Allopathy Vs Homeopathy, Discuss
"Declare the past, diagnose the present, foretell the future." - Hippocrates
We are here not to criticize any system of medicines and not telling and asking you to leave a system of medicines. Every science and scientific system has its pros and cons, but generally we are kept unaware about the bad effect of certain systems and these systems are always projected as the best, which is not even near the truth. We are here just sharing that what are the basic differences of homeopathic and Allopathic systems of medicine.
With the rise of popularity in alternative medicines, one of the biggest current debates is the efficacy of homeopathic medicine when contrasted with what we consider traditional or allopathic medicine. While both schools of medicine have the common goal of healing the sick, both achieve that goal by different means.
It is common knowledge that contemporary medicines, while abetting the recovery of the damaged organs of human body, can negatively influence the sound ones. In medicine this phenomenon is called a side effect, which basically treats one part of the body by creating malfunctions in another one. Some of the modern medicines have side effects of such a dominating influence that the Allopathy can be compared to a two-edged sword.
People Beliefs
Allopathic doctors rely heavily on medicines manufactured by pharmaceutical companies. These medicines are strongly based on biological chemistry and most are man-made. Most practitioners of allopathic medicine attempt to treatment an illness by targeting the part of the body affected or identify the causative agent such as a virus or bacteria and treat it.
Homeopathic doctors believe that emotional and psychological stress causes the body to become more susceptible to disease and attempt to cure these breaches in the immune system. Homeopathic doctors believe that only smallest one dose of medicine is enough to cure the disease.
Medicine is considered as one of the most important necessity to all of us. It is derived from the Latin words ars medicina meaning "the art of healing". It is a branch of the health sciences and is the sector of public life concerned with maintaining or restoring human health. In general "All medicines for internal or external use of human beings or animals and all substances intended to be used for on in the diagnosis, treatment, mitigation or prevention of any disease or disorder in human beings or animals".
Allopathic Medicine
German physician Samuel Hahnemann is responsible for coining the term 'Allopathy'. 'Allos' stands for 'opposite' and 'pathos' for 'suffering'. The system of Allopathic Medicine refers to the medical practices like purging, bleeding, vomiting, administration of highly toxic drugs etc. used during a particular period of history. A revolution in scientific medical thought took place in 1876, through the discovery of the bacteriological agents which are responsible for causing infectious diseases. The era of Preventive Medicine started with Robert Koch's demonstration of the bacterial cause of anthrax. Many allopaths used science, but did not include scientific method in their practices. In the 19th century, if a patient got cured, the treatment was given the credit. Hence, is spite of the harsh treatments of Allopathy, it lasted so long.
Allopathic practitioners have their own restrictions as they focus on the symptoms, not the causes. The approach is to treat the illness. When somebody becomes ill, the condition is treated with the help of drugs and surgeries. As far as the conception of disease is concerned, allopathic medicine has its base on the Theory of Four Humors. According to this theory, an imbalance of the four humors (blood, phlegm, black and yellow bile) and four bodily conditions (hot, cold, wet and dry) related to the four elements - earth, air, fire and water - is the root cause of all diseases. Those physicians who were following the Hippocratic tradition tried to balance the humors by treating the symptoms with their opposites. For example, excess blood was believed to be the cause of fever (hot) and the solution was reached by blood-letting so as to 'cool' the patient by using antipyretic, anti-inflammatory and analgesic agents using NSIADS, aspirin etc.
The last century has seen a tremendous development in allopathic health care practices. In spite of its drawbacks, in case of an emergency, for example a fatal accident or mishap, it is allopathic medicine which provides immediate relief. Fractures and related conditions are best treated through the allopathic model. But in cases of allergies, neck pain, hormonal imbalances, eczema, depression etc holistic approach is the best solution. Taking into account the side effects of allopathic medicine, it is better to understand various alternative medical approaches and choose the best option for curing the ailment. Nowadays, Allopathic drugs are governed by the federal FDCA and related regulations, published in Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations (21 C.F.R.).
Homoeopathic medicines
Homeopathy is a system of medicine that dates back more than 200 years. Homeopathy is a system of medicine based on the observation that high doses of pharmacologically active substances cause symptoms when administered to healthy individuals. These same substances, when prepared in very dilute form, may relieve similar symptoms in conditions resulting from different etiologies.
In general homeopathy can be defined as an energetic system of medicine that is a therapeutic medical science which holistically treats illness and inherent constitutional problems by applying the 'like cures like' principle, using minute quantities of remedies at varying potencies from animal, plant and mineral kingdoms.
