With the growing professionalization of medicine and the shift to a more mechanical and pharmacological view of the treatment of disease, homeopathy began to lose its footing in America. By the middle of the 1950s, all the schools were closed, and practitioners were hard to come by. But within the last decade, Americans have begun to reexamine Hahnemann's philosophies. Between the 1997 and 1998 flu seasons alone, sales of Oscillococ-cinum, remedy made from the liver of Barbary ducks, grew 40 percent. The attraction of homeopathy lies not only in its use of safe, gentle, natural remedies, but in its philosophy of healthy living.
Traditional medicine looks to suppress or mask symptoms.
To the homeopath, symptoms represent the body's attempt to cure itself. Remedies lean towards stimulating the body to heal itself more quickly. Conventional medicine often looks at heath as the absence of disease. Homeopathy sees health as a state of freedom, where a person is physically and mentally able to pursue his or her life as they chose. Homeopathic medicines are available without prescription, and can be found in almost any natural foods store.