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Homeopathy (also homœopathy or homoeopathy; from the Greek ὅμοιος, hómoios, "similar" + πάθος, páthos, "suffering" or "disease") is a form of alternative medicine first defined by Samuel Hahnemann in the late 18th century. Homeopathic practitioners contend that remedies for diseases can be created by taking substances that can create, in a healthy person, symptoms similar to those of the disease. According to homeopaths, serial dilution, with shaking between each dilution, removes any negative effects of the remedy while the qualities of the substance are retained by the diluent (water, sugar, or alcohol). The end product is often so diluted that it is indistinguishable from pure water, sugar or alcohol by laboratory tests but is still claimed to have an effect on consumers.[1][2][3] Practitioners select treatments according to a patient consultation that explores the physical and psychological state of the patient, both of which are considered important to selecting the remedy.


Although some randomized, controlled trials have demonstrated some efficacy in specific conditions[4][5][6] the majority of claims for efficacy of homeopathic treatment beyond the placebo effect have not been supported by scientific and clinical studies.[7][8][9][10] The ideas behind homeopathy were developed in the premodern era, and currently stand diametrically opposed to modern pharmaceutical knowledge.[11][12][13] The lack of scientific evidence supporting its efficacy,[14] and its adherence to a theoretical approach that does not conform to modern scientific principles, have caused homeopathy to be sometimes characterized as pseudoscience.[15][16][17][18] A 1998 medical review noted that homeopathy's use of highly diluted material "overtly flies in the face of science and has caused homeopathy to be regarded as placebo therapy at best and quackery at worst."[19]


Current usage varies from two percent of people in Britain and the United States using homeopathy in any one year,[20] to 15 percent in India, where homeopathy is now considered part of its Indian traditional medicine.[21] Homeopathic remedies are generally considered safe, with rare exceptions;[22][23] however, homeopaths have been criticised for putting patients at risk by advising them to avoid conventional medical treatments, such as vaccinations,[24] anti-malarial drugs[25] and antibiotics.[26] In many countries, the laws that govern regulation and testing of conventional drugs often do not apply to homeopathic remedies.[27]

