The History of Homeopathic Medicine

The practice of homeopathic medicine can be traced back to ancient history but its modern development began in Germany in 1810. Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, an established M.D., had grown disillusioned with conventional medicine. Bloodletting, arsenic treatments, leeches, primitive surgery - these misguided practices killed far more patients than they cured. While translating medical texts he discovered the symptoms of malaria mimicked precisely symptoms caused by overdoses of quinine. Armed with this discovery, Dr. Hahnemann began to poison himself deliberately with small, diluted doses of quinine. His notes on the specific changes to his own constitution proved that quinine could produce the symptoms of malaria in a healthy person. This encouraged him to continue to develop his theories of the nature of health and disease. From that research developed what we know today as modern homeopathic medicine.

Respect for homeopathic medicine spread. It became so accepted during the American Civil War that soldiers were issued small kits of homeopathic remedies. By the turn of the 20th century, the U.S. boasted eighteen homeopathic medical schools, more than one hundred hospitals, and over one thousand pharmacies carrying homeopathic remedies. One quarter of all physicians were homeopathic practitioners. Homeopathy was crucial in combating the Great Flu Epidemic of 1918.

Always widely practiced in Europe - the official physician of the British Royal Family has always been a homeopath - homeopathic medicine is making a welcomed resurgence in the U.S.