First principle: treating like with like
Homeopathy is based on the principle that ‘like cures like’ – in other words, a substance taken in small amounts will cure the same symptoms it causes if it was taken in larger amounts.
Highly diluted substances
In homeopathy the active ingredient is highly diluted. The greater the dilution, the more potent the medicine. This is the most controversial aspect of homeopathy. How can a medicine be effective when it has been diluted so much?
Laboratory research is focusing on the ability of water to retain an imprint of substances which have been dissolved in it. Science still has a lot to explain but whatever the mechanism, there is a growing body of clinical evidence to show that homeopathy has a positive effect.
Remedies
Homeopathic remedies are prepared from mineral, plant and animal substances. They are prepared in such a way that the energetic imprint of the substance is retained whilst little or no actual material amount of the initial substance remains. See some examples
(More information to be found on the British Homeopathic Association website.)
