Similia similibus curentur: the homeopathic healing principle based o n modern pharmacology

Abstract

The homeopathic model of treatment of diseases uses the ‘principle of similarity’ as therapeutic method, employing drugs that cause certain symptoms in healthy individuals to treat similar symptoms in sick individuals (similia similibus curentur), seeking to stimulate a healing reaction of the organism against its own disorders. This secondary (vital, homeostatic or paradoxical) reaction of the organism is based on the study of the ‘rebound effect’ of modern drugs, iatrogenic event that can cause serious disorders after the discontinuation of several classes of conventional treatments that use the ‘principle of contraries’ as therapeutic practice (contraria contrariis curentur). Although the rebound phenomenon is an adverse event studied by modern pharmacology, it is unknown by health professionals, depriving the medical class of a necessary and fundamental knowledge to the safe management of drugs. Despite expressing itself in a small proportion of susceptible individuals, the rebound effect assumes epidemiological importance in view of the enormous consumption of drugs by the population and the lack of clarity on the phenomenon. This article presents an updated review on the rebound effect of drugs, relating it to the homeopathic healing principle.