Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Stratosphere

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Ehdrive:

The '''stratosphere''' is the layer of the Earth's atmosphere that exists above the [[troposphere]]. On average, the bottom of the stratosphere is at a height of about 12 km and the top of the stratosphere (called the ''stratopause'') is around 50 km.<ref>Wile, Dr. Jay L. ''Exploring Creation With Physical Science''. Apologia Educational Ministries, Inc. 1999, 2000</ref> The layer above the stratosphere is the [[mesosphere]].

Temperature increases with height in the stratosphere. This causes the stratosphere to be buoyantly stable, which suppresses vertical motions.

The [[ozone layer]] is in the upper part of the stratosphere.

==References==
<references/>

[[Category: Meteorology]]

User talk:Ehdrive

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Ehdrive:

{{welcome}}--[[User:Offeep|Offeep]] 00:43, 15 July 2007 (EDT)

Thank you for the strong additions you have made to articles. However, please be careful with dating conventions and presenting the evolutionary viewpoint as fact. Conservapedia uses B.C. and A.D. And any discussion of dating is put in a special section under the theory that endorses it. Thank you for your work. [[User:Learn together|Learn together]] 00:41, 15 July 2007 (EDT)

== Red blood cells ==

First of all, an article already exists at [[Red Blood Cells]], so in the future please look to make sure you aren't duplicating an article. More importanly, though: did you just copy that from Wikipedia? That is not allowed, unless you were the principal editor of the wikipedia article, and I can't tell if you did any editing to the Wikipedia version. Thanks, [[User:HelpJazz|Help]][[User talk:HelpJazz|Jazz]] 15:54, 2 November 2007 (EDT)
: I redirected the original article. I knew it existed i didn't realize i had created a new one by accident. [[User:Ehdrive|Ehdrive]] 15:56, 2 November 2007 (EDT)
::The redirect should be to the [[Red Blood Cells]] article. All articles are supposed to have capitalized titles. Thanks. [[User:GregLarson | Greg]] 15:57, 2 November 2007 (EDT)

== Removing content ==

Why did you remove all the contents from a page?--[[User:Aschlafly|Aschlafly]] 16:04, 2 November 2007 (EDT)
:I'm the one who created it by mistake. if you're referring to the karl popper thing. [[User:Ehdrive|Ehdrive]] 16:06, 2 November 2007 (EDT)

== Wikipedia ==
If you are copying from Wikipedia, it is against our rules. Please refer to the "useful links" provided at the top of the page. [[User:GregLarson | Greg]] 16:13, 2 November 2007 (EDT)
:I do my own research.[[User:Ehdrive|Ehdrive]] 16:14, 2 November 2007 (EDT)
::You wrote [[Vitamin_C|this article]] in [[Special:Contributions/Ehdrive|seven minutes]]? Impressive. [[User:GregLarson | Greg]] 16:16, 2 November 2007 (EDT)
:::I don't write super long articles in a browser text box. I have special wiki software that i use to prepare articles before pasting them here. [[User:Ehdrive|Ehdrive]] 16:18, 2 November 2007 (EDT)
::::I see. You've also included a couple templates that do not exist on CP. [[User:GregLarson | Greg]] 16:19, 2 November 2007 (EDT)
:::::I guess my wiki software is slightly different. I'll try to keep an eye out for that. Thanks! [[User:Ehdrive|Ehdrive]] 16:20, 2 November 2007 (EDT)

User talk:Ehdrive

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User talk:Ehdrive

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Eugenics

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Ehdrive:

[[Image:Gtr766.png|right|thumb|300px|Logo of the Second International Congress of Eugenics, 1921.]]
'''Eugenics''' (from the Greek. eugenes "well-born, of good stock," from eu- "good" + genos "birth") is the general name for a series of ostensibly [[Science|scientific]] claims about inheritance among humans, which sought to eliminate traits, such as "imbecility" or criminal behavior, by selective [[Eugenics and sterilization|sterilization]], regulation of family size, and restrictions on who could marry whom. It was based upon a number of premises since shown to be demonstrably false (not all eugenecists held to all of these uniformly):

* That "imbecility" -- a catch-all phrase used to label many persons without anything that today would be recognized as mental illness or deficiency -- was necessarily the result of inheritance, and heritable.

* That human "races" as a category were substantial and determinative, and that certain races, such as the "Anglo Saxon," were innately superior to others.

* That "nervous exhaustion", "moral looseness" and other socially-acquired traits were inherited and heritable.

* That families with more children dispersed and diluted the "moral force" of each offspring.

* That immigrant children were less desirable, and that the "white race" or native-born Americans generally were endangered due to their lower fertility rate in comparison to recent immigrants (see leaflet at right).

* That "genius" was readily identified, inherited, and heritable.

The banner of eugenics was taken up by a variety of groups in the United States and around the world, each of which believed that it would lead to the creation of healthier, more intelligent people, conserve society's limited resources, and reduce human suffering. Of course, one of the unspoken aspects of this "reduction" in suffering was that it worked, not by reducing suffering ''per se'', but by reducing the number of people through forced sterilization -- fewer people, ergo, less suffering. Many women were sterilized involuntarily and without their knowledge under Eugenics laws which were passed in many states of the [[United States]] throughout the nineteen-teens and twenties.

===Eugenics and the state, 1890s–1945===
One of the earliest modern advocates of eugenic ideas (before they were labeled as such) was [[Alexander Graham Bell]]. In 1881 Bell investigated the rate of [[deaf]]ness on [[Martha's Vineyard]], Massachusetts. From this he concluded that deafness was hereditary in nature and recommended a marriage prohibition against the deaf ("Memoir upon the formation of a deaf variety of the human Race") even though he was married to a deaf woman. Like many other early eugenicists, he proposed controlling immigration for the purpose of eugenics and warned that boarding schools for the deaf could possibly be considered as breeding places of a deaf human race.

In [[1907]], [[Indiana]] became the first of more than thirty states to adopt legislation aimed at compulsory sterilization of certain
individuals.<ref>Indiana Supreme Court Legal History Lecture Series,
"Three Generations of Imbeciles are Enough:"
Reflections on 100 Years of Eugenics in Indiana, at [http://www.in.gov/judiciary/citc/special/eugenics/index.html]</ref> Although the law was overturned by the [[Indiana Supreme Court]] in [[1921]],<ref>''Williams v. Smith'', 131 NE 2 (Ind.), 1921, text at [http://www.bioethics.iupui.edu/Eugenics/SMith%20vs%20Williams.pdf] </ref> the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] upheld the constitutionality of a Virginia Law allowing for the [[Buck v. Bell|compulsory sterilization]] of patients of state mental institutions in [[1927]]; it was in writing this opinion that Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. coined the phrase "three generations of imbeciles are enough."<ref>{{harvnb|Larson|2004|p=194-195}} Citing [[Buck v. Bell]] 274 U.S. 200, 205 (1927).</ref>

[[Nazi Germany]] under [[Adolf Hitler]] was infamous for eugenics programs which attempted to maintain a "pure" German race through a series of programs that ran under the banner of "[[racial hygiene]]". Among other activities, the Nazis performed extensive experimentation on live human beings to test their genetic theories, ranging from simple measurement of physical characteristics to the horrific experiments carried out by [[Josef Mengele]] for [[Otmar von Verschuer]] on twins in the concentration camps. During the 1930s and 1940s, the Nazi regime forcibly sterilized hundreds of thousands of people whom they viewed as mentally and physically "unfit", an estimated 400,000 between 1934 and 1937. The scale of the Nazi program prompted American eugenics advocates to seek an expansion of their program, with one complaining that "the Germans are beating us at our own game".<ref>Quoted in Selgelid, Michael J. 2000. Neugenics? ''Monash Bioethics Review'' 19 (4):9-33</ref> The Nazis went further, however, killing tens of thousands of the institutionalized disabled through compulsory "[[euthanasia]]" programs.<ref>The Nazi eugenics policies are discussed in a number of sources. A few of the more definitive ones are Robert Proctor, ''Racial hygiene: Medicine under the Nazis'' (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1988) and Dieter Kuntz, ed., ''Deadly medicine: creating the master race'' (Washington, DC: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 2004) ([http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/deadlymedicine/ online exhibit]). On the development of the [[racial hygiene]] movement before National Socialism, see Paul Weindling, ''Health, race and German politics between national unification and Nazism, 1870-1945'' (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1989).</ref>

They also implemented a number of "positive" eugenics policies, giving awards to "[[Aryan race|Aryan]]" women who had large numbers of children and encouraged a service in which "racially pure" single women could deliver illegitimate children. Allegations that such women were also impregnated by [[Schutzstaffel|SS]] officers in the ''[[Lebensborn]]'' are common, but unproven. Also, "racially valuable" children from occupied countries were forcibly removed from their parents and adopted by German people. Many of their concerns for eugenics and racial hygiene were also explicitly present in their systematic killing of millions of "undesirable" people including [[Jew]]s, [[Roma (people)|Gypsies]], Jehovah's Witnesses and [[homosexuality|homosexuals]] during [[the Holocaust]] (much of the killing equipment and methods employed in the death camps were first developed in the euthanasia program). The scope and coercion involved in the German eugenics programs along with a strong use of the rhetoric of eugenics and so-called "racial science" throughout the regime created an indelible cultural association between eugenics and the [[Third Reich]] in the postwar years.<ref>See Proctor, ''Racial hygiene'', and Kuntz, ed., ''Deadly medicine.''</ref>

The second largest eugenics movement was in the [[United States]]. Beginning with [[Connecticut]] in 1896, many states enacted marriage laws with eugenic criteria, prohibiting anyone who was "epileptic, imbecile or [[feeble-minded]]" from marrying. In 1898 [[Charles Benedict Davenport|Charles B. Davenport]], a prominent American [[biology|biologist]], began as director of a biological research station based in [[Cold Spring Harbor]] where he experimented with evolution in plants and animals. In 1904 Davenport received funds from the [[Carnegie Institution]] to found the Station for Experimental Evolution. The [[Eugenics Record Office]] opened in 1910 while Davenport and [[Harry H. Laughlin]] began to promote eugenics.<ref>The history of eugenics in the United States is discussed at length in Mark Haller, ''Eugenics: Hereditarian attitudes in American thought'' (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1963) and [[Daniel Kevles]], ''In the name of eugenics: Genetics and the uses of human heredity'' (New York: Knopf, 1985) ISBN 0-520-05763, the latter being the standard survey work on the subject.</ref>

During the 20th century, researchers became interested in the idea that mental illness could run in families and conducted a number of studies to document the heritability of such illnesses as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression. Their findings were used by the eugenics movement as proof for its cause. State laws were written in the late 1800s and early 1900s to prohibit marriage and force sterilization of the mentally ill in order to prevent the "passing on" of mental illness to the next generation. These laws were upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1927 and were not abolished until the mid-20th century. By 1945 over 45,000 mentally ill individuals in the United States had been forcibly sterilized.

In years to come, the ERO collected a mass of family pedigrees and concluded that those who were unfit came from economically and socially poor backgrounds. Eugenicists such as Davenport, the [[psychology|psychologist]] [[Henry H. Goddard]] and the conservationist [[Madison Grant]] (all well respected in their time) began to lobby for various solutions to the problem of the "unfit". (Davenport favored immigration restriction and sterilization as primary methods; Goddard favored segregation in his ''[[The Kallikak Family]]''; Grant favored all of the above and more, even entertaining the idea of extermination.)<ref>See Kevles, ''In the name of eugenics.''</ref> Though their methodology and research methods are now understood as highly flawed, at the time this was seen as legitimate scientific research.<ref>See Pg. 23 " 'Human Progress’ through Eugenics" from Psychology of Mental Fossils, toward an Archeo-psychology by Douglas Keith Candland at [http://www.douglascandland.com/images/chapter7.pdf] </ref> It did, however, have scientific detractors (notably, [[Thomas Hunt Morgan]], one of the few [[Mendel]]ians to explicitly criticize eugenics), though most of these focused more on what they considered the crude methodology of eugenicists, and the characterization of almost every human characteristic as being hereditary, rather than the idea of eugenics itself.<ref>Hamilton Cravens, ''The triumph of evolution: American scientists and the heredity-environment controversy, 1900-1941'' (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1978): 179.</ref>

The idea of "genius" and "talent" is also considered by William Graham Sumner, a founder of the American Sociological Society (now called the American Sociological Association). He maintained that if the government did not meddle with the social policy of ''laissez-faire'', a class of genius would rise to the top of the system of social stratification, followed by a class of talent. Most of the rest of society would fit into the class of mediocrity. Those who were considered to be defective (mentally retarded, handicapped, etc.) had a negative effect on social progress by draining off necessary resources. They should be left on their own to sink or swim. But those in the class of delinquent (criminals, deviants, etc.) should be eliminated from society ("Folkways", 1907).