  1. ^ "Dynamization and Dilution". Creighton University Department of Pharmacology. Retrieved 2007-10-09.
  2. ^ Smith, Trevor. Homeopathic Medicine Healing Arts Press, 1989. 14-15
  3. ^ "Similia similibus curentur (Like cures like)". Creighton University Department of Pharmacology. Retrieved 2007-08-20.
  4. ^ National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. National Institutes of Health. [nccam.nih.gov/health/homeopathy/ Research Report: Questions and Answers About Homeopathy.] Accessed February 9, 2008.
  5. ^ Jonas WB, Kaptchuk TJ, Linde K (2003). "A critical overview of homeopathy". Ann. Intern. Med. 138 (5): 393–399. PMID 12614092.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ Cucherat M, Haugh MC, Gooch M, Boissel JP (2000). "Evidence of clinical efficacy of homeopathy. A meta-analysis of clinical trials. HMRAG. Homeopathic Medicines Research Advisory Group". European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. 56 (1): 27–33. PMID 10853874.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ Brien S, Lewith G, Bryant T (2003). "Ultramolecular homeopathy has no observable clinical effects. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled proving trial of Belladonna 30C". British journal of clinical pharmacology. 56 (5): 562–568. PMID 14651731.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ McCarney RW, Linde K, Lasserson TJ (2004). "Homeopathy for chronic asthma". Cochrane database of systematic reviews (Online) (1): CD000353. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD000353.pub2. PMID 14973954.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ McCarney R, Warner J, Fisher P, Van Haselen R (2003). "Homeopathy for dementia". Cochrane database of systematic reviews (Online) (1): CD003803. PMID 12535487.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
    "Homeopathy results". National Health Service. Retrieved 2007-07-25.
  10. ^ "Report 12 of the Council on Scientific Affairs (A–97)". American Medical Association. Retrieved 2007-07-25.
    Linde K, Jonas WB, Melchart D, Willich S (2001). "The methodological quality of randomized controlled trials of homeopathy, herbal medicines and acupuncture". International journal of epidemiology. 30 (3): 526–531. PMID 11416076.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
    Altunç U, Pittler MH, Ernst E (2007). "Homeopathy for childhood and adolescence ailments: systematic review of randomized clinical trials". Mayo Clin Proc. 82 (1): 69–75. PMID 17285788.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ Shang A, Huwiler-Müntener K, Nartey L; et al. (2005). "Are the clinical effects of homoeopathy placebo effects? Comparative study of placebo-controlled trials of homoeopathy and allopathy". Lancet. 366 (9487): 726–732. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(05)67177-2. PMID 16125589. {{cite journal}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |author= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  12. ^ Ernst, Edzard (November 2005). "Is homeopathy a clinically valuable approach?". Trends in Pharmacological Sciences. 26 (11): 547–548. doi:10.1016/j.tips.2005.09.003.
  13. ^ Johnson T, Boon H (2007). "Where does homeopathy fit in pharmacy practice?". American journal of pharmaceutical education. 71 (1): 7. PMID 17429507.
  14. ^ Jerry Adler. "No Way to Treat the Dying" - Newsweek, Feb 4, 2008
  15. ^ National Science Board (April 2002) Science and Engineering Indicators, Chapter 7, "Science and Technology: Public Attitudes and Public Understanding" - "Science Fiction and Pseudoscience" (Arlington, Virginia: National Science Foundation Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences)
  16. ^ Wahlberg, A. (2007) "A quackery with a difference—New medical pluralism and the problem of 'dangerous practitioners' in the United Kingdom," Social Science & Medicine 65(11) pp. 2307-2316: PMID 18080586
  17. ^ Atwood, K.C. (2003) "Neurocranial Restructuring' and Homeopathy, Neither Complementary nor Alternative," Archives of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery 129(12) pp. 1356-1357: PMID 14676179
  18. ^ Ndububa, V.I. (2007) "Medical quackery in Nigeria; why the silence?" Nigerian Journal of Medicine 16(4) pp. 312-317: PMID 18080586
  19. ^ Ernst E, Pittler MH (1998). "Efficacy of homeopathic arnica: a systematic review of placebo-controlled clinical trials". Archives of surgery (Chicago, Ill. : 1960). 133 (11): 1187–90. PMID 9820349.
  20. ^ Thomas K, Coleman P (2004). "Use of complementary or alternative medicine in a general population in Great Britain. Results from the National Omnibus survey". Journal of public health (Oxford, England). 26 (2): 152–7. PMID 15284318.
  21. ^ Singh P, Yadav RJ, Pandey A (2005). "Utilization of indigenous systems of medicine & homoeopathy in India". Indian J. Med. Res. 122 (2): 137–42. PMID 16177471.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  22. ^ "Zicam Settlement". Online Lawyer Source. Retrieved 2007-10-25.
  23. ^ Chakraborti, D; Mukherjee, SC; Saha, KC; Chowdhury, UK; et al. (2003). "Arsenic Toxicity from Homeopathic Treatment". Clinical Toxicology. 47 (1): 963–967. doi:10.1081/CLT-120026518. {{cite journal}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |author= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  24. ^ Ernst E, White AR (1995). "Homoeopathy and immunization". The British journal of general practice: the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners. 45 (400): 629–630. PMID 8554846.
  25. ^ Jones, Meirion (2006-07-14). "Malaria advice 'risks lives'". BBC News. Retrieved 2007-07-25.
  26. ^ Critical review of The Science of Homeopathy from the British Homoeopathic Journal Volume 67, Number 4, October 1978
  27. ^ "Legal Status of Traditional Medicine and Complementary/Alternative Medicine: A Worldwide Review" (PDF). World Health Organization. World Health Organization. 2001. Retrieved 2007-09-12.
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