Homeopathy: An alternative means of Treatment
Nicoline Lami Edie
Langston University

Introduction Homeopathy is an alternative medicine developed more than 200 years ago in Germany at the end of the 18th century by Dr Samuel Hahneman. This natural healing system is based on the theory “of like cures like” wherein an actual substance that produces symptoms in a healthy person can stimulate self-healing of similar symptoms in a sick person. Plants, minerals and animals are compounded into different forms such as ointment gels, drops, creams and tablets. The word homeopathy comes from the Greek word; “homeos”, which means similar and “pathos”, meaning disease (Wyatt, Sikorskii & You, 2013, p. 34). Our rationale for choosing this topic is our desire to broaden our knowledge on the intricacies of homeopathy. It is a concept that eludes us as nursing students. As people who collectively have as final goal to provide health care to the population in general, it will be of interest to know what other forms of complementary medicines our clients are using. In addition, people who use homeopathic medicine do so while still actively seeking the services of medical practitioners or cannot afford conventional medicine or better still because it is a practice that has been handed to them from generation to generation. According to Zimmerman (2012), 30% of nurse-midwives in North Carolina recommended Statistical data suggest that homeopathy is a well-known complimentary alternative medicine (CAM) that has been exploited not only by the mainstream culture by minorities in the US in particular (p. 21). Although licensure for practice as homeopathy varies from state to state in the USA, there are many schools in the U.S that train homeopathy practitioners and the certification are available through different organization. Such organizations include; North American society for Homeopathy, Homeopathic Academic of Naturopathic physicians and the American Board of Homeotherapeutics (Zimmerman, 2012, p. 23).
Review of Literature As noted earlier, homeopathy as a system of medicine bases its theory on the principle that ‘like cures like’- a substance causing symptoms in higher doses can cure the same symptoms if given in minute doses. Therefore, if a substance is able to cure the signs and symptoms of an ailment in a healthy individual, it is likely to cure those same signs and symptoms in an ailing person (Zimmerman, 2012, p. 21). Looking into this theory, it is fair to ask the question; has homeopathy been scientifically tasted? To answer the question of the scientific validity of homeopathy, classical homeopathy does not make use of the same diagnostic, and treatment processes used by other forms of healthcare like allopathic or modern medicine. Its theory as well as its practice supports the fact that “Homeopathy is a holistic system that treats on the basis of the individual’s whole person and all his symptoms, not on a predetermined diagnostic category. The physician must note that he (the homeopath) is treating a patient who has some disorder and not prescribing for a disease entity (Whitmont, 2010, p. 13).
Incidence/morbidity/mortality
In addition, as student nurses, we are interested in how many people use this form of treatment and how many people have been harmed by homeopathic medicine. According to the National Head Interview Survey in 2007, the result established that about 3.9 million adults and 910000 children in minority populations in the US used homeopathy in the previous year. This include over the counter products labeled as ‘Homeopathy’ and information from homeopathic practitioners. "According to the 2007 National Health Interview Survive (NHIS), 38% of adults used CAM (39.9%) was slightly less than whites (43.1%) and American Indians or Alaskan Natives (50.3%), but greater than Blacks (25.5%). Hispanic subgroups CAM use was noted between Mexicans (18.2) and Puerto Ricans (29.7%)” (Riley, Fischer, Singh, Haidvogl &Heger, 2009, p.149). Risk factors Furthermore, with the urge to get well quickly and return to the previous state of mind and health, minorities who use alternative medicine often do a concoction of both homeopathic and conventional medicine. This might pose a risk in that homeopathic remedies taken in combination of modern drugs if not checked might cause drug interactions, which might lead to adverse reaction. Blacks in America use garlic to help with hypertension. However, if one has a vascular disorder and is on anticoagulants, taking garlic might increase bruising and bleeding (Lewis, 2011, p.887). The idea of people taking alternative medicine like homeopathy as first aid or treatment before seeking treatment from a health care provider increases the risk of drug interaction.
