Homeopathy Beyond Flat Earth Medicine by Timothy R

HOMEOPATHY
Beyond Flat Earth

Medicine
An Essential Guide for the
Homeopathic Patient
Timothy R. Dooley, N.D., M.D.
Timing Publications
San Diego
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thanks to the follow ing for their reading of the initial
m anuscripts, helpful com m ents, or other contributions: Lynne
Sm ith, K am ala O tee, M artin Bloch, M .D ., D ennis G ay, M arnie
Vail, M .D ., Tanya K ell, K atherine D ublinski, Jade B iagioni,
John Collins, N .D ., Carol Bloch, Jacquelyn W ilson, M .D ..
Special thanks to m y w ife, M ing, for her help in every phase
of this project.
HOMEOPATHY: Beyond Flat Earth Medicine. Copyright 1995 by
Tim othy R. D ooley. All rights reserved. Printed in the U nited States of
Am erica. N o part of this book m ay be used or reproduced in any m anner
w hatsoever w ithout w ritten perm ission except in the case of brief quotations
em bodied in critical articles or review s. For inform ation, address Tim ing
Publications, 4095 Jackdaw Street, San D iego, CA 92103.
Editing: Paul Bergner
Typography and design: K am ala O tee and M ing D ooley
Cover layout and design: K am ala O tee
Cover art: Tim D ooley
ISBN 1-886893-00-4
Library of Congress Catalogue Card N um ber: 95-60000
Publishers Note:
The ideas, procedures, and suggestions contained in this book are not intended as a
substitute for consulting w ith your physician.
See back page for ordering information.
Dedication
To my children:
Eamon, Shane, Conan, and Brennan,
who,
along with my wife, Ming,
create the home in
homeopathy.
The Phlat Earth
Illustration by Eamon Dooley
One who drew it, One who never saw it, One who understood it, and One who wanted to eat it.
Contents
Preface.............................................................viii
1. Beyond the Flat Earth....................................1
The w hole earth view .............................................................3
A new perspective in m edicine..............................................4
Flat-earth m edicine .................................................................5
The shortcom ings of the disease approach ...........................6
2. The Basics of Homeopathy.........................10
The law of sim ilars................................................................11
The nam e homeopathy ...................................................... 11
The m inim um dose ...............................................................12
Proving of m edicines............................................................13
From provings to therapy .....................................................14
The M ateria M edica...............................................................15
3. The Brilliance of Homeopathy...................17
The disease sym ptom s..........................................................18
The patients sym ptom s........................................................18
M edicine for the disease .......................................................19
M edicine for the patient.......................................................20
Treating the patient instead of the disease..........................20
The balance of health and disease ......................................21
4. A Cured Case..............................................24
5. A Brief History...........................................34
H om eopathy in the ancient w orld .......................................34
The science of hom eopathy .................................................35
M edicine in the tim e of H ahnem ann ...................................35
H ahnem ann starts a revolution ............................................37
O rganized m edicine opposes hom eopathy.........................38
H om eopathy crosses the Atlantic.........................................39
The tw entieth century...........................................................40
Survival into the 1960s..........................................................41
H om eopathic revival.............................................................42
Professional associations and certification ..........................42
6. Non-toxic Medicines..................................43
A patients experience ..........................................................43
M eta-m olecular m edicines....................................................44
Proper preparation is essential.............................................45
Im m unity to oxidation ..........................................................45
Sensitivity to electrom agnetic properties.............................46
M echanism of action not understood ..................................46
A biologic principle ..............................................................48
H ahnem anns perspective ....................................................48
7. Understanding Vital Force..........................49
An old and w ell-know n concept.........................................49
H ahnem ann on vital force ....................................................50
Rejected by m odern science.................................................51
The w hole person view ........................................................51
A unifying factor...................................................................52
8. Healing with Homeopathy........................53
H ow long w ill it take before I notice a change?.................54
W hat w ill I notice first?.........................................................54
H ow long until Im w ell?......................................................54
Then how w ill I know if Im getting better?........................54
W hy did m y friend get w orse before she got better?.........55
H ow often should I take the rem edy?.................................55
If Im getting better, w hy should I follow -up?.....................55
W ill I need m ore than one rem edy?....................................56
Contents v
vi Contents
W hat w ill get w ell first?........................................................56
W hat does return of old sym ptom s m ean?..........................57
W hat about acute diseases?..................................................57
9. How to Get Results....................................59
Classical hom eopathy ...........................................................60
The practitioner.....................................................................60
Be com m itted ........................................................................61
Prepare for the interview ......................................................62
Interview ing the fam ily .........................................................64
Avoid interfering substances ................................................64
The bottom line.....................................................................65
10. Special Situations......................................66
Pregnancy ..............................................................................67
Children .................................................................................67
H om e health ..........................................................................68
Anim als..................................................................................69
Candida..................................................................................70
H orm one replacem ent, m enopause, and osteoporosis ......71
11. Homeopathy and
Conventional Medicine............................74
An over-m edicated population ............................................75
D iffering approaches ............................................................76
W here to use conventional care ..........................................76
Antibiotic overuse .................................................................77
Surgery...................................................................................78
Conventional m edications ....................................................78
A gray area ............................................................................79
12. Homeopathy and Alternative Therapies.80
Alternative therapy ................................................................81
H olistic m edicine ..................................................................81
Contents vii
N aturopathy...........................................................................82
N utrition .................................................................................83
H erbal m edicines ..................................................................84
Acupuncture ..........................................................................85
The m ad rush ........................................................................85
13. Homeopathic Remedies............................86
Sources ..................................................................................87
Appearance ...........................................................................88
Labeling requirem ents ..........................................................89
Prescription and unavailable rem edies................................89
Com bination rem edies..........................................................91
Care of the rem edies.............................................................92
H ow to take a rem edy ..........................................................92
14. Changing Your View.................................94
So w hat now ?........................................................................96
Falling off the edge ...............................................................97
Personal responsibility ..........................................................97
The final w ord .......................................................................98
Appendices.....................................................100
1. Potentization of m edicines............................................100
2. A sam ple rem edy ...........................................................102
3. Resources .......................................................................104
4. Research studies ............................................................108
Index...............................................................109
Preface
For years m y patients have asked m e, W hat book
do you recom m end I read to learn about hom eopathy?
D espite an abundance of books on the subject, there
w as no single book w hich I felt sufficiently explained the
concepts and inform ation needed.
So, I w rote one. This book is based on m y ow n
experiences and observations, w hich over the years have
confirm ed the basic theories of hom eopathy.
Few people really get itw hen they are first
introduced to hom eopathy. The concepts are straightfor-
w ard, yet som ehow elusive. People attem pt to understand
and interpret hom eopathy based on their prior education
and experience. This is only natural, but w ill lim it their
ability to perceive som ething truly different.
M ost physicians foolishly reject hom eopathy, de-
spite the fact that they know nothing about it. A fter all, how
valid can it be if they, the experts, w ere not taught about it
in m edical school?
H om eopathy, how ever, stands on its ow n. Its
increasing popularity and use suggests that all healthcare
providers, w hether or not they agree w ith hom eopathy,
should at least be fam iliar w ith its basic tenets and those
w ho practice it responsibly.
Chapter 1
Beyond the
Flat Earth
I had just opened my naturopathic practice in 1978
when a 25-year-old nursing mother entered my office.
Her complaint was mastitis, a painful infection of the
breast. The problem had begun some five or six weeks
earlier. She had just completed her second course of
antibiotic therapy from her medical doctor. Each time the
antibiotics ran out, the problem would recur with a ven-
geance. She had continued to breast-feed throughout the
ordeal.
The patient was in a great deal of pain. She said it felt
as if the pain radiated from her breast throughout her whole
body.
She had a fever with a temperature of around 101 F.
On examination her right breast showed an angry red streak
extending along its side. It was very tender to touch.
I took her case according to the homeopathic system
and prescribed a medicine for her. It was the homeopathic
remedy known as Phytolacca 30C.
I was inexperienced at that time in treating complaints
of this nature. I knew this could turn into a much worse
condition, such as breast abscess, and thought perhaps she
really should be on antibiotics. But she was fed up with the
antibiotic approach and insisted on trying the remedy.
2 Homeopathy: Beyond Flat Earth Medicine
I told her to call the office first thing in the morning and
report how she was doing. She agreed and went on her way.
That night I lay awake in bed with anxiety. I suspected
it had been irresponsible for me to treat this patient homeo-
pathically. I feared she had already taken a turn for the worse
and perhaps was at the hospital emergency room.
The next morning when I arrived at the office, I pulled
her chart and called her without waiting to see if she would
report in as agreed.
She was surprised to receive a call from her doctor.
How are you doing today? I inquired.
Im fine, she said. The pills worked.
What do you mean the pills worked? I asked.
Well, I mean they worked. Its all gone.
You mean, the infection is all well, the fever and
everything? I asked, unable to hide my incredulity.
Yes, its all fine . . . isnt that what was supposed to
happen?
Er, ah, why yes, of course that was what was sup-
posed to happen. I was just checking up, I replied, regaining
my professional composure. I told her to stop taking the
medicine, and to call me if there was any recurrence.
From that moment, I gazed on my little white homeo-
pathic globules with new found respect. I had not thought it
was possible for such an infection, with such an acute
presentation, to completely disappear overnight. On one
dose of the remedy!
When I saw her a month or so later during a visit for her
child, she told me the infection had started to come back
about a week after the remedy, so she had taken a second
dose and everything stayed well after that.
Beyond the Flat Earth 3
This kind of remarkable cure becomes more common
as one gains experience in homeopathic prescribing. The
secret is individualizing, treating each patient as a unique
whole.
The whole earth view
Few people today w ould argue that the earth is flat.
Everyday experiences such as satellite television and airplane
travel all attest to the sim ple fact that the earth is a sphere.
But it w asnt alw ays so. Even to this day, because of
its enorm ous size, the earth appears flat to the earthbound
observer. W e still refer to the end of the day as the sunset,
indulging in the illusion that it is the sun w hich has m oved
behind the visible horizon.
In the past, people w ere taught from birth that the earth
w as flat. Science, religion, and com m on sense all com bined to
reinforce this perspective. It is easy to appreciate the great
conflict that arose am ong these people w hen new theories of
a spherical earth suggested that their w orld view w as inaccu-
rate. It w as im possible for those clinging to the flat view to
appreciate the spherical perspective as long as flat thinking w as
used in its evaluation.
As such, those advocating the spherical earth appeared
to be talking nonsense. Y ou could see the earth w as flat, that
the sun m oved across the sky, that things fell dow n, that w ater
lay flat. All the existing technologies, and there w ere m any, had
been developed on a flat w orld and w orked beautifully (they
still do today!).
Eventually this conflict w as resolved w hen the flat view
w as understood to be encom passed w ithin the m ore com pre-
hensive spherical view . The flat view w orks to a point, but is
only a lim ited perspective of the sam e spherical earth.
A new perspective in medicine
A conflict as basic as the flat earth versus spherical earth
has existed in the w orld of m edicine for the past 200 years. At
that tim e, a new theory w as advanced by a G erm an physician,
Sam uel H ahnem ann. H is theory represented a radical depar-
ture from the accepted view of health and disease.
H ahnem ann proposed that disease is a process that
affects the patient as a w hole and that m edicines can be applied
in sm all, non-toxic doses to treat the patient directly instead of
just treating the disease. For reasons w hich w ill be explained,
he called this new system of m edicine homeopathy.
Conventional m edicine continues to take the older
approach. The diseases are treated, not the patient. In fact, the
concept of treating the patient directly, as opposed to the
disease, does not even exist!
To this day, conventional m edicines are still classified
according to the diseases w hich they treat. For exam ple, anti-
inflam m atories treat inflam m ation, anticonvulsants treat con-
vulsions, and antibiotics kill bacteria.
The idea of a m edicine directly treating a patient is
quite different from this disease approach. The basic idea is
that the m edicine stim ulates the natural recuperative processes
of the patient tow ards health. The disease resolves naturally
as the patient recovers. The disease is not being directly treated
and so, for a given disease, there are hundreds of m edicines
w hich m ight be indicated. It depends on the patient. Likew ise,
for a given m edicine, there are hundreds of diseases in w hich
it m ight be indicated. It depends again on the patient.
Surprisingly, these ideas are as new to m ost of us now
as they w ere 200 years ago w hen first form ulated. Y et
hom eopathy is a highly developed science and is used
throughout the w orld.
Flat-earth medicine
Conventional m edicine is flat earthin that it ap-
proaches health problem s from the perspective of the disease
instead of the patient. Just as the earth appears flat and the sun
appears to revolve around the earth, so also it appears that
physicians are treating patients w hen treating their diseases.
This is not true! As you w ill see, it is possible to treat the patient
directly, as a w hole.
As you progress through this book, youll see how the
hom eopathic approach to the patient is m ore com prehensive
and encom passes the conventional disease approach in m uch
the sam e w ay as the spherical earth view encom passes the flat
view . Just as the technologies w hich developed on the flat
earth continue to w ork and be used today, so also the disease
treatm ents that have developed w ork fine . . . but only w ithin
the disease perspective.
And just as the spherical earth can not be understood
as long as flat thinking is used in its evaluation, so also
hom eopathy m akes little sense if only conventional m edical
thinking is used in trying to understand it. A new perspective
is required a perspective you w ill get from this book.
After graduating from National College of Naturo-
pathic Medicine in 1978, I spent a number of years in my
naturopathic practice in southern Oregon. I gained much
firsthand experience in many facets of natural healing. With
my partner and two midwives, I ran a home birth program and
delivered babies both in town and in homes out in the woods.
Using spinal manipulation, I treated mill workers with sore
backs. Some of my patients received nutritional therapy, and
many benefited from the herbs which grew in the surrounding
forests and fields.
But my first love was always homeopathy. I used it in
patients young and old for conditions as simple as colds, as
chronic as arthritis, and as acute as infections. I learned that
all types of healing and healthcare have a place, but home-
opathy has a special place. It is safe, yet effective, and is
based on clear principles.
The reactions of the local medical doctors to our
presence were varied. Some were respectful, but wary, while
others were openly antagonistic. Its against medical ethics
for me to even talk to you! an ophthalmologist once screamed
at me over the phone.
These doctors did not seem to share our conviction
that all forms of healing have a place, that it all depends on the
needs of the patient.
The shortcomings of the disease approach
Everyone today know s that there have been benefits
from the conventional disease approach to healthcare. D eadly
diseases of the past, such as pneum onia, are treated routinely
w ith great success. But consider the follow ing discussions
betw een the im aginary D r. Sm ith and a few of his patients.
#1 Im sorry, M rs. Jones. All m y tests indicate you
are in perfect health.
But D r. Sm ith, I feel terrible so m uch of the tim e. Isnt
there som ething else w e can do?
W ell, som etim es a trial course of antidepressants is
helpful.
Disease model problem: If the disease cannot be
diagnosed, there can be no treatm ent.
This is a m uch bigger problem than w ould appear on
the surface. First of all, m ost patients have had various
sym ptom s for years before a diagnosable problem arises. They
are told to use one drug or another for sym ptom atic relief until
finally a definitive diagnosis can be m ade.
It should be obvious that the patient w as sick long
before the disease could be diagnosed. People have sym ptom s
because som ething is w rong, but m odern m edicine, w ith
alm ost pathological egotism , dares to tell people they are fine
w hen they do not feel w ell. D oes conventional m edicine know
everything? O f course not. W hen they say, Everything is fine,
it m ust be in your head,w hat they should be saying is, W e
cant identify a know n disease diagnosis for your com plaints.
Even if a diagnosis is m ade, it isnt necessarily correct.
Various studies have determ ined that diagnoses m ade by
physicians are correct only around fifty to seventy five per cent
of the tim e. The disease treatm ent for an incorrectly diagnosed
problem obviously w ill be of little help and m ay be quite
harm ful.
#2 D r. Sm ith, Jim m y has been coughing for three w eeks!
Isnt there som ething w e can give him ?
Jim m ys lab tests indicate this is a viral syndrom e and
antibiotics are not effective against viruses. H ow ever, if you
like, w e could try a course and see if it helps.
Disease model problem: For m any diagnosable
conditions, no treatm ent exists.
O nce again, this is a m uch bigger problem than it m ight
appear on the surface. At least D r. Sm ith has been honest in
acknow ledging the treatm ent w ill probably be of little value.
U nfortunately conventional physicians routinely over-diag-
nose and over-treat m any com plaints. In such situations, the
patient gets w ell in spite of the treatm ent, not because of it.
#3 This is Carols fifth ear infection this year, D r. Sm ith.
The m edicine is costing $75 per course. Isnt there som ething
w e can do to prevent this from recurring?
W ell, perhaps a course of low dose antibiotics in
betw een infections w ill help. If not, Ill give you a referral to
a specialist for the placem ent of tubes in the ears.
Disease model problem: Treatm ent for recurring
problem s does little to prevent future incidents.
H ealth problem s recur due to continued susceptibility
in the patient, but the disease approach rarely addresses this
susceptibility. Each recurrence is treated as if it is a new
problem resulting in a revolving-door experience for the
patient: treatm ent, recurrence, treatm ent, recurrence, etc.
D r. Sm ith is probably a sincere individual doing his best
to help the patients. Y et the above scenarios represent only a
fraction of the lim itations of the disease m odel in healthcare.
Consider the further problem s of drug side effects and adverse
reactions. Consider the terrible problem of increasing bacterial
resistance to antibiotics due to their overuse.
Consider the cost of healthcare. The disease m odel
requires the developm ent of increasingly sophisticated tech-
nologies to diagnose diseases w ith greater certainty. A few
patients certainly benefit, but m ost are m erely undergoing
increasingly expensive evaluations that find nothing or dis-
cover that they have a disease w here no satisfactory treatm ent
exists.
W hen this disease m odel is prom oted as the only viable
avenue to healthcare it becom es m ore than just a disease m odel
it becom es flat-earth m edicine. It becom es a fixed view that
blinds one to the benefits of any other perspective.
There have been m any benefits through the develop-
m ent of the disease-oriented view . H om eopathic physicians
have, from the beginning, recognized the need for surgery,
nutrition, and other m odalities. B ut the flat-earth approach of
using m edicines only to treat diseases, not patients, is of lim ited
value and carries a m uch greater risk than m any people
currently recognize.
