Homeopathy- a short introduction
I decided to write about homeopathy to have a possibility to express what I have learned and at the same time, I am thinking about a few other burning subjects…
So, what is homeopathy without using complicated definitions and words? It is a part of medicine that originated over 200 years ago and it has been around ever since. A part of medicine that encompasses so much and so little at the same time comes to our internal vital force doing a healing process with just some stimulation from a homeopathic remedy.
Here comes the difficult part to understand how homeopathic remedies work, but we will get there. What is important to remember is that at the time Hahnemann, the father of homeopathy, was experimenting and changing his views on homeopathy, the technology to prove the mechanism of its action in our body did not exist!
Nowadays we can finally understand how homeopathic remedies act, which I will explain later.
You can watch a video I made about what is Homeopathy here.
My journey…
Just to start this discussion I want to share my journey to homeopathy. I am a pharmacist who always would advise more natural ways of treatments since I can remember. As well as I used to and even more so today I advise against the overuse of antibiotics.
I never was comfortable just dispensing medicines and with the progression of my role in the hospital, as a clinical pharmacist, I gained some influence in the prescribing process. Seeing a lot of irresponsible antibiotics prescribed in the hospitals my dislike for them turned into almost hate and war! You would probably ask why? What is wrong with antibiotics then that it pushed me away from working in the clinical setting?!
…against the antibiotics and…
Antibiotics can stop life-threatening infections but they do not come without a price, which is the destruction of good bacterial flora and suppression of infection into deeper levels of our body.
To rebuild a good flora inside of our gut it takes around 6 months and in most cases support from probiotics or even better from a variety of probiotics foods. Good gut flora is essential for our digestive system to work properly and it is essential to produce neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine.
The infections being pushed deeper in our body means it can weaken our vital organs and also often we see recurring the same infection in a short time. Also, overuse of antibiotics, especially broad-spectrum antibiotics in indications when you can avoid giving them, is in my opinion a big crime against humanity!
Yes, I am not joking! Poor compliance to follow guidelines in prescribing antibiotics which in a return can become useless (bacteria is becoming resistant) is irresponsible and dangerous for everyone, not only for the patient itself!
Serious side effects after intravenous antibiotics, especially in compromised patients, include Clostridium difficile infection which is a life-threatening condition and it can lead to even more complicated chronic states. All of this has been a huge problem that is on the rise because more and more resistant bacteria exist. Logically, if you try to “kill” bacteria it normally tries to change a form, shape, or mechanism of action to survive. Therefore, it is important to use antibiotics with a narrow spectrum of action to allow unnecessary changes (mutations).
… a place for antibiotics
So yes, antibiotics have usage in life-threatening states and that is how we should think of them! It is not a quick solution for our common colds, sore throats, or earaches! You can read about them in my previous blogs.
Anyway, the origin of those is normally viral so antibiotics are pointless and they can only cause side effects. Sorry for the prolonged antibiotic discussion but I feel not many people are aware of that I am sorry but I have no trust in most of the doctors’ deeper understanding of it….
In many cases, the use of antibiotics is like using a shortcut. Our body has a natural ability to fight infections if we support them properly and homeopathy stimulates the vital force to regain balance and changes the environment so that the bacteria cannot multiply. In many cases, rest, lots of fluids, vitamin C, and homeopathy mean that our body stops being a place where infectious bacteria can thrive any longer!
One of the reasons I could no longer bear a clinical pharmacy setting was the lack of responsibility for prescribing medicines that have so many side effects. I started to look for ways and alternative treatments which can do less harm to patients. At the same time, I wanted something where I can use my previous experience as a pharmacist.
And that is how I found homeopathy shortly after I quit my last hospital job.
My homeopathic journey begins…
When I found homeopathy, I may have thought similar, so it is not surprising that for some people homeopathy seems to be not very scientific.
Often people say that homeopathy does not follow rules or theories, but that is not true.
There are theories and methodologies behind homeopathy which have a very scientific background. It might be hard to understand some of them because they are not mainstream medicine theories.
For example, within homeopathy, we believe that there is “soil” which can make us prone to infections and it is not the actual bacteria that cause them. By soil, it is understood our body and all that comes with it, like imbalances of nutrients or vitamins or not managing stress which can lead to states of diseases.
All of this at some points may cause our immunological system to miss intruders or not be able to deal with a possible overgrowth of less friendly bacteria or candida. It is very important to keep your “soil” nourished to prevent it from being prone to infections! That is why in homeopathy we pay great importance to “the soil” and “building blocks” meaning the food we eat because homeopathic healing sees those things as a possible obstacle to a full cure.
…and continues in a homeopathic pharmacy
My journey then continues and shortly after I started Homeopathic college I joined a homeopathic pharmacy. In my next blogs, I will continue my discussion about the different aspects of homeopathy I learned through college and the homeopathic pharmacy I worked as a homeopathic pharmacist.
For now, if you are curious to know some insight into homeopathic pharmacy you can listen to the Podcast with me by Mary Greensmith below.
Thank you for listening and sharing. Let’s speak about homeopathy.