First Aid with Homeopathy: The ultimate medical guide for travelers and athletes, also covering work-related accidents and major disasters

By Manuel Mateu i Ratera

This book is by far the most elaborate and successful guide to homeopathic first aid and is available in several languages. Manuel Mateu-Ratera, a highly regarded homeopath and specialist in emergency medicine, shares with us the fruits of his many years of clinical study and practice. First Aid with Homeopathy is aimed at both health professionals and people who wish to improve their skills in first aid. It describes most of the accidents which we can encounter in our daily life – at home, at work, practicing sports – as well as in serious emergencies, in extreme sports or in natural catastrophes, with their accompanying homeopathic treatment. Many situations which are not described in other homeopathic first aid books make this book unique, such as deep-sea diving trauma and mountaineering accidents. The author presents both the allopathic and homeopathic approach, and Chinese pressure points which can give immediate relief in many emergency situations. It is a great resource to have at home as well as an ideal travel companion. It covers many situations found on overseas travels, including food poisoning and various bites and stings. It is also condensed enough to take up a limited space in a suitcase or backpack. It is of inestimable use in any medical practice. An exhaustive Materia Medica describes about 200 remedies, combining their characteristics with their essences, according to Scholten, Sankaran, Vithoulkas, and Grandgeorge, among others. “I can highly recommend this book; it has been part of my work for years as a volunteer with ‘Homeopaths Without Borders’. It has travelled with me many times and has been the basis of the homeopathic first aid training in Nicaragua” Dr Maite Bravo - President of the Medical - Homeopathic Academy of Barcelona „Overall this book is an amazing resource for the home as well as a travel companion and a necessity for the clinic. I know I will refer to it frequently. (…) (It) contains a massive amount of information in a compact size. (…) Who is this comprehensive work for? In one word, everyone, be they laymen, traveller, homeopathic student or experienced professional homeopath.” Rochelle Marsden

• Language: English
• Publisher: Narayana
• Release date: Nov 16, 2020
• ISBN: 9783955821210

Book preview

I

INTRODUCTION

1. About homeopathy

To introduce homeopathy in first aid is to improve the therapeutic efficacy and potential recovery of the injured. The speed of action and safety of homeopathic remedies give the rescuer a first order therapeutic tool that can successfully complement conventional techniques in the treatment of accidents. In this edition, we have expanded the therapeutic tools with the acupuncture and acupressure resuscitation sections. The evolution of this manual will help in the way of representing the most useful techniques for resuscitation from any point of view.

This involves introducing a new concept in the field of healing: the best way to cure is achieved by stimulating the responsiveness of the organism itself. This is elementary in the field of first aid: the administration of adequate homeopathic remedies to an injured person can not only improve his odds, but can quicken his recovery, avoiding further suffering and complications.

In my own experience, I have seen the speed of action and absence of side effects resulting from homeopathy. I feel the need to share this knowledge with people dedicated to first aid and with all those who, at a time in their life, may have to attend an injured person. Its proper use can prevent suffering, shorten the recovery period, and avoid the risk of undesirable effects of conventional medicines in hypersensitive patients.

Throughout this book, we see how the remedy Ledum cured the intense itching caused by the bite of a sea spider in a few minutes, and how Hypericum decreased the intense eye pain caused by an accidental poke in the eye, when our patient was looking for snails during a rainy afternoon, in a few hours. We will also see how quickly Cantharis relieved the burning and stinging from sunburn and burns caused by hot oil, and finally, how Arnica helped resolve multiple rib contusions in a climber who fell more than 6000m in the Himalayas, allowing him to reach the top three days later.

The topics discussed in this book are related to accidents, traumas, and all types of injuries that may originate from accidental causes, whether physical, chemical, biological or emotional.

As you get used to practising first aid and treatment with homeopathic remedies, you will realise its usefulness and effectiveness. That is when the availability of a first aid kit with homeopathic remedies will become necessary and fully satisfying in any emergency.

The first aid kit, as detailed at the end of this text, should be present in all homes, schools, workplaces, and sports centres. It may also be of great use with groups of hikers, climbers or adventurers, in their risky travels through inhospitable and dangerous land. As we have expanded in this edition the chapters on radioactivity, poisoning, and travel remedies, specialised kits may be useful for international rescue teams and the military force of any country. These kits can prove to be very effective and useful tools. Like any tool, when used correctly, the homeopathic kit can provide a greater degree of autonomy to the rescuer and, in expert hands, can save the life of victims in extremely serious situations. For travellers who go to the tropics, the kit should be expanded to include specific homeopathic antidotes for poisonous animals.

