Homeopathy

System of complementary healing where substances are diluted to a huge extent then given as medicine. The substances are typically (but not always) poisons such as arsenic, foxglove and snake venom. The principle is that the essence or character of the original substance is retained in the solvent (usually water or alcohol) when the liquid is diluted (or “potentised”) and shaken (“succussed”). Substances that are insoluble in water are first mixed with lactose powder and ground with a pestle and mortar for a wrist-aching three hours, in a process called trituration. The practitioner can then potentise and succusse, safe in the knowledge that the trituration has made bugger all difference to the solubility.

Homeopathic medicines are prescribed, (by practitioners who train for years and have exams and certification before being allowed to practice), for a large range of physical and mental ailments, including shock, apprehension, fever, pleurisy and psoriasis.

Speaking purely in the realm of modern chemical understanding, homeopathic remedies are diluted so greatly as to render the probability of one molecule of active ingredient being present as distinctly unlikely. In other words, scientists reckon that there is nothing but water in one of those little bottles. Ideal, say the health and safety people, since prescribing of the original substances, that were used to make the original solution, would involve mass poisoning on a global terrorism scale.

This begs the question of how homeopathy works. Some homeopaths, when asked how it works, tell you that the essence of the medicine is retained by the water. A typical conversation with one of these people follows:

“So, how is the essence retained?”

“Water is the universal solvent. It has spawned life. It remembers what has been in it, that's how it can retain the character of a medicine without the molecule being present. It is far more intelligent than you or I.”

“So how is the essence retained?”

“You do not listen. The water has a memory.”

“Science does not really have an answer to how this works. According to science, a homeopathic remedy contains nothing at all but the solvent. Scientists can only speculate as to how the character of a medicine can be retained by water that it has been in. What would you say to that?”

“It is not a question of science. Homeopathy is a holistic subject. Its answer lies not in rational thinking but in a spiritual, compassionate and round-thinking view of the patient.”

“The goal of science is to understand all phenomena in the universe. Why shouldn't that include medicine?”

“Science is limited. It can only explain certain things. Taking a holistic view of the world, one can expand ones perspective and perceive more about the universe....”

“The process of diagnosis and selection of medicines, surely that process involves scientific, rational thought? Surely if you renounce science then you are shooting yourself in the foot? And surely there is no homeopathic remedy for that?”

“You take a patient history and consider current symptoms yes, but this, I insist, is a holistic approach!.....”etc.

The problem with this whole argument is that the homeopath refuses to accept that there might be a rational, easy to understand answer to their art. If there were, it would take away the mystical idea that people have about homeopathy being this amazing exotic force. These type of homeopaths do not want there to be an explanation because they enjoy being wishy-washy and hippified.

More honest homeopaths will explain that they do not know the mechanism by which it works, but point to numerous satisfied customers who have been healed by it's practice, and their hope that it is better understood in the future.

Some more imaginative scientists propose that the so-called memory displayed by water in the homeopathic process, could potentially be explained by the notion of short term cohesive structures that form in liquid water in a very small time scale: water molecules clump together into all manner of shapes, driven by the forces of hydrogen bonding, but also influenced by substances dissolved or suspended in it. The fluid dynamics of water are still poorly understood and there is not the technology to prove or disprove this hypothesis.

Some less imaginative scientists think that homeopathy can best be summed up using the term “hippy bullshit.”

Despite all this, many thousands of people in the UK visit homeopaths regularly for all sorts of complaints, and much holistic healing ensues. The sceptics point to numerous studies that disprove, using clinical trials, the healing benefits of the drugs, but this information is ignored by followers of the practice, who point instead to healing, ancient vitalogical recipes, holistic perspectives of the self, and yoghurt.

One other thing about homeopathic practice, that you need to know before trying it out – a homeopathic remedy will provide medicine for the higher self of a person. The healing and nurturing needs of the higher self are usually in common with those of the conscious, everyday self. This, in itself, is a great thing and is how most complementary medicine works. It aims to heal the whole person and not just the current symptoms.

The only problem with this is when the person is close to death. At such times, the higher self and the physical body can be in conflict. The remedy can cause the physical self to pass on, such that the higher self, or spirit, can be free of the shackles of the physical realm.

Put in non-yoghurty language, if you take a homeopathic remedy when you are close to death, this means that the remedy can kill you. When visiting a homeopath, make sure you ask them if this might happen with your particular medicine. I have heard that they are sometimes prone to not telling you otherwise.