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Science and Humanity in Homeopathy - Placebo and Published Studies.

Updated: May 6

Being more of a humanist than a scientist, I often find myself in the uncomfortable position of having to defend the science of homeopathy which I do clumsily and with limited skills. For me the science is not as important as the humanity, but I have found amongst my teachers and colleagues a more balanced respect for both, which is what drew me to homeopathy in the first place after a friend gave me a copy of, The Science of Homeopathy, by George Vithoulkas. I had no background in science, but I understood that his training as an engineer allowed him to deconstruct the mechanism of homeopathy using scientific methodology and this I found fascinating. It validated healing modalities I was drawn to both naturally and in nature; the idea that like cures like, the doctrine of signatures and presence as a tool for healing. It had enormous integrity. And that was all I needed.



The International Academy of Classical Homeopathy - Alonisos, Greec

The International Academy of Classical Homeopathy - Alonissos

 

But still I had to contend with the scientists and the pragmatists in my life, of whom there were many. Skeptical nephews studying programming, science and physics and scientifically minded friends who were often much smarter than I. Interestingly those of my friends who are doctors seemed less judgmental. Perhaps they simply dismissed the whole thing as nonsense, or perhaps they had seen enough uncertain truths in modern medicine to remain open.


I once sat next to an anesthesiologist, in a homeopathy conference at the Vithoulkas Academy in Alonissos, who confessed to me that science still does not understand the exact mechanism of anesthesia and yet it is something we all trust without doubt. But homeopathy is held to a higher standard when it comes to science, with accusations of placebo and the Avogadro number - the highest dilution at which the original substance can still be found. I am pleased to remind those who acuse homeopathy of being a pseudoscience, that up to sixty percent of the success rate of pharmaceutical drugs and medical treatments is accounted for by the placebo effect too and that it was not so long ago that we couldn’t measure nano-particles.

 

Recently a benchmark study was published in Science Direct, entitled, Ultra-high dilutions analysis: Exploring the Effects of Potentization by Electron Microscopy, Raman Spectroscopy and Deep Learning (AI). In the study, clear data shows that the homeopathic processes of dilution and sucussions known as potentisation, is repeatedly measurable in different values such as 12c, 30c and 200c. Any skeptic who has relied on scientific measurement alone as proof that homeopathy is a psudoscience must now admit defeat. It is a study worth reading for the science geeks and the mathematicians. Senior author of the study, Professor George Vithoulkas has dedicated his life to bringing homeopathy to the scientific community, training mostly medical doctors and receiving honorary titles from medical schools all over the world. But science alone in homeopathy is little without its humanity, a point he reminds his students often.

 

Before I qualified as a homeopath, I had studied counselling at the Australian School of Applied Psychology. The humanistic curriculum resonated with me more than the 'rats and stats' I encountered in first year psychology at university. And it was here that I was introduced to the person-centered psychotherapeutic work of Carl Rogers whose approach was simply to be completely present to ones client or patient, without judgement. The ability to be present allows resolution and integration of the experience as it unfolds for both the practitioner and the one seeking counsel. And so too it is in Homeopathy.


The therapeutic process is in many ways a confession of the dis-eased or disowned parts of the self, or in Jungian terms, shadow aspects. A comparison can be made with the homeopathic process. Being present to the suffering of ones patients allows the dis-eased or disturbed state to reveal itself. Vithoulkas says the disease is in the secrets and the symptoms of the disease are its confession. The practitioner needs only to be present and the symptoms, the confessions will be revealed, leading the practitioner to the remedy that best resonates.


I recently saw a reel discussing how when hovering a hologram of a diseased cell over a healthy cell, the diseased cell started to become healthy. I was reminded of the words of the Luboviche Rebbe, who said, words that come from the heart penetrate the heart. Perhaps we only ever need a gentle reminder of our potential wholeness to be reflected back to us, for healing to begin. Carl Rodgers analytical mind was grounded in humanistic presence. The creator of homeopathy, Samuel Hahnemann had this quality too as everyone who studies homeopathy knows. The old school doctors were of this breed as are many modern-day homeopaths.


Homeopaths recently celebrated the birthday of the founder of Homeopathy, Dr. Samuel Hahnemann. While the forces that be, have done everything in their power to restrict and discredit homeopathy, the numbers of people using it regularly across the globe continues to grow with an estimated user base of two hundred million people. And the number of published studdies by scientists and academics continues to prove that homeopathy is a valid therapeutic healing modality.


Dr. Zac Bush was asked in an interview about challenging corporate greed. His response was that instead of investing our energy in tearing down a corrupt and rotten system, we should simply focus on building a better one - holistic and integrative. For the last few hundred years, homeopaths all over the world have been doing this. From strength to strength to them all. May homeopath continue to become an integrated part of healing for all of humanity.


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