Under the Microscope: The word homeopathy is derived from two Greek words - homeo (similar) and pathos (suffering). Homeopathy is a form of alternative medicine that has been practised for the past 200 years. The claims of efficacy for the practice in treating various illnesses are rejected by mainstream medical science and science cannot explain how homeopathy could successfully treat an illness. Conventional medicine explains away any success that might attend homeopathy as a placebo effect.
In the late 1700s, a German physician called Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843) began to lay down the principles of homeopathy. He was understandably dissatisfied with the mainline medical procedures of the day that caused more harm than good - bloodletting, purging, and so on. The general thinking behind these procedures was to force offensive matter causing disease out of the body and restore the "humours" to a proper balance.
Hahnemann rejected the conventional medical treatments and he reasoned that disease should be treated by encouraging vital forces in the body to restore harmony and balance.
He developed a "law of similars" to the effect that symptoms of disease can be cured by tiny amounts of substances that cause these same symptoms in healthy people when administered in large amounts. He believed that very small doses could be very powerful because their potency could be enhanced by methodical vigorous shaking - succussion.
Hahnemann believed that succession released spiritual powers.
Homeopathic products are made from botanical substances, minerals, and several other sources. Dilution of the active principle is important in homeopathy and two potency scales are commonly used. One proceeds in 10-fold (X) and the other in 100-fold (C) dilution steps. The first 10-fold dilution is indicated as X and the first 100-fold dilution is denoted as C. A 6C homeopathic potion would have a concentration of active principle of one part in a thousand billion. Most remedies range from 6X to 30X, but products of 30C or more are sold.
It is a consequence of the laws of chemistry that after diluting a substance beyond a certain limit you lose the original substance altogether, ie not even a molecule of it is left. This limit corresponds to a homeopathic potency of 12C or 24X.
Hahnemann realised the consequences of extreme dilution but he believed that succussion released a "spirit-like" essence that cures by energising the "vital force" of the body. Modern homeopaths believe that even when the homeopathic substance is totally diluted out, a "memory" of the substance remains.
Little or none of this makes any sense as far as science is concerned. How can something that is diluted out of existence exert a powerful effect? And there is almost no scientific evidence that chemicals diluted to vanishing point can leave a "memory" behind, although French work in the 1980s did produce interesting evidence of a memory effect.
In 1988, a French immunologist, Jacques Benveniste, published a paper in the prestigious journal, Nature, claiming that a solution that had once contained antibodies, but in which they had been diluted out of existence, still activated human white blood cells.
Benveniste held that the diluted solution still worked because the antibodies had left ghostly "imprints" in the structure of the water where they had once resided. Other scientists could not repeat Benveniste's work, but homeopaths believe that he was right.
Also, more recently, a paper in Chemical Communications in 2001 (page 2,224) reported a startling finding. When you dissolve something in water, and then add more water, you expect the dissolved molecules to spread further and further away from each other as dilution proceeds. But this paper found that some dissolved molecules, instead of drifting farther apart from their neighbours with dilution, got closer together.
This might explain how some homeopathic remedies work, but it only applies to small dilutions. Diluting a remedy may increase particle size to the point where they become biologically active. However, it remains true to say that, at this stage, mainstream science remains extremely sceptical about the effectiveness of homeopathy.
But, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. If homeopathic treatments are effective, then the fact that science cannot explain their effectiveness would in no way invalidate the efficacy of homeopathy. However, the great majority of the scientific studies into the efficacy of homeopathy have shown that it does not exceed the placebo effect.
The placebo effect is seen when an illness is cured after the patient ingests a dummy pill, fabricated from some innocuous substance such as starch that has no chemical curative effect, believing that the pill contains proprietary chemical medicine known to be capable of dealing with the illness.
Homeopathy is relatively popular and alternative medicine in general is certainly popular. The placebo effect certainly plays its part here, but other reasons for the popularity may be that many people distrust the multinational pharmaceutical companies and are also wary of modern medicine. There is a general belief that the multinationals are largely motivated by profit, and modern medicine has to contend with a generalised feeling that "nature knows best". Conventional medicine also interacts rather coldly with patients. GPs and consultants are often too busy to spend time listening to patients, whereas homeopaths listen attentively because the "remedy" must be matched personally to the patient.
However, there is a potentially serious downside to homeopathy. There is a danger that situations will arise in which a serious illness, treatable by conventional medicine, is allowed to progress beyond the point of no return under ineffective homeopathic treatment.
William Reville is associate professor of biochemistry and director of microscopy at UCC