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'''Homeopathy''' (also spelled '''homœopathy''' or '''homoeopathy''') is a therapy that strives to treat "like with like".<ref>[http://www.skylarkbooks.co.uk/Hahnemann_Biography.htm Samuel Hahnemann biography]</ref>, that is, to treat illnesses with infinitesimal  doses of drugs that cause the same symptom as the illness. The word "homeopathy", coined by the Saxon physician [[Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann]] (1755&ndash;1843), first appeared in print in 1807, although he had previously outlined his axiom of medical similars in a series of articles and monographs from 1796 onwards.<ref>Hahnemann S (1796)  translated into English on [http://www.minutus.org/library/article_read.asp?id=6 Essay on a New Principle, 1796]</ref>. The word is derived from the Greek ''όμοιος, hómoios'' (similar) and ''πάθος, páthos'' (suffering), Homeopathy is popular in Europe and India, but less so in the USA, where non-orthodox therapies have been more tightly regulated. Stricter regulations have also been implemented recently by the European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines.<ref>[http://www.pheur.org European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines] EDQM website</ref>
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[[Image:Samuel_Hahnemann.png|thumb|right|'''Samuel Hahnemann''', the father of homeopathy]]
<div class="usermessage plainlinks">The Editorial Council has made a unanimous decision on December 17, 2010, to blank this draft article and to place a minimum of a one-year moratorium on any further edits to this article. The discussion concerning this decision may be found at [http://locke.citizendium.org/cz_ec/DR-2010-006]. The Talk page remains, but its present contents will be moved to an archive. The Approved Main Article also remains in place. This page is now protected by the Constabulary and no further edits can be made to it. After one year has passed, Citizens may ask the Editorial Council to reconsider their decision but there is no guarantee that they will do so.  
Homeopathy rests on the premise of treating sick persons with very diluted agents that, in undiluted doses, produce similar symptoms in a healthy individual. Its proponents assert that the therapeutic potency of a remedy can be increased by serial dilution of the drug, combined with [[succussion]] or vigorous shaking. In common with conventional medicine, homeopathy regards diseases as <cite>morbid derangements of the organism</cite><ref>Organon &#0167; 11</ref>, but it differs in preferring to view each case of sickness as a strictly individual phenomenon.<ref>Morrell P [http://www.homeoint.org/morrell/articles/uniqueness.htm ''Homeopathy Views the Uniqueness of Each Patient'']</ref> <cite>It is the man that is sick and to be restored to health, not his body, not the tissues.<ref>Lectures on homoeopathic philosophy. Kent JT Lecture 1. &#0167; 1. "The Sick"</ref></cite> Homeopathy views a sick person as having a dynamic disturbance in a hypothetical "vital force," and so reject the standard medical diagnoses of named diseases. <ref>http://www.lyghtforce.com/HomeopathyOnline/Issue3/sequence.html Rudolf Verspoor ''Taking Homeopathy into the Shadows: A Sequential Causal Approach to Treating Chronic Disease'', Website: Homeopathy Online</ref> The theory of homeopathy is inconsistent with accepted laws of chemistry and physics, as it states that extreme dilution makes drugs more powerful by enhancing their "spirit-like medicinal powers."<ref>[http://homeopathyhome.com/reference/organon/63.html#269 Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann's "Organon Of Medicine" translated by Dudgeon Fifth Edition § 269]</ref> Some trials show a difference between homeopathic treatments and placebos, but most have methodological problems, and better-quality trials tend to give negative results.
<br>
The Secretary of the Editorial Council, [[User:Hayford Peirce|Hayford Peirce]] 04:09, 17 December 2010 (UTC)


==The principle of medical similars==
==== Moratorium extended ====
Homeopathy is based on the 'Principle of Similars', expressed by Hahnemann as ''similia similibus curentur'' or 'let likes cure likes'. This is the opposite of 'contraries' upon which the [[Galenic]] medicine of his day was based, and in which Hahnemann had been trained. The 'law of similars' is an ancient medical maxim <ref>[http://www.whonamedit.com/doctor.cfm/532.html whonamedit.com]</ref>, but its modern form is based on Hahnemann's conclusion that a constellation of symptoms induced by a given homeopathic remedy in a group of healthy individuals will cure similar symptoms in the sick. Symptom patterns associated with various remedies are determined by 'provings', in which volunteers are given remedies, and the resulting symptoms are compiled by observers into a 'Drug Picture'. Of his first proving, Hahnemann said: "with this first trial broke upon me the dawn that has since brightened into the most brilliant day of the medical art; that it is only in virtue of their power to make the healthy human being ill that medicines can cure morbid states, and indeed, only such morbid states are composed of symptoms which the drug to be selected for them can itself produce in similarity on the healthy."<ref>[http://www.hpathy.com/materiamedica/hahnemann-materia-pura/china.asp Hahnemann, Materia Medica Pura, Cinchona] at Hpathy.com</ref>
The moratorium has been extended by another year. [http://ec.citizendium.org/wiki/EC:D-2012-002 EC:D-2012-002]. --[[User:Peter Schmitt|Peter Schmitt]] 01:20, 20 January 2012 (UTC)
 