Chapter 2
The Basics of
Homeopathy
As the years went by, I decided to return to conven-
tional medical school. There was no single reason for this, I
loved naturopathic medicine and homeopathy. I did want to
learn more about such things as emergency medicine and
surgery and I felt more training would make me a better
doctor. But perhaps more than this was the desire to see what
it was like from the other side, to see if I was missing
something that conventional medicine had. I wanted to see
if medical doctors really had some kind of special knowledge
to justify their superior attitude, some knowledge to which I
was not a party.
My time as a student at Oregon Health Sciences
University School of Medicine passed quickly. The first two
years were the basic science years. I was accustomed to
these from naturopathic medical school and they were mostly
review to me. The second two years were mostly hospital
work, doing rotations in various specialities such as surgery,
pediatrics, and psychiatry.
As the time passed, I began to realize that something
was indeed missing, not with me, however, but with conven-
tional medicine! It lacked an underlying perspective or basis
in approaching patients. There was no real appreciation for
the ability of the body to heal itself. The patients diseases
were treated, often with love and caring, but there was not
even a concept of working with the natural recuperative
powers of the patient. Patients were treated as broken
biochemical machines.
I learned a great deal in my medical training and met
many fine people, but the wonder and enchantment of natural
healing were nowhere to be found. I came to realize that no
conventional medical specialty could satisfy me, that I would
return to homeopathy.
The law of similars
The practice of hom eopathy is based on an observation
called the law of similars. W hat this m eans, in sim ple term s,
is that w hat a substance can cause, it can cure.
For exam ple, H ahnem anns initial experim ents w ere
w ith Cinchona bark, from w hich quinine is derived. H e found
that if it is given in daily doses to a healthy person it can cause
sym ptom s sim ilar to m alaria. Indeed, this sam e Cinchona is
curative in m any patients w ith m alaria.
There are m any exam ples of this principle of like cures
like. Everyone know s how coffee keeps people aw ake and
alert. In hom eopathy it is used in very sm all doses to cure
patients w ith just that sam e kind of insom nia associated w ith
an overly alert m ind.
The name homeopathy
As H ahnem ann developed this idea of sim ilars into a
science he gave it the nam e homeopathy. The G reek roots to
this w ord are homoios m eaning sim ilarand pathos m eaning
suffering. So the nam e hom eopathy reflects the basic theory
as w ell as the m ode of treatm ent. That is, a substance can be
The Basics of Homeopathy 11
used as a m edicine w hen the sym ptom s that the patient is
experiencing are sim ilar to the sym ptom s that a healthy
individual w ould experience if they w ere taking that sam e
substance.
H ahnem ann also nam ed the conventional system of
m edicine. Since these doctors give patients substances that
cause sym ptom s different from those they are experiencing,
the proper nam e is allopathy (allo m eaning other). The
appropriate nam e for conventional m edicine rem ains allo-
pathic m edicine and this term , allopathy, is used at tim es in this
book.
The minimum dose
Above all do no harm is an ancient m edical m axim
w hich is follow ed in hom eopathy. H ahnem ann w as faced w ith
the problem of trying to use m edicines in such a w ay that they
w ouldnt cause m ore problem s. H e found that if a m edicine
w as w ell indicated by its sim ilar sym ptom s, it could be given
in very sm all doses w ith excellent results.
Through experim ents he developed a system called
potentization. In this system , m edicines are diluted in a series
of dilutions. The end result is a non-toxic medicine w hich still
retains its ability to cure if it is hom eopathically indicated.
This process of potentization is described in detail in
Appendix 1 at the end of the book. For a com plete understand-
ing of hom eopathy, it is recom m ended that you read it at som e
point.
Suffice to say that hom eopathic rem edies are dis-
pensed in different strengths referred to as potencies. The
potency of the rem edy is indicated by the num ber and the letter
w hich follow the nam e of the m edicine. For exam ple, Pulsatilla
30C is m ade from the herb Pulsatilla N igricans. It has been
diluted 30 tim es w ith a dilution factor of 1/100 each tim e (C
m eans centesim al). It has also been succussed (agitated by
vigorous shaking) betw een each dilution.
The larger the num ber follow ing the nam e of the
m edicine, the m ore tim es it has been diluted and shaken. Since
these higher dilutions generally act longer and deeper than the
low er dilutions (if w ell prescribed according to their hom eo-
pathic indications), they are referred to as high potencies.
This is quite different from the regular m edicines w ith
w hich w e are all fam iliar, w here a high potency usually m eans
a larger dose of m edicine rather than a m ore diluted m edicine.
Since they are so different, hom eopathic m edicines are often
referred to as remedies. As you read on through the book, the
term remedy w ill often be used w hen referring to these very
sm all doses of hom eopathic m edicines.
Proving of medicines
For the study of substances as potential m edicines,
H ahnem ann conducted a series of experim ents called prov-
ings. G roups of healthy volunteers w ould take sm all doses of
a substance on a daily basis. The volunteers kept journals of
all sym ptom s they experienced in the course of the study. In
this w ay, an accurate and consistent picture of the effects of the
substance on hum an health could be obtained.
H ahnem ann w as interested in the effects of m edicines
on the w hole person. Therefore, subjects in the provings
recorded not only their physical sym ptom s in great detail, but
also inform ation on sleep, appetite, thirst, sensations, heat,
cold, em otions, desires, thoughts, and the like.
O f special note is the fact that the m edicines are proven
on hum ans, not anim als. The response of people to the
substances used in provings w as im m ediately know n, even the
effects on hum an em otions and thinking.
Anything that can cause sym ptom s can be studied in
this w ay. Substances that have been studied in provings can
then be used as m edicines in hom eopathy. In the course of
hom eopathic history, things as varied as herbs, m inerals,
poisons, foods, and bacteria have been studied and are used
today as non-toxic m edicines.
I got a call one day from a patient. Her daughter had
been ill for a week with fever and cough. She had given her
various remedies at home without success.
She said that the cough came on very bad at night
when the girl lay down in bed. She had little appetite or thirst.
Most peculiar was the fact that the fever came on every day
at 2 PM like clockwork.
I looked in my homeopathic repertory (a book index-
ing symptoms with remedies) for fever at 2 PM. Sure enough,
right there in black and white was her remedy, homeopathic
Pulsatilla. This remedy also has cough lying down, and
decreased appetite and thirst.
The patient responded dramatically to the remedy
with quick resolution of her illness.
The homeopathic repertory which I consulted was
written 100 years ago! Unlike much in modern medicine, the
knowledge in homeopathy does not become outdated over
time. On the contrary, the knowledge of the remedies and
how to apply them continues to grow. Provings conducted
those many years ago continue to be valid to this day.
From provings to therapy
Just as people have characteristics that distinguish
them as individuals, the various provings brought out the
individual nature of different m edicines. Som e disposed
people to feel chilly, som e m ade people w arm . Som e
produced a thirst for large am ounts of cold drinks, others for
sips of w arm drinks, w hile others caused a decreased thirst.
Som e caused various kinds of rashes. Som e produced sensa-
tions of fear: of the dark, of dogs, of w ater, of death. Som e
produced unusual food cravings. The provings brought out the
various features of each substance; w hat m ade it unique in its
effects on hum an health.
H ahnem ann then took the inform ation from the provings
and began applying it to sick patients. W hen a patient w as
found to be displaying sym ptom s characteristic of a particular
substance, that substance w as applied in sm all doses as a
m edicine.
W hen a proving dem onstrated a sym ptom in the test
subjects, and the substance also cured that sym ptom in a sick
patient, that sym ptom w as then considered a valid character-
istic of that hom eopathic m edicine. The sym ptom could then
be added to the com pilation of m edicinal indications called the
hom eopathic Materia Medica.
The Materia Medica
In hom eopathy the indications for a m edicine are not
the disease diagnosis nor the m edical condition to be treated,
as is the case w ith conventional m edicine. Instead, the
hom eopathic indications are sim ply all the various effects and
sym ptom s w hich can be both caused and cured by the
m edicine.
In the M ateria M edica, these indications are recorded
for each m edicine in a system atic fashion beginning w ith the
m ind and progressing throughout the different parts of the
body. Indications are described in precise detail so that the
practitioner can m atch the unique and peculiar indications for
each rem edy to the indications in ill patients.
Appendix 2 at the end of the book show s a rem edy (in
part) as a sam ple M ateria M edica listing.
I tried homeopathy . . . it doesnt work, the man in the
back row with the raised hand said.
Curious, I asked him to explain.
Well, homeopathy means like cures like, right? So
one time my daughter had the stomach flu and was throwing
up a lot. I went and got her some homeopathic Ipecac. You
know, the same stuff as in the medicine chest used to cause
vomiting. I figured since it causes vomiting, it should work to
cure it. It didnt do a thing to help.
This man still had some interest in homeopathy, or
else he wouldnt be attending one of my introductory lectures.
In response I said, This is a common mistake people
make about homeopathy. You are right, like cures like
means that if a substance causes vomiting, it can cure
vomiting. However, it must be the same type of vomiting.
The only type of vomiting I know of is the kind where
the contents of your stomach comes out, the man interjected.
Thats right, if you only look at the stomach there is
just one type. But look at the whole patient. Many substances
cause vomiting. Yet each one is actually different in some
way. Homeopathic Ipecac works for vomiting patients if and
only if they have the same symptoms which Ipecac causes.
Namely, relentless nausea. This is peculiar. Most patients
feel better after vomiting, but in those who need Ipecac the
nausea is not relieved by vomiting.
There are a great many possible remedies for pa-
tients with stomach flu. The appropriate remedy must be
chosen for the individual for good results.
Chapter 3
The Brilliance
of Homeopathy
I did my residency training at Highland Hospital in
Oakland, California, a trauma center that serves a largely
inner city population.
In both medical school and residency, I found it best
not to advertise my naturopathic background. Some people
in medicine find it interesting, but many just cant handle it.
They can no longer relate to you as an intelligent or caring
person, you are now one of them.
As my training progressed, I gained much of the
experience I was looking for in medicine. I became more
comfortable with such things as trauma, emergencies, and
intensive care.
The difference between homeopathy and conven-
tional medicine also became more clear. Conventional
medicine looks for what is the same between patients and
then applies a uniform treatment to the disease. In homeopa-
thy, we look for what is different, what makes each person
unique, so we can treat the patient.
H om eopathy is sim ple, really. It is the w hole person
w ho is affected by disease and it is the w hole person w ho
responds to m edicines.
To appreciate how the w hole person is affected by
disease or m edicines, w e have only to look at their sym ptom s.
This is the secret to understanding how hom eopathy differs
from conventional m edicine in a w ay as basic as the difference
betw een the spherical earth and flat earth.
The disease symptoms
W hen som eone is ill, they have m any sym ptom s, m ost
of w hich are ignored by conventional m edicine but are of great
im portance in hom eopathy. Conventional m edicine recog-
nizes and uses only those sym ptom s w hich indicate w hat
disease the patient has.
For exam ple, suppose a patient has asthm a. Theyll go
to the doctor w ith shortness of breath and w heezing. B reathing
tests w ill be abnorm al. They m ay have an allergic history and
often have had previous asthm a attacks.
A conscientious physician m ay also com plete a full
history, exam , and laboratory evaluation. But, barring any
surprises, the physician already has all the inform ation needed
to diagnose and treat the disease based on the disease
sym ptom s. Virtually all asthm atics receive the sam e treatm ent
by conventional physicians.
The signs and sym ptom s w hich w ere used to diagnose
this disease are about the sam e for each person and are referred
to as the disease symptoms. They are of little value, how ever,
in prescribing for the w hole person.
The patients symptoms
It is the other sym ptom s, the ones w hich are either
ignored or never elicited in conventional m edicine, that allow
The Brilliance of Homeopathy 19
a view of the w hole person and the individual response to the
disease.
To continue w ith the exam ple of asthm a, every asth-
m atic has m any sym ptom s beyond the disease sym ptom s. The
shortness of breath m ay be caused in one person by going into
the open air, but this m ay relieve the shortness of breath in
another. O ne m ay be thirsty for sips of cold drinks, another
m ay have no thirst. O ne m ay be sw eaty, another dry. O ne m ay
feel w orse after m idnight, another in the m orning. O ne m ay
be craving salt, another sw eets. O ne m ay be relieved at the
seashore, another aggravated. O ne m ay be irritable, another
w eepy.
The point is that people respond as a w hole, as an
organism , to disease influences. This response is visible
throughout the person as various signs and sym ptom s. In
hom eopathy, all these sym ptom s taken together represent the
patients symptoms.
It is merely the choice of conventional m edicine to
ignore the totality of the patients sym ptom s because conven-
tional m edicine has no m eans to utilize this inform ation. There
is no need for any other than the disease sym ptom s w hen you
are only treating the disease.
Medicine for the disease
Just as the disease affects the person as a w hole, so do
m edicines. The fact that m edicines affect system s throughout
the body, not just in one part, is acknow ledged in conventional
m edicine in the concept of effects and side-effects. Conven-
tional m edicines are given in large enough doses to cause a
certain desired effect som ew here in the body. O ther effects
caused by the m edicine w hich are not desired are term ed the
side-effects.
A m om ents reflection reveals that there is no such thing
as a medicinal side-effect. There are only m edicinal effects.
The term side-effect is a euphem ism for w hat is, in fact, an
undesired effect. (It appears that the only purpose for this
m isleading term is to relieve the practitioner of the blam e for
having caused these unpleasant drug effects in the patient.)
Medicine for the patient
If youve follow ed the book so far, you already know
that hom eopathy takes a different approach and does not
divide the effects of a m edicine into so called effects and side-
effects. Instead, the sum total of all the effects are recognized
to be part of w hat that m edicine can cause.
And, if you rem em ber the basic principle of hom eopa-
thy (like cures like), the m edicine can cure w hat it can cause.
For a good response, how ever, the m edicine m ust be pre-
scribed for the patient, not the disease. This is done by
m atching the patients sym ptom s (as discussed above) w ith the
sym ptom s that a m edicine can cause.
W hen a hom eopathic m edicine is properly prescribed,
based on the sim ilar sym ptom s of the w hole person, it can be
given in such a tiny, non-toxic dose that it w ill not force its
effects on the body. Therefore, there are no side-effects as w ith
drug therapy.
Treating the patient instead of the disease
This is the genius of hom eopathy. It is the patient w ho
is ill and it is the patient w ho responds to the m edicine. What
is termed a disease by conventional medicine is merely a part
of this whole (just as the experience of the flat earth is only part
of the greater reality of the round earth).
By looking at the w hole patient and know ing the
effects of m edicines on the w hole person, hom eopathic
practitioners are able to prescribe one single similar medi-
cine for that patient. The patients response to the m edicine
is then evidenced by resolution and im provem ent in all the
symptoms, including those associated w ith the disease. The
disease is cured naturally as the patient recovers.
Dr. Dooley, its amazing, a 40 year old woman told
me on her first follow-up. My skin rash on my hands is
completely gone!
Skin rash? I asked. The month before, during our
initial interview, she had related all her problems to me:
anxiety attacks, dry mouth, bad breath, and others; but she
had said nothing about a skin rash.
Oh, Im so used to it and have had it all my life, that
I didnt even think to mention it last month. My hands always
have a dry itchy rash with cracks and fissures. But now, its
all better. She went on to explain that her other problems
were also improved.
Her prescription of homeopathic Graphites would
have been much easier had I known about the skin rash. But
it wasnt necessary to know about it to help it. When the
patient is treated as a whole, all the specific problems should
improve as the patient responds.
The balance of health and disease
People w ho get few diseases are often referred to as
healthy. In other w ords, the absence of disease defines their
state of health. H ealth, how ever, is m uch m ore than just the
absence of disease. It is m ore accurate to say that healthy
people get few er diseases and feel better in general because
they are healthy.
This subtle distinction is im portant because treating
disease, as is done in conventional m edicine, w ill not neces-
sarily result in a healthier person. It is possible for the disease
to go aw ay, and yet the patient, as a w hole, rem ains in an
equally poor, or even w orse, state of health.
In such a reduced state of health, people often com -
plain to their doctors of m any sym ptom s such as poor energy,
sleep problem s, or em otional im balance. Perhaps they just
dont feel w ell. It is often only a m atter of tim e before the
previous disease returns or another disease, possibly m ore
serious, takes its place.
From the flat-earth view of conventional m edicine,
such a new disease is then seen as an entirely different disease
entity. It is treated as if there is no relationship betw een the old
disease and the new disease. This is not so; there is a
relationship.
The relationship is the patient!
These diseases do not just happen. They are processes
w hich involve the very same patient.
From the hom eopathic view of the w hole person, the
various problem s and sym ptom s, both past and present, are all
related. They reflect the unique health expression of that
individual.
Furtherm ore, the parts of the body do not indepen-
dently get sick. It is the w hole person w ho gets sick, even
though m ost diseases express in predom inantly one part of the
body or another. That is w hy just treating the apparently sick
part m ay not benefit the patient as a w hole.
The proof of these ideas is a cured patient, one w ho has
been healed w ith a hom eopathic rem edy chosen for them as
a w hole, not just their diseases.
The short case presented above is an excellent ex-
am ple. If this patient had been treated in parts, the conven-
tional w ay, she w ould have received a prescription for an anti-
anxiety m edicine, som e cortisone lotion for her hands, and told
to use breath m ints or m outh w ash. All of these treatm ents are
directed at the parts, not the patient.
These treatm ents w ould have only controlled the
sym ptom s, the outw ard expressions of her underlying disor-
der.
U sing the hom eopathic approach, I w as able to find a
rem edy w hich m atched her w hole health picture. She re-
sponded as a w hole and as she healed, all the problem s got
better, even the one I w as unaw are she had!
True healing, natural recovery from disease, cannot be
forced. It is a process in w hich a person attains a higher level
of health and the disease resolves naturally. This is w hat
hom eopathy is all about.
Chapter 4
A Cured Case
In the case that follow s, a few m inor facts have been
changed to protect m y patients privacy. O therw ise, it is an
accurate presentation of her, her problem s, and how she w as
helped by hom eopathy.
Initial visit : Beverly (not her real nam e) is a m arried m other
of tw o children in her early forties. She seem ed friendly and
open as she related her story:
Ive had a problem w ith recurring cystitis (bladder
infections) for m any years. It m ostly happens after intercourse,
about one out of three tim es since Ive been an adult.
