In his 4th aphorism, Hahnemann is beginning to talk about an important aspect of natural medicine philosophy, as well as conventional medicine, which is preventive healthcare.
Preventive healthcare aims to protect, promote and maintain health and wellbeing by preventing disease in the first place.
Here, Hahnemann is saying that health can be preserved if:
- you know the factors that derange health
- how to remove them while a person is healthy
Removing these factors is also important when disease has taken hold, as they may be maintaining the disease state; and without their removal, the healing process may be obstructed.