Homeopathy Pharmacy – An Introduction

Pharmacy is the art and science of collecting, combining, preserving, preparing and standardising drugs and medicines. It also includes compounding and dispensing of the medicines. The word ‘Pharmacy’ also implies the place, where the medicines are made and distributed.

Homoeopathic Pharmacy is the art and science of collecting, compounding, combining, preparing, preserving and standardising drugs and medicines according to the Homoeopathic principle; and also dispensing medicines or remedies according to the prescriptions of physicians, which are used in Homoeopathic practice.

It also embraces the legal and professional aspects as also regulates the proper distribution of drugs and medicines. Dr. Garth Boericke defines Pharmacy as “The art of preparing drugs for use and dispensing them as medicine”.

Homoeopathic Pharmacy Includes:

(1) Collection: It implies to gather or procure the required drug materials.Exotic drug materials are imported from abroad, as they are uot available in our country.

(2) Identification: Before using for preparations, drug- materials must properly be identified macroscopically and if’ required, microscopically, and chemically also. Help of a Botanist is taken for proper identification.

(3) Quality Inspecting: Only identification of drugs is not sufficient, one must also be sure about the quality or the characteristic features of drugs to be used. Proper physical and analytical procedures must bt. applied to ascertain the quality of drugs, with the aid of suitable instruments and chemicals respectively and by chromatography also.

(4) Preserving: If required, drugs and medicinal preparations should be properly preserved in accordance with their properties or specific natures.

(5) Standardisation: Drugs or medicines so prepared are made to conform some standards, prescribed by” Appropriate authority and official Homoeopathic Pharmacopoeia” ; and the process is known as “Standardising”

(6) Combining: It means joining two or more things together. Scientifically the product of combination may be a “Mechanicall mixture” or “Chemical compound”

. (7) Compounding: It means uniting two or more different elements or constituents together so as to form an altogether new product. This new product will have new properties different from those of its constituents e.g., Calcarea sulphurica, Magnesia mur., Natrum ars. etc. This produces, a “Chemical Compound”.

(8) Preparation: In homeopathy it includes preparation of the MOTHER, either in tincture form or in solution form or in powder form. It also includes preparation of dilutions, triturations and converting triturations in liquid form.the dilutions are made either according to old Hahnemannian method or New method of American Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia.

(9) Quality Control: It means whether the drugs and medicines, so prepared from the ingredients are up to the standard so prescribed in the official pharmacopoeia. It also includes the use of standard equipments and laboratory spaceand environment and preservation of drug and medicines.

(10) Dispensing : It means preparing and serving the medicinal preparation in proper form according to direction of a qualified registered physician.

Branches of Homeopathic Pharmacy :

(a) Galenical Pharmacy : The word “Galen” originates from the Greek word”galenos” a 2nd century greek physician. Galenical pharmacy implies that pharmacy which follows the methods and theories of Galen .This branch of pharmacy is related to crude drugs only.

(b) Pharmacy Proper : (1)Official pharmacy : It includes drugs and medicines prepared according to the different Official Pharmacopoeias.

(2) Extemporenous pharmacy. It includes preparing and distributing medicines according to the prescriptions of physicians.

Pharmacy can also be divided into two major divisions :

(a) Theoretical (b) Practical or Operative

(a)Theoritical Pharmacy: It contains of physical and biological assessments as well as the professional courses that need to train up a pharmcist and which mainly are of theoretical nature.

(b)Practical Pharmacy : It contains (1) Various aspects of manufacturing , (2) Retail, (3) Professional and Hospital pharmacy, (4)Practical portion of Physical and Biological assessments.

Pharmacopoeia

The name Pharmacopoeia originates from the two greek words: Pharmakon, means a drug ; and poieo, means to make.

Definition: It is a standard book containing a list of drugs and medicines, with information about the sources, habitats,descriptions,collections and identificattions of the drugs ; and also provides directions for their preparations , combining.,compounding and standardisation.It is officially published by authority i.e by the government in charge of medical and welfare department ,any Medical or pharmaceutical Society ,either constituted or authorised by the government; and revised at times.A pharmacopoeia published by such an authority is termed as “official”.