Efficacy in Homeopathy
With homeopathic remedies, the so-called clinical study is not necessarily the medium of choice to prove efficacy, since the individual body on the one hand and the regulative influence of the ingredients on the other hand can hardly be integrated into one completely comparable study design, due to the fact that “an organism is not a machine, since it grows [ … ] an organism is an open energy system. An organism has an organic relationship with its environment.”
There are, however, some double-blind studies that have been conducted according to present-day standards where homeopathic compounds are compared with carriers that are free of active substances (placebo), and which have shown positive results for selected diseases.
In this context, the fact that homeopathy is highly cherished in veterinary medicine, where it is applied highly successfully, is particularly interesting. These results cast some serious doubt on the often claimed mental, placebo-like effects (faith moves mountains) of homeopathy.
Additionally, the monographs published by the Expert Commission D based on the German drug law (AMG) provide a useful tool for assessing the substances used in homeopathy. They reflect the scientific findings of more than 1,100 homeopathically used compounds gained from herbal, animal and mineral substances and include statements on their ranges of application.
Which Diseases Can Be Treated With Homeopathy?
Generally ALL diseases and symptoms can be positively influenced by homeopathy. In Hahnemann’s times, 80% of the symptoms to be treated were acute cases, while only 20% of the conditions were chronic diseases. Today the ratio has been reversed. We can observe that that the majority of cases that are treated in homeopathically are diseases that have existed for a long time and are deeply rooted within the patient. Quite frequently, the patients who are deemed ‘beyond therapy’ by so-called conventional medicine are those who call upon the homeopath, and who are now placing all their hope in this special form of therapy.
The basic requirement for a successful therapy is to discover all the factors that can trigger and maintain a disease. It is certainly not sufficient to ask the question ‘Where does it hurt?’ or to analyze lab data. The holistic treatment of a person and their symptoms, the knowledge relevant to the interaction of body, mind and soul, the discovery of the burdens and influences a person is subjected to every day – all this allows a deep insight into the complex of problems that an individual faces. The multitude of information plus the knowledge about the relevant remedies and the readiness to “thinking outside the box”, meaning not to take anything for granted and to question everything as well as to realize that as an open cybernetic system, the human being responds to all influences; the combination of all of this can lead to a successful homeopathic therapy.
A successfully applied complex remedy will therefore take all the triggering causative agents into account in its composition. The art of managing that as comprehensively as possible lies in the talent and understanding of its creator.