Ive had a lot of w ork-up on this problem over the
years. A urologic w ork-up show s I have tw o ureters on m y left
side. They dont think this has been causing the problem .
If I take antibiotics right after intercourse then I have
few er infections. W hen I do get cystitis, it starts as a burning
w ith urination. Then I start to feel spasm s about eight to tw elve
hours later. Its kind of a tightening near the opening. The last
drop really burns w hen I have to go. There is a fullness and
I have to urinate frequently. If left untreated it tends to go to
m y left kidney.
This problem is alw ays in the back of m y m ind w hen
I have intercourse. After the infection is treated, I have a lot of
itching. M aybe thats from the antibiotics.
Im so tired of having it. Its m ore than just physical.
I counseled for aw hile w ith a teacher at the center.
Beverly paused for a m om ent and looked dow n.
I w as sexually abused as a child. H e (the perpetrator)
forced intercourse on m e regularly from age six or seven until
age tw elve. After that he left the area.
Im going through a lot of changes right now . Spiri-
tuality is m ore im portant than it w as.
She continued her story, relating som e of her other
problem s.
I also have a problem w ith m y sinuses. It started w hen
I w as on vacation about seven years ago. I w as pregnant then
w ith m y last child. Its a lot w orse w hen it is w et or rainy. Its
better in open air. M y nose com pletely blocks up and I cant
breath. In the m orning I blow clear m ucus.
I also get a sharp pain in m y left ovary area every
m onth. It used to occur in m id-cycle, then it w ent aw ay. N ow
it occurs just before m y period.
To get a better understanding of her, I asked how her
husband w ould describe her personality.
She replied, H ed say I w as friendly, I like people. Im
introverted and dont like to be noticed. Ive alw ays been shy;
its difficult to introduce m yself. Im honest.
I get depressed easily. I get dow n on m yself a lot. I
have this com m ittee in m y head alw ays pointing things out. Its
like there are different personalities, like m y m other saying do
this, do that. Ive been going to counseling. Its hard to w ork
on m y sadness; there are things Im never able to cry about.
A Cured Case 25
I get angry if som eone tells m e w hat I should be doing,
if som eone tells m e how to feel or act or be.
For exam ple, the teacher at school hum iliated m y son.
I w as angry. M y husband said I shouldnt feel that w ay. That
m ade m e even m ore angry.
Asked about her fears, she replied, Im afraid to be
under a train, you know , like under an overpass. Im afraid of
being restrained, unable to m ove. I never felt anyone w as there
for m e, ever. There w as no one to rely on or trust. I alw ays
felt very alone. I needed to rely on m yself, I needed to take
care of m yself.
I dream som etim es m y husband leaves and I am
abandoned.
Regarding her childhood, she said, I w as introverted;
I tried to be unnoticed. There w as no fighting in the fam ily. M y
parents did not argue. M y m other w as very controlling. The
house w as alw ays very neat. I had a problem w ith anem ia. Lots
of tim es I couldnt eat. I often couldnt eat breakfast.
M y father died tw o years ago. W e had a w onderful
relationship. H e never abused m e. I w as D addys little girl. H e
w as very creative. W e m ade doll houses, pictures. H e never
knew I w as being abused.
She paused again in her story.
I think about the abuse a lot. Its m ore of a sorrow , not
an anger. Im the only one to protect m e, no one else is there.
Ive alw ays felt this heavy reliance on self.
In response to specific questions, she gave the follow -
ing inform ation. She is a chilly person w ith cold hands and feet.
D espite this, she strongly prefers to have open w indow s. She
sleeps on her abdom en w ith her hands underneath her. She
has w arm feet and puts them out of the covers every few
w eeks, even in the w inter.
A Cured Case 27
H er period started at age 11. If she exercises regularly,
she doesnt get any prem enstrual sym ptom s. O ccasionally she
gets sw ollen breasts w ith som e secretion.
She loves chocolate, rich cream s, sauces, and ice
cream . She also likes pasta, rice, potatoes and other starchy
foods.
Assessment : Beverlys tw o m edical com plaints are
recurring cystitis associated w ith intercourse, and sinus con-
gestion. She also has a recurring left ovarian area pain w ith
m enses.
Em otionally, she carries the scars of recurring sexual
abuse as a child. This issue has never been fully resolved, she
often feels self-reproachful and experiences a feeling of deep
sorrow . She has a persistent issue w ith abandonm ent in her
life.
There w ere a few rem edies that looked like good
possibilities for Beverly. I chose to give her a rem edy called
Staphysagria.
Plan: Staphysagria 1M , one dose.
First follow-up (one month after initial visit)
She reported she had one episode of cystitis the first
m onth, treated w ith antibiotics. She felt like she w as still
undergoing quite a bit of stress, just a lot going on in m y head.
H er sinuses w ere unchanged. H er prem enstrual sym ptom s
w ere w orse than usual that m onth.
Em otionally shed been depressed, felt like giving up
in life, and didnt care. Shed been m ore introverted, w ith low
energy and just hadnt felt like doing m uch.
Assessment: Clearly, there w as little, if any, response
to a single dose of the rem edy. I still felt this w as a w ell
indicated rem edy and prescribed it again in low er potency
repeated frequently.
Plan: Staphysagria 6C, one dose daily.
Second follow-up (two months after initial visit)
She had a yeast infection this past m onth for the first
tim e in m any years. She treated it w ith a topical antifungal from
her gynecologist. She had cram ps in her feet for one m onth,
occasionally very severe. She once had sim ilar cram ps a few
years in the past. H er period w as one w eek early. She felt light
headed for a w eek. She still had a lot anxiety about her life and
m arriage. Shed felt very busy and stressed. H er nose and sinus
congestion w ere unchanged. She still got the left ovarian pain.
She said I dont think the rem edy is doing m uch. But,
Ive had this problem a long tim e and dont expect it to go aw ay
overnight.
Assessment: There w as possibly som e return of old
sym ptom s (often a sign of healing), but overall no real change.
Although I didnt expect her to be cured in just tw o m onths,
there w asnt enough im provem ent to justify staying on the
sam e rem edy.
Plan: D iscontinue the Staphysagria. Pulsatilla 6C,
one dose daily.
Third follow-up (four months after initial visit)
This tim e she said she w as definitely doing better. She
had no episodes of cystitis. She even stopped taking the
antibiotics after intercourse. H er cram ps had gone aw ay. H er
A Cured Case 29
stuffy nose w as m arkedly im proved. She still had som e left
ovarian pain the w eek before.
O verall, she felt em otionally m uch better. And her
energy w as im proved. She said shed been trying to com m u-
nicate m ore w ith her husband and felt her relationship w as
im proving. Its w onderful! There has been no cystitis and this
is very unusual.
She reported that she had num erous vivid dream s since
she started the rem edy. She dream ed of being at the ocean w ith
her son and there w ere huge w aves com ing in. The feeling w as
that it w as the end of the w orld. They ran to a tall building.
W ater w as rising on the sides. She w alked into a room w ith tw o
ladies in it. They all talked about how the good tim es w ere
over. Then a m an cam e into the room and said, Cut. It w as
a m ovie! H e said if he had told us, then he w ouldnt have
gotten good em otion for the film .
She said shes had these end of the w orlddream s for
her entire life. Its like theres only one hour to go, then it w ill
all be over. She w ould usually w ake crying, feeling that there
w as no one to protect her, no other adults around.
But this tim e w as different. This dream w as like a joke,
It w as funny because I w as so concerned, but it w asnt real.
Assessment : Excellent response to Pulsatilla.
Plan: Pulsatilla 30C, one dose w eekly.
Fourth follow-up (six months after initial visit)
She did very w ell. It w as the longest she had ever gone
w ithout a bladder infection! H er nose still got stuffy and w as
better if she w ent in the open air, but overall the stuffiness had
gotten better. She had no cram ps in her feet. She said her
m arriage w as doing better than ever. This tim e, her dream s
w ere unrem arkable.
Assessment : Excellent response to the rem edy.
Plan: Pulsatilla 200C, one dose only.
Fifth follow-up (eight months after initial visit)
O verall, she again did w ell. She had no bladder
infections, although she did get a few spasm s that w ent aw ay
w ith cranberry juice. This m akes six m onths w ithout bladder
infections and thats incredible. H er m arriage has been good.
Em otionally, she had done w ell and had good energy. About
the only thing that bothered her w as som e nose problem in the
evenings.
Assessment: She is doing w ell, but appears to have
nearly had an infection, w hich she kept aw ay w ith cranberry
juice.
Plan: Pulsatilla 1M , one dose only.
Sixth follow-up (ten months after initial visit)
D oing fine. N o problem s. N o cystitis. N ose m uch
better, occasional slight stuffiness. Feeling em otionally good,
no big highs and low s. Feels m ore up. D oing volunteer w ork
at spiritual center.
Assessment: D oing great!
Plan: W ait. N o m edication needed. Follow -up as
needed.
A Cured Case 31
This is the kind of case w e love in hom eopathy. O nce
the right rem edy w as prescribed, her recurring problem of
about tw enty years duration w as gone.
N ot only did her m ain com plaint get better, but, as w ell
discuss in m ore detail, she im proved dram atically on all levels.
She experienced increased energy, a greater sense of w ell
being, and resolution or im provem ent in all com plaints. This
type of response is characteristic in hom eopathy and dem on-
strates w hat happens w hen the w hole person is treated instead
of just the disease.
The rem edy w hich cured her, Pulsatilla, is in no way a
specific m edicine for recurring cystitis. It w as N O T prescribed
for her cystitis. It was prescribed for her as a person. H er
characteristics that strongly indicated this rem edy include such
things as her m ild nature, her tim idity, her tendency to be a
pleaser, her lifelong sense of abandonm ent, her am elioration
in open air, her chilliness coupled w ith a desire for open air,
her hot feet in bed, and her food desires.
Staphysagria is also a com m on rem edy in patients w ith
recurring cystitis, especially associated w ith intercourse.
Staphysagria is also a frequently indicated rem edy in patients
w ith such a history of sexual abuse. Patients needing either
rem edy can appear very m ild and yielding. Although Staphysa-
gria appeared to be a good prescription, she received no
benefit from it.
The conventional approach in this case w as incapable
of curing her tendency to these infections over the years.
D espite sophisticated urologic w ork-ups, there w as nothing to
help her other than taking antibiotics for each episode and after
intercourse.
Beverly possibly needed this rem edy her w hole life. It
appears if she had taken the Pulsatilla m any years earlier, she
could have avoided the ten to tw elve bladder infections per
year, expensive w ork-ups, and repeated antibiotic use.
An im portant aspect of this case w as the unresolved
em otional traum a resulting from her sexual abuse as a child.
The allopathic care she received did nothing to address this
issue. W hereas the counseling she received helped to som e
extent, it w as only after receiving the simillimum (curative
sim ilar rem edy) did she experience a sense of em otional w ell
being and a lifting of the deep sorrow .
This is a com m on experience in hom eopathy. A
hom eopathic rem edy cannot substitute for hum an com passion
and understanding, yet it is com m on for patients to finally
reach a stage of resolution and attain an ability to m ove ahead
in life after a good prescription. This is because em otions are
closely related to a persons glands and nerves. As these glands
and nerves heal, the associated em otional qualities are strength-
ened and expressed in a m ore balanced w ay.
Beverly experienced som e of this process in her
dream s. U nder the action of the rem edy her dream state
becam e very vivid. She experienced m any of the recurring
em otional issues in these dream s during this period. A s the
healing progressed, she felt a resolution in the dream state
w hich corresponded w ith a sim ilar resolution and feeling of
em otional w ell being in her day-to-day life.
H om eopaths find this to be true: a persons experience
in emotional and mental life cannot be separated from their
physical complaints. It is the patient w ho is ill, and this illness
is sim ply expressed or reflected in m any w ays.
This is w hy hom eopathy can often help patients even
w hen the disease diagnosis is unclear or unknow n. All the
various sym ptom s and signs of the patient including
physical, m ental, and em otional are used as guideposts for
understanding the expression of the persons health-m aintain-
A Cured Case 33
ing m echanism . The appropriate rem edy stim ulates this
m echanism and a healing response occurs.
This case also show s the use of the tw o system s of
dosing, the daily dose and the single dose. These are described
in m ore detail in Chapter 8. It should also be noted how the
potencies given to Beverly gradually ascended as she re-
sponded. As her health and vitality increased she w as able to
respond to the increasingly subtle doses of rem edy in a gentle
and perm anent m anner.
Finally notice how the w isdom of the body heals the
m ore im portant organs first. H er stuffy nose not a serious
problem w as her only rem aining com plaint after m any
m onths of treatm ent. Even this m inor com plaint becam e
progressively better as healing continued.
Beverly had realistic expectations of how fast hom e-
opathy could help her. Even though results w ere negligible
after the first few m onths, she felt her problem s w ere of a long-
standing nature and w ould take som e tim e to resolve.
Beverly got results w ith hom eopathy largely because
she w as open and candid w ith personal aspects of her life and
history. The things w hich people are m ost hesitant to discuss
or exam ine often contain the clues for cure in hom eopathy.
These clues reflect pathology on an inner level. H ealing the
person, as opposed to the disease, m ay be difficult w ithout
such an understanding.
Chapter 5
A Brief History
A Victorian era joke about homeopathy:
A well dressed woman entered a homeopathic phar-
macy.
Sir, she enquired of the pharmacist. I would like to
purchase one four-hundredth of a grain of phosphate of
magnesia, please.
Im sorry, madam, the pharmacist replied coolly.
We do not sell in quantities that large.
Homeopathy in the ancient world
Sam uel H ahnem ann did not discover hom eopathy.
The basic concept of hom eopathy, being the therapeutic action
of sim ilars, has been discovered m any tim es throughout
hum an history. It w as m entioned and used by H ippocrates and
a variety of practices based on hom eopathic principles have
com e and gone over tim e.
O ne such practice used in ancient India w as called visa
chikitsa. It w as developed approxim ately 3,500 years ago in
the era now referred to as the M ahabharata age. This visa
chikitsa is discussed in the book Discourses on Mahabharata
by P.R. Sarkar, in the chapter entitled M edical Science of the
Age.(English edition 1981, Ananda Press, Calcutta, India)
In this system , various types of poisonous venom s
w ere applied to treat the bites of poisonous anim als. For
exam ple, snake venom , spider venom , and scorpion venom
w ere used to treat snake bite, spider bite, and scorpion bite.
In one of the stories from this M ahabharata era, a
character nam ed Bhiim a w as poisoned by his enem ies, the
K aoravas. The experts in ayurveda (traditional Indian m edi-
cine) then gave injections of poison to Bhiim a and he w as
cured. This show s the people of that era w ere fam iliar w ith the
principle of using poisons to treat poisons.
H om eopathy, as developed by H ahnem ann, does not
use injections. The m edicines are absorbed sim ply by com ing
in contact w ith a m ucous m em brane surface, such as under the
tongue.
The visa chikitsa system of using poisons to treat
poisonings w as neglected over the course of tim e and is no
longer in use.
The science of homeopathy
Although D r. H ahnem ann did not discover hom eopa-
thy, he deserves full credit for developing hom eopathy into a
science. H is observations, insights, m ethod, and application
stand today as a scientific achievem ent rarely, if ever, paral-
leled.
Before the tim e of H ahnem ann, hom eopathy existed
only in rudim entary form . There w as no w ell developed
system for discovering m edicines or for applying them to
patients. Cures did happen, but they w ere often based m ore
on em piricism or luck. The observation of sim ilars had been
m ade, but no one had realized its potential or im plications.
Medicine in the time of Hahnemann
The conventional system of m edicine in w hich H ahne-
m ann trained can only be described as crude. Popular theories
cam e and w ent as to the supposed cause of disease. Treat-
m ents likew ise changed regularly over tim e.
A Brief History 35
The treatm ents of the day w ere often dram atic, brutal,
or dangerous large doses of toxic m inerals like m ercury
w ere com m on. Purgatives w ere given in large doses to
evacuate the bow els. Sudorifics w ere given to induce sw eat-
ing. Intentionally bleeding a patient w as a com m on practice
patients w ere relieved of blood until their ears rang (a sign
of im pending shock) and they w ere pale from acute blood loss.
At that point the bleeding w as stopped, as no m ore bad
hum orscould be expelled w ithout endangering the patients
life.
Physicians at that tim e w ere considered w ell-educated.
They had studied their art in large prestigious institutions. They
kept up w ith the latest advances in the m edical sciences such
as physiology, pathology, and anatom y. People today look
back and gasp at the fundam ental ignorance of these practitio-
ners. H ow is it,people query, that these physicians could
overlook the m ost basic and com m on sense elem ents of
biologic processes and life? H ow could they think these brutal
treatm ents could benefit anyone?
At the tim e these treatm ents w ere popular, they actu-
ally correlated w ith the level of disease perception. The fact
is: no disease-oriented treatment can be effective beyond the
perception of the disease.
For exam ple, fever w as perceived as an over-abun-
dance of blood you could see the red face and feel the
bounding pulse. After bleeding the patient, the red face w ould
be gone and the pulse less bounding. These findings tended
to confirm the erroneous perception and treatm ent of fever in
the m inds of both the physician and populace. Today, disease-
oriented treatm ents som etim es suffer from this sam e short-
sightedness.
A Brief History 37
Physicians of that era w ere exclusively m ale. They
m aintained a tight society and exerted their influence against
those perceived as crossing into their territory.
The true healers of the era, before the advent of
hom eopathy, w ere the herbalists. M ostly fem ale, they prac-
ticed an art passed through the generations that respected the
fundam ental ability of the body to heal itself. The patient of
that era w as fortunate to be in the hands of such a healer. W ith
nutritious broths and sim ple herbal m edicines, the patients
chances of recovery w ere actually enhanced by the treatm ent.
These herbalists w ere largely opposed by the m edical
establishm ent. They w ere belittled as backw ards, uneducated,
or even dangerous. M any w om en persecuted as w itches w ere
actually herbal healers, perform ing their services, often w ith-
out rem uneration, for the w elfare of the com m unity.
Such w as the m edical w orld in w hich H ahnem ann
trained. B eing a m an of integrity as w ell as profound
intelligence, he discontinued this practice of m edicine w hich
he perceived as harm ful.