In addition, existing literature on homeopathy claims that it is safer to use homeopathy than mainstream medicine. According to the U.S. FDA investigation into the safety of homeopathic medicine, indicate extremely low incident of adverse reactions with the use of homeopathy medicine. Homeopathy approaches the prescription problem from a different perspective. Homeopathic medication, even when utilize in combination protocol (as opposed to Classical prescriptions which utilize only one homeopathic medicine at a time) are extremely safe because they are not chemically manufactured nor are they drugs or herbs (Whitmont & Ronald, 2010, p.18). There is a possible risk for homeopathy abuse especially among minority population. Women in the "American Indian cultures were 2-3 times more likely to use any type of CAM like homeopathy. The CAM domain of use of homeopathic and Ayurvedic medicine by females was slightly higher than in males. The reason behind this is that "American Indians female users of CAM Users were less likely to be less proficient in English and less educated than their male peers (Misra, Balagopal, Klatt, M. & Geraghty, 2010, p. 851). Social Aspects Many social aspects are learned behaviors that are handed down from generation to generation. Some stem from the collective experience of the given population. Due to socialization, traditional models of health delivery systems have been passed down from one generation to the next. Thus when faced with crisis, minority groups like the Latino population use handed down remedies like cinnamon to treat respiratory infections. This form of cure could only have been preserved through the years by socialization (Kline & Huff, 2008, p. 29). Another social aspect of homeopathy is why people fine it easy to go to homeopaths. Good health is not only a physiological aspect but also a social aspect as well. This is because “this form of alternative medicine help people find a sense of control, holism and personal participation that confirms to their general philosophies of life and illness” (Goldbas, 2012, p. 17). These can only be achieved through a favorable doctor-client relationship in homeopathic setting; an aspect that is greatly lacking in the fast-paced conventional medicine. Cultural aspects
Culturally, among the Hispanic population, the Spanish speaking Hispanics (SSH) women are more likely to use herbal and homeopathic remedies by 95% (Fortier, Gillis, Gomez, Wang, Tan, & Kain, 2014, p.14). Meanwhile, many users of homeopathy medicine use herbs concomitantly believing that these combinations are more effective without notifying a care provider. "It is well documented that African Americans (AA) are less likely than other ethnic groups to disclose homeopathic use to conventional health care providers (Misra et al, 849). Nevertheless, still on African Americans, the practice of homeopathy has a rich historical perspective back from the time of slavery. Most victims came over to the western hemisphere with a wide knowledge on homeopathic practices handed down from generation to generation.
Today 57.4 %, African American women use homeopathy. Some of these therapies include the use of cranberry products to fight off infection, raspberry leaves to make easier and shorten the duration of labor, and ginger as vitamin B6 to relieve nausea and vomiting (Revell, 2012, p. 56-57). Furthermore, they report the use of garlic for hypertension, pouring kerosene on cuts for disinfecting purposes and wearing garlic around the neck as a preventive method from catching diseases (Kline & Huff, 2008, p. 293). From the aforementioned paragraphs, homeopathy is a cultural phenomenon, as there seem to be a widespread use of homeopathic medication across minorities. There is no clear-cut data available on which cultural group uses these practices most, for all we know minority groups in America hail from ancient cultures that have exploited archaic methods of curing disease for centuries.
Economic aspects One of the problems among minority groups is the question of access to appropriate medical services. Most minorities have low-income status and are usually the product of the immediate surroundings. Due to their poor socioeconomic status, minorities’ lack of health insurance encourages them to turn to alternative forms of treatment. Voodoo, hoodoo, folk medicine, folk healers, allopathic and homeopathic medicine are some of the alternate sources of health. Thus, their economic status and low incomes coupled with lack of insurance is often a limiting aspect to accessing healthcare. To overcome their economic disparities minorities like Middle Eastern groups use the concepts of hot and cold foods to treat diseases. Treatment for hot illnesses such as fever and measles are cold herbs and foods such as cucumbers while cold illness like chicken pox and arthritis are treated with herbs, honey and walnuts (Kline & Huff, 2008, p. 35). So contrary to modern medication, homeopathic remedies are cheap, safer with fewer consequences to the patient as a whole.
Prevention
As far as the aspect of prevention goes, the aforementioned paragraphs have been outlining some of prevention as a reason why people choose homeopathy over modern medicine or why they seek prevention for diseases by combining conventional and homeopathic healing. In this section of our paper, we will look at possible adverse effects that come with preventing illness with homeopathic therapies (Sehon, & Stanley, 2010, p. 278). Some homeopathic remedies have poisonous substance like blue ivy, belladonna and arsenic in them, which have resulted in adverse effects like seizures or even death. This may be because of improper titration or dilution process of the doses. Since our focus is on minorities, we must remind ourselves that most of them depend on homeopathy to solve minor problems. Most minorities who use Zicam Cold remedy Nasal Gel, which contains zinc gluconate have no knowledge that this medication led to the loss of a sense of smell (Posadzki, Alotaibi & Ernst, 2012, p. 1178-1188).
Community Models of Intervention The Model of Intervention used in this paper is the Health Belief Model. It proposes that, “a relationship exists between a person’s beliefs and actions.” Factors of this belief model such as sociocultural context (especially ethnicity) and socioeconomic factors may affect a person’s response to illness (Craven & Hirnle, 2013, p. 22). Thus, the ways minority groups respond to illnesses and wellness is in the intrinsic aspects of their heritage. Consequently, the way a person approaches a health crisis is similar to the way his peers in his ethnic and sociocultural group view health. Therefore, group values influence the health beliefs of the patient. The traditional Chinese belief of yin and yang energy forces is an example of how one views health and illness in this sociocultural milieu. They belief that health is one consequence of balance between these energy forces; therefore, a person seeking homeopathic treatment in this community will be focusing on how to achieve the balance that has been disrupted (Kline & Huff, 2008, p. 23-24).
