Reader’s corner
Dr Sujata Naik, a Mulund Plus reader and practicing homeopath sent us this reaction in response to the Lancet article that appeared in TOI on the controversy regarding the effectiveness of homeopathic medicines
What cannot be seen does not exist and what cannot be demonstrated is unscientific; this is the gist of finding out about the effect of homeopathic medicines recently published by Lancet, a British medical journal. After a blind controlled study conducted on 110 swiss trials, they have concluded that homeopathic medicines offer nothing more than a placebo effect [dummy effect]. This entire lopsided and partial view about a rational system which has existed for no less than three centuries has shocked thousands of practitioners and millions of believers from all over the world. Not only this, the journal has contradicted itself as well. Only a few years ago, the very journal had published a discovery about the positive clinical benefits of homeopathic medicines in a variety of disorders. It is disconcerting that a responsible body like Lancet should draw such conclusions based on insufficient data.
n Homeopathy is a science based on individualisation, that means every remedy is tailor-made to suit a particular patient with his typical constitution. A homeopath spends hours taking down every detail of the patient, both at physical and psychological level. Only after this a constitutional remedy which most closely matches the one available from hundreds of previously proven drugs, is chosen. This remedy will not act on another individual for the same ailment unless he too possesses a similar constitution. Therefore, any study whether blind controlled or double blind controlled, where the clinical effects of a drug are tested on a group of patients with a particular disease will be fallacious.
n Regarding the ’mere placebo’ effect of the sweet white pills, it has been proven that homeopathy works equally well in all age groups including new-borns and young children. The increasing use of homeopathic medicines in veterinary patients is solid proof of its efficacy.
* The premise that since homeopathic medicines do not contain demonstrable drug substance they are ineffective is a misconception that must be cleared. Homeopathic doses are prepared under stringent conditions where the given drug substance is diluted with water or neutral alcohol in ascending proportions similar to a geometric progression. With each subsequent dilution the amount of drug substance decreases. However, the vibrancy of its molecules increases. So much so that the highest potencies would not have any actual drug substance but only the memory of its action. Therefore a single dose of the right drug in high potency is enough to cause alterations at the cellular level.
* Homeopathy has been around for more than three centuries and has been consistently proven effective in a variety of ailments from psychosomatic conditions like skin allergies, migraines, asthma, irritable bowel syndrome to pathological conditions like abscesses, carbuncles, cysts and pneumonias. Its positive benefits far outweigh its only drawback, that of difficulty in establishing quantitative measurement of its mode of action.
* Homeopaths today are clinically trained to recognise underlying serious medical disorders and make appropriate referrals to the concerned allopathic specialists as and when necessary. This is especially true of cases that need surgical intervention or critical care management.
We stand at a delicate threshold of healthcare. What holds good today becomes obsolete the next morning. For instance, until yesterday drugs like nimesulide and valedocoxib were touted as wonder drugs in anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving actions. Today the same drugs are banned internationally due to their renal and hepatic toxic effects. The wheel is slowly turning a full circle.
At such a critical juncture it is high time that all healers get together and encourage inter-system cross references, keeping the patient as a focus and his well-being of prime importance. This will enable the patient to choose the best mode of cure for his ailment at any given time.
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