Homeopathy

{1} Definition and history of homeopathy (from homeopathic websites and practicioners):

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Although it was first described by Hippocrates 2,500 years ago, Homoeopathy as it is practised today evolved 200 years ago. The word comes from the Greek and means similar suffering. This refers to the central philosophy that a substance that can produce symptoms in a healthy person, can cure those symptoms in a sick person. For example a person suffering from hayfever, might be given a remedy prepared from an onion, because a healthy person chopping an onion usually experiences watering eyes and irritation. Similarly, someone suffering from insomnia might be given a homoeopathic dose of coffee.

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Homeopathic remedies are chosen based upon the "Law of Similars." This says that a medicine which produces a set of symptoms in a healthy person will cure the same set of symptoms. Each homeopathic remedy has been carefully tested on large numbers of healthy people and we have discovered what symptoms produced in these people and thus we also know what symptoms it is capable of curing in you. We are not matching single symptoms but the whole pattern of symptoms, the gestalt. Homeopathic remedies are all natural medicines. Some are herbs, some minerals or other natural substances. They are prepared by a special process of step by step dilution and succussion (shaking) which makes them capable of effecting your health in a much deeper way than the remedy could without this process.

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In their practice, the physicians should seek more and more to lessen the use of drugs instead of increasing it. When Dr. A came to the Health Retreat, she laid aside her knowledge and practice of hygiene, and administered the little homeopathic doses for almost every ailment. This was against the light God had given. Thus our people, who had been taught to avoid drugs in almost every form, were receiving a different education. I was obliged to tell her that this practice of depending upon medicine, whether in large or small doses, was not in accordance with the principles of health reform.The Lord had in His providence given light in regard to the establishment of sanitariums where the sick should be treated upon hygienic principles. The people must be taught to depend on the Lord's remedies, pure air, pure water, simple, healthful foods. 13MR 177

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Jesus is the joy of living
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Linda

[This message has been edited by Linda Sutton (edited August 28, 2001).]

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Although there is a great deal of empirical evidence that homoeopathy does work, nobody yet knows how. Those who are skeptical point out that homoeopathic remedies are often so dilute that not even a molecule of the original substance remains and so conclude that any beneficial response is probably due to the placebo effect. This explanation seems unlikely as experiments have shown homoeoapthic medicines to be equally effective in the treatment of animals.

The answer to this mystery is likely to be found by those studying so-called "new Physics" and electro-magnetism. The production of homoeopathic medicines involves two processes; namely dilution and succussion (shaking and bashing!). It is thought likely that these combined processes leave an imprint of the original substance's energy pattern in the dilutant. This energy imprint, given in homoeopathic medicine, somehow stimulates the body's own healing energy to start working.

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What the SOP says:

From time to time I have received letters from both ministers and lay-members of the church, inquiring if I think it wrong to consult spiritualist and clairvoyant physicians. So numerous are these agents of Satan becoming, and so general is the practice of seeking council from them, that it seems needful to utter words of warning. . . . Not a few in this Christian age and Christian nation resort to evil spirits, rather than trust to the power of the living God. The mother, watching by the sick-bed of her child, exclaims, "I can do no more. Is there no physician who has power to restore my child?" She is told of the wonderful cures performed by some clairvoyant or magnetic healer, and she trusts her dear one to his charge, placing it as verily in the hands of Satan as if he were standing by her side. In many instances the future life of the child is controlled by a satanic power which it seems impossible to break. CTBH 111 An agent of the great deceiver will say and do anything to gain his object. It matters little whether he calls himself a spiritualist, an "electric physician," or a "magnetic healer." By specious pretenses he wins the confidence of the unwary. He pretends to read the life history and to understand all the difficulties and afflictions of those who resort to him. {2MCP 700.3} The apostles of nearly all forms of spiritism claim to have power to heal. They attribute this power to electricity, magnetism, the so-called sympathetic remedies, or to latent forces within the mind of man. And there are not a few, even in this Christian age, who go to these healers instead of trusting in the power of the living God and the skill of well-qualified physicians. {2MCP 701.1}

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The medicines used in homeopathic treatment come from vegetable, mineral and animal sources. Some are poisons and others are inert substances in their crude form. When properly prepared, these substances lose any inherent harmful nature and develop a power to treat disease. The preparation involves serial dilutions and shaking of the product between dilutions. After several dilutions, the initial substance is essentially washed out and cannot be detected chemically in the final product. Confused? That's very reasonable as it makes no sense whatsoever in light of present day science. But regardless of what our sciences tell us is impossible, in practice, the higher the dilution the stronger and longer lasting the effect.

After experimenting for years, Hahnemann finally arrived at the method of preparation used today. The effectiveness of this method cannot be accounted for by present day science, and this is the major stumbling block to widespread acceptance of homeopathy. However, once you are willing to set this apparent inconsistency aside, you see dramatic results.

