What is the meaning of like cures like?

Answer 1

Like cures like is the basis of homeopathy, a treatment system intended to cure an illness rather than simply hiding its symptoms. Homeopathy is founded upon the idea that if two diseases having identical symptoms are within the body, the stronger disease will drive out the weaker one. An example of like cures like is the treatment for malaria. A tea brewed from a particular type of Peruvian tree bark was found to produce identical but stronger symptoms to those caused by malaria. While a person suffering from malaria experienced more discomfort for a short period of time after drinking the tea, the body could tolerate these symptoms and the person would find that the malaria had been cured when the effects of the tea had worn off. The compound in the bark is called quinine, and it became the most common medicine for treating malaria.