Canadian Academy of Homeopathy

09/08/2026

Homeopathy in History... Diphtheria in Philadelphia, 1860

In the winter of 1859–1860, a serious diphtheria epidemic spread through Philadelphia, increasing in both the number and severity of cases over several months.

On June 7, 1860, homeopathic physician Dr. Constantine Hering presented his experience during the epidemic before the American Institute of Homeopathy.
Hering reported treating:
• Approximately 50 to 60 cases with marked symptoms of diphtheria
• Approximately the same number of lighter cases
• No deaths reported - at a time when the average death rate from diphtheria ranged from 40-52% under conventional care.

According to Hering, nearly all of his patients recovered within seven days. A small number required longer treatment.

Hering's account is particularly interesting because it was not simply a later recollection. He presented these results in June 1860, shortly after the Philadelphia epidemic, and his report was published that same year in the American Homœopathic Review.

Source:
Constantine Hering. "Cases of Diphtheria." American Homœopathic Review. 1860;2:515-516.

09/04/2026

Another helpful insight from Dr. Adolph Lippe, MD...

"In an epidemic of croup here, many years ago, the children who always gave a hoarse barking cough in the early morning hours, were comparatively well during the day, but were attacked during the following night with malignant membranous croup. When a single dose of Belladonna was administered in the morning, they fully recovered; but at 4 P.M., a violent fever, with headache and drowsiness, would set in. When no medicine was given for these symptoms characteristic of Belladonna, this fever would end by 6 or 7 P.M. in a perspiration, and without any more medicine the child would recover; when medicine was given, and especially when Aconite was administered, which, from the absence of its characteristic restlessness, was unsuitable, then the child became very ill, the membranous croup became fully developed, and presented a very grave case. Such cases were hard to manage. No medicine in this case was the proper decision."

09/03/2026

An excellent case presented by Dr. Adolph Lippe...

"The clinical experiment is our ultimate test. If we violate any (even the least well-known) rules which should always guide us in our therapeutics, we have no right to expect that favorable success which is promised us if we strictly apply these rules; and if this is true, then it is also obvious that want of success generally depends upon a violation of these rules, and not, as is generally claimed, on the unreliability of them. We propose to relate here a case in which some of the strict rules for the proper application of our Law of cure were inadvertently violated, and how the discovery of this mistake led to a stricter application of them, with the usual good results which must necessarily follow the strictest homœopathic practice. We shall first give a plain relation of the case, and follow it with our comments.

Mrs. B., ætas 45, had for many years suffered from a very delicate and irritable stomach, from cankerous sore mouth (cured by Phytolacca), all in consequence of which is mis-termed scientific treatment; she also had suffered from hay-fever, regularly returning every year on the 16th of September. Mrs. B. returned from Europe, after an absence of several years, on the 26th July last, the voyage had been a very unpleasant one; she had been very sea-sick all the time. From the time she left Liverpool till she was visited by me, on the 27th July, she had taken literally no nourishment; broken ice was the only thing that had passed her lips.

I found her sitting up, occasionally straining to vomit, very weak, pulse 110 per minute; she complained of a violent pain in the occiput, with great heat, which she had tried to relieve by applications of broken ice; urinary secretions suppressed; mouth dry and hot; she had not slept for a fortnight, and could not lie down on account of a great nervousness, as she expressed it, which compelled her to change her position and her chair so very often; she wandered about all night from chair to chair; taste very disagreeable; perfect loathing of food, and for a few days had a watery, very offensive and black-looking diarrhea.

The choice of the remedy was easy enough; I gave her one dose of Arsenicum album 50 M (Fincke) on her tongue on July 27th at 10 A.M. July 28th, had slept in her bed from 10 P.M. till 1 A.M., then became nervous and restless, but says that she feels better. No medicine.

July 29th. Has been in bed all night, slept and no return of the diarrhea; urinary secretions re-established; the hot water applications to her head have very much relieved the pain; has taken some milk-toast, and relished it; pulse below 90; is cheerful and hopeful. July 31st. Had a still better night, is better in every respect but complains of severe pains in a bunion on the left foot; it is much inflamed and stings (1).

I gave her now one dose of Nitric acid CM (Fincke). August 1st. The bunion is less painful, otherwise there is not much change perceptible. August 2nd. Bunion still improving, and on August 3rd no more pain or inflammation in it.

On the evening of August 3rd, I was again summoned to see her; found her (7 P.M.) quite ill; the diarrhea and vomiting had returned with great violence; pulse over 110; the same headache as on the 27th had also returned, also the great restlessness.

Gave her one dose of Arsenicum album CM (Fincke) dry on her tongue. Found her better next day , and the improvement continued; on the 6th day of August, her bunion began to pain her again as on July 31st. Gave no medicine. The improvement continued satisfactorily; when the 16th of September came, she had that night, about 1 A.M., some oppression of breathing, which reminded her of the terrible asthmatic attacks she had had years ago; she had to sit up for half-an-hour. No medicine. She fully recovered, and traveled for some weeks; had no hay-fever; really has had nothing to complain of since; enjoys better health than she had for years."

