Homeopathy is equally popular in Brazil where there are also approximately 2,000 physicians who utilize homeopathic medicines. It is interesting to note that pharmacists in Brazil are required to take a course in homeopathic pharmacology in order to graduate. There are at least 10 homeopathic schools in Brazil, and several conventional medical schools have coursework in homeopathy. (83)

Besides homeopathy's special popularity in the previously mentioned countries, it is widely practiced in Mexico, Greece, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Australia, South Africa, Nigeria, and the Soviet Union.

Homeopathy is re-experiencing a renaissance in the United States as well. In the early 1970s there were only 50-100 physicians who specialized in homeopathy, and yet by the mid-1980s, it can be estimated that there are approximately 1,000physicians who specialize in homeopathy. According to the Washington Post, the numbers of physicians in the U.S. who specialize in homeopathy doubled from 1980 to 1982. (84) There is a concommitant increase in the use of the microdoses by various other health professionals. Approximately 1,000 other health professionals in the U.S. use homeopathic medicines, and these include dentists, podiatrists, veterinarians, physician assistants, nurses, naturopaths, acupuncturists, chiropractors, and psychologists. Although these numbers still represent only a very small percentage of licensed health professionals, the rapidly growing interest in homeopathy portends significant increases to come.

The rediscovery of homeopathy by the general public is even more encouraging. The magazine, The F.D.A. Consumer, recently reported a 1000% increase in sales of homeopathic medicines from the late 1970s to the early 1980s. (85)

Contrary to some critics who think that people try homeopathy only because they are uneducated, research published in the Western Journal of Medicine showed that homeopathic patients tend to be considered even better educated than the average American. (86)

It is difficult to predict how popular homeopathy will be in the United States in the 21st century, though it is probable that most physicians will utilize at least some of the microdoses which research has proven to be effective. Growing numbers of consumers will also learn to self-prescribe homeopathic medicine for common acute conditions and will probably demand homeopathic care from their physicians for more serious medical conditions.

Clearly, homeopathy will play an increasingly important role in health care, for as internationally acclaimed violinist and humanitarian Yehudi Menuhin* once said, "Homeopathy is one of the few medical specialties which carries no penalties--only benefits."

(* In addition to the various awards and achievements which the international acclaimed musician and humanitarian Yehudi Menuhin has, he is also the President of The Hahnemann Society, one of Great Britain's major homeopathic organizations.)

References
1. Sir James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, New York: Macmillan, 1922, 12-42.
2. Richard Haehl, Samuel Hahnemann: His Life and Work, New Delhi: B. Jain, republished 1971, 37.
3. Trevor M. Cook, Samuel Hahnemann: The Founder of Homoeopathic Medicine, Wellingborough, England: Thorsons, 1981, 71-77; Harris Coulter, Divided Legacy, Washington, D.C.: Wehawken, 1977, volume II, 310.
4. Samuel Hahnemann, "Essay on a New Principle for Ascertaining the Curative Powers of Drugs, and Some Examinations of the Previous Principles," Hufeland's Journal, vol II, 391-439 and 465-561.
5. Thomas L. Bradford, The Life and Letters of Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, Philadelphia: Boericke and Tafel, 1895, 151.
6. Cook, 127.
7. Haehl, 108.
8. Cook, 130.
9. Paul Starr, The Social Transformation of American Medicine, New York: Basic, 1982.
10. Cook, 39.
11. Harris Coulter, Divided Legacy, Berkeley: North Atlantic, 1975, volume III, 39.
12. Cook, 39.
13. Coulter, volume III, 70.
14. New York Journal of Medicine, V, 1845, 418.
15. Ibid., 103.
16. Starr, 97.
17. Kaufman, 158.
18. Coulter, volume III, 124-126.
19. Martin Kaufman, Homoeopathy in America, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins, 1971, 53.
20. Coulter, volume III, 199.
(21) Ibid., 206-219.
(22) William Harvey King, History of Homoeopathy (4 volumes), New York: Lewis, volume I, 1905, 47.
(23) Coulter, volume III, 208.
(24) Starr, 98.
(25) Ibid.
(26) Ibid.
(27) Kaufman, 89.
(28) Coulter, volume III, 208.
(29) Ibid., 209.
(30) Bradford, 157.
(31) Coulter, volume II, 562.
(32) Cook, 158. Thomas L. Bradford, The Logic of Figures or Comparative Results of Homoeopathic and Other Treatments, Philadelphia: Boericke and Tafel, 1900, 112-146.
(33) Mark Twain, "A Majestic Literary Fossil," Harpers Magazine, February, 1890, 444.
(34) Coulter, volume III, p. 304, 460. Transaction of the American Institute of Homoeopathy, 1901.
(35) King, volume II, 14.
(36) Coulter, volume III, 463.
(37) Cook, 142-144.
(38) Cook, 148; New England Medical Gazette, 1869, 291; Transaction of the American Institute of Homoeopathy, 1908, 128.
(39) King, volume I, 346.
(40) Coulter, volume III, 297.
(41) New England Medical Gazette, 1869, 63.
(42) King, volume II, 159-213.
(43) Ruth Abrams (editor), Send us a Lady Physician: Women Doctors in America 1835-1920, New York: W.W. Norton, 1985, 100.
(44) Starr, 117.
(45) Abrams, 101.
(46) Coulter, volume III, 112.
(47) Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health.
(48) Transactions of the Medical Society of the State of New York, 1872, 46.
(49) Henry James, The Bostonians, New York: Bantam, 315.
(50) Coulter, volume III, 113.
(51) Bradford, 1900, 59; Coulter, volume III, 298-305.
(52) Bradford, 1900, 68, 113-146; Coulter, volume III, 268.
(53) Coulter, volume III, 299-302.
(54) New England Medical Gazette, 1866, 69
(55) Transactions of the American Institute of Homoeopathy, 1892, 83.
(56) Kaufman, 58.
(57) Transactions of the American Institute of Homoeopathy, 1893, 52. Journal of the American Medical Association, 52, May 22, 1909, 1691ff.
(58) Phials, University of Michigan, 1901.
(59) Coulter, volume III, 430.
(60) Starr, 119; Coulter, volume III, 446.
(61) Kaufman, 166.
(62) Starr, 124.
(63) Coulter, volume III, 444.
(64) Ibid., 371.
(65) E. Richard Brown, Rockefeller's Medicine Men, Berkeley: University of California, 1979, 109-111.
(66) Ibid.
(67) J.H. Salisbury, "The Subordination of Medical Journals to Proprietary Interests," Journal of the American Medical Association, XLVI, 1906, 1337-1338.
(68) Bradford, 1895, 304.
(69) Ibid., 455-456.

Copyright 1991 by Dana Ullman, M.P.H. used by permission of the author from the book Discovering Homeopathy: Medicine for the 21st Century published by Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam.

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