For prescribing, homeopathic practitioners rely on The Homeopathic [[Materia Medica]]e, which are indexes of Drug Pictures organized by remedy and describe the symptom patterns associated with individual remedies, and on The [[Homeopathic repertory]] which is an index of symptoms, listing all remedies associated with specific symptoms. The first [[Homeopathic repertory]] was George Jahr's, published in 1835. <ref>[http://www.wholehealthnow.com/homeopathy_pro/george_jahr.html Website of Whole Health Now]</ref> At first, Hahnemann tested substances then used as medicines, such as antimony and rhubarb, and poisons, like arsenic, mercury and [[Belladonna]]. Perhaps in this he was mindful of [[Paracelsus]]: "poison is in everything, and no thing is without poison. The dosage makes it either a poison or a remedy."<ref>Source for Paracelsus quote at [http://en.thinkexist.com/quotation/poison-is-in-everything-and-no-thing-is-without/397986.html en.thinkexist.com]</ref> This subtle connection between poison and medicine, or 'what can kill can cure' was also observed by Shakespeare: "''In the infant rind of this small flower, poison hath residence and medicine power:...''" <ref>Romeo and Juliet: act 2, scene 3. Oxford Shakespeare complete works. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1974: 774</ref> Hahnemann recorded his first provings of 27 drugs in the ''[[Fragmenta de viribus]]'' in 1805 and later in his ''Materia Medica Pura'', which contained 65 drugs. He was most heavily engaged in proving in the 1790s and early 1800s, but he never abandoned these experiments. Another phase of proving commenced with his Miasm theory and The Chronic Diseases <ref>[http://homeoint.org/books/hahchrdi/index.htm Chronic Diseases - Samuel Hahnemann]</ref>, published in 1828, and containing 48 freshly 'proven' drugs.
 
[[James Tyler Kent|Kent's]] ''Lectures on Homoeopathic Materia Medica'' (1905) lists 217 remedies, and new substances are continually added to contemporary versions. Homeopathy uses many animal, plant, mineral, and synthetic substances, including ''Natrum muriaticum'' (sodium chloride or table salt), ''[[Lachesis muta]]'' (the venom of the bushmaster snake), ''Opium'', and ''Thyroidinum'' (thyroid hormone). Other 'isopathic' remedies' involve dilution of the agent or product of the disease. [[Rabies]] nosode, for example, is made by diluting the saliva of a rabid dog. Some modern homeopaths use more esoteric substances, known as "imponderables" because they do not originate from a material but from electromagnetic energy "captured" by alcohol or lactose (''X-ray'', ''Sol'' (sunlight), [http://www.hominf.org/posi/posiintr.htm ''Positronium''], and [http://homeoint.org/clarke/e/elect.htm ''Electricitas''] (electricity) or through the use of a telescope (''[[Polaris]]''). Recent ventures by homeopaths into even more esoteric substances include [http://uk.geocities.com/veryscarymary/stormremedy1.html ''Tempesta''] (thunderstorm), and [http://www.biolumanetics.net/tantalus/Cases/BerlinWall.htm ''Berlin wall''].
 
Today, homeopathy uses about 3000 remedies; about 300 are based on Materia Medica information, 1500 on fragmentary knowledge, and the rest either without knowledge of their homeopathic properties or speculatively. This approach harks back to the ancient 'doctrine of signatures,' which Hahnemann rejected as uncertain guesswork:
 
''"The ancients imagined that the yellow colour of the juice of...(Chelidonium, Yellow Poppy) was an indication (signature) of its utility in bilious diseases. The moderns from this extended its employment to hepatic diseases...the importance of human health does not admit of any such uncertain directions for the employment of medicines. It would be criminal frivolity to rest contented with such guesswork at the bedside of the sick. Only that which the drugs themselves unequivocally reveal of their peculiar powers in their effects on the healthy human body – that is to say, only their pure symptoms – can teach us loudly and clearly when they can be advantageously used with certainty; and this is when they are administered in morbid states very similar to those they are able to produce on the healthy body."''
<ref>[http://www.hpathy.com/materiamedica/hahnemann-materia-pura/chelidonium.asp Hahnemann, Materia Medica Pura, section 19, Chelidonium majus] at Hpathy.com</ref>
 
Examples of this impulse to expand the Materia Medica include the use of an isopathic (disease associated) agent as a first prescription in a 'stuck' case<ref>Manish Bhatia [http://www.hpathy.com/tautopathy/tautopathy.asp Tautopathy - An Introduction]</ref> when the beginning of disease coincides with a specific event such as [[vaccination]]; the use of a chemically-related substance when a remedy that was well-indicated fails. An example is the Bowel Nosodes<ref>[http://homeoint.org/books5/paterson/index.htm Bowel Nosodes]</ref>, introduced by the British homeopaths [[Edward Bach]] (1886-1936), John Paterson (1890-1954) and Charles Edwin Wheeler (1868-1946) in the 1920s, based on the bowel [[bacterial]] flora thought to be associated with persons of different homeopathic constitutional types.  Bowel Nosodes are rarely used outside British homeopathy. More recently, homeopathy has used substances based on the periodic table or biological taxonomy. This approach is questioned by some purists on the basis that it involves speculation about remedy action without provings.<ref>[http://www.simillimum.com/thelittlelibrary/Bookreviewsarticles/reviewscholten.html Homoeopathic Online Education]</ref>
 
