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The Moving Finger by Lionel Wijesiri

The first Government Homoeopathic Medical College in Sri Lanka is to be set up shortly. It is expected to admit the first batch of students by mid year and the Ministry of Health plans to get down experts from India and Pakistan as lecturers.

What exactly is homoeopathic medical system? The word homoeopathy comes from two Greek words "homoios" which means similar and "pathos" which means suffering. According to the Midterms Dictionary, Homoeopathy is a system of therapy founded in the 19th century based on the concept that disease can be treated with drugs (in minute doses) thought capable of producing the same symptoms in healthy people as the disease itself.

Originated by a German physician, Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843), Homoeopathy is based on four cardinal principles; "Psora", an infectious disorder that's the basis of most diseases; "Vitalism", the spiritual force that directs healing of the body; "Law of Similia", substances that produce similar symptoms as a disease, if diluted, can be used to treat that disease; "Law of Infinitesimals", the more diluted the remedy the more effective, and become more dilute if the container is tapped on the heal of the hand or a leather pad (Potentized).

Like Cures Homoeopathy is based on the Natures Law of Cure also known as the "like cures like" principle discovered in 1796.

The idea that like cures like wasn't new; it had been suggested by the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates, among others. But Hahnemann added a twist called the "Law of Infinitesimals." Hence it became a tenet of homoeopathy that the more diluted a substance is, the more powerful its healing action will be.

The person as a whole is treated when using homoeopathy as the belief is that disease affects the whole body and mind, not just one portion or system of the body. Because everyone reacts to an illness differently, the homoeopath will recommend treatments based on each individual. Since they are based on the symptoms of the individual, treatments can be widely diverse for common illnesses.

In essence, homoeopathy is composed of two highly systematic methods: toxicology and case taking. First, homoeopaths find out the specific physical, emotional, and mental symptoms that various substances cause in overdose. Homoeopathic texts have more detail on toxicology than any other source. Second, the homoeopath typically begins by taking a lengthy medical history, including detailed information on an individual's temperament, preferences in diet and lifestyle, and emotional state. From these findings, a "classical" homoeopathic practitioner will build a "symptom picture" against which to match homeopathy's extensive array of remedies.

Then he seeks to find a substance that would cause the similar symptoms the person has and then gives it in small, specially prepared dose. More diverse practitioners may also employ props such as "electro diagnostic devices" that beep and give read-outs when a probe is pressed to the skin.

Placebo

There are over 2500 homoeopathic medicines derived from plants, minerals, animals as well as bacteria, microbes and insects. They are made by 'potentisation' by homoeopathic pharmacies in accordance with the accepted processes. It uses a very minute quantity of the original substance.

Many conventional doctors claim that homoeopathy functions only as a placebo. However, several controlled clinical studies have been performed by medical researchers, showing that homoeopathy is an effective method of treatment for many diseases.

The Lancet (September 20, 1997) published a review of 89 double-blind or randomised placebo-controlled clinical trials. The authors concluded that the clinical effects of homoeopathic medicines are not simply the results of placebo. In fact, they found that homoeopathic medicines had a 2.45 times greater effect than placebo.

Another survey of research published in the British Medical Journal (February 9, 1991) indicated that there have been 107 controlled clinical trials, 81 of which showed that the homoeopathic medicines had beneficial results.

Homoeopathy is particularly popular in France, England, Germany, Greece, India, Pakistan, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, and South Africa. Approximately 40% of the French public have used homoeopathic medicines, and 39% of the French physicians have prescribed the medicines. About 20% of German physicians occasionally utilize these natural medicines, and 45% of Dutch physicians consider them effective.

Proponents of homoeopathy respond that conventional medicine still uses a variety of drugs that were shown effective by trial and error long before their mechanism of action was understood. Homoeopathic practitioners also point to vaccination as an example of "like curing like," and note that smaller doses of certain standard drugs (such as aspirin to prevent heart attack) are more effective than larger doses. To critics, however, these examples are irrelevant. Neither aspirin nor vaccines would have any effect if diluted to the strengths found in homoeopathic products.

Furthermore, say opponents, homoeopathy's emphasis on matching remedies to symptoms, and not to underlying disease states, discards the vast body of discoveries made since the time when Hahnemann proposed his theory. More studies are needed to separate fiction from fact. The medical claims need to be met with fact and ethical standards already established in the scientific and medical communities.

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