Homeopathy

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Homeopathy is a natural, noninvasive system of medical treatment based on the theory that substances that cause certain symptoms in a healthy person can-in diluted amounts-cure those symptoms in an unhealthy person; thus we get the name homeopathy: homeo for similar, pathy for disease. The logic is that the similar substance promotes healing by stimulating your body's natural healing mechanisms.

The term "homeopathy" is often incorrectly used to refer to almost any alternative approach to medicine-especially the use of herbal and other natural remedies. The practice does, however, share much in common with other alternative health care modalities. For instance, homeopathy takes a holistic approach to health: It focuses on the whole person, not solely on the condition. Homeopathy is designed to help the body heal itself-not to suppress or control symptoms. In conventional-or allopathic-medicine, the aim often is to control illness through drugs or surgery. Homeopaths contend that this approach often fails to restore the patient to health and only suppresses symptoms. Homeopathy seeks to restore health rather than to cure illness.

Samuel Hahnemann, a German physician, founded homeopathy in the late 18th century and it came to U.S. around 1825, spread by American physicians who had studied in Europe and embraced the approach. Its popularity reached a peak in the 19th century. As allopathic medicine (term applied to the general practice of medicine today) gained prominence in the 20th century, homeopathy fell off dramatically. It's always been popular in many European and Asian countries, and it's starting to regain a following here, thanks to the current interest in alternative and complementary approaches to health care.

Several sources, including "New Choices in Natural Healing: Over 1,800 of the Best Self-Help Remedies from the World of Alternative Medicine," (Rodale Press, 1995), estimate that more than 2.5 million people seek homeopathic care annually. But since there's no single entity counting patients or practitioners, it's impossible to know an exact figure. It's also hard to gauge how many Americans use homeopathic remedies-and it's particularly difficult to determine which consumers buy the products because they are "natural" and which are making the purchase because they embrace homeopathy. But manufacturers do gauge sales, and sales of homeopathic remedies are on the rise. Retail sales for homeopathy in the U.S. are around $300 million annually and growing at about eight percent annually, according to J.P. Borneman, chairman and CEO, Standard Homeopathic Company and a member of the board of directors for the National Center for Homeopathy (NCH).

Today, there are more than 2,000 homeopathic substances on the market. Most are available without a prescription. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) classifies them as drugs: The Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia-the official listing of homeopathic remedies-was incorporated into federal law in 1938.

The FDA regulates these products, but differently than it does other drugs: There's no expiration date requirement and no limit on the percentage of alcohol they contain. And these formulas don't undergo the same scrutiny as typical pharmaceuticals. The FDA points out that safety isn't really a concern, since homeopathic drugs are so highly diluted. Nevertheless, the labels must include a list of which substances are included (and at what dilution), instructions, and an indication as to how to take the remedy.

These remedies, derived from plant, mineral and animal sources, are used to treat patients with conditions ranging from depression to diarrhea. Minute traces of a particular substance are used to stimulate your innate healing processes. A good example is nux vomica. Consumed in large quantities, nux vomica can cause nausea (it's a seed that contains strychnine). In very small, highly diluted doses, however, it is a typical homeopathic remedy for treating nausea and upset stomach.

Here's how the remedy is created: A plant extract is mixed in alcohol and/or water at a 1:100 ratio and vigorously shaken in a process called "succussion." The resulting formula would be labeled 1C. If the process is repeated with a drop of the 1C formula, it becomes 2C, and so on. The more times this is done, the more potent the remedy is believed to be. Over-the-counter homeopathic remedies are often the least diluted and the least potent. Doctors of homeopathy generally prescribe the higher potencies.

While classical homeopaths prefer to offer one remedy at a time, many of the over-the-counter homeopathic remedies are combinations of different substances.

Depending on whom you ask, you may hear that homeopathic remedies can treat an almost infinite number of conditions, including acne, arthritis, bronchial and respiratory problems (including colds and asthma), bruises, cramps, cystitis, depression, diarrhea, diabetes, digestive problems, insomnia, menstrual problems, psoriasis, stress, toothache, varicose veins-even worms. While homeopathy has many followers who are convinced of its efficacy, the scientific jury is out: More studies still need to be done. In fact, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is doing research into the efficacy of homeopathy.

One problem is that, since the treatments are customized to the individual, it's hard to conduct the strict double-blind scientific studies that are generally done to test the validity of an allopathic treatment.

But some research does exist. A study reported in the British Medical Journal in 2000 indicates that the results are attributable to something other than simply a placebo effect. In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of allergic rhinitis patients, the homeopathy group demonstrated significant improvement compared with the placebo group. And a study published in Lancet in 1997 concluded that subjects taking homeopathic medicines are more than twice as likely to see positive results than those taking a placebo.

Such findings have been hotly debated, and many in the scientific medical community remain skeptical (read the petition addressed to the FDA by Stephen Barrett, MD, along with the accompanying article at Quackwatch.org). On the other hand, many trained health care professionals see value in homeopathy.