Homoeopathic Medicines are covered under Second Schedule under 4-A of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940. The standards are worked out by the Homeopathic pharmacopoeia laboratory and then approved by the Homeopathic pharmacopoeia committee and published in the form of Homeopathic pharmacopoeia of India (HPI). So far eight volumes of HPI have been published consisting of standards on 916 basic drugs and standards on 159 finished products. Apart from this the Standards of 101 Homeopathic drugs has also been published in form of Homeopathic Pharmaceutical Codex. Standards in HPI include information on characterization, identification, testing of standards and preparation of the various provisions under drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945.
For laying down standards for identity, purity and testing of homoeopathic drugs, Govt. of India, Ministry of Health & Family Planning had constituted a Homoeopathic Pharmacopoeia Committee in 1962 with objectives:-
- To preserve a Pharmacopoeia of Homoeopathic drugs whose therapeutic usefulness have been proved on lines of the American, German and British Homoeopathic Pharmacopoeia.
- To lay down principles and standards for preparation of Homoeopathic Drugs.
- To lay down tests of identity, quality & purity.
- Such other matters as are identical and necessary for preparation of Homoeopathic Pharmacopoeia.
Homeopathic medicines includes ointments, pills, biochemic tissue remedies in tablets forms like Cantharis, Calendula officinalis, Arnica Montana, Rhus, Toxicodendron, Calcarea Phosphorical, Calcarea Sulphurica, Ferum Phosphoricum, Kali Muriaticum, Arsenicum Album, Borax and Nicotine gum etc.
The definition of Homoeopathic Medicines as per Rules 2(dd) of Drugs and Cosmetic Rules is as follows:-
Homoeopathic medicines include any drug which is recorded in Homoeopathic provings or therapeutic efficacy of which has been established through long clinical experience as recorded in authoritative Homoeopathic literature of India and abroad and which is prepared according to the techniques of Homoeopathic pharmacy and covers combination of ingredients of such Homoeopathic medicines but does not include a medicine which is administered by parenteral route.
The principle of functioning
According to the definition of the National Center of Homeopathy: "Homeopathy is a system of medicine that is based on the Law of Similars". It was Samuel Hahnemann in 1775 who converted this law, and earlier a principle into homeopathy, a complete system of medicine.
Contemporary homeopathic remedies function upon three main principles :
- Like cures like − means that a perfect remedy to a disease would be a "poison" that causes the very same symptoms. So basically saying the homeopathic remedy would cause a healthy person suffer the symptoms that an ill person suffers, but at the same time it is able to cure the ill person.
- Minimal dose − the cure is taken in the minimal quantity, so by itself it is not dangerous for the patient but at the same time it neutralizes the causes of the disease.
- The single remedy − What is means is that there is only one cure for a given set of symptoms. A patient does not have to take numerous drugs for each of the symptoms he has but only one homeopathic remedy to influence and cure the whole set.
It is important to remember that homeopathies do not "fight the germs" but do intensify the immune system to fight the reasons of the disease. Aside from strengthening the immune system, homeopathies strengthen the psychological and psychical condition of a patient, which sometimes can play a vital part in the recovery process. The most wide spread theory explaining the functioning of the homeopathies claims that during the process of creation of a given homeopathic remedy a specific change the structure of molecular conglomerates of the water-alcohol solution of the source material occurs. Probably, the influence of these molecular clusters is the process that mediates the effect of homeopathic medicines. This may explain the fact the according to the latest homeopathic information it popularity has significantly grown. Homeopathics do not cause addiction and can by prescribed to people of any age including pregnant women and infants. The only minus that makes many people turn away from homeopathy is that it takes a long time to select the correct remedy that will help the organism to cope with the disease, while the majority of people seek for instant relief not thinking about the further complications. Such people prefer taking chemical medications and get the instant effect the want, without treating the reason of the organism's malfunction.
Nowadays, the process of manufacturing and selling of all types of homeopathies is controlled by the FDA (The Food and Drug Administration). Thought homeopathy is completely legal its effectiveness is still questioned and it has a strong opposition in the face of conventional medicine.
Conclusion:
The conclusion is that patient compliance and trust is indeed an important strategy in the used of any medicine system benefits with correct dose. Homeopathy and Allopathic medicines continue potentially impacting on the attainment of 'health' as a society in its entirety. No doubt, in cases of short and long time treatments of illness both medicine systems have their own importance and earlier have done more than the miracles and have proven life saving for everybody.
Santosh Prakash
Related Essay
- Which is better homeopathy or allopathy?
- Which is superior Allopathy or Homeopathy?
- Which is more effective: homeopathy or allopathy?
