By JESSICA COHEN December 24, 2010

Homeopathy first impressed Gisela DiCarlo when she was 13, growing up in Berlin after World War II. she had a herpes zoster infection with a temperature of 107 degrees for three days that doctors failed to bring down.

“They threw up their hands and said, ‘Put her on ice.’ But we didn’t have an ice-maker in those days,” DiCarlo said.

The Milford resident credits a homeopathic remedy given by her grandmother for quelling the fever. More recently, her 24-year-old cat, Squeaky, benefited similarly from homeopathy when he picked up a dangerous cat flu from a newborn kitten DiCarlo had rescued.

For those unfamiliar, homeopathy is a medical system of disease treatment based in the use of small doses of remedies that in massive doses would produce symptoms in healthy individuals resembling the disease.

The daughter of dexterous parents, a pianist and a seamstress, DiCarlo came to the U.S. as a cosmetologist, stayed to marry architect Tom DiCarlo, and opened Safari Spa, where she did massage and facial rejuvenation for 18 years. now she has eight years of training and 12 years of practice as a veterinary homeopath behind her. however, while homeopathy has become an accepted form of medication in Germany, paid for by government health programs, DiCarlo faces legal obstacles trying to practice in the U.S.

“The American Medical Association outlawed it,” DiCarlo said. “It’s in the charter. ‘No medical doctor will be allowed to confer, refer, or consult with anyone but medically degreed doctors from accepted colleges.’ That’s how allopathy became strong and homeopathy became voodoo medicine,” which, she said, is what her husband’s (former) doctor called it.

“I said, I guess we had nothing to talk about then, and walked out,” DiCarlo recalled of that consultation.

Homeopathic remedies are available over the counter in tubes of tiny lactose pellets or small bottles of liquid. A conventional scientist might, by their standards, legitimately say these products contain no medication at all. the remedy, DiCarlo said, resides in the “memory” of the water where the original substance is diluted so many times it becomes undetectable.

The substance would be one of hundreds of possible poisons. While this may sound like voodoo, the underlying principle is that “like cures like,” said DiCarlo. It goes back to Socrates, but only in the 19th century was the principle systematized, the accomplishment of Samuel Hahnemann, a German physician. He theorized that traces of a poison producing symptoms similar to that of the disease would cure or alleviate it.

Remedies produced in this way, with multiple dilutions, were once popular. DiCarlo points out that Pennsylvania had two homeopathic medical colleges and five homeopathic hospitals from 1880 to 1920, at which point the AMA invalidated the practice.

But, said DiCarlo, “Homeopathy is becoming strong in the U.S. again. the homeopathic community is talking about starting a homeopathic college.”

At this time, there is no certification in this field in Pennsylvania.

In Europe, homeopathy studies have been published in respected medical journals such as the Lancet, showing effectiveness for allergies and asthma, in some cases. doing studies in homeopathy can be problematic, because the basic premise is to match the remedy to the individual’s particular symptoms and constitution. For similar ailments, different people may need different remedies.

“I can take days to find the right remedy,” DiCarlo said. “I have to consider the animal’s mental state, appearance, food likes and dislikes, fears. I like to visit animals in their homes and see how they behave.”

She has seen homeopathy help with problems ranging from horse colic to heart disease. It can be of only minor value for some ailments, such as virulent infections, internal damage and injury, but can be done in conjunction with veterinary care.

Legally, DiCarlo is obligated to work under the guidance of a vet. “I send people to vets for diagnosis, equipped with the right questions. I tell clients to ask about homeopathy. if the vet is against it, I say, ‘Change vets,’” she laughs.

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