The accident

Most accidents occur unexpectedly; the surprise factor is predominant in accidents. As rescuers, however, accidents should not catch us by surprise. Having appropriate training in resuscitation of the injured and always carrying a first aid kit (be it on motorways or on roads away from civilisation) can make a difference in the quality and speed of recovery of an injured person and, in extreme cases, the difference between life and death. In an accident, you may feel the greatest sense of isolation in the midst of a major urban area, far away from a phone or trapped on a blocked highway. In these circumstances, a complete homeopathic kit, first-line remedies for rescue and resuscitation, and skills in acupuncture, can be helpful for starting treatment while awaiting the arrival of rescue teams.

The meaning of accidents (psychosomatic interpretation)

It may be useful to recall the outlook that psychosomatic medicine has on accidents. The interpretations that follow are less applicable when the accident is due to third parties or for causes that are quite external. These interpretations help us understand that the accident is not simply a result of bad luck, but, in reality, is due to impetuosity, lack of care or to an obsession that has disconnected us from the instinct of prudence, which protects us. The accident can be a warning or an alarm signal, like those represented by the symptoms of a disease.

It is likely that accidents of casual appearance, or otherwise known as accidental, are not due to chance, but a response to an unconscious motive. As stated by Jack Lawson in his book on the psychosomatic symbolism of the human body:

"... what accidents achieve is also comparable to the benefits of disease: to stop and pay more attention to ourselves. [...] The injury is always a warning sign, and its severity depends on many different factors, generally so subjective that our consciousness is unable to understand them. An injury is a nonverbal message, like the punch we deliver on the table for others to be quiet, or the growl of the dog that warns us that we are nearing his territory. [...] Accidents, such as serious illnesses, always involve a change in our lives. Many times, our unconscious forces us to face a change that we dare not consciously do." (Lawson, 1992)

According to psychosomatic theories, in order to correctly interpret an accident, it is very important to assess what part of the body has been affected and, therefore, what the injured part symbolises. The meaning and consequences are different in a head injury than in a cut or a burn on a hand. In approaching the meaning of an accident, as Lawson says: ...once the symbolism of the part concerned is known, we can act like real detectives: what or who benefited from the accident?

Accordingly, if we know the answer to this question, we will have the answer as to why the accident happened. The subsequent use of this information depends on the therapeutic orientation and depth of action that the doctor may want or be able to achieve.

What is homeopathy?

Homeopathy is based on recognising the body’s innate ability to stay healthy, to self-regulate its functions and automatically react to external aggression with the aim of restoring health. This capacity is the vis medicatrix naturae of the ancient Greeks, which contains all living organisms and represents the healing power of nature itself. Nonetheless, this quality is limited. Homeopathy is involved in this natural effort of organising, unblocking, and stimulating the body to finally achieve effective restoration of health.

Homeopathy is involved in this process of healing by stimulating the immune system’s defensive reactions, all systems of nervous regulation, acting in favour of the body, and never against the symptoms, as conventional medicine does. Accordingly, homeopathic remedies accelerate, stimulate, and direct the healing process of the living being.

The principle of similars

This process of stimulating the body can be carried out by the remedy administration technique, gentle and simple, which is based on the so-called principle or Law of Similars. This principle defines that the most appropriate medication to cure any disease is that substance, which, when given to healthy people, produces the same or similar symptoms needed to be cured in the patient. This is the reason that, before any substance can be administered as a homeopathic remedy, it needs to be experienced in healthy subjects, in low and repeated doses, through a process called provings. Hippocrates wrote: By applying the similar, a disease occurs, and by applying the same, it cures and cholera is cured with white hellebore, which can, moreover, provoke it (which produces similar poisoning effects: Veratrum album). The principle of the similar was actually born with Hippocrates.

The work done during the last two centuries, collecting data from provings, describes the effects of more than 1,500 natural substances. The encyclopaedia of Constantine Hering, The Guiding Symptoms of Our Materia Medica, consisting of ten volumes of about five hundred pages each – a truly encyclopaedic work, which surprises by its thoroughness and accuracy – is one of the most important data bases in pharmacological homeopathy. The original therapeutic principles of homeopathy are contained in Samuel Hahnemann’s book, Organon of the Healing Art, written 200 years ago (Hahnemann, 1985).