The law of similars is not a scientific law; it is not built on a hypothesis that can be falsified, and a failure to cure can always be attributed to incorrect selection of a remedy: ''"I have often heard physicians tell me that it was due to suggestion that my medicines acted so well; but my answer to this is, that I suggest just as strongly with my wrong remedy as with the right one, and my patients improve only when they have received the similar or correct remedy"''. <ref> Kent JT (1926) ''New Remedies, Lesser Writings and Aphorisms & Precepts'' quoted in  Treuherz F (1984) Origins of Kent's homeopathy ''J Amer Inst Homeo'' 77:130-49</ref> There are many ways to find the most-similar remedy (the ''simillimum''), and homeopaths sometimes disagree. This is partly due to the complexity of the 'totality of symptoms' concept; homeopaths decide, from their knowledge and experience, which symptoms are the most characteristic: the Drug Picture in the Materia Medica is always more comprehensive than the symptoms exhibited by any individual. Other ways of selecting remedies are through [[Dowsing|medical dowsing]]<ref>[http://www.homeoinfo.com/08_non-classical_topics/dowsing/diagnostic_dowsing_machines.php "Diagnostic dowsing machines" www.homeoinfo.com]</ref> or other psychic powers.<ref>[http://www.homeoinfo.com/08_non-classical_topics/dowsing/medical_dowsing.php "Medical dowsing" www.homeoinfo.com]</ref> However, these are not accepted by most homeopathic practitioners.
 
''See also'': [[List of common homeopathic remedies]]
 
==Preparation of similars ==
===Succussion and dilution===
[[Image:Vijzel.jpg|thumb|Vijzel]]
The most characteristic&mdash;and controversial&mdash;principle of homeopathy is that the potency of a remedy can be enhanced (and the side-effects diminished) by dilution, in a procedure known as ''dynamization'' or ''potentization''. Liquids are progressively 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. <ref>It can be viewed at the Hahnemann Museum in Stuttgart <[http://www.igm-bosch.de/english/f10.htm Website of The Institute for the History of Medicine]</ref> Insoluble solids, such as Quartz and Oyster shell, are diluted by grinding them with lactose (''[[trituration]]''). The original serial dilutions by Hahnemann used a 1 part in 100 or centesimal scale, or 1 part in 50,000 or Quintamillesimal (LM or Q potencies). Higher 'potencies' are considered to be stronger 'deep-acting' remedies. The dilution factor at each stage is traditionally 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 100<sup>30</sup> = 10<sup>60</sup>. As [[Avogadro's number]] is only 6.02 × 10<sup>23</sup> particles/mole, the chance of any molecule of the original substance being present in a 15C solution is small, and it is extremely unlikely that one molecule of the original solution would be present in a 30C dilution. For a perspective on these numbers, there are about 10<sup>32</sup> molecules of water in an Olympic size swimming pool; to expect to get one molecule of a 15C solution, one would need roughly 25 metric tons of water. Thus, homeopathic remedies of a high "potency" contain, with overwhelming probability, only water. Practitioners of homeopathy believe that this water retains some 'essential property' of one of the substances that it has contacted in the past.
 
===Alternative methods===
High potency remedies were first produced in the 1830s. Though Hahnemann wished to see 30c as standard potency in homeopathy, most of his contemporaries preferred tinctures and 3x, while others, like the powerfully-built horse-trainer, Caspar Julius Jenichen (1787-1849), <ref>[http://homeoint.org/seror/biograph/jenichencj.htm Biography of Mr Caspar Julius Jenichen (1787-1849) http://homeoint.org]</ref> General Korsakoff (1788-1853) and Dr N Schreter (1803-1864), were busy raising potency to heights beyond his wildest dreams.
 
''Jenichen sat or stood stripped naked to the waist, holding the bottle in his fist in an oblique direction from left to right, and shook it in a vertical direction. The fluid, at every stroke, emitted a sound like the ringing of silver coins. He paused after every 25th potency, and the muscles of his naked arm vibrated...he was latterly able to give 8400 strokes in an hour.'' <ref>[http://homeoint.org/seror/biograph/jenichencj.htm Biography of Mr Caspar Julius Jenichen (1787-1849) http://homeoint.org]</ref>
 
Such high potencies could not be made by traditional methods, but required succussion without dilution (Jenichen), higher dilution factors (LM potencies are diluted by a factor of 50,000), or machines which integrate dilution and succussion into a continuous process (Korsakoff). <ref>Such a Korsakoff potentising machine can be seen [http://www.helios.co.uk/Helios%20Potentising%20machine.html (here)] and [http://www.remedia.at/en/fluxionherstellung.html (here)]. Some old potentising devices can be seen [http://homeoint.org/photo/photodiv.htm (here)]</ref>. Such machines are still sold today and some manufacturers claim it is undefined "vibrations" that produce the healing effect and, when the correct vibration is selected, only water need be added to produce a remedy. Today, ''[[radionics]]'' potentising devices are used by many homeopaths to prepare remedies, based on the work of the British engineer, Malcom Rae (1913-1979) and devices he developed in the 1960s.<ref>[http://www.copenlabs.com/ Website of Sussex College of Technology - CopenLabs]</ref> Another technique involves ''"a paper remedy. Write the remedy and potency on a piece of paper and place the paper on the left hand side of the body with the writing towards the body."'' <ref>[http://www.homoeopathica.org.nz/editorial_00.htm Editorial at the web pages of the New Zealand Homoeopathic Society] "finds out what they need, writes the remedy down on a piece of paper, they put it in their pocket and it works." [http://www.dowsers.info/toronto/feb2001.htm Website of The Toronto Chapter of the Canadian Society of Dowsers]</ref>
 
