Homeopathy
Homeopathy is a system of medicine by treating the individual with highly diluted substances, given mainly in tablet form. The aim is to trigger the body’s natural system of healing.
Homeopathy is based on the principle that you can treat ‘like with like’. It means a substance which causes symptoms when taken in large doses, can be used in small amounts to treat the same symptoms. However, one major difference with homeopathic medicines is that substances are used in ultra high dilutions, which makes them non-toxic.
Homeopathic medicines are prepared by specialist pharmacies using a careful process of dilution and succussion (a specific form of vigorous shaking).
So far, science has not been able to explain the mechanism of action of ultra high dilutions. One theory is that during the production of a homeopathic medicine, the dilution and agitation processes cause an interaction between the original material (e.g. a plant such as Belladonna) and the water and alcohol it is mixed with. This creates tiny new structures (nanostructures) which are the ‘active ingredient’ and remain present even when the sample has been diluted many, many times.
The principle of treating “like with like” dates back to Hippocrates (460-377BC) but in its current form, homeopathy has been widely used worldwide for more than 200 years. It was discovered by a German doctor, Samuel Hahnemann. He looked for a way to reduce the damaging side-effects associated with medical treatment. He experimented on himself and a group of healthy volunteers, giving smaller and smaller medicinal doses. He found that as well as reducing toxicity, the medicines actually appeared to be more effective the lower the dose.
Homeopathy has been used in animals (veterinary homeopathy) for at least 190 years. The methodology is similar to that used in human medicine. Homeopathic medicines are selected by a homeopathic vet according to their ability to stimulate natural healing processes in the animal patient. The body itself dictates the reaction. Sometimes, usually heralding a good response, there may be a temporary ‘therapeutic aggravation’ of local or superficial symptoms.
In individual animals, manychronicdiseases can respond to homeopathic treatment, where conventional medication may have failed. Injuries and acute illnesses also respond.
Homeopathy is a gentle yet powerful form of therapy, without side-effects, which can just as easily treat dogs, cats, horses, donkeys, goats, llamas, cattle, pigs, sheep as such sensitive species as birds and cage pets, wholly without risk of side effects or idiosyncratic adverse reactions.