With the passage of the [[Immigration Act of 1924]], eugenicists for the first time played a central role in the Congressional debate as expert advisers on the threat of "inferior stock" from eastern and southern Europe. This reduced the number of immigrants from abroad to 15 percent from previous years, to control the number of "unfit" individuals entering the country. The new act strengthened existing laws prohibiting race mixing in an attempt to maintain the gene pool.<ref>Paul Lombardo, "Eugenics Laws Restricting Immigration," essay in the Eugenics Archive, available online at http://www.eugenicsarchive.org/html/eugenics/essay9text.html.</ref> Eugenic considerations also lay behind the adoption of [[incest]] laws in much of the U.S. and were used to justify many [[miscegenation|antimiscegenation]] laws.<ref>Paul Lombardo, "Eugenic Laws Against Race-Mixing," essay in the Eugenics Archive, available online at http://www.eugenicsarchive.org/html/eugenics/essay7text.html.</ref>

Some states sterilized "imbeciles" for much of the 20th century. The [[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S. Supreme Court]] ruled in the [[1927]] ''[[Buck v. Bell]]'' case that the state of [[Virginia]] could sterilize those it thought unfit. The most significant era of [[Eugenics and sterilization|eugenic sterilization]] was between 1907 and 1963, when over 64,000 individuals were forcibly sterilized under eugenic legislation in the United States.<ref>Paul Lombardo, "Eugenic Sterilization Laws," essay in the Eugenics Archive, available online at http://www.eugenicsarchive.org/html/eugenics/essay8text.html.</ref> A favorable report on the results of sterilization in [[California]], by far the state with the most sterilizations, was published in book form by the biologist [[Paul Popenoe]] and was widely cited by the Nazi government as evidence that wide-reaching sterilization programs were feasible and humane. When Nazi administrators went on trial for [[war crimes]] in [[Nuremberg]] after [[World War II]], they justified the mass sterilizations (over 450,000 in less than a decade) by citing the United States as their inspiration.<ref>The connections between U.S. and Nazi eugenicists is discussed in Edwin Black, "[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/11/09/ING9C2QSKB1.DTL Eugenics and the Nazis -- the California connection]", ''San Francisco Chronicle'' ([[9 November]] [[2003]]), as well as Black's ''War Against the Weak'' (New York: Four Wars Eight Windows, 2003). Stefan Kühl's work, ''The Nazi connection: Eugenics, American racism, and German National Socialism'' (New York: Oxford University Press, 1994), is considered the standard scholarly work on the subject.</ref>

==Eugenics in fiction==

In [[Aldous Huxley]]'s novel ''[[Brave New World]]'', the world government employs massive eugenics through mechanical, automatic breeding and elimination of the unfit. The 1997 film [[Gattaca]] is based on the premise of such as "new eugenics," complete with biometrics, "designer babies," and "in-valids."

== References ==

<references/>

== External References ==

Stephen Jay Gould, "The Mismeasure of Man", W.W. Norton and Co., 1981, 1996.

[[Category:philosophy]]

==See also==

*[[Genetic engineering]]

American Eugenics Society

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User talk:Ehdrive

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Symbolic Interactionism

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Symbolic Interactionism

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#REDIRECT [[Karl_Popper]]

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Red Blood Cells

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#REDIRECT [[Red blood cells]]

Actin

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Ehdrive: New page: '''Actin''' is a helical protein that forms microfilaments. It is an essential element of the cytoskeleton of a biological cell.

'''Actin''' is a [[helical]] [[protein]] that forms [[microfilament|microfilaments]]. It is an essential element of the [[cytoskeleton]] of a [[biological cell]].

Megakaryocyte

2007-11-02T19:41:22Z

Ehdrive: New page: The '''megakaryocyte''' is a large cell in the bone marrow that creates platelets by fragmenting into small, odd-shaped pieces. These fragments (platelets) ...

The '''megakaryocyte''' is a large [[cell (biology)|cell]] in the [[bone marrow]] that creates [[platelet]]s by fragmenting into small, odd-shaped pieces. These fragments ([[platelet]]s) of the megakaryocyte's [[cytoplasm]] circulate in the blood as the body's first line of defense against blood loss, a process that is called [[hemostasis]]. This article will discuss how megakaryocytes give rise to platelets, as well as how megakaryocytes themselves arise from less differentiated cells, and how they mature.

The [[bone marrow]] is a compartment inside some of the bones of [[vertebrates]], including humans, that contains important [[stem cells]] that go on to make up all the cellular elements of the circulating [[blood]] and some of the cells of the [[immune system]] that live in the solid organs of the [[reticuloendothelium system]].

DNA synthesis is occuring in the nucleus during thrombopoiesis (stimulated by thrombopoietin) without cytokenesis, aka endoreduplication. Therefore, the nucleus of the megakaryocyte can become very large and lobulated, which, under a light microscope, can give the false impression that there are several nuclei. In some cases, the nucleus may contain up o 64N DNA.

Platelets are held within demarcation channels, internal membranes within the cytoplasm of megakaryocytes. Megakaryocytes release their platelets in one of two ways. The cell may release its platelets by rupturing and releasing its contents all at once in the marrow. Alternatively, the cell may form platelet ribbons into blood vessels. The ribbons are formed via psuedopodia and they are able to continuously emit platelets into circulation. 2/3 of these platelets will remain in circulation while 1/3 will be sequestered by the spleen.

''Megakaryocyte'' function is determined by a large number of [[cytokine]]s, including [[thrombopoietin]].

The developmental stages of the megakaryocyte is:
CFU-Me ([[pluripotential hemopoietic stem cell]] or hemocytoblast) -> [[megakaryoblast]] -> promegakaryocyte -> megakaryocyte.

Homeopathy

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Homeopathy is an [[Alternative Medicine]] system that tries to treat illnesses with minuscule doses of the drugs that cause the same symptom as the illness. Homeopathy is based on the ideas of [[Samuel Hahnemann]], a 19th century physician who observed that some contemporary medicines evoked symptoms similar to those of the illnesses for which they were prescribed. There is no clear evidence to support the efficacy of homeopathic remedies, and it is likely that the reported effects are placebo effects.

== Introduction ==

Homeopathic remedies involve treating an illness with an infinitesimally small dose of a substance that, at bigger doses, can cause symptoms that are like those of the illness (treating 'like with like'). Controversially, homeopaths believe that the 'potency' of a remedy can be increased by serial dilutions (repetitively adding water or alcohol) combined with vigorous shaking, to the point where little or none of the original solution remains as part of the final prepared remedy.

The word 'homeopathy' was first used by the German physician Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843). Hahnemann was an eminent physician and a prominent public health reformer. He believed that his new system was more humane and effective than the conventional medicine of his time<ref>Hahnemann S (1796) translated into English as "[http://www.minutus.org/library/article_read.asp?id=6 Essay on a New Principle]". Hahnemann's [http://www.homeopathyhome.com/reference/organon/organon.html Organon der Heilkunst] in English translation</ref>, but it was greeted by the establishment with derision and contempt.<ref>Dean ME (2001) [http://shpltd.co.uk/dean-homeopathy.pdf Homeopathy and the progress of science] Hist Scixxxix</ref> Today, homeopathy is not an accepted part of conventional medicine, and its theories are not generally regarded as scientifically credible, but nevertheless it has more than 100,000 practitioners worldwide, and 500 million users.

Homeopathy (from the Greek hómoios (similar) and páthos (suffering)) regards diseases as 'morbid derangements of the organism', that involve some disturbance in a 'vital force.' Today, most homeopaths still believe that the fundamental causes of disease are internal and constitutional and that it is contrary to good health to suppress symptoms. They also accept the concept of 'latent Psora', the early signs of an organism’s imbalance which indicate that treatment is needed.

== The popularity of homeopathy ==

Homeopathy is popular in Europe and in India, but less so in the USA, where non-orthodox therapies are more tightly regulated. There are estimated to be more than 100,000 practitioners worldwide, and 500 million people receiving treatment. In Germany, homeopathy has been recognized as a 'special form of therapy' since 1978, meaning that its remedies do not have to have been shown to be efficacious, but since 2004, most are not covered by public health insurance. In Switzerland, homeopathic remedies were covered by the basic health insurance system, if prescribed by a physician, until June 2005, when the Government, after a 5-year trial, withdrew insurance coverage for homeopathy and four other complementary treatments, as they did not meet efficacy and cost-effectiveness criteria. In the UK, homeopathic remedies are sold over the counter, and five homeopathic hospitals are funded by the [[National Health Service]]. Homeopathy is not practiced by most of the medical profession, but is supported by the [[Prince of Wales]] and other members of the royal family.<ref>Leary B et al (1998) It Wont Do Any Harm: Practice and People At The London Homeopathic Hospital, 1889-1923, in Juette R et al (1998) Eds. 'Culture, Knowledge And Healing: Historical Perspectives On Homeopathy In Europe And North America' Sheffield Univ. Press, UK [http://www.homeoint.org/english/index.htm Homéopathe International The English language version]</ref><ref>Fisher P, Ward A (1994) Medicine in Europe: complementary medicine in Europe BMJ 309:107-111[1]; Homeopathy was regulated by the European Union in 2001, by Directive 2001/83/EC. [http://www.pheur.org/ European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines]</ref>

== History ==

For the early Greek physician [[Hippocrates]] of Cos, who lived at about 400 BCE<ref>[http://www.iep.utm.edu/h/hippocra.htm Hippocrates (c. 450 BCE to 380 BCE.)]</ref>, the four 'humours' (blood, black bile, yellow bile and phlegm) were the key to understanding disease. His ideas persisted through the writings of [[Galen]] (131-201 CE) until at least 1858, and [[Rudolf Virchow]]'s theories of cellular pathology. Diseases, it was thought, were the result of some 'imbalance' of the humours, and physicians of the day focused on restoring that balance, either by trying to remove an excess of a humour, or by suppressing the symptoms. "Bloodletting, fever remedies, tepid baths, lowering drinks, weakening diet, blood cleansing and everlasting aperients and clysters (enemas) form the circle in which the ordinary German physician turns round unceasingly", wrote Hahnemann while translating into German the Treatise on Materia Medica (1789) by the Edinburgh physician [[William Cullen]].<ref>See Peter Morrell, [http://homeoint.org/morrell/articles/index.htm Articles on Homeopathy]. [http://www.wholehealthnow.com/homeopathy_pro/homeopathy_1825_1849.html Homeopathy Timeline].</ref>

After 1783, disillusioned with medicine and the many toxic effects of its cures, Hahnemann began to use smaller and smaller doses of drugs, trying to minimize their toxic effects while retaining their efficacy. Cullen had written that Cinchona bark (which contains quinine) was effective because it was bitter, and Hahnemann pondered about this; he felt that this explanation was implausible because other substances that were as bitter had no therapeutic value. Accordingly, he took Cinchona bark himself, and saw that its effects were similar to the symptoms of the diseases that it was prescribed for. For Hahnemann, this was a breakthrough, and it led him to formulate the 'Principle of Similars' on which homeopathy is based, expressed by him as similia similibus curentur or 'let likes cure likes'.<ref>At least one writer has suggested that Hahnemann was hypersensitive to quinine, and that he might have had an allergic reaction ([http://www.angelfire.com/mb2/quinine/allergy.html Thomas WE "The basis of homeopathy"]).</ref>

He had concluded that diseases are caused by "spirit-like derangements of the spirit-like power that animates the human body", and was searching for a way to harness this power for healing.

=== Provings ===

Homeopathic remedies are found by 'provings', in which volunteers are given substances, the effects of which are recorded as a 'Drug Picture', these drug pictures are subsequently used to compare with a patient's symptoms in order to select, as a remedy, the substance whose effects are closest to the patient's symptoms. Today, homeopaths use about 3000 different remedies from animal, plant, mineral, and synthetic substances, including 'Natrum muriaticum' (sodium chloride or table salt)[9]<ref>[http://www.abchomeopathy.com/r.php/Nat-m ABC Homeopathy, Natrum Muriaticum]</ref>, 'Oscillococcinum' (a 200C product made from duck heart and liver that is prescribed for colds and flu-like symptoms) 'Roadrunner' (Geococcyx californianus)<ref>HPathy [http://www.hpathy.com/repertory/ Homeopathy Repertory]</ref> and 'Arnica'<ref>Bandolier. [http://www.jr2.ox.ac.uk/bandolier/booth/alternat/AT012.html Efficacy of Homeopathic Arnica]</ref>. Other 'isopathic' remedies involve diluting the agent or product of the disease; for example, [[Rabies]] nosode is made from the saliva of a rabid dog. Some homeopaths use more esoteric substances, known as 'imponderables' because they originate from electromagnetic energy 'captured' by alcohol or lactose ('X-ray', 'Sol' (sunlight), 'Positronium'<ref>Anti Matter. [http://www.hominf.org/posi/posiintr.htm The Homœopathic Proving of
Positronium]</ref>, and 'Electricitas'<ref>MATERIA MEDICA [http://homeoint.org/clarke/e/elect.htm Electricitas]</ref>](electricity), or with a telescope ('Polaris'). Recent ventures into more esoteric remedies include 'Tempesta'<ref>[http://uk.geocities.com/veryscarymary/stormremedy1.html The Homeopathic proving of 'Tempesta' the Storm by Mary English]</ref> (thunderstorm), and 'Berlin wall'.<ref>[http://www.biolumanetics.net/tantalus/Cases/BerlinWall.htm THE BERLIN WALL: A REMEDY OF POWER]</ref>

=== Preparation of similars ===

The most characteristic — and controversial — principle of homeopathy is that the efficacy of a remedy can be enhanced and its side-effects reduced by diluting it, in a process known as 'dynamization' or 'potentization'. Liquids are diluted (with water or alcohol) and shaken by ten hard strikes against an elastic body ('succussion'). For this, Hahnemann had a saddlemaker construct a special, wooden, 'striking board', covered in leather on one side and stuffed with horsehair (the board is displayed at the Hahnemann Museum in Stuttgart). When insoluble solids are used as the basis of remedies, such as [[quartz]] or oyster shell, they are diluted by grinding them with [[lactose]] ('trituration'). The original serial dilutions by Hahnemann used a 1 part in 100 (centesimal; 'C' potencies), or 1 part in 50,000 ( Quintamillesimal; 'LM' or 'Q' potencies). The dilution factor at each stage is 1:10 ('D' or 'X' potencies) or 1:100 ('C' potencies); Hahnemann advocated 30C dilutions for most purposes (i.e. dilution by a factor of 10030 = 1060). The number of molecules in a given weight of a substance can be calculated by Avogadro's number; the chance that there is even one molecule of the original substance in a 15C solution is small, and it is very unlikely that one molecule would be present in a 30C dilution. Thus, homeopathic remedies of a high 'potency' contain just water, but water that, according to homeopaths, retains some essential property of one of the substances that it has contacted in the past.<ref>There are 6.02 × 1023 molecules in one mole of a substance (Avogadro's number). Seawater tastes salty because it contains sodium chloride (common table salt), and typically one drop of seawater (0.05 ml) contains about 200 mg of salts, mainly sodium chloride - about 2 × 1019 molecules. One drop of a 10C dilution of this would be expected to contain at most one molecule of sodium chloride. [http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/water/ Water Structure and Behaviour] has references to current scientific understanding of water, with entries on "memory effects" and homeopathy</ref>

Hahnemann's explanation for how higher potencies could be more efficacious was that the friction involved in succussion might release some hidden curative power of substances. He wrote in 1825: "The effect of friction is so great, that not only the physical properties, such as caloric, odour, etc., are thereby called into life and developed by it, but also the dynamic medicinal powers of natural substances are thereby developed to an incredible degree".

