Homeopathy is based on the Law of Similars, which has been verified experimentally and clinically for the last 200 years. Dr. Samuel Hahnemann described this principle by using the phrase "let like cure like", and developed the principle into the system of medicine we know today as Homeopathy.

Brought to the United States in 1825 by several doctors who had studied in Europe, by the turn of the century there were 22 Homeopathic medical colleges, and one out of five doctors were using Homeopathy. But the move toward a mechanical model of the body, and of disease, pushed Homeopathy into the background. The present day resurgence of Homeopathy, fueled in part by the National Center for Homeopathy, is slowly bringing Homeopathy back to its place in the medical care system in our country.

Defining Health

In conventional medical thought, health is seen simply as the absence of disease. You assume that you are healthy if there is nothing wrong with you. But, to a person versed in Homeopathy, health is much more than that. A healthy person is a person who is free on all levels – physical, emotional, and mental. Obviously, a person with a broken leg is not free on the physical level to move around. But on a more subtle level, a person who cannot eat certain foods or is allergic to certain materials is also experiencing a lack of freedom.

An important basic difference exists between conventional medical therapy and Homeopathy. In conventional therapy, often the aim is to control the illness through regular use of medical substances. If the medication is withdrawn, however, the person returns to illness, and there has been no cure. For example, a person who takes a pill for high blood pressure every day is not undergoing a cure but is only controlling the symptoms. Alternatively, Homeopathy's aim is to cure.