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The Case for Homeopathy ARE HOMEOPATHIC ‘MEDICINES’ (ULTRA-DILUTE SUBSTANCES) JUST WATER? Homeopathic medicines, also known as ‘remedies’ are not necessarily very dilute. Often, a medicine given according to the principle of ‘like treats like’ may be given in chemical form, for example herbal medicines, albeit in a small dose. However, many of the medicines given by homeopathic doctors are so diluted that they probably do not contain a single molecule of the original medicine in them. BUT, in their manufacture, according to international regulations documented in the pharmacopoeia of Germany, France, the United Kingdom and the U.S.A., they are also vigorously shaken (succussed) at each step of dilution. This material amount of kinetic energy electro-statically imprints an information signal, unique to the medicine and the number of times that it has been both shaken and diluted, in the solvent that the medicine is dissolved in. From a biochemical view-point the most efficient solvent is a mixture of ethyl alcohol and water. Physics researchers have explored how water can retain a memory of the medicine that is dissolved in it. We know that water has an ultra-structural ‘memory’ – for instance water forms different crystals when frozen. If the same water is boiled and then re-frozen under the same conditions as it was originally frozen, it will re-form the same crystalline structure. Water is the only substance on earth that naturally can occur in all three phases (gas, solid and liquid) at once. Dr. Collin Lessell M.B.B.S., M.R.C.S. observed in his book Infinitesimal dose that the last word is far from being written on the physics of water and any future models about the properties of water will be incomplete if they do not include the phenomenon of homeopathic medicines. Water molecules (which are bifurcate hydroxyl groups) are bipolar due to the strong pull of the hydrogen nucleus on outer shell electrons of the two oxygen atoms which bind to the hydrogen atom. These dipoles characteristically form hydrogen bonds between adjacent water molecules, resulting in various ultra-structural geometrical sub-units in water. These basic physical properties of water led to the formulation of geometrical hypotheses, based on the presence of hydration shells of water molecules around ions, polymeric water clusters and clathrates, in an attempt to explain how the information signal of a homeopathic medicine may be embedded in its solvent. In the 1980’s, nuclear magnetic resonance imaging and different spectroscopic techniques revealed structural variations between different strengths of different homeopathic medicines. It has also been demonstrated that varying strengths of different homeopathic remedies have measurable physico-chemical differences, for example in dielectric constant and relative permeativity. This led to the formulation of dynamic field theories which incorporated research findings about the electro-magnetic properties of homeopathic medicines to explain how the information signal of the homeopathic medicine may be stored in its solvent. Latterly, advances in quantum physics have led to the emergence of submolecular hypotheses to explain the phenomenon of information storage in homeopathic medicines. So we now know for certain that homeopathic medicines are not “just water”, as some skeptics would have us believe. We await ongoing research findings to further illuminate this fascinating topic. An acknowledged weak link in homeopathic science is the lack of a defined mechanism of action of homeopathic medicines. Dr. Taylor-Reilly M.R.C.P., F.F.Hom., lead medical consultant at the Glasgow Homeopathic Hospital hypothesised that homeopathy pursues a third therapeutic avenue, that of facilitating auto-regulatory responses 43, rather than the two modes of pharmaceutical intervention (blocking reactions or substituting for the bodies response). This auto-regulatory effect probably takes place via cellular mechanisms. There are heartening studies showing the effect of homeopathically-prepared substances at a cellular level 44,45. References 43. Taylor-Reilly D., Taylor M. The difficulty with homeopathy. A brief review of principles, methods and research Compl Med Res 1988 3(1)72 44. Heine, H. and Schmolz, M. Induction of the
Immunological Bystander Reaction by Plant Extracts. 45. Chirumbolo, S. et al. Effects of Podophyllum peltatum compounds in various preparations and dilutions on human neutrophil functions in vitro. Brit. Hom. J. 1997 Further reading: |
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