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 In this section:

•	What is Homeopathy
•	Types of Homeopathy
•	Where Did it Originate
•	How Does it Work
•	Homeopathic Remedies
•	How Remedies Are Made
•	What Can I Expect During a Treatment
•	How Will I Feel After a Treatment
•	What Are the Benefits
•	Choosing a Practitioner
•	Homeopathy as a Career
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•	Homeopatic Practitioners

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Homeopathy

How Does it Work

There is no consensus on how Homeopathic remedies work. A common theory is that the remedies stimulate the immune system of the body, raising the opsonic index (a measure of the body’s fighting ability) of the white blood cells against bacteria and infections.

Dr. Hahnemann, the founder of Homeopathy, viewed illness as a compromise of the body’s vital force, which ultimately results in an internal imbalance. He believed Homeopathic remedies replaced the illness with a similar but weaker form of the illness which the body's "vital force" could then more easily overcome.

Homeopaths believe that a healthy person naturally resists sickness, despite being exposed to a variety of bacteria and viruses. This is because their vital force is strong and their susceptibility to illness is therefore low. Depending on external factors such as pollutants, poor diet, emotional, physical, and psychological stresses, this ability to naturally resist sickness changes. This is a key reason Homeopaths place great emphasis on gaining an overall understanding of the patient, their life and their lifestyle, and not just focus on the illness.

The theory of the remedies holding the "memorytesttest" or absorbing the "vital essence" of the original extract, even when the remedy has been diluted to such a degree than less than one molecule of the original essence remains, is offered formidable credibility when considering the work of Japanese researcher Dr. Masaru Emoto. In 1994, Dr. Emoto produced ground-breaking work on the effects of exposing water to different words, music, pictures and photographs. In his best selling books, “The Hidden Messages in Water” and “The True Power of Water,” Dr. Emoto presented the findings of his research. Water was exposed to specific words such as “love,” “you fool,” “stress,” “happiness,” and “unhappiness.” The water was then frozen and the crystalline structure of water during the freezing process then photographed. It was discovered that the water crystals were dramatically affected depending on the words that the water was exposed to. Water exposed to positive words, music and imagery formed beautiful crystals, while water exposed to negative words, music and imagery formed distorted, unbalanced, and broken images. Emoto also noted that the same word used in different languages formed very similar though not exact crystalline structures, which suggests that water responds to the essence of the word and its nature and understanding as accepted by the mass consciousness.

High levels of controversy and debate have surrounded Homeopathy, largely because a number of its key concepts do not appear to follow the laws of chemistry and physics. Distain is held by some in conventional medicine at the theory of remedies holding “vital essences” or “memory.” quantum physicstesttest may, however, shed more light in the near future. The failure of science to provide a full explanation of results from healing treatments is not unique to Homeopathy and can be found with many complimentary and alternative medicines.

Various clinical trials have been conducted on the effectiveness of Homeopathy, some yielding positive results, others yielding no results. Some skeptics claim that success is due to the placeboAn inactive or "fake" substance given to participants in clinical trials - this substance resembles the drug being tested but is completely harmless and the participants are unable to distingish which is the drug and which is the fake effect, but Homeopathy has been used successfully on animals and babies who are not themselves susceptible to the influence of a placebo effect.

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