History of homeopathy

The Homéopathie finds its roots as of Hippocrates (460-377 av. JC), father of the medicine, which taught that there are two manners of looking after: by the opposites and the similar ones. It looked after the cholera by very low dose of Hellébore, plant which, with strong amounts causes a diarrhea similar to that of the cholera

Paracelse (1493-1541) also employed these two kinds of treatments.

Formulation of homeopathy by Samuel Hahnemann

After having supported its thesis of medicine and to have exerted a few years, extremely disappointed the therapeutic one of its time, Samuel Hahnemann (1755 - 1843) his practice gave up temporarily to translate many authors who had preceded it. During the reading of the Treated medical matter of William Cullen (1710-1790), it realized that the symptoms due to the action of the Quinquina (clouded), as described, resembled extremely those of the third fever from which it had suffered some time before and which it had looked after, as well as the Academy recommended it, with some drops of dyeing of Quinquina.

It had then the idea to check the assertions of Cullen while taking, like it says it itself, four large of quinquina . These symptoms described by Cullen appeared then.

He wondered whether this strange coincidence were fortuitous, and tested in this direction during six years, before formulating his Principle of Similarity.

It is starting from this principle that he proposed a method of care, in rupture with the bleedings and other rectal injections of the time, that he named homeopathy. He published the bases in of them 1796 in the newspaper of Hufeland by his Essai on a new principle to discover the healing virtues of the medicinal substances , followed in 1810 by the first edition of his treaty of homeopathic medicine, the Organon of art to cure . Hahnemann regarded the traditional medicine of its time as based on the principle of the “care by the opposites” and thus Allopathie qualified it. This denomination will perdura and was applied to Western traditional medicine by its successors.

Hahnemann and its disciples experienced more 1 200 substances from where it published five new version of sound organon.

The popularity of homeopathy at its beginnings is related to its spiritual aspects, even of “divine art”

For Olivier Faure, professor of modern history to the University Jean-Mill - Lyon III, France, and specialist in the history of medicine, the popularity of homeopathy at its beginnings is related to its spiritual aspects, even religious, which made it acceptable for various currents anti-materialists of the time. Certain catholics saw in the concept of vital force proposed by Hahnemann an intervention of the divine hand. Certain disciples of Saint-Simon thought that homeopathy went in the direction of a reconciliation between the faith and science. Hahnemann itself spoke about “divine art” to indicate homeopathy. He thought of being the agent of the revelation by God of basic principles of nature.

Homeopathy was organized besides at its beginnings like a church of which Organon.

Let us note that the Molécule S were at the time only one assumption, and one started to be able to count them in a volume given that starting from the Loi of Avogadro which goes back to 1811. When Hahnemann set up dilution, intended to mitigate the effects of the substances (since they produce effects harmful), it was not informed thus of work of Amedeo Avogadro (the diffusion of the knowledge was slow, and work on the solution aqueous came only afterwards).

It could not thus realize that dilution with of 12CH amounted producing a drug without active molecule.

Diffusion in the world

In 1830, the count Sebastien of Guidi (1769-1863), of Italian origin, introduced homeopathy with Lyon (France), little time before the installation of Hahnemann to Paris in 1835. Homeopathy is quickly confronted with problems involved in the manufacture of the homeopathic drugs. Since 1803, only the pharmacists could sell drugs. Much of them was hostile with homeopathy or not very inclined to carry out the rather long operations of dilution and succussion necessary to the realization of the homeopathic preparations. Consequently, the French homeopathic doctors manufactured themselves their drugs, in the most total illegality.

Homeopathy was introduced in America by Constantin Hering (1800-1880), assisting doctor of Dr. Robbi, famous surgeon of Leipzig. This last, hostile of homeopathy, required of Constantin Hering to write a book in which it would show the ridiculous one and inanity of the theories of Samuel Hahnemann. However Hering, before having an opinion on the doctrines hahnemannienne, wanted to study it thoroughly. He thus undertook the reading of all that its creator had published, and, he was not long in taking the greatest interest there. Lastly, with the conscience and the serious one that it put at all that it made, it tested the action of certain remedies on itself, that, while following the method of Samuel Hahnemann, and the results which it obtained completed to convince it. It settled in the USA in 1833. He discovered several important homeopathic drugs.

James Tyler Kent (1849-1916) was a famous American homeopathic doctor. He created a repertory making it possible to develop several remedies according to each symptom collected at the time of the interrogation. Research répertoriale then consisted in determining the substance which with the greatest probability of covering the totality of the symptoms. It is in this spirit that various numerical repertories were conceived using the calculative capacities of data processing.

After Hahnemann

In spite of a certain initial success (and then some specific successes like the homeopathic dispensary created in 1858 by the abbot Alfred Duquesnay), homeopathy lost much influence in France after the death of Hahnemann in 1843, whereas in the United States, the personalities of Eugene Beauharnais Nash and of James Tyler Kent maintained his notoriety to the First World War. In France, the revival was incarnated by Leon Vannier (1880-1963), doctor angevin, who allowed homeopathy to leave the clandestinity induced by the difficulties of manufacture of the remedies. In 1911, it opened with Rene Baudry (1880-1966) in Paris an important homeopathic pharmacy. It melted into 1926 the homeopathic laboratories of France, putting thus fine at the difficulties of supply homeopathic drugs. It was the starting point of the appearance of the laboratories such Dolisos, Lehning, Boiron in France, Schwabe in Germany, Nelson in Great Britain, USM in the United States…

In France, the twin brothers Boiron, after having worked with Rene Baudry, created each one their own pharmacies. In 1967, the fusion of those with the homeopathic central laboratories of France of Rene Baudry will give rise to the Laboratoires Boiron .

The laboratories, more productive than pharmacies allowed the standardization of the production and consequently the development of homeopathy.

The recent history of homeopathy is marked at the same time by a relatively widespread use and important scientific controversies. In comparison with traditional medicine, homeopathy is regarded as a not-conventional medicine. WHO regards it a traditional medicine or as a complementary and parallel medicine, according to the type of medicine dominating in the country considered.

See too

Homeopathy

References

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