BUSINESS

Robert Sternberg: The
philosophy behind homeopathy
is "taking the similar product
and treating the similar
ailment, like using-bee venom
to treat a bee sting."

osc llococcinum

Robert Sternberg is
building his business
the old-fashioned way:
with all-natural,
homeopathic medicines.

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IL/RAI RELIEF
4A SYM PTOM

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Photos by Glenn Triest

...)PATHIC REMEDY

A Natural Businessman

ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM

Assistant Editor

C

all him The Natural.
When Robert Stern-
berg gets a headache,
he doesn't jump for that bot-
tle of Tylenol in the medi-
cine cabinet. Stomach
troubles don't send him run-
ning for a jar of Thms.
It isn't that Mr. Sternberg
doesn't believe in modern
medicine. He does. But he

also believes in the healing
power of homeopathic
remedies —natural medi-
cines derived from animal,
vegetable and mineral
extracts.
Two-and-one-half years
ago, Mr. Sternberg and his
brother, Barry, began a
mail-order homeopathic
business, Mid America
Homeopathic Medicine
Shop, based in Detroit. One
of several mail-order
homeopathic businesses

nationwide, the shop
handles 3,000 customers in
22 Southwest and Midwest
states, and Washington,
D.C.
"What we've done," Mr.
Sternberg said, "is to take
the idea of the traditional
pharmacy and put it into the
homeopathic mode."
Used by ancient Greeks,
homeopathy was in its hey-
day in the 1800s when
revived by German chemist,
Dr. Samuel Christian Hahn-

emann. Dr. Hahnemann be-
gan his research by testing
natural substances like mer-
cury, ipecac and belladonna
on himself. He found that
while ipecac in large doses
results in vomiting, in small
portions the substance cures
nausea.

Later, homeopathic
remedies became popular in
the United States, though
they fell out of favor in the
early part of the century

when researchers created
synthetic wonder drugs such
as aspirin, insulin and
penicillin.
The philosophy behind
homeopathy is "taking the
similar product and treating
the similar ailment, like us-
ing bee venom to treat a bee
sting," said Mr. Sternberg.
"It stimulates the body
systems to help the body
itself."
The process begins with
the natural base, which is

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

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