The Development of Homoeopathy

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The Greek physician Hippocrates, who lived several hundred years before the birth of Christ (460-370 BC), is regarded as the founding father of all medicine. The Hippocratic Oath taken by newly qualified doctors in orthodox medicine binds them to an ethical code of medical practice in honour of Hippocrates. Hippocrates believed that disease resulted from natural elements in the world in which people lived.

This contrasted with the view that held sway for centuries that disease was some form of punishment from the gods or God. He believed that it was essential to observe and take account of the course and progress of a disease in each individual, and that any cure should encourage that person's own innate healing power. Hippocrates embraced the idea of 'like being able to cure like' and had many remedies that were based on this principle. Hence, in his practice and study of medicine he laid the foundations of the homoeopathic approach although this was not to be appreciated and developed for many centuries.

During the period of Roman civilization a greater knowledge and insight into the nature of the human body were developed. Many herbs and plants were used for healing by people throughout the world, and much knowledge was gained and handed down from generation to generation. The belief persisted, however, that diseases were caused by supernatural or divine forces.

It was not until the early 1500s that a Swiss doctor, Paracelsus (1493-1541), put forward the view that disease resulted from external environmental forces. He also believed that plants and natural substances held the key to healing and embraced the 'like can cure like' principle. One of his ideas, known as the 'doctrine of signatures', was that the appearance of a plant, or the substances it contained, gave an idea of the disorders it could cure.

In the succeeding centuries, increased knowledge was gained about the healing properties of plants and the way the human body worked. In spite of this, the methods of medical practice were extremely harsh, and there is no doubt that many people suffered needlessly and died because of the treatment they received. It was against this background that Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843), the founding father of modern homoeopathy, began his work as a doctor in the late 1700s.

In his early writings, Hahnemann criticized the severe practices of medicine and advocated a healthy diet, clean living conditions and high standards of hygiene as a means of improving health and warding off disease. In 1790, he became interested in quinine, extracted from the bark of the cinchona tree, which was known to be an effective treatment for malaria. He tested the substance first on himself, and later on friends and close family members, and recorded the results.

These 'provings' led him to conduct many further investigations and provings of other natural substances, during the course of which he rediscovered and established the principle of like being able to cure like. By 1812, the principle and practice of homoeopathy had become established, and many other doctors adopted the homoeopathic approach. Hahnemann himself became a teacher in homoeopathy at the University of Leipzig and published many important writings-the results of his years of research.

He continued to practise, teach and conduct research throughout his life, especially in producing more dilute remedies that were succussed, or shaken, at each stage and were found to be more potent. Although his work was not without its detractors, Hahnemann had attracted a considerable following by the 1830s. In 1831 there was a widespread cholera epidemic in central Europe for which Hahnemann recommended treatment with camphor.

Many people were cured, including Dr Frederick Quin (1799-1878), a medical practitioner at that time. He went on to establish the first homoeopathic hospital in London in 1849. A later resurgence of cholera in Britain enabled the effectiveness of camphor to be established beyond doubt, as the numbers of people cured at the homoeopathic hospital were far greater than those treated at other hospitals.

In the United States of America, homoeopathy became firmly established in the early part of the 19th century, and there were several eminent practitioners who further enhanced knowledge and practice. These included Dr Constantine Hering (1800-80), who formulated the 'laws of cure', explaining how symptoms affect organ systems and move from one part of the body to another as a cure occurs.

Dr James Tyler Kent (1849-1916) introduced the idea of constitutional types, which is now the basis of classical homoeopathy, and advocated the use of high potency remedies.

In the later years of the 19th century, a fundamental split occurred in the practice of homoeopathy, which was brought about by Dr Richard Hughes (1836-1902), who worked in London and Brighton. He insisted that physical symptoms and the nature of the disease itself was the important factor rather than the holistic approach based on the make-up of the whole individual person.

Hughes rejected the concept of constitutional types and advocated the use of low potency remedies. Although he worked as a homoeopath, his approach was to attempt to make homoeopathy more scientific and to bring it closer to the practices of conventional medicine. Some other homoeopathic doctors followed the approach of Hughes, and the split led to a collapse in faith in the whole practice of homoeopathy during the earlier part of the 20th century.

As the 20th century advanced, however, homoeopathy regained its following and respect. Conventional medicine and homoeopathy have continued to advance, and there is now a greater sympathy and understanding between the practitioners in both these important disciplines.