It is a very common myth among the average person and our colleagues from conventional medicine that we are using steroids mixed in homeopathic medicines. I understand their thinking because they are unaware of the principles of homeopathy and the power of tiny sweet pills.
Few months back a report on the arrest of a prominent homeopathic physician charged with administering medicines laced with steroids to his patients had sparked a debate on the authenticity of homeopathic medicines. The matter caught the concern of homeopathic practitioners across the country and they stood up in defense of the authenticity of the medicines they prescribed. “Homeopathic medicines containing steroids is truly a misconception” because in certain illnesses like hyper acidity, anxiety disorders, asthma, eczema, migraines and many more that can otherwise only be temporarily treated with conventional medicine and steroids, homeopathy provides quick, safe and permanent relief. Homeopathic medicines make things normal within the body. It corrects the disease instead of suppressing it. When our medicine provides quick relief, the patient and others are prone to think that it contains steroids”. Here I describe how steroids are used in conventional medicine, the difference between steroids and homeopathy and what the test is to ensure that the medicines are not mixed with steroids
When a Homeopath begins his career in homeopathy, he starts with Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry, and Homeopathic Pharmacy in their first year; Pathology, Preventive and Social Medicine, Forensic Sciences in the second year; Clinical subjects like Surgery, ENT, Gynecology & Obstetrics, Ophthalmology, in the third year and Practice of medicine in the final year. Two subjects Materia Medica, Repertory and Organon of Medicine are subjects taken during each year and they are purely homeopathic subjects. While studying, we spend most of our time with homeopathic subjects or with our respected teachers/seniors, who are all doing homeopathic practice. “DURING THIS TIME, WE NEVER STUDY ANYTHING ABOUT STEROIDS”.
We observe thousands of miracles being performed by our masters by using simple homeopathic pills or dilutions. We also learn that “Homeopathy is the science of experience” and even we do not know neither the exact pharmacology of dilutions nor the exact action of the drug, but miracles happen. Nowadays, it seems there are many perceptions regarding the Homeopathic Pharmacology, but these perceptions are not entirely accurate. This is because modern science has been unable to find even a single atom in the dilution and it may be because Homeopathy is ahead of modern science. About 300 or 400 years ago nobody knew about atoms / electrons / protons or neutrons but today, a 4th grade child knows all of these. Every science has its own miracle men and Homeopathy waits for its “DISCOVERY MAN”.
Differences between Homeopathic Medicines and Steroids:
| HOMEOPATHIC MEDICINE | STEROIDS |
| Homeopathic remedies are prepared as a series of dilutions, with shaking by force or regular striking known as “succession,” after each dilution. The assumption is that this increases the effect of the treatment. Homeopaths call this process “potentization”. Dilution often continues until all of the original substance is gone. They can be prepared from animals, plants, or minerals. The more dilution that takes place, the more powerful the remedy. | A steroid is a type of organic compound that contains a specific arrangement of four rings that are joined to each other. Examples of steroids include cholesterol, sex hormones estradiol andtestosterone, and the anti-inflammatory drugdexamethasone.They are chemically-prepared life saving drugs which are more concentrated and more powerful |
| A reaction sometimes takes just milliseconds but the purpose is toward the CURE. | Have instantaneous reactions but it is for a limited period and often used to save the life. |
| Symptoms never / rarely reappear. | After finishing the medicine, symptoms reappear immediately |
| Zero/Minimal side effects (Only when wrongly prescribed or with repeated doses) | Always have side effects with every dose |
| Remedies may begin to start acting simply by touching the remedy on the tongue or skin. | Begin acting after dissolving in stomach or by intravenous administrations only. |
| More then 3,000 remedies and growing | Limited salts used |
| Can CURE any disease but with limitations | Never cure any disease |
Chemical Test for Steroids in Homeopathic Medicines:
Many times when a homeopathic physician performed a miracle, some had doubts about how he did this. In these instances, tests were performed for steroids in Homeopathic Medicine and in some cases, steroids were found. The truth is that when these medicines are tested, they may give a False Positive reaction for steroids because of the presence of lactose powder, which is often used as a vehicle for the drugs. Most milk products, including lactose, cane/beet sugar and certain plant derivations will give false positive test results for steroids using the colorimetric method. In this method when steroids or any reducing sugar is present in the material to be tested, a brilliant blue colored compound called ‘farmazan‘ is produced as a result of the reaction between tetrazolium blue salt used in the test and the sample.
Most homeopaths worldwide use saccharum lactis (sugar of milk) as a base to administer the homeopathic remedy or pills that are made of cane sugar or sucrose, a sugar substitute. Moreover, almost all homeopathic remedies have ethyl alcohol as a preserving agent. So if the drug contains any lactose or sucrose, it will impart a strong color which will give a false impression of the presence of steroids.
