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Mechanism of action of homoeopathic medicines. Recent findings and hypotheses 1: Biological mechanisms
... These diluted medicines react naturally as a regulatory therapy to a variety of external aggression which might act on physical and biological state in the form of multiple phenomenon's which needs to explored with various case studies and human trial. [17] According to Lionel Milgrom PPR (Patient Practitioner Remedy) model is proposed based on quantum theories. The PPR model is divided into 8 parts as to understand the quantum mechanics theories. ...
Introduction: Many alternative treatment modalities have multi-target effects, strengthening host defences more than directly destroying infectious agents. Many herbs and homeopathic medicines act as stimulant, nontoxic agents that increase the body's susceptibility to adapt stress or environmental change without relying on specific local treatments.As a result, a practical challenge with some traditional treatments has the poor assimilation to prevent clinical effects for treating an infectious process, which makes conventional pharmacological agent more potent but with more side effects. Homeopathy has historically raised doubts because of its methods of preparation by manner of dilutions and succession's (vigorous shaking).The end product after dilution process is found to be crossing limit of the Avogadro's number (6.024 x 10-23) which resembles 12 C (Centesimal scale) or 24 X (Decimal scale) of potency in homeopathic science.This makes researches a challenge to identify the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics understanding of homeopathy .The aim of this review study is to enlighten the scope of homeopathic medicine ascertain embedded curative action previous proofed with various preclinical research, scientifically hypothesised with various models and providing the future perspective of research in this cutting age era. Homeopathic system of medicine over the decades have proven that its pharmacology and structural activity relationship in the domain of nanoparticles might be a new arena for research and might be novel drug delivery system for development. Researchers and fellow members need to decipher the further aspects of research in above mentioned domains.
... These diluted medicines react naturally as a regulatory therapy to a variety of external aggression which might act on physical and biological state in the form of multiple phenomenon's which needs to explored with various case studies and human trial. [17] According to Lionel Milgrom PPR (Patient Practitioner Remedy) model is proposed based on quantum theories. The PPR model is divided into 8 parts as to understand the quantum mechanics theories. ...
Introduction: Many alternative treatment modalities have multi-target effects, strengthening host defences more than directly destroying infectious agents. Many herbs and homeopathic medicines act as stimulant, nontoxic agents that increase the body's susceptibility to adapt stress or environmental change without relying on specific local treatments.As a result, a practical challenge with some traditional treatments has the poor assimilation to prevent clinical effects for treating an infectious process, which makes conventional pharmacological agent more potent but with more side effects. Homeopathy has historically raised doubts because of its methods of preparation by manner of dilutions and succession's (vigorous shaking).The end product after dilution process is found to be crossing limit of the Avogadro's number (6.024 x 10-23) which resembles 12 C (Centesimal scale) or 24 X (Decimal scale) of potency in homeopathic science.This makes researches a challenge to identify the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics understanding of homeopathy .The aim of this review study is to enlighten the scope of homeopathic medicine ascertain embedded curative action previous proofed with various preclinical research, scientifically hypothesised with various models and providing the future perspective of research in this cutting age era. Homeopathic system of medicine over the decades have proven that its pharmacology and structural activity relationship in the domain of nanoparticles might be a new arena for research and might be novel drug delivery system for development. Researchers and fellow members need to decipher the further aspects of research in above mentioned domains.
... For example, If we go by a recent study a known bronchoconstrictor like histamine effectively worked as bronchodilator with the help of various histamine receptors when applied in ultra-diluted form on a restricted organoid culture [39]. The paradoxical or rebound activity generates at different specific time for each and every drugs (depending upon halflife and other stoichiometric and kinetic parameters of drug) [40] and that may prove that the secondary activity is not a placebo effect. Paradoxical effect may occur due to tolerance or desensitization in case of chronic cases. ...
Homoeopathy, being effective in various disease conditions, is a very popular choice of treatment among patients after conventional therapies. Despite that, the scientific community always tuned down its adoption due to the unexplored mechanism of action of homeopathic medicines. Unexplained working principles of Post-Avogadro dilutions and lack of molecular existence has always interfered with the acceptance of homoeopathy in the modern world. In the secondary action, homeopathic medicines show the reciprocal activity of its primary action. It seems that along with body homeostasis, it also acts on receptor level as an inverse agonist and after binding with a receptor at the resting phase it acts by reducing basal activity. As a result of this effect, it ends up producing an opposite biological effect known as a secondary action. Homeopathic drugs in its ultra–dilution probably show effects due to paradoxical activity which is generated at a definite time which can prove that secondary action is not due to the placebo effect. Paradoxical pharmacology clearly provides a basis for the concept of homeopathic drug dynamics as various drugs of modern medicines also have shown their paradoxical activity in high dilution. It is a complex receptor-mediated action which can alter the cell signaling pathway and can bring significant change in host adaptive response. In this review, we have exemplified the relation between the concepts of homeopathic drug dynamics with the rebound effect of drug substances to minimize the fallacy associated with homeopathic pharmacodynamics.
