Testing homeopathy in mouse emotional response models: pooled data analysis of two series of studies. Bellavite P, Conforti A, Marzotto M, Magnani P, Cristofoletti M, Olioso D, Zanolin ME. Source Department of Pathology and Diagnostics, University of Verona, 37134 Verona, Italy. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2012;2012:954374. Epub 2012 Apr 4.

Abstract: Two previous investigations were performed to assess the activity of Gelsemium sempervirens (Gelsemium s.) in mice, using emotional response models. These two series are pooled and analysed here.

Gelsemium s. in various homeopathic centesimal dilutions/dynamizations (4C, 5C, 7C, 9C, and 30C), a placebo (solvent vehicle), and the reference drugs diazepam (1 mg/kg body weight) or buspirone (5 mg/kg body weight) were delivered intraperitoneally to groups of albino CD1 mice, and their effects on animal behaviour were assessed by the light-dark (LD) choice test and the open-field (OF) exploration test.

Up to 14 separate replications were carried out in fully blind and randomised conditions. Pooled analysis demonstrated highly significant effects of Gelsemium s. 5C, 7C, and 30C on the OF parameter “time spent in central area” and of Gelsemium s. 5C, 9C, and 30C on the LD parameters “time spent in lit area” and “number of light-dark transitions,” without any sedative action or adverse effects on locomotion.

This pooled data analysis confirms and reinforces the evidence that Gelsemium s. regulates emotional responses and behaviour of laboratory mice in a nonlinear fashion with dilution/dynamization.

Read about more about scientific research on homeopathy

With thanks to The Guardian and Alok Jha, science correspondent guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 1 May 2012 21.04 BST

Academic spring campaign aims to make all taxpayer-funded academic research available for free online. Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia, is to help the government in its bid to make taxpayer-funded research available for free online.  The government has drafted in the Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales to help make all taxpayer-funded academic research in Britain available online to anyone who wants to read or use it.

The initiative, which has the backing of No 10 and should be up and running in two years, will be announced by the universities and science minister, David Willetts, in a speech to the Publishers Association on Wednesday.

Note: the Academic Spring was started by Timothy Gowers (Royal Society Research Professor at the Department of Pure Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics at Cambridge University) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Gowers ‘… In January 2012 Timothy Gowers made a post on his personal blog which initiated a project called The Cost of Knowledge. The blog post called for a boycott of Elsevier. The Cost of Knowledge is a petition for change in which researchers commit to discontinue support for Elsevier journals. As a result, Timothy Gowers has been credited with starting the Academic Spring…’

The move will embolden what has been dubbed the “academic spring” – a growing campaign among academics and research funders for open access in academic publishing. They want to unlock the results of research from behind the lucrative paywalls of journals controlled by publishing companies.

Almost 11,000 researchers have signed up to a boycott of journals owned by the huge academic publisher Elsevier. Subscriptions to the thousands of research journals can cost a big university library millions of pounds each year – costs that have started to bite as budgets are squeezed. Harvard University, frustrated by the rising costs of journal subscriptions, recently encouraged its faculty members to make their research freely available through open access journals and to resign from publications that keep articles behind paywalls.

“Giving people the right to roam freely over publicly funded research will usher in a new era of academic discovery and collaboration, and will put the UK at the very forefront of open research,” Willetts writes in the Guardian.  Willetts said he recognised the value that academic publishers brought to the research process. “But, as the world changes, both cultural and technological change, their business model is going to change. I want to work with the Publishers Association as we move to the new model.”

Wales is a vocal supporter of free and open access to information on the web and he was brought in by No 10 earlier this year as an unpaid adviser to government on crowdsourcing and opening up policymaking. On open access, he will assist the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the UK Research Councils to develop new ways to store and distribute research data and articles. He will initially advise the research councils on its £2m Gateway to Research project, a website that will act as a portal, linking to publicly funded UK research all over the web. “Jimmy Wales can make sure that we maximise the collaborative potential, the added value from that portal,” Willetts added. “Wikipedia has become a crucial part of our cultural landscape and having the advice from the person who created Wikipedia as we embark on this big project will be incredibly helpful.”