==Miasms==
By 1816, Hahnemann was concerned at the failure of homeopathic remedies to produce lasting cures for chronic diseases: "...the non-venereal chronic diseases, after being time and again removed homoeopathically … always returned in a more or less varied form and with new symptoms." To explain this, Hahnemann introduced the miasmatic theory, that three fundamental "miasms" are the underlying causes of all the chronic diseases of mankind: Syphilis, Sycosis (suppressed gonorrhoea), and Psora. <ref>The Chronic Diseases, their Nature and Homoeopathic Treatment, Dresden and Leipsic, Arnold. Vols. 1, 2, 3, 1828; vol. 4, 1830</ref> The miasm of Psora, he concluded, underpinned most of the chronic diseases known to medicine. Miasma, from the Greek for 'stain', was an old medical concept, used for "pestiferous exhalations". The sense of this is indicated by Hahnemann's Note 2 to §11 of the Organon: "...a child with small-pox or measles communicates to a near, untouched healthy child in an invisible manner (dynamically) the small-pox or measles, … in the same way as the magnet communicated to the near needle the magnetic property..."
 
It is possible that the study of [[Freemasonry]] under the guidance of his Patron, the Grand Duke Ferdinand of Anhalt-Coethen influenced him.<ref>[http://www.homeoint.org/history/king/1-02.htm Website of Homéopathe International]</ref> He became reclusive while in Koethen, and his new inclination towards metaphysical pursuits may explain his sudden adoption of Olfaction (inhaling the remedy), which he continued to use until his death in Paris in 1843.<ref>[http://www.hanp.net/general/article2 Website of The Homeopathic Academy of Naturopathic Physicians]</ref> Olfaction might derive from Arabian medicine and the art of Perfumery.<ref>[http://www.iranian.ws/cgi-bin/iran_news/exec/view.cgi/4/6736/printer Manouchehr Saadat Noury "First Iranians who introduced perfumery" ''Persian Journal'' May 9, 2005]</ref>
 
According to Hahnemann, miasmatic infection causes local symptoms, usually in the skin. If these are suppressed by external medication, the hidden sickness cause goes deeper, and manifests later as organ pathologies. In the ''Organon'' he asserted Psora to be the cause of such diseases as epilepsy, cyphosis, cancer, jaundice, deafness, and cataract. However, even in his own time, many of his followers, including Hering, made almost no reference to Hahnemann’s concept of chronic diseases. Today, some homeopathic practitioners <ref>[http://www.homeopathy.ca/articles/interview-2001-2.html Website of  The Canadian Academy of Homeopathy]</ref> find Hahnemann’s theory difficult to reconcile with current scientific knowledge, as it seems to ignore the importance of genetic, metabolic, nutritional, and degenerative factors in sickness, and fails to differentiate the multitude of different infectious diseases. Nevertheless, most homeopaths hold that the key elements of his theory are valid: that the fundamental cause of disease is internal and constitutional and that it is contrary to good health to suppress symptoms, and they accept the concept of latent Psora, the early signs of an organism’s imbalance which indicate that treatment is needed.
 
The miasm theory is not the 'be all and end all' of homeopathy. Hahnemann advocated good hygiene, fresh air, regular exercise, good nutrition as precursors of good health (see his 1792 essay: ''The Friend of Health''); he was also a pioneer in 1792-3 of humane treatment of the insane (1796, ''Description of Klockenbring During his Insanity'') a year before [[William Tuke]] and [[Philippe Pinel]], and he published tracts in which he described the cause of cholera  as "excessively minute, invisible, living creatures" [http://www.minutus.org/library/article_read.asp?id=13 Asiatic Cholera, 1831]. Hahnemann's acceptance of this idea of infectious disease before its proof by [[Robert Koch]] and [[Louis Pasteur]] indicates that he incorporated ideas that were at the cutting-edge of contemporary science.
 
== History ==
In Hahnemann's day, the conventional theory of disease was based on the [[four humours]]. Mainstream medicine focused on restoring the balance in the humours, either by attempting to remove an excess of a humour (by such methods as bloodletting and purging, laxatives, enemas and nauseous substances that made patients vomit) or by suppressing symptoms associated with the humours, such as by lowering the body temperature of patients who were feverish. By contrast, Hahnemann promoted an immaterial, vitalistic view of disease: ''"...that the diseases of man are not caused by any substance, any acridity...any disease matter, but that they are solely spirit-like (dynamic) derangements of the spirit-like power (the vital principle) that animates the human body."'' <ref>http://homeoint.org/books/hahorgan/orgapref.htm Organon, Preface, xxix</ref> In the 18th century, vitalism was a part of mainstream science, but in the twentieth century, was discarded in favour of the [[germ theory]] of disease, following the work of Pasteur, Fleming, Lister and others. Modern medicine sees bacteria and viruses as the causes of many diseases, but Kent, and some modern homeopaths regard them as effects, not causes, of disease. Others have adapted to the views of modern medicine by referring to disturbances in the immune system, rather than the vital force.
 
