Homoeopathy is a system of medicine introduced by a german physician Dr Samuel Hahnemann. He started out as an allopathic doctor who left the practice because of side effects and temporary relief of symptoms of allopathy. For his bread and butter he started translating the medical books to different languages and it was during the translation of Cullen's Materia Medica that he came across a herbal medicine called cinchona. It was written that cinchona could cure malaria and it could also produce symptoms similar to malaria on healthy individuals. This point clicked in Hahnemann's brain and he prepared an extract of cinchona bark which he took himself. To his surprise he developed malaria like symptoms such as chills and achings, so he started doing the same experiment on different individuals and found that the result was the same.

With this experiment Hahnemann came to understand that any drug which can produce a set of symptoms on a healthy human being can be used to cure the similar symptoms in a diseased person. He gave cinchona to various malaria patients and the result was wonderful. This is where the system called homoeopathy originated. The word homoeo means similar, pathy means suffering. The basic principle of homoeopathy is 'similia similibus curantur', which means like cures like. Hahnemann prepared some other drugs using alcohol as a vehicle and started experimenting on different age groups and noted down the symptoms produced in them. He tested nearly 30 different drugs and the symptoms produced were noted down systematically.The symptoms collected by drug testing were categorised, in order, in book form, named materia medica pura.
                        
Hahnemann also noticed that by diluting the crude drug substances in alcohol a much more powerful remedy evolved which could produce the  symptoms on healthy people. Hahnemann started giving treatement to so many diseased persons with the medicines he had prepared applying the principle 'similia similibus curantur'some amazing results. It was then that homoeopathy started spreading all over the world.
               
He gave medicines to some patients and noticed that symptoms came back again. Through this he realised that it was important that the cause of the disease should be treated .After doing experiments and observations he came to know that diseases are actually caused by some vigourous forces which named as miasms.[psora ,syphilis,sycosis]  He noticed that to cure a person completely these miasms needed to be eradicated using a similar vigourous force.This idea lead to antimiasmatic drugs, which are drugs having disease producing power, similar to miasms. He then developed anti miasmatic drugs and experimented on diseased persons with incredible results.
 

Developement of homoeopathy

The Principles of Homoeopathy was written in book form and Hahnemann named it Organon of Medicine. Later on he started publishing these works and in fact six editions of Organon were published.

Right from the very beginning of homoeopathy so many doctors of other systems started working against homoeopathy. But eventually those who started out against homoeopathy, once they discovered the truth behind it, began practising this system. Physicians like Dr J T Kent, Dr Hering,Dr Boenonghausen and more, followed. Dr Hahnemann's mission was to develop the system. Other Physicians started preparing many other drugs on the basis of guidlines given by Hahnemann. These physicians came to know that by diluting the drug substance in alcohol in a systematic way the medicinal power increased even though the quantity of drug decreased. Since diseases are due to vigourous causes it is only right that the medicine also should be vigourous. By a process called potentisation the same drug in different levels of potencies were made.They found that by increasing the potency the penetrating power of the medicine is increased so that it acts on a higher level than the usual material form of drugs used in other systems.This unique nature of homoeopathic medicine is the reason for the amazing cures possible, even of mental diseases.
                  

General principles

Homoeopathy treats the diseased individual as a whole rather than treating diseased parts or organs. The physical, mental, emotional, and social spheres of a person is taken into consideration when looking for a permanent cure.This system believes that the diseases are caused due to the derangement of vital force which is an invisible power in every individual. In a healthy state the vital force maintains the equilibrium of mind body and soul. During this a person will have normal sensations and functions. When the vital force is in any way adversely affected there will be external manifestations in the form of signs and symptoms. The imbalance in the body's functions makes a shelter for foreign organisms (bacteria,viruses,fungi,protozoa ect) and allows them to proliferate and produce so called diseases. Homoeopathy believes that the real disease comes before the bacteria and viruses, hence the root cause of the disease has to be treated for a permenent cure.The antibacterial and antiviral agents only remove the secondary causes mentioned above.
 

Diseases are produced by noxious morbific agents called Miasms which are vigourous influences which affect the vital force.There are mainly three miasms PSORA, SYPHILIS, and SYCOSIS. These three causes are accepted by other schools of medicine but called by different names. Psora causes functional disturbances, syphilis causes structural changes in the form of destruction and sycosis causes changes in the form of overgrowth. These three miasms can act individually or in combined form to produce different disease conditions.
 