Wales will also feed ideas into the work of Dame Janet Finch, a former vice-chancellor of Keele University, who was asked by Willetts to convene academics, librarians and publishers to work out how an open-access scheme for publicly funded research might work in the UK. Her recommendations to government are expected in June this year.

A government source said that, in the longer term, Wales would help to set up the next generation of open-access platforms for British researchers. “He’s also going to be advising us on the format in which academic papers should be published and data standards. One of the big opportunities is, right now, a journal article might be published but the underlying data isn’t and we want to move into a world where the data is published alongside an article in an open format, available free of charge.”

This initiative is most likely to result in a central repository that will host all research articles that result from public funding. The aim is that, even if an academic publishes their work in a traditional subscription journal, a version of their article would simultaneously appear on the freely available repository. The repository would also have built-in tools to share, comment and discuss articles.

One of the biggest challenges in achieving full open access for research will be the resistance of journal publishers to changing their lucrative business models. The majority of the world’s scientific research, estimated at about 1.5m new articles a year, is published in journals owned by a small number of large publishing companies including Elsevier, Springer and Wiley.

Scientists submit manuscripts to the journals, which are sent out for peer review before publication. The work is then available to other researchers by subscription, usually through their libraries. Publishers of the academic journals, which can cost universities up to £16,500 a year each to access, argue the price is necessary to sustain a high-quality peer review process.

David Prosser, executive director of Research Libraries UK, which represents academic libraries, welcomed the plans in principle and said the details of their implementation would be crucial.

A parallel system that runs alongside the journals might be difficult to operate, he said. “What would an author put into this parallel system, are they putting in a different type of research output other than the paper?”

Making research data standardised and more available would be valuable, he added. “The worry is that there’s all this data out there and it’s in lots of different formats and it’s not interoperable and it’s not being archived properly and it’s going to disappear and there’s a danger of a data black hole. The fact that the government is talking about doing something for that is absolutely fabulous.”

See http://avilian.co.uk/2012/04/wellcome-trust-joins-academic-spring-to-open-up-science/

See http://avilian.co.uk/2012/04/pharmas-influence-over-published-clinical-evidence/#more-3039

See http://avilian.co.uk/2012/04/heads-they-wintails-we-lose-how-corporations-corrupt-science-at-the-publics-expense/

See http://avilian.co.uk/2012/04/more-falsified-scientific-research-will-it-never-end/

See http://avilian.co.uk/2012/03/scandalous-scientists-and-doctors-falsifying-research-data/

See http://avilian.co.uk/2012/02/pharma-fraud-withheld-clinical-trial-data-shows-antidepressants-no-better-than-dummy-pills/

See http://avilian.co.uk/2012/02/misconduct-pervades-uk-research-according-to-financial-times/

See http://avilian.co.uk/2012/01/reporting-of-research-ghosts-in-the-machine/

See Why Most Published Research Findings Are False Ioannidis JPA (2005) Why Most Published Research Findings Are False. PLoS Med 2(8): e124. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0020124 ‘… There is increasing concern that most current published research findings are false. The probability that a research claim is true may depend on study power and bias, the number of other studies on the same question, and, importantly, the ratio of true to no relationships among the relationships probed in each scientific field. In this framework, a research finding is less likely to be true when the studies conducted in a field are smaller; when effect sizes are smaller; when there is a greater number and lesser preselection of tested relationships; where there is greater flexibility in designs, definitions, outcomes, and analytical modes; when there is greater financial and other interest and prejudice; and when more teams are involved in a scientific field in chase of statistical significance. Simulations show that for most study designs and settings, it is more likely for a research claim to be false than true. Moreover, for many current scientific fields, claimed research findings may often be simply accurate measures of the prevailing bias. In this essay, I discuss the implications of these problems for the conduct and interpretation of research…’

Phenotypic evidence of ultra-highly diluted homeopathic remedies acting at gene expression level: a novel probe on experimental phage infectivity in bacteria. Saha SK, Das S, Khuda-Bukhsh AR. Source Cytogenetics and Molecular Biology Laboratory, Department of Zoology, University of Kalyani, Kalyani 741235, India; E-mail: prof_arkb@yahoo.co.in, khudabukhsh_48@rediffmail.com. Zhong Xi Yi Jie He Xue Bao. 2012 Apr;10(4):462-70.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To explore if some ultra-highly diluted homeopathic remedies claimed to have antiviral effects can demonstrate any discernible action in the bacteria Escherichia coli through modulating infectivity potentials of the bacteriophage φX174 DNA.

