People are increasingly looking to complementary modalities for health solutions. Homeopathy is one modality that has been way ahead of its time. Since 1796, when Hahnemann first realized the power of diluting a substance to unlock its healing power, Homeopathy has been used by many, rooted in the same principles and methods which are still used today. Even though the theory is the same, the understanding of the method is now synonymous with nanotherapeutics.
Nanoparticles are so small that you need special microscopes and methods to see them. Some examplea of nanoparticles include: cell membrane components, some proteins, DNA alpha helix, small bacteria, viruses etc.
Homeopathic remedies are developed from substances found in nature by special methods into particles that are in nano sizes and even smaller. This conversion of the substance into such small particles enables them to be easily soluble, absorbable and easily taken up by cells to enhance immune reactivity. These nanoparticles are benign and can activate anti-inflammatory and antioxidant and immuno-stimulatory effects.
Homeopathy works towards strengthening immune function and improving resistance to infection in contrast to conventional drug treatment, that operates by directly attacking the infectious agent that leads the agent to then modify and evolve itself to survive the treatment.
Some of the historical evidence of the effectiveness of homeopathic treatment of illnesses can be seen as early as 1813, in the treatment of Typhus fever: where 180 cases were treated successfully when conventional treatment had a mortality rate of over 30%.
During the cholera epidemic of 1830 and 1831: under homeopathic treatment, the mortality rate was 10% and under. For the Cholera epidemic of 1854, the mortality rate under conventional treatment was 59.2% and under homeopathic care it was 9%.
In the Influenza pandemic of 1918 of the 24,000 cases treated allopathically in Ohio, had a mortality rate of 28.2% whereas the 26,000 cases that received homeopathic treatment had a mortality rate of 1.05%. Philadelphia had 26,795 cases where the mortality rate was 1.05% compared to conventional treatment mortality rate of 30%.
In Brazil in 1974, out of the 18640 cases treated with homeopathy, only 4 were affected by meningitis compared to 6340 not treated with homeopathy, 43 cases were affected.
Cuba, 2007: 2.4 million were treated for Leptospirosis which lead to decreased morbidity, zero mortality in hospital.
There is data that shows success in use of homeopathic therapies in India, where some epidemics are endemic for eg: Dengue fever, Japanese Encephalitis, Chikungunya, Chicken pox, Cholera, Swine Flu, H1N1 where they have an organization called Rapid Action Epidemic Control Cell (RAECH) that has several levels that coordinate in identifying and targeting epidemic regions and educating the masses on controlling disease spread and prevention along with homeopathic treatments and trainings. The remedies are cost effective, easily accessible to everyone and lowers the cost of health care in the long term.
Homeopathy is a great adjunct to conventional treatment and has been proven time and again to be an effective method of care. Its time to take a second look, don’t you think?
References:
Dr. Mohammed Rafeeque: Office records, RAECH, Govt of Kerala, India
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