Ever interested in how gunpowder pills can purify your blood, and cure blood poisoning, boils, pus, acne, and insect bites? These white multi-tasking pellets promise a lot at less than 20 dollars for a bottle of 900. This is the world of homeopathy – a traditional medicine from eighteenth-century Germany – boasting respectable pharmacopeias with remedies covering all conditions from birth to death.
See, for example, the Materia Medica of the National Center for Homeopathy. Or search the Berlin Wall pills, a remedy for emotional trauma made from the grounded shards of the Berlin Wall, sold at the royal-endorsed pharmacy Ainsworths in Britain.
Bordering between quackery and complementary healthcare, homeopathy has provoked heated debates between loyal proponents and scientifically minded opponents. Its promise of a wide range of affordable yet effective cures with no side effects and long history is indeed attractive.
Despite the official warning from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), you can be sure to meet people who rely on homeopathy as the first-line treatment for common (and less common) ailments. Read on to see whether it is your cup of (therapeutic) tea.
What is homeopathy?
Homeopathy is a complementary and alternative medicine that has been quite popular across 100 countries, according to the WHO global report on traditional and complementary medicine in 2019. This is despite the need for more scientific evidence that it works.
Homeopathy has three principles:
– Like cures like
– Potentization
– Minimal dose
Generally, these principles overlap with mainstream medicine. Still, their medicinal effect has been hotly debated by mainstream healthcare providers.
Like cures like
This principle states that the substance that causes the symptom can also cure it. When a healthy person takes the substance, they will develop the symptom; but when a sick person with the symptom takes a small, heavily diluted dose of the substance, their symptom will be cured.
For example, drinking coffee may cause sleeplessness. So, if you have trouble sleeping, one homeopathic remedy for you is made of coffee called Coffea Cruda.
This principle resembles vaccines. When you take a vaccine shot, you are exposed to much-weakened pathogens that cause the illness, strengthening your healthy body’s immunity against the disease.
Despite sharing this surface similarity, homeopathy claims to cure more conditions than vaccines. There is no vaccine for sleeplessness, for example, since this is more likely a mental condition rather than a pathogen attack. Meanwhile, homeopathy has about eight remedies for this condition.
Moreover, homeopathy started in the late eighteenth century, roughly a century after the first vaccine was created. However, while vaccines have modernized with evidence-based scientific research, quality assurance, and regulations, homeopathy has retained much of the pharmacopeia (a published collection of medicinal substances) of previous centuries. Notably, many homeopathic products sold in U.S. pharmacies still need FDA approval.
Potentization
Exposing a person to the substance that makes them sick would, of course, make them sick. So the homeopathy founder, Samuel Hahnemann, diluted the substance with water or alcohol at a ratio of 1:100 or even more.
Homeopathy believes that dilution increases the remedy’s potency, not decreases it. The more diluted it is, the stronger its cure. This process is called potentization.
Doing so would weaken the substance until there is none in the mixture. Indeed, the most substantial homeopathic remedies have a dilution at a ratio of 1 part substance mixed into 10,000-part water or alcohol. There is hardly any original substance left in the supposedly most potent dose.
Naturally, potentization is the most contested homeopathy principle because it goes against scientific principles. It made sense initially because a harmful substance, when undiluted, would indeed make a healthy person sick.
But perhaps Hahnemann, with nineteenth-century medical knowledge, needed to know that heavily diluted substances would lose their effect. That knowledge came after his time, yet homeopathic practitioners continue to uphold this principle, believing that potentization produces effective cures.
Minimal dose
This principle states that you should take as little medicine as possible at first and only increase the dosage when the symptoms continue.
It is a reasonable caution against over-medication and overdoses. However, since homeopathic remedies are already highly diluted, the effect of the minimal dose may be none.
History of homeopathy
Founded by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann in the late eighteenth century, homeopathy was a sound alternative to medicine in his time. Bloodletting was one of the horrific medical practices in that period.
Compared to bloodletting, homeopathy was non-invasive, gentle, and allowing the body to heal itself (if it did heal). Its principles resembled modern medicine, promising effective cures with no side effects.
This was why homeopathy survived the test of time and garnered worldwide popularity. Especially in Europe, homeopathy enjoys a solid and enduring following.
Queen Elizabeth II had a homeopathic doctor, Dr. Peter Fisher, who served as the Director of Research at the Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine.
However, homeopathy is one of many forms of alternative and complementary medicine out there. Other forms enjoy even more popularity, such as acupuncture, ayurvedic medicine, herbal medicine, naturopathy, osteopathy, chiropractic, and traditional Chinese medicine.
