Homeopathy is based upon the law of similars, first discovered by Hippocrates. Hippocrates was a well-known practitioner and teacher of medicine throughout the Greek world. He is largely regarded as the father of medicine. Hippocrates discovered that an herb that was strong and active could produce certain symptoms in a healthy person, yet a very dilute amount of that same herb could stop the same symptoms in a sick person. He called this principle, the Law of Similars.

Modern homeopathy is credited to the discoveries of Dr. Samuel Christian Hahnemann. Samuel Hahnemann was born near Dresden, Germany on April 10, 1755. He was trained as a physician in Vienna. Hahnemann was a respected author, chemist, and experimenter. He was fluent in 7 languages and was translator of numerous medical texts of his time.

In 1790 Hahnemann was translating Materia Medica, by Dr. Cullen out of Scotland. Dr. Cullen wrote that by taking a large amount of cinchona bark (the source of quinine); a person would develop fever attacks similar to those that small doses of quinine cured. When Dr. Hahnemann tried to disprove this theory by eating the bark, he too became ill. This eventually led to Hahnemann’s belief that “…in order to cure diseases, we must search for medicines that can excite a similar disease in the human body.”

According to Dr. Hahnemann, diseases were not the mechanical or chemical alterations of the body’s substances. Rather, the pathological process is the result and not the cause of the disease. Symptoms do not constitute disease, but are positive reactions of an organism under stress.

Hahnemann was a very prominent physician and well-known author, and as a result was able to establish a large following of physicians. They personally consumed numerous herbs and small doses of various substances and than carefully recorded the affects of the experiments. They called this process “proving”. Hahneman continued to experiment with doses, and contradicting the theories of his time, he experimented with lower and lower doses. He found that by using more minute amounts of his formulas efficacy was still achieved but with less toxic reactions. This eventually let to the homeopathic tenet of the Law of the Minimum Dose.

Dr. Hastings prescribes homeopathics based on muscle testing. He is also able to make custom tinctures with a computerized electrodermal screening.