== The skeptical view of homeopathy ==

:''As I understand it, the claim is that the less you use Homeopathy, the better it works. Sounds plausible to me.'' (David Deutsch, physicist)<ref>David Deutsch - Weblog[http://www.qubit.org/people/david/index.php?blog=20040808030513 Sunday, 2004/08/08 - 03:05 BST] </ref>

Homeopathy was developed at a time when many of the most important concepts of modern chemistry and biology, such as molecules and germs, were understood poorly if at all. While proponents may consider the mechanism of homeopathy to be an interesting side issue, skeptics consider the lack of any plausible mechanism to be a serious problem, raising the bar on the quality of evidence required before accepting the existence of the phenomenon under the motto 'Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof'.

In Hahnemann's day, many chemists believed that matter was infinitely divisible, so that it was meaningful to talk about dilution to any degree. Although the hypothesis of atoms can be traced back to the ancient Greeks, their size was not calculated until 1865 (by Loschmidt). There are 6.02×1023 particles in a mole (Avogadro's number), so homeopathic dilutions greater than about 24X or 12C are virtually certain to contain not even a single molecule of the initial substance. This is recognized by advocates of homeopathy, who assert that the essential healing power of their preparations is not to be found in the chemical action of molecules, but perhaps in the arrangement of the water molecules, giving rise to the expression 'the memory of water'. This concept is closely related to the belief in a 'vital force', which was common in Hahnemann's day, but was discarded by the scientific community as more and more life processes came to be describable in purely materialistic terms, and as the medical model of disease came to be focused on the failure of particular organs and processes in the body.<ref>There have been occasional reports of effects of highly diluted solutions on organic processes, including on histamine release by leukocytes :Davenas E et al (200?). "Human basophil degranulation triggered by very dilute antiserum against IgE". Nature 333: 816-8.[http://br.geocities.com/criticandokardec/benveniste01.pdf]; However, attempts to replicate these studies failed.Walach et al (2005). "Research on homeopathy: state of the art". J Alt Comp Medicine 11: 813–29.[http://www.iscmr.org/publications/2005_JACM_Homeopathy.pdf]</ref>

For critics, a closely related question is that of logical consistency of the theory. The theory assumes that water is imprinted by the properties of molecules that it once came in contact with, even when the molecules are diluted away. If so, then where did the pure water used in this process come from? The water that homeopaths use was once in contact with other chemicals, including chemical wastes, radioactive metals, dinosaur urine, and various poisons. According to this skeptical interpretation of homeopathic theory, all water in the world should remember its contact with millions of chemical substances and not just the properties of the chemicals that the homeopath claims will be useful. The answer of the homeopaths, that dynamization involves succussion as well as dilution, is unconvincing, because it seems improbable that one can amplify order in a solution by shaking it, and because a lot of shaking goes on in the natural world as well.<ref>Skeptics:
Simpson JY (1853) 'Homoeopathy, Its Tenets and Tendencies, Theoretical, Theological and Therapeutical' Edinburgh: Sutherland & Knox 11
'A close look at homeopathy' [http://www.skepticreport.com/health/hahnemann.htm skepticreport]
'A skeptical guide to homeopathic history, theories, and current practices' [http://www.homeowatch.org/ homeowatch]
'Dilution or delusion?' [http://www.skepticreport.com/health/dilutiondelusion.htm skepticreport]
'Magical thinking in complementary and alternative medicine' [http://www.csicop.org/si/2001-11/alternative.html CSIOP]
'Homeopathy - a skeptical view' [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/A954740 BBC]
BBC News, 25 October 2006 [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6085242.stm 25 October 2006]</ref>

== Scientific testing of remedies==

:''It is not a matter of theory or belief or opinion … Homoeopathy must rest upon facts'' (James Tyler Kent)

In the USA, homeopathic remedies are, like all health-care products, regulated by the [[Food and Drug Administration]], but unlike conventional medicines, they need not be approved by the FDA before sale, nor do they need to be proved either safe or effective, nor to be labeled with an expiry date, or undergo finished product testing. Unlike conventional medicines, homeopathic remedies do not have to identify their active ingredients as they have few or no active ingredients.

As homeopathic remedies at potencies higher than about D23 (10-23) contain no detectable ingredients apart from the diluent (water, alcohol or sugar), there is no known basis for these preparations having medicinal action. A recent review concluded that some experimental research has offered hints that some substances diluted and succussed beyond Avogadro’s number might be biologically active but overall, independently reproducible models have found no consistent effects. Many patients report benefits from some homeopathic remedies<ref>An Overview of Positive Homeopathy Research and Surveys [http://www.homeopathy-soh.org/whats-new/documents/Positivehomeopathy.PDF The European Network of Homeopathy Researchers April 2005]</ref>, but scientists usually attribute these to the Placebo Effect, the regression fallacy and/or the Forer effect.<ref>American Council on Science and Health,'[http://www.acsh.org/search/txtQuickSearch.homeopathy/health_result.asp The Scientific Evidence on Homeopathy]'</ref>

There is wide agreement that evidence based medicine is the best way to assess the efficacy and safety of health-care practices. Ideally, a drug should be tested in large, multi-center, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trials, to test whether it has an effect that is better than either a placebo or a different treatment. Some trials of homeopathy have indicated that some remedies might be more efficacious than placebos, but many are technically flawed, or involve samples too small to draw firm conclusions. Systematic reviews by The Cochrane Collaboration found insufficient evidence that homeopathy is beneficial for asthma, dementia, or induction of labor. They also found no evidence that homeopathic treatment prevents influenza, but reported some evidence that it appears to shorten the duration of the disease. Overall, systematic reviews have found no clear evidence of the efficacy of homeopathic remedies.<ref>'[http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/321/7258/442 Declaration of Helsinki should be strengthened]' Editorial (2000) BMJ 321:442-445
Jonas WB et al (2003). "A critical overview of homeopathy". Ann Intern Med 138: 393-9.[http://www.annals.org/cgi/reprint/138/5/393.pdf]
Jonas WB et al (2001). "A systematic review of the quality of homeopathic clinical trials". BMC Complement Altern Med 1: 12. [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=11801202 PMID 11801202]
The American Council on Science and Health [http://www.acsh.org/search/txtQuickSearch.homeopathy/health_result.asp The Scientific Evidence on Homeopathy]</ref>

In 2005, The Lancet published a meta-analysis of 110 placebo-controlled homeopathy trials and 110 matched conventional-medicine trials. The outcome suggested that the clinical effects of homeopathic remedies might all be placebo effects. The Lancet study is notable as a 'global' meta-analysis of homeopathy, not an analysis of particular remedies, i.e. it tested the hypothesis that all of the reported effects of homeopathic remedies are placebo effects. If so, then reports of positive effects reflect publication bias (the tendency to publish results when they show a positive effect but not when they are negative), and the magnitude of such effects should diminish with sample size and study quality. They analyzed an equal number of conventional medicine trials similarly; these showed a real effect of treatment, in that the size of the reported effect was independent of sample size, but the trials of homeopathy remedies did not. The study does not prove that homeopathy is never effective, but is consistent with the interpretation that all reported effects are placebo effects. The Lancet article was accompanied by an editorial entitled 'The end of homeopathy' which argued that doctors should recognize the absence of real curative powers in homeopathic medicine. The Lancet subsequently published a selection of critical correspondence.<ref>The Lancet study
Shang A et al (2005). "Are the clinical effects of homeopathy placebo effects? Comparative study of placebo-controlled trials of homeopathy and allopathy". Lancet 366: 726-32. [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=16125589 PMID 16125589]
Fisher P (2006) Homeopathy and The Lancet [http://ecam.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/3/1/145 eCAM 3:145-47]
Jobst KA (2005). "Homeopathy, Hahnemann, and the Lancet 250 years on: a case of the emperor's new clothes?". J Alt Comp Med 11: 751-54.[http://www.liebertonline.com/toc/acm/11/5]
'As a fourth study says it's no better than a placebo, is this the end for homeopathy?' [http://www.guardian.co.uk/medicine/story/0,11381,1556831,00.html The Guardian, Aug 26 2005]</ref>

==Medical organizations' attitudes towards homeopathy==

:''People use homeopathy because they believe it works. Although homeopathy, like other placebos, does not work in a clinical sense, it can induce physiological changes. It can also coincide with getting better anyway.''<ref>[http://www.senseaboutscience.org.uk/pdf/SenseAboutHomeopathy.pdf Sense About Science]</ref>

In the USA, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, part of the National Institutes of Health, funds research into homeopathy. According to its statement on homeopathy,<ref>[http://nccam.nih.gov/health/homeopathy/#q8 Statement on Homeopathy]</ref> controlled clinical trials of homeopathy had produced mixed results; in some, homeopathy appeared to be no more helpful than a placebo, but in others, more benefits were seen than expected from a placebo. Despite the lack of clear empirical support for homeopathy, the statement concluded that "Some people feel that if homeopathy appears to be helpful and safe, then scientifically valid explanations or proofs of this alternative system of medicine are not necessary."

According to The UK National Health Service there have been about 200 randomized controlled trials evaluating homeopathy, many of which suggest that any effectiveness that homeopathy may have is due to the placebo effect. In 1997, the American Medical Association(AMA) adopted the following policy statement after a report on several alternative therapies including homeopathy: "There is little evidence to confirm the safety or efficacy of most alternative therapies. Much of the information currently known about these therapies makes it clear that many have not been shown to be efficacious. Well-designed, stringently controlled research should be done to evaluate the efficacy of alternative therapies"<ref>Report 12 of the [http://www.ama-assn.org/ American Medical Association] Council on Scientific Affairs [http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/13638.html alternative theories including homeopathy]</ref>

According to the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare,<ref>[http://indianmedicine.nic.in/html/homoeopathy/homoe.htm Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare]</ref> homeopathy is one of the National Systems of Medicine in India, and it plays an important role in health care for many people. "Its strength lies in its evident effectiveness as it takes a holistic approach towards the sick individual through promotion of inner balance at mental, emotional, spiritual and physical levels."

==Safety of homeopathic remedies==

:''The highest ideal of cure is the speedy, gentle, and enduring restoration of health by the most trustworthy and least harmful way.'' (Samuel Hahnemann)

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration's view of homeopathy<ref>[http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/096_home.html View of Homeopathy]</ref> is that there is no real concern about the safety of most homeopathic products, as they "have little or no pharmacologically active ingredients". There have been some reports of illness associated with the use of homeopathic products, but in cases that they reviewed, the FDA concluded that the homeopathic product was not the cause of the adverse reactions. The main concern about the safety of homeopathy arises not from the products themselves, but from the possible withholding of more efficacious treatment, or from misdiagnosis of dangerous conditions by a non-medically qualified homeopath. For example, a 2006 survey by the UK charitable trust 'Sense About Science' revealed that homeopaths were advising travelers against taking conventional anti-malarial drugs, instead providing them with a homeopathic dilution of quinine. Even the director of the The Royal London Homeopathic Hospital condemned this:

:''"I'm very angry about it because people are going to get malaria - there is absolutely no reason to think that homeopathy works to prevent malaria and you won't find that in any textbook or journal of homeopathy so people will get malaria, people may even die of malaria if they follow this advice."''<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,,1820103,00.html Homeopaths "endangering lives" by offering malaria remedies] Alok Jha, Friday July 14 2006, The Guardian
House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology - Sixth Report[http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld199900/ldselect/ldsctech/123/12301.htm]</ref>

Professor Pasvol, a tropical medicine expert at Imperial College, London was reported as saying "Medical practitioners would be sued, taken to court and found guilty for far less. What this investigation has unearthed is appalling."<ref>BBC News [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5178488.stm Homeopathic practices 'risk lives']</ref>

A particular concern is that homeopaths discourage the use of vaccines. This attitude dates back to Hahnemann, who said "...to use a human morbific matter (a Psorin taken from the itch in man) as a remedy for the same itch or for evils arisen therefrom, stay away from it! Nothing can result from this but trouble and aggravation of the disease." Homeopathy is superficially like vaccination, in that vaccines contain a small dose of the 'disease' against which they offer protection (a vaccine is usually made from a bacterium or virus that is either dead or weakened so that it cannot produce symptoms, while still providing enough information to the immune system to generate antibody production). However, most homeopaths believe that vaccination has serious health consequences, and might arouse latent inherited and constitutional weaknesses.

== References ==
<references />
[[category:medicine]]

Homeopathy

2007-07-15T02:03:38Z

Ehdrive:

Homeopathy is an [[Alternative Medicine]] system that tries to treat illnesses with minuscule doses of the drugs that cause the same symptom as the illness. Homeopathy is based on the ideas of [[Samuel Hahnemann]], a 19th century physician who observed that some contemporary medicines evoked symptoms similar to those of the illnesses for which they were prescribed. There is no clear evidence to support the efficacy of homeopathic remedies, and it is likely that the reported effects are placebo effects.

