Impossible Cure: The Promise of Homeopathy provides an in-depth and exciting account of the history, philosophy, science, and experience of homeopathic medicine. At the core of Impossible Cure is the amazing story of how the author's son was cured of autism with homeopathy. It also includes dozens of other testimonials of homeopathic cures for a variety of physical, mental, and emotional conditions.
Impossible Cure will serve as an invaluable guide to anyone interested in learning more about this intriguing form of health care.
Reviewers have described Impossible Cure as one of the most comprehensive and reader-friendly books about homeopathy -- perfect for patient education and as a text for first-year students.
The book includes:
Dozens of first-person testimonials of homeopathic cures for a variety of physical, mental, and emotional conditions. Among these is the amazing story of how the author's son was cured of autism with homeopathy.
A comprehensive introduction to homeopathic philosophy. This includes a discussion of the Law of Similars, remedy provings, suppression, susceptibility, the law of cure, totality of symptoms, individualization of treatment, the center of the case, and prioritization of symptoms.
A step-by-step guide for patients, including: how to find a homeopath; preparing for appointments and follow-ups; what to expect during a homeopathic interview; dosing; antidoting; and interactions with allopathic treatment. The issue of vaccination is also addressed - especially its relationship to autism and other chronic diseases.
A thorough account of the history and development of homeopathy. This includes: the life of Samuel Hahnemann and his development of various potencies and dosing methods; the history of homeopathy in America; a description of techniques related to classical homeopathy; and the current legal status of homeopathic practice in America.
An extensive chapter on scientific trials of homeopathy, as well as a discussion of possible explanations for the action of remedies within the relams of complexity and chaos theory and biophysics. The book also includes a unique description of homeopathic models of remedy action.
- Author: Amy Lansky
- ISBN: 9780972751407
- 302 pages
- Paperback
- Published in 2003
- Printed in United States
Reprinted with the permission of The Society of Homeopaths (from "The Homeopath" Journal Winter 2004 edition). Reviewed by Francis Treuherz.
I have so many introductory books on homeopathy for the general reader, I thought it would be impossible for there to ever be another interesting one, and yet, here it is, Impossible Cure. This is the story which parallels the lives of so many of us. That is, a busy and successful professional has a sick member of her family, impossible to cure, only to discover homeopathy, which of course works. She becomes an advocate for homeopathy, retrains and becomes a professional homeopath herself. Amy Lansky was working in Silicon Valley in the heart of the Californian computer industry, when her son was diagnosed with autism, which was eventually cured with homeopathy. She writes with verve and clarity about her family's story.
Max and Izaak, (her sons) were treated by John Melnychuck, who studied at the London College of Classical Homeopathy; the book has a foreword by Richard Pitt, who studied at the Tiverton branch of the College of Homeopathy. Both of these homeopaths are now resident in California. Amy herself studied at the School of Homeopathy (Devon) among other places. She practises and preaches the same type of homeopathy as we do.
There is a well-written explanation of the origins and meaning of homeopathy, especially its rise and fall and rise over 200 years in the USA and elsewhere. The principles are well described, and so is the scientific literature. There are also some real live short case histories, and here I must declare an interest, as one of my own is included. There are miracle cures of both acute illness and life threatening emergencies. The one that impressed me most is a case of varicose veins in the legs, of traumatic origin. They suddenly became worse as part of the remedy aggravation, and then, within five minutes of receiving the remedy, these tough gnarled old varicosities disappeared. This is the most exciting introduction to homeopathy you could read and pass on to your potential patients. This book will help them understand what to expect and how to go about the new experience of becoming a homeopathic patient. And this is a most useful book for you to have when preparing for your own talks, full of lively references and quotations all ready for you to use. It is a charming book. Having cast her critical eye over this review my wife is even now reading it with pleasure.
Reprinted with the permission of The Homeopathic Links Journal, Volume 16, Winter 2003. Reviewed by Joseph Rozencwajg, New Zealand.
I have known Amy for many years through the email lists. Although we never discussed anything personally, I was always amazed by the courage and the determination of this lady to cure her son.
And so she did. And here is how she did it.
Amy walks us through her and her son Max' story of discovering his autism, and how with the help of her homeopath he is today a normal child. During that story, she also guides us through the history, the basic principles and the applications of homeopathy. Not the usual chronology and explanations we find in all the other books but as they naturally present themselves as an explanation needed during her journey.
Chapter 4: 'What is disease? What is cure?' explains in simple terms the need and the usefulness of symptoms and signs.
Chapter 7: 'Science and scepticism' takes care of the modern research in the field of homeopathy in a way that is understandable by anyone. I really appreciated her references and citations. Whereas in many books big famous names are cited, apart from Hahnemann and Whitmont, Amy has used the experience and stories of colleagues and friends, people we talk to every day, who are our neighbours and our practitioners, people you find in the phone book and who are here for their patients on a daily basis: what a refreshing approach!
I found myself reading that book like a thriller, you know the kind of book you already know who is going to win and what is going to happen, but still you cannot avoid to be engulfed in the story and driven to continue. Granted, no professional homeopath is going to learn anything from the book except how to convey information to patients in a way that is correct, informative and fun.
As somebody suggested, each of us should buy three copies: one for us, one to lend to potential patients (hoping it will be returned) and one to offer to the municipal library for reference. There are only a few minor flaws I would like to see corrected: one is when explaining the dilutions, Amy writes about 1 drop in 100 drops or 1 drop in 10 drops, whereas it should be 1 in 99 or 1 in 9 - Let's remain totally correct, no need to oversimplify.
