopathy if the patient presents with enough clear symptoms to determine the remedy.

The patient then responds to the treatment in the hours, and sometimes minutes following drug administration. Thus, a flu, an angina, a bronchitis must not evolve beyond 24 to 48 hours.

In case of an infectious disease, if the treatment remains ineffective after a reasonable lapse of time of 24 hours, then the physician must admit he has chosen the wrong remedy, and, if the patient’s health status requires it, resign himself to prescribing an antibiotic therapy or any other classical treatment.

The classical treatment is thus considered as a “safety net” to compensate for the failure of a homeopathic treatment.

Chronic diseases

Patients presenting chronic diseases often come to homeopathy after having absorbed numerous drugs that may have changed the initial picture of the disease. Some symptoms may disappear while others may appear. The homeopath is often led to change the remedy as symptoms evolve. An improved health status enables the patient to be weaned off progressively of usual drugs.

In several cases, the disease will be cured or at least stabilized by the homeopathic treatment. Alas, some patients are so “multi-drugged” that we can not treat them.

The classical treatment often is disruptive here. The homeopathic physician is led to renew prescriptions indefinitely, by reducing usual medications little by little if it is still possible. But everything is not all black or all white. Science has led to the discovery of molecules that save lives in the cases where homeopathy is ineffective. It is the case for example in genetic or endocrine diseases, in which the organ necessary to create the substance that lacks in the organism is absent. Classical medicines have in such cases a perfect palliative effect. So, let’s repeat: being homeopath means to understand that diseases can only be cured by similars and that the right remedy must be looked for

.

Why do you take the risk of choosing the wrong remedy in the treatment of an acute disease ?

Homeopathy is often faster than classical treatments on acute diseases. Moreover, it is cheaper, and always well-tolerated. Why not use it? Besides, the acute remedy often gives an idea of what may be the chronic medicine.

The practitioner’s responsibility is to offer the patient what he considers as the best treatment. Allopathic treatments are too often prescribed for to be “covered” in front of a patient and to soothe the distressed prescribing physicians.

Moreover, the acute remedy and the chronic remedy are always related. The same medicine will sometimes be used to treat the acute episode and the chronic state. In some difficult cases, an acute episode – with a determined homeopathic medicine - will help find the chronic medicine that had not been diagnosed yet.

Does homeopathy sometimes fail ?

Homeopathy is based on laws of nature that dictate the choice of the remedy; the remedy that is the most similar to the affection will treat it. A homeopath is thus completely responsible for treatment failure, as he has not been able to find the symptoms leading to the correct remedy. So, people shouldn’t say “homeopathy doesn’t work” or “homeopathy doesn’t work on me”, but rather “my physician gave me the wrong remedy”.

The most difficult cases are those with rare symptoms. In such cases, several visits may be necessary before finding the characteristic symptom that will lead to the good remedy.

In which cases is homeopathy ineffective ?

In all cases where personal symptoms do not exist anymore, and where all symptoms are reduced to those of the affection to treat.

The typical example is that of the cancer tumour spread: burns, weight-loss, etc. are reported, but the patient does not complain of any personal symptom anymore. The physician can still prescribe a remedy from the disease’s symptoms, but then, he will only soothe the symptoms of the disease and not cure the patient. All these cases are thus perfect indications for allopathy in a domain it completely masters: that is palliation.

Can the disappearance of symptoms after a classical treatment (suppressions) have any consequences ?

The answer is yes:  disorders can occur after a treatment for rashes, diarrhoea, hay fever.

The most typical example is of course that of a child complaining from asthma, which has appeared after a treatment for eczema using various pomades (cortisone, etc.). The various local treatments accelerate the chronic disease’s natural tendency (centripetal) to affect deeper parts of the organism.  The homeopathic treatment, as a contrary, induces a centrifugal impulse. The homeopathic medicine cures the asthma; the eczema reappears, but then disappears permanently.

Taking the medicine

What! Only 3 or 4 grains from a dose?

Yes, it is not a mistake. “Take 3 or 4 grains of a dose” is really what is written on your prescription. Make sure your pharmacist has given you a dose and not a big granule tube.

The pharmacodynamic power is significant enough on the surface of one little grain (also called globule, but the name varies according to the countries). The more power we will bring, the more we will risk inhibiting the organism side-effects we are looking for. The first image that comes to mind is that of a mattress. When somebody lies on a mattress, the mattress produces a thrust in the direction opposite to that of gravitation. This effect is produced on a mass margin equivalent to that of the human body. If an elephant is put onto the mattress, than it will not be able support you anymore...

Are there any incompatibilities between the classical treatment and the homeopathic treatment ?

An allopathic medicine can stop the action of a homeopathic treatment. If symptoms occur after one dose, it is preferable – if possible – not to cure them, as it can definitely affect the outcome of the treatment.