Hahnemann starts a revolution
H ahnem ann w ent on to support him self by translating
m edical texts, new and old, in and out of his native G erm an
language. In the course of this translating w ork he w as
exposed to the idea of sim ilars. H e perform ed his first
experim ents on him self, taking daily doses of Cinchona
(quinine) until he developed sym ptom s sim ilar to m alaria
(w hich Cinchona w as used to treat).
Little did H ahnem ann know w hen he conducted this
first experim ent w ith Cinchona that it w as the start of a
revolution in healthcare. W ithin his ow n lifetim e, this change
in thinking w ould result in a bitter schism in the w orld of
m edicine.
H om eopathy w as nothing short of revolutionary. It
brought together a new level of scientific m ethod and objec-
tivity w ith a profound respect for the inherent ability of the
organism to heal itself. It depended not on changing theories
and discoveries, but on the observation that each individual
m anifests illness in an individual w ay. It utilized this observa-
tion in a system that brought unparalleled results.
As w ord of H ahnem anns accom plishm ents spread,
students and physicians from all over Europe cam e to study
and w ork w ith him , thereby further expanding the frontiers of
this new science.
Organized medicine opposes homeopathy
Acceptance w as far from universal. D espite the
irrefutable success of hom eopathy, not only in acute epidem ic
diseases such as typhoid and cholera, but also in chronic
disease, the m edical com m unity as a w hole did not em brace
hom eopathy.
There w ere various reasons for this rejection. O ne w as
H ahnem ann him self. As he refined this new therapeutic
science, he saw m ore clearly than ever the terrible effects of
allopathic m edicine on health. H e becam e an outspoken critic
of allopathy, denouncing its barbaric and irrational m ethodolo-
gies in the strongest term s. Physicians of the old schoolfelt
threatened by these attacks and tended to ban together to
defend their position. In the early years, every physician
practicing hom eopathy w as a convert from allopathy and
physicians w ere com pelled to take a stand on one side or the
other of this issue.
M any allopathic physicians felt hom eopathy w as just
too different. For one thing, it w as m ore difficult to practice.
There w as no single treatm ent for a given diagnosis, each
patient had to be studied individually. To take up the practice,
A Brief History 39
a physician had to retrain in an entirely new system (this is still
true today). Physicians w ere accustom ed to forcing the system
w ith large dram atic doses of poisons and the hom eopathic
doses seem ed to be too sm all. It w as inconceivable to them that
these non-toxic infinitesim al doses w ere capable of eliciting a
response.
Homeopathy crosses the Atlantic
D espite the opposition, hom eopathy m oved ahead. At
the tim e of H ahnem anns death in 1843, hom eopathy w as w ell
know n throughout Europe and Am erica. About 100 m edicines
had been w ell-proven and their therapeutic effectiveness
established.
H om eopathy cam e to Am erica in the 1820s. H ere, as
in Europe, hom eopathy becam e a divisive issue in the m edical
com m unity. Em otions often ran high, w ith m edical society
m eetings som etim es degenerating into shouting m atches be-
tw een the opposing cam ps.
The hom eopaths form ed the first national m edical
association, the A m erican Institute of H om eopathy (AIH ), in
1844. This association exists to this day representing m edical
doctors w ho practice hom eopathy.
The allopaths w ere not to be outdone. They countered
by form ing the Am erican M edical Association (AM A) in 1846.
Letters betw een the founding m em bers of the AM A show that
one of the m ain purposes for the form ation of the AM A w as to
oppose the spread and practice of hom eopathy. Early AM A
m em bers also opposed the spread of osteopathy (a m edical
system using m anipulation of the joints and other tissues).
This contentious relationship continued throughout
the 1800s. H om eopathy continued to spread and hom eopathic
m edical schools w ere started. D espite the often desperate and
unprofessional attem pts by the AM A to discredit and stop
hom eopathy, by the turn of the century one in four physicians
in America was a homeopath.
There w ere hom eopathic hospitals, hom eopathic m edi-
cal schools, hom eopathic m edical journals, hom eopathic soci-
eties, hom eopathic m anufacturers, and hom eopathic pharm a-
cies. The discerning observer in contem porary m useum s w ill
see that the m edical kits of the nineteenth century physicians
on display often contain hom eopathic m edicines.
H om eopathy w as extrem ely popular, especially am ong
the intelligentsia and aristocracy. To this day, the personal
physician of the Q ueen of England is a hom eopath. H om eopa-
thy w ent w ith the British to India w here it sank deep roots. The
oldest continuously operating m edical college in Asia is the
hom eopathic m edical school in Calcutta. It still teaches
hom eopathy.
The twentieth century
W ith the advent of the tw entieth century cam e a sharp
change in the m om entum of hom eopathy, especially in Am erica.
There w as no single reason for this decline, nor did hom eopa-
thy suddenly becam e ineffective. A com bination of changing
social, political, scientific, and econom ic trends conspired to
m ake hom eopathy a nearly forgotten footnote of Am erican
m edical history in just one generation.
O ne such trend w as the application of scientific ad-
vances in allopathic m edicine. D isease diagnosis im proved
and allopathic therapies began to reflect rationality in their
approach. Antibiotics cured m any diseases w hich before had
been difficult to treat. N ew m edical and surgical techniques
captured the im agination of a society infatuated w ith science
and scientific progress.
The Flexner report of 1906 resulted in tighter regula-
tion of m edical school curricula and standards. H om eopathic
A Brief History 41
m edical schools w ere faced w ith the adoption of allopathic
curricula and pharm aceutical labs or w ith the loss of accredi-
tation and funding. O ver tim e, the rem aining hom eopathic
courses in these schools w ere abandoned. The average M D
graduate today of H ahnem ann M edical College in Philadelphia
is ignorant not only of hom eopathic theory and practice, but
also of their ow n schools history.
Joining the ranks of a w aning hom eopathic profession
held little attraction to the youth of the early 1900s. Few er and
few er joined the profession and the existing vanguard gradu-
ally grew old and died.
Survival into the 1960s
By the 1960s there rem ained only a relative handful of
com petent hom eopathic practitioners in the U nited States.
There w ere no hom eopathic m edical schools, no hom eopathic
hospitals, and few hom eopathic pharm acies. The Am erican
Institute of H om eopathy survived, but those w ishing to learn
hom eopathy had to undertake an apprenticeship w ith an
accom plished practitioner or go overseas to study. N ational
College of N aturopathic M edicine w as perhaps the only
professional institution in the country w hich taught hom eopa-
thy as part of its regular curricula.
Throughout the rest of the w orld hom eopathy survived
in better shape. The Royal London H om eopathic H ospital
continued its operation. H om eopathy continued in France and
G erm any, though w ith a sm aller percentage of practitioners.
H om eopathy actually grew in India, w here the low cost of
hom eopathic m edicines and non-reliance on expensive tech-
nology encouraged its practice.
Homeopathic revival
Since the 1970s, aw areness of and interest in hom eopa-
thy has steadily increased. Patients frustrated w ith the lim ita-
tions, side-effects, and high costs of conventional m edicine
actively seek health-oriented alternatives.
H om eopathy is a logical choice. It can be used in
patients w ith both acute and chronic conditions, has few , if
any, side-effects, and is inexpensive.
In Am erica, the hom eopaths of the past w ere alm ost all
m edical doctors. Today, m edical doctors practicing hom eopa-
thy represent a m inority of the practitioners. M any practitio-
ners hold licenses as naturopaths, chiropractors, nurse practi-
tioners, physician assistants, and acupuncturists. There are
also a grow ing num ber of professional hom eopaths, persons
w ith no form al m edical training or licensing outside of their
hom eopathic training. Som e of the m ost renow ned hom eo-
paths in the w orld today fall in this category.
Professional associations and certification
A num ber of associations now certify hom eopathic
com petence in different professions. Professional hom eopaths
in Europe m ay register w ith the Society of H om eopaths. The
N orth Am erican Society of H om eopaths represents profes-
sional hom eopaths on this side of the Atlantic. The Am erican
Institute of H om eopathy certifies m edical doctors. State
hom eopathic m edical boards regulate m edical doctors practic-
ing hom eopathy in N evada and Arizona. The H om eopathic
Academ y of N aturopathic Physicians certifies naturopaths.
There has been a m ovem ent in recent years for the
developm ent of a single exam and certification for all practitio-
ners. W hat w as once a profession by and for m edical doctors
is gradually becom ing an independent profession.
Chapter 6
Non-toxic
Medicines
A patients experience
A 48 year old w om an returned for her first follow -up.
H er phone report three w eeks earlier had been positive; she
w as sleeping better and experiencing less anxiety. H er rem edy
w as hom eopathic arsenic (Arsenicum Album ), 9C potency,
one dose daily. She began her report:
First of all, I have to tell you what happened. Two
weeks ago I had my once yearly check-up with my gynecolo-
gist. She has a form where the patient is supposed to fill out
new things. So I mentioned, perhaps it was a mistake, about
what Im doing here. You can guess what happened! I told
her I was seeing a homeopath and was taking very small
doses of arsenic. The woman turned bright red! As red as that
carpet! She had a conniption FIT! She said, I cant believe
youd take something like that! She told me that arsenic in
any dose is a poison, that it is toxic to the liver, and that the
liver does not regenerate. She warned me to stop taking it
IMMEDIATELY! She said it was the craziest thing shed ever
heard of. She demanded, DEMANDED, that I not take this
anymore.
When I got home my husband asked, Did you tell her
youre going to a homeopath? I told him what she said and
he absolutely insisted that I not take anymore Arsenicum until
I talk with you. So I havent taken any for the last 2 weeks.
Perhaps this gynecologist w as acting in w hat she felt
w as the best interest of her patient. U nfortunately, her good
intentions reflected an appalling and inexcusable ignorance.
The fact is, there exists no prescription m edicine that
this gynecologist can prescribe w hich is as non-toxic as the
rem edy she censured. N one. N or does there exist another
over-the-counter m edicine w hich is as harm less and safe as this
9C potency hom eopathic rem edy. N one.
It is the unim aginable sm allness of the dose w hich
assures the non-toxicity of hom eopathic rem edies. It is the
great discovery of hom eopathy that these m icro-doses of
substances, if prepared according to the serial dilution m ethod
introduced by H ahnem ann, retain their ability to stim ulate a
response in the organism w hen, and only w hen, hom eopathi-
cally indicated.
To better understand som e of this chapter, you need to
rem em ber that hom eopathic rem edies are prepared through a
series of dilutions. The higher the num ber, the m ore tim es it
has been diluted. It is recom m ended you read Appendix 1 (at
the end of the book) w here this process is described in m ore
detail.
Meta-molecular medicines
To give som e idea how sm all these doses are, consider
a concept of chem istry know n as Avogadros num ber. This
extrem ely large num ber (about 602,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000)

represents the num ber of particles (atom s or m ol-
ecules) present in a given volum e of a substance (a gram m ole).
Non Toxic Medicines 45
Sim ply stated, w hen this num ber is surpassed in the process of
dilution, there w ill statistically rem ain no atom s or m olecules
of the original substance left. This occurs at approxim ately the
12 C (or 24 X) potency.
In other w ords, potencies higher than the 12 C (or 24
X) have no m olecules of the original substance rem aining. Y et
hom eopaths routinely use potencies vastly higher than these
w ith great success. Therefore, som e property of the original
substance m ust be transferred to the diluent (diluting liquid) in
the process of serial dilutions.
To this day, the nature of this transferred property or
how a patient responds to it is not w ell understood. H ow ever,
m any observations have been m ade about hom eopathic rem -
edies that can help to clarify their nature and action.
Proper preparation is essential
The dilutions used in preparing rem edies m ust be
properly agitated betw een each dilution step. Failure to do so
results in loss of the rem edys ability to stim ulate a hom eo-
pathic response in the patient. H ence, agitation is clearly a
necessary part of the process in w hich the hom eopathic
properties of the original substance are transferred to the
diluting liquid.
Immunity to oxidation
M ost m edicines and vitam ins, if left open to the air, w ill
spoil. The oxygen in the air reacts w ith the m olecules of the
m edicine and causes them to degrade. This process is called
oxidation. H om eopathic rem edies, how ever, do not spoil in
this w ay. This is consistent w ith the notion that there is som e
non-m olecular property of the rem edy w hich causes a re-
sponse in the patient.
Sensitivity to electromagnetic properties
Rem edies are not dam aged by the oxygen in the air, but
they are sensitive to electrom agnetic fields. They can easily be
dam aged by exposure to such things as direct sunlight,
m icrow ave, high external heat, large m agnetic fields, and the
like.
This suggests that som e kind of electrom agnetic pat-
tern (or another sim ilar energetic property) is transferred to the
diluting liquid during the dilution process.
Mechanism of action not understood
The exact nature of this energetic property or how a
living organism responds to it is not understood. Various
theories have been proposed and research into these areas is
ongoing.
The fact that the m echanism of action of hom eopathic
rem edies has not been w ell defined does not change in any
w ay their usefulness or effectiveness. It is com m on that
understanding w hy som ething w orks is discovered long after
it has been in use.
For exam ple, sailors ate fresh fruits to cure the disease
know n as scurvy hundreds of years before it w as understood
that a substance called vitam in C in the fruit is w hat the body
needed. In conventional m edicine today, the m echanism of
action of m any, if not m ost, m edicines is poorly understood.
The m echanism of action of com m on aspirin w as not under-
stood even partially until recent decades.
H om eopathy violates no know n law s of chem istry,
biology, or physics. Such a notion, som etim es prom oted by
skeptics of hom eopathy, is ridiculous. H om eopathy w as and
is a therapeutic science based on objectively reproducible data
and clinical experience.
Non Toxic Medicines 47
There is alw ays a tendency in science to reject new
observations based on their apparent disagreem ent w ith the
accepted view . This kind of thinking is w hat is referred to in
this book as flat-earth. Such a m ediocre m entality w as and is
a m ain stum bling block to scientific progress.
The poison control center said it has toxic alkaloids,
he said.
I know, but the dose was too small for any danger of
toxicity, I replied.
But he ate the WHOLE bottle! he exclaimed.
So what do I say to an emergency physician who just
unnecessarily pumped a childs stomach?
I was still practicing as a naturopath in southern
Oregon at the time. The patient with the breast infection at the
beginning of Chapter 1, called me to report her three-year-old
son had eaten a bottle of homeopathic Pulsatilla 30C. He
had to get his stomach pumped out but was doing fine. Why
she hadnt called me first I couldnt fathom. I thought I should
call the doctor to let him know, for future reference, that these
medicines are non-toxic.
If youve followed the book so far, and read Appendix
1, youll appreciate my dilemma.
Here is a conventional physician, getting a call from a
naturopath claiming that the poison control center was right,
Pulsatilla is toxic, but then again, this Pulsatilla wasnt.
Should I say the dose is so small there are no
molecules? Then why did I prescribe it? How can a medicine
do something if it doesnt exist?
How can I explain homeopathy in a few sentences
under such circumstances?
The answer is, I cant. This physician had no back-
ground nor interest in understanding or even discussing
these kinds of ideas.
So, in the end, all I could say was, It was a very small
dose, less than part of one drop in the whole bottle. The toxic
dose is much higher than that.
Oh, he replied.
A biologic principle
H om eopaths today accept hom eopathy as a funda-
m ental principle. That is, living things can respond to properly
prepared and hom eopathically indicated m icrodilutions of
substances. As a fundam ental principle, hom eopathy is not
subject to failure.
To clarify, consider the exam ple of aerodynam ics. If an
airplane crashes no one says that the law s of aerodynam ics
have failed or are invalid. People have instead failed in the
application of the law s. In the sam e w ay, if a patient does not
benefit from hom eopathic treatm ent, it does not m ean the
principle of hom eopathy has failed or is invalid. It is the people
w ho have failed in its application.
Hahnemanns perspective
Sam uel H ahnem ann w as an accom plished chem ist and
w as aw are of the fact that hom eopathic dilutions w ent beyond
the com m only understood m aterial realm . Y et, as a scientist,
he could not deny the objective validity of his observations. H e
observed that the reaction of patients to hom eopathic rem edies
w as a process involving the w hole person and so relied on a
concept know n as vital force, w hich is discussed in the next
chapter.
Chapter 7
Understanding
Vital Force
Have you ever bought a bag of oranges only to find
that one orange in the middle of the bag is rotten? It is mushy
and covered with fungus.
Surprisingly, the neighboring oranges are often fine,
despite the fact they are in direct contact with the fungus. You
just rinse them off and they are quite edible.
The point is that the fungus does not, by itself, cause
the oranges to rot. They must first be susceptible to fungal
attack, which happens when they have lost vitality through
aging or damage. In this degenerate state, the fungus can
take hold.
In a similar way, people can only contract diseases
when they are susceptible to them. By addressing this
susceptibility, homeopathic treatment allows for natural reso-
lution of disease.
An old and well-known concept
In the era prior to m odern science, various concepts of
vital force w ere w idely accepted. This is an invisible, im m ate-
rial, yet dynam ic force w hich anim ates the physical body. This
vital principle m aintains all the parts of the m aterial body, both
sensation and function, in a harm onious and coordinated
m anner. The m ind and w ill can then express higher purpose
in life. W ithout this vital force, the m aterial body is incapable
of any sensation or function; in other w ords, is dead.
Ideas sim ilar to vital force are still in use today. In
oriental m edicine and m artial arts this force is referred to as chi,
m eaning life-force. In yoga and ayurveda it is called prana,
m eaning vital energy.
Hahnemann on vital force
In his book, Organon of Medicine, H ahnem ann dis-
cusses the basic theories and practice of hom eopathy. H ahne-
m ann proposed that the essence of illness is a disorder in the
vital force. Because of this disorder, people are susceptible to
various diseases and afflictions. W hen the integrity of the vital
force is restored, the w hole organism recovers health and the
disease is cured.
O ther natural forces are invisible. G ravity and m agne-
tism cannot be seen but are inferred by their effects. H ahne-
m ann felt that the effects of a single disorder in the vital force
results in m any signs and sym ptom s throughout the patient. By
view ing the totality of the patients signs and sym ptom s, a
picture of the disturbance on the vital force can em erge, even
though the vital force itself cannot be directly exam ined.
H ahnem ann also felt that hom eopathic rem edies are
sufficiently subtle to directly correct m orbid derangem ents in
the vital force.
In short, this w as part of his theory explaining the
observation that a single hom eopathic rem edy can result in
im proved health and the resolution of sym ptom s throughout
the patient.