One of the only conclusive methods is the ‘UV absorption method’ using a spectrophotometer. If tests conclusively do prove that the medicine given is indeed a steroid, disguised as a homeopathic drug, the patient is free to seek redress and file a complaint to the authorities. However, before acknowledging any claim that the tested medicine was adulterated, one must find out what testing procedures were used by the lab to eliminate the possibility of an erroneous and deceptive result.
Conclusion is Homeopathic medicines are very effective. If we were using steroids, then there would be no need to fill our clinic with thousands of medicines with different potencies rather than just a few strips of steroids. I never force anyone to choose homeopathy but I request that if someone has no knowledge of homeopathy, please do not comment on Homeopathy practices.
Written By: Dr Deepak Sharma
It’s a published article.
Many people think homeopathy takes a very long time to take effect. This myth persists, even though the results vary depending upon the condition and whether the person is dealing with an acute or chronic.
That length of time to see results depends on the severity and duration of the illness many times the patients comes to us when he try all other system of medication so it is so difficult such “Disease Complex”. The original disease picture has been distorted to a large extent. Remember that homeopathy aims to cure both the cause of you illness as well as its symptoms. Therefore the treatment takes time.
The action of homeopathic medicine also dependent on various factors like sensitivity of the diseased person, the nature of illness of the person, the pathology of the disease, various other treatment measures taken before resorting to homeopathy, etc. On consideration of the above factors, if the most appropriate homeopathic medicine is selected and administered, the action is fast and beneficial. In general, a slowly developing or long-standing complaint takes longer to cure than an acute one.
It’s a truly misconception that homeopathy is slow in its action. Homeopathy is in fact fast acting in acute conditions such as fever, diarrhea, vomiting, etc. Homeopathy can give quick effective results within few minutes in severe back pains, renal and abdominal colic. It can bring down temperatures in just 10 minutes in case of high fevers, viral fever of 1 week cured in a day followed by no after effects like tiredness, fatigue etc., and works effectively in malaria, typhoid etc.
Dr Deepak Sharma
For an example draw picture a house with windows, doors, roof, plumbing, all sitting on a solid foundation. Suddenly an earthquake occurs. The house shifts on its foundation; windows break; pipes rupture; ceilings come crashing down with every things disturbs. You engage a plumber to fix these pipes, a carpenter to mend the doors, and a roofer to replace the tiles.
But really it’s the foundation that needs to be stabilized so that the rest of the house can be balanced, in its right place, and strong enough to resist future earthquakes. Conventional medicine is like the plumber, the carpenter, and the roofer. It looks at the individual parts and makes them work. Homeopathy fixes the foundation.
Homeopathy creates a stable foundation for your health. Stable foundation means your immune system will be stronger and better able to resist sickness. Homeopathy goes beyond providing relief for immediate symptoms.
It seeks to provide long-term / permanent solutions to your health problems.
Dr Deepak Sharma
Yes it’s for Everyone – its cent percent safe for pregnant women and newborns
Homeopathic treatment during pregnancy is safe for the mother as well as the baby. Difficulties during pregnancy and the delivery or its aftermath as well as all the problems experienced by the newborn can be dealt with very efficiently and without side effects with homeopathy
Homeopathic treatment during last three months of pregnancy will aid safe and smooth normal delivery. At times homeopathic medicines help where caesarean delivery is indicated because of lack of labor pains.
The treatment has potential to block early onset of possible inherited diseases.
Dr Deepak Sharma
Yes – its true poor handling may reduce its effect. The dose is so minute that it can be easily contaminated, so tip the pill(s) into the cap of the container and avoid touching with your fingers.
Being potentised the medicines are sensitive and should therefore be stored in a dry place below 25℃ c, in their original container and away from strong smells such as perfume, aftershave, coffee and moth repellents, and away from direct sunlight. Although they are perfectly safe, as a general rule all medicines should be kept out of reach of small children.
Dr Deepak Sharma
YES, Preventive use of homeopathy (called homeo-prophylaxis) was first applied in 1799 during an epidemic of scarlet fever in Königslütter, Germany, when Dr Hahnemann prescribed a single dose of Belladonna, as the remedy of the epidemic genius to susceptible children in the town with 100% success.
Homeopaths do not wait for a disease to progress to an observable level by machines. They observe the objective and subjective symptoms. We can feel quantum changes in our bodies which simply are not possible to be picked up by machines. Our brain contains 95-100 billion neurons. It can detect signals which are not detectable by any other media.
Constitutional medicine and Nosodes are among the best preventive medicine in Homeopathy.
Today there are many prophylactic medicine available.
Dr Deepak Sharma
Homeopathy is the system of medicine treats the sick individual not the disease. When visiting a homeopathic physician, the patient is asked a lot of questions regarding his background and history. The homeopath physician needs a detailed understanding of who you are, along with details of any complaints and how you experience them.