The idea that 'like cures like' came to Hahnemann while translating into German the Materia Medica (1789) of [[William Cullen]], the so-called "Scottish Hippocrates". On reading that Cinchona bark (which contains quinine) was effective because it was bitter, Hahnemann felt this implausible because other substances were as bitter but had no therapeutic value. To understand the effects of Cinchona bark, he took it himself, and saw that his reactions were similar to the symptoms of the disease it was used to treat. At least one writer has suggested that Hahnemann was hypersensitive to quinine, and may have had an allergic reaction<ref>[http://www.angelfire.com/mb2/quinine/allergy.html William.E.Thomas "The basis of homeopathy" Personal website]</ref> This experiment by Hahnemann was not unique; others before, including Anton von Störck (1731-1803), had advocated "treatment by cautious use of poisons."<ref>[http://5ichc-portugal.ulusofona.pt/uploads/LongPaper-LICHOCKAHalina.doc Halina Zofia Lichocka "Chemical Analysis as a Method of Discovery in Pharmacy in the Age of Enlightenment in Europe" ''Proc 5th Int Conf Hist Chem'']</ref> Hahnemann had studied briefly in Vienna (1777) where Störck eventually became head of the University. The proving idea had also been recommended by the Swiss medical botanist, Albrecht von Haller, (1708-77), who Hahnemann admired, and whose Materia Medica he translated in 1806.
 
Nearly as important as Hahnemann to the development of homeopathy was James Tyler Kent (1849-1921). Kent's influence in the USA was limited, but in the UK, his ideas became homeopathic orthodoxy by the end of the First World War.<ref>Campbell A, ''Kentian Homeopathy'' Chapter 8 of ''Homeopathy in Perspective''[http://www.accampbell.uklinux.net/homeopathy/homeopathy-html/chapter08.html]</ref>  Kent's attempt to rescue an idealized pure homeopathy from what he saw as its degenerate mongrel forms was authoritarian, as he sought to re-emphasize the metaphysical and clinical aspects of Hahnemann's teachings, in particular, he insisted on the core doctrines of miasm and vital force; emphased case totality rather than rote prescribing for 'named diseases' emphased psychological symptoms (to supplement physical pathology) in prescribing; and regular use of very high potencies. Influenced by [[Swedenborgianism]], Kent emphasized spiritual factors' as the root cause of disease.<ref>[http://www.homeoint.org/morrell/articles/pm_kent.htm Peter Morrell "Kent's influence on British homeopathy." Personal website]</ref>
 
''<blockquote>"...for it goes to the very primitive wrong of the human race, the very first sickness of the human race that is the spiritual sickness... which in turn laid the foundation for other diseases." </blockquote>''
 
=== Homeopathy around the world ===
There are estimated<ref>[http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1575855,00.html Homeopathy Seeks More Acknowledgement] from Deutsche Welle</ref> to be more than 100,000 practitioners of homeopathy worldwide, with an estimated 500 million people receiving treatment.
 
===Europe===
More than 12,000 medical doctors and licensed health care practitioners administer homeopathic treatment in the UK, France, and Germany. Homeopathy was regulated by the European Union in 2001, by Directive 2001/83/EC. The numbers using homeopathy is increasing, with the British market increasing by about 20% per year, and even faster growth in Germany and Portugal.<ref>[http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/309/6947/107 Fisher P, Ward A (1994) Medicine in Europe: Complementary medicine in Europe ''BMJ'' 309:107-111]</ref> In Germany, homeopathy, anthroposophically extended medicine and herbalism were recognized as "special forms of therapy" in 1978, meaning that their medications are freed from the usual requirement of proving efficacy. Since January 1, 2004, homeopathic medications, with some exceptions, are no longer covered by the country's public health insurance.
 
In Switzerland, homeopathic medications were formerly covered by the basic health insurance system, if prescribed by a physician. This ended in June 2005, when the Government, after a 5-year trial, withdrew insurance coverage for homoeopathy and four other complementary treatments, as that they did not meet efficacy and cost-effectiveness criteria. This change applied only to compulsory insurance; homeopathy and other complementary medicine is covered by additional insurance, if the treatment is provided by a medical doctor.
 
In the UK, homeopathy was established by Dr Frederick Quin (1799-1878) at around 1827. Two Italian homeopathic doctors (Drs Romani and Roberta) had been employed two years previously by the Earl of Shrewsbury, but had quickly returned to Naples as they could not tolerate the damp English climate. Homeopathy became the preferred treatment of the upper classes: the Dukes of Edinburgh and Beaufort were among Dr Quin's patients, and he became physician to the Duchess of Cambridge.<ref>Leary B ''et al'' (1998) It Wont Do Any Harm: Practice & People At The London Homeopathic Hospital, 1889-1923, in Juette, R, G Risse & J Woodward (1998) Eds. ''Culture, Knowledge And Healing: Historical Perspectives On Homeopathy In Europe And North America'' Sheffield Univ. Press, UK</ref> Homeopathy  continued to have an elite clientele, including members of the royal family until the mid-nineteenth century. At its peak in the 1870s, Britain had many homeopathic dispensaries and small hospitals and large hospitals in Liverpool, Birmingham Glasgow, London and Bristol; the Bristol hospital was funded by the [[W.D. & H.O. Wills]] tobacco family, while the Hahnemann Hospital in Liverpool was built by members of the Tate family of sugar importers, who also funded the Tate Gallery in London. <ref>[http://www.homeoint.org/photo/bat/hopangla.htm#2 Website of Homéopathe International]; [http://www.ubht.nhs.uk/homeopathy/General/hom1.jpg Image]; [http://www.homeoint.org/photo/bat1/hop110-2.jpg Image] </ref> Today, homeopathic remedies are sold over the counter, and there are five homeopathic hospitals funded by the [[National Health Service]] and many regional clinics. Homeopathy is not practised by most of the medical profession, but  is supported by the Prince of Wales and other members of the royal family. The Society of Homeopaths, founded in 1978, has 1300 members.<ref>[http://www.homeopathy-soh.org/ Website of The Society of Homeopaths]</ref> Medically qualified homeopaths in Britain are represented by the Faculty of Homeopathy: the Faculty, incorporated by an Act of Parliament in 1950, has over 1,400 members throughout the world.
 