Preparing homeopathic remedies involves serial dilutions and shaking of the product between dilutions. After several dilutions, the initial substance is essentially washed out and cannot be chemically detected in the final product. For instance, one of the lower potencies, 30c, is a serial dilution of 1 to 100 made thirty times, which yields a final product diluted 1060 times from the initial substance (that's 10 with 60 zeros after it!). Of course, this is far beyond Avogadro's number of 6.0 x 1023. Therefore, the chance of finding a single molecule of the initial substance in the final product is zero for all practical purposes. These preparations are referred to as submolecular.

30c is a low potency and homeopaths commonly use dilutions such as 1M (102,000), 10M (1020,000), or 50M (10100,000). While it makes no sense whatsoever in light of present day science, in practice, the higher the dilution, the stronger and longer lasting the effect.

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Here are some examples of homeopathic remedies:
Mineral Source:
Arsenicum Album (white oxide of arsenic)
Silica (sand)
Graphites (lead from ‘fine English pencil')
Sulphur (elemental sulphur)
Aurum (gold)
Argentum nitricum (silver nitrate)
Petroleum (petroleum)
Hydrogen (hydrogen gas)
Mercurius vivus (mercury)

Plant Source:
Rhus toxicodendron (poison ivy)
Conium maculatum (poison hemlock)
Chamomilla (daisy)
Thuja occidentalis (arbor vitae)
Carbo vegetabilis (vegetable charcoal)
Phytolacca decandra (poke-root)
Urtica urens (stinging nettle)
Lilium tigrinum (tiger lily)

Animal Source:
Crotalus horridus (venom of rattle snake)
Pyrogenium (rotten meat)
Lac caninum (dog's milk)
Lyssin (saliva of rabid dog)
Tarentula Hispanica (tarantula, tincture of the living spider)
Apis mellifica (honey-bee, tincture of the whole bee)

And then there are other things I don't care to mention (eye of newt, maybe? ^LS) as an unaware reader might have an inclination to vomit. Of course, all of these things are natural and therefore good for you, right? Right!, but only if well prescribed and given in the appropriate homeopathic form, and not because they are natural.

An extreme example of an unlikely substance becoming a powerful homeopathic medicine is Pyrogenium. This substance is derived from raw meat that is left in the sun until it rots. If a healthy person ate this meat, he or she would develop severe symptoms: diarrhea, vomiting, fevers with foul smelling sweat, restlessness, body aches. In short, he or she would feel, well, rotten.

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Pure air, sunlight, abstemiousness, rest, exercise, proper diet, the use of water, trust in divine power--these are the true remedies. Every person should have a knowledge of nature's remedial agencies and how to apply them. It is essential both to understand the principles involved in the treatment of the sick and to have a practical training that will enable one rightly to use this knowledge. MH 127 The use of natural remedies requires an amount of care and effort that many are not willing to give. Nature's process of healing and upbuilding is gradual, and to the impatient is seems slow. The surrender of hurtful indulgences requires sacrifice. But in the end it will be found that nature, untrammeled, does her work wisely and well. Those who persevere in obedience to her laws will reap the reward in health of body and health of mind. CG 366

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Q. Is homeopathy the same as herbal medicine? Is it a combination of herbs, diets, vitamins and counseling?
A. No, though this can be confusing, as some practitioners do get involved in both homeopathy and nutritional counseling. My personal philosophy is that as you improve in your health, your body will desire healthy food. When my patients request assistance with their diets, I refer them to a nutritionist who is properly trained in that specialty.

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Every effort made for the physical and moral health of the people should be based on moral principles. The advocates of reform who are laboring with the glory of God in view will plant their feet firmly upon the principles of hygiene; they will adopt a correct practice. The people need true knowledge. By their wrong habits of life, men and women of this generation are bringing upon themselves untold suffering. Physicians have a work to do to bring about reform by educating the people, that they may understand the laws which govern their physical life. They should know how to eat properly, to work intelligently, to dress healthfully, and should be taught to bring all their habits into harmony with the laws of life and health, and to discard drugs. There is a great work to be done. If the principles of health reform are carried out, the work will indeed be as closely allied to that of the third angel's message as the hand is to the body. 13MR 177 But to deny self, to restrict the appetite, to eat only wholesome food and exercise temperance in eating the wholesome food, abstaining almost wholly from the flesh of dead animals that creates nine-tenths of [the] disease in our world, is too severe a process for a large part of our world and of professed Christians to enter into; so they eat and drink without reference to health, and the result is a depraved condition of the system; then they resort to the [use of] drugs, because that is easiest, and there continues to be wicked disregard of the laws of life and of health in taking care to preserve good health. 20MR 374

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Disease is a disturbance in the Vital Force that interferes with its ability to deal adequately with stress. Tension builds, and the Vital Force is unable to discharge it effectively. This tension causes disease symptoms. The goal of treatment is to trigger a reaction in the Vital Force so that it recognizes its problem and acts to diffuse the tension. Since tension may have been building for some time, other symptoms might appear as it gets diffused. These are usually symptoms we've had before. Hering's Law of Cure, which establishes the criteria for evaluating a healthy response, states that symptoms should appear and then disappear in the following order:

>>from more to less important organs
>>from center to periphery
>>from top to bottom
>>in the reverse order of their appearance in life

The main idea is that a disordered Vital Force spreads inner tension to the wrong places in the body. As the remedy brings more order, the pressure moves from more important organs to less important ones, and eventually leaves the body.

