About 13 million North Americans currently subscribe to the controversial practice of homeopathy, according to an estimate made by one homeopathic organization. Homeopathy originated 200 years ago in protest against the harsh medical practices of the day, such as bloodletting, blistering, and purging. People who depend on homeopathy today tend to object to current practices in conventional medicine as well.
The basis of homeopathic medicine is a philosophy called the "Law of Similars," otherwise known as "like cures like." This means that a substance that produces symptoms in a healthy person can cure a person suffering with the same symptoms. For example, if eating a certain herb causes people to cough, that same herb is used to treat a sick person whose main symptom is a cough. The goal is to stimulate the immune system so that the body heals itself.
The premise is similar to that of conventional vaccines. To fight the flu, for example, a mild form of a flu virus is administered in the form of a vaccine. The vaccine sensitizes your immune system so that it will recognize and destroy real flu germs before they make you sick. Immunotherapy, in which injections of allergy-producing substances are given to patients suffering from allergies, likewise desensitizes people to those allergens.
One major area where the traditional and the homeopathic medical traditions part company is in the preparation of medications. All conventional medicines are rigorously tested and must contain a specified percentage of their active ingredient, which is printed on the label. Homeopathic medications are under no such constraints. They are highly diluted versions of plant, herb, or animal extracts. The dilution could be as great as one part extract per 1 million parts water. Most mainstream doctors maintain that the cures are far too weak to produce any results, much less any side effects. Claims of positive results, they suggest, are attributable to the placebo effect. Homeopathic practitioners claim that the mixture, no matter how diluted it is, has been "imprinted" with the memory of the original substance, thereby retaining its beneficial properties.
Recently, a British medical journal surveyed various homeopathic studies and concluded certain remedies might be effective, especially for seasonal allergies. Until more rigorous testing is completed, one cannot go far wrong in resorting to homeopathic remedies only for self-limiting illnesses such as colds, the flu, headaches, and diarrhea. One further caution: many homeopathic extracts are preserved in alcohol, and some doctors believe that the alcohol (like that in some mouthwashes) may increase the risk of oral cancer.