METHODS: φX174 was selected because of its known host specificity to E. coli and its constitutive expression of lytic gene E when inside the bacterial host. We deployed the “bacteriophage assay system” by “top layer agar plating” method of plaque-counting for evaluation of efficacy of the homeopathic remedies in rendering the bacteria’s protective ability against the attack of φX174. The plaque number in the agar-plated Petri dishes, either containing the phage-bacteria mixture subjected to one of the diluted homeopathic drugs under test (1% volume ratio; Belladonna 30C, Rhus Tox 30C, Arnica 30C) or the succussed 1% “alcoholic vehicle” of the drug was recorded. The plaques represented the bacterial colony actually infected and lysed by φX174. Conversely, we subjected φX174 to the homeopathic drug treatment before allowing them to interact with the bacteria to ascertain if the drug itself had any direct effect on the infective potential of the phage DNA entering into the bacterial cell.

RESULTS: Each homeopathic remedy showed a significant decrease in plaque number on pretreated bacteria (1 h prior to infection) with respect to untreated and placebo-treated controls; there was only an insignificant change in the plaque number when φX174 was pretreated with the drugs. As φX174 starts lytic cycle when inside the bacterial cell, the loss of plaque number would mean that either the lytic gene E in many was repressed or the entire phage DNA was annihilated by the bacterial gene product (restriction enzymes) known to be regulated by a cluster of genes.

CONCLUSION: This provides phenotypic evidence for the ability of ultra-highly diluted homeopathic remedies to regulate expression of certain gene(s) depending on need of the organism.

Read about more about scientific research on homeopathy

Homeopathic aggravation with Quinquagintamillesimal potencies. Rossi E, Bartoli P, Bianchi A, Endrizzi C, Da Frè M. Source Homeopathic Clinic, Local Health Unit n. 2 Lucca, Tuscany Regional Reference Centre, Italy. Homeopathy. 2012 Apr;101(2):112-20.

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Homeopathic aggravation is the exacerbation of some symptoms or the whole pathological situation, followed by improvement of the patient’s conditions.

AIM: To evaluate the typology, intensity and frequency of homeopathic aggravation, especially with Quinquagintamillesimal (Q, LM) potencies and its prognostic value.

METHODS: The homeopathic prescription strategy evaluated consists in the administration of a single homeopathic medicine in Q dilutions, starting with 6Q, then a progressive scale of Q potencies. Patients whose symptoms could be attributed to a wrong and inappropriate prescription, according to the criteria previously described, were excluded.

RESULTS: Data was collected on 1108 patients consecutively visited from 3rd October 2002 to 31st December 2007, and 441 cases followed for at least 2 months (40% of total cases). 63 of these cases (14%) reported homeopathic aggravation: 7% reported ‘slight’, 5% ‘medium’, 2% ‘intense’ and 0.4% ‘very intense’ aggravation. Homeopathic aggravation was present in 21% of paediatric patients (≤14 years). About 50% of the cases manifested homeopathic aggravation 1 or 2 days after the prescription and for 67% of patients the symptoms lasted 1 week or less. Patients with aggravation of the original disease had significantly greater improvement than those patients showing the aggravation of other, new or different, symptoms or conditions, or no aggravation.

CONCLUSIONS: These data show that homeopathic aggravation with Q potencies is quite frequent in homeopathic clinical practice and seems to be associated with better treatment outcome.

