18. Proposed in its modern form only two hundred years ago, the debunked field of homeopathy proposes treatment of patients through the concept of “like cures like” on a diluted scale
Initially suggested by Hippocrates around 400 BCE, who introduced the concept of “like cures like” with the prescription of small doses of mandrake root to induce further mania in order to cure the psychological condition, the medical idea was adopted centuries later by Paracelsus who concluded “what makes a man ill also cures him”. Rejecting the traditional methods of mainstream medicine, notably bloodletting, as irrational, in 1796 Samuel Hahnemann invented his doctrine of alternative medicine. Coining the term “homeopathy” in print in 1807, Hahnemann thesis was predicated on the similar belief that whichever substance causes symptoms of a disease in a healthy individual could equally cure said symptoms in a sick person.
Denoting the causes of disease as “miasms”, Hahnemann developed the process of homeopathic dilution, wherein the chosen substance is repeatedly diluted and the containing vessel struck against an elastic material to release healing potential. Diluting the substance beyond the point where molecules of the original substance actually remain, Hahnemann’s medical practice exploded into popularity in the United States following introduction in 1825. Exported globally by fanatical American adherents, homeopathy has endured fluctuating levels of acceptance in the decades since but today is widely regarded as a pseudoscience with no medical benefit.