At all times humans faced with various diseases which needed treatment. Concerning the available methods and medicines, people always have had a choice in spite of the level of medicine. The fact is that this process was usually accompanied by constant doubts. Still nowadays in an era of new technologies and high level of scientific development the overwhelming majority of people still hesitate while choosing between homeopathy and allopathy. Thus, this essay is focused on researching the origin of homeopathy and allopathy, evaluating their ‘pros’ and ‘cons’ via comparison and contrast and proposing the optimal variant for human treatment.
Homeopathy as a treatment already exists for more than 200 years and it was successfully accepted in many countries. However, there are some incorrect interpretations of homeopathy. Some people say that it is a traditional medicine whereas homeopathy is a method of scientific medicine. It was developed and substantiated theoretically and put into practice by a German physician Samuel Hahnemann. He designed a brilliant insight which is not widely spread by people because of lack of knowledge.
Term ‘allopathy’ appeared to owe to German physician S. Hahnemann to define non-homeopathic treatments. According to Hahnemann’s theory the essence of conventional medicine consists in the treatment with the help of drugs which cause symptoms opposite do symptoms of a particular disease. Hence, allopathy can be an interpretation as action making the others suffer. However, such use of this term is believed to be incorrect, because medical treatment of patients is aimed to eliminate symptoms rather than provoke new ones.
Basic Principles and Theories of Homeopathy and Allopathy
Homeopathy declares that there are basic principles which determine the practice of medicine. Before Samuel Hahnemann has determined two different branches in medicine, ‘homeopathy’ and ‘allopathy’ there existed approved regulations in medicine controlling the treatment process. This approach still can be observed nowadays in allopathic medicine even with regard to the fact that there are no universally accepted basic principles of treatment.
Doctors of allopathic schools argue that selection of treatment for a particular disease depends on the results of testing an appropriate drug for this disease: the emergence of new drug leads to new treatment strategy. Thus, many different theories are peculiar to allopathic medicine, which explain different reasons of the same disease as well as some unreliable methods of its treatment. There also appear various doctrines which are supposed to be true but in fact are often conflicting with the accepted ones and are quickly forgotten.
This issue presents a fundamental difference between the two schools: homeopathic and allopathic. Homeopathic medicine is based on clear, universal and immutable laws, which are constantly supported by daily practice. Allopathic school denies the existence of clear laws common to all diseases. Thus, it classifies diseases by artificially combining them into different groups according to the currently prevailing doctrine. Allopathic doctors in their practice prescribe treatment after finding out the consequences of the disease without paying attention to real problems that have provoked it. Thus, sometimes it is really difficult to determine when a person is sick and when he is healthy. In allopathic medicine disease is considered as pathological changes in the tissues of a particular organ. Thus, each organ is treated separately with no regard to the condition of the whole body. Such treatment has a negative side as taking remedies to heal one organ a patient can damage other organs such as liver or kidneys.
Allopathic doctors are guided in their practice only by facts and organism pathological alterations which they can feel with fingers or see by their own eyes while detecting by tools. In spite of the fact that allopathic doctors can use a microscope to see pathological changes at the cellular level, they consider separate cases in isolation, ignoring the conditions of the whole system.
On the contrary, Homeopathic Doctrine is based on the fact that organic changes play a secondary part. It was experimentally proved that every process has a sequence. Thus, its development can be traced not only from the beginning to the end but vice versa as well. This fact simplifies the process of determining every case of disease.
Approaches and Methods of Homeopathy and Allopathy
The difference of homeopathic remedies from traditional drugs is incorporated in the name of “homeopathy” (homois – like, pathos – sickness, suffering). The basic principle of homeopathy is the principle of similarity between a cure and an illness. The treatment of a disease requires application of small amounts of substances that in large doses cause a healthy person to suffer phenomena with similar clinical presentation (i.e., complaints and symptoms. In fact, the classical medicine is based on a different principle when the opposite is treated with the opposite. An admission of a homeopath is different from a usual reception at a therapist. A homeopath usually learns a history of a patient, conducts examination and communication with a patient to determine constitutional and personal traits. Only after this, a tactic of homeopathic treatment is produced. The raw materials for traditional homeopathic medicines are substances of plant, animal and mineral origin.
