SOME WAYS HOMEOPATHY AND CONVENTIONAL MEDICINE DIFFER
One could say that conventional medicine looks at a sick individual piecemeal, that is, one part or problem at a time. Homeopathic medicine looks at the same individual in a more total way—all the symptoms all together. Each prescribes accordingly.
Many people in their fifties and older develop more than one medical problem. It is common for one older American to have high blood pressure, elevated blood sugar (diabetes), digestive problems and headaches. Another might have low energy, arthritis and a skin problem. Yet another might complain of depression and menstrual problems and anemia. Rarely, do people in this age group have only one medical problem.
Each medical problem is investigated separately by the doctor. Often he or she will refer the patient to one or more specialists. Usually each specialist will order specific tests and prescribe medicines to address the particular problem they were called in to consult on. It is uncommon that patients take only one pharmaceutical. Often they are taking three, six, nine or more.
It is the very nature of modern medicine to conceive of the body as little more than an infinitely complex series of biochemical processes.
All physical and mental problems are studied and treated as though separate. Witness all the subspecialties. There is scant attention given to the idea that the human organism is a complex unit with all functions correlated and interrelated.
In marked contrast, the homeopathic view is that each of us is a complex web of interrelated functions all of which are under the governance of what Samuel Hahnemann, the founder of homeopathy, called the “Vital Force.” This Vital Force is a non-physical force field that surrounds and interpenetrates the physical body. It can be neither seen nor measured. When a person falls ill, said Hahnemann, it is their Vital Force which is out of balance and that causes the physical and mental symptoms.
These widely divergent views of the human organism lead to different approaches. The homeopath spends far longer on the initial visit than the conventional doctor and often orders fewer diagnostic tests though homeopaths in no way oppose such tests.
Your first visit with a homeopath usually lasts around one and a half hours, sometimes longer. All the medical problems are considered in detail as well as many other factors that the homeopath considers of vital importance.
Some of these other factors include how the patient reacts to his or her environment. People tend to tolerate heat and cold differently, weather conditions differently, foods differently, and so on. Whether the patient is thirsty or not so thirsty can be important. The foods they crave as well as the foods that do not agree are taken into account.
The mental and emotional states are factored in. Is the patient mild mannered or hard-charging and aggressive? Hard-working and diligent or on the lazy side and unreliable? Truthful or lying? Generous or greedy? Benevolent or self-centered? All of these innate characteristics are important to the homeopath as he is selecting among medicines that have very different mental and emotional states associated with them.
I have seen countless patients over the years suffering from migraines and will relate a typical initial visit. In that first interview I find out what other problems she is suffering from. There could be hypertension, joint pains and digestive problems. I start with the migraines. I want to know when they began. The patient will give a starting date, often years earlier. I then ask what was going on in her life prior to the migraines. Often, she’ll choke up and relate that a close family member died about that time and the migraines started a shortly thereafter. By now, often she is weeping openly. I ask how she has dealt with the grief. It turns out she has mostly concealed it and rarely spoken of it. I find out that she rather dislikes consolation and never seeks it out.
It is clear to me that her migraines are related to her persisting grief. I know I will never cure her headaches if I do not also help her grief to resolve.
I go on and learn that a brief exposure to the direct sun will trigger a migraine, that she loves salt and salty snacks, that her face tends to be oily. All these symptoms point to Natrum muriaticum, latin for sodium chloride or common table salt. Of course, in the homeopathic preparation the salt has been diluted hundreds of times and succussed with each dilution.
After receiving Natrum muriaticum she begins to change. The migraines become less frequent and less severe. The grief fades and she is able to talk about it to close friends and family. Curiously, she stops craving salt! She is able to be in the sun for longer periods without triggering a migraine. Even her face is less oily. The blood pressure falls, the digestion improves and the arthritic pains go away. Her overall energy increases.
And all these effects from a single dose of Natrum muriaticum! We postulate that the Natrum muriaticum has repaired or balanced the Vital Force which in turn is effecting a cure on the physical body as well as the mind.
The same patient, prior to homeopathy, had taken one drug for the head pains, a second for the hypertension, a third for the joint pains and a fourth for the digestion. And, very possibly, she had been on an antidepressant—a fifth pharmaceutical! Remember, each pharmaceutical carries the risk of producing unwanted adverse effects. There are no adverse secondary effects from homeopathic medicines.
In sum, we are NOT saying that conventional medicine is useless but we ARE pointing out the very real differences that exist between it and homeopathy. We homeopaths strive for cure; they strive for damage control. Their medicines carry very real risks of adverse side effects; ours do not. They view the body’s many functions in a piecemeal fashion; we view it as a complex unity. They go no further than biochemistry; we believe in the Vital Force. Both medical systems have their place. Both can be life saving. It is important that you, the patient, understand the differences between the two systems so you can choose intelligently.