A Homeopathy is a branch of holistic medicine which is popular world-wide. It is based on the idea that the body has the ability to heal itself, assisted by medication extracted from the active ingredients of minerals and plants. Proponents claim that homeopathy aims to stimulate healing responses to diseases by administering substances that mimic, in healthy people, the symptoms of those eases. 11Homeopathy is popular world-wide, and the World Health Organization recognises it as the second-most-practiced alternative form of medicine in the world. Some studies indicate that homeopathy is the primary healthcare choice for more than 300 million people in more than 50 countries. 3Believe it or not, it is included in the national health systems of a number of countries such as India, Pakistan, Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Switzerland. According to some estimates, the homeopathy-based industry in Britain was worth an estimated $38m in 2007, and Americans spent $30 billion on alternative health treatments in the same period.
B Homeopathy was invented by Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843), a German physician who had become dissatisfied with the conventional medicine of the day. 7He formed his theory of treating ‘like with like’ after noticing that the symptoms induced in a healthy person by quinine mirrored those of malaria it was used to treat. Interestingly, homeopathy seems to have been one of the first fields in which substances were administered along with placebo controls - now the basis of modern medical experimentation. 4One such early homeopathic experiment was performed in 1879 - 1880, and the trial was reported in March 1880 in the Homeopathic Times of New York. The study was designed to assess whether homeopathic medicines diluted to one-thirtieth 'can produce any medicinal action on the human organism, in healthy or sick people.’ The study comprised a pathogenic and a therapeutic component. In the therapeutic component, the participating doctor was to give a substance to 'mostly chronic patients' and then decided on the basis of the patients' reactions which was a placebo and which was the homeopathic treatment. Very few of the participating physicians actually responded with their decisions, and even fewer correctly identified the treatment. These disappointing results were reported in the Homeopathic Times in a matter-of-fact manner.
C However, the attempts at proving the superpower of homeopathy have never ended. In 2003, one study which focused on the observable clinical effects of ultramolecular homeopathy was launched, with the participation of 206 healthy subjects aged 18 to 30 years old taking part in a four-week study. 6This was the largest double-blind randomized trial ever conducted on homeopathy. Unfortunately, no significant group differences in proving rates were observed, and the conclusion made was that the homeopathy remedy had no apparent effects on healthy subjects. 1It is interesting that the study also noted that despite this being a clearly negative result for homeopathy, surveys confirmed that patients used and continued to use homeopathy and felt satisfied with their treatment. In 2015, after reviewing more than 1,800 studies conducted on homeopathy, Australia's National Health and Medical Research Council was only able to find 225 which were of satisfactory quality suitable for analysis. But the researchers did not find any ‘good quality evidence to support the claim that homeopathy is effective in treating health conditions.' 8-12Moreover, the study's authors were concerned that people who continued to choose homeopathic remedies over proven medicine faced real health risks if they had a serious disease or infection.
D 2Many medical professionals do not subscribe to the practices of homeopathy, and their opinions on it range from viewing it as a harmless waste of patients' money, to strong opposition to the practice as harmful unscientific quackery. At times it has been criticized for focusing on treating symptoms rather than finding the underlying causes of disease. Numerous studies have been conducted which appear to disprove the effectiveness of homeopathy. 9One such study, a systematic review of the quality of homeopathic pathogenetic trials published in the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1995, looked at hundreds of trials from all over the world and found that they were often poorly designed and conducted, and were therefore at a high risk of bias. It concluded that the idea that homeopathic preparations cause consistent symptoms in healthy volunteers could not be scientifically established.
E 5In spite of all the criticism, supporters of homeopathy insist that scientists in highly respected universities, hospitals and research institutions in many countries have continued to undertake research into homeopathy using the same techniques as those used to investigate conventional medical treatments. While research into homeopathy is a new field, the number of articles published in recognised journals has risen markedly over the past 30 years. 13One major event marked on the calendar of supporters is the International Homeopathy Research Conference, held biennially and featuring presentations all delivered by well-known PhDs and professors. 10Supporters are using both social and mainstream media to communicate the benefits of homeopathy to medical professionals. Many people believe that if consumers were better educated and could request homeopathic treatments from their doctors, these doctors would be more likely to take the time to better understand and recognise it as a mainstream treatment. And perhaps surprisingly, given the assertions of scientists and researchers, users of homeopathy continue to rise.
