| HOMEOPATHY IN THE HISTORY OF MEDICINE |
 |
| Samuel
Hahnemann |
Strongly influenced by the Viennese School
and acquainted with the theories of modernist physicians,
a young German medical student, Samuel Hahnemann, synthesized
the approaches of his teachers regarding the properties of
drug substances.
He set up a new pharmacopoeia that quickly developed into
a new therapeutic method, which in 1808 he would name "homeopathy".
It grew from the observation and pharmacological study of
medicinal substances in the traditional pharmacopoeia, based
on experimentation on healthy volunteers. The traditional
pharmacopoeia was composed of plant, animal and mineral substances,
known and relayed by experience. These medical substances
were still called Simples. It was these substances that would
be at the origin of homeopathic medicines.
In 1796, he published the results of his work in an article,"Essay on a New Principle...", that described
the principles of the homeopathic method. In 1810, he published
a work, "Organon of the Rational Art of Healing",
that set forth and developed the method, enriched the fundamental
data on the approach to disease, and described the principles
of producing homeopathic medicine. People were then talking
about the "New Medicine" in the sense of the new
therapy.
Download
in pdf format In 1796, Hahnemann published the results of his work on better
determination of the properties of medicinal substances in
Dr. Hufeland's "Journal of Practical Pharmacology and
Surgery", a German pharmacology review.
The title of the publication was significant: "Essay
on a New Principle for Ascertaining the Curative Powers of
Medicines, with a Few Glances at Those Hitherto Employed".
|