Preparation of medicine in homoeopathy

In homoeopathy medicines are prepared from different sources like minerals, plants, animals, toxins, diseased parts ect. Medicines are prepared from these substances by a special process called potentisation. Here the soluble  substances are potentised by diluting (mixing with alcohol with a downward stroke) with alcohol and insoluble substances by grinding (trituration) with lactose. The crude drug substance is first mixed with a calculated quantity of spirit and water and kept for few days. From this mixture extract is taken and is called the mother tincture (denoted as Q). From this mother tincture dilutions are prepared by potentisation. Potentisation is a mathematical process by which the quantity of original drug substance reduces but medicinal power increases. Depending upon the ratio of quantity of drug substance and vehicle (alcohol or lactose) there are different scales for this process. Each scale has different potencies which indicate the power of the medicine. Example: in decimal scale the drug substance vehicle ratio is 1/10 and the available potencies are 3x, 6x, 12x etc. In centismal scale the ratio is 1/100 and the available potencies are 30c, 200c etc, in LM potency the ratio is 1/50000 and the available potencies are 0/1,  0/2,0/3 etc. The potency is written after the name of every medicine
 

The same medicine is available in different potencies. Suitable potency is selected according to so many factors such as severity, depth of disease, condition of the patient, nature of disease, type of symptoms, age of patient etc.
 

Homoeopathic case taking and prescription.

Cure by a homoeopathic medicine is rapid, gentle and permanent if the correct remedy and suitable dosage is given. Giving just one drug for one disease (specific drugs) may not give good result.To come to a correct remedial diagnosis we should have the symptomatology of the person .It is the total symptoms of a person which includes mental generals, physical generals, particular symptoms etc.

All signs and symptoms (mental and physical) of the person is taken down in detail. Knowledge about past illness, family history of diseases, food & bowel habits, notable causes, relation to climatic changes and constitution etc. are noted down in a systematic order.

Mental symptoms:For e xample: fear, anxiety, depression, anger, jealousy etc....

Physical symptoms:

For example: Body makeup, appetite, thirst, desires, aversions, bowels, urination, sleep, taste, nature of smell, discharges any abnormal sensations like pain, burning, climatic changes, thermal relations, etc...

Peculiar uncommon symptoms:
 

This is the speciality of the homoeopathic system of medicine. For the selection of a suitable remedy these symptoms are very important. Common symptoms which are seen almost in all patients are of the least importance.  This is the reason for giving different medicines to different individuals suffering from same disease. For example: Five people suffering from typhoid may get five different remedies because of changes of individual symptoms.
 

Particular/local signs&symptoms:

This include signs and symptoms related to body parts and organs.

For example: Part of body affected, any swelling,discolouration etc.   
                      
Systemic examination:

Different systems are examined in a systematic order. (Respiratory system, digestive system, nervous system, cardio vascular system etc....)                                                                                                           Vital signs:

Pulse, blood pressure, temperature, respiratory rate etc. are checked here.

General physical examination:

Here, body parts are examined from head to foot to find out any changes.

Provisional disease diagnosis:

Here probable diseases are diagnosed. In homoeopathy disease diagnosis is not that much important for the selection of a  remedy, but needed for general management and to know the prognosis.

Investigations:
 
This includes lab investigations and other methods to find out about any other major illnesses.
                                                                                                                         
Final disease diagnosis:

After doing all investigations the disease is diagnosed.

Remedial diagnosis:

This is the most importnant part as far as homoeopathy is concerned. For this is where the selected symptoms are arranged in a systematic order on the basis of importance. Symptoms are analysed to find out the importance of each symptom for the selection of a remedy.Remedies are selected on the basis of similarity.
 

Suitable remedies are diagnosed by a process called repertorisation. Here books called repertories are used. Repertory is the index of symptoms of materia medica (books which  contain the symptoms of drugs). Nowadays computer softwares are used for repertorisalion. By this process we will get the remedies covering the most important symptom of the patient.
 

Among this group of remedies the most suitable remedy is selected by referring to various books and considering the life space investigation of the patient. The selected medicine is then given in suitable potency & dosage.
 

ANTI MIASMATIC TREATMENT:

The root cause of disease is miasms which should be eradicated using suitable anti miasmatic drugs. Every drug can eradicate the miasm if there is symptom similarity. There are anti psoric drugs, anti syphilitic drugs and anti sycotic drugs. After diagnosing the miasm suitable, anti miasmatic drug should be given to complete the cure.