Comments from Dr. Lippe on #1 above.—"When the bunion appeared, no medicine should have been given, because all the other symptoms for which Arsenicum album was clearly indicated improved under its salutary action, clearly showing that the effects of the dose administered was not yet exhausted, and because this new symptom appearing on a less vital part of the body; also showing a moving downward of the disease did not indicate a progress, but a descending diminution of the disorder. Here were two important rules violated. The remedy must be allowed to exhaust its effects before another dose of the same remedy, or a new remedy shall be administered. If the appearance of the painful bunion had demonstrated a progress of the disorder, a new remedy indicated by this last appearing symptom would have been in order; and, above all, do we know that if a less vital organ becomes affected, and if the symptoms move from the centers to the extremities, or from above downwards, such symptoms do not indicate a progress of the disorder, and therefore no new remedy should be given, and especially not if the general or previous more serious condition of the patient improves."

09/02/2026

Why Homeopathy Matters to U.S. Healthcare... an article worth reading.

Homeopathy is a greater than 200-year-old system of medicine, used by nearly 250 thousand physicians and over 500 million people worldwide[1] – making it one of the most popular forms of complementary, alternative and integrative medicine (CAIM). It is based on the concept of ‘treating like with...

09/01/2026

Epidemics That Changed Medicine: Yellow Fever in Savannah, 1876...

In the fall of 1876, a devastating yellow fever epidemic swept through Savannah, Georgia. Homeopathic physician Dr. Louis A. Falligant reported treating approximately cases during the epidemic.

His results:
• More than 900 patients treated
• 32 deaths
• Mortality of approximately 3.4%

By comparison, historical records show that approximately 1,300 people died among an estimated 8,000 to 9,000 cases during the epidemic overall, a mortality rate of about 15%.

But there is another detail in Falligant's report that makes his experience particularly striking.

He treated 60 patients who had already developed "fatal symptoms" of black vomit and suppression of urine. Of those 60 patients, 45 recovered. He also reported treating more than 100 cases of the hemorrhagic form of yellow fever without a death.

Reflecting on his results, Falligant wrote that among the patients he saw before black vomit developed, he lost only 17 out of approximately 900.

He attributed the results not to himself, but to the treatment he employed:

"I claim no merit for this result beyond that which attaches to the treatment employed, and that treatment was homœopathic."

Source: Louis A. Falligant. "Report on the epidemic of yellow fever in Savannah, Georgia, during the months of September, October and November, 1876." North American Journal of Homœopathy. 1878;26:458-475.

08/28/2026

New research sheds a bright light on the wound healing effects of Arnica montana...

Objectives
This study aimed to determine whether different homeopathic potencies of A. montana induce distinct, potency-specific effects on fibroblast proliferation, migration, and wound healing–related protein expression in vitro.

Methods
3T3-L1 fibroblasts were treated with 6q, 30cH, or 200cH potencies of A. montana for up to 72 hours. Cell morphology was assessed by phase-contrast microscopy; viability and proliferation by MTT assay; and wound closure by scratch-wound migration assay. Laminin, fibronectin, fibroblast growth factor (FGF), and transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-β1) protein levels were quantified using ELISA and immunocytochemistry. Control groups included untreated medium and vehicle (unsuccussed solvent).

Results
Scratch-wound assays demonstrated a marked, potency-specific enhancement of fibroblast migration and wound closure following treatment with A. montana, with the 200cH potency inducing the most rapid and complete closure over 72 hours. These functional effects were accompanied by increased fibroblast proliferation at later time points and higher intracellular levels of laminin, fibronectin, FGF and TGF-β1 protein, particularly in the 200cH group, while cell morphology remained unaffected across all conditions.

Conclusion
Among the tested potencies, A. montana 200cH showed the greatest stimulatory effect on fibroblast proliferation, migration, and wound healing-related protein expression. This study provides the first comparative evaluation of multiple A. montana potencies in a fibroblast wound-healing model, suggesting a potential potency-associated cellular response in vitro.

Source: Kutlu, A., et al., Do Distinct Homeopathic Potencies of Arnica montana Differentially Modulate Fibroblast Proliferation and Migration In Vitro? Homeopathy. August 2026

08/27/2026

Human health is intimately linked to the ecology and diversity of the human microbiome. Together, the human organism and the human microbiome work as a complex super-organism throughout the human life cycle.

Microbiome science provides direct evidence and substantiation of the fundamental principles of homeopathy, including holism, psychosomatics, direction of cure, the Law of Similars, individuality and susceptibility, minimum dose, and homeostasis.

Whilst many conventional (allopathic) medical treatments irreversibly damage the ecology of the microbiome and trigger chronic immune dysfunction and inflammation, the future sustainability of the entire field of medicine depends on the ability to recognize these inconvenient biological truths and to embrace a safer approach based on this evidence.

Fortunately, one of the oldest forms of clinically verifiable, evidence-based, and ecologically sustainable medicine, that does not harm the microbiome, already exists in the form of homeopathy.

