Samuel Hahnemann, a German physician frustrated with modern medicine developed an idea based on 3 principles: the law of similars, the minimum dose, and the classical single remedy. Homeopathy is a Greek word for like (homoios) and suffering (pathos). Hahnemann thought that if an abundant amount of a substance causes certain symptoms in a healthy person, tiny amounts of the same substance can treat those symptoms in someone who is sick.
The basis of his theory took shape after a strong dose of the malaria treatment quinine caused his healthy body to develop symptoms similar to ones caused by the disease. He continued to test his theory on himself as well as family and friends with different herbs, minerals and other substances. He called these experiments "provings."
As we might expect, the acuteness of the symptoms caused by the original proving was too great. So Hahnemann began to decrease the strength of the doses to see how minute of a substance could still produce signs of healing. With the small dose, or law of infinitesimals, Hahnemann accepted a peculiar idea. A substance strength and effectiveness increased the more it was diluted.
Doses were prepared by repeatedly diluting the active ingredient by factors of ten. A "6X" preparation (the X is the Roman numeral for 10) is a 1-to-10 dilution repeated six times, leaving the active ingredient as one part per million. To increase the potency of homeopathic medicine, vigorous shaking is done.
Some homeopathic remedies are so dilute, no molecules of the healing substance remain. Even with sophisticated technology now available, analytical chemists may find it difficult or impossible to identify any active ingredient. But the homeopathic belief is that the substance has left its imprint or a spirit-like essence that stimulates the body to heal itself.
People critical of homeopathy say there is no way these medicines could work. People are feeling better because they think they are. There are few trials in homeopathy to show that it works. However, some proponents of homeopathy say there are a great deal of trials showing homeopathy to be effective.
Recent homeopathy trials done by A Swiss-UK review of 110 trials found no proof the homeopathy regimen worked any better than a placebo. However, there seems to be many issues with these types of trials.
The University of Limberg investigators, who are all epidemiologists, found 107 controlled trials in homeopathic medicine. Most trials did not meet the research standard that they were looking for. However, 22 studies meet their strict criteria. The investigators used double blind studies with the largest amount of people and randomization of patients if a regimen group.
The 22 trials that were noted by the researchers, 15 showed homeopathy working better than a sugar pill. The other 7 trials showed Homeopathy working equivalent to a sugar pill. Successful studies are almost 2 to 1 in favor of homeopathy. - 16004
The basis of his theory took shape after a strong dose of the malaria treatment quinine caused his healthy body to develop symptoms similar to ones caused by the disease. He continued to test his theory on himself as well as family and friends with different herbs, minerals and other substances. He called these experiments "provings."
As we might expect, the acuteness of the symptoms caused by the original proving was too great. So Hahnemann began to decrease the strength of the doses to see how minute of a substance could still produce signs of healing. With the small dose, or law of infinitesimals, Hahnemann accepted a peculiar idea. A substance strength and effectiveness increased the more it was diluted.
Doses were prepared by repeatedly diluting the active ingredient by factors of ten. A "6X" preparation (the X is the Roman numeral for 10) is a 1-to-10 dilution repeated six times, leaving the active ingredient as one part per million. To increase the potency of homeopathic medicine, vigorous shaking is done.
Some homeopathic remedies are so dilute, no molecules of the healing substance remain. Even with sophisticated technology now available, analytical chemists may find it difficult or impossible to identify any active ingredient. But the homeopathic belief is that the substance has left its imprint or a spirit-like essence that stimulates the body to heal itself.
People critical of homeopathy say there is no way these medicines could work. People are feeling better because they think they are. There are few trials in homeopathy to show that it works. However, some proponents of homeopathy say there are a great deal of trials showing homeopathy to be effective.
Recent homeopathy trials done by A Swiss-UK review of 110 trials found no proof the homeopathy regimen worked any better than a placebo. However, there seems to be many issues with these types of trials.
The University of Limberg investigators, who are all epidemiologists, found 107 controlled trials in homeopathic medicine. Most trials did not meet the research standard that they were looking for. However, 22 studies meet their strict criteria. The investigators used double blind studies with the largest amount of people and randomization of patients if a regimen group.
The 22 trials that were noted by the researchers, 15 showed homeopathy working better than a sugar pill. The other 7 trials showed Homeopathy working equivalent to a sugar pill. Successful studies are almost 2 to 1 in favor of homeopathy. - 16004
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