Summary
Homoeopathy is a system of alternative medicine created in 1796 by Samuel Hahnemann based on his doctrine of like cures like; a substance that causes the symptoms of a disease in healthy people will cure similar symptoms in sick people. This system of alternative medicine is widely used by the minority populations who have a low or no income to afford medical insurance. Mixture of homoeopathic medicine and mainstream medicine may lead to interaction which intern poses a risk to the patient. In addition to that, dosage is important when prescribing homeopathic medicine even though most are natural, they may pose a risk to patient if poorly titrated or concocted with other medications. This method of treatment is usually traditional practices passed on from one generation to the next although it is fast gaining popularity in mainstream society.
Conclusion
While researching this topic, we found out that all the minority groups; Hispanic/Latino, African American, American Indian/Native Alaska, Asian American, and the Pacific Islander Population use homeopathy as complimentary alternative medicine. The team did not find supportive material on the Asian and Pacific Islander populations; not an indication that it is not practiced, but because homeopathy in this groups have not been studied. From the above statistics, we can conclude that American Indians use homeopathy the most, Latinos use it the least and African Americans are the least to report homeopathy use to their primary physician. Homeopathy is widely used by different cultures and it is mostly accessible in the USA by most women probably because they are the overseers of their family’s health. In order to serve diverse populations better caregivers must understand the use of homeopathy as an alternative means of medicine and the diseases they cure. This is because homeopathy does not focus on specific treatment of different body parts, but it deals with treatment that involves the general system as a whole and that explains the reason why most minority turn to this form of medication than orthodox medicine.
Recommendation
Homeopathy as a form of CAM is gaining popularity in the mainstream culture in the USA. However, it is important to note that despite its upsurge, minorities have used it for generations. What we are recommending is that future research focus on its use by minorities, its side effects and the risk factors. More so, we need to familiarize ourselves with alternative complementary medicines when dealing with our clients. This is to gain more information on possible drug interaction and the complication it can pose on their health. Furthermore, we need to be culturally competent and proficient to the values, belief system and economic status of minorities. This will help us understand how these factors influence the use of homeopathy and other alternative treatment. Being culturally competent and culturally proficient will create an atmosphere of trust and clients who are of minority groups will feel comfortable to reveal alternative medicine they use to cure themselves.

References
Craven, R., & Hirnle, C. (2013). Fundamentals of nursing: Human health and function (7th th ed., pp. 22-26). N.p.: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.
Fortier, M., Gillis, S., Gomez, S., Wang, S., Tan, E., & Kain, Z. (2014). Attitudes toward and use of complementary and alternative medicine among Hispanic and white mothers. Alternative Therapies In Health & Medicine, 20(1), 13-19.
Goldbas, A. (2012). An Introduction to Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM). International Journal Of Childbirth Education, 27(3), 16-20.
Kline, M., & Huff, R. (2008). Health promotion in multicultural populations: A handbook for practitioners and students(2nd ed., pp. 8-17). Los Angeles: Sage Publications.
Lewis, S.L., Heitkemper, M.M., Dirksen, S.R., O’Brien, P.G., Bucher, L. (2011). Medical- Surgical Nursing: Assessment and Management of Clinical Problems (8th ed.) St. Louis, Missouri: Mosby Elsevier
Misra, R., Balagopal, P., Klatt, M., & Geraghty, M. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. August 2010, 16(8): 843-852. doi:10.1089/acm.2009.0517.
Posadzki, P.; Alotaibi, A.; Ernst, E. (2012). "Adverse effects of homeopathy: A systematic review of published case reports and case series". International Journal of Clinical Practice 66 (12): 1178–1188. doi:10.1111/ijcp.12026
Revell, M. A. (2012). Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine in the African American Culture. International Journal Of Childbirth Education, 27(3), 55-59.
Riley, D., Fischer, M., Singh, B., Haidvogl, M., & Heger, M. (2009). Homeopathy and conventional medicine: an outcomes study comparing effectiveness in a primary care setting. Journal Of Alternative & Complementary Medicine, 7(2), 149-159. doi:10.1089/107555301750164226
Sehon, S., & Stanley, D. (2010). Evidence and simplicity: why we should reject homeopathy. Journal Of Evaluation In Clinical Practice, 16(2), 276-281. doi:10.1111/j.1365- 2753.2010.01384.x
Whitmont, R. (2010). The science of homeopathy, part II. American Journal of Homeopathic Medicine, 103(1), 12-21.
Wyatt, G., Sikorskii, A., & You, M. (2013). Self-reported use of complementary and alternative medicine therapies in a reflexology randomized clinical trial. Alternative Therapies In Health & Medicine, 19(5), 31-37.
Zimmerman, K. (2012). Basics of Homeopathy: Treatment Options in Pregnancy. International Journal of Childbirth Education, 27(3), 21-25.