[[Samuel Hahnemann]] described the principle of homeopathy by using a Latin phrase: Similia Similibus Curentur.<ref>http://www.homeopathic.org/whatis.htm</ref> This means, "Let likes cure likes."

Arizona, Connecticut and Nevada have separate homeopathic medical state licensing boards.

== Introduction ==

Homeopathic remedies involve treating an illness with an infinitesimally small dose of a substance that, at bigger doses, can cause symptoms that are like those of the illness (treating 'like with like'). Controversially, homeopaths believe that the 'potency' of a remedy can be increased by serial dilutions (repetitively adding water or alcohol) combined with vigorous shaking, to the point where little or none of the original solution remains as part of the final prepared remedy.

The word 'homeopathy' was first used by the German physician Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843). Hahnemann was an eminent physician and a prominent public health reformer. He believed that his new system was more humane and effective than the conventional medicine of his time<ref>Hahnemann S (1796) translated into English as "[http://www.minutus.org/library/article_read.asp?id=6 Essay on a New Principle]". Hahnemann's [http://www.homeopathyhome.com/reference/organon/organon.html Organon der Heilkunst] in English translation</ref>, but it was greeted by the establishment with derision and contempt.<ref>Dean ME (2001) [http://shpltd.co.uk/dean-homeopathy.pdf Homeopathy and the progress of science] Hist Scixxxix</ref> Today, homeopathy is not an accepted part of conventional medicine, and its theories are not generally regarded as scientifically credible, but nevertheless it has more than 100,000 practitioners worldwide, and 500 million users.

Homeopathy (from the Greek hómoios (similar) and páthos (suffering)) regards diseases as 'morbid derangements of the organism', that involve some disturbance in a 'vital force.' Today, most homeopaths still believe that the fundamental causes of disease are internal and constitutional and that it is contrary to good health to suppress symptoms. They also accept the concept of 'latent Psora', the early signs of an organism’s imbalance which indicate that treatment is needed.

== The popularity of homeopathy ==

Homeopathy is popular in Europe and in India, but less so in the USA, where non-orthodox therapies are more tightly regulated. There are estimated to be more than 100,000 practitioners worldwide, and 500 million people receiving treatment. In Germany, homeopathy has been recognized as a 'special form of therapy' since 1978, meaning that its remedies do not have to have been shown to be efficacious, but since 2004, most are not covered by public health insurance. In Switzerland, homeopathic remedies were covered by the basic health insurance system, if prescribed by a physician, until June 2005, when the Government, after a 5-year trial, withdrew insurance coverage for homeopathy and four other complementary treatments, as they did not meet efficacy and cost-effectiveness criteria. In the UK, homeopathic remedies are sold over the counter, and five homeopathic hospitals are funded by the [[National Health Service]]. Homeopathy is not practiced by most of the medical profession, but is supported by the [[Prince of Wales]] and other members of the royal family.<ref>Leary B et al (1998) It Wont Do Any Harm: Practice and People At The London Homeopathic Hospital, 1889-1923, in Juette R et al (1998) Eds. 'Culture, Knowledge And Healing: Historical Perspectives On Homeopathy In Europe And North America' Sheffield Univ. Press, UK [http://www.homeoint.org/english/index.htm Homéopathe International The English language version]</ref><ref>Fisher P, Ward A (1994) Medicine in Europe: complementary medicine in Europe BMJ 309:107-111[1]; Homeopathy was regulated by the European Union in 2001, by Directive 2001/83/EC. [http://www.pheur.org/ European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines]</ref>

== History ==

For the early Greek physician [[Hippocrates]] of Cos, who lived at about 400 BCE<ref>[http://www.iep.utm.edu/h/hippocra.htm Hippocrates (c. 450 BCE to 380 BCE.)]</ref>, the four 'humours' (blood, black bile, yellow bile and phlegm) were the key to understanding disease. His ideas persisted through the writings of [[Galen]] (131-201 CE) until at least 1858, and [[Rudolf Virchow]]'s theories of cellular pathology. Diseases, it was thought, were the result of some 'imbalance' of the humours, and physicians of the day focused on restoring that balance, either by trying to remove an excess of a humour, or by suppressing the symptoms. "Bloodletting, fever remedies, tepid baths, lowering drinks, weakening diet, blood cleansing and everlasting aperients and clysters (enemas) form the circle in which the ordinary German physician turns round unceasingly", wrote Hahnemann while translating into German the Treatise on Materia Medica (1789) by the Edinburgh physician [[William Cullen]].<ref>See Peter Morrell, [http://homeoint.org/morrell/articles/index.htm Articles on Homeopathy]. [http://www.wholehealthnow.com/homeopathy_pro/homeopathy_1825_1849.html Homeopathy Timeline].</ref>

After 1783, disillusioned with medicine and the many toxic effects of its cures, Hahnemann began to use smaller and smaller doses of drugs, trying to minimize their toxic effects while retaining their efficacy. Cullen had written that Cinchona bark (which contains quinine) was effective because it was bitter, and Hahnemann pondered about this; he felt that this explanation was implausible because other substances that were as bitter had no therapeutic value. Accordingly, he took Cinchona bark himself, and saw that its effects were similar to the symptoms of the diseases that it was prescribed for. For Hahnemann, this was a breakthrough, and it led him to formulate the 'Principle of Similars' on which homeopathy is based, expressed by him as similia similibus curentur or 'let likes cure likes'.<ref>At least one writer has suggested that Hahnemann was hypersensitive to quinine, and that he might have had an allergic reaction ([http://www.angelfire.com/mb2/quinine/allergy.html Thomas WE "The basis of homeopathy"]).</ref>

He had concluded that diseases are caused by "spirit-like derangements of the spirit-like power that animates the human body", and was searching for a way to harness this power for healing.

=== Provings ===

Homeopathic remedies are found by 'provings', in which volunteers are given substances, the effects of which are recorded as a 'Drug Picture', these drug pictures are subsequently used to compare with a patient's symptoms in order to select, as a remedy, the substance whose effects are closest to the patient's symptoms. Today, homeopaths use about 3000 different remedies from animal, plant, mineral, and synthetic substances, including 'Natrum muriaticum' (sodium chloride or table salt)[9]<ref>[http://www.abchomeopathy.com/r.php/Nat-m ABC Homeopathy, Natrum Muriaticum]</ref>, 'Oscillococcinum' (a 200C product made from duck heart and liver that is prescribed for colds and flu-like symptoms) 'Roadrunner' (Geococcyx californianus)<ref>HPathy [http://www.hpathy.com/repertory/ Homeopathy Repertory]</ref> and 'Arnica'<ref>Bandolier. [http://www.jr2.ox.ac.uk/bandolier/booth/alternat/AT012.html Efficacy of Homeopathic Arnica]</ref>. Other 'isopathic' remedies involve diluting the agent or product of the disease; for example, [[Rabies]] nosode is made from the saliva of a rabid dog. Some homeopaths use more esoteric substances, known as 'imponderables' because they originate from electromagnetic energy 'captured' by alcohol or lactose ('X-ray', 'Sol' (sunlight), 'Positronium'<ref>Anti Matter. [http://www.hominf.org/posi/posiintr.htm The Homœopathic Proving of
Positronium]</ref>, and 'Electricitas'<ref>MATERIA MEDICA [http://homeoint.org/clarke/e/elect.htm Electricitas]</ref>](electricity), or with a telescope ('Polaris'). Recent ventures into more esoteric remedies include 'Tempesta'<ref>[http://uk.geocities.com/veryscarymary/stormremedy1.html The Homeopathic proving of 'Tempesta' the Storm by Mary English]</ref> (thunderstorm), and 'Berlin wall'.<ref>[http://www.biolumanetics.net/tantalus/Cases/BerlinWall.htm THE BERLIN WALL: A REMEDY OF POWER]</ref>

=== Preparation of similars ===

The most characteristic — and controversial — principle of homeopathy is that the efficacy of a remedy can be enhanced and its side-effects reduced by diluting it, in a process known as 'dynamization' or 'potentization'. Liquids are diluted (with water or alcohol) and shaken by ten hard strikes against an elastic body ('succussion'). For this, Hahnemann had a saddlemaker construct a special, wooden, 'striking board', covered in leather on one side and stuffed with horsehair (the board is displayed at the Hahnemann Museum in Stuttgart). When insoluble solids are used as the basis of remedies, such as [[quartz]] or oyster shell, they are diluted by grinding them with [[lactose]] ('trituration'). The original serial dilutions by Hahnemann used a 1 part in 100 (centesimal; 'C' potencies), or 1 part in 50,000 ( Quintamillesimal; 'LM' or 'Q' potencies). The dilution factor at each stage is 1:10 ('D' or 'X' potencies) or 1:100 ('C' potencies); Hahnemann advocated 30C dilutions for most purposes (i.e. dilution by a factor of 10030 = 1060). The number of molecules in a given weight of a substance can be calculated by Avogadro's number; the chance that there is even one molecule of the original substance in a 15C solution is small, and it is very unlikely that one molecule would be present in a 30C dilution. Thus, homeopathic remedies of a high 'potency' contain just water, but water that, according to homeopaths, retains some essential property of one of the substances that it has contacted in the past.<ref>There are 6.02 × 1023 molecules in one mole of a substance (Avogadro's number). Seawater tastes salty because it contains sodium chloride (common table salt), and typically one drop of seawater (0.05 ml) contains about 200 mg of salts, mainly sodium chloride - about 2 × 1019 molecules. One drop of a 10C dilution of this would be expected to contain at most one molecule of sodium chloride. [http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/water/ Water Structure and Behaviour] has references to current scientific understanding of water, with entries on "memory effects" and homeopathy</ref>

Hahnemann's explanation for how higher potencies could be more efficacious was that the friction involved in succussion might release some hidden curative power of substances. He wrote in 1825: "The effect of friction is so great, that not only the physical properties, such as caloric, odour, etc., are thereby called into life and developed by it, but also the dynamic medicinal powers of natural substances are thereby developed to an incredible degree".

== The skeptical view of homeopathy ==

:''As I understand it, the claim is that the less you use Homeopathy, the better it works. Sounds plausible to me.'' (David Deutsch, physicist)<ref>David Deutsch - Weblog[http://www.qubit.org/people/david/index.php?blog=20040808030513 Sunday, 2004/08/08 - 03:05 BST] </ref>

Homeopathy was developed at a time when many of the most important concepts of modern chemistry and biology, such as molecules and germs, were understood poorly if at all. While proponents may consider the mechanism of homeopathy to be an interesting side issue, skeptics consider the lack of any plausible mechanism to be a serious problem, raising the bar on the quality of evidence required before accepting the existence of the phenomenon under the motto 'Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof'.

In Hahnemann's day, many chemists believed that matter was infinitely divisible, so that it was meaningful to talk about dilution to any degree. Although the hypothesis of atoms can be traced back to the ancient Greeks, their size was not calculated until 1865 (by Loschmidt). There are 6.02×1023 particles in a mole (Avogadro's number), so homeopathic dilutions greater than about 24X or 12C are virtually certain to contain not even a single molecule of the initial substance. This is recognized by advocates of homeopathy, who assert that the essential healing power of their preparations is not to be found in the chemical action of molecules, but perhaps in the arrangement of the water molecules, giving rise to the expression 'the memory of water'. This concept is closely related to the belief in a 'vital force', which was common in Hahnemann's day, but was discarded by the scientific community as more and more life processes came to be describable in purely materialistic terms, and as the medical model of disease came to be focused on the failure of particular organs and processes in the body.<ref>There have been occasional reports of effects of highly diluted solutions on organic processes, including on histamine release by leukocytes :Davenas E et al (200?). "Human basophil degranulation triggered by very dilute antiserum against IgE". Nature 333: 816-8.[http://br.geocities.com/criticandokardec/benveniste01.pdf]; However, attempts to replicate these studies failed.Walach et al (2005). "Research on homeopathy: state of the art". J Alt Comp Medicine 11: 813–29.[http://www.iscmr.org/publications/2005_JACM_Homeopathy.pdf]</ref>

For critics, a closely related question is that of logical consistency of the theory. The theory assumes that water is imprinted by the properties of molecules that it once came in contact with, even when the molecules are diluted away. If so, then where did the pure water used in this process come from? The water that homeopaths use was once in contact with other chemicals, including chemical wastes, radioactive metals, dinosaur urine, and various poisons. According to this skeptical interpretation of homeopathic theory, all water in the world should remember its contact with millions of chemical substances and not just the properties of the chemicals that the homeopath claims will be useful. The answer of the homeopaths, that dynamization involves succussion as well as dilution, is unconvincing, because it seems improbable that one can amplify order in a solution by shaking it, and because a lot of shaking goes on in the natural world as well.<ref>Skeptics:
Simpson JY (1853) 'Homoeopathy, Its Tenets and Tendencies, Theoretical, Theological and Therapeutical' Edinburgh: Sutherland & Knox 11
'A close look at homeopathy' [http://www.skepticreport.com/health/hahnemann.htm skepticreport]
'A skeptical guide to homeopathic history, theories, and current practices' [http://www.homeowatch.org/ homeowatch]
'Dilution or delusion?' [http://www.skepticreport.com/health/dilutiondelusion.htm skepticreport]
'Magical thinking in complementary and alternative medicine' [http://www.csicop.org/si/2001-11/alternative.html CSIOP]
'Homeopathy - a skeptical view' [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/A954740 BBC]
BBC News, 25 October 2006 [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6085242.stm 25 October 2006]</ref>

== Scientific testing of remedies==

:''It is not a matter of theory or belief or opinion … Homoeopathy must rest upon facts'' (James Tyler Kent)

In the USA, homeopathic remedies are, like all health-care products, regulated by the [[Food and Drug Administration]], but unlike conventional medicines, they need not be approved by the FDA before sale, nor do they need to be proved either safe or effective, nor to be labeled with an expiry date, or undergo finished product testing. Unlike conventional medicines, homeopathic remedies do not have to identify their active ingredients as they have few or no active ingredients.