The physician identifies those features of the illness, which are most peculiarly belonging only to that person, so as to be able to identify the required medicine for the patient. As a result, a detailed inquiry of the patient’s complaints including his physical & mental symptoms is absolutely necessary. This process is called the case study. The more your homeopath knows about you, the more easily will he or she be able to treat you effectively.
Do mention about your temperament, desires, sleep, dreams and appetite. In mental sphere, we need to know if anything had happened to upset you at home or at your work place, like any quarrel, or some bad news etc. All these symptoms when told in detail help us to know you and treat you better.
Dr Deepak Sharma
According to WHO the definition of health is – “A state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing”. This is what homeopathy by its mode of treatment targets at i.e. treating the patient taking his totality of physical mental and social symptoms and not merely the superficial physical symptoms with an aim to give a long lasting benefit. This is required because each person is different from other; everyone has his/her own individuality.
Homeopathic treatment is individualized and takes into account physical, mental and emotional states, personality traits, environmental influences and your lifestyle. People seek homeopathic treatment for all sorts of complaints. Seeing this aspect it can be said that homeopathy can treat anyone. Homeopathy treats patients, not diseases. Any symptom may be treated with homeopathy but not everything can be cured by any single modality of healing.
Homeopathic medicines are available for a wide range of conditions, from acute to chronic like Arthritis, Menstrual problems, Emotional problems, Digestive disorders, ADDH and Autism, Migraines and headaches, Thyroid disorders, Skin problems, Emotional states such as grief, trauma, depression or anxiety. Menstrual period problems such as painful, heavy, irregular, absent, PMT; fertility problems; other hormonal disturbances such as poly cystic ovarian syndrome, re-establishing ovulation, endometriosis; pregnancy related conditions; menopausal symptoms including hot flushes, anxiety, panic attacks; and children’s illnesses
Other common conditions include ear, nose, throat and eye disorders; respiratory complaints; digestive and urinary tract problems including cystitis, thrush and kidney complaints; bone, joint and skin conditions can also be treated by homeopathy.
Homeopathy can benefit a wide range of illnesses and conditions, including those that tend to be difficult for conventional medicine to treat. There are some conditions in which there I is no diagnosis available in such conditions homeopathy can be of great help. These conditions can be like as follows-
Repeated and recurrent infections;
Example- Earache, tonsillitis, sinusitis, colds that always go to the chest, croup etc. “Getting sick all the time”. Either some weather is not suiting or some environmental condition is not suiting.
Emotions which are not under our control;
Example-Stress, mood swings, depression, anxiety, grief, insomnia, excessive worrying, obsessive compulsive behaviors, sense of failure, guilt, anger and rage.
Challenging children’s behavior;
Tantrums, fears, anxieties, learning difficulties, developmental problems, teething, colic, childhood illness.
Women’s Health;
Ailments of pregnancy, post-natal depression, recovery from childbirth; morning sickness, mastitis, menstrual problems, fertility problems, history of miscarriage, menopausal problems and hot flushes
Men’s Health
Stress from work, unemployment, financial and family worries, performance anxiety, sexual problems.
In first aid situations;
Shock, bruising, post-surgery healing, sports injuries, sprains and strains.
General Health Promotion:
For those with: permanent conditions or on lifelong medications; or for those needing support to fight serious illness; or for those in the recovery period after serious illness and medical intervention.
Many people are under the impression that homeopathy can treat only chronic. But what many people do not know is that it is very effective and prompt in acute conditions like tonsillitis, pharyngitis, viral fevers, vomiting, diarrhea, dysentery, asthma, bronchitis, constipation, injury, childhood disorders etc. Sometimes it may cut short the attack of the disease all together and in most cases gives relief faster than conventional treatment and that also without any side effects.
But in some conditions where some pathological irreversible changes have been made and some part is not working and it has been damaged to such an extent that its normal working cannot be restored than in these conditions only partial palliative relief can be given by means of homeopathy. But that relief would be quiet beneficial as well in terms of mental and social sphere.
By: Dr Shilpi Arora
with inputs from Dr Deepak Sharma
That is Constitution that means a person’s state of health, including their physical, mental generals and inherited and acquired characteristics. According to homeopathy, mind and body are very much linked and physical problems cannot be effectively cured without understanding and putting right the person’s constitution and character.
A constitutional remedy covers the general bodily disturbances/imbalances either on physical or mental levels.
Dr Deepak Sharma
This is really a good question. This is totally depending on the present situation of the illness whether it comes from suppression of any other illness or a new one.
Most of the time patients experience exceptional well-being and optimism while on the homeopathic treatment.