The eminent immunologist, Von Behring, realised the close relationship between immunology and homeopathy: Indeed, what else causes the epidemiological immunity in sheep vaccinated against anthrax than the influence previously exerted by a virus similar in character to that of a fatal anthrax virus? And by what technical term could we more appropriately speak of this influence exerted by a similar virus than by Hahnemann’s word homoeopathy?(Orthodox medicine’s use of the law of similars - Immunology and serum therapy) - (Coulter, 1980; Inglis, 1964).

The homeopathic repertory, an essential aid

To carry out this precise search for the most similar remedy, the homeopathic specialist relies on deep knowledge of the main remedies, through the consultation of repertories containing the comprehensive and complete collection of all medications produced, which, in turn, can cure all core symptoms of the disease. For example, with a patient suffering from headaches before a storm, one would look under Head, the symptom pain before a storm, and find seven remedies that, in order of importance, are: Phosphorus, Natrium carbonicum, Rhododendron, Sepia, Silicea, Bryonia, and Lachesis. This greatly enhances the selection of the remedy.

The main repertories used come from the American homeopath James T. Kent, with its extended version by the Swiss Künzli and the German Barthel, and from the computer versions also extended: Synthesis (under the Radar program of Archibel, Belgium, led by Dr Frederik Schroyens) and Complete (under the programme MacRepertory, developed by Roger van Zandvoort and the American team of homeopaths led by David Warkentin).

The work done by the physician to find a remedy for each case requires time and thought. The process of observation and synthesis is sometimes very laborious, given the complexity of the symptoms that are considered most characteristic. Moreover, the existence of a range of therapeutic possibilities is to be analysed in detail for more accurate diagnosis of the remedy. There are many homeopathic remedies with apparently similar symptomatology, but only the simillimum will heal in each case. Experience shows that a wrong remedy has no effect on the patient or, at most, will alter or halt his symptoms temporarily, without acting curatively. Accordingly, homeopathic medical work requires good perception, a clear mind and an absence of laziness in the detailed evaluation of the patient. Each case must be considered a new case, for experience continually enriches the flow of medical data. Nonetheless, it will not apply automatically in similar cases and we must remain alert in assessing the uniqueness of each case. This effort is what makes homeopathy difficult to implement, but also extremely attractive, especially when the patient and the physician are rewarded with a positive reaction to the remedy.

Experimentation with cinchona bark and other examples

The proving of a medicinal substance in order to demonstrate the effects took place with Dr Samuel Hahnemann, in 1792, over two hundred years ago. Translating Cullen’s materia medica, Hahnemann noticed the explanation of the effectiveness of Peruvian bark in intermittent fevers. According to Cullen, its effectiveness was due to its tonic and astringent effect on the stomach. Doubting this rationale, Hahnemann deduced that the explanation linked the remedy effects with the symptoms of the diseases they could cure. The possibility arose that this relationship was the ability to produce, on experimentation, similar symptoms to the disease sought to be cured. Thus, he addressed in his writings, which are contained in the work of his biographer, Richard Haehl:

Substances which produce some kind of fever (very strong coffee, pepper, arnica, ignatia-bean, arsenic) counteract these types of intermittent fever. I took, for several days, as an experiment, four drams of good china twice daily. My feed and finger tips, etc., at first became cold ; I became languid and drowsy ; then my heart began to palpitate ; my pulse became hard and quick ; an intolerable anxiety and trembling (but without a rigor) ; prostration in all the limbs ; the pulsation in the head, redness of the cheeks, thirst ; briefly, all the symptoms usually associated with intermittent fever appeared in succession, yet without the actual rigor. To sum up : all those symptoms which to me are typical of intermittent fever, as the stupefaction of the senses, a kind of rigidity of all joints, but above all the numb, disagreeable sensation which seems to have its seat in the periosteum over all the bones of the body - all made their appearance. This paroxysm lasted from two to three hours every time, and recurred when I repeated the dose and not otherwise. I discontinued the medicine and I was once more in good health. Peruvian bark, which is used as a remedy for intermittent fever, acts because it can produce symptoms similar to those of intermittent fever in healthy people. (Haehl, 1985)

There are many examples of substances that act similarly, which coincide in their use in traditional and homeopathic remedies:

•Immunotherapy (shots) and serums therapeutics are well known.

