Homeopathic treatment is an effective method of healing in both acute and chronic conditions, as claimed by millions of patients and thousands of homeopathic doctors. It can even offer long-lasting to permanent cure, treating the disease from its roots. The body of clinical evidence for the effectiveness of homeopathy continues to increase. Several research studies have shown that even chronically ill patients have reported feeling better with homeopathic treatment. World Homeopathy Day is observed in April every year. Medicircle is conducting World Homeopathy Day Awareness series to educate people about this alternative form of medicine which is almost 200-years-old now. 

Dr. Shruthi Shridhar is an MD Homeopath and a Clinical Nutritionist with over 9 years of clinical experience. She is an accomplished medical writer and has worked with a variety of specialist physicians like an MD physician, a gynecologist, a pediatrician, and an orthopedic and has gained optimal clinical knowledge. She currently has a digital practice through which she manages patients and their health conditions remotely. With the triad of homeopathy, nutrition, and counseling, Dr. Shruthi aims to provide holistic care to all her domestic and international patients. She believes that the elixir to good health is in our own hands and that she just wants to be a guiding ray of light to enable most if not all in the world to achieve their state of mental and physical well-being.

Homeopathy works on the principle of “let likes be cured by likes”

Dr. Shruthi says, “Let me begin with the story of homeopathy. Dr. Hahnemann is the father of homeopathy. He started a project of translating William Cullen's Materia Medica into German. So that's when he began understanding the knowledge of different remedies. It was there that his quest began to make healthcare a better version than what it was then. During that period, he found the principle of “similars.” So, homeopathy is based on “Similia similibus curentur'' which is a Latin phrase that means " likes cure likes." While working on this project, he became very fascinated with the species of a South American tree bark, that is the cinchona bark, which was used to treat malaria-like fevers. He wanted to try what this bark was and sort of ate a part of that bark and started developing those symptoms. That's when he realized that what treats diseased individuals can show the same signs and symptoms in a healthy individual. So, homeopathy is based on the principle of “like cures like.” So, the symptoms that are produced in a healthy individual can be cured in the diseased individual by that same remedy. Homeopathic medicine can bring out the symptoms in a healthy individual and bring out the body's natural defense mechanism into play. It triggers and kind of pushes your body to treat itself. You don't need to worry about any other external source of treatment. The medicine triggers your body’s response and you feel better,” explains Dr. Shruthi.

Homeopathy is not slow, just try it at the first go instead of adopting different remedies and then turning to it

Dr. Shruthi emphasizes, “The notion that homeopathy is slow, is not true. Many people feel that it takes a lot of time and if you are going to take homeopathic medicine, you will have to put in a lot of time and energy and effort, and you will have to wait, you will need to have a lot of patience. Well, that's not true. People usually try everything else, before trying homeopathy, So I would request people to try homeopathy at the first go wherein you have some symptoms or some complaints and go for homeopathy directly, give it a shot, you will realize the difference. When people have already had a disease, they have already tried all sorts of relief and treatment methods, and when they have ended up feeling rejected or neglected by the failure of all kinds of treatments, they try homeopathy as the last resort. So, then, the situation is already so complicated and has got messed up because of constant medications and constant therapies. So obviously, that's going to take a while to remove the mess and to unclog the mess that has taken place and straighten the knots to bring the disease to its original condition. So obviously, that is going to take a lot of time,” points out Dr. Shruthi.

If a chronic disease is in the body for a long time, it would certainly require some time to get treated

Dr. Shruthi explains, “If it's a chronic disease, it's been there for a long time. So, you can't expect it to get better with a few doses of medicines or within a few days or weeks. It is going to take time. The chronicity of the disease demands time for its treatment. So, it does not depend on the type of treatment exactly, but it depends on the chronicity of the disease. There have been many patients who have done well with homeopathy primarily when they have come for homeopathy directly. I have had patients where I have treated their migraine symptoms or fever symptoms rapidly with only one dose, that's the beauty of homeopathy. If you hit the right remedy, you will get a good result. If patients are willingly coming for homeopathy as their first mode of treatment, they are surely going to receive the results,” assures Dr. Shruthi.

Homeopathy is a complementary medicine and can be taken with conventional medicine

Dr. Shruthi says, “Homeopathy is a complementary source of medicine. That’s the charm of it. So you can take it along with any other kind of treatment or any conventional model of treatment. It does not directly have any side effects. It does not directly affect any conventional medicines or allopathic medicines unless specified in some remedies. Some remedies cannot be given nor are contraindicated with certain conventional medicines. So in those cases, it's on the homeopath to decide what needs to be done and how we can work around it. But the patient as an individual can opt for homeopathy as well with their conventional mode of medicine. It's also observed that if you take homeopathy along with your lifestyle modifications and dietary changes, you are sure to reduce your need for taking a lot of conventional medicines. So, for diabetes or high blood pressure, or for any other stress-related anxiety issues or something like that, if you are on conventional medicines, do not stop it. You can start homeopathy and slowly you maintain a balance between the two. You consult your homeopathic physician as well as your allopathic physician and the results would be seen in your whole mental and physical health. It would be taken care of by the allopathic physician to taper down the medicines, slowly, that is on the doctors and leave it to the doctors. All you need to do is to focus on getting your health back and to focus on what advice has been given by both the physicians and you will do better,” mentions Dr. Shruthi.

Homeopathy treats the root cause and at the same time takes the wide-angle of overall health to find a remedy

Dr. Shruthi explains, “Homeopathy believes in treating the individual as a whole. We believe that the person entirely is sick, and not just a part of his body or not just an organ of his body is unwell. So, if a person comes to me with a headache, and with some other digestive issues, I'm not going to consider only his headache and tummy troubles. I am going to ask about his mental state, his overall well-being, if he is stressed at work, or if there is something else that is troubling him. I would ask him about his entire daily schedule. I would ask him, what does he eat? What does he not eat, his likes, his dislikes, sleeping patterns, and his overall way of dealing with everything because we believe that everything is from the mind, we believe that what you are, or what you are facing right now is because of some mental or physical turmoil in your body which is showing up as symptoms? So taking into consideration all these symptoms, we come up with one final remedy. This is what Dr. Hahnemann has suggested, if we consider that, then definitely we will arrive at the right similar moves, and the right remedy to be able to help the patient get better. That's our primary aim. In the words of Dr. Hahnemann, whatever treatment you choose for the patient, the ultimate goal is to bring about a cure for the patient in whatever way possible,” says Dr. Shruthi.

You may get in touch with Dr. Shruthi Shridhar at:

(Edited by Amrita Priya)