unit 12

Question 1

What is homeopathy?

Answer 1

A systemized method of healing that uses the principle of use like to treat like

belief that clinical symptoms of patients reflect a universal law of healing with medicinal substances

Question 2

What does a symptom represent in homeopathy?

Answer 2

the body’s physiological response to an illness or disease to maintain homeostasis and to heal or cure the disease

Question 3

Explain the vital force concept of homeopathy

Answer 3

belongs to the vitalist tradition of medicine where the natural healing capacity is used

remedies resonate with the signs and symptoms of illness

The life energy (the vital force) as the ultimate source of health and illness and ends only with the death of the organisms

Use vital force to heal the patient

Question 4

What are the precepts of healing?

Answer 4

is an effort by the entire organism; does not occur in isolation

all helming is essentially self-healing

applies only to individuals an is therefore problematic

Question 5

Describe the homeopathic material medica

Answer 5

currently recognizes over 2000 remedies

most are plant origin including flowers, leaves, roots although many are poisonous in their crude state

some are common medicinal herbs such as yellow dock

includes mineral remedies such as metas (copper gold) metalloids (arsenic, selenium), salts and elemental substances

has animal kingdom remedies such as venoms secretions, milks, hormones and tissue extracts

Question 6

How are remedies tested?

Answer 6

uses a process of proving

experiment by taking the substance and recording it’s observations

Question 7

What does it mean for the totality of symptoms in homeopathy?

Answer 7

illness is a disturbance of the vital force

manifests as a totality of physical, mental, and emotional responses. Describes the symptoms as they appear

gives special importance to describing the conditions of the patient as a whole. Is a form of mind-body medicine

Question 8

how do homeopaths treat the totality of symptoms?

Answer 8

must take into account the living experience of the patient

may make pathological diagnosis of the individual

Uses the technical language to educate the patient

Symptoms affecting a persons mental abilities are given more importance because they impact the individual greater than anything else

requires listening intently to the patient

Question 9

What is the single remedy theory in homeopathy?

Answer 9

uses one remedy at a time fir the whole patient

they have been tested and slight differences in remedies produce different symptoms

studying the totality of symptoms enables the detailed accumulation of personal remedies

Question 10

What is the minimum dose theory?

Answer 10

use the smallest dose possible and repeat them only as necessary

remedy will not work unless it fits the illness precisely

the minuteness minimizes the likelihood of dangerous side effects

Question 11

What is hormesis?

Answer 11

based on the observation that that the behaviour of biological active substances differ from low to high doses and do not demonstrate a simple dose response curve

Question 12

What is the laws of Cure?

Answer 12

used to evaluate the changes experienced by the patient

provide clear standards to evaluate the actions of all therapies

include four ways symptoms may appear and need to be tracked and include:

1) from head to feet
2) from inside outward
3) from more to less vital organs
4) from most recent to oldest

Question 13

Describe the methodology behind the preparation of homeopathic substances

Answer 13

The homeopathy pharmacopoeia of the united states is the official reference guide

doses made by serial dilutions

are first crushed and dissolved into alcohol and supernatant is kept as a mother tincture

insoluble items are pulverized and diluted with lactose

tinctures further diluted either 1:10 or 1:100. Is repeated for 2x,3x and 4x dilution all the way to the desired dilution

Most popular are 6x, 12x and 30x dilution

no likelihood that any of the original substance remains

Question 14

Describe how case taking is performed in homeopathy

Answer 14

encourage their patients to tell their stories and makes it powerful

invited to speak and allowed to continue for as long as possible

homeopaths look for unusual features that tend to be ignored or discarded by conventional physicians

Question 15

How are remedies selected?

Answer 15

homeopathic diagnosis is the product of the homeopaths understanding of the patient

use a repertory to consider as many remedies as possible

most comprehensive repertories include all areas from anatomical region and is only a tool for locating remedies which must then be confirmed by looking in the pharmacopoeia

Question 16

What are some precautions to homeopathy?

