Current Article ∙ Archive ∙ Back to Island Voices

Dr. Anke Zimmermann, Naturopathic Physician

Dr. Anke Zimmermann is a naturopathic physician who moved to Victoria from Newmarket, Ontario in 2005. She has been in clinical practice since 1991 and in life practice since 1961, gathering bumps, joy and wisdom traversing both.

DR. ANKE ZIMMERMANN
NATUROPATHIC PHYSICIAN
Suite 2A – 2563 Penrhyn Road, Victoria, B.C.
Tel. 250-590-5828
www.drzimmermann.org

Current Article: April 2011

Happy Birthday, Dr. Hahnemann

Dr. Anke Zimmermann, BSc, ND, FCAH,
Naturopathic Physician and Classical Homeopath

Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, Founder of Homeopathy

Health care in the 18th century was ready for a revolution. It still is today. Meet Samuel Hahnemann, who found out that less is more when it comes to medicine, something not everyone is happy about.

April 10 marks the 256th year since Samuel Hahnemann, the founder of homeopathy, was born. Hahnemann was a medical maverick whose ideas are almost as controversial today as they were 200 years ago, dividing scientific opinion between quackery and a revolutionary new way of understanding health and disease.

Hahnemann did some of his most brilliant as well as controversial work in his later years, especially from about age 80 to 89, when, as a widower, he remarried a partner in crime.

Having lived an entire life of controversy, his new marriage only added fuel, if not envy and jealousy, to the fires of his opponents. Shockingly to them, his new wife, a young, beautiful and accomplished aristocrat from Paris was, at age 34, only 46 years younger than him.

Melanie d’Herville had been intensely drawn to studying medicine, but was denied entrance to medical school by virtue of being the wrong gender. She studied art instead as this gave her access to the dissecting halls of hospitals. She quickly became well known for her work in the Salon. After falling ill in her early thirties and not being able to obtain help from the medical doctors of the time she read Hahnemann’s work and decided to travel to Germany to visit the famous doctor – disguised as a man, no less, since being female was also a deal breaker when it came to travel in those days.

Apparently the barber who came to shave the young Frenchman in the morning after his arrival the night before received quite the surprise when he encountered a young, blonde, beautiful woman wearing an elegant Parisian silk gown instead!

Hahnemann was immediately taken by her inquisitive mind and adventurous spirit and proposed to her only three days after the first meeting. Three months later Melanie whisked him off to Paris with her, became his star pupil and together they ran a large and famous homeopathic clinic and did a lot of brain storming until Hahnemann’s death at age 89. Hahnemann later wrote to his friends that he had been looking for a man to teach his system to for over 50 years, only to find him in a woman. Melanie subsequently became the first female doctor in Europe and was put on trial for practicing medicine without a license after her husband died.

Hahnemann was a man in the full vigour of life even at an advanced age, something which apparently is not uncommon in homeopaths, who, as I was told, enjoy an average life expectancy of 93, so I’m crossing my fingers here.

During most of his life, Hahnemann posed a formidable threat to the establishment by not only developing the system of homeopathy, but also by training students, including women.

He wrote profusely, was very outspoken and threatened the entire scientific and medical thought of his time, something which continues to this day, especially in North America. His only and highest goal was to alleviate human suffering and to see truth and justice being served. He felt that the medicine of his time was exploitative by selling expensive drugs and treatments which were not needed and did more harm than good.

His goal was to find the simplest, quickest, clearest source of healing, for all people, so humankind, freed of limitations, could achieve its potential. He chose a life of poverty, loneliness and controversy rather than to practice the medicine he did not believe in. Today, his discoveries are helping millions of people around the world.

Throughout time, every step forward that man has taken in his scientific endeavours has been met by resistance. Human history is full of social and scientific revolutions that have shaken the existing foundations and beliefs of humanity. Invariably, such discoveries have required a period of many years for elaboration and acceptance.

Homeopathy represents one of these great revolutions. About 200 years since the conception of homoepathy, this therapy is now becoming the fastest growing system of medicine worldwide, especially in countries like India, where there are many clinics seeing up to 1200 patients per day. Sadly, the US and Canada are two countries in which homeopathy was most severely suppressed and therefore many people have never heard of this wonderful therapy. My life has been dedicated to homeopathy, too, and I take every opportunity to spread the word.

Happy Birthday, dear Samuel Hahnemann!

Below, find the ten top reasons to use homeopathy.

10 GOOD REASONS TO USE HOMEOPATHY

(republished with friendly permission by the Canadian Society of Homeopaths, www.csoh.ca).

NATURAL ACTION Homeopathy works by stimulating the body’s own natural defence mechanism to promote health and to resist infection and susceptibility to disease. Although gentle, the results can be powerful and long lasting.
HEALTH & WELL-BEING Homeopathy improves health generally, rather than merely alleviating localized symptoms. It treats the whole individual, acting on the mental and emotional levels as well as the physical level, providing a balance in overall health and an increased sense of well-being and quality of life.
EFFECTIVE MEDICINE When used correctly, homeopathy can be an extremely effective system of medicine, providing long-lasting relief from many acute and chronic conditions and illnesses.
NO HARMFUL SIDE EFFECTS Homeopathic treatment offers a gentle and non-invasive approach to health, producing no toxic side effects, no dependency or addiction, and no withdrawal.
COST EFFECTIVE Homeopathic medicines are surprisingly inexpensive to purchase, especially when compared to over-the-counter and prescription drugs.
FAST-ACTING FIRST-AID RELIEF Homeopathy can be safely used at home or on the road to provide rapid relief for minor problems such as bruises, simple burns, sprains, insect bites, gastric upsets, etc. However more serious or long-lasting complaints should be treated by a qualified homeopath.
NOT TESTED ON ANIMALS Homeopathic medicines are tested only on healthy humans in order to determine the range of action of each remedy.
COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE Homeopathic medicines can be used independently or along with conventional drugs and other therapies (with the full knowledge of your other healthcare providers). It can often alleviate unpleasant side effects of conventional treatments (e.g., chemotherapy).
ENVIRONMENTALLY-FRIENDLY Homeopathy has no adverse impact on the environment. There is not waste of energy or natural resources in the manufacturing process and no pollution of the water supply, oceans, or dump sites when used. In fact, homeopathy is the ultimate Green Medicine!
MEDICINE OF THE FUTURE Homeopathy is the second most widely-used system of medicine in the world. It is available in most countries and is gaining in popularity as an alternative to conventional medicine.

For more information please contact Dr. Anke Zimmermann at 250-590-5828.

Dr. Zimmerman can be reached at: –

Suite 2A – 2563 Penrhyn Road, Victoria, B.C.
Tel. 250-590-5828
www.drzimmermann.org