Homeopathy treats even before a diagnosis is made

Homeopathy has long recognised that merely diagnosing an illness is not everything, though this is an important constituent. The reason is simple. Have we not seen patients waiting to be diagnosed for conventional medical treatment to begin — and precious time being lost in the process? Is this also not a factor that can make or break treatment outcomes — a choice between living well and being burdened by an illness without a name?

Homeopathy appreciates the value of medical and clinical diagnostics, all right. But, it lays equal emphasis on the many subtle levels, or modes, of illnesses represented through symptoms — the language of all illnesses — before illnesses becomes apparent. For conventional medicine, an illness is simply an illness. For homeopathy, it is more than what presents on the surface. This is primarily because our body is a smart apparatus. It is adept at revealing delicate and subtle signals when things go even a wee bit wrong.

Computerised tomography (CT) scans, a huge modern advance, can certainly detect deviations in our body, including tumours. They also carry an element of awe, a psychological 'threat' — going through a machine. They expose patients to large amounts of radiation — this can increase the risk of cancer. Experts suggest that CT scans should not be casually used for screening purposes, or to look at something the physician already knows. Another downside of advanced or sophisticated tests CT scans, or Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), is: interpretations can be ambiguous. This can lead to a diagnostic dilemma. The scene is now predictable. “Oh, this is bad. Something has gone ‘unexpectedly’ wrong. We will try to figure this out and correct the problem soon.”

Homeopathy pre-empts illnesses taking a bad turn by treating patients on the basis of their unique, or distinctive, symptoms — not just the diagnosis of the illness. This is done by analysing their pattern of presentation, which gives cues as to what the illness could be, followed by the safe use of small quantities of a suitable homeopathic remedy that closely resembles the individual’s symptom-picture. This provides the gentle stimulus for the body to beat illnesses from the inside-out — before they become bothersome, or serious.

Article by Dr Mukesh Batra
L.C.E.H., F.H.M.A. (U.K.), F.R.S.H. (Med) P.(Lon), M.D.H. (U.S.A.), F.B.I.H.(U.K.)
Published in Times of India on 17 May 2010