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Why homeopathic treatment is based upon sign and symptoms?

Why is homeopathic treatment based on signs and symptoms? Dr Manish Bhatia gives a detailed but lucid explanation of why we need symptoms to treat in homeopathy.

Posted by: Kumar

In homeopathy, based on symptoms treatment is given as advised by the local Homeopath. In allopathy, there is a treatment based on the disease but it is not so in homeopathy. But tell me, waiting for symptoms and then curing it, don’t u think it is risky? I mean to say, wait for heart attack and then treat, wait for paralysis to happen and then treat? Instead, why can’t we treat the patient well in advance so that these problems should not occur at all?

Dr What are your comments on this? Live example for panic attack/disorder/Phobia patient, Why should patient inform when the symptoms arise and then treat? Instead, Dr Should give medication well in advance so that problem should not occur. For the problem of Panic attack/disorder the symptoms are well known like sweating, feeling of dying, collapse, Lot of Ghabrahat, High Palpitation and feeling of fall. When u talk to homeopath he will say, first tell me symptoms then I WILL Treat? Very confusing. Please throw some light on this so that it can be digested.


Hello Kumar,

It is true that Homeopaths use the signs and symptoms of a person to find the medicine and allopaths usually rely on disease diagnosis for treatment. But beyond that, you have got it all confused.

Tell me how can anyone identify a disease condition? Primarily through signs and symptoms, and secondarily through lab. tests. Is it not so?? If there were no signs and symptoms how could we know that we are sick?? So basically, there is nothing wrong in using the signs and symptoms of a condition or a person to find the remedy.

What you identify as a particular ‘Disease’ is nothing but a name given to a group of signs and symptoms arising due to a particular cause. The names like diabetes, hypertension, epilepsy, tuberculosis, cretinism, autism etc were not written in any scriptures. Nor did they trickle from heaven with rain.

These names have been given to a group of signs and symptoms which are known to occur together and which are known to represent a particular state of sickness. The names were basically given for the ease of identification, not for treatment.

Logically speaking, you can not treat what is still not there. You can only try to prevent it, you can not treat it. No person comes to a homeopath (or allopath for that matter) saying “Dr., I am going to have paralysis tomorrow. Treat me for it” or “Dr., I may have a heart attack 3 days from now, so start treatment right away”.

Most people present with a condition for treatment. And if the homeopath tries to find as much as possible about that condition and that person, it is only for the betterment of the patient. How can anybody wait for a heart attack or panic attack before starting the treatment? That happens in allopathy and not in Homeopathy.

The reason for this is that in Homeopathy we ‘treat the person, not just the disease’. You will say what is the difference. Let me give an example. Suppose a person has complaint of sleeplessness. Whatever be the cause of it the allopath will give the sleeping pills. Now ‘sleeplessness’ is not a disease. It can not be without a cause. The homeopath tries to find the cause behind the complaint. Whether it is disappointing love, grief, financial worries, bodily pain, or idiopathic. The cause is related to the person and his/her propensity for that particular complaint.

Based on this information the homeopath gives an individualistic treatment to everybody. Out of dozens of medicines for ‘sleeplessness’ the homeopath finds a remedy which best suits a particular person. The medicine not just induces sleep, but it helps the person to recover from the underlying cause too.

Since we try to treat the ‘person’ who is sick, timely homeopathic treatment can prevent many conditions even before they occour. Homeopathic treatment not just deals with isolated disease conditions, but it takes care of the person as a whole. It improves their vitality. It reduces recurrences of any disease. It can abort many disease conditions that are yet to surface fully. To sum it up, Homeopathy is not just a method to combat diseases. It is a system which promotes ‘Healing’ in its true sense.

I hope I have been able to clarify things here,

Dr. B

About the author

Dr. Manish Bhatia

- BHMS, BCA, M.Sc Homeopathy (UK), CICH (Greece), MD (Hom)
- Associate Professor, Organon & Homeopathic Philosophy, SKH Medical College, Jaipur
- Founder Director of Hpathy.com
- Editor, Homeopathy for Everyone
- Co-author - Homeopathy and Mental Health Care: Integrative Practice, Principles and Research
- Author - Lectures on Organon of Medicine vol 1, 2, 3. CCH Approved. (English, German, Bulgarian)
- Awardee - Raja Pajwan Dev Award for Excellence in the Field of Medicine; APJ Abdul Kalam Award for Excellence in Homeopathy Education
- Visit Dr. Bhatia's website

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