Homeopathy versus naturopathy
Homeopathy is part of naturopathy. While homeopathy is about taking small white pills, naturopathy has a range of non-invasive treatments, such as herbal supplements, detoxification, dietary, and lifestyle changes. Thus, these practices provide a better alternative, with more evidence than homeopathy, to help you care for your overall well-being or manage chronic conditions.
Homeopathy versus herbal medicine
Homeopathy uses herbal substances in its remedies but they are heavily diluted into water or alcohol and taken as small pills or globules. It is different from herbal medicine, in which herbs are not diluted in this way.
Herbal supplements come in various forms, such as chopped, powdered, capsuled, or liquid. You can swallow them as pills or powder, drink them as tea, apply them to the skin as a gel, or add them to your bath water.
Does homeopathy work?
There is controversy around this issue. Most scientifically-based arguments state that homeopathy does not work, due to its unscientific principles and unproven effects, except for the placebo effect (see below). However, some swear by homeopathy, having used it for years, dispelling their initial doubts.
While the remedies likely do not work, the experience of getting homeopathic treatments does. It works for those sick of getting pushed around by doctor after doctor, getting mere five minutes of consult and prescription drugs with harmful side effects.
Meanwhile, a homeopathic consultation takes around an hour. The experience of getting attentive care from a healthcare provider is part of homeopathy’s appeal and healing properties.
Therefore, homeopathy should be used as a complementary treatment to mainstream medicine. It should never replace it as the primary form of treatment, especially when your symptoms worsen.
Nowadays, there is a consensus in the medical community that homeopathy works because of the mind-body connection, specifically:
– The placebo effect
– Self-healing of symptoms regulated by the brain
Placebo effect
The placebo effect lies at the heart of homeopathy’s effectiveness, although this still needs more evidence.
A placebo is often used in testing a new drug to see if it works. It is a drug lookalike that is supposed not to affect the patients. However, some of them do report specific effects (positive or negative), as if they had taken the drug. This is called the placebo effect.
The placebo effect is quite common: one in three people experience the placebo effect. Many studies have proved it.
For example, a 2014 study on migraine presents a key finding. Group A patients took the migraine pills labeled as a placebo, and group B took the placebo pills labeled as Maxalt. They report the same level of pain relief.
The patients were made to believe the placebo pills were the migraine pills, and their bodies managed to heal as much as taking the authentic medications.
It prompted researchers and doctors to consider the mind-body connection as a cause for the placebo effect, but the evidence needs to be more substantial to prove how this works firmly.
Since homeopathy works thanks to the placebo effect, we are also still determining how and if it works.
The mind-body connection suggests that even when the placebo has no physical effect on the body, our mind believes that it does, thus inducing the body to produce the physical reactions that eventually heal the symptoms. In other words, our brain thinks the meds work, so our body somehow finds a way to make it work without medicinal aid. Faith and willpower cure the disease, not the medicine.
There are two possible psychological explanations for this:
– Classical conditioning
– Expectations
Classical conditioning
Classical conditioning is how we unconsciously learn new behaviors and reactions. When we are sick, we see a doctor, get a prescription, and take the medications; then, we get better. Our body and mind have learned that sequence of behaviors. So, even if the medicines we get from a doctor do not work, our mind has become accustomed to this, inducing our body to get better on its own.
In homeopathy, going for a homeopathic consultation, getting a confident prescription, and taking the pills with enthusiasm, may be enough to stimulate your body to heal itself.
This is self-healing, in which the homeopathic remedies act as a psychological nudge for your mind and body to generate the physical processes of healing instead of providing an effectual cure for your illness.
Expectations
A homeopathic consultation is more extensive than seeing a mainstream doctor. Homeopaths often treat their patients with focus, care, and kindness, asking questions about their lifestyle, sleep quality, and wellness, seeing the patient as a whole rather than just treating the disease. Such individual attention makes the patients feel heard and comforted.
Such positive experience appeals to those with bad experiences with conventional healthcare. For those who buy remedies over the counter or online, the positive reviews from former patients also set their expectations for positive outcomes.
Hence, when our mind expects good results, our body likely complies and finds ways to produce them. Vice versa, if our mind anticipates a negative impact, we may see that eventuality playing out (a nocebo effect).
Therefore, homeopathy may work for you thanks to such expectations and the power of our mind-body connection. The pills stimulate the emotional and psychological process of self-healing.
Self-healing
Since the placebo effect, and thus homeopathy, has a lot to do with the mind-body connection, homeopathy may work best for the conditions regulated by the brain:
– Perception of pain
– Stress, headaches
– Sleeping problems
– Depression
– Fatigue
– Nausea
In addition, some minor ailments, such as coughing, fever, or sore throat, clear away with time. Homeopathic remedies help you cope better with the slow healing process. One aspect of self-healing is allowing your body the patience and the time to heal without over-medication.
