Health & Nutrition

Cure or con? Do you think homeopathy can heal?

Find out why so many people are flocking to this alternative medicine and discover varying views on this natural form of health care.

Updated:: 2009-09-29 22:30

Published:: 2007-05-01 00:00

By: Lesley Young

Could it work for you?

Every year, more Canadians embrace alternative medicines such as homeopathy, a fascinating and controversial 200-year-old system of medicine. In fact, its proponents swear by its unconventional focus on treating symptoms rather than diseases and reliance on a cornucopia of all-natural remedies, taking its claims to heal everything from colds to arthritis as a matter of faith.
For others, its hard-to-explain “science” is chalked up to hocus-pocus -- at best a placebo effect that could be dangerous should Canadians choose it over modern medicine.

Naysayers (many GPs among them) contend that the pending regulation of homeopathy in the province of Ontario, in spite of setting consistent standards of training and treatment, would give it a stamp of credibility it doesn't deserve. To complicate matters further, some homeopaths don't want regulation because it insinuates the medicine is unsafe. So where does this leave you? Here's what you need to know before trying homeopathy.
What is homeopathy
Homeopathy is a system of medicine based on a theory of healing called The Law of Similars. In a nutshell, the law alleges that a disease with a given set of symptoms can be cured by a medicine that is known to produce a similar set of symptoms; for example, a homeopath might prescribe coffea cruda (unroasted coffee) for insomnia and allium cepa (red onion) for watery eyes caused by allergies. Homeopathy was founded by a German physician, Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, in the early 1800s and flourished for 100 years before waning with the advent of modern medical science and pharmaceuticals in the first quarter of the 20th century. But by the 1980s, the manufacture and sale of homeopathic remedies was on the rise in Canada.

Today you can walk into a natural health products store and purchase a homeopathic remedy, often in liquid or pill form, for certain symptoms. Homeopathic medicines are regulated by Health Canada's Natural Health Products Directorate and labelled “HM.”

Rather than self-treat, however, homeopaths recommend that you consult with a trained practitioner. “Each treatment is highly individual,” explains Maya de Szegheo-Lang, a homeopath and president of the Ontario Homeopathic Association, which represents about 200 homeopaths. Homeopaths do not try to diagnose you by identifying the cause of symptoms like a GP would; instead they collect a medical, physical and emotional history of your life to help identify your symptoms. They believe that nothing can be known about disease except what is seen in the symptoms, and that symptoms are signs of the process of healing in a specific ailment. This is why symptoms guide homeopaths' remedies.

How much does it cost?
An initial consultation costs about $150 and often includes the remedy. Subsequent visits are anywhere from $40 to $60, says de Szegheo-Lang. Some health plans cover the cost of homeopathy, so check your plan. You can also get a homeopathic remedy from a naturopath who is trained in homeopathy. The difference between the two is that naturopaths treat with integrated medicines, including herbs, acupuncture and massage, whereas homeopaths use a specific treatment system that consists mainly of homeopathic remedies.

How does it work?
Homeopathic remedies are infinitesimal amounts of plant, animal and mineral substances, that, in a healthy person, are purported to cause the symptoms of the disease being treated. (Don't confuse the technique with vaccinations or immunizations, which contain some of the specific disease-causing agent to help your body build immunity.) Remedies are diluted and shaken down to the point that there is virtually nothing of the original substance – except its purported “energy signature,” says Rudi Verspoor, past-president of the National United Professional Association of Trained Homeopaths (NUPATH) in Belleville, Ont. Homeopaths believe the higher the dilution, the more powerful the remedy. More than 2,000 tinctures have been discovered through cumulative “provings,” a single trial with a single individual who purports to establish the medicinal effect. (Homeopaths very rarely use clinical trials to test remedies.) Most practitioners refer to the Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States, a guide that is compiled and maintained by the practice in the U.S.

Supporters of homeopathy explain it in metaphorical terms: disease is energy, and the energy signature of the substance in effect “cancels out” the disease. “It's a law of physics,” says Verspoor. “If you have two similar waves of energy coming at each other, the two cancel each other out.” Dr. Heather Boon, an associate professor at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto, doesn't recommend homeopathy but says that from a scientific point of view, physicists won't dismiss its theories as entirely impossible. They are familiar with other cases of matter and energy interacting in ways that are sometimes counterintuitive. “More research is needed,” stresses Boon. Verspoor admits that the theory that disease is energy, and that there are energy signatures in homeopathic remedies, is “complete nonsense” when judged by current medical and scientific knowledge.

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