Every year on April 10th, World Homeopathy Day honors the memory of Dr. Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann, the founder of homeopathy. The day also challenges understanding and strategies that will further develop homeopathy.
Homeopathy comes from the Greek words homeo, which means similar, and pathos, which means suffering or disease. This alternative form of medicine believes “like cures like.” In other words, the ingredients that induce symptoms of the said illness cure the disease. For example, red onions are known to make the eyes water. For this reason, homeopathy uses red onion as an ingredient in allergy remedies.
Homeopathy believes ingredients that induce symptoms also trigger the body’s healing system. These homeopathic ingredients include plant, animal, mineral, and synthetic substances. The ingredients are usually highly diluted. For the most part, Western medicine dismisses the practice of homeopathy. However, there are documented cases where homeopathic methods have cured people of their disease.
According to the Homeopathy Research Institute (HRI), 200 million people around the world use homeopathy regularly. Half of these people are in India. There are 200,000 registered homeopathic doctors in India, with 12,000 doctors added each year.