Homeopathy gaining greater acceptance.

You have a runny nose, a sinus headache, and seem to be sneezing constantly. If you go to a typical physician, you probably will get a prescription for a decongestant, antihistamine, antibiotic, or whatever can suppress your symptoms. If you go to a homeopathic doctor, though, you are more likely to get a prescription for a natural substance derived from plant, animal, or mineral products that is designed to boost your body's own immune system.

"The goal of homeopathy is to create balance in the body and help fight the cause of the ailment, rather than suppress symptoms," explains Mitchell A. Fleisher, assistant clinical professor in the University of Virginia's Department of Family Medicine and a board-certified physician specializing in homeopathic medicine and nutritional therapy. "Taking away symptoms isn't curing the disease." In homeopathy, healing sometimes requires that symptoms temporarily get worse before they get better. "This is called healing crisis. The defense mechanism of the body is constantly attempting to eliminate or compensate for damage done by toxic processes. Symptoms represent the best attempt of the body's defense mechanism to heal itself. In the case of a cold, if you suppress the symptoms, you thwart the body's attempt to heal itself, and you may go from a cold to something worse like a sinus infection."

Though considered by many conventional...