Then today, I came across two news items that I want to add to the material. The first, from Newsday, reports a study done by Swiss researchers. According to their findings, homeopathic remedies are no better than placebos. If they seem to work, it's because out minds convince us that they will.
The researchers admit the study has its limitations. One such limitation is the fact that homeopathic practitioners take more into consideration than the illness they are treating. They also look at emotional response, personality and temperament and may prescribe differently for two patients suffering from the same disorder.
Prominent research scientists rebutted the information in the study. They claim that the study was flawed. One problem they found was the minute quantities of the medicine used. The researchers also cited Avogadro's number claiming that homeopathic remedies are often administered in dilutions in excess of this number.
WHAT IS HOMEOPATHY?
According to Webster's Dictionary, homeopathy is:(A) system of medical practice that treats a disease esp. by the administration of minute doses of a remedy that would in healthy persons produce symptoms similar to those of the disease.
According to the {link url=http://www.medterms.com/script/main/hp.asp]MedTerms Dictionary[/link] from [a href="/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.medterms.com/Script/Main/hp.asp"]Medicine Net:[/a] Homeopathy: A system of therapy founded in the 19th century based on the concept that disease can be treated with drugs (in minute doses) thought capable of producing the same symptoms in healthy people as the disease itself.
Homeopathy dates back to the early nineteenth century. The founder was a German physician and chemist, Samuel Hahnemann. Homeopathy has treatments for almost every illness and disorder, including insomnia. Conventional treatment for insomnia, besides improving [link url] http://sleepdisorders.about.com/library/weekly/aa081099.htm ] sleep hygiene[/link], includes sedatives and hypnotics. These medications often don't work. They tend to be addictive or habit forming and can lead to other health problems.
Homeopathy doesn't treat the sleeplessness, but instead seeks a cure for the underlying causes, like tension, worry and anxiety. Homeopathy is often called "Curing like with like" because it administers a small dose of a remedy that would naturally cause the disorder if taken in a larger quantity or if given to a healthy person. And it is a "small dosage." By the process of potentization, the drug is diluted many times until the concentration can be so low that not even one molecule of the original exists.
Homeopaths claim, however, that the energy pattern or essence of the original still exists in what remains. When the homeopathic remedy is administrated, this energy pattern resonates throughout the body and resets the patient's energy pattern, curing him. Often, the remedy appears to work its magic and the patient claims to not only be over his or her illness, but to feel better than ever before!