Understanding Vital Force 51
Rejected by modern science
M odern science currently teaches that vital force is an
outdated and discredited theory. It is now generally accepted
that all of these life functions are the result of biochem ical
processes. These processes utilize the sam e basic elem ents
and chem ical properties inside living things as occur outside of
living things. Therefore, it is felt that there is no need for any
force w hich is unique to life.
H om eopathic practitioners are conversant w ith the
tenets of m odern science. They have studied biochem istry and
other sciences w hich explain the chem ical basis of life pro-
cesses. Y et hom eopaths today still utilize the term vital force in
describing both the patient and the effects of m edicines on the
patient. In doing so, hom eopaths do not reject the w ell
established concepts of science. The problem is a m atter of
term inology and perspective.
The whole person view
Looking at and evaluating the w hole person is entirely
different from looking at and evaluating the sum of the parts.
Science and m edicine today are concerned alm ost exclusively
w ith the parts. D isease research attem pts to understand the
problem on the m ost refined biochem ical level available.
Treatm ent is likew ise directed at this level.
Vital force, how ever, is a concept of the w hole, living
person and has little relevance in scientific studies w hich
investigate only the parts of an organism . It has been lost sight
of in conventional m edicine and contem porary science. H o-
m eopathy is the therapeutic science of the w hole person. It
needs concepts and term s w hich allow the perception and
evaluation of the person in a unified w ay. V ital force rem ains
the m ost appropriate and useful term for this purpose.
A unifying factor
It is not necessary that one m ust be a believer in vital
force or a convert to vitalism to practice hom eopathy or to
benefit from its application as a patient. Those w ho do practice
hom eopathy, how ever, com e to appreciate patients in progres-
sively subtler w ays and eventually perceive a great unity of
hum an life.
A unifying factor becom es evident in all the aspects of
life, from the very m undane, such as a dry patch on the elbow ,
to the subtle expressions of the m ind, such as spiritual
aspiration.
This unifying factor the vital force represents a
w hole w hich is synergistically greater than the sum of the parts.
Perhaps vital force is an invisible bioenergetic force w hich
cannot yet be independently m easured but w hose effects can
be observed in living beings. O r, as skeptics feel, perhaps it
is just an appearance, a kind of illusion, caused by the sum of
the know n and unknow n biochem ical processes of the body.
In one sense, it doesnt m atter. N either possibility
changes the reality or practice of hom eopathy. Vital force
continues to be a useful m odel for perceiving disease influ-
ences and m edicinal effects on the w hole person.
Chapter 8
Healing with
Homeopathy
The remedy didnt work, he stated bluntly at his first
follow-up.
Im sorry to hear that, I replied. How is your problem
doing?
Its not bothering me anymore, it went away.
If it went away, why do you say the remedy didnt
work?
Well, it seems like it just got well on its own, thats all.
Ive had this same conversation a number of times
over the years. No one can say for sure if the remedy helped
this particular man, or if he just got well coincidentally. But
that is exactly what happens when you heal naturally, you
just get well.
The follow ing questions and answ ers about hom eo-
pathic healing concern patients w ith health problem s of a
chronic nature, that is, problem s of long duration or frequent
recurrence.
How long will it take before I notice a change?
M ost patients w ith a chronic health problem notice a
change in about one to four w eeks.
What will I notice first?
The first change is often im proved energy and dispo-
sition. Since natural healing occurs from the inside out, a sense
of w ell-being, im proved sleep, and other energy changes
usually occur before the physical changes.
Som etim es the initial changes are subtle those
around you m ay recognize them before you do yourself.
O ccasionally, there is an increased need for sleep in the
initial stages of healing. It is as if you need m ore dow n tim e
for repairs. This is a good sign.
How long until Im well?
That depends. If youve been sick a long tim e w ith
stubborn problem s, it m ay take a num ber of years before youre
fully healed. Som e people, like Beverly w hose case is
presented in Chapter 4, respond w ith rem arkable quickness
despite the fact theyve had their problem s a long tim e.
Then how will I know if Im getting better?
Y ou w ill feel better and your problem s w ill be resolv-
ing.
H om eopaths usually see patients every four to eight
w eeks or so. The idea is to be able to stand back and see the
forest instead of the trees. In other w ords, to be able to see the
changes and im provem ent in the w hole person over tim e and
not just the day-to-day changes. There should be overall
im provem ent w eek-to-w eek and m onth-to-m onth.
This im provem ent, how ever, is rarely uninterrupted.
M ost people take three steps ahead and then one back as they
Healing with Homeopathy 55
heal. Thats w hy its necessary to stand back to interpret the
changes.
Why did my friend get worse before she got better?
Som etim es healing is a bit like cleaning house its a
little m essier w hen youre in the m iddle of cleaning than before
you started.
But even w hen that happens, you usually feel better
anyw ay. Y our energy is better and you have a sense of w ell-
being in spite of the fact that som e of your sym ptom s m ay be
tem porarily increased as your body cleans house.
This response is som etim es called an aggravation.
How often should I take the remedy?
The practitioner w ill tell you how to take it.
There are tw o m ain w ays rem edies are given. Either as
a single dose given one tim e only (usually a high potency) or
as a daily dose repeated over tim e (usually a low er potency).
Both of these system s w ere used by H ahnem ann him self in one
form or another.
Choosing one m ethod over the other depends on the
patient, their problem s, other m edications they m ay be on,
their age, and other factors.
The goal is a gentle and perm anent cure.
If Im getting better, why should I follow-up?
As you heal, your response to the rem edy w ill tend to
fade eventually at a given potency. It is necessary to gradually
increase the potency of the rem edy until the healing is
perm anent.
K now ing w hen to increase the potency and by how
m uch takes training and experience. Repeating rem edies too
soon or in the w rong potency can som etim es delay or disrupt
healing.
If you just keep taking a rem edy w ithout change, it is
possible to get a proving of that m edicine, that is, the m edicine
w ill start to give you sym ptom s. This is not dangerous
sim ply discontinuing the rem edy w ill stop the process. It is
another reason, how ever, w hy follow -up is im portant.
Will I need more than one remedy?
Som etim es. A practitioner w ill rarely change rem edies,
though, until you have stopped responding to the rem edy you
are on.
It m ay take m ore than one rem edy before a good
healing response begins. O ver the course of tim e, som e people
need new rem edies as they are affected by new circum stances
of life and as their im proved health presents a new sym ptom
picture.
What will get well first?
D ifferent problem s often do not heal sim ultaneously.
The m ore innerand serious problem s tend to heal first, the
m ore outerand less serious problem s m ay follow . This is just
the w ay the bodys w isdom w orks.
It m ay turn out that your bodys priorities are different
than yours in w hat should heal first. W hat you consider to be
the m ain problem m ay be one of the last things your body
heals.
For exam ple, you m ay be concerned about your acne
for cosm etic reasons, but to your body, this is a m inor problem
that is superficial. As you respond to a rem edy, your sleep m ay
im prove, your anxiety be relieved, and your digestive prob-
lem s corrected before the skin fully clears.
Healing with Homeopathy 57
In a situation like this, you m ust trust your body and
allow it to heal in its ow n w ay. This aspect of healing cannot
be forced. H om eopathy w orks w ith the natural recuperative
processes of the body but does not control them .
What does return of old symptoms mean?
It m eans that less serious problem s w hich youve had
in the past som etim es return as you heal. This is usually an
excellent sign. W hat appears to happen is that as you heal, you
reach a higher level of health. W hen you regain the sam e level
of health as in the past, you re-experience the health problem s
w hich you had at that tim e. Concurrent w ith this, the m ore
serious problem s for w hich you are being treated should
resolve. As you continue to heal, the returning problem s w ill
also resolve.
For exam ple, its not uncom m on during a follow -up for
a patient to m ake a com m ent such as, Its strange. M y nervous
condition is m uch better, but a rash I havent had in years in
bothering m e. W hat should I do about it?
The answ er is, Nothing! Let it heal from the inside out,
and then both the rash and the nervous condition w ill be gone.
Treating the rash topically m ay cause it to be suppressed. In
such disease suppression, the rash m ight go aw ay, but the
nervous condition w ould return.
What about acute diseases?
Acute diseases are the m ore short term kinds of
illnesses. Exam ples are colds, flu, diarrhea, ear infections, and
the like. (The first case presented in the book of the w om an
w ith a breast infection is an exam ple of an acute illness.)
The inform ation above for chronic illnesses has little
application in acute conditions. In acute cases, rem edies are
given in a w ide range of potencies and w ith a variety of dosing
schedules.
Results are expected in m inutes to days, depending on
the patient and the condition. Rem edies m ay be changed
frequently or repeated often depending on the needs of the
patient.
Som e of the self-care books w hich describe this
process in m ore detail are referenced in Appendix 3. Y ou
should understand that hom eopathy can be very effective in
acute diseases, but rem em ber that the sam e principle of
treating the patient, instead of the disease, still applies.
Chapter 9
How to Get Results
A patient with chronic fatigue syndrome was doing
remarkably better at her one month follow-up, in fact, better
than she had done in the past one and a half years. She had
no more low grade fevers, no headaches, was sleeping
better, needed less sleep, and had energy to live her life. She
was delighted and looking forward to continued improve-
ment. She was scheduled for another appointment in two
months and told to call if there was any problem. She was told
to continue to observe the dos and donts previously recom-
mended, as she was still responding to the remedy.
Five weeks later I received a call from her. Dr.
Dooley, she lamented. I was feeling so good I decided it
wouldnt hurt if I drank just one cup of coffee. That was just
two days ago. Now I feel as bad as I did before I came to see
you. What should I do?
We repeated the remedy and she again responded
well, but it took some time before she regained the same
level of wellness she had experienced before the coffee.
Coffee does not cause such a reaction in all patients, but
clearly this patient needs to strictly avoid it during this
period of recovery.
Classical homeopathy
H om eopathy refers to the science of prescribing m edi-
cines for the patient (as opposed to the disease) according to
the sim ilar sym ptom s. The m edicines are prescribed in m inute
hom eopathic doses because these sm all doses are safe and
effective. But it is not the sm allness of the dose nor the w ay
it is prepared that m akes it hom eopathic. It is hom eopathic
w hen the basis of the prescription is the sim ilarity of sym ptom s
betw een the rem edy and the patient.
Since early in the history of hom eopathy people have
repeatedly developed different m ethods for prescribing ho-
m eopathic rem edies. These m ethods are based on pathologi-
cal diagnosis, body types, colonic flora, personality, acupunc-
ture points, and others. M ost of these w ere developed in an
attem pt to m ake hom eopathy easier.
To distinguish them selves from these other system s,
m any practitioners use the term classical homeopathy to refer
to the original hom eopathic system of prescribing for the
patient as a w hole based on the sim ilar sym ptom s.
The inform ation in this chapter about how to get good
results w ith hom eopathy applies to the system of classical
hom eopathy (w hich w e have discussed throughout this book).
The practitioner
G ood results w ith hom eopathy depend largely on the
skill of the practitioner in perceiving the patient and prescrib-
ing a rem edy w hich w ill cause a good hom eopathic response
in the patient. There is a lot that the patient can do, how ever,
to enhance or detract from their chances of a good prescription
and response.
How to Get Results 61
Be committed
H om eopathy is new and different for the average
patient. Som e approach it w ith skepticism and figure theyll try
it and see w hat happens. These patients often quit before good
results are achieved.
The best w ay to get results is to m ake hom eopathy your
prim ary form of therapy. That is to say, hom eopathy is w hat
you think of first and pursue first in your healthcare needs. As
a m edical doctor, I say w ith conviction that conventional
m edicine is w hat should be used secondarily, as a backup to
hom eopathy, and not the other w ay around. A patient should
first give their system a chance to heal naturally and only resort
to drug therapy w hen truly necessary.
M any practitioners have one or tw o older patients w ho
w ere raised on hom eopathy, w here hom eopathy w as the
prim ary therapy for the fam ily throughout their lives. These
patients are different. They are easier to prescribe for and their
system s respond w ell to the rem edies.
M ost patients of conventional m edicine tend to have
been over-m edicated throughout their lives. Their system s
have been constantly forced w ith large doses of drugs and
rarely given a chance to heal naturally. As a result, the
expression of their health-m aintaining m echanism is often
blunted and confused. O ver tim e, under hom eopathic care,
this situation tends to resolve itself and their system s start to
w ork in a m anner m ore like those patients w ho have had
prim ary hom eopathic care for m any years.
Patients w ith chronic health problem s w ho are just
starting w ith hom eopathy should realize it m ay take a num ber
of years for full recovery from these problem s. Chronic health
problem s do not appear overnight. O ften, patients suffer for
years before the identifiable problem s surface. It is unrealistic
to think these problem s w ill just evaporate after a few m onths
of hom eopathic care.
U nfortunately m any people do just that. They con-
stantly jum p from one form of therapy to another, never
allow ing their problem s to heal. A s the years go by, they
m erely chase sym ptom s throughout their body w hile their
health gradually deteriorates.
Patients w ho w ant results w ith hom eopathy, or any
form of therapy for that m atter, need to be com m itted. This
m eans follow ing the advice of the practitioner, scheduling
follow -up appointm ents as directed, and w orking w ith the
practitioner w hen problem s arise.
Prepare for the interview
The m ain tool used in hom eopathy for evaluating
patients is the interview . G ood results in hom eopathy depend
on how w ell the practitioner can understand you and your
problem s.
There are a huge num ber of popular psychological
books and m edia show s today. As a result, m any people
express their problem s and feelings in term s of a therapists
diagnosis instead of just sim ply stating their experience.
For exam ple, the statem ent, Im co-dependent due to
m y dysfunctional fam ily upbringing,m eans m any different
things depending on w ho says it. The patient m ay m ean they
are unassertive, tim id, and avoid conflict. They m ay suffer from
anxieties and w orry. Perhaps they w ere abused in som e
m anner as a child or are currently in an abusive relationship.
They m ay be abusive. They m ay burst into tears at the drop
of a hat or fly easily into rages. They m ay be self-reproachful,
have suicidal thoughts or other problem s.
Stress is another experience in life that is very indi-
vidual. A given stressful situation w ill cause stress in fifty
individuals for fifty different reasons. Stress is actually subjec-
tive it depends entirely on the m ake-up of that individual.
For this reason, hom eopaths usually prefer to hear exam ples
of your stress and how you reacted, not just that you are
undergoing stress.
This sam e principle of stating your experience also
holds true for the m edical diagnoses as w ell. A strep throat is
experienced in different w ays by different people. Som e are
better by cold drinks, som e by w arm , som e by sw allow ing solid
food. Som e patients w ant their neck covered, others open. In
som e the pain is w orse in the evenings, others in the m orning.
Please w rite dow n things you w ant to discuss ahead of
tim e so you w ont forget. O f im portance to hom eopaths are the
things w e cant see about you, the things you m ust tell us.
The best advice is to just be yourself. D ont try and say
w hat you think a doctor w ants to hear. Just tell your story as
you w ould to a close friend.
One night I was eating dinner with my oldest son,
Eamon. He was three years old at the time. Suddenly he held
up his three-pronged fork and stared at it. Dad! he ex-
claimed. This isnt a fork, its a threek!
From his perspective, he was absolutely right. None
the less, I went on to explain that the word fork is not derived
from the word four and that a fork can have any number of
prongs. He listened somewhat skeptically while regarding
the threek he still held in his hand. In the end he just smiled
and kept on eating.
Even common words mean different things to differ-
ent people. Dont be surprised if your practitioner asks to hear
examples of what you are saying in order to better understand
you as an individual.
Interviewing the family
Throughout the history of hom eopathy, interview ing
other fam ily m em bers to get a better understanding of the
patient has been practiced. For young children, a correct
prescription usually depends prim arily on the observations of
other fam ily m em bers. For adults also, the input of fam ily
m em bers is often very helpful.
D ont be shocked if the practitioner w ants to talk to
your spouse or friends. This is also helpful in cases w here
results have been difficult to attain and the practitioner needs
a fresh perspective.
Take the medicine
Believe it or not, patients occasionally go through the
trouble and expense of seeing a hom eopathic practitioner and
then, for one reason or another, do not take the m edicine. If
you forget how you w ere supposed to take it, or, if problem s
arise and youre not sure w hat to do, or, if you have m isgivings
and feel uncom fortable about the treatm ent, then contact your
practitioner. It is am azing how people w ill som etim es rely on
the questionable advice of an acquaintance or relative instead
of talking to their practitioner.
Avoid interfering substances
Som e substances m ay interfere w ith hom eopathic
rem edies and/or a persons reaction to them . The first and
forem ost is coffee. Coffee is not a food; it is not nutritive. Its
effects are m edicinal and drug-like, w hich is w hy so m any
people becom e addicted to it. The use of coffee often
interferes w ith rem edies and patients w ho refuse to discon-
tinue its use reduce the probability that they w ill get results w ith
hom eopathy.
Cam phor is another com m on antidote to rem edies.
Cam phor is found in m edicated analgesic balm s such as Ben
G ay, Vicks, Tiger B alm , W hite Flow er, etc. O ther odoriferous
m edicated products w ith such things as eucalyptus are som e-
tim es a problem .
Recreational drugs such as m arijuana, cocaine, and the
like are interfering substances. Prescription drugs w ith sim ilar
effects such as Valium and other m ood-elevators m ay also
interfere. Patients on such prescription drugs can often get
results if rem edies are given on a daily-dose basis. These
patients can usually discontinue the drugs after they respond
to the rem edy.
Raw onions and garlic are m edicinal and som etim es
interfere w ith rem edies. M int is som etim es a problem . D ental
w ork som etim es causes problem s. G eneral anesthesia w ill
often cause a setback in therapy.
D oes this m ean that all these things w ill interfere w ith
treatm ent in any patient taking any rem edy? D oes it m ean that
no other things w ill interfere? The answ er to both these
questions is no. Everyone is different thats the w hole point
w ith hom eopathy. Som e people get results regardless of their
habits and life-style, w hile others, like the patient in the story
opening this chapter, are m ore easily disturbed.
Its often hard, how ever, to tell in advance w hich
substances w ill interfere w ith w hich patients. Since the above
m entioned substances interfere w ith treatm ent in m any pa-
tients, it is prudent to avoid them for best results.
The bottom line
The bottom line for results in hom eopathy is straight
forw ard. M ake a com m itm ent to yourself to stick w ith it. W ork
w ith your practitioner. M ake a few reasonable life-style
changes if needed. Avoid interfering substances. Take the
rem edy as directed.
