Homeopathy differs from conventional medicine in many aspects. Little recognized to date is the unique, multidimensional nature of the response to homeopathic treatment. We discuss this 'colour' of the homeopathic response; altered temporal awareness, paucity of language, selective amnesia, lack of self-awareness, the holistic character of the improvement, and the development of acute illnesses...

Homeopathic medicine is based on the two principles that ‘like cures like’ and that the potency of substances increases in proportion to their dilution. In November 2009 the UK Parliament’s Science and Technology Committee heard evidence on homeopathy, with several witnesses arguing that homeopathic practice is ‘unethical, unreliable and pointless’. Although this increasing scepticism about the...

Classical homeopathy is based on the therapeutic application of highly diluted homeopathic stocks. The indications of such medicines are determined by proving, i.e. by applying the remedies in healthy subjects. However, there are several complex homeopathic medicinal products on the market with approved therapeutic indications. The efficacy of these medicines has been assessed in clinical trial...

BACKGROUND The efficacy of homeopathic remedies has remained controversial. The homeopathic remedy most frequently studied in placebo-controlled clinical trials is Arnica montana. OBJECTIVE To systematically review the clinical efficacy of homeopathic arnica. MATERIALS AND METHODS Computerized literature searches were performed to retrieve all placebo-controlled studies on the subject. The ...

Homeopathic remedies are advocated for the treatment of postoperative ileus, yet data from clinical trials are inconclusive. We therefore performed meta-analyses of existing clinical trials to determine whether homeopathic treatment has any greater effect than placebo administration on the restoration of intestinal peristalsis in patients after abdominal or gynecologic surgery. We conducted sys...

OBJECTIVES To assess whether any benefits from adjunctive homeopathic intervention in patients with RA are due to the homeopathic consultation, homeopathic remedies or both. METHODS Exploratory double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled trial conducted from January 2008 to July 2008, in patients with active stable RA receiving conventional therapy. Eighty-three participants from three second...

A search of the literature and the experiments carried out by the authors of this review show that there are a number of animal models where the effect of homeopathic dilutions or the principles of homeopathic medicine have been tested. The results relate to the immunostimulation by ultralow doses of antigens, the immunological models of the 'simile', the regulation of acute or chronic inflamma...

The present paper reviews the clinical research carried out over the past three decades to evaluate the effectiveness of homeopathy for the treatment of respiratory allergies, common upper respiratory tract infections, otorhinolaryngologic complaints, and rheumatic diseases. We include in the analysis both randomised and non-randomised trials, assigning them different weightings in the final ba...

OBJECTIVES Advancements in nanotechnology have led to nanoparticle (NP) use in various fields of medicine. Although the potential of NPs is promising, the lack of documented evidence on the toxicological effects of NPs is concerning. A few studies have documented that homeopathy uses NPs. Unfortunately, very few sound scientific studies have explored the toxic effects of homeopathic drugs. Citi...

BACKGROUND The specific clinical benefit of the homeopathic consultation and of homeopathic remedies in patients with depression has not yet been investigated. AIMS To investigate the 1) specific effect of individualized homeopathic Q-potencies compared to placebo and 2) the effect of an extensive homeopathic case taking (case history I) compared to a shorter, rather conventional one (case hi...