The World Homeopathy Day is observed annually on April 10 to pay homage to homoeopathy and its invaluable contribution to the world of medicine. The day is celebrated on the occasion of the birthday of German physician Dr Samuel Hahnemann, the father of homoeopathy.
Homoeopathy is a form of complementary medicine in which ailments are treated by minute doses of natural substances that in larger amounts would produce symptoms of the ailment. It is derived from the Greek words homeo, which means similar, and pathos, which means suffering or disease. Thus, the principle behind homoeopathy is “like cures like”.
It is also the belief that the body can cure itself. In the late 18th century, Samuel Hahnemann read that quinine-containing Peruvian bark cured malaria which urged him to test its healing properties by swallowing a dose of Peruvian bark. It made him feverish, drowsy, extremely thirsty, and agitated, which are strangely the symptoms of malaria. After this discovery Hahnemann started to experiment more at a larger scale and formed his theory that when a substance in large doses causes certain symptoms, in small doses it can cure these same symptoms. Hahnemann called it “like cures like”, or the Law of Similars.
Practitioners of homoeopathy use natural substances, such as plants, herbs, minerals, or animal products. Homoeopaths believe that the lower the dose, the more powerful the medicine. Many of these remedies come in a variety of forms, like sugar pellets, liquid drops, creams, gels, and tablets. It does not use methods like surgery and believes only in individual medicine application in contrast to clinical medicine.
Homoeopathy is used for a wide range of health issues for instance allergies, migraines, depression, chronic fatigue syndrome and rheumatoid arthritis. It is also used for minor issues such as bruises, scrapes, toothaches, headaches, nausea, coughs, and colds. However there are diseases (heart disease, cancer etc.) that homoeopathy does not offer healing.
The World Homeopathy Day is the golden chance to raise awareness about homoeopathy and to improve the accessibility to homoeopathy. It is a day to get educated and acknowledge homoeopathy as a medical field and its harm free, natural solutions to a plethora of medical conditions.
