What Are the Pros and Cons of Using Homeopathic Medications?

Homeopathy is a form of alternative medicine. The theoretical basis of homeopathy is "the same preparation to treat similar diseases", which means that in order to treat a certain disease, a drug that can produce the same symptoms in healthy people is needed. For example, the toxic plant belladonna can cause a throbbing headache, high fever and facial flushing. Therefore, belladonna, a homeopathic medicine, is used to treat patients with fever and sudden throbbing headaches.

Homeopathy

Homeopathy is

Homeopathy , also known as homeopathy

At the end of the 18th century, German doctor and pharmacist Samuel Hanemann proposed a new treatment. Hairy treatments such as bloodletting, leeches, suction cans, laxatives, and arsenic were prevailing, and other medications were scarce. Hanemann wants to give up these horrific remedies. So he asked some healthy people to take cinchona cream (quinine), and these people soon developed fever,

Hanemann invented a method of using these substances to make very diluted formulations. First, immerse a substance in alcohol for several weeks, and filter the soaking solution to obtain the "master tincture" of the substance. Then, he used some master tinctures by repeatedly diluting with water and vigorously shaking (shaking) to obtain the final medicine. . Until now, the same basic basic procedures have been used to make homeopathic medicine.

The resulting medicament often does not even contain a molecule of the original substance. Orthodox science believes that this will cause the medicament to lose its activity. However, homeopathic physicians claim that using this method to dilute and shake the medicament can actually make it more effective, and it seems that vigorous shaking can transfer energy into the water and leave a memory of the original substance. Homeopaths call this fortification, and depending on how many times they are diluted, these agents can get different

As early as 400 BC, the father of medicine

The advancement of homeopathic innovations is first manifested by the expansion of homeopathic medicine into the field of homeopathic science and technology: the expansion of medicine into veterinary, agricultural, and industrial fields.

People are showing increasing concern about their health. Homeopathic medicines and corresponding medicines from abroad have appeared frequently and frequently, and domestic experts are also in need. For example, Dr. Chen Hua, deputy director of the Center for Health and Human Development Research at Sun Yat-sen University and a tutor of masters in medical anthropology, expressed support for homeopathy in an interview with a China Consumer News reporter. Regarding the preparation and efficacy of homeopathic medicines, Dr. Chen Hua explained that after each dilution, shake vigorously. This process of shaking can inject energy into the drug and enhance the efficacy of the drug. ^[3]

Domestic Views of Homeopathy

Anti-pseudoscience scholar and doctor of biochemistry Fang Zhouzi once wrote the article "Molecular Homeopathy" is here, which elaborated on the history and current situation of homeopathy in detail.

He believes that homeopathic medicine is ridiculous, drugs are ineffective, and taking highly diluted drugs is actually equivalent to drinking water: "The homeopathic medicines on the market often dilute the drug by 10 to 30 times with distilled water. What is this concept? What about a drop of water into the ocean, but it is only diluted to the 26th power of 10, that is to say, the concentration of its active ingredients is 10,000 times lower than a drop in the sea, in fact there is nothing. According to Afuga Drow's law, 1 mole of any substance contains about 10 to the 24th power, that is, after dilution to the 24th power of 10, it is no longer possible to contain a molecule of the diluted component, all of which are water molecules. . "Because of this, the cost of making homeopathic medicine is extremely low, almost similar to water.

As for the so-called improvement after taking the medicine, it may belong to the " placebo effect ". "It is true that many people have personally experienced the effectiveness of alternative medicine, so they are convinced and obliged to publicize it. In fact, the reason is very simple. Many diseases are so-called self-limiting. The better or better, especially under the influence of psychological cues, it will be faster, and there is a placebo effect. In addition, for some diseases, drinking water for patients is also good for health. " ^[4]

International Views of Homeopathy

As early as 1952, the famous American science writer Martin Gardner wrote a brilliant description of homeopathy in his work "Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science" (various types of Western pseudoscience) and recorded: "1900 Years later, the movement (referred to as the homeopathic craze) began to decline, and the homeopathic medical school in the United States disappeared one after another. Some more prosperous colleges, such as the New York Medical School in Manhattan and the Harneman Medical School in Philadelphia, After declining homeopathic courses, it gradually evolved into a convincing first-class medical school. There are no homeopathic medical schools in the United States today, although there are a few colleges, such as the two above, that offer homeopathic graduate students course."

David Cochran, a professor of pharmacology at University College London, published a paper questioning homeopathy in the journal Nature on July 27, 2006. He believes that homeopathy is nothing more than playing a number game. The University of Oxford has been conducting some demonstrative experiments on homeopathy, but the results have not been satisfactory. A 2003 demonstration of homeopathy was published on the University of Oxford website, and it was found that the treatment of some patients with frequent headaches did not work well. Six patients receiving homeopathy suffered from headaches all year round, but after receiving homeopathy for a period of time, the headache did not alleviate. And so far, no scientist can provide a complete and reasonable explanation for the therapeutic effect of homeopathy. The US Food and Drug Administration's management of homeopathy has also been loosened to tight. It was planned from over-the-counter drugs to prescription drugs in 1978, and must be sent to the Food and Drug Administration for re-inspection before it is sold to ensure its safety. ^[5]

On the other hand, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that homeopathy may not be the cure. For patients in some developing countries, they have life-threatening doubts. In June 2009, the Voice of the Young Scientists Network spoke to the World Health Organization, stating that "homeopathy should not be promoted to treat tuberculosis, infant diarrhea, influenza, malaria, AIDS and other diseases." Based on their experience serving rural residents, these doctors from the United Kingdom and Africa believed that "homeopathy does not save patients, but instead loses their lives because there is no right medicine." ^[6-7]

Dr Nick Beeching of the Royal Liverpool University Hospital said there is no clear evidence of homeopathic evidence of any effect on the infection. ^[8]

WHO Homeopathy

Dr. Mario Raviglione, director of the World Health Organization's Tuberculosis Control Division, said: "Our WHO-based tuberculosis policy, the International Standard for Tuberculosis Control (ISTC), does not recommend the use of homeopathy."

Dr. Teguest Guerma, Director of the HIV / AIDS Division of the World Health Organization, said: "... WHO invests considerable human and financial resources in HIV / AIDS to ensure the use of medical evidence-based medical information and clinical validation Treating AIDS locally and safely ... Let me congratulate the Sense of Science organization for their efforts to ensure and treat evidence-based approaches to HIV infection. (Note: British youth against homeopathy Ending with young clinicians and researchers in the Organization of Scientists. "

Dr Sergio Spinaci, Deputy Director of the World Health Organization's Global Malaria Control Programme, said: "Thanks for these amazing reports (referred to by the Sense of Science organization in 2009) and for the secrets in this controversy, ... the Global Malaria Control Programme It is recommended that malaria be treated in accordance with the World Health Organization's malaria treatment approach. This approach does not include any homeopathic applications. "

Joe Martines, a representative of Dr. Elizabeth Mason, director of the Department of Child and Adolescent Health and Development of the World Health Organization, said, "We haven't found any evidence so far, and homeopathy does not have any benefit in treating pediatric diarrhea. Homeopathy does not focus on the treatment and relief of dehydration. This is completely inconsistent with our scientific principles and our recommendations for the treatment of diarrhea. "

The Office of the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Chen Fu-Feng Chen, said on August 14, 2009 that the above-mentioned feedback "clearly expresses WHO's position." ^[9]