Australian Homoeopathic Assoc.
Questions and Answers – Homeopathy
The long-term benefit of homeopathy to the patient is that it not only alleviates the presenting symptoms but it reestablishes internal order at the deepest levels and thereby provides a lasting cure.
This information has been taken from the website of Australian Homoeopathic Association
Version: 4th February 2008
The Australian Homoeopathic Association answers frequently asked questions about homoeopathy
INDEX
3. What Conditions Can Homoeopathy Treat ?
5. Why Are People Seeking Alternative Treatments Such As Homoeopathy ?
6. What Risks Are Involved With The Use of Homoeopathy ?
7. How Widespread Is Its Use ?
8. Can The Homoeopathic Effect Be Attributed To Placebo ?
9. How Long Has Homoeopathy Been Used In Australia ?
10. What Successes Has Homoeopathy Had ?
11. Are There Homoeopathic Vaccinations ?
12. Homoeopathy And Orthodox Medicine
13. Is Homoeopathy Covered By Health Funds ?
Australian Homoeopathic Association – National Office PO Box 430, Hastings, VIC 3915 Phone: 03 5979 1558 Website: www.homeopathyoz.org1. WHAT IS HOMOEOPATHY ?
Homoeopathy is a therapy based on the theory of treating like with like. Homoeopaths treat a
patient’s symptoms by giving a highly diluted form of a substance, animal, vegetable, or mineral,
which, taken in a crude dose, would cause similar symptoms when given to a healthy person. In
assessing the patient, homoeopaths often take into account a range of physical, emotional and
lifestyle factors.
Homoeopathy was developed over 200 years ago and is now used worldwide. It is acknowledged
by the World Health Organisation as a valid form of health care. Its effectiveness has been clearly
established by over 200 years of clinical experience and has a pharmacy of over 2000 medicines,
which are non-toxic and non-addictive, owing to their method of preparation.
Homoeopathy is also cost effective.
2. HOW DOES IT WORK ?
Homoeopathy works by using minute doses of substances, which cause symptoms similar to the
illness being treated. Examples of the application of this principle are:
· The use of homoeopathically prepared red onion (Allium Cepa), which, in a crude dose,
would cause watery eyes and sneezing, may be used for hay fever and some allergies.
· The use of homoeopathically prepared coffee (Coffea) as a treatment for insomnia.
The use of Ritalin, a stimulant drug for children suffering from hyperactivity, is an example of the
unacknowledged application of the homoeopathic principle by contemporary orthodox medicine.
Efforts to explain scientifically how homoeopathy works have not been successful to date, but
similarly some drug actions in orthodox medicine have not always been understood either. For
example, the actions of salicylic acid (aspirin) and paracetamol (Panadol) have been used in
orthodox medicine for over 70 years, but have only been fully understood since the 1980’s.
If a homoeopathic medicine is analysed, a pharmacologist would say it consists of water, ethanol and sugar. While such a description is true, it ignores the result that follows from taking the medicine.
A chemist, for example, would accurately describe a compact disk as an object made of plastic and various chemical coatings, but would not detect the presence of music as part of their testing process. Both descriptions are accurate but incomplete.
3. WHAT CONDITIONS CAN HOMOEOPATHY TREAT?
The system of homoeopathy is based on the selection of a medicine that causes symptoms similar to
those that the sick person is experiencing. This ‘Law of Similars’, as it is called, is a practical method
of finding the substance to which a person is sensitive. Wherever a set of symptoms can be
obtained, a condition can be treated. For example, headaches in different patients would each
be treated with different medicines, according to the patient’s individual symptoms. Therefore,
homoeopathy can treat a wide range of chronic and acute illnesses.
4. WHO USES IT ?
The majority of patients seeking homoeopathic treatment have already utilised the conventional
medical system for their complaint. Therefore, it is not uncommon for patients to come to a first
consultation with a confirmed medical diagnosis along with results of medical investigations.
Those who use homoeopathy come from a wide range of socio-economic groups, many of whom
are children and adults from educated, affluent families.
Naturopaths, chiropractors and GP’s may also prescribe homoeopathic remedies as part of their
treatment, depending upon their training.
5. WHY ARE PEOPLE SEEKING ALTERNATIVE TREATMENTS SUCH AS HOMOEOPATHY?
Personal referral from those who have experienced the healing potential of homoeopathy is the major source of new clientele for homoeopaths. Dissatisfaction with orthodox medical treatment is frequently given by patients as a reason for their visiting a homoeopath. The following findings provide evidence for this trend.
