Homeopathy and allergology – from the beginnings until today

Aims:

Exploration of the homeopathic literature regarding description and treatment of allergies with a comparison to the current treatment strategies and possibilities.

Methods:

Screening of the homeopathic literature and presentation of case reports.

Results:

Allergic symptoms are by no means a novelty of the last decades. A glimpse into history shows that symptoms of allergic asthma have been described already in ancient medicine. A precursor of hayfever, the “rose cold”, was described in the 16^th century. Samuel Hahnemann mentions it in the “Organon of Medicine”, the term allergy was not presently known.

The homeopathic physician C.H. Blackley can be seen as a pioneer of allergy research. Already in 1873, he recognized the inhalation of pollen as the cause of allergic rhinitis and anticipated the principle of desensitization. Some american authors of the 19^th and at the beginning of the 20^th century, e.g. E.B. Nash, dealt in more detail with the treatment of allergies, however, the principles of homeopathy, isopathy and desensitization sometimes overlapped.

With the help of some examples, it will be demonstrated, which therapeutic approaches today can be applied and what has to be considered in follow-up examinations.

Conclusions:

The treatment of allergies has a long tradition in homeopathy and different approaches have been tested. Nowadays, we have methodically sophisticated means to effectfully treat allergies using classical homeopathy.