===India===
Homeopathy came to India with Dr Martin Honigberger (1795-1869) in Lahore, in 1829-30 <ref>Kishore J (1973) About entry of homeopathy into India, ''Bull Ind Hist Med'' 3:76-78</ref> India has the largest homeopathic infrastructure in the world, with 300,000 qualified homeopaths, 180 colleges, 7500 government clinics, and 307 hospitals. The Association of Qualified Homoeopaths in India is the largest of its kind, and 10% of the population are estimated to use homeopathy ''exclusively'' for their medical needs <ref>[http://www.ihma.in Indian Hopeopathic Medical Association]. Manchanda RK, Kulashreshtha M, [http://www.delhihomeo.com/paperberlin.html Cost Effectiveness and Efficacy of Homeopathy in Primary Health Care Units of Government of Delhi- A study]; [http://indianmedicine.nic.in/html/homoeopathy/homoe.htm Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare homeopathy page]</ref>
 
===The USA===
Homeopathy was established in the USA by Dr Hans Burch Gram (1787-1840)in 1825 <ref>[http://nccam.nih.gov/health/homeopathy/ ''Questions and Answers About Homeopathy'' NCCAM, National Institutes of Health]</ref> and gained popularity, partly because the excesses of conventional medicine were extreme there, and partly due to Dr Constantine Hering (1800-1880), who immigrated to America in 1833 and became known as the "father of American homeopathy". <ref>''"Homeopathy spread first in Germany, then France, and England. Its greatest popularity, however, was in America."'' Flinn LB (1976) Homeopathic influences in the Delaware community A retrospective reassessment ''Del Med J'' 48:418-428;  "...by the early 1840s American homeopathic practitioners were gaining considerable influence and prestige" in Warner JH (1977) The nature-trusting heresy ''Perspectives on American History'' 11:291-324</ref> Homeopathy thrived, and by 1900 hardly any city with a population of more than 50,000 was without a homeopathic hospital and many smaller communities could claim them.<ref>Cameron CS (1959) Homeopathy in retrospect ''Trans Stud Coll Phys Philadelp'' 27:28-33</ref> In the 1930s, the popularity of homeopathy waned, partly due to advances in conventional medicine and partly due to the [[Flexner Report]] in 1910, which led to the closure of virtually all medical schools teaching alternative medicine in the USA. By the 1950s, homeopathy had been virtually extinguished in the US.
 
In the USA, sales of homeopathic medicines in 1995 were estimated at US$201 million, and the number of homeopathic practitioners increased from less than 200 in the 1970s to about 3,000 in 1996<ref>[http://www.thespiritofhomoeopathy.com/evolution.html Website of Homoeopathic Medical Publishers]</ref>; however, a recent study indicates that the percentage of people seeking homeopathic treatment in the USA declined from 3.4% in 1997 to 1.7% in 2002<ref>Tindle HA ''et al''(2005) Trends in use of complementary and alternative medicine by US adults: 1997-2002'' Altern Ther Health Med'' 2005 11:42-9</ref> Today, homeopathic remedies are, like all health-care products, regulated by the [[Food and Drug Administration]], but unlike conventional medicines, homeopathic products do not have to be approved by the FDA before sale, or proved to be either safe or effective, or be labeled with an expiration date, or undergo finished product testing to verify contents and strength. Unlike conventional drugs, homeopathic remedies do not have to identify their active ingredients on the grounds that they have few or no active ingredients. Only homeopathic medicines that claim to treat self-limiting conditions may be sold over the counter; homeopathic medicines that claim to treat a serious disease can be sold only by prescription.
 
==Scientific testing of homeopathic treatment==
===Early critiques of high dilutions===
Sir John Forbes (1787-1861), physician to Queen Victoria, said the extremely small doses were regularly derided as useless, ridiculous and "an outrage to human reason."<ref>Forbes J (1846) ''Homeopathy, Allopathy and Young Physic'' London</ref> Although such homeopathic cures were accepted by regular physicians at the time, they were ascribed entirely to the body's innate healing powers. Professor Sir [[James Young Simpson]] said of the highly diluted drugs: "no poison, however strong or powerful, the billionth or decillionth of which would in the least degree affect a man or harm a fly." <ref>Simpson JY (1853) ''Homoeopathy, Its Tenets and Tendencies, Theoretical, Theological and Therapeutical'' Edinburgh: Sutherland & Knox 11</ref>
 
