University of Malta

Faculty of Science

Department of Biology

Is Homeopathy Effective?
By Clinton Muscat

Malta

©2009
Abstract
A paper discussing the basis of homeopathy and while taking into consideration the available
scientific papers on the subject with special reference to peer-reviewed literature discuss if
homeopathy is effective or if it is just a placebo effect.

Introduction
For thousands of years man have tried to improve his health in various ways. Homeopathy is
one of the alternative medicine practices available to the conventional one. It originated in the 18th
century created by Samuel Hahnemann and is based on Hippocrates philosophy that "like cures
like”. Later Hahnemann observed that the more he diluted the extracts the more effective it was.
This brought about a lot of controversy especially between doctors and other professionals that
prefer conventional medicine to this alternative natural medicine.

Like Cures like

Homeopathy revolves around the idea that illness can be cured by substances that cause similar
symptoms to that particular illness when given in a highly diluted form. For example homeopaths
suggest that cannabis, a drug prohibited in most countries, can strengthen the body against
paranoia, out of body experience and burning pain in the urethra (Lockie, Encyclopedia of
Homeopathy, 2000). All the symptoms that I mentioned are very similar to the symptoms that
people abusing from cannabis usually have. This already creates controversy as the mechanism of
this way of healing is not known yet.

The Placebo Effect

Despite some patients treated with homeopathy report a considerable improvement in their
condition one has to take into consideration the placebo effect. This is a phenomenon, when the
patient will feel better after taking a form of medication, regardless what the medicine is and if at
first of all it contains any active substances. In such cases the trust that the patient puts in the doctor
to prescribe him the most suitable medicine, and the act of taking the medicine itself, can have
psychological effects on the patient and make him belief that he will feel much better. Maybe
homeopathy is just a way of making some money using the placebo effect. But then how can it be
reported to be effective on almost new-born babies and animals? This raises some doubts amongst
professionals that are skeptical on homeopathy.

The Hipotesis of Dilutions

Homeopaths believe that poisons that are harmful or even lethal in large doses can be used to cure
disease in small doses. But these substances are diluted up to the stage that the preparations will
have merely or no molecules from the original substance. Homeopaths believe that the more the
preparation is diluted the more effective it is. This goes against the laws of physics and chemistry
and cannot be explained by scientists. Some have proposed theories that water can memorise the
healing effect of the substance that it was prepared from, but this is still unproven.

Scientific Research
There have been several scientific attempts and clinical trials to show that homeopathy is effective.
And although several trials most of which done by homeopaths indicate that homeopathy is
effective, only a few are peer-reviewed. C. Hill and F. Doyon in (1990) reviewed random trials on
homeopathy in which results of homeopathy treatment was compared to conventional treatment
and placebo. Despite the review shows that in some cases the homeopathy is effective, the change
was insignificant therefore it was concluded that “results do not provide acceptable evidence that
homeopathic treatments are effective." On the other hand several studies show that homeopathy
can be effective in curing flu(Lynda Liu, 2000). Clinical studies have also indicated that homeopathic
treatment had positive effects on rheumatoid arthritis (Gibson, Gibson, ManNeil, Buchanan, 1980)
and osteoarthritis (Shipley, Berry, Broster, Jenkins, Clover, Williams, 1983) and in increasing soreness
in muscles (Vickers, Fisher, Smith, Wyllie, Lewith, 1997).

Conclusion
Quite a number of people believe that homeopathy aims to strengthen the body defense
and heal the person as a whole by stimulating his immune system rather than suppressing
symptoms. Although this can be effective no scientific basis can explain that the more diluted the
medicine is the more effective it will be. From what I have read I can conclude that despite
homeopathy can work in some cases, it is still unexplained and no mechanism is known until now.
Homeopathy could become much more accepted if clinical studies and scientific research show
more significant differences in their results.

References

Gibson, R., Gibson, S., MacNeill. (1980). Buchanan Homoeopathic therapy in rheumatoid arthritis: evaluation
by double-blind clinical therapeutic trial, Br J Clin Pharmacol, 9(5): 453-9.

Hill, C., Doyon, F. (1990). Review of randomized trials of homeopathy. Rev Epidemiol Sante Publique;
38(2):139-47.

Lockie, A. (2000). Encyclopedia of Homeopathy, London, Great Britain: Dorling Kindersly Ltd.

Lynda, L., (2000). Fighting the flu with alternative remedies, WebMD, retrieved 22nd March 2009, from
http://edition.cnn.com/2000/HEALTH/01/07/berrying.flu.wmd/index.html .

Shipley, M., Berry, H., Broster, G., Jenkins, M., Clover, A., Williams, I. (1983). Controlled trial of homoeopathic
treatment of osteoarthritis. Lancet, 1(8316): 97-8.

Vickers, A., J., Fisher, P., Smith, C., Wyllie, S.E., Lewith, G.T. (1997). Homoeopathy for delayed onset muscle
soreness -A randomised double blind placebo controlled trial, Brit J Sports Med,31(304):307.