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:1.

To preserve a Pharmacopoeia of Homoeopathic drugs whose therapeutic usefulness have been

2.

To lay down principles and standards for preparation of Homoeopathic Drugs.

3.

To lay down tests of identity, quality & purity.

4.

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

1. 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.

1. 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.
1.

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