Are homeopathic remedies safe for babies and toddlers?
When looking for ways to ease their little one’s discomfort, parents are confronted with many options. Homeopathy, a 200-year-old practice, is a modality parents may turn to. Homeopathic treatments, now available over the counter, offer parents more choices in healing, but can also lead to confusion. Is homeopathy safe? Is it effective? What Is Homeopathy Anyway? The notion of homeopathy encompasses the ideas that symptoms are the way the body heals itself and that by mimicking or ingesting a substance that produces similar symptoms, a patient can be relieved of them. Proponents believe that stimulating the immune system can bring about healing and equilibrium. A similar principle is behind allergy shots: When a patient receives an allergy shot, a small, dilute form of the allergen is injected into his or her body. The substances are extremely dilute, making them unlikely to cause problems. Ultimately, though, the patient can be less susceptible to the effects of that allergen. Samuel