Rarely in few chronic diseases after taking a homeopathic medicine there may be slight and short worsening of your symptoms i.e. there’s an increase in your complaints.
This is a reaction/detoxification/cleansing of the body while the curative action is taking place. Your body throws out any junk out of your system.
Every time it is a good sign that the body’s natural healing energies have started to counteract the illness. This effect will be small and brief in time and is followed by rapid relief.
After the purification, you will feel regain your health rapidly and usually your symptoms will have disappeared or be greatly subside.
Dr Deepak Sharma
Homeopathy is based on the science that the body, mind and emotions are not really separate and distinct, but are actually fully integrated. Based on this perspective, a homeopath will work towards understanding the whole person and seeks a remedy that fits maximum numbers of a patient’s physical and psychological symptoms not just isolated illness. “Disease” is a made up with a group of Symptoms or Symptoms are the language of a disease. All symptoms of illness are the body’s first attempt to balance/heal itself.
The language of symptoms is the best language that asks for the remedy. The symptoms are the compass that a homeopath uses to find his way to the right remedy. A homeopath respects the natural tendency of body to heal itself, and attempts to work with it rather than against it. Homeopathy does not seek to suppress symptoms. Its goal is to recognize and remove the underlying cause of these symptoms. ‘I have a headache’ is not a symptom to a homeopath. ‘I have a boring pain in the right temple extending to my right eye that gets worse when I bend down and is better after a hot bath’ is more useful. There are sometimes no visible symptoms of a disease.
However, it depends on who is doing the looking. Some symptoms are only visible to a trained physician, not to a lay person, but that doesn’t mean these symptoms don’t exist. Although some people’s symptoms may be complex, a well-trained homeopath will know which symptoms should be specially noted, and can choose an effective, individualized remedy. Sometimes, it takes medical interventions or diagnostic tests to confirm a condition.
There have been many cancer patients who reported that they hadn’t any cancer symptoms in years prior to their diagnosis. The explanation was probably not that they didn’t have infections during this period, but more likely that their bodies were unable to fight these infections by producing necessary symptom indications.
Many (not all) conventional drugs inhibits and suppress symptoms — sometimes leading to even more serious symptoms. Conventional (allopathic) physicians do not usually recognize the new series of symptoms as being related to the old. Thus, they treat them as new and unrelated problems.
Dr Deepak Sharma
Yes it’s true the reasons are many here we are trying to explain few facts, Homeopathic medicines can be prepared using alcohol as well as distill water as a base. The main reason behind this that they both are Neutral in nature (ph=7) but, Alcohol has more power to absorb the active principles from the crude drug substance, and has got the capacity to preserve the medicine for a longer time.
The mother tinctures used in homeopathy are made with the help of alcohol, not only for preservation, but also for a better extraction of part of the plant/animal components. The alcohol base in homeopathic remedies is required by the HPI as a preservative in liquid formulas; Medicinal compound from herbs could be extracted by alcohol or water. Alcohol is easier as you do not require heat.
If water is used you need to go through a process of decoction – which uses heat. It has been recently discovered through spectral analysis that OH group in alcohol exhibits the same behavior as that of water. This was able to explain how the memory of medicinal substance is stored in water and alcohol.
However, if a person is sensitive to alcohol or just don’t like the taste, they can pour a day’s dosage into a glass of warm water and just let it settle down. Most of the alcohol will evaporate over a period of 3 to 4 hours at which time you may sip the remedy throughout the day as directed.
Dr Deepak Sharma
No, certain strong tasting and strong smelling foodstuffs such as onion and garlic, and stimulants like coffee are advised to be restricted for 15 minutes before and after every dose of homeopathic medicine only for the reason that these substances leave a strong odor / taste in the mouth which is also the route through which the homeopathic medicine is going to act. Total abstinence from certain foods is not at all necessary.
In few medicines only some dietetic restrictions are must whenever it is necessary. Usually the things that aggravate the condition are restricted but only until the person responds to homeopathic line of treatment. The patient can restart consuming the same item once he responds to homeopathic treatment approach curative.
You have to keep the medicine on the tongue so that it comes in contact with the nerves. That is the reason why we say not to eat anything at least 15 minutes before or after taking the medicine. So that the tongue has nothing else that will interfere with the absorption of the medicine.
Dr Deepak Sharma
The intake of homeopathic medicines will not have any effect on the blood sugar level of the patient as the homeopathic pills are usually made from lactose which is not the harmful chemical substance, what effects the blood sugar level is amount of glucose and not lactose. And moreover the homeopathic medicines are given in very small doses with less repetition, so the whole intake of lactose is even less than 1 gm of sugar.
Still moreover there is an option for these pills too, as than the homeopathic dose can be given in liquid state, dissolve in water in a much diluted form for just patient’s satisfaction.
Dr Deepak Sharma
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