During my childhood, I never heard the word "Homeopathy" in India. It was predominance of allopathy everywhere. As I grew up, I learnt that Homeopaths give few sugar globules and charge few pennies. I never believed that few small sugar globules could help a patient to recover from the illness. Ten years ago, homeopathic practitioners were a rare commodity but they are found now in each locality. Reasons for this popularity of this branch of medicine are numerous.

1 . Medicines are very cheap.

2. Physicians do not charge separate consultation fee. Total cost of medicine + consultation is less than the consultation fee of an Allopath.

3. Homeopathic medicines do not have any side effects.

4. Chances of return of disease are rare once complete cure is achieved .

5. People can learn Homeopathy themselves reading books and supported material and reduce their medical bills substantially.

6. In homeopathic treatment, experience counts more than the knowledge.

7. Surgery may be avoided in several cases if problem is identified well in advance.

8. Homeopathy is more useful than Allopathy in chronic diseases.

Later on I realized the power of these tiny globules and gradually reduced my dependence on allopathy.

Homeopathy and its evolution:

Homeopathy seeks to cure in accordance with natural laws of healing and use medicines made from natural substances. These substances include animal, vegetable and mineral. This is a system of medicine whose principles are very old. It is sometimes claimed that there is mention of such a science in ancient Ayurveda as the medical cures that have an opposite effect. However, the present science of Homeopathy was discovered in the early 1800s by a German physician, Samuel Friedrich Hahnemann. Dr. Hahnemann was born on April 10,1753 and breathed his last in 1843. Dr. Hahnemann obtained the M.D. degree whe he was only 24. He was appointed Civil Surgeon in the Dresden Hospital. While translating an English Materia Medica into German, he found the mention about Cinchona. He knew that Cinchona was the surest remedy of Malarial fever. It was mentioned in the book that indiscriminate use of Cinchona produced symptoms similar to Malaria. He used a decoction of Cinchona in large doses and that produced symptoms similar to Malaria. For six years he made experiments with about 300 medicines on himself and confirmed that "A medicine in minimum doses cures all such symptoms or diseases which it is capable of producing in a healthy person when taken in large doses".

Principles of Homeopathy:

1. The Law of Similars, or Like is cured by like:

The term Homeopathy comes from the Greek homoios (similar) and pathos (suffering or sickness). DR Hahnemann published his famous work Organon of Medicin, known as the Bible of Homeopathy, in the year 1810.The basic principle of Homeopathy is Similia Similibus Curenter (Like cures like). The concept of like cures like means that the same substance that can cause a particular set of symptoms in a healthy person can cure the same or similar symptoms in a person who is ill. Law of similars dates back over five thousand years to the ancient medical texts of China and India. In the tenth century B.C., Hindu sages described the law, as had Hippocrates, who wrote in 400 B.C.,: "Through the like, disease is produced and through the application of the like, it is cured". Hahnemann did not claim to have discovered the concept but he was the first to test the principle and establish it as the central point of a system of medicine. According to Homeopathy, the curative power of a medicine depends upon its capacity to produce ailments or disease symptoms.

2. The law of Proving:

It refers to the method of testing a substance to determine its medicinal effect. Each of a group of healthy people is given a dose of the substance daily, and each carefully records the symptoms experienced. Half of the test group are used as controls and given an unmedicated tablet or pill. All the symptoms that the provers experience are listed. The physician looks up the remedy picture in the Materia Medica and applies the law of similars.

Homeopaths never use animals as subjects for testing medicines, as done in standard medical practice. This system of proving is being carried out since 1790 and till date there is not a single report of lasting adverse effect as a result of proving.

3. Minima Minimus (The law of Potentization):

The law of Potentization refers to the preparation of a homeopathic remedy. Minima Minimus means smaller the dose - better the result. Dr Hanhnemann mixed the medicine with non-medicinal substances such as alcohal, sugar of milk or disrilled water. Homeopathic remedies are prepared by a controlled process of successive dilutions alternating with succession (shaking), and it may be continued to the point where the resulting medicine contains no molecules of the original substance. Lesser dilutions are referred as low potencies and greater dilutions as high potencies. The process of potentization makes it possible to use materials inert in nature like metal, sand and charcoal as medicines.

Advantages of Homeopathy:

• Homeopathy is extremely effective for most first aid situations and many acute illnesses.

• The methods are easy to learn and quick to apply.

• Homeopathic medicine restores balance to the health of each person whereas the conventional approach temporarily rids the individual of an annoying symptomonly to have it return. Convention medicine is understood not to address the root of a problem.

• Since Homeopathy uses only natural substances, it is considered a safe, effective, natural and nontoxic treatment for many acute and chronic illnesses.

• The Homeopathic medicines are inexpensive and fast acting. They address mental and emotional as well as physical complaints and treat the whole person.

• A homeopathic remedy does not cause side effects. Conventional medical care has become impersonal, expensive and involves potential side effects.

Homeopathy versus other systems:

Homeopathy vs Allopathy: A Homeopath regards symptoms as a healthy reaction of the body's defense mechanism to harmful forces. On the other hand, such symptoms are regarded as manifestations of the disease in standard medicine system.Homeopathic remedies do not interfere with these symptoms but convention medicine tries to suppress such symptoms.

A Homeopath treats the patient according to the symptoms, not according to the disease whereas the Allopathic doctor elicits the symptoms and attempts to group them and prescribes the treatment established for that disease.

A Homeopath does not prescribe remedy to kill the germs but to strengthen the body. An allopath presecribes a medicine to kill the germs.

Homeopathy treats a patient's mind and body as separate entities while in modern medicine the physician treats the body alone.

Homeopathy vs Naturopathy: The importance of diet, fresh air, exercise and mental peace are emphasized in both systems. Both the branches are similar but Homeopathy alone is a science that operates systematically.

Homeopathy and Herbalism: Homeopathy bears no relation to the free - spirit approach and practices of herbalism. Herbalism is more an art and a tool of diveine nature than a science. Homeopathy is scientific medicine and its rules were developed following the procedures of scientific methods.