Homeopathy
Homeopathy is a system of medicine created about 200 years ago by an unusual genius named Samuel Hahnemann. A statue of Hahnemann stands in Washington DC in Scott Circle, at the intersection of Massachusetts Ave, Rhode Island Ave, and 16th St, shown in the picture on this page.
Homeopathy uses diluted natural substances to stimulate and re-balance people's own healing systems. This approach is analogous to allergy shots, which are commonly used in conventional allergy treatment. However, homeopathy uses oral pellets or drops instead of shots, and can be used to help the body handle any issue, not only allergies. Homeopathic remedies are also diluted many orders of magnitude more than allergy shots, and have less risk of adverse effects. Because the remedies are so diluted, many people are skeptical of their efficacy. However, there is a lot of research supporting their effects, including controlled studies in plants and animals. This positive research is generally ignored by people who have a narrow materialist-mechanistic view of physics, chemistry, and biology.
A good website introducing homeopathy, which includes practical information as well as basic research, is the American Association of Homeopathic Pharmacists: What is Homeopathy.
For those like myself who enjoy research, the European-based Homeopathic Research Institute has up to date research information. I recommend watching this short video about their yearly conference. Wikipedia seems blissfully unaware of actual research, but Encyclopedia.com has an informative and fair page on homeopathy.
Two good books on homeopathy that are informative and also very well written are Impossible Cure by Amy Lansky which includes stories from her own family as well as research summaries, and Homeopathic Revolution: Why Famous People and Cultural Heroes Choose Homeopathy by Dana Ullman, which describes many historical figures as well as some modern ones.
Last but not least, here is an excellent long-form interview with Australian homeopath and homeopathic educator, Melissa Kupsch. Although she is a strong proponent of the healing power of homeopathy, she also admits that it can be frustrating at times, just like all healing systems, saying about an hour in: "If after 12 weeks there is no change, I know it is time to try a different remedy." :-)
Homeopathy uses diluted natural substances to stimulate and re-balance people's own healing systems. This approach is analogous to allergy shots, which are commonly used in conventional allergy treatment. However, homeopathy uses oral pellets or drops instead of shots, and can be used to help the body handle any issue, not only allergies. Homeopathic remedies are also diluted many orders of magnitude more than allergy shots, and have less risk of adverse effects. Because the remedies are so diluted, many people are skeptical of their efficacy. However, there is a lot of research supporting their effects, including controlled studies in plants and animals. This positive research is generally ignored by people who have a narrow materialist-mechanistic view of physics, chemistry, and biology.
A good website introducing homeopathy, which includes practical information as well as basic research, is the American Association of Homeopathic Pharmacists: What is Homeopathy.
For those like myself who enjoy research, the European-based Homeopathic Research Institute has up to date research information. I recommend watching this short video about their yearly conference. Wikipedia seems blissfully unaware of actual research, but Encyclopedia.com has an informative and fair page on homeopathy.
Two good books on homeopathy that are informative and also very well written are Impossible Cure by Amy Lansky which includes stories from her own family as well as research summaries, and Homeopathic Revolution: Why Famous People and Cultural Heroes Choose Homeopathy by Dana Ullman, which describes many historical figures as well as some modern ones.
Last but not least, here is an excellent long-form interview with Australian homeopath and homeopathic educator, Melissa Kupsch. Although she is a strong proponent of the healing power of homeopathy, she also admits that it can be frustrating at times, just like all healing systems, saying about an hour in: "If after 12 weeks there is no change, I know it is time to try a different remedy." :-)