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4 March 2003 | Volume 138 Issue 5 | Pages 393-399
Homeopathy is a 200-year-old therapeutic system that uses small doses of various substances to stimulate autoregulatory and self-healing processes. Homeopathy selects substances by matching a patient's symptoms with symptoms produced by these substances in healthy individuals. Medicines are prepared by serial dilution and shaking, which proponents claim imprints information into water. Although many conventional physicians find such notions implausible, homeopathy had a prominent place in 19th-century health care and has recently undergone a worldwide revival. In the United States, patients who seek homeopathic care are more affluent and younger and more often seek treatment for subjective symptoms than those who seek conventional care. Homeopathic remedies were allowed by the 1939 Pure Food and Drug Act and are available over the counter. Some data—both from randomized, controlled trials and laboratory research—show effects from homeopathic remedies that contradict the contemporary rational basis of medicine. Three independent systematic reviews of placebo-controlled trials on homeopathy reported that its effects seem to be more than placebo, and one review found its effects consistent with placebo. There is also evidence from randomized, controlled trials that homeopathy may be effective for the treatment of influenza, allergies, postoperative ileus, and childhood diarrhea. Evidence suggests that homeopathy is ineffective for migraine, delayed-onset muscle soreness, and influenza prevention. There is a lack of conclusive evidence on the effectiveness of homeopathy for most conditions. Homeopathy deserves an open-minded opportunity to demonstrate its value by using evidence-based principles, but it should not be substituted for proven therapies.
Author and Article Information
From Samueli Institute for Information Biology and Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland; Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; and Centre for Complementary Medicine Research, Technische Universität, München, Germany.
Disclaimer: The views, opinions, and assertions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect official policy of the Department of Defense, the Department of Health and Human Services, or the U.S. Government.
Acknowledgments: The authors thank Cindy Crawford for her assistance in preparation of this manuscript and Ronald A. Chez, MD, for his editorial review.
Grant Support: In part by the Samueli Institute for Information Biology and National Institutes of Health grants (AT00178-01 and AT00270-01).
Requests for Single Reprints: Wayne B. Jonas, MD, Samueli Institute, 121 South Saint Asaph Street, Suite 200, Alexandria, VA 22314; e-mail, wjonas{at}siib.org.
Current Author Addresses: Dr. Jonas: Samueli Institute, 121 South Saint Asaph Street, Suite 200, Alexandria, VA 22314.
Dr. Kaptchuk: Osher Institute, Harvard Medical School, 401 Park Drive, Boston, MA 02215.
Dr. Linde: Projekt Münchener Modell, University of Münich, Zentrum f. naturheilkundliche, Kaiserstrasse. 9, D-80801 München, Germany. ACADEMIA AND CLINIC
COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE SERIES
Series Editors: David M. Eisenberg, MD, and Ted J. Kaptchuk, OMD
A Critical Overview of Homeopathy
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