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Standards of Practice

AIH Standards of Homeotherapeutic Practice

American Institute of Homeopathy

Standards of Homeotherapeutic Practice

Homeopathy, or homeotherapeutics, is a unique scientific system of medicine predicated on the Law of Similars, Similia Similibus Curentur, or “let likes be cured   by likes.”   Although this principle was first postulated by Hippocrates, it had its first practical application in 1796 when Samuel Hahnemann established homeopathy. Homeotherapeutics and homeopathy alike are based on the following premises and concepts

  1. Maintenance of normal health depends on the organism’s ability to preserve homeostasis, i.e. internal stability, owing to the coordinated response of its parts to any situation or stimulus that would tend to disturb its normal condition or function.
  2. When threatened by disorder or disease, all living organisms exert an effort to maintain or regain normal physiological equilibrium (homeostasis, health).
  3. Recovery from disease is dependent on the coordinated response of the parts of the organism, i.e., its ability to reestablish homeostasis.
  4. In general, most human disorders possess two components, the psyche and the soma – which produce emotional, mental, and/or physical symptoms.
  5. The human organism by virtue of such inherent properties as sensitivity, irritability, and reactibility may be provoked into some physiological response by various types of physical, chemical or biological incitants. When caused by a drug, this is regarded as an iatrogenic response or reaction.
  6. A substance that is capable of evoking certain symptoms when administered to an apparently healthy human being under controlled conditions may become a potentially effective therapeutic agent when prepared according to the standards of the Homeopathic Pharmacopeia of the United States and administered in accordance with the principles of homeotherapeutics.

Homeopathy, or homeotherapeutics, views the state of being unwell as a holistic disturbance in the homeostasis of the total being evidenced by symptomatology with or without associated demonstrable physical or laboratory abnormalities.

The physician who employs homeotherapeutics should be cognizant of the total or holistic nature of physiological disorder or disease and the necessity of a holistic approach to diagnosis and treatment.

The decision to employ homeotherapeutics and its effectiveness in a given case is governed by detailed knowledge of the individual patient in accordance with the Law of Similars, and through careful observance of the following specific practices:

  1. Careful individualization of the total symptom complex of the patient must be obtained by a detailed history.
  2. Employment of diagnostic procedures, supported by laboratory studies, when appropriate.
  3. Prognosis as to probability and degree of recovery to be anticipated from treatment.
  4. Evaluation of the sensitivity of the body of this patient to medical treatment and the probable reaction and response of this patient to administration of drugs by the homeotherapeutic method, in particular.
  5. Detailed knowledge of the pathogenesis (symptom picture) of a significant number of drugs listed in the homeopathic materia medica and compendium is essential.
  6. Careful and accurate matching of drug pathogenesis to the symptom picture presented by the patient.
  7. Administration of a single drug, when possible, in the minimum dose required to evoke the desired response in the patient.
  8. The physician must remember that he is treating a patient who has some disorder; he is not prescribing for a disease entity or specific diagnosis.

The Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States (HPUS) is a standard reference text detailing the sources, composition, and preparation of the homeopathic drugs which are prescribed on the basis of the Law of Similars.   It is the official compendium for homeopathic drugs in the US.

Our standards provide an excellent summary for understanding the active principles that guide homeopathic care in the modern era.

   

Homeopathy… views the state of being unwell as being a holistic disturbance in the homeostasis of the total being…

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