Chapter 10
Special Situations
My wife, Ming, an acupuncturist who also practices
homeopathy, got a call one day from a patient. The person
to be treated was not her, but her friends cat.
It seems the cat, a 12 year old female, had been
diagnosed with lymphoma. It had all started about six months
earlier when the cat lost its appetite, weight, and energy and
started losing fur in big gobs. Subsequent blood samples,
x-ray, and veterinary exam resulted in the diagnosis. It has
a lump that can be felt growing in the gut; the lump was not
there three months ago.
The cat was described as being very fastidious. It
would not use the cat box unless it was fresh nor would it eat
from a dirty bowl.
The cat was very chilly. It would sit in the sun for long
periods or, if the sun was not out, it would curl up under the
covers. It was very restless, constantly changing positions
and moving about.
In recent months, the cat had been very possessive
It didnt like other cats around. It had increased thirst but little
appetite. It often vomited after eating.
Ming recommended homeopathic Arsenicum.
We heard intermittently about the cat from the patient.
The cat responded quickly to the remedy, the lump
disappeared, normal appetite returned, and it became its
former playful self. Now, a few years later, the cat is still alive
and well.
Pregnancy
All hom eopathic rem edies of 6X potency or higher are
com pletely safe for anyone, including both m other and fetus.
In fact, these m edicines are probably the only truly safe
therapy w hich exists for use in pregnancy.
Pregnancy is a dynam ic state in w hich great changes
take place in a short period of tim e. Perhaps it is this dynam ism
that m akes pregnant w om en very responsive to hom eopathic
m edicines. N ot only can chronic problem s of the m other be
addressed but problem s related to pregnancy can also resolve.
I have seen breech babies turn, prem ature contractions
stop, vom iting of pregnancy resolve, and m any other changes
in pregnant w om en treated hom eopathically.
H om eopathy is also safe and effective during labor and
childbirth. M any m idw ives and physicians throughout the
w orld use hom eopathic rem edies exclusively, w ith great
success, in m anaging all kinds of labor-related problem s.
For exam ple, I have seen w om en w ho w ere experienc-
ing painful labors calm dow n after a few hom eopathic pellets
m elted under their tongue. They said it w asnt like a drug-
induced state, but that after the rem edy they could tolerate the
pain and w erent so irritable.
Children
H om eopathy is safe for all ages, from new born to old
age. Children respond w ell to hom eopathy. N ursing babies
are som etim es treated by giving the rem edy to the m other.
Special Situations 67
Children, like pregnant w om en, are in a dynam ic,
changing state, w hich is probably w hy they respond so w ell
to rem edies. Children raised in a hom eopathic household
often grow up never having taken an antibiotic.
The parents m ust learn to trust the w isdom of the body.
For exam ple, fevers are a response to disease, not a disease in
them selves. It is not necessary or desirable to suppress m ost
fevers. Instead, it is a good idea to know w hat is causing the
fever (disease diagnosis), but then to treat the patient hom eo-
pathically. For the vast m ajority of childhood illnesses
associated w ith fevers, the patient can be treated hom eopathi-
cally w ith confidence.
There are a few illnesses w here m ost hom eopathic
practitioners recom m end conventional treatm ent. These are
life-threatening illnesses, often requiring hospitalization, w here
conventional care yields good results. Bacterial spinal m enin-
gitis is a good exam ple.
M ost com m on problem s that are routinely treated w ith
conventional m edications can be treated easily w ith hom eopa-
thy. Ear infections, for exam ple, rarely need antibiotics.
Children w ith em otional and behavior problem s often
respond dram atically to hom eopathic care. In fact, m ost of the
tim e, the first change w e look for in children is a positive
change in behavior, even though their m ain com plaint m ay be
totally unrelated.
Home health
M anufacturers of hom eopathic m edicines sell hom e-
health kits. These kits contain thirty to fifty com m only
indicated rem edies and a few lotions. Instructional books
often accom pany these kits.
U sing hom eopathic hom e-health kits is a tim e honored
tradition. Fam ily m em bers w ith com m on com plaints such as
coughs, colds, diarrhea, and vom iting can often be success-
fully treated w ith m inim al training. H ow ever, treating patients
w ith chronic, often lifelong, illnesses requires years of training
and experience to get good results. Persons undergoing
treatm ent from a practitioner m ust not take other hom eopathic
rem edies w ithout first consulting their practitioner.
It is not difficult to learn the basics of hom eopathy for
hom e use. There are num erous good books on the subject.
M any cities have classes in hom eopathy, often oriented
tow ards hom e care. (For both books and class inform ation see
the Resources section in Appendix 3.)
Treating fam ily m em bers and friends w ith everyday
com plaints is both fun and educational. M any people find the
experience gives them a sense of self-confidence and freedom
from an often intrusive m edical system . It is rew arding to see
these problem s resolve quickly and w ith little expense.
Through practice and experience, hom e prescribers
w ill im prove their skills. There is no danger of a toxic reaction
to the rem edies. The w arning signs of m ore serious m edical
conditions are usually presented in the various introductory
books on hom eopathic hom e-health.
Rem em ber that it is not necessary to treat every little
ache and pain of life. Trust the bodys ability to heal itself.
Even very healthy people get occasional colds and other m inor
problem s.
Animals
The veterinary use of hom eopathic rem edies is an
interesting confirm ation of the universality of the hom eopathic
response.
In conventional m edicine, m edicines are tested in
anim als to determ ine the effects and toxic reactions. Then the
m edicines can eventually be used in trials on people.
In hom eopathy, just the opposite occurs. Provings are
done on people. In this w ay, the subtle effects on thinking,
em otions, and general sym ptom s (chilliness vs. w arm th, thirst,
etc.) can be determ ined.
Am azingly, these sam e indications brought out on
people have been show n to apply to anim als. O bservant
ow ners can often tell these features in their pets. It is actually
sim ilar to observing changes in pre-verbal children.
Anim als suffering from illness m ay desire attention,
w ant to be alone, or m ay be irritable and snappish. If chilly,
they lay in the sun, if w arm on the cold tiles. It is easy to tell
if they are hungry, thirsty, restless, or calm .
Pet ow ners can learn to take care of their pets. Also,
there are a grow ing num ber of veterinarians w ho specialize in
hom eopathy.
Veterinary hom eopathy is especially interesting and
useful because the distance betw een generations in anim als is
relatively short. In this w ay, veterinary hom eopaths can
observe fam ilial tendencies, the effects of im m unizations, and
the effects of rem edies from one generation to the next.
Perhaps these observations m ade by hom eopathic vets w ill
eventually prove applicable to people.
The fact that hom eopathic m edicines w ork beautifully
on anim als using the indications brought out on hum ans is
fascinating. It speaks to the universality of the hom eopathic
response as w ell as the fundam ental unity of life. Perhaps this
is w hat m any pet ow ners are referring to w hen they say their
pets are people, too.
Candida
Candida albicans is a type of yeast that can cause
problem s in hum ans. It is found as thrush in young babies
m ouths, can cause a bright red diaper rash, and is responsible
for m any com plications of im m unosuppressed patients.
It has also been im plicated as a cause of yeast
overgrow th especially in patients w ho have been treated w ith
antibiotics. A diagnosis of candida infection is frequently
m ade for patients w ith m any sym ptom s such as food intoler-
ances, fatigue, irritability, m ood sw ings and the like.
Patients often ask of hom eopathic practitioners, D o
you treat candida? The sim ple answ er to this is, N o. W e treat
patients w ho m ay have candida, but w e do not treat candida.
From the point of view of hom eopathy, candida is a
disease diagnosis. The usual disease-oriented treatm ent
includes taking an antifungal agent, such as N ystatin, to kill the
yeast, and dietary changes. W hereas m any patients benefit
from these changes, the disease often recurs w hen they stray
from the therapeutic diet.
There is no need in hom eopathy for a specific candida
treatm ent. The hom eopathic approach treats the patient as a
w hole w ith one of a great m any hom eopathic rem edies. A
healthy patient is not susceptible to candida infections and w ill
recover w ithout specific disease treatm ent.
It is a com m on m isunderstanding that once a diagnosis
has been m ade, a specific disease treatm ent is m andatory.
O ver the years, patients w ith all kinds of disease diagnoses,
even patients in w hom the diagnosis is unclear, have benefited
from hom eopathic treatm ent.
Hormone replacement, menopause, and osteoporosis
H orm one replacem ent therapy is appropriate in a w ide
range of diseases involving dam aged glands. For exam ple,
thyroid horm one replacem ent is w ell-indicated in a patient
w ith a surgically rem oved or radioactively im paired thyroid
gland. Likew ise, in a patient w ith juvenile diabetes w hose
pancreas can no longer produce insulin, insulin replacem ent
is lifesaving. H om eopathy can help these patients, but it is
unlikely that their need for at least som e horm one replacem ent
w ill ever be gone.
The situation w ith m enopausal w om en is entirely
different. M enopause is a natural transition in life. A healthy
w om an w ith a healthy diet and proper exercise should pass
through m enopause w ith m inim al discom fort and live to a ripe
old age w ithout horm one replacem ent.
The current trend in m edicine is to give horm one
replacem ent at the first signs of m enopause as indicated by
decreasing horm one levels on lab w ork. This reflects an em pty
rationality. M enopause is no m ore a disease than puberty is
a disease. In hom eopathy, w e do not treat the lab w ork, w e
treat the patient. M enopausal w om en experiencing discom -
fort w ith m enopause are treated as unique individuals the
sam e w ay all patients are treated w ith hom eopathy. H om e-
opathy has an excellent record of treating w om en through this
transitional tim e w ithout the use of exogenous horm ones.
A num ber of natural plant horm one-like substances
are prom oted as alternatives to synthetic horm one replace-
m ent. These m ay be preferable in m any instances to synthetic
replacem ent, but they still reflect a disease-oriented approach
to w hat is, in reality, a natural process.
H orm one replacem ent is also prom oted as a preven-
tive m easure for bone loss. Studies have show n that calcium
loss in the body is prim arily associated w ith certain life-style
factors. Am ong these are included excess ingestion of m eat,
coffee, and alcohol. Also associated is a lack of proper
exercise and inadequate calcium intake.
Its true that w om en w ith a strong fam ily history of
osteoporosis occurring in relatively young fem ale m em bers of
their fam ily m ay be at high genetic risk for this problem . Such
patients, w hile a sm all m inority, m ay indeed benefit from
horm one replacem ent. Even in these patients, horm one
replacem ent is only one option and m ust be w eighed against
the potential risks of treatm ent.
Chapter 11
Homeopathy and
Conventional Medicine
Once upon a time there was a man who had a job
sitting on tacks.
He went to his regular doctor. My rear end hurts, he
lamented. Cant you give me something for it?
The doctor gave him some pain medicine. Over time,
the dose gradually increased until the man no longer felt the
pain of sitting on the tacks. In fact, he hardly even noticed his
job, he was in such a drugged state.
Eventually his doctor died. He went to a new doctor.
The new doctor realized that he was causing the problem
through his work and said, I wont give you pain medicine,
you need to quit your job!
Unable to bring himself to quit, the man wandered the
streets in despair. Finally, he entered the office of a homeo-
path.
Why dont you quit? the homeopath asked.
I cant, the man replied. They need me, there is no
one else who can do the job.
The homeopath realized this mans real problem was
his delusion that he must do this work. He gave the man a
remedy. It will cure your sore rear end, he told the man.
As the man responded to the remedy he changed his
outlook. He quit his job and found a new vocation in life.
At the follow-up appointment the man said, The
remedy didnt work. I had to quit my job.
Does your rear end hurt? the homeopath asked.
No, of course not! the man replied.
Although this story is fictional, it accurately contrasts
homeopathy and conventional medicine. No one has a job
sitting on tacks, but patients often make amazing changes
while undergoing homeopathic treatment.
An over-medicated population
The average person in Am erica today is over-m edi-
cated. Patients take huge quantities of pow erful m edications
prescribed by conventional physicians for w hat are, in reality,
m inor com plaints. These sam e patients then consum e over-
the-counter m edicines in large am ounts for every little ache
and pain. Finally, perhaps out of guilt, m any people have a
veritable pharm acy in their hom es of high-potency vitam ins
and herbs w ith w hich they attem pt to undo all the bad effects
of their previous over-m edication.
It is m y observation that conventional physicians know
that they prescribe m edicines w hich m any patients do not truly
need. Patients, how ever, insist on receiving som e kind of
m edicine and pow erful allopathic m edicines are the only
m edicines w hich are considered acceptable for these physi-
cians to prescribe.
Ignorance on the part of patients and aggressive
m arketing are the m ain causes of over-the-counter m edication
use. Patients are m ade to think that they should not experience
any sym ptom s or discom fort in their lives. People tend to
forget that m ost sym ptom s w hich they experience represent
their bodys response to the illness, not the illness itself. By
Homeopathy and Conventional Medicine 75
constantly suppressing their natural healing response they get
progressively m ore ill over tim e.
Differing approaches
The acceptance of hom eopathy does not m ean the
rejection of conventional m edicine.
The conventional approach is analytic. Analysis m eans
the separation of a w hole into its parts. Conventional m edicine
focuses on the parts: the organs, the cells, the cellular com po-
nents and the m olecules. The goal is to understand the
m icrobiological, biochem ical, or cellular basis for a disease and
to correct it on that level.
H om eopathy is synthetic. Synthesis m eans the com bi-
nation of the parts to form a w hole. It is concerned m ostly w ith
the w hole, and the various parts are view ed from this perspec-
tive. The goal is to understand the response of the patient as
a w hole and to apply m edicines based on that understanding
to stim ulate the self-healing m echanism .
The w hole is m uch greater than the sum of the know n
parts. Thats w hy conventional m edicine, w ith its steadily
increasing know ledge of the parts, still falls far short of the
hom eopathic perspective.
W hat this translates to in the practical w orld is that the
patients of hom eopathic practitioners rarely require any m edi-
cine other than hom eopathic rem edies w hen ill. There do,
how ever, exist health problem s for w hich hom eopathic prac-
titioners recom m end conventional treatm ent.
Where to use conventional care
Conventional care is recom m ended for m any urgent
problem s that require im m ediate control of the disease for the
preservation of life or lim b. M edical problem s included here
are such things as life-threatening infectious diseases (such as
bacterial spinal m eningitis), m yocardial infarction, hyperten-
sive crisis, and the like.
In the past, hom eopathy w as w idely used for treating
patients w ith these conditions. H om eopathy m ade its reputa-
tion in the nineteenth century w ith outstanding success in
devastating epidem ic infectious diseases such as cholera and
typhoid.
Currently, the allopathic treatm ent is easier to apply
and is efficient in saving lives and preventing perm anent injury
in patients w ith m any of these im m ediately life-threatening
problem s.
I dont have an exact list of w hat diseases I recom m end
conventional treatm ent for. It depends on the patient, their
disease, and situation in life. Suffice to say that I recom m end
conventional treatm ent for surprisingly few patients.
Antibiotic overuse
The treatm ent of bacterial infectious disease w ith
antibiotics is one of the strengths of allopathic m edicine. D ue
to the lack of any alternatives in allopathy, antibiotics are
overused. W ith m any patients, the m ore antibiotics they take,
the m ore they need. Its a kind of vicious cycle w here the
im m une system gets progressively less effective in resisting
infections.
This overuse has also resulted in the developm ent of
superbugs m icroorganism s resistant to antibiotics and
m ay be a cause of candida yeast overgrow th and associated
fatigue syndrom es.
Patients using hom eopathy as their prim ary healthcare
need antibiotics only occasionally, if at all. This represents a
practical preventive solution to this developing problem of
antibiotic resistance. H om eopathy also has potential value in
the treatm ent of patients w ith infections caused by antibiotic
resistant organism s.
Surgery
Surgery is another conventional m odality som etim es
needed. There exist m any conditions, both m edical and
traum atic, w hich are best treated surgically. H om eopathy has
been used successfully in preventing m any surgeries but w ill
not alw ays suffice in a truly appropriate surgical condition.
If you get run over by a truck, clearly youll need
surgical care. O ther conditions are not alw ays so clear. For
exam ple, if an appendicitis is suspected, a rem edy should be
started w hile the patient is on the w ay for surgical evaluation.
Surprisingly, a greater than expected num ber of these cases
w ill resolve w ithout surgery.
M any thousands of children get tubes placed in the ears
for recurrent infections. M y personal experience is that only
very few of these children need such surgery if they get
hom eopathic care.
As w ith antibiotics, surgery tends to be overused. This
is especially true in m any gynecological conditions w here
there is no urgency to the surgery, the condition is not life-
threatening, and yet surgery is perform ed w ithout any attem pt
at healing.
Conventional medications
There are m any conventional m edications w hich should
not be abruptly discontinued just because a patient decides to
pursue hom eopathic therapy. There are too m any exam ples
to list here, but the general idea is that if you have been
controlling a disease w ith m edication, its not safe to abruptly
stop the m edication. It m ay be necessary to begin hom eopathy
and then w ean the allopathic m edicines, if possible, as the
patient recovers. H om eopathy can still be of benefit to those
patients w ho require certain m edications w hich can not be
safely discontinued.
O ne sim ple exam ple is that of asthm a. M any asthm atic
patients control their asthm a w ith m edications. I usually start
them on hom eopathy and decrease their conventional m edi-
cations as they respond.
A gray area
There is no distinct boundary as to exactly w here the
interface betw een hom eopathy and conventional m edicine
lies. In m any situations it depends on the experience of the
practitioner and the desires of the patient. M y personal
experience is that m ost patients can be treated hom eopathi-
cally. Conventional m edicine and surgery should be reserved
for certain patients and conditions of clear need.
The need for conventional m edicine or surgery is not
a failure. The heart of all form s of healthcare is the w elfare of
the patient.
Chapter 12
Homeopathy and
Alternative Therapies
Im feeling fantastic! one of my patients told me at a
recent follow-up appointment. You see, I went to the Holistic
Expo and bought some herbal weight loss pills. I just started
them ten days ago and my energy is wonderful.
I didnt want to tell you before I started them because
I knew youd tell me not to take them, she added.
Its true, I would have advised her to hold off on
starting anything new. These herbal formulas help many
people, but everyone is different. Thats the whole point with
homeopathy; patients must be treated as individuals.
