History of Homeopathy?

The first person to the healing principle of treating ‘like with like’ was Greek physician Hippocrates (c.460 – 377bce). His method went against the thinking of the time, which held that the gods were the main force behind a disease, and that a cure could be found by treating with a substance that had an opposite effect in a healthy person.

Gernam doctor Samuel Hahnemann (1755 – 1843) was the modern day founder of homeopathy. He proved the principle of ‘like curing like’ with his effective treatment for malaria. He found he developed malarial symptoms after taking doses of quinine (he was otherwise in good health). These effects lasted hours after each dose.

He tested other substances in the same way, in a process known as ‘proving’. He ‘proved’ more than 100 homeopathic remedies in his lifetime, publishing his findings in ‘The Organon of Rational Medicine’ in 1811. He believed that the remedies worked by activating a person’s ‘vital force’, that is, the body’s own healing potential. Having conducted tests on many volunteers, he came to realize the importance of taking into account the personality traits of each person receiving the treatment. He found that particular ‘types’ of people manifested different symptoms to the same disease and so required treatment with different remedies in accordance with their ‘type’.

American doctor James Tyler Kent (1849 – 1943) furthered Hahnemann’s work on the different ‘types’ of people and the matching of a remedy to their emotional and physical characteristics. These ‘types’ became known as ‘constitutional types’.