... We discussed the possible role of silica in 1987, and also the role of free radicals and hydrogen bonds. 19 Some new studies, coming perhaps from physicists, will shed some complementary light on the very mysterious story of memory of water, story which began before the Nature publication and which will surely continue a long time after. ...
A new vision of matter and life is emerging on the frontiers of science, particularly from the fields of quantum physics and mathematical theories and research which have yet to be systematized. Organisms are seen as highly regulated, complex, dynamic systems which display a characteristic meta-stability around certain homeostatic levels (Bellavite and Signorini, 1995). This meta-stability is the net result of continual oscillations, rhythms, networks, amplifications and feedback cycles. Living systems are “suspended” between order and chaos (Cramer, 1993; Bellavite et al., 1995); they partake of these two fundamental characteristics of matter and exploit them in a manner designed to promote survival.
Observation of physiological effects;’ similarity’ and ‘potency’ rule A large variety of studies with regard to fundamental research on homoeopathy has been presented up to now. The studies on the interaction of an organism and a test substance can in principle be divided into two complementary parts.
In the past few years, it has proved possible to build a noncontradictory thermodynamic theory of biological evolution, the origin of life, and the aging of living beings resting on a firm foundation of classical thermodynamics. The law of temporal hierarchies makes it possible to identify quasi-closed systems in open biological systems and to use the approaches of hierarchical quasi-equilibrium thermodynamics to establish the direction of ontogenesis and the evolutionary processes. A short review of the achievements of thermodynamics of biological evolution and aging is now presented. The application of the principle of stability of matter to the structures of adjacent hierarchies constitutes additional proof that quasi-equilibrium thermodynamics can be applied to the biological systems in the real world. This theory is corroborated by known fact and experimental outcomes obtained during the study of living and synthetic systems using the methods of macrothermodynamics and macrokinetics.
This experiment was designed to test the hypothesis put forward by P. Bourkas, A. Delinick and C. Karragiannopoulos of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) that Ultra High Succussed Dilutions (UHSD) can be distinguished from control solutions by an Electric Measurement Device (EMD), developed by the NTUA team. A pre-formulated experimental protocol was followed, measuring in random sequence test solutions of double-distilled and deionised water (aqua injectabile), potentised water (6 cH, 30 cH), Natrum muriaticum (Nat mur) potentised in aqua injectabile (6 cH, 30 cH), either blind or open. The number of measurements was determined by a power analysis based on open pilot readings. While the open pilot trial performed by the NTUA team showed a large difference in readings for the controls and test-solutions, the experimental blind test was negative. The only significant difference observed was between Nat mur 6 cH and Nat mur 30 cH, and the direction of the difference was in the opposite direction from that predicted by theory and found in the pilot experiment. No differences were found between any other conditions, and in particular Nat mur 30 cH and aqua 30 cH could not be distinguished. It was suggested that the failure to detect a difference in the main trial resulted from a different brand of water being used in the main trial; the likelihood of this, and other alternative explanations, is discussed. It was concluded that the EMD is a highly sensitive apparatus for measuring impurities in water. As yet there is no obvious link between the measurement of impurities in water and the purported alteration of solvent in the process of homoeopathic potentisation.
We have attempted to reproduce differences in low resolution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) T2 spin-spin relaxation times between homeopathically potentised and unpotentised Nitric acid (nit-ac) solutions previously reported by Conte, et al. Using similar instrumentation and experimental protocols, we have shown that it is likely that Conte's original results are attributable to experimental artifact originating in the glassware used for the manufacture of the NMR tubes.
In this paper, we review research on homeopathy from four perspectives, focusing on reviews and some landmark studies. These perspectives are laboratory studies, clinical trials, observational studies, and theoretical work. In laboratory models, numerous effects and anomalies have been reported. However, no single model has been sufficiently widely replicated. Instead, researchers have focused on ever-new models and experiments, leaving the picture of scattered anomalies without coherence. Basic research, trying to elucidate a purported difference between homeopathic remedies and control solutions has also produced some encouraging results, but again, series of independent replications are missing. While there are nearly 200 reports on clinical trials, few series have been conducted for single conditions. Some of these series document clinically useful effects and differences against placebo and some series do not. Observational research into uncontrolled homeopathic practice documents consistently strong therapeutic effects and sustained satisfaction in patients. We suggest that this scattered picture has to do with the fourth line of research: lack of a good theory. Some of the extant theoretical models are reviewed, including placebo, water structure, silica contamination, energy models, and entanglement models. It emerges that local models, suggesting some change in structure in the solvent, are far from convincing. The nonlocal models proposed would predict that it is impossible to nail down homeopathic effects with direct experimental testing and this places homeopathy in a scientific dilemma. We close with some suggestions for potentially fruitful research.