As homeopathic remedies at potencies higher than about D23 (10<sup>-23</sup>) contain no detectable ingredients apart from the diluent (water, alcohol or sugar), there is no known basis for these preparations having medicinal action. Some tests have suggested that potentized solutions up to D120 can have statistically significant effects on organic processes, including the growth of grain, histamine release by leukocytes<ref>Davenas E ''et al'' Human basophil degranulation trigtgered by very dilute antiserum against IgE ''Nature'' 333:816-8</ref> and enzyme reactions. However, attempts to replicate these studies on leukocytes and enzymes have failed. A recent review summarized the situation as follows: "...there are some hints from experimental research that homeopathic substances diluted and succussed beyond Avogadro’s number are biologically active but there are no consistent effects from independently reproducible models."<ref>Walach ''et al'' (2005) Research on Homeopathy: State of the Art ''J Alt Comp Medicine'' 11:813–29</ref>
Although some patients report benefits from homeopathic preparations,<ref>[http://www.homeopathy-soh.org/whats-new/documents/Positivehomeopathy.PDF Website of The Society of Homeopaths]</ref> scientists usually attribute these to the [[placebo effect|Placebo Effect]], the [[regression fallacy]] and/or the [[Forer effect]].
 
===Evidence-based medicine===
There is wide consensus that [[evidence based medicine]] is the best standard for assessing efficacy and safety of health-care practices, and much of modern medicine is subject to efforts to comply with evidence-based standards.
<ref>[http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/321/7258/442 "Declaration of Helsinki should be strengthened" ''BMJ'' 2000;321:442-445]</ref> Ideally, drugs are tested in large, multi-centre, randomised, placebo-controlled [[double-blind]] clinical trials, to test whether the drug has an effect that is better than either a placebo or a different treatment, and the results of such trials are independently replicated. Some trials that partially meet these criteria have investigated homeopathy, and some have indicated efficacy above placeboHowever, many are open to technical criticism or involve samples too small to allow firm conclusions to be drawn..<ref>[http://www.annals.org/cgi/reprint/138/5/393.pdf Jonas WB ''et al''(2003) A critical overview of homeopathy" ''Ann Intern Med'' 138:393-399] {{cite journal | author=Jonas WB ''et al''| title=A systematic review of the quality of homeopathic clinical trials | journal=BMC Complement Altern Med | year=2001 | pages=12 | volume=1 | id=PMID 11801202}}</ref> Systematic reviews by the [[Cochrane Collaboration]] thus found insufficient evidence that homeopathy is beneficial for asthma, dementia, or induction of labor <ref> ''The Cochrane Collaboration'' [http://www.cochrane.org](ref/>. They also found no evidence that homeopathic treatment prevents influenza, but reported that it appears to shorten the duration of the disease. Overall, systematic reviews have not found clear evidence to support the efficacy of homeopathic treatments, but in many cases the available evidence has been too flawed to exclude a possible beneficial effects either.
 
In 2005, The [[Lancet]] published a meta-analysis of 110 placebo-controlled homoeopathy trials and 110 matched conventional-medicine trials <ref>{{cite journal | author=Shang A,''et al''| title=Are the clinical effects of homoeopathy placebo effects? Comparative study of placebo-controlled trials of homoeopathy and allopathy | journal=Lancet | year=2005 | pages=726-32 | volume=366 | issue=9487 | id=PMID 16125589}}</ref> based upon the Swiss government's "Program for Evaluating Complementary Medicine" (PEK). The outcome suggested that the clinical effects of homeopathy are likely to be placebo effects. The Lancet paper is notable for its design, as a "global" meta analysis of homeopathy, not an analysis of particular effects, i.e. it tested the global hypothesis that the reported effects of homeopathy are placebo effects. If so, then reported positive effects are due to placebo effects, publication bias, observer effects etc., and hence the ''magnitude'' of such effects should diminish with sample size and study quality. For comparison, they subjected an equal set of conventional medicine trials to identical analysis. The prediction was supported by the study; conventional tests showed a real effect independent of sample size, the homeopathy studies did not. The study does not prove that homeopathy is never effective, or that all its findings are placebo effects, but is consistent with the interpretation that all reported effects are placebo effects. The Lancet accompanied the meta-analysis with invited editorials, and published several critical responses.<ref>Fisher P (2006) Homeopathy and The Lancet ''eCAM'' 3:145-47; doi:10.1093/ecam/nek007 [http://ecam.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/3/1/145]; see also 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]</ref>
 
 
====Medical organizations' attitudes towards homeopathy====
The [[National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine]], part of the U.S. [[National Institutes of Health]], funds research into homeopathy. Avvording to its statement om homeopathy,<ref>[http://nccam.nih.gov/health/homeopathy/#q8 NIH statement on homeopathy]</ref>
''The results of individual, controlled clinical trials of homeopathy have been contradictory. In some trials, homeopathy appeared to be no more helpful than a placebo; in other studies, some benefits were seen that the researchers believed were greater than one would expect from a placebo.''
Nevertheless,
''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]] statement on homeopathy, about 200 randomised controlled trials evaluating homeopathy have been conducted, but "it has proven difficult to produce clear clinical evidence that homeopathy works. Many studies suggest that any effectiveness that homeopathy may have is due to the placebo effect, where the act of receiving treatment is more effective than the treatment itself."
 
In 1997, the following statement<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/13638.html|title=alternative theories including homeopathy|publisher=American Medical Association}}</ref> was adopted as policy of the [[American Medical Association]] (AMA) 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"
 
The Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare states that:<ref>[http://indianmedicine.nic.in/html/homoeopathy/homoe.htm Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare homeopathy page]</ref> "Homeopathy has been recognised as one of the National Systems of Medicine and plays an important role in providing health care to a large number of 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."
 