Patients following a classical chronic treatment present other difficulties. Weaning them off bluntly of their usual drugs is often out of the question. The homeopathic remedy is thus given to the patient and produces good results, although its action is limited by the classical medication. A patient who has never been used to the toxics of the official medicine will react better and faster to the homeopathic treatment.

Are mint and coffee contraindicated ?

No! The homeopathic medicine is not antagonized by mint. This deep-rooted belief results from a misunderstanding of Hahnemann’s work. Hahnemann recommended not to absorb anything that could have a medicinal influence and reduce the effects of the dose. He thus contraindicated camomile and mint teas, very much appreciated in his time.

Consequence: classic mint toothpastes can be used. However, so-called homeopathic toothpastes must be avoided as much as possible, as they interfere with the dose, and can induce poisoning symptoms with time.

The homeopathic medicine is not antagonized by coffee neither. In some cases, doses have even been dropped into the patient’s coffee ...

However, some patients with unhealthy lifestyles suffer from true coffee poisoning or poisoning to any other stimulant and must completely stop consuming such products. Coffee can sometimes act as a real poison when the patient absorbs some Nux-vomica. In such a case, the physician must inform you about the possible interactions. Also, oysters are contraindicated with Lycopodium, onions with Thuya, strawberries with Oxalic acidum, fat with Pulsatilla, etc.

Beware of smells!

One precaution to take, however: beware of strong or aromatic smells. Avoid taking the dose when perfumed or if you can smell a fragrance in the air such as paint thinner.

The homeopathic remedy is significantly antagonized by strong smells.

When should the medicine be taken ?

The medicine should preferably be taken in between meals, possibly in the evening before going to bed. The medicine reacts immediately, so it doesn’t matter if you take it one hour or one second before the meal. For women, the medicine should if possible not be taken during periods (remedies frequently stop the periods bluntly, or induce haemorrhages).

When should the dose be repeated ?

In dry doses, an initial aggravation is frequently observed, which induces new symptoms. The list of symptoms is thus completely transformed. Nothing can be done until the symptoms stabilize.

Normally, the symptoms the patient was complaining about should disappear after a short period of time. Symptoms that indicated the remedy completely disappear during this period of improvement. Taking the remedy could then only proves to be harmful. It is only once the symptoms reappear or the period of improvement fades that the remedy must be taken again. Consequence: a good homeopath cannot, and must not determine in advance when the medicine must be taken again, the evolution of symptoms must be observed to obtain good results.

The strategy is different with liquid doses. The dose is increased progressively until reaching the threshold to which the body will respond. As long as there is no reaction, new doses can be administered, until something happens. Thus, the remedy starts working once a certain amount of shakings and quantity is reached. The symptoms evolve, and the classical rule can be resumed: as long as a dose works, let it work.

What are the reactions observed after the intake ?

Typically, an aggravation of the existing symptoms can occur, always short-termed. Then, the improvement period begins; people frequently report the reappearance of old symptoms, which is perfectly normal.

The medicine must not be taken again as long as there is a response or that the improvement period lasts. Taking another dose can only be considered once symptoms reappear, or when the improvement stops evolving (See When should the dose be repeated). Do not hesitate reporting all the changes you will observe after drug administration: how usual symptoms evolve: in better or in worse, after how much time, etc., and the onset of new symptoms. A precise chronology of events will help the physician make a precise and accurate prognosis.

Why do you need a computer ?

Let’s imagine a physician notices three major symptoms during a consultation: for example “fear of the dark”, “cold intolerance”, “temporal headaches, aggravated during periods”.

His role is to look for the common remedy to all symptoms. A repertory has been created in such a purpose (by a famous homeopath from the beginning of the XXth century, Dr. Kent). It gives according to a symptom the list of corresponding remedies. It achieves in a few seconds what could sometimes take hours to the physician.

But, of course, the machine cannot replace the human being: the choice of symptoms, their understanding, their possible interpretation, are essential in the homeopathic prescription.

I was surprised by the liquid dosage !

Your surprise is not surprising: there are – alas - only a handful of physicians in the world using one of the last discoveries of the founder of homeopathy. It took me years to find the parameters of the liquid dosage. A team of the National Homeopathy School and I notably surveyed Hahnemann’s manuscripts directly. All my students are trained to use the liquid dosage, and only use this mode of preparation. Physicians from several European countries welcomed this new method of administration with enthusiasm.!

The principle of the liquid dosage consists in increasing the dose progressively until reaching the threshold to which the body will respond. Extreme refinement of the homeopathic technique, it enables to adapt the power of the treatment to your own sensitivity in terms of dynamisation (the more a preparation is shaken, the more it is activated) and of quantity of active substance (according to the number of spoonfuls). Thus, the liquid dosage completely eliminates the notion of aggravation, which is now avoided or, in worst cases, managed easily.