The activity of very high dilutions of silica, a substance cytoxic for macrophages, was tested on the synthesis by mouse peritoneal macrophages of the inflammatory ether-lipid paf-acether and its precursor lyso paf-acether. C57Bl6 female mice received for 25 days either 1.66 × 10−11 M silica (11 sil) or 1.66 × 10−19 M (19 sil) (final concentration) in the tap-water they were given to drink while control mice remained untreated. Isolated macrophages from mice treated with 11 sil produced 44.2 and 30.8% more paf-acether than cells from untreated mice in the presence of 50 and 200 μg zymosan (Z)/ml respectively. When 19 sil was given to the mice, the respective increases were 67.5 and 38%. In an experiment with a blind design, the mice were either untreated or received 19 sil or saline submitted to the same dilution procedure (19 sal). After administration of 19 sil, paf-acether synthesis was 55.5 and 33.5% higher upon stimulation with 50 and 200 μg Z/ml, respectively, than in the 19 sal group. In a third blind experiment, macrophages from mice that received 19 sil formed 61.3 and 28.6% more paf-acether upon stimulation with 50 and 200 μg Z/ml respectively, as compared to mice receiving 19 sal or lactose submitted to the same dilution procedure (19 lac). There was no difference between the 19 sal and the 19 lac groups. The differences between control and silica-treated mice were highly statistically significant in all experiments. There was no effect on the synthesis of lyso paf-acether. These results demonstrate clear ex vivo cellular effect of high dilutions of silica, that cannot be explained in our present state of knowledge.
To establish whether there is evidence of the efficacy of homoeopathy from controlled trials in humans.
Criteria based meta-analysis. Assessment of the methodological quality of 107 controlled trials in 96 published reports found after an extensive search. Trials were scored using a list of predefined criteria of good methodology, and the outcome of the trials was interpreted in relation to their quality.
Controlled trials published world wide.
Results of the trials with the best methodological quality. Trials of classical homoeopathy and several modern varieties were considered separately.
In 14 trials some form of classical homoeopathy was tested and in 58 trials the same single homoeopathic treatment was given to patients with comparable conventional diagnosis. Combinations of several homoeopathic treatments were tested in 26 trials; isopathy was tested in nine trials. Most trials seemed to be of very low quality, but there were many exceptions. The results showed a positive trend regardless of the quality of the trial or the variety of homeopathy used. Overall, of the 105 trials with interpretable results, 81 trials indicated positive results whereas in 24 trials no positive effects of homoeopathy were found. The results of the review may be complicated by publication bias, especially in such a controversial subject as homoeopathy.
At the moment the evidence of clinical trials is positive but not sufficient to draw definitive conclusions because most trials are of low methodological quality and because of the unknown role of publication bias. This indicates that there is a legitimate case for further evaluation of homoeopathy, but only by means of well performed trials.
When human polymorphonuclear basophils, a type of white blood cell with antibodies of the immunoglobulin E (IgE) type on its surface, are exposed to anti-IgE antibodies, they release histamine from their intracellular granules and change their staining properties. The latter can be demonstrated at dilutions of anti-IgE that range from 1 x 10(2) to 1 x 10(120); over that range, there are successive peaks of degranulation from 40 to 60% of the basophils, despite the calculated absence of any anti-IgE molecules at the highest dilutions. Since dilutions need to be accompanied by vigorous shaking for the effects to be observed, transmission of the biological information could be related to the molecular organization of water.
Having developed a pharmacokinetic method for studying the fate of orally administered arsenious anhydride by a radioactive tracer method, the influence of Hahnemannian dilutions of arsenicum album on the elimination and retention of this toxin in the rat was then investigated. The effects of centesimal (cH) and decimal (dH) dilutions were studied.
All the dilutions studied were found to be active. The strongest effects were observed after the administration of dilutions corresponding to a concentration of 10-14 (14dH and 7cH). Overall, the decimal dilutions augmented the elimination of arsenic more than the centesimals.
The observed results were submitted to mathematical analysis. A mathematical model, which confirms that Hahnemannian dilutions have biological effects which are a direct function of the degree of dilution, was developed.
We show that the usually neglected interaction between the electric dipole of the water molecule and the quantized electromagnetic radiation field can be treated in the context of a recent quantum field theoretical formulation of collective dynamics. We find the emergence of collective modes and the appearance of permanent electric polarization around any electrically polarized impurity.
