Skeptiholic

As promised, I’m writing my in depth post on homeopathy. In my previous post, I mentioned that homeopathy was founded by Samuel Hahnemann in 1807. Homeopathy works off of three basic ideas. First, like cures like. Second, less is more. As I dramatically demonstrated in my previous post, homeopathic remedies range from 1¹º dilution at the weakest to 1⁴ºº at the strongest. Anything “stronger” than 30c dilutions has been scientifically proven to contain no molecule of the original substance. To most of you this train of thought probably makes no sense, but never fear! Homeopathy has the answer, and it is called the third principle of homeopathy: water, when shaken, retains memories of what was in it.

Let’s take a look at each of the principles of homeopathy and see why they don’t work. First, we have the Law of Similars or what’s commonly called ‘like cures like’. Hahnemann thought of homeopathy in the late 18th century, a time when trepanning, or drilling a whole into the skull to release spirits, was still a popular medical treatment. Even though this was the age of reason, we still knew very little in the field of medical science. If we think about the Law of Similars with basic logic, we can see that it doesn’t make any sense. If you have a peanut allergy don’t eat peanuts. But, by the logic of like cures like, if you want to get someone to stop smoking crack, give them some crack, but only a little bit.

Now Hahnemann couldn’t publish a paper stating that like cure like, and nothing else. So he began diluting his substances a lot. At most, an average homeopathic remedy contains as much of the original substance as a grain of sand in all the words deserts. Even at the time he published his paper on homeopathy, it was know in chemistry that there was a limit to how much something could be diluted and still have some of the substance remain. Still. Hahnemann theorized that the less of the active ingredient there was, the more powerful it became. This became known as the Law of Infinitesimals. Once again this defies basic logic. If you go into your doctor and complain that the medication you’re taking isn’t helping, chances are he won’t prescribe a lower dosage to help it work better.

The third and final principle is just as ridiculous as the last two. It states that the substance leaves an imprint in the water which stimulates the body to cure itself. Claims have been made about this ranging from spiritual effects to effects on the molecular level. As most of us know, if its spiritual it isn’t based on science. It therefore cannot be tested and should be treated with caution. As for effects on the molecular level, there has yet to be a well controlled study looking into these effects.

Homeopathy is one of the most researched alternative medicines. SInce its inception people have been skeptical of its validity. One recent and very damning article was by the journal The Lancet. In a 2005 Meta-Analysis of 110 studies, they declared that effects from homeopathic remedies were as effective as the placebo effect. A response to this the UK Society of homeopaths said, “It has been established beyond doubt that the randomized controlled trial is not a fitting trial of homeopathy”. This should raise serious red flags for anyone looking into this form of alternative medicine. When somebody says that their cure shouldn’t be subject to the same testing as all other medications, we should be wary.