Eliza Flagg Young, MD, a nineteenth century physician, once said, "Every woman is born a doctor. Men have to study to become one." Although this may be a controversial statement, what isn't controversial is that women tend to be the primary health care providers in most families. In the vast majority of homes women are responsible for watching over the health needs of the children, and by their shopping and cooking, they are responsible for fulfilling the nutritional needs of the family.
Because homeopathic medicines are considerably more amenable to home care than are conventional drugs, it is predictable that American women have had a history of interest in homeopathy.
It was not simply a coincidence that a large number of leading suffragettes in America during the 19th century were advocates of homeopathic medicine. Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Julia Ward Howe, Louisa May Alcott, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, Lucretia Mott, and Clemence Sophia Lozier were but some of the nineteenth century feminists who considered both women's rights and homeopathic medicine to be important ways to create a healthier society.
The famous Ladies Physiological Societies of the nineteenth century were early versions of contemporary women's support groups in which women taught each other about their bodies and how to heal themselves. Because of the significant role that homeopathy played at that time, information about homeopathic medicines was integral in many of these meetings of women.
Even many wives of conventional physicians in the nineteenth century sought the care of homeopaths. At an 1883 meeting of the American Medical Association, one doctor complained, "Too many wives of conventional physicians are going to homeopathic physicians. And to make matters worse, they are taking their children to homeopaths too!"1
Likewise today, the vast majority, approximately two thirds, of homeopathic patients and purchasers of homeopathic products are women. And today, there are approximately 300 homeopathic study groups, the significant majority of which are led by women and participated in by women.
There is one simple reason why so many women, past and present, have sought out homeopathic medicine: it is a safer and more effective method of healing themselves and their families. Because women tend to seek professional medical care more than men do, they also tend to experience more of its dangers as well as its benefits. When women reach the limits of modern medical expertise and experience some of the harsh side effects of modern medical practices, it is certainly understandable that they seek out alternative health methods such as homeopathic medicine.
Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS)
Homeopathic medicines can effectively treat the cramps, bloating, and various psychological symptoms that women commonly experience around their menstrual flow. While serious PMS should receive professional homeopathic attention, occasional or mild PMS symptoms can benefit from self-treatment, with either an individually prescribed remedy or one of the combination formula products.