Homeopathy In India is Very Popular and Successful

It is estimated that there are over 250,000 homeopaths in India. Homeopathy is on par legally with conventional medicine, (homeopaths call conventional medicine Allopathy) and there are many Colleges of homeopathy including some that give post graduate degrees in homeopathy. It has attracted great support because…it works! Also the philosophy of homeopathy works well with the cultural and spiritual nature of the Indian people.

 

Dr. Manish Bhatia writes about the history of homeopathy in India.

 

Homeopathy came to India as early as 1810 when some German physicians and missionaries came to Bengal and started distributing homoeopathic remedies. Dr. John Martin Honigberger was the first person who is recognised to have brought homeopathy and the name of Hahnemann to India. Dr. Honigberger arrived at Lahore in 1829 – 30. The then ruler of Punjab, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, was impressed by him when he treated his favorite horse of its bad leg ulcers. In 1835 he traveled to Paris and met Dr. Hahnemann. He bought a large quantity of homoeopathic medicines from Hahnemann’s Pharmacist, Lehmann of Kothen. In his second visit to India, in the year 1839, he treated Maharaja Ranjit for paralysis of vocal cords and oedema. The Maharaja was relieved of his complaints and in return received valuable rewards and later on was made officer-in-charge of a hospital. Dr. Honigberger later on went to Calcutta and started practice there. This royal patronage helped the system to have its roots in India.

Homeopathy continued to spread and Indians found in its philosophy and principles, a reflection of their belief and culture. A large number of missionaries, amateurs in Indian civil and military service personals practiced Homoeopathy extensively and spread this system mostly in Bengal and South India. Surgeon Samuel Brooking, a retired Medical Officer had the courage and conviction to establish a Homoeoapthic Hospital at Tanjore, in South India, in 1847. There have been a number of other well-known enthusiasts like Dr. Cooper and Dr. J. Ruther ford Russel, two Government Medical Officers, Mr. H. Ryper, a military pensioner, Captain May and others of Calcutta, made Homeopathy popular among the masses of Bengal. Last but not the least, was the services rendered by Dr. C. J. Tonnere, M.D. the French Homoeopath, proved “Acalpha Indica” in the year 1851 was first Health Officer of the town of Calcutta and later he established Homoeopathic Hospital.

In 1861, a virulent epidemic of malarial fever was raging over lower Bengal and it was at this juncture that the great philanthropist, Late Babu Rajendra Lall Dutta, a layman, truly laid the foundation of Homeopathy and started its practice with astounding results. He converted the redoubtable allopath and his opponent, Dr. Mahendra Lall Sircar, M.D. D.L., C.I. E. to Homeopathy. Dr. P.C. Majumdar, M.D. another Homoeopath of Calcutta started his practise in 1864 and laid the foundation of Calcutta Homoeopathic Medical College in 1885.

Homoeopathy continued to spread and by the beginning of 20th century most of the important cities in India had Homoeopathic dispensaries. The popularity of the system led to a mushroom growth of quacks practicing Homoeopathy. Seeing this deplorable state of affairs, efforts were made by the Government. It took several steps and in 1948, a Homoeopathic Enquiry Committee was set up to evolve a suitable arrangement to regulate teaching and practice of Homoeopathy. A Homoeopathic Advisory Committee was appointed in 1952 by the Govt. of India and the recommendations of these committees led to passing of a Central Act in 1973 for recognition of this system of medicine. Homoeopathy now has been accepted as one of the National Systems of Medicine in India.

USA News Sites: Alternative Medicine is Going Mainstream

A number of newspapers, even the Wall Street Journal and web sites are featuring alternative health information and are highlighting that in the United States alternative health has gone mainstream.

“According to the American Hospital Association, more than one-third of U.S. hospitals offer at least one type of complementary medicine, which includes acupuncture, homeopathy, chiropractic, nutrition, massage therapy and herbal medicine. For example, the prestigious Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center offers acupuncture for relief of nausea from surgery or chemotherapy. The growing field is even referred to by a new name—CAM—an acronym for complementary alternative medicine.”

-newsmax.com

“In the Wall Street Journal On Line, an article penned by Rustum Roy, Andrew Weil, Dean Ornish and Deepak Chopra showed the many advantages of taking responsibility for one’s own wellness.  Being that they were writing for the Wall Street Journal the evidence they brought forth was backed by hard scientific research, instead of the over 5000 years of success that Natural Living Sciences have to their credit. 

According to the American Heart Association we spent 60 Billion dollars on 1.3 million coronary angioplasty operations in 2006 (stints). That was $48,399 per operation on average.  A bypass operation cost $99,743 in 2006 and there were 448,000 of them done at more than $44 Billion bucks.  Heart disease is expensive.  The kicker here is that with all this investment in pain, suffering and money a person does not live longer because of the surgery.   In the case of a stint, not only does the operation not increase the longevity of the person receiving it but the procedure does nothing to prevent heart attack.”

-Examiner. com

Homeopathy Teacher Series- George Vithoulkas

This is part of series on Homeopathy Teachers by Homeopathy Resource.

George Vithoulkas is considered the father of modern homeopathy and a homeopathic visionary. He introduced modern and visionary ideas in the mid 60’s, modernizing homeopathy. He has an interesting background. He is not a medical doctor and his original career was as an engineer. While in South Africa he decided to study homeopathy and eventually moved back to Greece to practice it. He opened a clinic in Athens where with a group of medical doctors saw over 150,000 cases.

Today, he writes and teaches homeopathy.

“Vithoulkas’ books, Homeopathy: Medicine of the New Man (Arco, New York, 1979), written for lay people, and The Science of Homeopathy (Grove Press, New York, 1980), for health professionals, have been translated into twenty languages and have had a profound influence upon the acceptance and practice of homeopathy worldwide. His book, A New Model for Health and Disease, published in German and English in 1991, makes a fundamental critique of conventional allopathic medicine and sets out a new paradigm for the science of medicine.

He has been an international teacher of classical homeopathy for 20 years. In the year 1996, he was awarded the Alternative Nobel Prize for his work in the field of Classical Homeopathy.”

You can get more information from his Web site: International Academy of CLASSICAL HOMEOPATHY

Extensive Study Concludes Homeopathic Remedies and Treatment Are Safe

A study entitled: “The Safety of Homeopathy”  published January 2009 by the European Council for Classical Homeopathy has concluded that homeopathic remedies are safe.

The report was based on the results of the following approaches:  

• a description of regulation and production methods for HMPs; 

• a literature review considering current research evidence for the safety of HMPs; 

• a survey on the safety of treatment provided by practitioners; 

• an overview of regulation of the practice of homeopathy; and 

• an overview of international measures taken by the profession to self-regulate. 

The report also looked at over 20 observational studies with a total of 7,275 patients. 

Some of the conclusions were:

“There is overall agreement between practitioners, national Governments and the European Union institutions that the safety of patients is of paramount importance. There is also a widespread and longstanding belief that CAM therapies such as homeopathy have a high safety profile when correctly administered. Some authors have however pointed out the need for such claims to be researched. 

Current evidence seems to support the claim that ADRs rarely arise in connection with HMPs [homeopathic remedies] and where they do they are only mild or moderate, and transient. We have been unable to find any evidence to support a claim that HMPs may cause serious AE or ADR. The results we have seen are in line with claims such as those put forward by Reilly (2005) who states that homeopathy lacks the potential for life-threatening side effects and it may be used in pregnancy and the treatment of infants and children without risk of harm. ”

For more information check out the web site of the ECCH: http://www.homeopathy-ecch.eu