What is Homoeopathic System of Medicine ? The Homoeopathic system of medicine is one of the finest systems of cure available to mankind.” The highest ideal cure is rapid, gentle and permanent restoration of the health, or removal and annihilation of the disease in its whole extent, in the shortest, most reliable and most harmless way, on easily comprehensible principles “. The founder of this system of medicines, substances available in the herbal, mineral or animal Kingdoms have been transformed by potentization into invaluable Homoeopathic medicines for acute as well as chronic problems. The benefits of the Homoeopathic system of medicine can hardly be denied or over looked by any sane person or institution in private or government sectors. Homoeopathic system of medicine is based on the principal that “Like Cures Like “. Homoeopathic remedies are manufactured in a manner that does not render them toxic. Homoeopathy is a safe and effective system of medicine used by millions of people worldwide for over 200 years. Today Homoeopathy is practiced in many countries and the efficacy of  Homoeopathic Medicines are acknowledged worldwide.

How does Homoeopathy differ from conventional medicine?

With conventional medicine, the aim is to remove the complaint or symptom either by surgery or medication.This approach does not address the underlying cause of the problem. Medication usually has to be continued for long periods in order to keep the symptoms under control. Homoeopathy works by stimulating the body's " Vital Force", a term used by Samuel Hahnemann, who is the founder of Homoeopathy.

The " Vital Force" enables the body to heal itself, as we experience when we have an acute illness such as cold or an injury.In chronic conditions,the " Vital Force" is compromised and is not able to overcome the disease. The role of the Homoeopathy medicine is to restore the " Vital Force",so that it can resolve the problem and bring the organism back to health and harmony.Homoeopathic medicines are given for a short period of time until the healing process is set in motion.

What is the history of the discovery and use of Homoeopathy? In the late 1700s, Samuel Hahnemann, a physician, chemist, and linguist in Germany, proposed a new approach to treating illness. This was at a time when the most common medical treatments were harsh, such as bloodletting,purging, blistering, and the use of sulfur and mercury. At the time, there were few effective medications for treating patients, and knowledge about their effects was limited.

Hahnemann was interested in developing a less-threatening approach to medicine. The first major step reportedly was when he was translating an herbal text and read about a treatment (cinchona bark) used to cure malaria. He took some cinchona bark and observed that, as a healthy person, he developed symptoms that were very similar to malaria symptoms. This led Hahnemann to consider that a substance may create symptoms that it can also relieve. This concept is called the "similia principle" or "like cures like." The similar principle had a prior history in medicine, from Hippocrates in Ancient Greece--who noted, for example, that recurrent vomiting could be treated with an emetic (such as ipecacuanha) that would be expected to make it worse--to folk medicine. Another way to view "like cures like" is that symptoms are part of the body's attempt to heal itself--for example, a fever can develop as a result of an immune response to an infection, and a cough may help to eliminate mucus--and medication may be given to support this self-healing response.

Hahnemann tested single, pure substances on himself and, in more dilute forms, on healthy volunteers. He kept meticulous records of his experiments and participants' responses, and he combined these observations with information from clinical practice, the known uses of herbs and other medicinal substances, and toxicology,eventually treating the sick and developing homeopathic clinical practice.

Hahnemann added two additional elements to Homoeopathy:

• A concept that became "potentization," which holds that systematically diluting a substance, with vigorous shaking at each step of dilution, makes the remedy more, not less, effective by extracting the vital essence of the substance. If dilution continues to a point where the substance's molecules are gone, Homoeopathy holds that the "memory" of them--that is, the effects they exerted on the surrounding water molecules--may still be therapeutic.
• A concept that treatment should be selected based upon a total picture of an individual and his symptoms, not solely upon symptoms of a disease. Homeopaths evaluate not only a person's physical symptoms but her emotions, mental states, lifestyle, nutrition, and other aspects. In Homoeopathy, different people with the same symptoms may receive different homeopathic remedies.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, numerous medical advances were made, such as the recognition of the mechanisms of diseases . In the 1960s, Homoeopathy's popularity began to revive in the United States.