- Every year in Australia 14,000 people die from medical errors in hospitals. (1995 figures) (The Australian, March 15, 1999,17).
- 25% of Australian hospital admissions are for iatrogenic (medically induced) or drug related diseases. (Current Therapeutics, July 2000, 76-79).
- A large number of diseases are misdiagnosed by doctors. (Independent Monthly, Oct 1994, 36-43)
- There are 140,000 hospital admissions in Australia every year because of misused pharmaceutical drugs (Australian Journal of Pharmacy, 83, September 2002, 774).
- The total number of adverse reactions to drugs in Australia from the 1999-2000 year (those resulting in hospital admission and those that did not) was 400,000 (Aust Journal of Pharmacy, 83, September 2002, 774).
- The reports of adverse reactions from natural medicine to the Australian Adverse Drug Reactions
Advisory Committee (ADRAC) average 23 per year (Aust Journal of Pharmacy, 83, June 2002, 516-517)
6. WHAT RISKS ARE INVOLVED WITH THE USE OF HOMOEOPATHY?
Homoeopathy carries few risks in its practice, when compared to other therapies. The method of
preparation of homoeopathic remedies makes them non toxic and non addictive.
7. HOW WIDESPREAD IS ITS USE?
Homoeopathy is used throughout the developed world. According to the WHO, 30 million Europeans
use homoeopathy. In the UK, homoeopathy is available in five National Health Service (NHS) centres.
NHS is the equivalent of the Medicare system. In 1993 37% of GP’s practiced homoeopathy and 42%
referred their patients to a homoeopath. A University of Exeter report found that 2696 people were
members of homoeopathic practitioner organisations. The Royal family has used it since 1830 and it
has a wide acceptance throughout Europe. In France, the most popular cold and flu remedy is a
homoeopathic medicine. Homoeopathy is also used extensively in the developing world, due to its
easy access, cost effectiveness and low risk profile. Over 10.000 doctors in India use homoeopathic
medicine to treat their patients. Homoeopathy is also used in veterinary medicine, both in Australia
8. CAN THE HOMOEOPATHIC EFFECT BE ATTRIBUTED TO PLACEBO?
This is the topic of many discussions about homoeopathy. Homoeopathy is effective on animals and
children, which discounts the placebo theory. Research data is available in The Lancet Linde, K. et
al. (1997). “Are the clinical effects of homoeopathy placebo effect? A meta-analysis of placebo controlled
trials.” Lancet vol. 350 pp. 834-843. The trend of the studies is that homoeopathy is
effective above placebo and requires further study.
9. HOW LONG HAS HOMOEOPATHY BEEN USED IN AUSTRALIA?
The first homoeopath to come to Australia was Englishman Dr Stephen Simpson, who arrived in
Sydney in 1840.
Homoeopathy started to become very popular in Australia during the time of the gold rush in the
1850s, which brought more doctors, some of whom used homoeopathy, and other settlers who
carried their own homoeopathic supplies.
More information about the history of homoeopathy in Australia may be obtained from the AHA’s
website: www.homeopathyoz.org
Back to index…
10. WHAT SUCCESSES HAS HOMOEOPATHY HAD?
Homoeopathy has gained increasing acceptance in Britain, Europe and the United States since the
19th century owing to its success in treating people during various infectious disease epidemics. The
death rates from cholera, scarlet fever, typhoid, and yellow fever, following homoeopathic
treatment were significantly lower than from the orthodox medical treatment of the era.
For example, of 61 patients treated homoeopathically at the London Homoeopathic Hospital during
the cholera epidemic of 1854, there were 15 deaths – whereas at the Middlesex hospital, where
conventional treatments were given, there were 123 deaths from 231 cases. The comparative
death rates were 16.4% for homoeopathic treatment and 53.2% for conventional treatment. (British
Homoeopathic Journal, October 1989, Vol.78)
The yellow fever epidemic in New Orleans and the Mississippi Valley in 1878 is another example of
homoeopathic success. In New Orleans, 1945 cases were treated homoeopathically with 110
deaths (mortality of 5.6%). In the rest of the South, 1969 cases were treated homoeopathically with
151 deaths (mortality of 7.7%). This is a favourable comparison with a mortality rate for conventional
treatment of at least 16%. (Harris Coulter, [1982, 2nd edition] Divided Legacy: The Conflict between
Homoeopathy and the American Medical Association, pp.298-302)
The effectiveness of homoeopathic treatment for the 1918 ‘flu epidemic in USA is particularly striking.
