Homeopathy and conventional (allopathic) medicine

Conventional Western, or Allopathic, medicine has achieved significant leaps in preserving both the quality and longevity of life, and it is important to recognise this contribution. A world wide vaccination program by the WHO has eradicated smallpox; Insulin has enabled many type I diabetics to control their condition; antibiotics, though not without their own problems, can render potentialy lethal infections harmless.

There are many homeopaths who frown on the entire spectum of allopathic medicine, though in practice, a more balanced approach is often more effective. It is unwise, for example, for an insulin dependent diabetic to discontinue their insulin.

However, conventional medicine is a wide label, and not all conventional medicine is beneficial. While in many cases symptoms are relieved, cured, or prevented many allopathic medicines can do a lot of harm to your body.

The symptoms of a disease, for a Homeopath, are your body's attempt to cure itself. By contrast, conventional medicine often works by suppressing your body's natural reactions. For example:

• A cough is usually the result of foreign bodies in the lungs; the muscles spasm in an attempt to remove it. Cough medicine simply stops this reflex.
• A headache tablet is a painkiller and simply suppresses the feeling of pain, leaving the body to undergo whatever torment it was before, but divorced from our consciousness. This is a very bad thing. For example, many headaches are due to dehydration - once the headache isn't felt, the patient no longer feels the need to stop running around, working up a sweat and dehydrating further.
• The conventional approach to treating infections is antibiotics. Antibiotics simply eat other bacteria. Our body also has bacteria that serve the same function (indeed, there are many types of bacteria naturally occurring in the body, all of which are beneficial) alas these are also consumed by antibiotics. In addition, a widespread concern is that bacteria are becoming resistant to antibiotics.
• Antidepressants generally work by blocking emotional responses. Unlike homeopathic remedies, dependence builds up quickly, and once a course of antidepressants has begun, it is often a step down a long, slippery slope to dependency.

Conventional medicine is a very blunt instrument. Part of its success lies in this very general nature. The sheer number of possible factors that need to be considered for effective treatment with homeopathic remedies have meant that it has required a long, and often expensive consultation with a trained specialist. In contrast, regardless of the type of pain, or even where it is, the conventional relief is a pain killer. Compare that to homeopathy - in our remedy finder database, we describe nearly 5,000 types of headaches.

Despite the best efforts of pharmaceutical companies, the research into medicines and their side effects is often woefully inadequate. The most famous case of this is thalidomide - a drug prescribed for morning sickness, which produced severe birth defects. More recently controversies include Seroxat, an antidepressant which, though benficial for some, has been linked to addiction, suicide, self harm, and aggressive behaviour in some people.

Despite the damaging side effects of conventional medicine, sadly, prescription medicines are without benefit for most people that take them. (source: Allen Roses, a Vice President of Glaxo SmithKline: one of the worlds largest drug producers. See here for more)

The approach of conventional medicine denies our body's efforts to heal itself and damages these systems.

Homeopathy does not work in the same way; how it does work remains a mystery. Chemists have concluded that in the very high homeopathic potencies there is actually none of the original substance left. Theories explaining homeopathy have been put forward, resting on vibrations, electromagnetism, or the memory of water.

However, is it not fitting that your body, a miracle way beyond understanding, can be cured by something which is also out of the reach of your rational mind?