As homeopathic remedies at potencies higher than about D23 (10-23) contain no detectable ingredients apart from the diluent (water, alcohol or sugar), there is no known basis for these preparations having medicinal action. A recent review concluded that some experimental research has offered hints that some substances diluted and succussed beyond Avogadro’s number might be biologically active but overall, independently reproducible models have found no consistent effects. Many patients report benefits from some homeopathic remedies<ref>An Overview of Positive Homeopathy Research and Surveys [http://www.homeopathy-soh.org/whats-new/documents/Positivehomeopathy.PDF The European Network of Homeopathy Researchers April 2005]</ref>, but scientists usually attribute these to the Placebo Effect, the regression fallacy and/or the Forer effect.<ref>American Council on Science and Health,'[http://www.acsh.org/search/txtQuickSearch.homeopathy/health_result.asp The Scientific Evidence on Homeopathy]'</ref>

There is wide agreement that evidence based medicine is the best way to assess the efficacy and safety of health-care practices. Ideally, a drug should be tested in large, multi-center, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trials, to test whether it has an effect that is better than either a placebo or a different treatment. Some trials of homeopathy have indicated that some remedies might be more efficacious than placebos, but many are technically flawed, or involve samples too small to draw firm conclusions. Systematic reviews by The Cochrane Collaboration found insufficient evidence that homeopathy is beneficial for asthma, dementia, or induction of labor. They also found no evidence that homeopathic treatment prevents influenza, but reported some evidence that it appears to shorten the duration of the disease. Overall, systematic reviews have found no clear evidence of the efficacy of homeopathic remedies.<ref>'[http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/321/7258/442 Declaration of Helsinki should be strengthened]' Editorial (2000) BMJ 321:442-445
Jonas WB et al (2003). "A critical overview of homeopathy". Ann Intern Med 138: 393-9.[http://www.annals.org/cgi/reprint/138/5/393.pdf]
Jonas WB et al (2001). "A systematic review of the quality of homeopathic clinical trials". BMC Complement Altern Med 1: 12. [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=11801202 PMID 11801202]
The American Council on Science and Health [http://www.acsh.org/search/txtQuickSearch.homeopathy/health_result.asp The Scientific Evidence on Homeopathy]</ref>

In 2005, The Lancet published a meta-analysis of 110 placebo-controlled homeopathy trials and 110 matched conventional-medicine trials. The outcome suggested that the clinical effects of homeopathic remedies might all be placebo effects. The Lancet study is notable as a 'global' meta-analysis of homeopathy, not an analysis of particular remedies, i.e. it tested the hypothesis that all of the reported effects of homeopathic remedies are placebo effects. If so, then reports of positive effects reflect publication bias (the tendency to publish results when they show a positive effect but not when they are negative), and the magnitude of such effects should diminish with sample size and study quality. They analyzed an equal number of conventional medicine trials similarly; these showed a real effect of treatment, in that the size of the reported effect was independent of sample size, but the trials of homeopathy remedies did not. The study does not prove that homeopathy is never effective, but is consistent with the interpretation that all reported effects are placebo effects. The Lancet article was accompanied by an editorial entitled 'The end of homeopathy' which argued that doctors should recognize the absence of real curative powers in homeopathic medicine. The Lancet subsequently published a selection of critical correspondence.<ref>The Lancet study
Shang A et al (2005). "Are the clinical effects of homeopathy placebo effects? Comparative study of placebo-controlled trials of homeopathy and allopathy". Lancet 366: 726-32. [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=16125589 PMID 16125589]
Fisher P (2006) Homeopathy and The Lancet [http://ecam.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/3/1/145 eCAM 3:145-47]
Jobst KA (2005). "Homeopathy, Hahnemann, and the Lancet 250 years on: a case of the emperor's new clothes?". J Alt Comp Med 11: 751-54.[http://www.liebertonline.com/toc/acm/11/5]
'As a fourth study says it's no better than a placebo, is this the end for homeopathy?' [http://www.guardian.co.uk/medicine/story/0,11381,1556831,00.html The Guardian, Aug 26 2005]</ref>

==Medical organizations' attitudes towards homeopathy==

:''People use homeopathy because they believe it works. Although homeopathy, like other placebos, does not work in a clinical sense, it can induce physiological changes. It can also coincide with getting better anyway.''<ref>[http://www.senseaboutscience.org.uk/pdf/SenseAboutHomeopathy.pdf Sense About Science]</ref>

In the USA, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, part of the National Institutes of Health, funds research into homeopathy. According to its statement on homeopathy,<ref>[http://nccam.nih.gov/health/homeopathy/#q8 Statement on Homeopathy]</ref> controlled clinical trials of homeopathy had produced mixed results; in some, homeopathy appeared to be no more helpful than a placebo, but in others, more benefits were seen than expected from a placebo. Despite the lack of clear empirical support for homeopathy, the statement concluded that "Some people feel that if homeopathy appears to be helpful and safe, then scientifically valid explanations or proofs of this alternative system of medicine are not necessary."

According to The UK National Health Service there have been about 200 randomized controlled trials evaluating homeopathy, many of which suggest that any effectiveness that homeopathy may have is due to the placebo effect. In 1997, the American Medical Association(AMA) adopted the following policy statement after a report on several alternative therapies including homeopathy: "There is little evidence to confirm the safety or efficacy of most alternative therapies. Much of the information currently known about these therapies makes it clear that many have not been shown to be efficacious. Well-designed, stringently controlled research should be done to evaluate the efficacy of alternative therapies"<ref>Report 12 of the [http://www.ama-assn.org/ American Medical Association] Council on Scientific Affairs [http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/13638.html alternative theories including homeopathy]</ref>

According to the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare,<ref>[http://indianmedicine.nic.in/html/homoeopathy/homoe.htm Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare]</ref> homeopathy is one of the National Systems of Medicine in India, and it plays an important role in health care for many people. "Its strength lies in its evident effectiveness as it takes a holistic approach towards the sick individual through promotion of inner balance at mental, emotional, spiritual and physical levels."

==Safety of homeopathic remedies==

:''The highest ideal of cure is the speedy, gentle, and enduring restoration of health by the most trustworthy and least harmful way.'' (Samuel Hahnemann)

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration's view of homeopathy<ref>[http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/096_home.html View of Homeopathy]</ref> is that there is no real concern about the safety of most homeopathic products, as they "have little or no pharmacologically active ingredients". There have been some reports of illness associated with the use of homeopathic products, but in cases that they reviewed, the FDA concluded that the homeopathic product was not the cause of the adverse reactions. The main concern about the safety of homeopathy arises not from the products themselves, but from the possible withholding of more efficacious treatment, or from misdiagnosis of dangerous conditions by a non-medically qualified homeopath. For example, a 2006 survey by the UK charitable trust 'Sense About Science' revealed that homeopaths were advising travelers against taking conventional anti-malarial drugs, instead providing them with a homeopathic dilution of quinine. Even the director of the The Royal London Homeopathic Hospital condemned this:

:''"I'm very angry about it because people are going to get malaria - there is absolutely no reason to think that homeopathy works to prevent malaria and you won't find that in any textbook or journal of homeopathy so people will get malaria, people may even die of malaria if they follow this advice."''<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,,1820103,00.html Homeopaths "endangering lives" by offering malaria remedies] Alok Jha, Friday July 14 2006, The Guardian
House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology - Sixth Report[http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld199900/ldselect/ldsctech/123/12301.htm]</ref>

Professor Pasvol, a tropical medicine expert at Imperial College, London was reported as saying "Medical practitioners would be sued, taken to court and found guilty for far less. What this investigation has unearthed is appalling."<ref>BBC News [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5178488.stm Homeopathic practices 'risk lives']</ref>

A particular concern is that homeopaths discourage the use of vaccines. This attitude dates back to Hahnemann, who said "...to use a human morbific matter (a Psorin taken from the itch in man) as a remedy for the same itch or for evils arisen therefrom, stay away from it! Nothing can result from this but trouble and aggravation of the disease." Homeopathy is superficially like vaccination, in that vaccines contain a small dose of the 'disease' against which they offer protection (a vaccine is usually made from a bacterium or virus that is either dead or weakened so that it cannot produce symptoms, while still providing enough information to the immune system to generate antibody production). However, most homeopaths believe that vaccination has serious health consequences, and might arouse latent inherited and constitutional weaknesses.

== References ==
<references />
[[category:medicine]]

Homeopathy

2007-07-15T02:01:54Z

Ehdrive: /* Scientific testing of remedies */

Homeopathy is an [[Alternative Medicine]] system that tries to treat illnesses with minuscule doses of the drugs that cause the same symptom as the illness. Homeopathy is based on the ideas of [[Samuel Hahnemann]], a 19th century physician who observed that some contemporary medicines evoked symptoms similar to those of the illnesses for which they were prescribed. There is no clear evidence to support the efficacy of homeopathic remedies, and it is likely that the reported effects are placebo effects.

[[Samuel Hahnemann]] described the principle of homeopathy by using a Latin phrase: Similia Similibus Curentur.<ref>http://www.homeopathic.org/whatis.htm</ref> This means, "Let likes cure likes."

Arizona, Connecticut and Nevada have separate homeopathic medical state licensing boards.

== Introduction ==

Homeopathic remedies involve treating an illness with an infinitesimally small dose of a substance that, at bigger doses, can cause symptoms that are like those of the illness (treating 'like with like'). Controversially, homeopaths believe that the 'potency' of a remedy can be increased by serial dilutions (repetitively adding water or alcohol) combined with vigorous shaking, to the point where little or none of the original solution remains as part of the final prepared remedy.

The word 'homeopathy' was first used by the German physician Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843). Hahnemann was an eminent physician and a prominent public health reformer. He believed that his new system was more humane and effective than the conventional medicine of his time<ref>Hahnemann S (1796) translated into English as "[http://www.minutus.org/library/article_read.asp?id=6 Essay on a New Principle]". Hahnemann's [http://www.homeopathyhome.com/reference/organon/organon.html Organon der Heilkunst] in English translation</ref>, but it was greeted by the establishment with derision and contempt.<ref>Dean ME (2001) [http://shpltd.co.uk/dean-homeopathy.pdf Homeopathy and the progress of science] Hist Scixxxix</ref> Today, homeopathy is not an accepted part of conventional medicine, and its theories are not generally regarded as scientifically credible, but nevertheless it has more than 100,000 practitioners worldwide, and 500 million users.

Homeopathy (from the Greek hómoios (similar) and páthos (suffering)) regards diseases as 'morbid derangements of the organism', that involve some disturbance in a 'vital force.' Today, most homeopaths still believe that the fundamental causes of disease are internal and constitutional and that it is contrary to good health to suppress symptoms. They also accept the concept of 'latent Psora', the early signs of an organism’s imbalance which indicate that treatment is needed.

== The popularity of homeopathy ==

Homeopathy is popular in Europe and in India, but less so in the USA, where non-orthodox therapies are more tightly regulated. There are estimated to be more than 100,000 practitioners worldwide, and 500 million people receiving treatment. In Germany, homeopathy has been recognized as a 'special form of therapy' since 1978, meaning that its remedies do not have to have been shown to be efficacious, but since 2004, most are not covered by public health insurance. In Switzerland, homeopathic remedies were covered by the basic health insurance system, if prescribed by a physician, until June 2005, when the Government, after a 5-year trial, withdrew insurance coverage for homeopathy and four other complementary treatments, as they did not meet efficacy and cost-effectiveness criteria. In the UK, homeopathic remedies are sold over the counter, and five homeopathic hospitals are funded by the [[National Health Service]]. Homeopathy is not practiced by most of the medical profession, but is supported by the [[Prince of Wales]] and other members of the royal family.<ref>Leary B et al (1998) It Wont Do Any Harm: Practice and People At The London Homeopathic Hospital, 1889-1923, in Juette R et al (1998) Eds. 'Culture, Knowledge And Healing: Historical Perspectives On Homeopathy In Europe And North America' Sheffield Univ. Press, UK [http://www.homeoint.org/english/index.htm Homéopathe International The English language version]</ref><ref>Fisher P, Ward A (1994) Medicine in Europe: complementary medicine in Europe BMJ 309:107-111[1]; Homeopathy was regulated by the European Union in 2001, by Directive 2001/83/EC. [http://www.pheur.org/ European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines]</ref>

== History ==

For the early Greek physician [[Hippocrates]] of Cos, who lived at about 400 BCE<ref>[http://www.iep.utm.edu/h/hippocra.htm Hippocrates (c. 450 BCE to 380 BCE.)]</ref>, the four 'humours' (blood, black bile, yellow bile and phlegm) were the key to understanding disease. His ideas persisted through the writings of [[Galen]] (131-201 CE) until at least 1858, and [[Rudolf Virchow]]'s theories of cellular pathology. Diseases, it was thought, were the result of some 'imbalance' of the humours, and physicians of the day focused on restoring that balance, either by trying to remove an excess of a humour, or by suppressing the symptoms. "Bloodletting, fever remedies, tepid baths, lowering drinks, weakening diet, blood cleansing and everlasting aperients and clysters (enemas) form the circle in which the ordinary German physician turns round unceasingly", wrote Hahnemann while translating into German the Treatise on Materia Medica (1789) by the Edinburgh physician [[William Cullen]].<ref>See Peter Morrell, [http://homeoint.org/morrell/articles/index.htm Articles on Homeopathy]. [http://www.wholehealthnow.com/homeopathy_pro/homeopathy_1825_1849.html Homeopathy Timeline].</ref>

After 1783, disillusioned with medicine and the many toxic effects of its cures, Hahnemann began to use smaller and smaller doses of drugs, trying to minimize their toxic effects while retaining their efficacy. Cullen had written that Cinchona bark (which contains quinine) was effective because it was bitter, and Hahnemann pondered about this; he felt that this explanation was implausible because other substances that were as bitter had no therapeutic value. Accordingly, he took Cinchona bark himself, and saw that its effects were similar to the symptoms of the diseases that it was prescribed for. For Hahnemann, this was a breakthrough, and it led him to formulate the 'Principle of Similars' on which homeopathy is based, expressed by him as similia similibus curentur or 'let likes cure likes'.<ref>At least one writer has suggested that Hahnemann was hypersensitive to quinine, and that he might have had an allergic reaction ([http://www.angelfire.com/mb2/quinine/allergy.html Thomas WE "The basis of homeopathy"]).</ref>

He had concluded that diseases are caused by "spirit-like derangements of the spirit-like power that animates the human body", and was searching for a way to harness this power for healing.

