Search PubMed⌕ Search
Home/Archive/PubMed

PubMed · 12371463

Homeopathic effect: a network perspective.

J L Torres
View original source ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

There are two aspects to the problem of describing the homeopathic effect in physical terms: the nature of the therapeutic agent, and the system on which it acts. The latter can be considered as a network, which provides a conceptual framework that throws new light on long-standing questions, based on generic results such as the enhanced susceptibility of networks near critical states. It suggests a characterisation of health and disease in terms of distance from a critical state. The Internet provides a concrete analogy. This predicts a limiting condition on the acceptable loss of highly connected nodes in the system, and suggests a procedure to measure its connectivity and related parameters.

Explore related subjects

HomeopathyHumansInternetMetaphorJournal ArticleResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tReview

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

J L Torres. 2002. Homeopathic effect: a network perspective.. https://doi.org/10.1054/homp.2002.0007

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related citations

PubMed2003

Clinical trials of classical homeopathy: reflections on appropriate research designs.

The growing popularity of complementary medicine has been accompanied by a call for controlled clinical studies to examine the efficacy and validity of its various methods. The difficulties encountered in applying the evaluation methods of conventional medicine to complementary medicine are the result of the different paradigms underlying these two methods of medicine, and the differences in the healing process. This paper attempts to bridge the gap between these two approaches and to suggest a possibility to use conventional research methodology in clinical studies of classical homeopathy. Two methods are described. One is the randomization into a placebo or a treatment group after an individual remedy is chosen for each patient. This method requires an experienced homeopath and is reproducible only by the same homeopath in the same population. On the other hand, the expected success rate will be high. Another method is prescribing and treating according to so-called keynotes, a set of symptoms known to respond to a particular remedy that must be present in a patient in order to elicit a reaction from the remedy. This method is more suitable to a conventional design of a clinical study and is reproducible by anyone. Yet the expected success rate is much lower. Some general design issues that may have a particular impact on clinical trials of classical homeopathy are discussed, including the need for sufficiently powered trials to detect relatively small effects, strategies to deal with patient preference and embracing the use of "active-control" pragmatic trial designs.

Homeopathy↗
PubMed2003

Quality assessment of physical research in homeopathy.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the evidence of published experiments on homeopathic preparations (potencies) that target physical properties (i.e., assumed structural changes in solvents). METHOD: A suitable instrument (the Score for Assessment of Physical Experiments on Homeopathy [SAPEH]) was developed through consensus procedure: a scale with 8 items covering 10 criteria, based on the 3 constructs, methodology, presentation, and experiment standardization. REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS: Written reports providing at least minimal details on physical experiments with methods to identify structural changes in solvents were collected. These reports were scored when they concerned agitated preparations in a dilution less than 10(-23), with no other restrictions. We found 44 publications that included 36 experiments (the identity of 2 was unclear). They were classified into 6 types (dielectric strength, 6; galvanic effects, 5; light absorption, 4; nuclear magnetic resonance [NMR], 18; Raman spectroscopy, 7; black boxes of undisclosed design, 4). RESULTS: Most publications were of low quality (SAPEH < 6), only 6 were of high quality (SAPEH > 7, including 2 points for adequate controls). These report 3 experiments (1 NMR, 2 black boxes), of which 2 claim specific features for homeopathic remedies, as does the only medium-quality experiment with sufficient controls. CONCLUSIONS: Most physical experiments of homeopathic preparations were performed with inadequate controls or had other serious flaws that prevented any meaningful conclusion. Except for those of high quality, all experiments should be repeated using stricter methodology and standardization before they are accepted as indications of special features of homeopathic potencies.

Homeopathy↗