The Vital Force must not be interfered with when it is attempting to bring the disease out to the periphery; otherwise, the progress of the treatment is halted, and any gains made may disappear.(May the force be with you???^LS)

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Next, when numerous potentized drugs are used at one time, the Vital Force gets confused. Keep in mind that each remedy has a certain disease state associated with it. If one presents the Vital Force with several disease states all at the same time, the Vital Force gets mixed messages. If used for any length of time, these combination remedies may confuse the Vital Force to the point of no return.

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God has endowed us with a certain amount of vital force. He has also formed us with organs suited to maintain the various functions of life, and He designs that these organs shall work together in harmony. If we carefully preserve the life force, and keep the delicate mechanism of the body in order, the result is health; but if the vital force is too rapidly exhausted, the nervous system borrows power for present use from its resources of strength, and when one organ is injured, all are affected. Nature bears much abuse without apparent resistance; she then arouses and makes a determined effort to remove the effects of the ill-treatment she has suffered. Her effort to correct these conditions is often manifest in fever and various other forms of sickness. {MH 234.3} Intemperance in eating and drinking, intemperance in labor, intemperance in almost everything, exists on every hand. Those who make great exertions to accomplish just so much work in a given time, and continue to labor when their judgment tells them they should rest, are never gainers. They are living on borrowed capital. They are expending the vital force which they will need at a future time. And when the energy they have so recklessly used is demanded, they fail for want of it. The physical strength is gone, the mental powers fail. They realize that they have met with a loss, but do not know what it is. Their time of need has come, but their physical resources are exhausted. Every one who violates the laws of health must some time be a sufferer to a greater or less degree. God has provided us with constitutional force, which will be needed at different periods of our lives. If we recklessly exhaust this force by continual overtaxation, we shall sometime be losers. Our usefulness will be lessened, if not our life itself destroyed. {CE 166.2}

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[This message has been edited by Linda Sutton (edited August 28, 2001).]

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In homeopathy, drugs are chosen according to the principle of similarity (like cures like). In conventional or allopathic medicine, drugs are chosen on the principle of opposite (a drug must have action opposite to that of the disease). For example, a narcotic lessens a patient's sensitivity to pain, so it can be used if a person is experiencing pain. An expectorant makes one's respiratory tract secrete more mucus, so it can be used when cough is too dry. These effects can be achieved by either natural drugs, like herbs, or synthetic drugs, like most conventional medications. Conceptually, there is little difference between the two approaches.

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I told them what the Lord had been pleased to show me nearly thirty years ago in regard to the old-school practice of drug medication upon the miserable wrecks of humanity, made so by the use of drugs. I told him of the two systems; the old-schools system had killed thousands and its tens of thousands, while the eclectic, or, as he called it, homeopathy, had done no such deadly work. 20MR 364 When the great question of health reform was opened before me, the methods of treating the sick were plainly revealed to me. The old-school cruel practice and the sure results, where one claimed to be benefited, thousands were made lifelong invalids who, had they never seen a physician, would have recovered of themselves without implanting in their system diseases of a most distressing character. Eclectic was less dangerous. The homeopathy, which creates so deadly opposition from the regular practice, was attended with far less evil consequences than the old-school practice, but did much harm because it could be resorted to so easily and used so readily with so little expense. Many practice upon themselves and fall back upon this without real knowledge of their ailments, and do great harm to themselves. Proper regulation of their diet, abstinence from tea, coffee, and all spices and flesh meats, gaining an intelligent knowledge of temperance, would be medicine above all drugs. 20MR 373 But notwithstanding all I could say, he would go over the same ground again, presenting the infallibility of the allopathy above the homeopathy. I was sure all that I had said of the light which the Lord had been pleased to give me was in his mind as thistledown before the mind. He has asserted that he used less drugs than Dr. Gibbs, while Dr. Gibbs declares it is otherwise. 20MR 375

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I am instructed to say that in the future great watchfulness will be needed. There is to be among God's people no spiritual stupidity. Evil spirits are actively engaged in seeking to control the minds of human beings. Men are binding up in bundles, ready to be consumed by the fires of the last days. Those who discard Christ and His righteousness will accept the sophistry that is flooding the world. Christians are to be sober and vigilant, steadfastly resisting their adversary the devil, who is going about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Men under the influence of evil spirits will work miracles. They will make people sick by casting their spell upon them, and will then remove the spell, leading others to say that those who were sick have been miraculously healed. This Satan has done again and again.--Letter 259, 1903. We need not be deceived. Wonderful scenes, with which Satan will be closely connected, will soon take place. God's Word declares that Satan will work miracles. He will make people sick, and then will suddenly remove from them his satanic power. They will then be regarded as healed. These works of apparent healing will bring Seventh-day Adventists to the test. Many who have had great light will fail to walk in the light, because they have not become one with Christ.--Letter 57, 1904. —2SM 53