Doesn’t That Suggest Homeopathy is Really Only the Placebo Effect?
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A placebo is a dummy medicine. Many people have reported improvements after taking a placebo thinking it was a real medicine. There are good reasons to think that homeopathic medicines are not placebos. First, they act on infants, animals and unconscious patients. Second, patients frequently report feeling worse (the homeopathic aggravation) before they begin to improve. This initial worsening occurs even when they have not been told to expect it.
Though we do not know how homeopathic medicines work, it is clear from the clinical results of the last 200 years that they do act to cure sick people. It should be mentioned that the pharmacology of most drugs is not completely understood which in no way keeps doctors from prescribing them.
What’s the Difference Between Homeopathy and Immunizations? Between Homeopathy and Allergy Desensitization?
In modern immunizations either attenuated (weakened) live or killed viral or bacterial products are injected. The body reacts by making antibodies to those viruses and bacteria which afford protection against various viral and bacterial diseases.
In contrast, a homeopathic medicine is so diluted that no particulate matter remains. Often no molecules remain. In classical homeopathy, medicines are never injected but are given by mouth. Whereas a vaccine causes a limited and very specific reaction from the immune system (i.e., the production of antibodies), a homeopathic medicine elicits a nonspecific and more general reaction which stimulates the entire immune system as well as other systems.
In allergy desensitization, the allergist uses a dilution of an allergen (allergic substance), but he does not succuss it. Although the allergen is diluted, it is not diluted to the infinitesimally small dose the homeopath uses. Each desensitization shot acts only against one allergen whereas the homeopathic medicine strengthens the entire immune system against all allergens.