===Homeopathy and vaccination===
{{See also|Isopathy}}
To some, homeopathy, particularly the use of nosodes, resembles vaccination, in that vaccines contain a small dose of the "disease" against which they are to protect. Hahnemann interpreted the introduction of vaccination as such: "But 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." By contrast, modern scientists see the two practices as fundamentally different. A vaccine is usually made from a bacterium or virus that cannot produce symptoms, while still providing enough information to the immune system to afford protection. Thus, by preparing the immune system to meet a future attack by the pathogen, vaccination hopes to prevent disease, in contrast to homeopathy's hope, which is to cure it. To most homeopaths, vaccination is not consistent with the principles of homeopathy, even if it is a crude application of the law of similars, they believe that vaccination has serious short and long-term (health) consequences, and might arouse latent inherited and constitutional weaknesses.
 
== Safety of homeopathic treatment ==
The United States Food & Drug Administration considers that there is no real concern over the safety of most homeopathic products "because they have little or no pharmacologically active ingredients". There have been few reports of illness associated with the use of homeopathic products, but in cases that they reviewed, the FDA concluded 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.<ref>[http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld199900/ldselect/ldsctech/123/12301.htm Science and Technology - Sixth Report ''Science and Technology Committee Publications'']</ref> For example, a 2006 survey by the UK charitable trust "Sense About Science," revealed homeopathic practices which 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://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5178488.stm ''Homeopathic practices "risk lives"'' By Pallab Ghosh BBC News science correspondent]</ref>.
 
Several scientists said the homeopaths' advice was reprehensible and likely to endanger lives. Professor Geoffrey Pasvol, a tropical medicine expert at Imperial College in 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>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,,1820103,00.html ''Homeopaths 'endangering lives' by offering malaria remedies'' Alok Jha, science correspondent Friday July 14 2006 The Guardian]</ref>.
 
== Notes==
* Online etext of Hahnemann's ''Organon der Heilkunst'': [http://www.homeoint.org/books4/organon/ German original] ([http://www.med-serv.de/medizin-buch-hahnemann_organon_heilkunst-0-2-1.html other format]) and [http://www.homeopathyhome.com/reference/organon/organon.html English translation]
 
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== External links ==
<hr><br>
=== Neutral ===
*A recent article on homeopathy testing from the [http://www.annals.org/cgi/content/full/138/5/393/ Annals of Internal Medicine]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/horizon/2002/homeopathy.shtml BBC's ''Horizon'' on homeopathy] (transcripts, discussion, etc.)
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/healthy_living/complementary_medicine/therapies_homeopathy.shtml Complementary Medicine - Therapies: Homeopathy] BBC's "Complementary Medicine" article on Homeopathy
* [http://www.acampbell.org.uk/homeopathy/index.html Homeopathy In Perspective] &mdash; critical online book, covering the history and present state of homeopathy
* [http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/096_home.html FDA's view of homeopathy]
* [http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/water/ Water Structure and Behaviour]&mdash; balanced and up-to-date references to current scientific understanding of water, with specific entries on "memory effects" and homeopathy
*[http://wo-pub2.med.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/WebObjects/PublicA.woa/5/wa/viewHContent?website=nyp&contentID=182&wosid=FCacmtM3Z6J8C7BHET1G1g Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital's presentation of homeopathic medicine]
 
=== Advocacy ===
* [http://www.homeopathic.com/articles/intro/history.php A condensed history of homeopathy]
* [http://www.homeopathyusa.org/ American Institute of Homeopathy]
* [http://www.homeopathy.org/ North American Society of Homeopaths]
* [http://www.homeopathy-soh.org/ The Society of Homeopaths - UK Organisation Representing Professional Homeopaths]
* [http://www.holisticmed.com/www/homeopathy.html Homeopathy Links from The Holistic Medicine Resource Center]
* Homoeopathy India Foundation web site http://www.e-homoeopathy.com
* [http://www.homeoint.org/english/index.htm Homéopathe International] &mdash; The English language version of ''Homéopathe International''
* [http://www.wholehealthnow.com/homeopathy_pro/homeopathy_1825_1849.html Homeopathy Timeline] with historical and biographical information
* [http://www.webhomeopath.com/ Webhomeopath - an on-line homeopathic repertory]
* [http://www.whonamedit.com/doctor.cfm/532.html Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann] A historical overview
 
=== Critical ===
* [http://www.theness.com/articles.asp?id=6 An Overview] By Steven Novella
* [http://www.randi.org/jr/02-02-2001.html A skeptic's view of homeopathy]
* [http://www.csicop.org/si/2001-11/alternative.html Magical Thinking in Complementary and Alternative Medicine]
* [http://www.homeowatch.org/ HomeoWatch (Homeopathy Watch)] &mdash; A Skeptical Guide to Homeopathic History, Theories, and Current Practices, operated by [[Stephen Barrett]], M.D. (founder of [[Quackwatch]])
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/A954740 H2G2 entry on homeopathy].
* [http://www.skepdic.com/homeo.html The Skeptics Dictionary]
* [http://www.acsh.org/search/txtQuickSearch.homeopathy/health_result.asp "The Scientific Evidence on Homeopathy"] - American Council on Science and Health
 
 
{{Homoeopathy}}
 
[[Category:Alternative medicine]]
[[Category:Homeopathy|*]]
[[Category:CZ Live]]

Latest revision as of 09:28, 14 February 2021

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