Homeopathy & therapeutics

and why I'm (still) not a fan

-UPDATED repost from 2023-

Therapeutics is the study of x remedy for x condition.

‘‘Theoretically any drug may be indicated (in homeopathy). But the fact remains that our choice is confined to a minimum, which experience has shown to be suitable to the symptom group under consideration.’’¹

There has always been, and always will be, a problem with prescribing x remedy for x condition.

Why?

Dr. Tyler said it best;

‘‘There is law behind cure; and if we desire to evoke its power, we must conform to its conditions.

The only known law of healing is Hahnemann’s similia similibus curentur…’’²

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A personal anecdote for you here (which I typically do not publish)

Recently, during my first ever bout of tendonitis which was worse at night, and at rest, and coupled with greatly reduced strength, craving for milk, and a fair bit of anxiety - I found myself on the cusp of taking a dose of RHUS TOX (even though I have been prescribing for individuals for over thirteen years!,) because implanted (still) in my mind was the idea that it is ‘the therapeutic remedy’ for overstrain, over use, and because all of the modalities matched.

However, thankfully, I actually practice what I preach, and after an appointment with my homeopath this tendonitis was much improved (like 85%) after a dose of SILICA even though I continue on with the maintaining cause responsible for the development of this tendonitis.

(mid 2025 update; nil further tendinopathy for me!)

Why?

‘‘In acute work if you can get exact correspondence between the symptoms of the person and the symptoms evoked in the healthy by the same drug it is a mathematical certainty that you will cure

- because of the law of similars -

without correspondence it is equally certain you will not cure

- because of the law of similars.’’³

An example here from thousands upon thousands upon thousands throughout two hundred plus years of homeopathic literature.,

"Jn. Frank reports (Path. Med. Trans., Paris, 1835) that he cured, without a failure, the intermittent fevers which prevailed during the spring and summer of 1801 with Phellandrium. But, he adds, immediately after that, in the following years, the same means employed in the same disease failed. What more evident proof of the necessity of absolutely and always individualizing in pathology and therapeutics?’’

The law of cure is immutable; there is no caprice about it; caprice is the appanage of physicians!’’⁴

Another (contemporaneous) example is the supposed Medicine Genius⁵ for covid19-like symptoms - that is the remedy which has in its sphere of action most of the symptoms involved - which, in 2021, was declared to be Cinchona officinalis.⁶

However, a (2023) retrospective observational study found no specific remedy emerged from a database of 300+ documented cases of covid19-like symptoms (reported by homeopathic physicians worldwide). The most commonly used remedy was Arsenicum album, followed by Bryonia, then Pulsatilla. A 200C was the most commonly-used potency, and 271 (73.8%) of the reported cases improved under treatment. China was not in the top ten most commonly prescribed homeopathic medicines… ⁷

Individualized homeopathy demonstrates effects at all quality levels according to Cochrane criteria, even in the methodologically high-quality studies,⁸ and has the potential for positive therapeutic effect.⁹¹⁰

When researchers combined individualized (correct) homeopathy with the non-individualized use of homeopathic medicines (nomeopathy) significant, over placebo effects were demonstrated. However, when the researchers separated out homeopathy from nomeopathy, nomeopathy became non-significant.¹¹ Talk about lowering the evidence base (and the tone!) of homeopathy!

‘‘Law does not fail.

It is we who fail in our attempts to put it in action.

We may do bad work and call it homeopathy, discrediting it in the person’s eyes and in our own: only it did not happen to be homeopathy!’’¹²

This is what we must absolutely practice and live by at all times if we wish to be successful prescribers improving the lives of people, and in turn, our world.

The poet Horace (60BC-8BC) while trying to convince his fellow citizens to conquer idleness and strive instead to acquire worldly wisdom wrote

‘‘Dimidium facti, qui coepit, habet; sapere aude, incipe.’’

(The one who has begun is half done. Dare to be wise: begin!)¹³

‘In contrast to frequent claims, the available Meta Analyses of homoeopathy in placebo-controlled randomised trials for any indication show significant positive effects beyond placebo. Compared to other medical interventions, the quality of evidence for efficacy of homoeopathy was similar or higher than for 90% of interventions across medicine. Accordingly, the efficacy evidence from placebo-controlled randomised trials provides no justification for regulatory or political actions against homoeopathy in health-care systems.’¹⁴

LOOKING for high quality homeopathy education?, get your free tasters;

1. Boericke Compendium of Materia Medica / Application of homeopathy. Miccant, 2015. Isis Vision [computer program]. Nottingham.

2. Tyler, M.L. 1998. Pointers to the Common Remedies. B. Jain Publishers Ltd. New Delhi. (Originally published 1934)

3. Tyler, M.L. 1998. Pointers to the Common Remedies. B. Jain Publishers Ltd. New Delhi. (Originally published 1934)

4. Allen HC Therapeutics Int fever. Phellandrium. Miccant, 2015. Isis Vision [computer program]. Nottingham.

5.

6. Gosik et al., 2021. Medicines for the new coronavirus in the view of Classical Systemic Homeopathy. Complement Ther Clin Pract. Nov;45:101482. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8433054/

7. Mahesh et al., 2023. COVID-19 cases treated with classical homeopathy: a retrospective analysis of International Academy of Classical Homeopathy database. Journal of Global Health Reports. Vol.,7:e2023027. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/371454971_COVID-19_cases_treated_with_classical_homeopathy_a_retrospective_analysis_of_International_Academy_of_Classical_Homeopathy_database

8. Weiermayer P, Frass M, Peinbauer T, Ellinger L. 2020. Evidenzbasierte Veterinär-/Homöopathie und ihre mögliche Bedeutung für die ­Bekämpfung der Antibiotikaresistenzproblematik – ein Überblick [Evidence-based homeopathy and veterinary homeopathy, and its potential to help overcome the anti-microbial resistance problem - an overview]. Schweiz Arch Tierheilkd. Oct;162(10):597-615. German, French. Available from: https://sat.gstsvs.ch/de/sat/sat-artikel/archiv/2020/102020/evidence-based-homeopathy-and-veterinary-homeopathy-and-its-potential-to-help-overcome-the-antimic.html

9. Hamre et al., 2023. Efficacy of homoeopathic treatment: Systematic review of meta-analyses of randomised placebo-controlled homoeopathy trials for any indication. Syst Rev. Oct 7;12(1):191. Available from: https://systematicreviewsjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13643-023-02313-2#Abs1

10. Mathie et al., 2014. Randomised placebo-controlled trials of individualised homeopathic treatment: systematic review and meta-analysis. Syst Rev. 2014 Dec 6;3:142. Available from: https://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4326322/

11. Hamre et al., 2023. Efficacy of homoeopathic treatment: Systematic review of meta-analyses of randomised placebo-controlled homoeopathy trials for any indication. Syst Rev. Oct 7;12(1):191. Available from: https://systematicreviewsjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13643-023-02313-2#Abs1

12. Tyler, M.L. 1998. Pointers to the Common Remedies. B. Jain Publishers Ltd. New Delhi. (Originally published 1934)

13. Horace, Epistles 1.2.40-41

14. Hamre, HJ., Glockmann, A., von Ammon, K et al. (2023). Efficacy of homoeopathic treatment: Systematic review of meta-analyses of randomised placebo-controlled homoeopathy trials for any indication. Systematic Rev. Oct 7;12(1):191. doi.org/10.1186/s13643-023-02313-2