And as this book is going to be an international best-seller, it would be my suggestion to expand the last chapter that deals with the legal situation and how to find a homeopath to other countries than the USA, even though the websites for that purpose are cited: not everybody has access to the net. This is a book of hope for the public, this is a book of information and of testimony that is going to do more for homeopathy than any political bickering has been able to do until now: a mother talking to other mothers and telling them to go for homeopathy. What else do we need? Thank you, Amy!
Reprinted with the permission of The ARH (from 'Homeopathy in Practice' Journal, April 2004 edition). Reviewed by Patty Hemingway MARH.
This is a guide to homeopathy written by a scientist with personal experience of the efficacy of homeopathy, whose enthusiasm, clarity of style and interweaving of personal stories makes it a pleasure to read.
I have often wished that I could explain homeopathy better to my patients without either losing their interest or arousing their suspicion that homeopathy is only placebo. Well, here is a book that answers all those questions from patients and demonstrates through science and reputable testimony what homeopathy is, and how it can cure.
Amy Lansky is a wonderful storyteller and the story she tells us is how her young son was cured of autism. This was the starting point for her personal voyage of discovery about homeopathy. On the way she visits all the questions patients and students of homeopathy want answered and presents the practitioner with a seamless account of everything they ever knew, beautifully illustrated with observations and personal experience.
In the first two chapters we learn of homeopathy's origins in America, and about its originator, Samuel Hahnemann, and his exposition of the Law of Similars. This is accurate and well explained and serves as a preamble to the heart of the story as Amy Lansky explains her son's cure in chapter three.
When she finally had to accept that her boy was autistic she did what many parents do and embarked upon a quest to find the right treatment, without knowing anything about homeopathy. She describes the moment she discovered that homeopathy could help children like her son, and her excitement and instant fascination with the subject, which shine through every section of the book.
She shows how cranial osteopathy, prayer and reiki also came to their aid, and chronicles her son's treatment giving us a clear picture of signs and symptoms of health returning.
She is committed to educating others about the benefits of homeopathy, and at the end of this chapter she explains her delight in spreading the word among the parents of other autistic children, which is one of the aims of her website.
In the next section she addresses the question 'what is disease and what is cure?' and looks at how to recognise and interpret signs and symptoms of disease, deals with issues of causation, allopathic versus homeopathic treatment, and cure versus suppression, all of which lead nicely into an explanation of the materia medica. Nothing is left out as she discusses how symptoms are matched to remedy pictures, the doctrine of signatures and the different remedy kingdoms.
The only quibble I have with any of the information she provides comes in chapter six when she explains how remedies are made. The process of dilution she says involves one drop of the substance in 100 drops of alcohol and water when it should of course be one in 99. Possibly she thought this was easier to grasp for a lay readership, but as she does not oversimplify anywhere else in the book it feels unnecessary here.
Usefully, she explains the different methods of prescribing so any practitioner can confidently recommend this book knowing that her/his patient will not wonder why they were given cell salts or organ remedies rather than, or alongside, a single dose, and will understand the reasons behind the different prescriptions.
She includes a brief section on what she calls Loosely Related Methods and Modalities, which she says are not based on the law of similars and therefore have no real relationship to homeopathy, but are healing systems in their own right.
She includes in this list Bach Flower Remedies, herbalism, anthroposophic remedies, energy healing and 'machine prescribing'.
The latter she compares unfavourably to what she calls 'classical homeopathic prescribing', and illustrates her caution with a tale of woe from a homeopath who was treated by machine before she experienced the powerful effect of 'classical homeopathy'. She says this type of treatment is often used by practitioners who 'are poorly trained and looking for shortcuts', but this statement is not backed by any evidence apart from an anecdote from one homeopath.
One of my favourite chapters was Science and Skepticism: Does Homeopathy Really Work?' For the beleaguered homeopath facing accusations on all sides that there is no evidence that what they practise actually works, this is indeed a useful exposition of the various pieces of research to date that prove that homeopathy is effective.
She points out the flaws in the randomised placebo-controlled trial model of research, and explains why this is not the only, or perhaps the most suitable, method for trialling homeopathic treatments. This is also the chapter in which she examines the various explanations of how remedies work.
It is nice to see these explanations in the science chapter, and as a scientist she is perfectly at ease with this complex material and ably pulls together strands from the different sciences, as well as references back to Hahnemann's explanations, to demystify this important subject.
Chapter 8 deals with all aspects of the homeopathic consultation and explains in detail what the homeopath does and what information the patient needs to volunteer to assist in the selection of the correct remedy. She explains about homeopathic aggravations and the need to 'stick with it'. From my own experience this is a valuable reminder of how to educate our patients better about homeopathy so there are fewer failed cases because people are confused about what is happening, and fail to see the significance of the changes they experience after treatment.
The penultimate chapter, which feels as if it should really be the end of the book, is entitled Cure is Possible and leaves the reader with a series of inspiring stories from patients and homeopaths who tell us how well homeopathy works for them.
Perhaps the final chapter, which deals with the legal situation on the practice of homeopathy in the USA, would have worked better as an appendix for readers outside America . In future editions further appendices could be added on the legality of homeopathy in other countries.
As you might expect in a book that sets out to reach a broad audience there are detailed references to all the authors and subjects discussed and a fairly comprehensive index.
Amy Lansky hopes to keep her readers updated via her website (www.impossiblecure.com), on which she also intends to post other people's personal experiences of homeopathy.
This is more than an account of the personal road to cure, for the author's stance has become political: Amy writes of the legal challenges facing our profession, and her work in the struggle for health freedom in her home state. The last chapter focuses on issues like licensure, training, recognition and access to remedies. She has gone one step further than most of us by joining the Californian Coalition for Health Freedom. Her book has become a best seller on Amazon.