•Allergy testing uses extracts of pollen, dust, and other allergens to desensitise the patient, in a clear application of the Law of Similars.

•Using other remedies based on the principle of Similars: Colchicum , from which colchicine is extracted to treat gout, produces many gout symptoms in homeopathic provings. So, administered repeatedly to patients, it produces acute arthritis symptoms similar to those of gout, tingling in the big toe as if asleep, pain in the left big toe as if inflamed, and so on.

Digitalis, or digital, has been and is used as a remedy for over two centuries to treat problems resulting from heart failure. It also produces numerous cardiac symptoms in homeopathic provings: Slow irregular heartbeat, pulse slow and weak, pulse intermittent, jerky, slow.

Belladonna, from which atropine is extracted, was discovered in 1920; it was found effective, in small doses, to treat infant colic. Symptoms of colic appear in homeopathic provings of Belladonna, and it has been used repeatedly to treat colic in infants with febrile seizures and delirium.

Nitroglycerin, known in homeopathy as Glonoinum, was introduced by Dr Constantine Hering. He found that by administering it to healthy people, it produced a series of cardiac symptoms that led him to use it to treat angina and other heart problems.

Application of radiotherapy and chemotherapy used to cure or alleviate cancer, also have carcinogenic properties.

The ergot derivatives (methysergide, ergotamine) used to treat migraines can also cause them.

How does homeopathy work?

As I was preparing a clinic session about fever at the hospital, I was surprised to find in Harrison’s Textbook of Internal Medicine, (one of the most publicised textbooks on internal medicine: Harrison, 1983), the explanation of fever as a defense mechanism that sets in motion an increasing immunological response and the facilitation of the removal of aggressive microbes.

Reviewing previous editions, I realised that this was the first edition which explained fever from this point of view, with input from biochemical and microscopic data. This surprised me, frankly, given that Harrison’s is a conventional medical text that regards fever as a symptom to be eradicated instead of a defensive mechanism. I now began to consider its usefulness, understanding the complicated mechanisms that it sets in motion. Excellent! This is the beginning of understanding disease, to understand that the symptoms are our body’s defense mechanism in dealing with a previous imbalance. Herein lies the difference between conventional medicine and homeopathy.

While conventional medicine treats the symptom as a manifestation that must be eradicated, homeopathy interprets symptoms as reactive and defensive expressions of the organism that we have to bring back into balance, called homeostasis.

The homeopathic physician observes the symptoms of the disease, but also analyses the reactions of the organism to the environment, its character and constitution, and investigates emotional causes that may have influenced the person prior to the onset of the disease. Take the case of a child during an asthma attack. A conventional doctor administers remedies that counteract bronchospasm (salbutamol, corticosteroids), and will later propose allergy testing. A homeopath will analyse the type of crisis, which factors improve and aggravate it, what time it appears, the type of sputum, the colour, but, mostly, the patient’s mental state, mood, and reactions, as well as physical or emotional precipitating causes, including weather.

Conventional medicine administers a bronchodilator inhaler to the same child, sometimes cortisone as a potent anti-inflammatory and anti-asthmatic, and probably a batch of vaccines if the allergy tests prove positive. The crisis will be temporarily resolved. We will notice some side effects from the medications, and they may not prevent future relapses that, in some cases, are very intense and require re-hospitalisation. Allergy shots, in a considerable percentage, do not affect the evolution of the disease, except in some cases where the asthmatic manifestation improves.

However, if this same child receives the appropriate homeopathic remedy given in very low doses, it will cause a healing reaction. This reaction is triggered by a homeopathic remedy, which, in material doses, may cause an asthma attack. That is why the medication has to be administered at very low doses in order to stimulate the opposite reaction. The homeopathic remedy is not a vaccine, but its principle is similar to that of vaccines: the administration of a substance which will stimulate the body’s defences. If we want to call it a vaccine, we should point out that this is a tailor-made vaccine; tailored to each particular constitution and with general effects that go beyond creating defenses against infection. Each patient will require a different type of medication appropriate to their particular way of experiencing an asthma attack.

For each patient, each disease is different

Herein lies another difference between the two ways of treating patients. Conventional medicine insists on classifying patients by disease groups which correspond to an automatic default treatment. The physician’s work is based on analysing symptoms, staging the disease, and administering the appropriate medication or therapy. The homeopathic physician, on the other hand, after having classified the disease, must investigate and classify the type of reaction the patient has: their particular way of experiencing the disease.

