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Dear Cecil:
This friend of mine is taking a homeopathic remedy for a cold. He explained
that it’s "the vibration of the molecules of the plant" that is the active
remedy here. What’s up with this? --Joanne Keefe, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Cecil replies:
Homeopathy! I can’t believe this has made a comeback. The last time
homeopathy was big, Ulysses S. Grant was president. Now here it is, two
months into the year 2000, and you walk into one of these pricey organic
supermarkets and see aisles full of homeopathic nostrums, all of which have a
proven effectiveness on a par with eye of newt. So, recognizing the complete
futility of the effort, I feel obliged to state for the record: Come on,
folks. This is nuts.
Homeopathy was founded by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843).
He enunciated what remain today the guiding principles of homeopathic
medicine, the foremost of which is the Law of Similars: if a large amount of
medicine produces a given symptom, then a small amount of the medicine will
stimulate the body to combat that symptom. This isn’t a completely crazy
concept; modern vaccines use the same basic idea. The twist with homeopathic
medicines is that they reverse the usual understanding of dose effectiveness.
Mainstream science holds that, generally speaking, the potency of a drug
increases with the dose. Homeopathy--in particular, the Law of
Infinitesimals--says the medicine’s effectiveness decreases with the dose.
The less you use, the better it works! Which would lead one to conclude that
it works best if you don’t use any at all.
Homeopaths don’t say that, of course, but it’s the practical impact of the
fantastic dilutions they employ. Two scales are used, X and C. A 1X solution
means the original medicine (the "mother tincture") was diluted with water,
alcohol, or whatever to one part in ten, or 1/10; 2X is 1/100; 3X is 1/1,000;
etc. A 1C solution is 1/100, 2C is 1/10,000, 3C is 1/1,000,000, and so on.
Most homeopathic remedies range from 6X to 30X. At 30X, chances are that a
given dose of the medicine doesn’t contain a single molecule of the original,
but some dilutions go a lot higher than that. I’ve heard of one cold remedy
with a dilution of 200C, which mathematically is less than one molecule per
all the known matter in the universe.
How, then, can homeopathy possibly work? Apologists fall back on far-fetched
explanations involving energy and vibrations and so on. A key step in the
manufacture of homeopathic medicines is "succussion," in which the mixture is
vigorously shaken at each stage of the dilution process. This miraculously
unlocks the healing power of the medicinal substance. Could be just my
Catholic background talking, but that sounds like making holy water to me.
Homeopathic remedies can legally be sold as drugs in the U.S. owing to an odd
circumstance--one of the key sponsors of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic
Act of 1938 was a homeopathic physician, and he was able to get the entire
homeopathic pharmacopoeia (nux vomica, arsenicum album, et al) officially
recognized. Homeopathy has enjoyed a quasi-protected status ever since, with
federal regulators generally taking the view that the practice is harmless
and that any attempt to suppress it would likely have political
repercussions. There have even been studies in journals with varying degrees
of credibility purporting to show that homeopathy actually works. These have
been roundly criticized on methodological grounds, and the universal view
among scientists is that any perceived benefit is simply a placebo
effect--you think something is going to help you, so it does.
Why does belief in homeopathy persist? Well, for most routine,
common-cold-type health complaints, it’s not noticeably less effective than
mainstream medicine, or noticeably different in its therapeutic approach.
People catch "bugs" that are never diagnosed (and which, if viral, have no
cure anyway), take some over-the-counter remedy that claims to address the
symptoms, and eventually get better. Did the over-the-counter remedy help?
Who knows? It’s silly to believe in homeopathic cures, but I’m not seeing
that it’s smarter to place your faith in Sudafed instead.
--CECIL ADAMS
<A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A>
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