Abstract
The system of homeopathic medicine is based on the Law of Similars. It is often implied
by students and practitioners of homeopathy that the fundamental principle suggests
that if the substance is capable of producing certain ‘symptoms’, it can also remove,
treat, or ‘annihilate’ similar symptoms if the same substance is administered in a
small dose. Hahnemann clearly highlights the importance of pathogenesis or ‘disease-producing
power’, and not just the symptoms-producing power, as a part of the ‘totality of the
disease’. The author perceives the need for a rectification in the symptom-centric
approach in homeopathy. The pathogenesis of disease includes the mechanisms and the
cause, which are more complete than the consideration of mere symptoms. Thus, the
fundamental approach needs to be extended beyond the symptoms' similarity to the disease-pathogenesis
similarity. Several clinical examples are given based on the imaginary expansion that
is constructed on the ‘mind’ symptoms without the inclusion of the pathogenesis of
the medicinal substance, suggesting the limitations and the risks to homeopathy of
a purely symptom-centric approach.
Keywords homeopathy - symptoms - disease - pathogenesis - law of Similars
