Synopsis
Featuring interviews with experts in the U.S., England, France and Germany, this comprehensive documentary looks at the origins, principles, and modern practice of the alternative and holistic form of medicine known as homeopathy. Two centuries ago, German physician Samuel Hahnemann developed this system of medicine, treating his patients with specialized, minute doses of natural substances intended to increase the body's own inherent defenses. Hahnemann's methods had amazing results -- during the deadly 1832 cholera epidemic that swept through Europe, homeopaths claimed a 97% cure rate. As Hahnemann's body of knowledge increased, so did his following, although traditional physicians ridiculed his work, and homeopathy spread throughout the world. Today, homeopathic practitioners, physicians and veterinarians continue to successfully treat patients for a wide range of physical and mental illnesses, using ideas and remedies published by Hahnemann in his Materia Medica. Rather than suppressing symptoms, homeopathic medicines stimulate the body to defend and heal itself. Modern clinical trials have proven homeopathy to be safe and effective in a wide variety of non life-threatening conditions. But the processes by which these tiny doses of natural substances are able to cure remains, for many, a mystery.