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Effects of two homeopathic complexes on bovine sperm mitochondrial activity. Aziz DM, Schnurrbusch U, Enbergs H. Source Institute of Physiology, Biochemistry and Hygiene of Animals, Bonn University, Bonn, Germany. Homeopathy. 2012 Apr;101(2):99-102.

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of two homeopathic complexes Ubichinon compositum(®) (Ubi comp) and Coenzyme compositum ad us. vet.(®) (CoQ10 comp) on bovine sperm mitochondrial activity.

METHODS: Sperm viability, acrosomal integrity and sperm chromatin structure were estimated to detect the possible side effect of complexes on other sperm parameters.

RESULTS: Mitochondrial activity was significantly enhanced by both Ubi comp (P<0.01) and CoQ10 comp (P<0.05). No effects were detected in other tested sperm parameters.

CONCLUSION: The tested homeopathic complex medicines stimulate the mitochondrial activity of bovine sperm without effects on their viability, acrosomal integrity or chromatin structure. The possibility that this translates into improved fertilization capacity in artificial insemination should investigated.

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Effects of Calendula officinalis on human gingival fibroblasts. Saini P, Al-Shibani N, Sun J, Zhang W, Song F, Gregson KS, Windsor LJ. Source Department of Periodontics, Indiana University School of Dentistry, 1121 West Michigan Street, DS 423, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA. Homeopathy. 2012 Apr;101(2):92-8.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Calendula officinalis is commonly called the marigold. It is a staple topical remedy in homeopathic medicine. It is rich in quercetin, carotenoids, lutein, lycopene, rutin, ubiquinone, xanthophylls, and other anti-oxidants. It has anti-inflammatory properties. Quercetin, one of the active components in Calendula, has been shown to inhibit recombinant human matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) activity and decrease the expression of tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-1β (IL), IL-6 and IL-8 in phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate and calcium ionophore-stimulated human mast cells.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the effects of Calendula on human gingival fibroblast (HGF) mediated collagen degradation and MMP activity.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: Lactate dehydrogenate assays were performed to determine the non-toxic concentrations of Calendula, doxycycline and quercetin. Cell-mediated collagen degradation assays were performed to examine the inhibitory effect on cell-mediated collagen degradation. Gelatin zymography was performed to examine their effects on MMP-2 activity. The experiments were repeated three times and ANOVA used for statistical analyses.

RESULTS: Calendula at 2-3% completely inhibited the MMP-2 activity in the zymograms. Doxycycline inhibited HGF-mediated collagen degradation at 0.005, 0.01, 0.02 and 0.05%, and MMP-2 activity completely at 0.05%. Quercetin inhibited HGF-mediated collagen degradation at 0.005, 0.01 and 0.02%, and MMP-2 activity in a dose-dependent manner. Calendula inhibited HGF-mediated collagen degradation and MMP-2 activity more than the same correlated concentration of pure quercetin.

CONCLUSION: Calendula inhibits HGF-mediated collagen degradation and MMP-2 activity more than the corresponding concentration of quercetin. This may be attributed to additional components in Calendula other than quercetin.

Read about more about scientific research on homeopathy

Homeopathy in chronic sinusitis: a prospective multi-centric observational study. Nayak C, Singh V, Singh VP, Oberai P, Roja V, Shitanshu SS, Sinha MN, Deewan D, Lakhera BC, Ramteke S, Kaushik S, Sarkar S, Mandal NR, Mohanan PG, Singh JR, Biswas S, Mathew G. Source Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy, New Delhi, India. Homeopathy. 2012 Apr;101(2):84-91.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The primary objective was to ascertain the therapeutic usefulness of homeopathic medicine in the management of chronic sinusitis (CS).

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Multicentre observational study at Institutes and Units of the Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy, India. Symptoms were assessed using the chronic sinusitis assessment score (CSAS). 17 pre-defined homeopathic medicines were shortlisted for prescription on the basis of repertorisation for the pathological symptoms of CS. Regimes and adjustment of regimes in the event of a change of symptoms were pre-defined. The follow-up period was for 6 months. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS version 16.