=== Provings ===

Homeopathic remedies are found by 'provings', in which volunteers are given substances, the effects of which are recorded as a 'Drug Picture', these drug pictures are subsequently used to compare with a patient's symptoms in order to select, as a remedy, the substance whose effects are closest to the patient's symptoms. Today, homeopaths use about 3000 different remedies from animal, plant, mineral, and synthetic substances, including 'Natrum muriaticum' (sodium chloride or table salt)[9]<ref>[http://www.abchomeopathy.com/r.php/Nat-m ABC Homeopathy, Natrum Muriaticum]</ref>, 'Oscillococcinum' (a 200C product made from duck heart and liver that is prescribed for colds and flu-like symptoms) 'Roadrunner' (Geococcyx californianus)<ref>HPathy [http://www.hpathy.com/repertory/ Homeopathy Repertory]</ref> and 'Arnica'<ref>Bandolier. [http://www.jr2.ox.ac.uk/bandolier/booth/alternat/AT012.html Efficacy of Homeopathic Arnica]</ref>. Other 'isopathic' remedies involve diluting the agent or product of the disease; for example, [[Rabies]] nosode is made from the saliva of a rabid dog. Some homeopaths use more esoteric substances, known as 'imponderables' because they originate from electromagnetic energy 'captured' by alcohol or lactose ('X-ray', 'Sol' (sunlight), 'Positronium'<ref>Anti Matter. [http://www.hominf.org/posi/posiintr.htm The Homœopathic Proving of
Positronium]</ref>, and 'Electricitas'<ref>MATERIA MEDICA [http://homeoint.org/clarke/e/elect.htm Electricitas]</ref>](electricity), or with a telescope ('Polaris'). Recent ventures into more esoteric remedies include 'Tempesta'<ref>[http://uk.geocities.com/veryscarymary/stormremedy1.html The Homeopathic proving of 'Tempesta' the Storm by Mary English]</ref> (thunderstorm), and 'Berlin wall'.<ref>[http://www.biolumanetics.net/tantalus/Cases/BerlinWall.htm THE BERLIN WALL: A REMEDY OF POWER]</ref>

=== Preparation of similars ===

The most characteristic — and controversial — principle of homeopathy is that the efficacy of a remedy can be enhanced and its side-effects reduced by diluting it, in a process known as 'dynamization' or 'potentization'. Liquids are diluted (with water or alcohol) and shaken by ten hard strikes against an elastic body ('succussion'). For this, Hahnemann had a saddlemaker construct a special, wooden, 'striking board', covered in leather on one side and stuffed with horsehair (the board is displayed at the Hahnemann Museum in Stuttgart). When insoluble solids are used as the basis of remedies, such as [[quartz]] or oyster shell, they are diluted by grinding them with [[lactose]] ('trituration'). The original serial dilutions by Hahnemann used a 1 part in 100 (centesimal; 'C' potencies), or 1 part in 50,000 ( Quintamillesimal; 'LM' or 'Q' potencies). The dilution factor at each stage is 1:10 ('D' or 'X' potencies) or 1:100 ('C' potencies); Hahnemann advocated 30C dilutions for most purposes (i.e. dilution by a factor of 10030 = 1060). The number of molecules in a given weight of a substance can be calculated by Avogadro's number; the chance that there is even one molecule of the original substance in a 15C solution is small, and it is very unlikely that one molecule would be present in a 30C dilution. Thus, homeopathic remedies of a high 'potency' contain just water, but water that, according to homeopaths, retains some essential property of one of the substances that it has contacted in the past.<ref>There are 6.02 × 1023 molecules in one mole of a substance (Avogadro's number). Seawater tastes salty because it contains sodium chloride (common table salt), and typically one drop of seawater (0.05 ml) contains about 200 mg of salts, mainly sodium chloride - about 2 × 1019 molecules. One drop of a 10C dilution of this would be expected to contain at most one molecule of sodium chloride. [http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/water/ Water Structure and Behaviour] has references to current scientific understanding of water, with entries on "memory effects" and homeopathy</ref>

Hahnemann's explanation for how higher potencies could be more efficacious was that the friction involved in succussion might release some hidden curative power of substances. He wrote in 1825: "The effect of friction is so great, that not only the physical properties, such as caloric, odour, etc., are thereby called into life and developed by it, but also the dynamic medicinal powers of natural substances are thereby developed to an incredible degree".

== The skeptical view of homeopathy ==

:''As I understand it, the claim is that the less you use Homeopathy, the better it works. Sounds plausible to me.'' (David Deutsch, physicist)<ref>David Deutsch - Weblog[http://www.qubit.org/people/david/index.php?blog=20040808030513 Sunday, 2004/08/08 - 03:05 BST] </ref>

Homeopathy was developed at a time when many of the most important concepts of modern chemistry and biology, such as molecules and germs, were understood poorly if at all. While proponents may consider the mechanism of homeopathy to be an interesting side issue, skeptics consider the lack of any plausible mechanism to be a serious problem, raising the bar on the quality of evidence required before accepting the existence of the phenomenon under the motto 'Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof'.

In Hahnemann's day, many chemists believed that matter was infinitely divisible, so that it was meaningful to talk about dilution to any degree. Although the hypothesis of atoms can be traced back to the ancient Greeks, their size was not calculated until 1865 (by Loschmidt). There are 6.02×1023 particles in a mole (Avogadro's number), so homeopathic dilutions greater than about 24X or 12C are virtually certain to contain not even a single molecule of the initial substance. This is recognized by advocates of homeopathy, who assert that the essential healing power of their preparations is not to be found in the chemical action of molecules, but perhaps in the arrangement of the water molecules, giving rise to the expression 'the memory of water'. This concept is closely related to the belief in a 'vital force', which was common in Hahnemann's day, but was discarded by the scientific community as more and more life processes came to be describable in purely materialistic terms, and as the medical model of disease came to be focused on the failure of particular organs and processes in the body.<ref>There have been occasional reports of effects of highly diluted solutions on organic processes, including on histamine release by leukocytes :Davenas E et al (200?). "Human basophil degranulation triggered by very dilute antiserum against IgE". Nature 333: 816-8.[http://br.geocities.com/criticandokardec/benveniste01.pdf]; However, attempts to replicate these studies failed.Walach et al (2005). "Research on homeopathy: state of the art". J Alt Comp Medicine 11: 813–29.[http://www.iscmr.org/publications/2005_JACM_Homeopathy.pdf]</ref>

For critics, a closely related question is that of logical consistency of the theory. The theory assumes that water is imprinted by the properties of molecules that it once came in contact with, even when the molecules are diluted away. If so, then where did the pure water used in this process come from? The water that homeopaths use was once in contact with other chemicals, including chemical wastes, radioactive metals, dinosaur urine, and various poisons. According to this skeptical interpretation of homeopathic theory, all water in the world should remember its contact with millions of chemical substances and not just the properties of the chemicals that the homeopath claims will be useful. The answer of the homeopaths, that dynamization involves succussion as well as dilution, is unconvincing, because it seems improbable that one can amplify order in a solution by shaking it, and because a lot of shaking goes on in the natural world as well.<ref>Skeptics:
Simpson JY (1853) 'Homoeopathy, Its Tenets and Tendencies, Theoretical, Theological and Therapeutical' Edinburgh: Sutherland & Knox 11
'A close look at homeopathy' [http://www.skepticreport.com/health/hahnemann.htm skepticreport]
'A skeptical guide to homeopathic history, theories, and current practices' [http://www.homeowatch.org/ homeowatch]
'Dilution or delusion?' [http://www.skepticreport.com/health/dilutiondelusion.htm skepticreport]
'Magical thinking in complementary and alternative medicine' [http://www.csicop.org/si/2001-11/alternative.html CSIOP]
'Homeopathy - a sceptical view' [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/A954740 BBC]
BBC News, 25 October 2006 [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6085242.stm 25 October 2006]</ref>

== Scientific testing of remedies==

:''It is not a matter of theory or belief or opinion … Homoeopathy must rest upon facts'' (James Tyler Kent)

In the USA, homeopathic remedies are, like all health-care products, regulated by the [[Food and Drug Administration]], but unlike conventional medicines, they need not be approved by the FDA before sale, nor do they need to be proved either safe or effective, nor to be labeled with an expiry date, or undergo finished product testing. Unlike conventional medicines, homeopathic remedies do not have to identify their active ingredients as they have few or no active ingredients.

As homeopathic remedies at potencies higher than about D23 (10-23) contain no detectable ingredients apart from the diluent (water, alcohol or sugar), there is no known basis for these preparations having medicinal action. A recent review concluded that some experimental research has offered hints that some substances diluted and succussed beyond Avogadro’s number might be biologically active but overall, independently reproducible models have found no consistent effects. Many patients report benefits from some homeopathic remedies<ref>An Overview of Positive Homeopathy Research and Surveys [http://www.homeopathy-soh.org/whats-new/documents/Positivehomeopathy.PDF The European Network of Homeopathy Researchers April 2005]</ref>, but scientists usually attribute these to the Placebo Effect, the regression fallacy and/or the Forer effect.<ref>American Council on Science and Health,'[http://www.acsh.org/search/txtQuickSearch.homeopathy/health_result.asp The Scientific Evidence on Homeopathy]'</ref>

There is wide agreement that evidence based medicine is the best way to assess the efficacy and safety of health-care practices. Ideally, a drug should be tested in large, multi-centre, randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind trials, to test whether it has an effect that is better than either a placebo or a different treatment. Some trials of homeopathy have indicated that some remedies might be more efficacious than placebos, but many are technically flawed, or involve samples too small to draw firm conclusions. Systematic reviews byThe Cochrane Collaboration found insufficient evidence that homeopathy is beneficial for asthma, dementia, or induction of labor. They also found no evidence that homeopathic treatment prevents influenza, but reported some evidence that it appears to shorten the duration of the disease. Overall, systematic reviews have found no clear evidence of the efficacy of homeopathic remedies.<ref>'[http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/321/7258/442 Declaration of Helsinki should be strengthened]' Editorial (2000) BMJ 321:442-445
Jonas WB et al (2003). "A critical overview of homeopathy". Ann Intern Med 138: 393-9.[http://www.annals.org/cgi/reprint/138/5/393.pdf]
Jonas WB et al (2001). "A systematic review of the quality of homeopathic clinical trials". BMC Complement Altern Med 1: 12. [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=11801202 PMID 11801202]
The American Council on Science and Health [http://www.acsh.org/search/txtQuickSearch.homeopathy/health_result.asp The Scientific Evidence on Homeopathy]</ref>

In 2005, The Lancet published a meta-analysis of 110 placebo-controlled homoeopathy trials and 110 matched conventional-medicine trials. The outcome suggested that the clinical effects of homeopathic remedies might all be placebo effects. The Lancet study is notable as a 'global' meta-analysis of homeopathy, not an analysis of particular remedies, i.e. it tested the hypothesis that all of the reported effects of homeopathic remedies are placebo effects. If so, then reports of positive effects reflect publication bias (the tendency to publish results when they show a positive effect but not when they are negative), and the magnitude of such effects should diminish with sample size and study quality. They analysed an equal number of conventional medicine trials similarly; these showed a real effect of treatment, in that the size of the reported effect was independent of sample size, but the trials of homeopathy remedies did not. The study does not prove that homeopathy is never effective, but is consistent with the interpretation that all reported effects are placebo effects. The Lancet article was accompanied by an editorial entitled 'The end of homeopathy' which argued that doctors should recognise the absence of real curative powers in homeopathic medicine. The Lancet subsequently published a selection of critical correspondence.<ref>The Lancet study
Shang A et al (2005). "Are the clinical effects of homoeopathy placebo effects? Comparative study of placebo-controlled trials of homoeopathy and allopathy". Lancet 366: 726-32. [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=16125589 PMID 16125589]
Fisher P (2006) Homeopathy and The Lancet [http://ecam.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/3/1/145 eCAM 3:145-47]
Jobst KA (2005). "Homeopathy, Hahnemann, and the Lancet 250 years on: a case of the emperor's new clothes?". J Alt Comp Med 11: 751-54.[http://www.liebertonline.com/toc/acm/11/5]
'As a fourth study says it's no better than a placebo, is this the end for homeopathy?' [http://www.guardian.co.uk/medicine/story/0,11381,1556831,00.html The Guardian, Aug 26 2005]</ref>

==Medical organizations' attitudes towards homeopathy==

:''People use homeopathy because they believe it works. Although homeopathy, like other placebos, does not work in a clinical sense, it can induce physiological changes. It can also coincide with getting better anyway.''<ref>[http://www.senseaboutscience.org.uk/pdf/SenseAboutHomeopathy.pdf Sense About Science]</ref>

In the USA, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, part of the National Institutes of Health, funds research into homeopathy. According to its statement on homeopathy,<ref>[http://nccam.nih.gov/health/homeopathy/#q8 Statement on Homeopathy]</ref> controlled clinical trials of homeopathy had produced mixed results; in some, homeopathy appeared to be no more helpful than a placebo, but in others, more benefits were seen than expected from a placebo. Despite the lack of clear empirical support for homeopathy, the statement concluded that "Some people feel that if homeopathy appears to be helpful and safe, then scientifically valid explanations or proofs of this alternative system of medicine are not necessary."

