Homeopathy has been around for more than 200 years.
By Raif Karerat
WASHINGTON, DC: After reviewing 225 research papers, the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) of Australia has seemingly closed the book on whether homeopathy is effective as medical treatment.
In an official statement regarding their findings, the organization disclosed “there was no reliable evidence from research in humans that homeopathy was effective for treating the range of health conditions considered.”
No good-quality, well-designed studies with enough participants for a meaningful result reported either that homeopathy caused greater health improvements than placebo, or caused health improvements equal to those of another treatment, according to the NHMRC.
The investigation determined that some studies did report homeopathy was more effective than placebo treatment or as effective as another treatment, but after being dissected, the NHMRC determined those studies were not reliable “based on their limitations.”
THE NHMRC’s assessment of homeopathy was based on an overview of published systematic reviews by an independent contractor, an independent evaluation of information provided by homeopathy interest groups and the public, and consideration of clinical practice guidelines and government reports published in other countries.
Homeopathy has been around for more than 200 years. The alternative form of medicine was developed in Germany by a man named Samuel Hahnemann, who based his school of treatment on his doctrine of “like cures like” (similia similibus curentur), whereby a substance that causes the symptoms of a disease in healthy people will cure similar symptoms in sick people.
He believed diluting substances and applying them to the ill would cure them, although more often than not, the dilution is carried out to the point that there are no molecules of the original substance left, according to an archived paper at the Creighton University Department of Pharmacology.
The U.S. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health states there is “little evidence to support homeopathy as an effective treatment for any specific condition” and advises against using it as a replacement for professional care.
The government agency goes so far as to attest several key concepts of homeopathy “are inconsistent with fundamental concepts of chemistry and physics.”
9 Comments
The ‘meta-analysis’ was written by those attempting to dissuade users (or potential users) of homeopathy by cherrypicking the studies to prove their point – out of 1800, they came up with 225 that could NOT prove it worked, but provided NO EVIDENCE. There is a huge difference when you word it incorrectly in this opinion piece. Please be more exact when you write this nonsense.
Additionally, as we learn more about science daily, it is commonly believed that homeopathy can be explained through quantum mechanics, NOT chemistry and physics.
This study has drawn sharp criticism from around the world and calls into question the integrity of the NHMRC. Their review does not accurately reflect the findings of the original research which does show that homeopathy is effective for particular conditions. RCT’s were not systematically and independently reviewed. Lab and animal studies were excluded as were non-English speaking studies. No expert in homeopathy was appointed to the review panel. Concerns about deep flaws in how the NHMRC analysed the evidence were raised during the public consultation. None of those serious problems were addressed in the final publication raising the question as to whether or not the public consultation was ever meant to have any impact on the final report. This leads to serious concerns about the conduct of this government body. Additionally, there is a conflict of interest, and expert reviews were ignored.
The Swiss government commissioned the most comprehensive analysis of all the homeopathy literature ever conducted by any government. That analysis concluded “Taking internal and external validity into account, effectiveness of homeopathy can be supported by clinical evidence and professional and adequate application be regarded as safe.” Homeopathy is now covered under the Swiss national health care program due both to the analysis and to the wishes of the Swiss people.
link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-642-20638-2/page/1
The
HPUS, the Homeopathic Pharmacopeia of the United States, serves as clinical
practice guidelines in the United States. I wonder why this document is so
seldom mentioned by those who denigrate homeopathy. This whole campaign very
much reminds me of the issues surrounding the Flexner report in the early part
of the last century. That report was generated by an “independent”
reviewer who turned out to be on the payroll of the Rockefellers and the
Carnegies, both of whom had financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry. Is
it remotely possible that we are seeing something similar going on now?
More and more intelligent health care consumers are seeking non-toxic
alternatives. Fortunately, articles such as this allow the users of homeopathy to
counter the skeptics’ attacks. My family has used homeopathy, with advice by our family homeopath, for the past 29 years. Our health insurance provider is pleased and has actually lowered our insurance premiums.
Even the UK skeptic Professor Ernst was quoted by a Guardian news reporter in an interview 13 years ago: “Professor Ernst treats his own French wife with homeopathy. We both grew up with it.” He may no longer treat her, but the manufacture, use, cost effectiveness and safety of homeopathic remedies remains unchanged. The article can be read online. Find it by doing a Google search using the words Sarah Boseley Edzard Ernst Guardian interview Wednesday September 4 2003. .
Over 500 million people and the medical societies in 80 countries
support homeopathy. The growth of homeopathy as an alternative to
prescription pharmaceuticals will continue. In addition to its use in
humans of all ages, and pets, homeopathy is now being recognized as an
effective alternative to antibiotics in dairy cattle. It’s use in
agriculture is also being adopted.
I’m a patient of homeopathy and have had good results. Homeopathy works for me.
Homeopathy has been so safe and so successful for me in treating acute and chronic health problems and injuries that it is now my primary form of medicine.
It normalized my high blood pressure and high intraocular pressure several years ago. I was able to stop taking the medicines at that time. Continued pressure checks every six months with my ophthalmologist and GP show the pressures have remained normal. Homeopathy does not simply treat the symptoms of diseases, it corrects the underlying imbalance that allowed them to develop in the first first. That’s why homeopathy cures and conventional medicine does not.
I had a dental implant put in but when I went back to the dentist for a follow-up he told me the bone had not regrown to the point that a crown could be put on. My homeopath recommended the cell salt Calc phos and homeopathic Symphytum which I took. My dentist tells me now that the bone has regrown and the crown can be put on.
When people claim homeopathy doesn’t work, when they attack it, I can only think that it is because homeopathy presents a massive threat to their own personal interests.
The “study” was done by the NHMRC which is a propaganda arm of the pharmaceutical industry. It was totally contrived, ignoring the hundreds of studies that would have supported homeopathy and manipulating every variable to produce the conclusion they wanted. They posed the question: Can homeopathy cure X disease? When a particular remedy did not cure, they declared that “homeopathy” could not cure it. That’s like saying that if Asprin had no effect on a diabetes, then Conventional Medicine has no treatment for diabetes.
As for homeopathy, 42% of British medical doctors refer their patients to a homeopath. 39% of French physicians have prescribed the remedies and six French medical schools offer 4 year degrees in homeopathy. In Germany 20% of physicians dispense homeopathic
remedies and in Holland 40% of doctors do the same. In India there are over
100,000 homeopathic medical doctors and over 100 homeopathic medical colleges.
100,000 million people there depend on homeopathy as their primary medical care.
Homeopathy is used to successfully treat pneumonia, malaria, Japanese encephalitis, dengue fever, tuberculosis, epidemic fever and more.
As a senior citizen, often needing medical consultation, is unable to determine the efficacy of homeopathic interventions. If we were ruled by people – friendly government, we would expect some health advisories and precautionary warnings on different types of medical treatments and protocols available in the market place. But it is not to be our karma, since we are unable to know if any of those advertising/claiming themselves as great medicine men or women are real or fake. So, we look to the research results available from some of the reliable sources. C’est L’vie!
“…..SAYS STUDY” ?? How intriguing. What do the Doctors and patients say after using this system of medicine for 200 years ? Their evidence is overwhelming that some sort of powerful curative effect, way above mere placebo, is being stimulated or manifested from the proper administration of the homeopathic prescriptive protocols.
Could there be a disconnect between the “studies” and reality?
Could the science “magisterium” be corrupted or no longer capable of manifesting the objectivity needed to go against entrenched corporatist interests coupled with government/industry/research center hegemonies ?