Julian Winston’s [1999] The Faces of Homoeopathy: An illustrated history of the first 200 years (pp.236-
237) quotes from the findings in W.A. Dewey’s article “A Chorus of Fifty in Harmony” in the Journal of
the American Institute of Homoeopathy in 1921:
1. A Philadelphian Homoeopath, Dean Pearson collected 26,795 cases treated
homoeopathically with a mortality rate of 1.05% compared with a rate of 30% for
conventional treatment.
2. Frank Wieland M.D. of Chicago told how in a plant of 8000 workers there was only one
death. Gelsemium was practically the only remedy prescribed and neither aspirin nor
vaccines were used.
Contemporary examples of Homoeopathy’s effectiveness are outlined in the next two sections. Back to index…
11. ARE THERE HOMOEOPATHIC VACCINATIONS?
The term homoeopathic vaccination is a misnomer. Vaccination, a well understood medical term,
relies on antibody formation. Homoeopathic medicines do not rely on antibody formation. They
affect the patient’s initial pre-disposition to an illness, rather than the antibody/antigen reaction.
There is a long history in homoeopathy of disease prevention, using miniscule doses of the disease
material for disease protection. When a homoeopathic medicine is given to help protect the
patient against infectious diseases, the correct description is “Homoeoprophylaxis”.
Homoeoprophylaxis has been used for 200 years in homoeopathy and precedes modern
vaccination. There are numerous documented examples of the successful use of
homoeoprophylaxis throughout history.
There are two contemporary examples of its use in Brazil:
- In 1974 during an epidemic of meningitis in Brazil, 18,640 children were treated
homoeoprophylactically and 6,340 were not. In the treated group four cases of meningitis
were reported, in the untreated group, 32 cases were reported. Dr F X Eizayaga, Treatise on
Homoeopathic Medicine E Marecel, Buenos Aires pp 282-286.
- On the basis of this, in 1998 in Blumenau, Brazil, a large-scale investigation of the use of
homoeoprophylaxis was undertaken in persons between 0 and 20 years. In the first six months
of administration, the following results were obtained: of the 65,826 protected
homoeopathically, one case was reported. Of the 23,532 not protected, 7 cases were
reported. A 12-month follow -up reported 3 cases in the protected group and 13 cases in the
unprotected group. Statistical analysis demonstrated a 95% protection in children under six
months and 91% protection in children over 12 months. Ref: Meningococcin, its Protective
Effect against Meningococcal Disease, Homoeopathic LINKS Winter, 2001 Vol 14 (4) 230-4
Mroninski C, Adriano E, Mattos G.
Australian studies on homoeoprophylaxis have also been undertaken by homoeopath and
statistician Isaac Golden. He completed a PhD on this topic with Swinburne University in Melbourne
in 2005. His findings include the results of a ten-year longitudinal study and are documented in the
books:
Vaccination ? A Review of Risks and Alternatives 5th Ed 1997 ISBN 0-7316 8099-5 National
Library Canberra (02) 62621434
Homoeoprophylaxis: A Ten Year Clinical Study ISBN 0-646-32054 National Library Canberra
Homoeoprophylaxis: A Practical and Philosophical Review ISBN 0-646-19529-8 National Library
Canberra
PhD Thesis, Swinburne University, Melbourne
It is interesting to note that some pharmacological agents which are currently used in conventional
medicine to augment a person’s immune system – immunisation and allergy treatments, are based
on the ancient (and modern) pharmacological principle of “similars.” This, as already outlined, is the
basis of the homoeopathic theory and practice.
12. HOMOEOPATHY AND ORTHODOX MEDICINE
Homoeopathy has been practised for two hundred years. Throughout its history it has experienced
an uneasy relationship with orthodox medicine. This has not been homoeopathy’s choice. Its
successes have been belittled or ignored.
Those critics who maintain that homoeopathy is ‘useless’, ‘quackery’, ‘purely placebo’ need to ask
themselves why it is used more widely than ever. Its claims and record of safe use deserve objective
assessment rather than prejudiced opposition.
13. IS HOMOEOPATHY COVERED BY HEALTH FUNDS?
All major health funds except Medibank Private provide cover for homoeopathic treatment.