1. A method is described for investigating the possible action of microdoses of mercuric chloride on the hydrolysis of soluble starch with malt diastase.
2. The microdoses of the mercuric chloride used in the latest crucial series carried out in1946, 1948, and 1952, were what are termed “high potencies” made in accordance with the pharmaceutical method of preparation of drugs ordinarily used in the practice of homœotherapy.
3. These microdoses were prepared by separate stages of dilution, the solution at each stage being subjected to mechanical shock. The solutions were, theoretically, “dilutions” of the order of 1 in 10−61 and on present physical theory would not contain any molecules of the original mercuric chloride.
4. The difference in rate of hydrolysis between flasks containing starch, diastase, and distilledwater (controls) and flasks containing starch, diastase and microdoses of mercuric chloride (tests) were compared colorimetrically by the Spekker absorptiometer, and the frequencies of the differences statistically analysed, as the results obtained showed biological scatter. More than 500 such comparisons were carried out. The differences of means were examined by the Fisher “t” test, the variances tested and Cochrane and Cox's test applied where indicated. All the series gave a highly significant difference in the rate of hydrolysis between controls and tests, the microdoses stimulating the process. Statistically the significance is shown by the fact that a probability of <0·001 was obtained independently in each of the three years 1946, 1948 and 1952. The control results gave an approximately normal distribution.
5. The distribution, control methods, and accessory control procedures were considered toexclude, as a cause of the effects, adsorption of the original drug and the presence of extraneous contaminants by chance solely in test flasks. The only difference between control and microdose flasks was the addition of microdose, the distilled water being common to both controls and tests.
6. It was concluded that a factor, unidentified, derived from the mercuric chloride used, waspresent in solutions prepared by serial dilution with mechanical shock which could affect the distilled water diluent, that this change was transferable to subsequent “ultramolecular” stages of “dilution”, and that this factor was the source of the activity in the microdose solutions producing the acceleration of the rate of hydrolysis.
7. In an addendum there is described recent biological work which is also providing evidence of the presence of an active selective factor in “high potencies” derived from Strophanthus sarmentosus by the same methods of dilution with mechanical shock.
Homoeopathy is a therapeutic system in which diseases are treated with substances, usually in extreme dilutions, which, when given to healthy individuals, produce the same symptoms as the disease being treated. Homoeopathy is an holistic method of treatment in that the whole organism is treated in an attempt to raise its level of resistance and stimulate its ability to throw off disease. In this respect it is well suited to the holistic concepts of biological agriculture. Because of the extreme dilution of the remedies they are relatively cheap, have little or no ecological side-effects and, on the whole, are harmless. This review introduces the basic principles of homoeopathy, discusses the experimental evidence for the efficacy of homoeopathic treatment of disease and considers its potential role in agriculture. The conclusion is that despite a great deal of experimental and clinical work there is only a little evidence to suggest that homoeopathy is effective. This is because of bad design, execution, reporting or failure to repeat experimental work and not necessarily because of the inefficacy of the system which has yet to be properly tested on a large enough scale. It is suggested that there is sufficient evidence to warrant the execution of well-designed, carefully-controlled experiments, particularly in naturally diseased organisms, to investigate the efficacy of homoeopathy further. Some of the experimental work already done suggests that homoeopathy may be of value in the treatment and prevention of diseases in crops as well as domestic animals.
A previously reported effect of mechanically agitated dilutions of antiserum raised against IgE was investigated using the loss of metachromatic staining properties of human basophil leukocytes as a model. A series of 24 blind experiments was performed in which we determined the number of toluidine blue-stainable basophils after incubating with vortexed or non-vortexed dilutions of anti-IgE. Tenfold serial dilutions were used, in the range 10(21) to 10(30) (6.6 x 10(-26) to 6.6 x 10(-35) M anti-IgE). We found no evidence for a different effect of strongly agitated dilutions, compared to dilutions made with minimal physical agitation. In fact, in our hands no effect of extreme dilutions was shown at all. We conclude that the effect of extreme dilutions of anti-IgE, reported by Davenas et al., needs further clarification and that in this process the reproducibility of results between experimenters should be carefully determined.
Long distance cell-to-cell or organism-to-organism communications may be accomplished by transmission and reception of electromagnetic signals through membrane receptors or enzymes. Consistent with this idea is the observation that membrane ATPases are capable of absorbing energy from oscillating electric fields of defined frequency and amplitude and using it to perform chemical work. The concept of the 'electroconformational coupling' is used to explain how an electric signal can modulate the activity of a membrane protein, and conversely, how an energy-dissipating reaction can produce an electric signal.
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