According to The UK National Health Service there have been about 200 randomised controlled trials evaluating homeopathy, many of which suggest that any effectiveness that homeopathy may have is due to the placebo effect. In 1997, the American Medical Association(AMA) adopted the following policy statement after a report on several alternative therapies including homeopathy: "There is little evidence to confirm the safety or efficacy of most alternative therapies. Much of the information currently known about these therapies makes it clear that many have not been shown to be efficacious. Well-designed, stringently controlled research should be done to evaluate the efficacy of alternative therapies"<ref>Report 12 of the [http://www.ama-assn.org/ American Medical Association] Council on Scientific Affairs [http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/13638.html alternative theories including homeopathy]</ref>

According to the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare,<ref>[http://indianmedicine.nic.in/html/homoeopathy/homoe.htm Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare]</ref> homeopathy is one of the National Systems of Medicine in India, and it plays an important role in health care for many people. "Its strength lies in its evident effectiveness as it takes a holistic approach towards the sick individual through promotion of inner balance at mental, emotional, spiritual and physical levels."

==Safety of homeopathic remedies==

:''The highest ideal of cure is the speedy, gentle, and enduring restoration of health by the most trustworthy and least harmful way.'' (Samuel Hahnemann)

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration's view of homeopathy<ref>[http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/096_home.html View of Homeopathy]</ref> is that there is no real concern about the safety of most homeopathic products, as they "have little or no pharmacologically active ingredients". There have been some reports of illness associated with the use of homeopathic products, but in cases that they reviewed, the FDA concluded that the homeopathic product was not the cause of the adverse reactions. The main concern about the safety of homeopathy arises not from the products themselves, but from the possible withholding of more efficacious treatment, or from misdiagnosis of dangerous conditions by a non-medically qualified homeopath. For example, a 2006 survey by the UK charitable trust 'Sense About Science' revealed that homeopaths were advising travelers against taking conventional anti-malarial drugs, instead providing them with a homeopathic dilution of quinine. Even the director of the The Royal London Homeopathic Hospital condemned this:

:''"I'm very angry about it because people are going to get malaria - there is absolutely no reason to think that homeopathy works to prevent malaria and you won't find that in any textbook or journal of homeopathy so people will get malaria, people may even die of malaria if they follow this advice."''<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,,1820103,00.html Homeopaths "endangering lives" by offering malaria remedies] Alok Jha, Friday July 14 2006, The Guardian
House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology - Sixth Report[http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld199900/ldselect/ldsctech/123/12301.htm]</ref>

Professor Pasvol, a tropical medicine expert at Imperial College, London was reported as saying "Medical practitioners would be sued, taken to court and found guilty for far less. What this investigation has unearthed is appalling."<ref>BBC News [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5178488.stm Homeopathic practices 'risk lives']</ref>

A particular concern is that homeopaths discourage the use of vaccines. This attitude dates back to Hahnemann, who said "...to use a human morbific matter (a Psorin taken from the itch in man) as a remedy for the same itch or for evils arisen therefrom, stay away from it! Nothing can result from this but trouble and aggravation of the disease." Homeopathy is superficially like vaccination, in that vaccines contain a small dose of the 'disease' against which they offer protection (a vaccine is usually made from a bacterium or virus that is either dead or weakened so that it cannot produce symptoms, while still providing enough information to the immune system to generate antibody production). However, most homeopaths believe that vaccination has serious health consequences, and might arouse latent inherited and constitutional weaknesses.

== References ==
<references />
[[category:medicine]]

Homeopathy

2007-07-15T01:54:49Z

Ehdrive: /* The skeptical view of homeopathy */

Homeopathy is an [[Alternative Medicine]] system that tries to treat illnesses with minuscule doses of the drugs that cause the same symptom as the illness. Homeopathy is based on the ideas of [[Samuel Hahnemann]], a 19th century physician who observed that some contemporary medicines evoked symptoms similar to those of the illnesses for which they were prescribed. There is no clear evidence to support the efficacy of homeopathic remedies, and it is likely that the reported effects are placebo effects.

[[Samuel Hahnemann]] described the principle of homeopathy by using a Latin phrase: Similia Similibus Curentur.<ref>http://www.homeopathic.org/whatis.htm</ref> This means, "Let likes cure likes."

Arizona, Connecticut and Nevada have separate homeopathic medical state licensing boards.

== Introduction ==

Homeopathic remedies involve treating an illness with an infinitesimally small dose of a substance that, at bigger doses, can cause symptoms that are like those of the illness (treating 'like with like'). Controversially, homeopaths believe that the 'potency' of a remedy can be increased by serial dilutions (repetitively adding water or alcohol) combined with vigorous shaking, to the point where little or none of the original solution remains as part of the final prepared remedy.

The word 'homeopathy' was first used by the German physician Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843). Hahnemann was an eminent physician and a prominent public health reformer. He believed that his new system was more humane and effective than the conventional medicine of his time<ref>Hahnemann S (1796) translated into English as "[http://www.minutus.org/library/article_read.asp?id=6 Essay on a New Principle]". Hahnemann's [http://www.homeopathyhome.com/reference/organon/organon.html Organon der Heilkunst] in English translation</ref>, but it was greeted by the establishment with derision and contempt.<ref>Dean ME (2001) [http://shpltd.co.uk/dean-homeopathy.pdf Homeopathy and the progress of science] Hist Scixxxix</ref> Today, homeopathy is not an accepted part of conventional medicine, and its theories are not generally regarded as scientifically credible, but nevertheless it has more than 100,000 practitioners worldwide, and 500 million users.

Homeopathy (from the Greek hómoios (similar) and páthos (suffering)) regards diseases as 'morbid derangements of the organism', that involve some disturbance in a 'vital force.' Today, most homeopaths still believe that the fundamental causes of disease are internal and constitutional and that it is contrary to good health to suppress symptoms. They also accept the concept of 'latent Psora', the early signs of an organism’s imbalance which indicate that treatment is needed.

== The popularity of homeopathy ==

Homeopathy is popular in Europe and in India, but less so in the USA, where non-orthodox therapies are more tightly regulated. There are estimated to be more than 100,000 practitioners worldwide, and 500 million people receiving treatment. In Germany, homeopathy has been recognized as a 'special form of therapy' since 1978, meaning that its remedies do not have to have been shown to be efficacious, but since 2004, most are not covered by public health insurance. In Switzerland, homeopathic remedies were covered by the basic health insurance system, if prescribed by a physician, until June 2005, when the Government, after a 5-year trial, withdrew insurance coverage for homeopathy and four other complementary treatments, as they did not meet efficacy and cost-effectiveness criteria. In the UK, homeopathic remedies are sold over the counter, and five homeopathic hospitals are funded by the [[National Health Service]]. Homeopathy is not practiced by most of the medical profession, but is supported by the [[Prince of Wales]] and other members of the royal family.<ref>Leary B et al (1998) It Wont Do Any Harm: Practice and People At The London Homeopathic Hospital, 1889-1923, in Juette R et al (1998) Eds. 'Culture, Knowledge And Healing: Historical Perspectives On Homeopathy In Europe And North America' Sheffield Univ. Press, UK [http://www.homeoint.org/english/index.htm Homéopathe International The English language version]</ref><ref>Fisher P, Ward A (1994) Medicine in Europe: complementary medicine in Europe BMJ 309:107-111[1]; Homeopathy was regulated by the European Union in 2001, by Directive 2001/83/EC. [http://www.pheur.org/ European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines]</ref>

== History ==

For the early Greek physician [[Hippocrates]] of Cos, who lived at about 400 BCE<ref>[http://www.iep.utm.edu/h/hippocra.htm Hippocrates (c. 450 BCE to 380 BCE.)]</ref>, the four 'humours' (blood, black bile, yellow bile and phlegm) were the key to understanding disease. His ideas persisted through the writings of [[Galen]] (131-201 CE) until at least 1858, and [[Rudolf Virchow]]'s theories of cellular pathology. Diseases, it was thought, were the result of some 'imbalance' of the humours, and physicians of the day focused on restoring that balance, either by trying to remove an excess of a humour, or by suppressing the symptoms. "Bloodletting, fever remedies, tepid baths, lowering drinks, weakening diet, blood cleansing and everlasting aperients and clysters (enemas) form the circle in which the ordinary German physician turns round unceasingly", wrote Hahnemann while translating into German the Treatise on Materia Medica (1789) by the Edinburgh physician [[William Cullen]].<ref>See Peter Morrell, [http://homeoint.org/morrell/articles/index.htm Articles on Homeopathy]. [http://www.wholehealthnow.com/homeopathy_pro/homeopathy_1825_1849.html Homeopathy Timeline].</ref>

After 1783, disillusioned with medicine and the many toxic effects of its cures, Hahnemann began to use smaller and smaller doses of drugs, trying to minimize their toxic effects while retaining their efficacy. Cullen had written that Cinchona bark (which contains quinine) was effective because it was bitter, and Hahnemann pondered about this; he felt that this explanation was implausible because other substances that were as bitter had no therapeutic value. Accordingly, he took Cinchona bark himself, and saw that its effects were similar to the symptoms of the diseases that it was prescribed for. For Hahnemann, this was a breakthrough, and it led him to formulate the 'Principle of Similars' on which homeopathy is based, expressed by him as similia similibus curentur or 'let likes cure likes'.<ref>At least one writer has suggested that Hahnemann was hypersensitive to quinine, and that he might have had an allergic reaction ([http://www.angelfire.com/mb2/quinine/allergy.html Thomas WE "The basis of homeopathy"]).</ref>

He had concluded that diseases are caused by "spirit-like derangements of the spirit-like power that animates the human body", and was searching for a way to harness this power for healing.

=== Provings ===

Homeopathic remedies are found by 'provings', in which volunteers are given substances, the effects of which are recorded as a 'Drug Picture', these drug pictures are subsequently used to compare with a patient's symptoms in order to select, as a remedy, the substance whose effects are closest to the patient's symptoms. Today, homeopaths use about 3000 different remedies from animal, plant, mineral, and synthetic substances, including 'Natrum muriaticum' (sodium chloride or table salt)[9]<ref>[http://www.abchomeopathy.com/r.php/Nat-m ABC Homeopathy, Natrum Muriaticum]</ref>, 'Oscillococcinum' (a 200C product made from duck heart and liver that is prescribed for colds and flu-like symptoms) 'Roadrunner' (Geococcyx californianus)<ref>HPathy [http://www.hpathy.com/repertory/ Homeopathy Repertory]</ref> and 'Arnica'<ref>Bandolier. [http://www.jr2.ox.ac.uk/bandolier/booth/alternat/AT012.html Efficacy of Homeopathic Arnica]</ref>. Other 'isopathic' remedies involve diluting the agent or product of the disease; for example, [[Rabies]] nosode is made from the saliva of a rabid dog. Some homeopaths use more esoteric substances, known as 'imponderables' because they originate from electromagnetic energy 'captured' by alcohol or lactose ('X-ray', 'Sol' (sunlight), 'Positronium'<ref>Anti Matter. [http://www.hominf.org/posi/posiintr.htm The Homœopathic Proving of
Positronium]</ref>, and 'Electricitas'<ref>MATERIA MEDICA [http://homeoint.org/clarke/e/elect.htm Electricitas]</ref>](electricity), or with a telescope ('Polaris'). Recent ventures into more esoteric remedies include 'Tempesta'<ref>[http://uk.geocities.com/veryscarymary/stormremedy1.html The Homeopathic proving of 'Tempesta' the Storm by Mary English]</ref> (thunderstorm), and 'Berlin wall'.<ref>[http://www.biolumanetics.net/tantalus/Cases/BerlinWall.htm THE BERLIN WALL: A REMEDY OF POWER]</ref>

=== Preparation of similars ===

The most characteristic — and controversial — principle of homeopathy is that the efficacy of a remedy can be enhanced and its side-effects reduced by diluting it, in a process known as 'dynamization' or 'potentization'. Liquids are diluted (with water or alcohol) and shaken by ten hard strikes against an elastic body ('succussion'). For this, Hahnemann had a saddlemaker construct a special, wooden, 'striking board', covered in leather on one side and stuffed with horsehair (the board is displayed at the Hahnemann Museum in Stuttgart). When insoluble solids are used as the basis of remedies, such as [[quartz]] or oyster shell, they are diluted by grinding them with [[lactose]] ('trituration'). The original serial dilutions by Hahnemann used a 1 part in 100 (centesimal; 'C' potencies), or 1 part in 50,000 ( Quintamillesimal; 'LM' or 'Q' potencies). The dilution factor at each stage is 1:10 ('D' or 'X' potencies) or 1:100 ('C' potencies); Hahnemann advocated 30C dilutions for most purposes (i.e. dilution by a factor of 10030 = 1060). The number of molecules in a given weight of a substance can be calculated by Avogadro's number; the chance that there is even one molecule of the original substance in a 15C solution is small, and it is very unlikely that one molecule would be present in a 30C dilution. Thus, homeopathic remedies of a high 'potency' contain just water, but water that, according to homeopaths, retains some essential property of one of the substances that it has contacted in the past.<ref>There are 6.02 × 1023 molecules in one mole of a substance (Avogadro's number). Seawater tastes salty because it contains sodium chloride (common table salt), and typically one drop of seawater (0.05 ml) contains about 200 mg of salts, mainly sodium chloride - about 2 × 1019 molecules. One drop of a 10C dilution of this would be expected to contain at most one molecule of sodium chloride. [http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/water/ Water Structure and Behaviour] has references to current scientific understanding of water, with entries on "memory effects" and homeopathy</ref>

Hahnemann's explanation for how higher potencies could be more efficacious was that the friction involved in succussion might release some hidden curative power of substances. He wrote in 1825: "The effect of friction is so great, that not only the physical properties, such as caloric, odour, etc., are thereby called into life and developed by it, but also the dynamic medicinal powers of natural substances are thereby developed to an incredible degree".