Is homeopathy safe?
Homeopathy treads a fine line between no effect and psychological self-healing. If you are seriously considering it because all else has failed, it is a safe option only when combined with conventional medicine. Refer to these trusted sources for homeopathy’s claims of efficacy and safety:
– The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health
– The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Even when homeopathic remedies are claimed to be diluted, harmful active ingredients are still found in some instances. There are plenty of examples raising concerns about the risks of homeopathy.
For example, in 2017, traces of belladonna, a toxic substance, were found in some teething tablets, enough to risk the health of infants.
Another example: in 2018, the naturopath Anke Zimmermann gave up her license after drawing public attention for treating a child with lyssinum, a homeopathic solution with rabid dog saliva sold by a U.K. homeopathic company.
All medicine, indeed, has side effects. Some side effects are apparent; others go unnoticed. Having no side effects means the drug has no effect. Therefore, claims of no side effects are most likely hyperbole.
It does not disprove homeopathy – we need more research to prove its efficacy. For now, the remedies seem to provide a placebo – a reason – for patients who want to get better.
There is some hope yet for the proponents. The World Health Organization (WHO) includes homeopathy in its global initiative, the WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine. Headquartered in India, the center supports research in traditional and complementary medicine. We may see persuasive evidence for homeopathy efficacy in the future.
Homeopathy can’t replace mainstream medicine in treating severe conditions
Homeopathy is most dangerous when it prevents you from seeking treatments for severe conditions. Tumors or cholesterol don’t just go away only because you want them to.
Homeopathy can help you cope with the side effects of cancer treatments. Research published in 2009 suggests that Traumeel S, a mouth rinse, can alleviate mouth sores from chemotherapy.
How to best use homeopathy? It depends. Consult your conventional doctor to see if this may work for you, even as a placebo.
Homeopathy as complementary, not alternative, medicine
How do ‘complementary’ and ‘alternative’ differ?
– Complementary medicine goes together with conventional healthcare.
– Alternative medicine replaces conventional healthcare.
Homeopathy should be used as complementary. Use it with conventional medicine to help you cope with the treatment process.
If seeing a doctor in a crowded clinic gives you shivers, and you are dealing with only a minor ailment, like a cold, it may be good to try a homeopathic remedy.
Integrative healthcare can include homeopathy. Integrative healthcare combines the scientific rigor of conventional healthcare with the gentle, non-invasive approach of complementary healthcare. This is a middle ground or the best of both worlds. When this combination is well-coordinated, you are treated as a whole person, not just a patient with a disease. Integrative healthcare can benefit military personnel, vets, cancer patients, and more.
Homeopathy is not the proper fight against big pharma
If opting for homeopathy means standing up against big pharma, then it is good to know that homeopathy is a type of big pharma. This industry has associations like the International Council for Homeopathy, international corporations like the Schwabe Group, and lobbying groups.
For example, Dr. Willmar Schwabe Pharmaceuticals has been a herbal legacy company since the nineteenth century. The original Willmar Schwabe published a homeopathic pharmacopeia that remains an indispensable reference among German pharmacies. Headquartered in Karlsruhe, Germany, the Schwabe Group is a large conglomerate with subsidiaries and associated companies worldwide. In the USA, they own Nature’s Way and Enzymatic. They also run a global federation of firms called Homeopathy International.
Therefore, homeopathy is in a different league than small, local businesses’ home-grown, small-scale remedies. Therefore, opting for homeopathy is not a real fight against the dominance of big pharmaceuticals.
Do homeopathic remedies enable disadvantaged communities to access healthcare?
The supporters say yes. Homeopathic remedies may be much cheaper than conventional medicine. For example, Boiron is a well-known French homeopathic pharmaceutical. A bottle of 60 Sleepcalm tablets from them costs around 13 dollars, which is more affordable than many sleep aids.
However, note that the ingredients are so heavily diluted that the pills have mostly sugar, water, or alcohol. The production costs, therefore, are also very low, with inadequate research to prove their claims. Also, with no FDA approval, production is not subjected to meet rigorous compliance standards.
How to get started with homeopathy?
Homeopathy is easy to start with. You can:
– See a certified homeopath.
– Buy over-the-counter remedies at local health stores and pharmacies. Instructions are written on the bottles.
To find your local homeopaths, refer to the directories at:
– The American Institute of Homeopathy
– The North American Society of Homeopaths
– The National Center for Homeopathy
When taking the remedies, please pay attention to your body, and see how it helps, since the effects are individualized. If your symptoms improve, thank your mind-body connection and your self-healing ability more than the efficacy of the pills.
Always inform your doctors before taking other medications. Homeopathic remedies may produce interactions that negate the effects of your primary treatment.