RESULTS: 628 patients suffering from CS confirmed on X-ray were enrolled from eight Institutes and Units of the Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy. All 550 patients with at least one follow-up assessment were analyzed. There was a statistically significant reduction in CSAS (P = 0.0001, Friedman test) after 3 and 6 months of treatment. Radiological appearances also improved. A total of 13 out of 17 pre-defined medicines were prescribed in 550 patients, Sil. (55.2% of 210), Calc. (62.5% of 98), Lyc. (69% of 55), Phos. (66.7% of 45) and Kali iod. (65% of 40) were found to be most useful having marked improvement. 4/17 medicines were never prescribed. No complications were observed during treatment.

CONCLUSION: Homeopathic treatment may be effective for CS patients. Controlled trials are required for further validation.

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Therapeutic Effect of Arsenicum album on Leukocytes. Elaine C. Ive,1 Ingrid M. S. Couchman,1 and Lalini Reddy2* 1Department of Homoeopathy, Faculty of Health Sciences, Durban University of Technology, P.O. Box 1334, Durban 4000, South Africa; E-Mails: elaine.ive0@gmail.com (E.C.I.); Email: ingridc@dut.ac.za (I.M.S.C.)2Department of Biotechnology and Food Technology, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Durban University of Technology, P.O. Box 1334, Durban 4000, South Africa. Int J Mol Sci. 2012; 13(3): 3979–3987. Published online 2012 March 22. doi: 10.3390/ijms13033979 PMCID: PMC3317753 Copyright © 2012 by the authors; licensee Molecular Diversity Preservation International, Basel, Switzerland.

The therapeutic effects of homeopathic Arsenicum album potencies were investigated in-vitro, using a continuous cell line (MT4), pre-intoxicated with arsenic trioxide (As2O3), and then treated with succussed and unsuccussed homoeopathic potencies, 6CH, 30CH and 200CH.

This study aimed to verify the homoeopathic law of similars and to determine whether potencies diluted beyond Avogadro’s constant had physiological effects on cells; whether various potencies would cause different effects as suggested by the concept of hormesis; whether succussed and unsuccussed homeopathic potencies had different effects on the cells; and to establish whether a biotechnological method could be used to evaluate the above.

As2O3 was used to pre-intoxicate and the MTT assay was used to measure the percentage cytotoxicity and half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of the cells. The homeopathic potencies of Arsenicum album (6CH, 30CH and 200CH) were prepared by either succussing or allowing to diffuse for 30 s.

After pre-intoxication of the MT4 cells with the IC50 As2O3 and treatment with succussed and unsuccussed Arsenicum album (6CH-200CH), the cell viability increased with increasing potency from 81% to 194% (over 72 h). The treatments and the times of exposure were found to be statistically significant determinants of cell viability, whereas succussion did not cause any significant variation in the results.

The study provided evidence that a biotechnological method (namely cell viability) may be used to scientifically evaluate the physiological effects of homeopathic potencies on human cells; it confirmed that the homeopathic potencies did have therapeutic effects; and that succussion was not required in the potentization method in order to produce a curative remedy.

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With thanks to H’Pathy.com Magazine and to Robert Medhurst 17.4.12

Robert Medhurst is a qualified Naturopath & Homoeopath with 27 years of clinical experience. He has written many articles & lectured throughout Australia & the US on homoeopathy. He previously operated several natural therapies practices in Sydney & was involved in teaching & research activities. He now lives in Adelaide and operates the research and development and education departments for a major homoeopathic manufacturer. He is the Expert Advisor on Homeopathy to the Federal Government of Australia, Dept of Health & Ageing.

Visit Robert Medhurst – BNat DHom – at his website : www.adelaidehillsnaturopath.com.au

The author discusses the criticism directed at homeopathy.