Answer 16

patients instructed not to put anything in mouth for 30 minutes

believed a synergistic effect between acupuncture, chiropractor and homeopathy and should not be done at the same time

Question 17

How are homeopathy products administered and dosed?

Answer 17

dispensed in the form of tablets or pellets of sucrose or lactose

lower dilutions preferred in acute situation as they can be repeated as often as necessary

higher doses used for long-term use

dosage refers to the number and frequency of repetitions and must be tailored to fit the patient

Rule is to stop therapy once a reaction is apparent and repeat only when reaction has subsided

Question 18

What are three factors said to contribute to the growth of homeopathy?

Answer 18

First: absence of laws to license practitioners

second: a great migration which expanded beyond medical care and had to develop essential skills
third: materia medica was adopted native american medicine

Question 19

What are some issues drawn about homeopathic medicine research papers?

Answer 19

all meta analysis drew the conclusion of poor quality of the studies. All favoured the result of homeopathy

Question 20

How is homeopathy used today?

Answer 20

1% of the american population used homeopathy in 1989

sales were 200 million$ in 1992 an climbing at 25%

In india, homeopathy is practiced by the national health service

Question 21

What are some contraindications of homeopathy?

Answer 21

use in in treating chronic illnesses involving advanced tissue damage

for people with lifetime dependence on conventional pharmaceuticals

as a substitute for conventional treatment

Question 22

Where are homeopathy remedies best used?

Answer 22

functional complaints with little to no tissue damage

conditions where conventional medicine cannot help much

chronic health conditions such as allergies, infections, rashes

conditions that have not been cured by conventional medicine

Question 23

What does homeopathy focus on?

Answer 23

Homeopathy focuses on the totality of symptoms; it emphasizes the individual’s subjective symptoms and considers the physical, mental, and spiritual aspects of the patient.

Question 24

Describe how homeopathy treats patients

Answer 24

In some ways homeopathy can be compared with immunization and allergy desensitization where very small doses are given to induce resistance. However, homeopathic remedies are given when a person is ill to treat disease, whereas with immunization and allergic desensitization, the person is healthy and is given a vaccine or antigen to produce antibodies in order to prevent a health problem.

Question 25

how can immunization be viewed from a homeopathic perspective?

Answer 25

It can be seen as a homeopathic treatment by application of the law of similar.

Or, as is often the case with modern homeopaths, prevention by vaccine can be rejected because the vaccine has not been potentized

Question 26

The more dilute the drug…

Answer 26

the stronger the effects

Question 27

What are the two methods for potentiazation of homeopathic medicines?

Answer 27

1) tincture preparation—the plant or part of the plant is cultivated at the appropriate time and cleaned by washing. Juice of the plant or its part is added to alcohol and is referred to as a mother tincture.
2) trituration—when the substance is insoluble, it is ground for three hours with powdered milk sugar (lactose). This process is said to reduce the substance to the millionth dilution at which point the substance is soluble in water.

Question 28

What forms do homeopathic medicines come in? How are they given?

Answer 28

tinctures, granules, and powders.

The remedies are administered orally by placement under the tongue, sipped in water, or made into tablets with a lactose carrier. The amount or type of remedy that an individual may receive as a treatment varies depending on the individual’s response.

Question 29

How are potencies of homeopathic medicines defined?

Answer 29

The potency of the solution is defined by adding the letter “C” or “X” after the identified solution

Known as the centesimal

1C = 1/100; 3C = 1/1,000,000 or

1X = 1/10; 3X = 1/1,000; 6X = 1,000,000

Thus, a 30X potency means that the original substance has been diluted 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 times

Question 30

How are homeopathic medicines classed in Canada?

Answer 30

Homeopathic medicines are classed as natural health products and come under the authority of the Natural Health Products Directorate, a branch of Health Canada. In that respect they are regulated in the same way as herbal preparations and dietary supplements.

Question 31

How does homeopathy work?