This patient had been doing well on her remedy. Her
last few menstrual periods had been the best in many years,
they were on time and with few symptoms.
Well, I said, since you already started it, lets see
what happens. Maybe it will be fine with your remedy, maybe
not. Theres no way to tell without trying.
Her next follow-up was six weeks later.
I quit the herbal pills, she confided. I had the worst
period in a long time. Also I gained five pounds.
Now that she is off the herbs, her remedy should start
acting again. Eventually, when her health has stabilized,
trying such pills probably wont throw her so out of balance.
But, on the other hand, she also will not feel the need to try
them.
Alternative therapy
It is a m isnom er to refer to hom eopathy as an alterna-
tive therapy. It only appears alternative in that the conven-
tional system is overused. It is no m ore alternative than the
spherical earth view w as an alternative to the flat-earth view in
the fifteenth century. H om eopathy is not an optional outlook,
but instead a m ore com prehensive one.
Likew ise, practitioners of other alternative therapies
prefer the use of another term , such as natural or com plem en-
tary m edicine, to distinguish their approach.
This section w ill discuss the com patibility of various
non-conventional approaches to therapy or healthcare w ith
hom eopathy. M any system s, even though natural, interfere
w ith the action of rem edies and need to be avoided w hile
undergoing treatm ent.
Holistic medicine
H olistic m edicine is poorly defined. It is supposed to
m ean an approach w hich treats the w hole person. H om eopa-
thy is an excellent exam ple of a truly holistic approach in that
it does treat the w hole person.
The problem is that holistic m edicine is often allopathic
in character. M uch of naturopathy, ayurveda, oriental m edi-
cine, and herbal m edicine is allopathic in that it prim arily treats
the disease as opposed to the patient.
This is easily seen by going into a store selling natural
m edicines. The sam e form ulas are sold to everyone w ith the
sam e disease or condition, m uch like conventional m edicines.
Homeopathy and Alternative Therapies 81
(This is true even for m any form ulations sold as hom eopathic
m edicines.)
This disease-oriented approach is not necessarily
bad, but, as the case above illustrates, it does not take
individual variation into account. In spite of this, these natural
m odalities are often preferable to conventional m edicine
because the treatm ents are usually safer and less toxic.
Naturopathy
N aturopathy is not the sam e as hom eopathy. N aturo-
paths use a w ide range of therapies to treat patients, one of
w hich is hom eopathy. A given naturopathic physician, how -
ever, m ay or m ay not be w ell-trained in hom eopathy.
Accredited naturopathic education consists of a four
year curriculum of traditional naturopathic courses as w ell as
conventional diagnosis, obstetrics, m inor surgery and the like.
G raduates of the accredited institutions are w ell-rounded
physicians and are eligible for licensure in those states w hich
license naturopathic physicians. U nfortunately, there are also
som e non-accredited institutions w hich give degrees but have
m uch low er standards. G raduates from these schools are not
eligible for licensure anyw here in the U S.
D espite the fact that virtually all naturopathic therapies
are natural, not all are com patible for use sim ultaneously w ith
hom eopathy. Therapies such as therapeutic diets, fasting,
m assage, hydrotherapy, spinal m anipulation (chiropractic and
osteopathy), exercise, and m any form s of physical therapy are
com patible w ith hom eopathy. These m odalities do not force
changes in the system .
O ther m odalities som etim es used by natural health
practitioners, including naturopaths, are discussed below .
Nutrition
Proper nutrition is one of the pillars of good health.
M ost health conscious people today have a reasonable idea of
w hat constitutes a proper diet. People need to eat sim ple,
natural foods w ith adequate variety and in adequate am ounts.
They should avoid over-processed foods and non-food item s.
Q uantities of rich foods, fats, m eats, sugar, and the like are
deleterious to health.
Beyond these straightforw ard guidelines, nutritional
needs becom e very individual. Everyones system is som ew hat
different. Som e people dont tolerate certain foods w hich
others thrive on. Som e have allergies or intolerances w hich
cause significant health effects such as recurring ear infections,
asthm a, or eczem a in children. O ften no m edicine is needed
at all, they just need to rem ove m ilk, or som e other com m on
offender, from their diet.
These individual variations are im portant in choosing
a hom eopathic rem edy. Patients needing certain rem edies
often have food cravings or intolerances that are characteristic
for that rem edy.
H om eopathy in general does not insist on certain diets
or nutritional therapy for those undergoing treatm ent, although
specific patients m ay be advised to avoid or to encourage
certain foods. M ost practitioners observe that w hen patients
respond to a rem edy, they tend to desire a healthier diet
spontaneously.
Vitamins
M any people advocate the use of vitam ins and m ineral
supplem ents for the prevention of disease. The action of these
supplem ents in the body varies depending on the dose in
w hich they are taken.
Taken in sm aller doses, vitam ins act m ore as foods. In
this range, close to their natural levels in foods, they are sim ply
food supplem ents, supplying im portant dietary factors w hich,
for one reason or another, a person m ay not be getting from
their diet. Taken in very large doses, these sam e vitam ins act
m ore as m edicines. For the m ost part they are non-toxic and
safe, but they are m edicines none-the-less. These large doses
force shifts in the biochem ical pathw ays of the body thereby
giving relief in m any conditions.
Such large doses of vitam ins m ay be incom patible w ith
hom eopathy. Patients on these large doses find that their
ability to respond to rem edies is decreased. This is because the
forced changes in the system m ay go contrary to the direction
w hich the natural healing processes w ish to go. As a result, the
natural healing is thw arted.
This is not to say that vitam ins are bad or in som e w ay
undesirable. It just m eans that w hile undergoing hom eopathic
treatm ent som e patients need to dow ngrade their nutritional
support to m ore natural levels.
Herbal medicines
H erbs m ay be com patible or incom patible w ith hom e-
opathy depending on the herb and the patient. M any patients
are so sensitive that even foods such as raw onions and garlic
have a m edicinal effect w hich w ill interfere w ith the patients
response to hom eopathic rem edies.
If an herbal m edicine is being taken for its health effects
there is a high likelihood that its action w ill interfere w ith a
patients response to hom eopathic rem edies. M arketing strat-
egies on the part of herbal com panies try to dow nplay the
m edicinal effects of herbs. It is true that m any herbs also have
nutritional properties, but m ost herbs and herbal com binations
are sold and consum ed for their m edicinal effects. H erbal teas
w hich are consum ed as beverages are often m ild and do not
interfere w ith rem edies. M int tea is one exception w hich m ay
interfere.
Patients undergoing hom eopathic therapy only occa-
sionally need som e other therapy at the sam e tim e. There are
a few herbs that I som etim es recom m end to patients, but for
the m ost part, concurrent use of herbal m edicines should be
avoided. Patients can discuss specific questions w ith their
practitioner.
Acupuncture
Acupuncture is the w ell-know n system of oriental
healing. U nfortunately, it m ay not m ix w ell w ith hom eopathy.
I dont really know w hy this is. Som e people undergoing
acupuncture just dont seem to respond w ell to rem edies w hile
others do fine. M y w ife is an acupuncturist w ho also practices
hom eopathy and she also has found that m any patients get
better results if she keeps these m odalities separate.
This is true for not only acupuncture w ith needles but
also for m oxa (heat) and Chinese herbs. M ost form s of oriental
m assage do not interfere and can be used w ith hom eopathy.
The mad rush
It com es as a surprise to m any people that all form s of
natural healing are not com patible if used sim ultaneously.
Better results are usually obtained by doing one form of
treatm ent at a tim e for its full benefit before trying som ething
else.
Relax! In the m ad rush to be healed, people w aste
m uch tim e and m oney by not giving w hatever therapy they are
doing a chance. True healing occurs from the inside out, in its
ow n tim e, and cannot be forced.
Chapter 13
Homeopathic
Remedies
A middle-aged woman with hyperthyroidism had been
under my care for about four months. She was doing well.
She was off her regular medication (called PTU) which she
had taken for seven years. In the past, whenever she stopped
the PTU, she became very ill within weeks; but now she had
been off for the entire four months without symptoms. Her
pulse, blood pressure, and other indicators of hyperthyroid-
ism were all normal. She felt the best she had in years,
emotionally stronger and with improved energy. It appeared
that she was responding well to the remedy she was taking.
Her potency of this same remedy had just gone up a
few weeks before. Suddenly I got a call from her.
Dr. Dooley, she said, Ive been doing terrible the
past few weeks. It just gets worse and worse. My pulse is
racing and Im nervous as a cat. This is what always used to
happen off my PTU.
She came to the office and I reviewed her case. It just
didnt make sense. There was no reason in my experience
why she should be doing poorly. It appeared that the remedy
had just stopped working.
She had not started any herbs or other medications
which often interfere with remedies. She had not been
drinking coffee. Her remedy had been properly stored and
kept away from noxious fumes, direct sunlight, and other
damaging factors.
Her old symptoms had started to return just a few days
after starting the new potency of her remedy. The only
conclusion I could come up with was that the remedy, when
it arrived via UPS to her door from the manufacturer, had been
somehow antidoted in route or improperly prepared.
After examination I concluded it was medically safe to
wait for a few days while a new bottle of that same potency of
the remedy was sent. She was skeptical but did not want to
go back to PTU or to drink radioactive iodine (the next medical
treatment in line for her).
Sure enough, when the new bottle arrived from the
same manufacturer, she started on it and was better in just a
few days. Within a week she had regained her previous level
of well-being.
At the present time, there is no way to objectively
measure the activity or strength of a homeopathic remedy
other than by the response of a patient to it. It is therefore
important to purchase remedies from reliable sources and to
care for them properly. In my experience, it is rare that a
remedy is inactive at the time of purchase. As this case
demonstrates, it does occasionally happen.
Sources
Any substance w hich can affect hum an health and
w ell-being can be developed into a hom eopathic rem edy.
Provings have been conducted on a w ide range of m aterials
w hich are now part of the hom eopathic M ateria M edica.
Homeopathic Remedies 87
M any rem edies are m ade from herbs, both toxic and
non-toxic. Rem edies are m ade from m inerals as benign as
sodium chloride (com m on table salt), as deadly as arsenic, and
as precious as gold and platinum .
There are rem edies m ade from anim als and anim al
products; som e from insects such as bees or ladybugs. O thers
from products as seem ingly exotic as snake venom , spider
venom , or dogs m ilk.
Rem edies can also be m ade from disease products and
agents such as bacteria and scabies.
Regardless of the source of the rem edy, it m ust be
prescribed for the patient according to its hom eopathic indica-
tions for good results. Each rem edy m ust be m ade by the
m anufacturer in exactly the sam e m anner as the substance used
in the original provings. The final product w ill then reliably
retain the know n hom eopathic indications as established in the
provings.
Appearance
Each rem edy is prepared in potency, as described in
earlier chapters, so as to be non-toxic and yet to retain its
unique hom eopathic properties. As it is progressively diluted,
the rem edy quickly becom es a clear liquid. This clear liquid
is then put onto sm all sugar pellets.
H om eopathic rem edies therefore usually appear sim -
ply as sm all w hite pellets packaged in vials. The size of the
pellets is not im portant. Its helpful to rem em ber that the actual
m edicine is the tincture placed on the pellets, not the pellets
them selves.
Y ou cant tell one rem edy from another by looking at
the pellets. The label on the vial w ill tell the nam e of the
rem edy and its potency.
Labeling requirements
The U .S. Food and D rug Adm inistration (FD A) requires
that all over-the-counter m edications have indications printed
on the label. The reader of this book understands by now that
there do not exist specific disease indications for hom eopathic
rem edies. A patient w ith a given disease m ay need a single
rem edy out of hundreds. Likew ise, a given rem edy m ay be
indicated for patients w ith one of m any diseases found
throughout the body.
In order to com ply w ith FD A regulations, hom eopathic
m anufacturers choose a com m on com plaint for w hich a given
rem edy is indicated in m any patients and place that indication
on the label. This is often a source of confusion. For exam ple,
a hom eopathic rem edy prescribed for a m ale patient m ay be
labeled as indicated for m enstrual cram ps. O r a patient w hose
m ain com plaint is neurological m ight get a rem edy labeled as
indicated for diarrhea. Patients m ust realize that these so-called
disease indications required by the FD A on hom eopathic
rem edies are m ostly irrelevant and should be ignored. For
good results, all rem edies should be taken only according to
their hom eopathic indications for the w hole patient, not for the
disease diagnosis on the label.
Prescription and unavailable remedies
In recent years the FD A has changed the status of som e
hom eopathic rem edies to prescription only. This is surprising
to those fam iliar w ith hom eopathy since all rem edies w ere
previously sold over-the-counter for over one hundred years
w ithout any reported problem s.
The rem edies now requiring prescriptions are those
m ade from disease products. Persons fam iliar w ith the
preparation of hom eopathic m edicines understand that it is
literally im possible for these rem edies to spread disease in any
w ay.
The prescription status of these rem edies is unneces-
sary and irrational, but at least they are still available.
Som e other rem edies have recently been m ade un-
available in the U nited States by the FD A. These include
rem edies m ade from controlled substances such as opium .
Again, anyone fam iliar w ith even the m ost rudim entary basics
of hom eopathy understands that it is im possible for these
rem edies to be abused in any w ay. They are com pletely safe
and are still available over-the-counter throughout the w orld
except in the U nited States.
Dr. Dooley, she said, Im sorry but I just get too large
an emotional reaction to taking any drug like this, even in
small doses. Many people in my family have had problems
with drugs; my sister is finally clean now, and the thought of
this really bothers me. Isnt there another remedy you can
give me?
The year was 1979 and I was in my naturopathic
practice in southern Oregon. At that time, homeopathic
opium was still available as an over-the-counter medicine
here in the U.S.
Mary, I said, attempting to explain. When you take
homeopathic opium there is not even one molecule of opium
in the remedy. All that remains is a kind of imprint that opium
makes on the diluting liquid.
Think of it this way you suffer from a disease state
similar to that of opium toxicity. You have terrible constipation
and are constantly falling asleep. Your pupils tend to be
constricted and you are always too hot.
Taking this homeopathic opium will cure you of this
opium-like state from which you suffer.
Unfortunately, there is no other remedy which will
substitute. Homeopathic remedies can only be prescribed on
their similar symptoms for results. This is true whether the
original substance is an herb like chamomile, a poison like
snake venom, a metal like aluminum, or a drug like opium.
Your symptoms are similar to opium toxicity, not to anything
else.
Mary thought about it and remembered the results we
had achieved with her sons problems. She realized his
symptoms had also been similar to the symptoms of the
medicine that cured him. In the end, she took the remedy and
benefited.
Combination remedies
Som e hom eopathic m anufacturers produce a num ber
of m edicines called com bination rem edies w hich are sold to
treat specific diseases and com plaints. These products are
com binations of m any single hom eopathic rem edies in varied
potencies m ixed together. They are often sold as liquid drops
as w ell as pellets and tablets.
M any patients find these products easy to use and
effectively palliate various com plaints. W hereas they som e-
tim es relieve sym ptom s quickly and effectively, they rarely
bring a patient to a level of health w here the problem s stop
recurring. The problem is that w hen single rem edies are m ixed
together it creates a com pletely new m edicine. U ntil a proving
is done on that particular com bination of rem edies, its unique
hom eopathic indications are not know n and a truly curative
response is rare.
They are used m ost frequently for com m on com plaints
such as teething in children, allergic sym ptom s, indigestion,
etc.
Patients undergoing constitutional therapy w ith a ho-
m eopathic practitioner should strictly avoid these com bination
rem edies, unless cleared in advance w ith their practitioner.
Taking m ultiple hom eopathic rem edies com m only disrupts
ongoing hom eopathic care.
Care of the remedies
H om eopathic rem edies are rem arkably stable and
retain their therapeutic properties for extended periods if
properly cared for. Rem edies should be kept in sealed
containers aw ay from strong odors, direct sunlight, excessive
heat, and m icrow ave. M any com m on household appliances
generate large electrom agnetic fields, so rem edies should not
be stored near these.
They should not be stored in the sam e areas as
cam phor containing products (Vicks, Ben G ay, Tiger Balm ,
etc.). Avoid exposure to x-ray m achines at airports, although
these detectors do not alw ays disturb their action.
In recent years, hom eopathic m anufacturers have
started putting expiration dates on the rem edies. These dates
appear to be arbitrary and irrelevant. If rem edies are properly
cared for, they have been know n to retain their potency for a
great m any years.
How to take a remedy
Rem edies are usually taken as dry pellets under the
tongue. Tw o to four pellets usually constitutes one dose,
although this m ay vary per the size of the pellets. The num ber
of pellets taken at each dose is not as im portant as the
frequency of repetition or the potency.
For exam ple, taking four pellets per dose is usually not
very different from taking tw o pellets per dose. But taking four
pellets once a day is very different from taking tw o pellets tw ice
a day. Finally, taking four pellets of 6C is entirely different from
taking tw o pellets of 12C.
Confused? To m ake life sim ple, just take the rem edy
as instructed by the practitioner. If youre not sure w hat to do,
just ask.
Its im portant to rem em ber that the sugar pellets are not
the m edicine, the m edicine is the dilution w hich has been used
to m edicate the pellets. It is best not to touch the pellets w ith
your fingers. Just use the cap of the vial to dispense the pellets
and pour the correct num ber under your tongue from the cap.
If pellets fall on the floor, it is best to dispose of them .
Patients are som etim es instructed to put the pellets in
w ater and stir the w ater before taking a teaspoonful as a dose.
This process slightly changes the potency and effect of the
rem edy. It is occasionally referred to as plussing.
Chapter 14
Changing
Your View
For three years, Ming (my wife) and I ran a weekly
clinic in Tijuana, Mexico. Here we provided healthcare, at no
charge, to the local residents. It was located next to the
municipal dump in a very poor colonia (neighborhood). The
people living here supported themselves by working in the
dump digging all day through garbage and filth, recycling
anything of value.
For a long time we set up a little clinic every week in
the bedroom of one familys home. Their house was made of
old forklift pallets nailed together. There was scrap metal on
the outside and cardboard tacked on the inside. The card-
board was painted blue. A piece of plastic incorporated into
the scrap ceiling let in a pale light. There were carpet
remnants thrown over the dirt floor. There was no plumbing
or electricity, but a car battery powered a small black and
white TV. A statue of the Virgin Mary rested above it. Cooking
was done over an open fire pit on the side of the house. There
was a crude outhouse in the rear of the house next to a smelly
pigpen.
