Homeopathy (also spelled Homoeopathy or Homœopathy) is a form of alternative medicine In Western culture, alternative medicine is any healing practice "that does not fall within the realm of conventional medicine", or "that which has not been shown consistently to be effective." It is often opposed to evidence based medicine and encompasses therapies with a historical or cultural, rather than a scientific, basis, first proposed by German physician Samuel Hahnemann Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann , a German physician, created an alternative medicine practice called Homeopathy in 1796, that attempts to treat patients with heavily diluted preparations which are thought to cause effects similar to the symptoms presented. Homeopathic remedies are prepared by serial dilution A serial dilution is the stepwise dilution of a substance in solution. Usually the dilution factor at each step is constant, resulting in a geometric progression of the concentration in a logarithmic fashion. A ten-fold serial dilution could be 1 M, 0.1 M, 0.01 M, 0.001 M... Serial dilutions are used to accurately create highly diluted solutions with shaking by forceful striking, which homeopaths term "succussion," after each dilution under the assumption that this increases the effect of the treatment. Homeopaths call this process "potentization". Dilution often continues until none of the original substance remains.[1]
Apart from the symptoms of the disease, homeopaths use aspects of the patient's physical and psychological state in recommending remedies.[2] Homeopathic reference books known as repertories are then consulted, and a remedy is selected based on the totality of symptoms. Homeopathic remedies are considered safe, with rare exceptions.[3] Some homeopaths have, however, been criticized for putting patients at risk with advice to avoid conventional medicine Evidence-based medicine aims to apply the best available evidence gained from the scientific method to medical decision making. It seeks to assess the quality of evidence of the risks and benefits of treatments (including lack of treatment) such as vaccinations Vaccination is the administration of antigenic material to produce immunity to a disease. Vaccines can prevent or ameliorate the effects of infection by a pathogen. Vaccination is generally considered to be the most effective and cost-effective method of preventing infectious diseases. The material administrated can either be live but weakened,[4] anti-malarial Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease caused by a eukaryotic protist of the genus Plasmodium. It is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions, including parts of the Americas, Asia, and Africa. Each year, there are approximately 350–500 million cases of malaria, killing between one and three million people, the majority of whom are drugs,[5] and antibiotics In common usage, an antibiotic is a substance or compound that kills, or inhibits the growth of, bacteria. Antibiotics belong to the broader group of antimicrobial compounds, used to treat infections caused by microorganisms, including fungi and protozoa.[citation needed].[6]
The prevalence and regulation of homeopathy is highly variable from country to country. There are no specific legal regulations concerning its use in some countries, while in others, licenses or degrees in conventional medicine from accredited universities are required. Some homeopathic treatment is covered by the national insurance coverage of several countries; in others it is fully integrated into the national health care system. In many countries, the laws that govern the regulation and testing of conventional drugs do not apply to homeopathic remedies.[7]
Claims of homeopathy's efficacy beyond the placebo effect A placebo is a sham medical intervention. In one common placebo procedure, a patient is given an inert sugar pill, told that it may improve his/her condition, but not told that it is in fact inert. Such an intervention may cause the patient to believe the treatment will change his/her condition; and this belief does indeed sometimes have a are unsupported by the collective weight of scientific Scientific method refers to a body of techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge. To be termed scientific, a method of inquiry must be based on gathering observable, empirical and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of reasoning. A scientific method consists of and clinical Medicine is the art and science of healing. It encompasses a range of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness evidence.[8][9][10][11][12] While some studies have positive results, systematic reviews of all the published trials fail to conclusively demonstrate efficacy.[13][14][15][16][17] Furthermore, higher quality trials Clinical trials are conducted to allow safety and efficacy data to be collected for new drugs or devices. These trials can only take place once satisfactory information has been gathered on the quality of the non-clinical safety, and Health Authority/Ethics Committee approval is granted in the country where the trial is taking place tend to report less positive results,[15][18] and most positive studies have not been replicated or show methodological problems that prevent them from being considered unambiguous evidence of homeopathy's efficacy.[8][11][19][20]
Homeopathic remedies generally contain few or no pharmacologically active Pharmacology is the study of drug action. More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur between a living organism and exogenous chemicals that alter normal biochemical function. If substances have medicinal properties, they are considered pharmaceuticals. The field encompasses drug composition and properties, interactions, molecules,[21] and for such remedies to have pharmacological effect Pharmacology is the study of drug action. More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur between a living organism and exogenous chemicals that alter normal biochemical function. If substances have medicinal properties, they are considered pharmaceuticals. The field encompasses drug composition and properties, interactions, would violate fundamental principles of science.[12][22] Modern homeopaths have proposed that water has a memory that allows homeopathic preparations to work without any of the original substance; however, the physics of water are well understood, and no known mechanism permits such a memory.[22][23] The lack of convincing scientific evidence Scientific evidence is evidence which serves to either support or counter a scientific theory or hypothesis[citation needed]. Such evidence is expected to be empirical and properly documented in accordance with scientific method such as is applicable to the particular field of inquiry[citation needed]. Standards for evidence may vary according to supporting homeopathy's efficacy[24] and its use of remedies lacking active ingredients have caused homeopathy to be described as pseudoscience Pseudoscience is a methodology, belief, or practice that is claimed to be scientific, or that is made to appear to be scientific, but which does not adhere to an appropriate scientific methodology, lacks supporting evidence or plausibility, or otherwise lacks scientific status. The term comes from the Greek prefix pseudo- and "science" (, quackery Quackery is a derogatory term used to describe unproven or fraudulent medical practices. Random House Dictionary describes a "quack" as a "fraudulent or ignorant pretender to medical skill" or "a person who pretends, professionally or publicly, to have skill, knowledge, or qualifications he or she does not possess; a,[25][26][27][28][29] and a "cruel deception".[30]
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The journal Homeopathy (http://www.elsevier.com/locate/homp) has published a two part special issue focusing on biological models of homeopathy . ...
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mattusmaximus
Sun, 24 Jan 2010 23:58:10 GM
And this is the real rub with a notion as loony as . homeopathy. . We already know from modern science-based medicine that, in the case of drugs, there must be a certain amount of active ingredient in the drug in order for it to have the ...
Q. One of my relative hs multiple kidney stones in both the kidneys. The size of stones is tiny. Lessor not required. Is this situation harmful in long term? He drinks 2-21/2 Lt water a day. Should he go for homeopathy med? who is the best homeopath doctor in bangalore?
Asked by bunny - Thu Sep 11 06:38:21 2008 - - 6 Answers - 0 Comments
A. I got rid of my kidney stones by taking following two homeopathic medicines. Urtica Urens - 200 potency and Berberis Vul - 200 potency, 5 pills of urtica urens after breakfast and 15 minutes later 5 pills of Berberis . Repeat the same dosage after lunch and night meals and within one months time the stone got pulverised and ejected out through urine. It did pain a bit when stone got ejected while urinating but continued with the medicine for another 10 days and todate it has not reoccured. Consuming tender coconut water, soaked almonds, corn silk tea, barley water and horse gram soup goes long way in prevention and avoiding leafy vegetables, which means no spinach, cauliflower, cabbage, sappota, indian gooseberry etc., also helps in… [cont.]
Answered by Sudhakar B - Mon Sep 15 05:27:47 2008