Homeopathic medicines are issued in dilution (potency) as drops, pills or granules. A dose is assigned individually and may change during treatment. Supplementation is usually 15-20 minutes before a meal or 1 hour after a meal, or depending on the state in a different mode. In acute conditions, a frequent drug intake (every 10-30 minutes) may be prescribed. In such cases it is possible to use them in a drinking form (up to 30 grains are dissolved in 1 cup of water and 1 teaspoon is taken). Treatment duration, frequency and amount of drugs depend on the dynamics of a disease. In chronic cases, the frequency of administration is very different from a daily intake to one tablet in 1-3 months.
The method of homeopathy can be used with almost all types of diseases, with an exception of oncology. Still, even in these conditions a physician should try to alleviate suffering, to support a patient and give him hope. It is difficult to treat people intoxicated with chemicals and people who are sick with serious illnesses: cancer, multiple sclerosis, etc. In such cases, homeopathy can only reduce a disease.
Sometimes homeopathic drugs can cause acute medications, which are expressed either in strengthening of an existing painful events at the time of a referral of a patient to a doctor, or in appearance of symptoms which bothered him before. In most cases, this is a favorable prognostic sign for a physician. These exacerbations may extend as far as a drug is taken. In case of a patient’s concern, a dose or frequency of administration of a drug should be reduced or temporarily discontinued.
Comparing the approaches and methods of homeopathy and allopathy there can be distinguished the following features. Homeopathy presupposes individual approach to the treatment of each patient while in allopathy the approach to the treatment of the patient is universal, subjected to schemes and protocols. Thus, a patient can go from one specialist to another to find the right treatment.
Treatment in Homeopathy and Allopathy
As for medicines applied in both methods it is important to highlight that all homeopathic products and formulations are tested on healthy people, drawn pathogenesis (pictures) of each of the homeopathic remedy. Hence, there are no side effects, complications, toxic effects on the human body. In allopathy drugs are usually tested in laboratory animals. In some cases there are long-term effects without verification as well as side effects and complications. Some drugs have toxic effects on the human body which means that while treating one disease with the help of allopathy, a person obtains another one caused by chemical drugs.
Homeopathic medicines are prepared from sterile raw materials of natural origin: plants, minerals, insects, mushrooms, mussels, body fluids, etc. This fact makes medicines be safe and not cause such effect as chemical ones do. Allopathic drugs have chemical origin and accidental overdose may lead to dangerous consequences such as intoxication, appearance of severe diseases, coma or even death.
In homeopathy the dose of the drug is negligible. It is processed in a particular way and is taken to a special aspect ratio (potency), known by the special code (D, C, M, XM, LM, CM). In allopathy the dose is restricted in order to avoid side effects or inappropriate consequences of treatment.
The basic principle of treatment in homeopathy is regulation and balance. This approach means that only balanced and accurate treatment based on individual case of disease and organism peculiarities will lead to desired result of treatment. On the contrary, the basic principle of allopathic treatment is based on the suppression of disease symptoms. This means that while treating a particular disease such as fever patient takes medicines which decreases body temperature.
Homeopathic diagnosis includes an individual picture of the disease of a separate patient taking into consideration all physical and psychological characteristics of a homeopathic remedy for the treatment selected on the basis of similarity of disease symptoms and those symptoms homeopathic medicines cause. In allopathy the diagnosis is usually a stable pattern. In this case the treatment is based on the impersonal statistics without taking into account individual characteristics of a person and his/her illness process.
The positive result of a homeopathic treatment can occur at different times – from a few minutes to a few weeks or months, depending on the characteristics of a disease, its limitations, reactivity of a patient and accuracy of the assigned treatment.
The main advantages of homeopathy are:
friendliness and safety, an individual approach to a patient, the absence of severe contraindications to the use of homeopathy, the use of drugs in small doses, the absence of addiction and withdrawal syndrome, the ability to use multiple drugs at the same time, the possibility of a combination of traditional and other treatments, treatment of all age groups, ranging from fetal and neonatal period, the availability of drugs for different social groups.
Thus, it is essential to highlight that two allopathy and homeopathy are two approaches with one goal: to help people to recover. Homeopaths never claimed their self-sufficiency. Antibiotics, sulfonamides and other anti-inflammatory drugs are the greatest achievement of science, and homeopathy does not deny them. Concerning the future of medicine it seems reasonable to combine homeopathic and allopathic treatment. In cases when homeopathy does not have enough effect to treat particular disease, it should be complemented with the traditional methods, and vice versa. Hence, people who regularly use homeopathy live longer and maintain their mental and physical health.