As the years went by, we became familiar with many
families in the community. Hospitals and friends here in the
U.S. donated medicines and a service organization eventu-
ally built a small clinic for our use.
The conventional pharmacy of the little clinic grew and
grew. The reason is, we hardly ever used it! The donated
conventional medicines just sat there. We found we rarely
needed any medicine other than homeopathic remedies for
taking care of just about everything. We brought our own
remedies every week in hundreds of small vials carried in a
red tool chest and then dispensed what was needed in small
envelopes.
It was a little sad to watch the conventional medicines,
so kindly donated for our use, go bad on the shelves.
Eventually, I started passing the donated medicines on to the
local chapter of the Red Cross for use in their clinic.
Homeopathy is a wonderful asset in third world and
relief-work settings. Our patients in the clinic didnt really
understand homeopathy. They just went to the doctor and got
some pills. The children liked taking them. People got well.
H om eopathy is a vast subject and this book is only a
short introduction. Y et, if youve read the entire book, you now
understand m any of the basics of hom eopathy and w hat m akes
it different. Y ou can see that theres no other system of
m edicine quite like hom eopathy. Y ou can see how it is
possible that people of all ages w ith m any types of com plaints
can benefit from hom eopathy, w hile, at the sam e tim e,
hom eopathy does not directly treat disease!
Y ou can see how hom eopathy, not relying on high-
tech testing, saves m oney. And you can see how hom eopathy
is natural, how it w orks w ith the body to prom ote the innate
self-healing m echanism .
Changing Your View 95
Y ou should also be able to understand w hy conven-
tional m edical studies, w hich com pare uniform treatm ents for
a given disease, are rarely of use in evaluating hom eopathy. In
hom eopathy, there is no uniform treatm ent for a given disease,
the treatm ent varies according to the patient.
Recently, how ever, there have been a few published
studies w here hom eopathy w as used appropriately. The
results of these studies supported the efficacy of hom eopathy
and they are referenced in Appendix 4.
So what now?
Som e readers at the end of this book m ay find that they
are ready to go. They feel they have understood the m essage
of the book, they agree w ith it, and look forw ard to using
hom eopathy to im prove their lives. Such people often find that
hom eopathy is an outlook they already had, but never ex-
pressed.
Interested persons w ill find the Resources section in
Appendix 3 useful. In it are recom m ended books, book
dealers, organizations, m anufacturers, and referral sources for
practitioners.
O ther readers m ay not be quite so com fortable. Per-
haps they are not sure w hy. Perhaps they are skeptical or have
lots of questions. It is com m on to have such reservations about
som ething that is different, especially w hen ones health is the
issue.
The reality is, changing ones outlook requires m ore
than sim ple intellectual understanding. Although w anting to
change is usually the first step, experience is often necessary
before the change becom es a part of ones view .
Changing Your View 97
Falling off the edge
In the early sixteenth century, European sailors and
discoverers took the bold step of exploring the uncharted
w aters of the w orld. But sim ply understanding that the earth
w as a sphere did not calm their fears. The experience of
successfully navigating the earths oceans w ithout falling off
the edge w as required to convince them selves that it w as so.
These sailors had been raised w ith the belief that the
earth w as flat. M any had relatives w ho had sailed off the edge,
that is, set out across the seas never to return. So, in spite of
them selves, w hen they personally set off to challenge this flat-
earth dogm a, they found their knees shaking, their hearts
pounding, and cold sw eat form ing on their brow s.
After a voyage or tw o they found they had changed.
They now not only intellectually knew the earth w as a sphere,
but, through their experience, this know ledge had becom e a
part of them .
H om eopathy m ay be new to you, but to m any others
it is w ell-know n. Their know ledge and experience is available
to guide you, should you choose to pursue it.
Personal responsibility
Y ou and you alone are responsible for your health. N o
am ount of expert consultations can change this sim ple fact.
The opinions of experts can help in your decision m aking, but,
in the end, it is you w ho w ill live w ith the consequences of
those decisions.
Adopting the holistic view of hom eopathy does not
lim it any healthcare choices. O n the contrary, understanding
hom eopathy encom passes conventional m edicine w hile open-
ing a new w orld of healthcare possibilities.
The final word
At this point in my life, Ive worked in a variety of
healthcare settings: from my naturopathic family practice in
Oregon, to the hospital residency, to the slums of Tijuana. Ive
done rotations in hospital wards in Calcutta, India, and was
director of a small rural hospital emergency department here
in California for a number of years.
There are many interesting and useful therapies in
this world, some natural, some not. But I have yet to find
anything which takes the place of homeopathy.
At best, homeopathy represents a new branch of
science that, when better understood, will open new vistas
throughout the biological sciences as it does in healthcare.
At worst, homeopathy is a harmless placebo demon-
strating that much of conventional medicine is unnecessary
and harmful.
My direct experience with homeopathy is such that I
say with confidence, of the above two possibilities, the first,
the best scenario, is the correct one.
Appendix 1
Potentization of medicines
A ll m edicines prepared by potentization start as a
solution of established chem ical strength. Then, one part of
the solution is added to 99 parts of a diluent (w ater and/
or alcohol) and the dilution is thoroughly succussed (vigor-
ously agitated by shaking). This new dilution is called the
1C potency because it is a 1:100 dilution of the original
solution (C standing for centesim al).
Then the 1C potency is further diluted by taking one part
and adding 99 parts of a diluent. A gain, the new dilution
is succussed. The new dilution is called the 2C potency
because it has been prepared by a 1:100 dilution perform ed
tw ice. H ence, the actual strength of the 2C potency is
1:10,000 of the original solution (1/100 of 1/100). This is
m ore clear if you study the illustration on the opposing
page.
In a like m anner, the succeeding potencies are all
prepared (3C from the 2C, 4C from the 3C, etc.). It should
be em phasized that the m edicine m ust be thoroughly
agitated after each dilution. If properly diluted and agitated,
the m edicines retain their ability to cause a hom eopathic
response even in the high potencies (high dilutions). If not
properly agitated at each step, the m edicine loses its
hom eopathic m edicinal properties through the diluting
process.
There is another system of potentization in w hich the
dilution factor is 1:10 (a decim al dilution), instead of 1:100
(a centesim al dilution as discussed above). The overall
process is otherw ise the sam e and the resulting dilutions are
referred to as 1X , 2X , 3X , etc.
The very high potencies are abbreviated by the use of
the letter M . H ence, 1,000 C is usually referred to as 1M ,
10,000 C as 10M , etc.
Potencies of nearly every strength m ight be used in the
course of hom eopathic treatm ent. For exam ple, in the
course of a day a hom eopathic practitioner m ay prescribe
low potencies, such as 6X , or high potencies, such as 10M ,
depending on the needs of the patients.
Appendix 1 101
99
D rops
W ater
99
D rops
W ater
99
D rops
W ater
M other
Tincture
of 2 C ETC.
O ne drop O ne drop
2 C
(1/10,000)
1 C
(1/100)
3 C
(1/1,000,000)
The process of potentization. Succussion (vigorous agitation by
M other
Tincture
(Full Strength)
O ne drop of
of 1 C M other Tincture
shaking) m ust be perform ed after each dilution step.
Appendix 2
A sample remedy
A s an exam ple of how a m edicine is described in the
M ateria M edica, com m on w hite arsenic, called A rsenicum
A lbum , is presented in part. The indications show n below
represent som e of the things w hich can be caused and cured
by arsenic.
ARSENICUMALBUM
M IN D : O versensitive, fastidious, fault finding. A nxious.
D espair of recovery. Terrible fear of death. W orse at night.
Restless, constantly changing position. Suspicious. M iserly,
m alicious, selfish. Irritability. Fear of robbers. Sees ghosts
day and night.
H EA D : A ching, better cold. Restless, in constant m otion.
Scalp sensitive, cannot brush hair.
N O SE: Thin, w atery, excoriating discharge. Cold sores in
nose. Cannot bear sight or sm ell of food. Sneezing w ith
coryza.
FA CE: Pale, anxious, sunken. Cold sw eat. O ld look, in
children.
STO M A CH : Cannot bear sight or sm ell of food. Intense,
unquenchable thirst. D rinks little and often. Craves ice cold
w ater. N ausea, retching and vom iting. D esires sour things,
brandy, coffee, m ilk.
SLEEP: D isturbed, anxious, restless. Shocks on dropping
to sleep. D ream s of death, full of care, sorrow , and fear.
Talks in sleep.
G et the general idea? The M ateria M edica continues on
through the various body system s, general sym ptom s, and
m odalities (things that m ake better and w orse).
The M ateria M edica lists a large num ber of sym ptom s
w hich might be found in a person needing a given rem edy.
M ost patients w ill only have some of the possible character-
istic sym ptom s.
For exam ple, m ost patients requiring A rsenicum A lbum
are not m iserly and suspicious, although these qualities w ill
som etim es be found in patients needing the rem edy.
Appendix 2 103
Appendix 3
Resources
Recommended books:
Homeopathy in general
Homeopathy: Medicine for the New Man
B y G eorge V ithoulkas
Discovering Homeopathy: Medicine for the 21st
Century
B y D ana U llm an, M PH
The Patient Not the Cure
B y D r. M arjorie B lackie
Home treatment books
Homeopathic Medicine at Home
B y M aesim und Panos, M D and Jane H eim lich
Everybodys Guide to Homeopathic Medicines
B y Stephen Cum m ings, M D and D ana U llm an, M PH
The Complete Homeopathy Handbook
B y M iranda Castro
Homeopathic Medicine for Children and Infants
B y D ana U llm an, M PH
Where to buy books
M ost large book stores and health food stores carry a
few books on hom eopathy. For a better selection, try one
of the specialty m ail order houses, a few of w hich are
m entioned here. G et one of their catalogues for a huge
listing of hom eopathic books, including m any other hom e
treatm ent books as w ell as advanced books.
H om eopathic Education Services
2124 K ittredge St.
B erkeley, C A 94704
(800) 359-9051 (orders)
(510) 649-0294
M inim um Price H om eopathic B ooks
250 H Street
P.O . B ox 2187
B laine, W A 98231
(800) 663-8272
Where to buy remedies
M any natural food stores, health food stores, and
traditional pharm acies carry hom eopathic rem edies. Just
check the phone book and call around. They can also be
ordered over the phone and shipped to your hom e. The
num bers of som e of the m ore com m on m anufacturers and
suppliers are listed below .
Standard H om eopathic
210 W est 131st St.
P.O . B ox 61067
Los A ngeles, CA 90061
(800) 624-9659
D olisos
3014 Rigel A ve.
Las V egas, N V 89102
(800) 365-4767
Appendix 3 105
B oiron
98C W est C ochran St.
Sim i V alley, C A 93065
(800) B LU -TU B E
B oericke and Tafel
2381 Circadian W ay
Santa Rosa, CA 95407
(800) 876-9505
H om eopathy O vernight
4111 Sim on Rd.
Y oungstow n, O H 44512
(800) 276-4223
Luyties Pharm acal Com pany
4200 Laclede A ve.
St. Louis, M O 63108
(800) 325-8080
Organizations
There are m any professional and public hom eopathic
organizations.
The m ain one that can help you is:
The N ational Center for H om eopathy (N CH )
801 N orth Fairfax Street, Suite 306
A lexandria, V A 22314
(703) 548-7790
The N CH has directories of practitioners, classes, w ork-
shops, sem inars, and other services. They teach hom eo-
pathic courses in the sum m er. Their m onthly new sletter is
inform ative and up-to-date. Schools and other educational
program s advertise in their new sletter. The N CH sponsors
study groups around the country.
107
M em bership in the N CH is inexpensive. Y ou dont need
to be a m em ber to give them a call and inquire about
practitioners, classes, and the like.
A nother good organization is:
International Foundation for H om eopathy (IFH )
2366 Eastlake A ve. E
Seattle, W A 98102
(206) 324-8230
The IFH also has a new sletter, teaches classes, and has
inform ation you m ay need. Like the N CH , IFH m em bership
is reasonably priced.
These are the tw o m ain national organizations for the
general public. Y ou m ay also contact the national profes-
sional organizations for inform ation and practitioner infor-
m ation. There are too m any organizations to place them all
in this appendix. Check w ith the N CH for inform ation about
your state or local organizations.
Practitioners
The prim ary w ays to find practitioners are w ord of
m outh, the yellow pages (either under H om eopaths or
Physicians, hom eopathic), or by referring to a directory.
The N CH (see above) m aintains a national directory and a
few phone calls can usually help you find a practitioner in
your area.
Appendix 3
Appendix 4
Research studies
Ferley JP, Sm irou D , D A dhem ar D , B alducci F., A Con-
trolled Evaluation of a H om eopathic Preparation in the
Treatm ent of Influenza-like Syndrom es.Br J Clin Pharmacol
1989;27:329-35.
Fisher P, G reenw ood A , H uskisson EC, Turner P, B elon P.,
Effect of H om eopathic Treatm ent on Fibrosistis (Prim ary
Fibrom yalgia).Br Med J 1989; 299:365-6.
G ibson RG , G ibson SL, M acN eill A D , B uchanan,W W .,
H om eopathic Therapy in Rheum atoid A rthritis: Evaluation
by D ouble-blind Clinical Therapeutic Trial. Br J Clin
Pharmacol 1980; 9:453-9.
Jacobs J, Jim enez LM , G loyd SS, G ale JL, C rothers D .,
Treatm ent of A cute C hildhood D iarrhea w ith H om eo-
pathic M edicine: a Random ized Clinical Trial in N icaragua.
Pediatrics 1994; 93:719-25.
K leijne J, K nipschld P, ter Riet G ., Clinical Trials of
H om eopathy.Br Med J, 1991;302:326-323 (m eta-analysis)
Reilly D T, Taylor M A , M cSharry C, A itchison T., Is H om e-
opathy a Placebo Response? Controlled Trial of H om eo-
pathic Potency, w ith Pollen in H ayfever as M odel.Lancet,
1986; ii: 881-5.
Index
A
Acupuncture 85
Aggravation 55
Allopathy 12
Alternative therapy 81
Am erican Institute of H om eopa-
thy (AIH ) 39, 42
Am erican M edical Association
(AM A) 39
Analysis 76
Anim als 69
Antibiotic overuse 77
Appendicitis 78
Arsenicum Album 43, 66, 102
Aspirin 46
Asthm a 18
Avogadros num ber 44
Ayurveda 35, 50, 81
B
Books
recom m ended 104
w here to buy 104
Breast infection 57
C
Cam phor 64, 92
Candida 70
Chi 50
Children 67
em otional and behavior
problem s 68
Cholera 38
Chronic fatigue syndrom e 59
Cinchona bark 11, 37
Classical hom eopathy 60
Cocaine 65
Coffee 11, 59, 64
Colds 57, 69
Com plem entary m edicine 81
Constitutional therapy 92
Coughs 69
Cystitis 24
D
D ental w ork 65
D iarrhea 57, 69
D iscourses on M ahabharata 34
D isease
acute 57
chronic 53, 61
suppresion 57
sym ptom s 18
E
Ear infections 57
Em otions 32
F
Fever 36, 68
Flexner report 40
Flu 57
G
G arlic 65
G eneral anesthesia 65
G raphites 21
H
H ahnem ann 4, 34, 35
m edicine at the tim e 35
vital force 50
H ahnem ann M edical College 41
Index 109
H ealing
duration 54
progression 54
H erbal m edicine 81, 84
H erbalists 37
H ighland H ospital 17
H ippocrates 34
H olistic m edicine 81
H om e health 68
H om eopathic Academ y of
N aturopathic Physicians 42
H om eopathy
arrival in Am erica 39
biologic principle 48
certification 42
nam e 11
opposition to 38
professional associations 42
tw entieth century 40
H orm one replacem ent 71
H ypertensive crisis 77
H yperthyroidism 86
I
Im m unizations 70
Interfering substances 64
Interview 62, 64
Ipecac 16
L
Law of sim ilars 11
Life-force 50
Lym phom a 66
M
M ahabharata 34
M alaria 37
M arijuana 65
M astitis 1
M ateria M edica 15, 102
M edications
conventional 78
M eningitis 68, 77
M enopause 71
M ercury 36
M int 65
M yocardial infarction 77
N
N ational College of N aturopathic
M edicine 5, 41
N aturopathy 81, 82
N ew borns 67
N orth Am erican Society of
H om eopaths 42
N utrition 83
N ystatin 71
O
O nions 65
O pium 90
O regon H ealth Sciences U niver-
sity 10
O rganizations 106
O rganon of M edicine 50
O riental m edicine 81
O steopathy 39
O steoporosis 71
O ver-m edicated 61, 75
P
Patients sym ptom s 18
Personal responsibility 97
Phytolacca 1
Plussing 93
Pneum onia 6
Potencies 12
Potentization 12, 100
111
S
Sarkar, P.R. 34
Scurvy 46
Side-effects 19
Sim illim um 32
Society of H om eopaths 42
Staphysagria 27
Stom ach flu 16
Stress 62
Succussion 101
Sucussion 13
Sudorifics 36
Superbugs 77
Surgery 78
Synthesis 76
T
Threek 63
Thrush 70
Typhoid 38
V
Valium 65
Veterinary 69
Visa chikitsa 34
Vital energy 50
Vital force 49
Vitam in C 46
Vitam ins 83
Vom iting 16, 69
Y
Y oga 50
Prana 50
Pregnancy 67
Provings 13, 14
PTU 86
Pulsatilla 12, 28, 47
Purgatives 36
Q
Q ueen of England 40
Q uinine 11, 37
R
Recreational drugs 65
Rem edies 13
appearance 88
care of 92
com bination 91
dosing 55
how to take 92
im m unity to oxidation 45
labeling requirem ents 89
m echanism of action not
understood 46
non-toxic 44
prescription 89
proper preparation essen-
tial 45
sensitivity to electrom agnetic
properties 46
sources 87
w here to buy 105
Repertory 14
Research studies 108
Resources 104
Return of old sym ptom s 57
Royal London H om eopathic
H ospital 41
Index
Purchasing Information
A dditional copies of H omeopathy: Beyond Flat Earth Medi-
cine m ay be purchased directly from :
Tim ing Publications
4095 Jackdaw St.
San D iego, CA . 92103
(619) 299-1140
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