Source: Whitmont, R., The Human Microbiome, Conventional Medicine, and Homeopathy. Homeopathy. 2020

08/26/2026

Another wonderful case from Dr. Adolph Lippe's patient files...

"Mrs. C., aged 50 years, came under my care May 12, 1871. Had been under the care of different physicians and had grown so much worse that her family despaired of her recovery, and, as a last resort, wished to try homœopathy.

Mrs. C. was married at the age of 16 years, had four children when 20 years old, suffered them from various uterine affections, had no more children, and recovered her health again; was an active housekeeper and overexerted herself very much. For years she had complained of pains in the region of the right kidney, and of palpitation of the heart when taking much exercise. The urinary discharges had gradually increased very much, and I found her very weak. She had for the last fortnight not only passed large quantities of albuminous urine every hour, and, when exercising, every quarter of an hour, but the urine was now flowing continuously, obliging her to lie down on large quantities of sheets; in the last few days these involuntary discharges had become bloody at times. Pulse about 50 feeble beats in a minute; breathing short and rapid, never under 40 inhalations per minute. She perspired freely when moving about; much thirst for cold drinks; no appetite. Has not slept for weeks, and becomes very restless after midnight; this restlessness drives her out of bed, and, too weak to walk, she goes from chair to chair and tries to find an easy position. The pain in her right kidney, extending to the bladder, has become very violent, and is worse after midnight. Bowels constipated.

A selection of the truly curative homœopathic remedy was very easy; there could be no doubt but degeneration of the right kidney was progressing, and all the urinary symptoms combined would indicate a multiplicity of remedies; but the characteristic symptom of the patient was an increase of pain in the right kidney and great restlessness, driving her from place to place after midnight. The time of the aggravation, and the species of restlessness from which she suffered, were also characteristic of Arsenicum album. And, as Arsenicum album also corresponded with the majority of the symptoms of the patient, she received a few pellets of Arsenicum album 10 M (Fincke), on her tongue.

The following night she remained in bed, the restlessness had ceased and she had slept better; the involuntary discharges of urine ceased. The second day after taking the Arsenicum album the urinary discharges diminished very considerably. The pain in her right kidney gradually diminished. On the 7th day she had three watery discharges from the bowels; her pulse then became fuller and more frequent, her breathing became normal; later her strength returned, she had a good appetite, slept well, and on the 20th of June had nothing more to complain of. She resumed her ordinary household duties, and is well at this writing, the 4th of July.

This case is one of the great triumphs of homœopathy, as taught and promulgated by its founder, Hahnemann. The remedy for the cure of the patient was chosen, according to his teachings; the totality of symptoms were the guide; neither the locality of the disease nor the name of the disorder could point out the curative agent. The effect of the homœopathically chosen remedy, administered in a highly potentized form, was allowed to exhaust its effects, and the result was a full recovery of the much suffering patient."

08/25/2026

A Conversation That Lasted Until 4 A.M.

In 1843, a young physician named P.P. Wells was searching for a deeper understanding of homeopathy.

That search led him to one of the most important figures in its history: Constantine Hering, MD.

Wells arrived at Hering's office with a letter of introduction. What happened next became part of homeopathic history.

According to historical accounts, Hering turned the key to his office door, stopped seeing patients for the rest of the day, and sat down to talk with Wells.

They talked until four o'clock the next morning.

For Wells, the conversation appears to have been transformative. He had been studying homeopathy and searching for answers. In Hering, he found a physician who could help him understand the principles and practice he was seeking.

Wells went on to become one of America's prominent Hahnemannian homeopathic physicians, dedicating much of his life to the careful study and teaching of homeopathy.

08/21/2026

Epidemics That Changed Medicine: Typhoid Fever, 1843

Long before antibiotics, typhoid fever was a dangerous and often deadly disease. In the 19th century, outbreaks were common in communities where contaminated food and water allowed the infection to spread.

In 1843, Dr. Carl Heinrich Rosenberg published a collection of typhoid fever outcomes from allopathic and homeopathic hospitals in major European cities.
The numbers he reported were striking:

Allopathic hospitals
• 27,175 cases
• 14,014 deaths
• 51.57% mortality

Homeopathic hospitals
• 618 cases
• 99 deaths
• 16.02% mortality

These weren't the observations of a single physician treating a handful of patients. Rosenberg was bringing together hospital records involving more than 27,000 conventionally treated patients and hundreds treated homeopathically.
The figures offer another fascinating window into how physicians of the era were beginning to use statistics to compare medical outcomes, decades before modern clinical trials became the standard.

Source: Carl Heinrich Rosenberg. Fortschritte und Leistungen der Homöopathie in und ausser Ungarn nebst einer Darstellung ihrer Grundsätze von ihrem gegenwärtigen wissenschaftlichen Standpunkte und Hinweisung auf die Vortheile, die daraus für Staat und Staatsbürger resultieren. Leipzig: Verlag von Ludwig Schumann, 1843, pp. 233-236.