Answer 31

A careful reading of the textbook chapter strongly suggests that the therapy is tailor made for generating the placebo effect. The section headed “Case Taking” (page 348) describes how practitioners of homeopathy assess their patients. They typically spend much longer with each patient than is the case with conventional physicians. Such long and detailed consultations seem likely to help bring about the placebo effect after a medicine has been given

Question 32

What are two problems homeopathy must overcome to become accepted?

Answer 32

The first problem, and by far the larger, is that treatments are given where the medicine does not contain a single molecule of the drug. The second problem is there are more than 2000 homeopathic treatments and a great many possible conditions where they might be used.

Question 33

What is the problem with the majority of studies in homeopathy?

Answer 33

The majority of studies lack methodological rigour.

It is clear that the question of whether homeopathy is more effective than placebo treatment has not been settled.

Question 34

Describe how classical homeopathic practitioners work

Answer 34

Classical homeopathic practitioners prescribe a single remedy for the totality of an individual’s symptoms. That is, patients are evaluated taking into consideration their mental, emotional, and physical symptoms. The symptoms are graphed against the associated homeopathic remedies, a process called repertorization. A remedy is selected that addresses all of the patient’s symptoms; this remedy is called a constitutional. Other considerations in assessment include responses of the patient to temperature, biorhythms, environment, food cravings and aversions, and family history.

Question 35

describe how complex homeopathy practitioners work

Answer 35

complex homeopathic practitioners use multiple remedies to treat a specific condition. Combinations of homeopathic remedies have become popular over-the-counter remedies and are often self-prescribed.

Question 36

How are homeopathy preparations prescribed?

Answer 36

some prescribing on the basis of the totality of symptoms, some on acute presentations, others consider constitutional types or essential features, while others use the disease agent itself in a dilute form to treat the disease. Sometimes practitioners will use electroacupuncture instruments to diagnose physiologic disturbance.

Question 37

Where is homeopathy practiced?

Answer 37

The system is very popular in both France and Germany. It has a long record of use in Britain where homeopathic hospitals and clinics have been a part of the National Health System. However, some health authorities in Britain have decided to stop paying for homeopathic treatment due to the lack of evidence of clinical benefit.

Question 38

How are homeopaths regulated in Canada?

Answer 38

There is no formal licensing requirement for homeopaths in Canada. However, the Canadian Society of Homeopaths, which was set up in 2006, acts as a professional organization that homeopaths may join. The organization requires that all members follow a code of conduct and practice.

Question 39

How is homeopathy billed for in canada?

Answer 39

In Canada treatment by a homeopath is not covered by government funded health care but is reimbursed by several health insurance organizations, such as Blue Cross.

Question 40

Compare the risk of toxic side effects from homeopathic medicines and herbal preparations.

Answer 40

Homeopathic medicines pose virtually no risk of causing toxic side effects.Herbal preparations, by contrast, have often been linked to toxic side effects.

Question 41

Discuss the homeopathic concept that, after a substance is dissolved and diluted, the solvent has a “memory” of the substance.

Answer 41

When a substance is dissolved in a solvent, the chemical structure of the solvent is changed so that information of energized potencies is stored. This concept is at complete variance with accepted concepts of chemistry, biochemistry, and pharmacology.

Question 42

Discuss the advantages and the disadvantages in the use of homeopathic treatments.

Answer 42

Homeopathy has very few advantages. The considerable amount of time that practitioners spend with their patients, followed by giving a medicine, often helps make patients feel better. However, this is likely to be largely or totally due to the placebo effect. A serious disadvantage of homeopathy is that if the patient has a condition that can be helped by conventional medicine, then homeopathy might be harmful.

Question 43

Explain the key differences between how homeopathic medicines, herbal preparations, and dietary supplements are regulated in Canada.

Answer 43

There are no differences in the way that homeopathic medicines, herbal preparations, and dietary supplements are regulated in Canada. They are all regulated by the Natural Health Products Directorate, a branch of Health Canada.