== The skeptical view of homeopathy ==

:''As I understand it, the claim is that the less you use Homeopathy, the better it works. Sounds plausible to me.'' (David Deutsch, physicist)<ref>David Deutsch - Weblog[http://www.qubit.org/people/david/index.php?blog=20040808030513 Sunday, 2004/08/08 - 03:05 BST] </ref>

Homeopathy was developed at a time when many of the most important concepts of modern chemistry and biology, such as molecules and germs, were understood poorly if at all. While proponents may consider the mechanism of homeopathy to be an interesting side issue, skeptics consider the lack of any plausible mechanism to be a serious problem, raising the bar on the quality of evidence required before accepting the existence of the phenomenon under the motto 'Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof'.

In Hahnemann's day, many chemists believed that matter was infinitely divisible, so that it was meaningful to talk about dilution to any degree. Although the hypothesis of atoms can be traced back to the ancient Greeks, their size was not calculated until 1865 (by Loschmidt). There are 6.02×1023 particles in a mole (Avogadro's number), so homeopathic dilutions greater than about 24X or 12C are virtually certain to contain not even a single molecule of the initial substance. This is recognized by advocates of homeopathy, who assert that the essential healing power of their preparations is not to be found in the chemical action of molecules, but perhaps in the arrangement of the water molecules, giving rise to the expression 'the memory of water'. This concept is closely related to the belief in a 'vital force', which was common in Hahnemann's day, but was discarded by the scientific community as more and more life processes came to be describable in purely materialistic terms, and as the medical model of disease came to be focused on the failure of particular organs and processes in the body.<ref>There have been occasional reports of effects of highly diluted solutions on organic processes, including on histamine release by leukocytes :Davenas E et al (200?). "Human basophil degranulation triggered by very dilute antiserum against IgE". Nature 333: 816-8.[http://br.geocities.com/criticandokardec/benveniste01.pdf]; However, attempts to replicate these studies failed.Walach et al (2005). "Research on homeopathy: state of the art". J Alt Comp Medicine 11: 813–29.[http://www.iscmr.org/publications/2005_JACM_Homeopathy.pdf]</ref>

For critics, a closely related question is that of logical consistency of the theory. The theory assumes that water is imprinted by the properties of molecules that it once came in contact with, even when the molecules are diluted away. If so, then where did the pure water used in this process come from? The water that homeopaths use was once in contact with other chemicals, including chemical wastes, radioactive metals, dinosaur urine, and various poisons. According to this skeptical interpretation of homeopathic theory, all water in the world should remember its contact with millions of chemical substances and not just the properties of the chemicals that the homeopath claims will be useful. The answer of the homeopaths, that dynamization involves succussion as well as dilution, is unconvincing, because it seems improbable that one can amplify order in a solution by shaking it, and because a lot of shaking goes on in the natural world as well.<ref>Skeptics:
Simpson JY (1853) 'Homoeopathy, Its Tenets and Tendencies, Theoretical, Theological and Therapeutical' Edinburgh: Sutherland & Knox 11
'A close look at homeopathy' [http://www.skepticreport.com/health/hahnemann.htm skepticreport]
'A skeptical guide to homeopathic history, theories, and current practices' [http://www.homeowatch.org/ homeowatch]
'Dilution or delusion?' [http://www.skepticreport.com/health/dilutiondelusion.htm skepticreport]
'Magical thinking in complementary and alternative medicine' [http://www.csicop.org/si/2001-11/alternative.html CSIOP]
'Homeopathy - a sceptical view' [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/A954740 BBC]
BBC News, 25 October 2006 [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6085242.stm 25 October 2006]</ref>

== Scientific testing of remedies==

:''It is not a matter of theory or belief or opinion … Homoeopathy must rest upon facts'' (James Tyler Kent)

In the USA, homeopathic remedies are, like all health-care products, regulated by the [[Food and Drug Administration]], but unlike conventional medicines, they need not be approved by the FDA before sale, nor do they need to be proved either safe or effective, nor to be labeled with an expiry date, or undergo finished product testing. Unlike conventional medicines, homeopathic remedies do not have to identify their active ingredients as they have few or no active ingredients.

As homeopathic remedies at potencies higher than about D23 (10-23) contain no detectable ingredients apart from the diluent (water, alcohol or sugar), there is no known basis for these preparations having medicinal action. A recent review concluded that some experimental research has offered hints that some substances diluted and succussed beyond Avogadro’s number might be biologically active but overall, independently reproducible models have found no consistent effects. Many patients report benefits from some homeopathic remedies<ref>An Overview of Positive Homeopathy Research and Surveys [http://www.homeopathy-soh.org/whats-new/documents/Positivehomeopathy.PDF The European Network of Homeopathy Researchers April 2005]</ref>, but scientists usually attribute these to the Placebo Effect, the regression fallacy and/or the Forer effect.<ref>American Council on Science and Health,'[http://www.acsh.org/search/txtQuickSearch.homeopathy/health_result.asp The Scientific Evidence on Homeopathy]'</ref>

There is wide agreement that evidence based medicine is the best way to assess the efficacy and safety of health-care practices. Ideally, a drug should be tested in large, multi-centre, randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind trials, to test whether it has an effect that is better than either a placebo or a different treatment. Some trials of homeopathy have indicated that some remedies might be more efficacious than placebos, but many are technically flawed, or involve samples too small to draw firm conclusions. Systematic reviews byThe Cochrane Collaboration found insufficient evidence that homeopathy is beneficial for asthma, dementia, or induction of labor. They also found no evidence that homeopathic treatment prevents influenza, but reported some evidence that it appears to shorten the duration of the disease. Overall, systematic reviews have found no clear evidence of the efficacy of homeopathic remedies.<ref>'[http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/321/7258/442 Declaration of Helsinki should be strengthened]' Editorial (2000) BMJ 321:442-445
Jonas WB et al (2003). "A critical overview of homeopathy". Ann Intern Med 138: 393-9.[http://www.annals.org/cgi/reprint/138/5/393.pdf]
Jonas WB et al (2001). "A systematic review of the quality of homeopathic clinical trials". BMC Complement Altern Med 1: 12. [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=11801202 PMID 11801202]
The American Council on Science and Health [http://www.acsh.org/search/txtQuickSearch.homeopathy/health_result.asp The Scientific Evidence on Homeopathy]</ref>

In 2005, The Lancet published a meta-analysis of 110 placebo-controlled homoeopathy trials and 110 matched conventional-medicine trials. The outcome suggested that the clinical effects of homeopathic remedies might all be placebo effects. The Lancet study is notable as a 'global' meta-analysis of homeopathy, not an analysis of particular remedies, i.e. it tested the hypothesis that all of the reported effects of homeopathic remedies are placebo effects. If so, then reports of positive effects reflect publication bias (the tendency to publish results when they show a positive effect but not when they are negative), and the magnitude of such effects should diminish with sample size and study quality. They analysed an equal number of conventional medicine trials similarly; these showed a real effect of treatment, in that the size of the reported effect was independent of sample size, but the trials of homeopathy remedies did not. The study does not prove that homeopathy is never effective, but is consistent with the interpretation that all reported effects are placebo effects. The Lancet article was accompanied by an editorial entitled 'The end of homeopathy' which argued that doctors should recognise the absence of real curative powers in homeopathic medicine. The Lancet subsequently published a selection of critical correspondence.<ref>The Lancet study
Shang A et al (2005). "Are the clinical effects of homoeopathy placebo effects? Comparative study of placebo-controlled trials of homoeopathy and allopathy". Lancet 366: 726-32. [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=16125589 PMID 16125589]
Fisher P (2006) Homeopathy and The Lancet [http://ecam.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/3/1/145 eCAM 3:145-47]
Jobst KA (2005). "Homeopathy, Hahnemann, and the Lancet 250 years on: a case of the emperor's new clothes?". J Alt Comp Med 11: 751-54.[http://www.liebertonline.com/toc/acm/11/5]
'As a fourth study says it's no better than a placebo, is this the end for homeopathy?' [http://www.guardian.co.uk/medicine/story/0,11381,1556831,00.html The Guardian, Aug 26 2005]</ref>

== References ==
<references />
[[category:medicine]]

Homeopathy

2007-07-15T01:47:34Z

Ehdrive: /* Preparation of similars */

Homeopathic medicine

2007-07-15T01:33:49Z

Ehdrive: redirect

#REDIRECT [[Homeopathy]]

Homeopathy

2007-06-28T16:24:37Z

Ehdrive: adding more to history

Homeopathy

2007-06-28T16:13:58Z

Ehdrive: adding history section

Homeopathy

2007-06-28T16:07:19Z

Ehdrive: added popularity section and fixed spelling mistakes

Homeopathy

2007-06-28T16:03:30Z

Ehdrive: /* Introduction */ adding my sources

Homeopathy is an [[Alternative Medicine]] system that tries to treat illnesses with miniscule doses of the drugs that cause the same symptom as the illness. Homeopathy is based on the ideas of Samuel Hahnemann, a 19th century physician who observed that some contemporary medicines evoked symptoms similar to those of the illnesses for which they were prescribed. There is no clear evidence to support the efficacy of homeopathic remedies, and it is likely that the reported effects are placebo effects.

== Introduction ==

Homeopathic remedies involve treating an illness with an infinitesimally small dose of a substance that, at bigger doses, can cause symptoms that are like those of the illness (treating 'like with like'). Controversially, homeopaths believe that the 'potency' of a remedy can be increased by serial dilutions (repetatively adding water or alcohol) combined with vigorous shaking, to the point where little or none of the original solution remains as part of the final prepared remedy.

The word 'homeopathy' was first used by the German physician Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843). Hahnemann was an eminent physician and a prominent public health reformer. He believed that his new system was more humane and effective than the conventional medicine of his time<ref>Hahnemann S (1796) translated into English as "[http://www.minutus.org/library/article_read.asp?id=6 Essay on a New Principle]". Hahnemann's [http://www.homeopathyhome.com/reference/organon/organon.html Organon der Heilkunst] in English translation</ref>, but it was greeted by the establishment with derision and contempt.<ref>Dean ME (2001) [http://shpltd.co.uk/dean-homeopathy.pdf Homeopathy and the progress of science] Hist Scixxxix</ref> Today, homeopathy is not an accepted part of conventional medicine, and its theories are not generally regarded as scientifically credible, but nevertheless it has more than 100,000 practitioners worldwide, and 500 million users.

Homeopathy (from the Greek hómoios (similar) and páthos (suffering)) regards diseases as 'morbid derangements of the organism', that involve some disturbance in a 'vital force.' Today, most homeopaths still believe that the fundamental causes of disease are internal and constitutional and that it is contrary to good health to suppress symptoms. They also accept the concept of 'latent Psora', the early signs of an organism’s imbalance which indicate that treatment is needed.

== References ==
<references />

Homeopathy

2007-06-28T16:02:07Z

Ehdrive: starting the article, please add to it

Homeopathy is an [[Alternative Medicine]] system that tries to treat illnesses with miniscule doses of the drugs that cause the same symptom as the illness. Homeopathy is based on the ideas of Samuel Hahnemann, a 19th century physician who observed that some contemporary medicines evoked symptoms similar to those of the illnesses for which they were prescribed. There is no clear evidence to support the efficacy of homeopathic remedies, and it is likely that the reported effects are placebo effects.

== Introduction ==

Homeopathic remedies involve treating an illness with an infinitesimally small dose of a substance that, at bigger doses, can cause symptoms that are like those of the illness (treating 'like with like'). Controversially, homeopaths believe that the 'potency' of a remedy can be increased by serial dilutions (repetatively adding water or alcohol) combined with vigorous shaking, to the point where little or none of the original solution remains as part of the final prepared remedy.

The word 'homeopathy' was first used by the German physician Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843). Hahnemann was an eminent physician and a prominent public health reformer. He believed that his new system was more humane and effective than the conventional medicine of his time<ref>Hahnemann S (1796) translated into English as "[http://www.minutus.org/library/article_read.asp?id=6 Essay on a New Principle]". Hahnemann's [http://www.homeopathyhome.com/reference/organon/organon.html Organon der Heilkunst] in English translation</ref>, but it was greeted by the establishment with derision and contempt.[2] Today, homeopathy is not an accepted part of conventional medicine, and its theories are not generally regarded as scientifically credible, but nevertheless it has more than 100,000 practitioners worldwide, and 500 million users.

Homeopathy (from the Greek hómoios (similar) and páthos (suffering)) regards diseases as 'morbid derangements of the organism', that involve some disturbance in a 'vital force.' Today, most homeopaths still believe that the fundamental causes of disease are internal and constitutional and that it is contrary to good health to suppress symptoms. They also accept the concept of 'latent Psora', the early signs of an organism’s imbalance which indicate that treatment is needed.

== References ==
<references />