It’s probably pretty obvious to most that complementary medicine (CM) in general attracts a great deal of criticism by advocates of orthodox western medicine. Vitamins are frequently described as agents that do little more than produce expensive urine, herbs are labeled as useless if not outright dangerous. Bach flowers, reflexology and aromatherapy are dismissed as fanciful nonsense. Vast clinical studies with questionable methodology that find no benefit from these therapies are held up as proof that they have no effect while smaller properly designed studies that show them to be successful are ignored. Yet CM continues to provide relief for millions of people and every year sees more and more people turning to these therapies. This situation appears to cause enormous irritation for orthodox western medicine and as much as they’d like it to, CM refuses to go away.

Fortunately, in recent times the critics of herbs and supplements have become marginalised and their credibility has become increasingly dubious as they struggle under the weight of higher quality evidence of clinical effect. Regrettably, criticism aimed at homeopathy remains undiminished. It comes under regular attack in pharmacy and other orthodox journals (1, 2). And it is vilified by national broadcasters (3). Organisations have been established with the apparent aim of eradicating it (4) and clinical trials that fail to show an effect receive inordinate levels of attention while successful trials are ignored.

What are the criticisms of homeopathy?

There is no scientifically plausible mechanism for Homeopathy.

This is certainly true, but it’s also true that the mechanism for the action of many commonly prescribed drugs, such as dexamphetamine in the treatment of ADHD, is yet to be determined. The failure to understand the mechanism of a therapeutic substance, particularly where that substance is a drug, does not normally diminish the enthusiasm for it by prescribers. Why then should homeopathy be criticised for this?

The concept of a memory for water is unscientific.

This relates to the fact that many researchers have speculated that the potentisation process used to manufacture homeopathic medicines causes the water in which the medicines are made to retain a “memory” of the starting material from which the potencies are derived. In response to this criticism, we should be clear on what “science” actually is. Science is not a body of facts. It’s a process used to study, by deduction and inference, specific issues that one seeks to understand. The fact that the memory of water has yet to be adopted by orthodox science does not make it unscientific. In fact, various studies have shown that water may be imprinted by the electromagnetic energy signature derived from physical substances to which it is exposed (5-7). These studies would tend to support the concept the memory of water.

There’s nothing in a homeopathic medicine so it couldn’t possibly work.

Those making these kinds of assertions seem to miss the point that past certain potencies (12C or 24X), a homoeopathic medicine will contain the base substance (alcohol and water in the case of a liquid, or sugar in the case of a solid dose form such as a pilule) and it will also contain the electromagnetic energy that’s derived from the starting material via the process of potentisation. This latter component is not detectable by normal assay techniques, but its effects are certainly demonstrable. Studies have confirmed that biological systems can be influenced by these electromagnetic frequencies (8-12). The criticism that there’s nothing in a homeopathic medicine is also frequently leveled at products, often homeopathic combination products, where the medicines are used at potencies below 12C or 24X. Anyone making the statement that there’s nothing in these products , may have a little difficulty with the information in the following table, which demonstrates the levels at which the human body responds to normal human hormones and metabolites.

Lower Limit of Biological Activity of Human Hormones and Metabolites

Substance                                                          

Parathyroid Hormone

10 picograms/mL

= homeopathic potency   11X

Free Oestrogen

0.6 picograms/mL

= homeopathic potency   12X

Brain Natriuretic Hormone

4 picograms/mL

= homeopathic potency   12X

ACTH

20 picograms/mL

= homeopathic potency   11X

Oestrogen

10 picograms/mL

= homeopathic potency   11X

Vitamin B12

150 picograms/mL

= homeopathic potency    9X

Testosterone

200 picograms/mL

= homeopathic potency    9X

Progesterone

100 picograms/mL

= homeopathic potency    10X

Free Thyroxine (Pregnancy)

5 picograms/mL

= homeopathic potency    12X

Triiodothyronine (Children)

1 picograms/mL

= homeopathic potency    12X

Acetylcholine

0.0001 picograms/mL

= homeopathic potency     16X (miniature end potential)

Homeopathy is not evidence based- there are no successful trials.

