are no studies to support the efficacy of herbal ear drops, 2 many parents may feel that these are soothing to a child with ear pain. Encourage parents to use drops that are mildly warm or at room-temperature so as to avoid any adverse effects. Also, be sure to confirm with the parents that the child does not have a perforated eardrum or has been prescribed other ear drops. Refer parents giving oral preparations of herbs or using other supplements to discuss safety and efficacy issues with their child’s healthcare practitioner. Pharmacists also can counsel parents about the role of homeopathic medications, which are widely available over-the-counter medications, in the management of ear infections.
DIAgRAM 1
Preparation of X & C potencies in homeopathy
Decimal scale
succussion
succussion
Original solution
(established strength -
often referred to
as Mother Tincture)
1X
9 parts solvent
(water or alcohol)
2X
9 parts
solvent
3X
9 parts
solvent
Homeopathy is a system of medicine that has been used effectively and safely for more than 200 years throughout the world. According to the 2007 National Health Interview Survey, which included a comprehensive survey of complementary and alternative medicine use by Americans, an estimated 3. 9 million U.S. adults, and approximately 900,000 children, used homeopathy in the previous year. 12 Homeopathy uses highly diluted preparations of different plant, mineral and animal substances to heal many different types of illnesses. The word “ homeopathy” is derived from the Greek “homeo,” which means similar, and “pathos,” meaning suffering. Developed by Samuel Hahnemann, it is based on the law of similars — that like cures like.
Centesimal scale
succussion
succussion
Original solution
(established strength -
often referred to
as Mother Tincture)
1C
99 parts solvent
(water or alcohol)
2C
99 parts
solvent
3C
99 parts
solvent
Source: Pharmacy Practice
In 1789, Hahnemann left his practice and made his living mostly as a writer and translator of scientific works. In 1790, Hahnemann was translating a prominent medical textbook of his day when he came upon a passage that stated that cinchona bark was efficacious in the treatment of malaria because of its bitter and astringent properties. Hahnemann questioned the validity of this statement, and began to do self-experimentation, following an inductive method of research. He took repeated doses of cinchona over a short period of time until he reached a stage where he manifested symptoms of malaria: fever, chills, sweating and weakness. Hahnemann reasoned that the basis of efficacy of cinchona was related to the fact that this substance caused symptoms similar to that of malaria, and hence like cures like, or similia similibus curantur.
dividual can treat a sick individual who is manifesting similar symptoms. This law has been found in writings of Hippocrates, as well as in ancient Indian and Chinese texts. While Hahnemann wasn’t the first to discover the law of similars, he was the first physician to conduct extensive systematic experiments that put this law into clinical practice.
Born in Germany in 1755, Hahnemann was a medical doctor who practiced at a time referred by current historians as the Dark Era of Medicine. Doctors used such treatments as blood-letting, purging and leeches. Mega doses of such toxic metals as mercury, arsenic, cadmium and lead were used to treat patients — and often these medications were given simultaneously. It was often safer to stay home with an illness than seek out medical care! Soon after Hahnemann began his practice, he became very discontented and disgusted because he felt he was doing more harm to his patients than actual help.
The core principle in homeopathy is the Law of Similars — that like cures like. Basically, it states that a medicinal substance that can create a set of symptoms in a healthy in-
Because of the high number of drug poisonings that were so common during Hahnemann’s time, he was very concerned about adverse side effects associated with medicines. Hahnemann discovered, through extensive experimentation, that the more a medication under-goes a serial process of dilution and succussion (vigorous shaking), the more its curative power is increased while simultaneously decreasing any associated toxicity.
To prepare homeopathic medica-
tions, a given substance found in
the animal, mineral and vegetable
kingdom first is dissolved in water
or alcohol. One part of this solution
then is placed in nine parts solvent
in the decimal scale, or in 99 parts
solvent in the centesimal scale. This
dilution is thoroughly succussed,
and this new dilution is the 1X or 1C
potency, respectively, in the decimal
or centesimal scale. The 1X refers
to a 1/10 dilution, whereas the 1C
refers to 1/100 dilution. In home-
opathy, the more diluted potency
is thought to be more concentrated.
The process then is repeated to cre-
ate further dilutions (Diagram 1).
References:
Archives