Homeopathy offers hope

Opponents of homeopathy claim that homeopathic medicines are “just plain water” with no medicinal properties.

But increasing numbers of scientific findings are making it harder to maintain such as stance. One study has found that solutions prepared in the traditional homeopathic way — through repeated dilutions by mechanical shaking — have properties unlike plain water, with elements of the dissolved material. Another study suggests the solutions have an affect on living cells in vitro. Yet another study shows that solutions can be distinguished from each other, using the right equipment to determine their contents. And emerging research suggests that homeopathic solutions actually contain nanoparticles of the original dissolved material.

Dr. Luc Montagnier, Nobel laureate and co-discoverer of the human immunodeficiency virus, presented at a national American homeopathic conference last year, discussing his work on the ability of DNA in high dilutions to emit electromagnetic waves.

The question is: How do we tackle a phenomenon that defies our notion of reality and yet clearly shows promise? The scientific process knows how: Test it, investigate it, measure it with ever-more-sophisticated instruments — while always staying open to the possibility that even widely-held notions of reality may be proven wrong. Rigorous open-mindedness — being prepared to give up your preconceptions when evidence contradicts them — is the core of science.

And that’s how the rest of us need to approach this issue, if we are serious about using every option available to alleviate human illness in our health-care system. Läs mer