According to the latest statistics by the National Health Interview Survey, "an estimated 3.9 million U.S. adults and approximately 900,000 children used homeopathic medicine."
The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM
According to the latest statistics by the National Health Interview Survey, "an estimated 3.9 million U.S. adults and approximately 900,000 children used homeopathic medicine."
The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) website revealed ʺmore than one in three adults use some form of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). For women and older Americans, those numbers are even higher—two out of five report using CAM.ʺ
Homeopathic medicine, also known as homeopathy, was first developed in Germany in the 1800s. Homeopathic medicine was introducted to the United States in the late 1800s or early 1900s.
According to the Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine, ʺhomeopathy is based on the idea of treating ‘like with like’. Medicines which can produce an illness matching the one from which the patient is suffering are prescribed, aiming to stimulate the body’s own healing.ʺ
The Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine website stated ʺthere are several key features of homeopathic medicine.ʺ
• Minimum dose. Homeopathic medicines range from concentrated tinctures to extremely dilute medicines, some so dilute that the original substance may not hold a trace of the original substance. It is thought that the water and alcohol mixture in which the dilutions are made retain a ‘memory’ of the substance.
• Idiosyncrasy. What is unusual or atypical about you or the health problem from which you are suffering?
• Constitution. The type of person, including build, personality, general physical features, for instance, a tendency to feel the heat or the cold.
• Holism. Described as treating the person, not the disease. Questions about your lifestyle, eating habits and preferences, sleep patterns and state of mind all help build up a complete picture.
Homeopathy treatment can be used alone or to complement traditional medical treatments. For example, one friend of mine who is a cancer survivor uses traditional chemotherapy treatments but also applies homeopathic treatment to curb his nausea.