This is an interesting point. It’s true that the number of successful homeopathic trials is relatively small, the numbers of people participating in the trials is often relatively small and few trials have been replicated. The reason for this is that unlike drugs, homeopathic medicines in most cases cannot be patented, so there is little incentive to invest the vast quantities of money that the drug companies often spend to mount large clinical trials if the sponsors cannot monopolize the results. However, homeopathy has produced successful clinical trials, and they’re relatively easy to find (13-17). As a final point, surveys have found that only 10-20% of all standard medical procedures have been validated by controlled clinical trials18 and yet orthodox medicine is held up as the gold standard to which homeopathy should aspire.

Homeopathy stops people from using drugs that may provide better results in disease control.

This again is an interesting issue, and the criticism can be answered with a few simple facts. Trials comparing homeopathy with standard medical treatment have found that it can provide outcomes as good as or better than orthodox medicine for particular conditions (19, 20). It’s also useful here to put the relative safety of various forms of medicine into perspective. The total number of adverse reactions to drugs in Australia from the year 1999-2000 was 400,000 (21). The total number of adverse reactions from CM for the same year was 2322, and none of these were caused by a homeopathic medicine (23). Even more interesting is the fact that only 1-10% of all adverse drug reactions are reported (24). In the US up to one fifth of all new prescription drugs may ultimately be recalled or produce potentially harmful side effects25. No homeopathic medicine has ever been subject to a product recall on the basis of toxicity, or has been recorded as producing serious side effects.

Homeopathy keeps people away from medical doctors.

The facts would indicate that this, in many circumstances, may not be such a bad idea. In the US, doctors are the third leading cause of death, with iatrogenic (medically induced) disease accounting for 250,000 deaths every year (12,000 from unnecessary surgery, 7,000 from medication errors in hospitals, 20,000 from other errors in hospitals, 80,000 from infections in hospitals, 106,000 from the negative effects of drugs) (26).

Homeopathy is expensive.

This is rarely the case. US doctors who used homeopathy were found to use less diagnostic testing and conventional medicines, resulting in a significant reduction in their impact on the cost of public health27. Patients using homeopathy cost the French government half of what it cost for patients who used orthodox treatments (28) . French researchers have noted that the number of paid sick leave days taken by patients under the care of homeopathic physicians was 3.5 times less than patients under the care of medical practitioners (29) . UK doctors using homeopathy cost the government 12% less than UK doctors who do not use homoeopathy (30). In Germany researchers found that homeopathic care for infertility was 30 times less expensive per successful delivery than orthodox medical care (31).

Criticisms leveled at homeopathy seem more often than not to be based on emotion rather than logic, and the types of criticisms made and the way they’re articulated ,would tend to indicate that orthodox medicine has great difficulty in accepting anything outside of itself, regardless of the evidence. If one looks at it objectively, and when in possession of the facts, the criticisms of homeopathy can be shown to be largely baseless.

References

1. Payne F., Homeopathy- to believe or not to believe, The Australian Pharmacist, 22, 6, June 203, 420

2. Roller L., Homoeopathy: where’s the evidence?, Australian Journal of Pharmacy, 84, July 2003, 519

3. Catalyst, ABC television, April 3, April 10, 2003

4. National Campaign Against Health Fraud ( see also http://www.quackpotwatch.org/default.htm

5. Shui-Yin Lo, “Anomalous State of Ice,” Modern Physics Letters B, 10,1996:909-919.

6. Shui-Yin Lo “Physical Properties of Water with IE Structures,” Modern Physics Letters B, 10, 1996:921-930

7. IE Vittorio Elia and Marcella Niccoli, “Thermodynamics of Extremely Diluted Aqueous Solutions,” Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1999, 827:241-248.

