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Homeopathy is popular in Europe and in India, but less so in the USA, where non-orthodox therapies are more tightly regulated. There are estimated to be more than 100,000 practitioners worldwide, and 500 million people receiving treatment. In Germany, homeopathy has been recognized as a 'special form of therapy' since 1978, meaning that its remedies do not have to have been shown to be efficacious, but since 2004, most are not covered by public health insurance. In Switzerland, homeopathic remedies were covered by the basic health insurance system, if prescribed by a physician, until June 2005, when the Government, after a 5-year trial, withdrew insurance coverage for homeopathy and four other complementary treatments, as they did not meet efficacy and cost-effectiveness criteria. In the UK, homeopathic remedies are sold over the counter, and five homeopathic hospitals are funded by the [[National Health Service]]. Homeopathy is not practiced by most of the medical profession, but is supported by the [[Prince of Wales]] and other members of the royal family.<ref>Leary B et al (1998) It Wont Do Any Harm: Practice and People At The London Homeopathic Hospital, 1889-1923, in Juette R et al (1998) Eds. 'Culture, Knowledge And Healing: Historical Perspectives On Homeopathy In Europe And North America' Sheffield Univ. Press, UK [http://www.homeoint.org/english/index.htm Homéopathe International The English language version]</ref><ref>Fisher P, Ward A (1994) Medicine in Europe: complementary medicine in Europe BMJ 309:107-111[1]; Homeopathy was regulated by the European Union in 2001, by Directive 2001/83/EC. [http://www.pheur.org/ European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines]</ref>
Homeopathy is popular in Europe and in India, but less so in the USA, where non-orthodox therapies are more tightly regulated. There are estimated to be more than 100,000 practitioners worldwide, and 500 million people receiving treatment. In Germany, homeopathy has been recognized as a 'special form of therapy' since 1978, meaning that its remedies do not have to have been shown to be efficacious, but since 2004, most are not covered by public health insurance. In Switzerland, homeopathic remedies were covered by the basic health insurance system, if prescribed by a physician, until June 2005, when the Government, after a 5-year trial, withdrew insurance coverage for homeopathy and four other complementary treatments, as they did not meet efficacy and cost-effectiveness criteria. In the UK, homeopathic remedies are sold over the counter, and five homeopathic hospitals are funded by the [[National Health Service]]. Homeopathy is not practiced by most of the medical profession, but is supported by the [[Prince of Wales]] and other members of the royal family.<ref>Leary B et al (1998) It Wont Do Any Harm: Practice and People At The London Homeopathic Hospital, 1889-1923, in Juette R et al (1998) Eds. 'Culture, Knowledge And Healing: Historical Perspectives On Homeopathy In Europe And North America' Sheffield Univ. Press, UK [http://www.homeoint.org/english/index.htm Homéopathe International The English language version]</ref><ref>Fisher P, Ward A (1994) Medicine in Europe: complementary medicine in Europe BMJ 309:107-111[1]; Homeopathy was regulated by the European Union in 2001, by Directive 2001/83/EC. [http://www.pheur.org/ European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines]</ref>
== History ==
For the early Greek physician [[Hippocrates]] of Cos, who lived at about 400 BCE<ref>[http://www.iep.utm.edu/h/hippocra.htm Hippocrates (c. 450 BCE to 380 BCE.)]</ref>, the four 'humours' (blood, black bile, yellow bile and phlegm) were the key to understanding disease. His ideas persisted through the writings of [[Galen]] (131-201 CE) until at least 1858, and [[Rudolf Virchow]]'s theories of cellular pathology. Diseases, it was thought, were the result of some 'imbalance' of the humours, and physicians of the day focused on restoring that balance, either by trying to remove an excess of a humour, or by suppressing the symptoms. "Bloodletting, fever remedies, tepid baths, lowering drinks, weakening diet, blood cleansing and everlasting aperients and clysters (enemas) form the circle in which the ordinary German physician turns round unceasingly", wrote Hahnemann while translating into German the Treatise on Materia Medica (1789) by the Edinburgh physician [[William Cullen]].<ref>See Peter Morrell, [http://homeoint.org/morrell/articles/index.htm Articles on Homeopathy]. [http://www.wholehealthnow.com/homeopathy_pro/homeopathy_1825_1849.html Homeopathy Timeline].</ref>
After 1783, disillusioned with medicine and the many toxic effects of its cures, Hahnemann began to use smaller and smaller doses of drugs, trying to minimise their toxic effects while retaining their efficacy. Cullen had written that Cinchona bark (which contains quinine) was effective because it was bitter, and Hahnemann pondered about this; he felt that this explanation was implausible because other substances that were as bitter had no therapeutic value. Accordingly, he took Cinchona bark himself, and saw that its effects were similar to the symptoms of the diseases that it was prescribed for. For Hahnemann, this was a breakthrough, and it led him to formulate the 'Principle of Similars' on which homeopathy is based, expressed by him as similia similibus curentur or 'let likes cure likes'.<ref>At least one writer has suggested that Hahnemann was hypersensitive to quinine, and that he might have had an allergic reaction ([http://www.angelfire.com/mb2/quinine/allergy.html Thomas WE "The basis of homeopathy"]).</ref>
He had concluded that diseases are caused by "spirit-like derangements of the spirit-like power that animates the human body", and was searching for a way to harness this power for healing.
== References ==
== References ==
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