1.The Status of Homeopathy
1.1Definition1.2Scientific tradition
This paper gives a brief overview of thescientific status of homeopathy. Itdemonstrates that there is pre-clinical andclinical evidence for the effectiveness of homeopathy and that with professional andadequate application, it can be seen assafe.
Homeopathy is often confused with the moregeneral category of complementary andalternative medicine (CAM). CAM is anumbrella term that includes all therapeutic anddiagnostic procedures which are not taught inconventional medical schools [1]. There is nogenerally accepted definition of CAM, and theterm is used differently in different studies.It also changes with time. In a workshop heldby the office of alternative medicine of the USNational Institute of Health in 1995, theparticipants agreed on the following definition:‘A broad domain of healing resources thatencompass all health systems, modalities andpractices, and their accompanying theoriesand beliefs, other than those intrinsic to thepolitically dominant health system of aparticular society or culture in a given historicalperiod. It includes all such products and ideasself defined by their users as preventingor treating illness or promoting health and well-being. Boundaries within complementaryand alternative medicine and betweencomplementary and alternative medicine andthe domain of the dominant system are notalways sharp or fixed.’ [2].Thus it is that the Atkins diet, Chinesemedicine, homeopathy, iris diagnosis, andphytotherapy all come under the umbrella of CAM despite the huge differences in their theoretical background, empirical observationand continuity of tradition and experience.Many patients consider the term homeopathyas an umbrella term for all kinds of alternativetreatment – for example they may say ‘I amgoing to my homeopath’ when in fact they arevisiting a herbalist.To clarify this confusing use of terms:homeopathy was developed by SamuelHahnemann in 1796 and is a medical therapythat intends to cure by stimulating theorganism’s own ability to re-establish health.Symptoms are carefully evaluated andremedies used. These are micro dose stimuliwhich would produce symptoms in healthypersons similar to those of the sick person.This is known as the ‘simile principle’ (let likebe cured by like) and is described inHahnemann’s ‘Organon’ [3]. Most of thesehomeopathic therapies use so-calledpotencies, specially prepared dilutions, theextent of which may go beyond Avogadro’snumber (as yet unknown in Hahnemann’stime) to enhance the homeopathic effect.Homeopathy has a scientific tradition whichdates back over 200 years. It has been basedfrom the beginning on scientific thinking andaccurate documentation. This has beenmaintained since both in classical homeopathyand in the majority of the different schools thathave developed, such as complexhomeopathy, clinical homeopathy,homotoxicology, anthroposophic medicine andisopathy.Hahnemann was a leading contemporaryscientist. He studied both medicine andchemistry. He turned his back on the medicineof his time because with its profusion of bloodlettings and enemas he thought it toocrude and barbaric and actually more harmfulto than beneficial for its patients. He was well-read and got impetus for his work fromtranslating medical and chemistry books intoGerman. The search for better understandingas to why quinine was effective in thetreatment of malaria, inspired him to takequinine himself to establish its effect in healthysubjects. During this experiment on himself, henoted that he developed many symptoms,such as intermittent fever, similar to those of malaria. He described his empirical findingsthat medication which leads to specialsymptoms in healthy people could be helpful intreating patients with similar symptoms
May 2009
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The Scientific Status of Homeopathy
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