8. Benveniste J, Aissa J, Guillonnet D The Molecular Signal is Not Functional in the Absence of “Informed” Water FASEB Journal, 1999, 13, A163

9. Benveniste J, Aissa J, Guillonnet D A Simple and Fast Method for In Vivo Demonstration of Electromagnetic Signaling (EMS) via High Dilution or Computer Recording FASEB Journal, 1999, 13, A163

10. Benveniste J, Aissa J, Guillonnet D Digital Biology: Specificity of the Digitised Molecular Signal FASEB Journal, 1998, 12, A412

11. Aissa J, Jurgens P, Hsueh W, Benveniste J Transatlantic Transfer of Digitised Antigen Signal by Telephone Link J Allergy Clin Immunol, 99, 1997, S175

12. Thomas Y, Schiff M, Belkadi L, Jurgens P, Kahhak L, Benveniste J. Activation of Human Neutrophils by Electronically Transmitted Phorbol Myristate Acetate Medical Hypotheses, 2000, 54, 1, 33-39)

13. Medhurst R., Current State of Research in Homoeopathy Part 1, Journal of the Australian Traditional Medicine Society, December 1998, 4, 4, 131-132.

14. Medhurst R., Current State of Research in Homoeopathy Part 2, Journal of the Australian Traditional Medicine Society, March, 1999, 5, 1, 25-26.

15. Medhurst R., Update on Research in Homoeopathy, Journal of the Australian Traditional Medicine Society, December 2000, 6, 4, 145-147.

16. Medhurst R., Homoeopathy Research Update, Journal of the Australian Traditional Medicine Society, December 2002, 8, 4, 175-176.

17. Medhurst R., Further Update on Research in Homoeopathy, Journal of the Australian Traditional Medicine Society, March 2003, 9, 1, 31-32.

18. Fluhrer J, Integrative Practice Overview. Complementary Medicine, July/ August 2002, 33-35

19. Friese, K., Kruse S., et al, The Homoeopathic Treatment of Otitis media in Children. International Journal of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, 1997, Jul, 35, 7, 296-302.

20. Riley D., Fischer M., et al, Homoeopathy and Conventional Medicine: An Outcome Study Comparing Effectiveness in a Primary Care Settings. J Alt and Comp Med, 2001, 7, 2, 123-5).

21. Australian Journal of Pharmacy, 83, September 2002, 774

22. Australian Journal of Pharmacy, 83, June 2002, 516-517

23. ADRAC private correspondence, 2002

24. New Scientist 17 July 1980, 218

25. Lasser KE et al, Timing of New Black Box Warnings and Withdrawals for Prescription Medications, Journal of the American Medical Association 2002, 287:2215-2220., 2002;287:2215-2220, 2273-2275

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With thanks to Amma Resonance Healing Foundation

View these amazing videos http://www.arhf.nl/documentaries.php

The ARHF promotes the development of healing through resonance. Healing by resonance is based on the universal law that information similar to the nature of a disease and its totality of symptoms can induce a self-healing response in the diseased individual.

Healing by resonance is considered to become increasingly important as it acknowledges and strengthens the potential for self-healing in the individual, and is based on understanding the role diseases play in the collective as well as the individual; the awareness that fighting disease, besides creating undesired side-effects, in the long run creates more serious diseases by suppressing the role and purpose of the disease, which is neither understood nor addressed.

The ARHF focuses on research into the principles underlying resonance, on developing resonances specific for all kinds of diseases, on investigating all possible means of conveying healing information, and on the application of and research into its efficacy.

The foundation of the ARHF is a result of the positive experience with using resonance in treating AIDS in Africa. In 2001 Peter Chappell, one of the founders of the ARHF, while searching in Ethiopia for a remedy that would fit the disease totality of HIV/AIDS found a new way to design a remedy based on resonance. Since that time several other remedies for other epidemics like malaria have been designed and applied with good results.

The treatment of epidemics and collective trauma is one of the prime targets of the ARHF, and the focus of its activities is primarily on countries in Africa and similar ones elsewhere. Epidemics and collective trauma in these countries still determine the lives of millions of people, while medical aid is often not or scarcely available or accompanied with side-effects or complicated by increasing therapy-resistance.

The treatment of chronic diseases by resonance is a second target of the ARHF. Using the same principal as is used to create healing information for epidemics it is also possible to treat chronic diseases, be it that besides healing resonance for the disease a tailor-made treatment of the patient addressing individual issues is also required to obtain the best possible results.

ARFH recognises that there are spiritual, mental, psychological and physical dimensions to healing diseases and embraces a holistic perspective in these matters.