Homeopathic Medicine, Constit... Health Article

BOOKS

Cummings, Stephen, and Dana Ullman. Everybody's Guide to Homeopathic Medicines. Los Angeles, Jeremy P. Tarcher, Inc., 1991.

MacEoin, Beth. Homeopathy. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1994.

Strohecker, James. Alternative Medicine: The Definitive Guide. Tiburon, Calif.: Future Medicine Publishing, Inc., 1999.

Ullman, Dana. Discovering Homeopathy: Your Introduction to the Science and Art of Homeopathic Medicine. Berkeley, Calif.: North Atlantic Books, 1991.

Vithoulkas, George. Homeopathy: Medicine of the New Man. New York: Fireside Books (Simon & Schuster), 1992.

ORGANIZATIONS

The American Institute of Homeopathy. 1585 Glencoe, Denver, CO 80220. (303) 898-5477.

The Council for Homeopathic Certification. P.O. Box 157, Corte Madera, CA 94976.

The International Foundation for Homeopathy. 2366 Eastlake Avenue East, #301, Seattle, WA 98102. (425) 776-4147.

The National Center for Homeopathy. 801 North Fairfax Street, Suite 306, Alexandria, VA 22134. (703) 548-7790.

The North American Society of Homeopaths. 10700 Old County Rd. 15, #350, Minneapolis, MN 55441. (612) 593-9458.

KEY TERMS

Aggravation—Another term used by homeopaths for the healing crisis.

Allopathy—Conventional medical treatment of disease symptoms that uses substances or techniques to oppose or suppress the symptoms.

Constitutional prescribing—Homeopathic treatment for long-term or chronic disorders related to inherited predispositions to certain types of illnesses.

Healing crisis—A temporary worsening of the patient's symptoms during successive stages of homeopathic treatment.

Law of similars—The basic principle of homeopathic medicine that governs the selection of a specific remedy. It holds that a substance of natural origin that produces certain symptoms in a healthy person will cure those same symptoms in a sick person.

Laws of cure—A set of three rules used by homeopaths to assess the progress of a patient's recovery.

Materia medica—In homeopathy, reference books compiled from provings of the various natural remedies.

Miasm—In homeopathic theory, a general weakness or predisposition to chronic disease that is transmitted down the generational chain.

Modalities—The factors and circumstances that cause a patient's symptoms to improve or worsen, including weather, time of day, effects of food, and similar factors.

Repertories—Homeopathic reference books consisting of descriptions of symptoms. The process of selecting a homeopathic remedy from the patient's symptom profile is called repertorizing.