To a conventional physician, having inflamed tonsils could mean acute tonsillitis, and he will therefore administer to all patients who meet this diagnosis, oral or intramuscular penicillin as the first medicine of choice, except for those allergic to penicillin, who will probably receive other antibiotics (e.g. erythromycin).

The homeopathic physician, facing the same inflamed tonsils, may wonder: What kind of inflammation is that? He then will have to continue his research to classify inflamed tonsils within a subgroup that takes into account the patient’s way of reacting, laterality (right or left side), the influence of the temperature of drinks and food, the precise type of pain it causes (stinging, burning, raw, etc.), the type and times of fever, previous emotional or climatic causes that preceded it, and the patient’s particular mental state during the illness. Knowing this, he must select one remedy that fits all of these symptoms within the group of possible remedies. We seek a specific remedy, selecting the one that most closely matches the patient’s particular way of expressing or experiencing tonsillitis. Only then, with the most similar remedy, the simillimum, will the body react quickly, smoothly, and efficiently.

The homeopath’s job is much more extensive and complex. The homeopathic physician cannot afford to drive on autopilot and try the same remedy routinely for the same disease, as conventional medicine does. Doing so, he would fail miserably. The homeopathic physician needs to rack his brain a little more. On reaching the basic diagnosis, he must search for the best remedy choice for each case. It is a much more complex and difficult task, but very satisfying when you get quick and lasting results.

Regulation versus suppression

The suppression of symptoms by opposite-acting remedies (anti-acids, anti-allergic, anti-arrhythmic, anti-depressants, anti-overheating, anti-biotic, anti-diarrhoeal, anti-convulsants, anti-cough, anti-spasmodic, etc.) seems to apparently erase and cancel the symptoms but, in reality, they only serve to deepen the disease. The opposite action on a symptom, regardless of whether it takes the whole organism into consideration, may temporarily cancel the manifestations but will not erase the disorder or the cause of the disease. Consequently, the disease deepens and becomes more difficult to cure, reaching extremes of incurability if suppression is continued. In other words: watch out!

Homeopathic treatment is the opposite of suppression, since it does not suppress the symptom but stimulates the functional balance of the body, gradually obliterating progressive diseases in a completely natural way. It works from the inside out, moving to less important organs, providing a balance and general well-being as proof of its success.

During the homeopathic treatment, the patient can notice that a previously suppressed eruption recurs. This phenomenon is a good sign and confirms that the disease undoes itself and eventually disappears. In some cases, flu-like discomfort, fever, malaise or headache may appear during early treatment. These are transient and signify that the body is initiating a vigorous healing reaction. This is observed in some vaccine reactions as well.

Seeing the whole patient

Another feature of homeopathy is the global view of the patient. The smallest wart has a meaning and a relationship with the whole, with the constitution, and the physical and emotional characteristics of the person.

This holistic view of disease and the human body is not new. Since ancient times, the world has oscillated between two ways of assessing existence; the materialistic, reductionist, and analytical way, which dissects reality to see it under the microscope, believing only in what can be seen and touched, and the dynamic or integrative view, which views life as a whole, integrated and related to the intangible life force, which cannot be seen or touched by any of the more sophisticated diagnostic equipment available today. Only abstraction, synthesis, and intuition can appreciate this quality of life.

In the body, one must make sense of an inflammation, the usefulness of diarrhoea, mucus drainage, vomiting, and pain in a joint hindering movement that protects from greater mechanical injury, or a neuralgia which emerges as a form of emotional stress that affects the nervous system itself.

We have to understand the causes of depression, of any mental disorder, and investigate the environment and the patient’s emotional life (work, family, social, and emotional stress), and understand which remedy is best suited to their functional, physical and mental characteristics and can best stimulate their innate ability to react and cure.

Continuing with the example of asthma attacks, we see how three different cases are treated according to their characteristics:

•The first patient has asthma attacks after midnight, around 2am in the morning, with severe shortness of breath requiring him to sit up and cough. He has frequent thirst for small quantities, cold sweats, great prostration, restlessness, anxiety, agitation, and despair. He will only respond adequately to the remedy Arsenicum .

•The second patient also had asthma attacks at night, but later, between 2 and 4am. The asthma forces him to sit with his feet out of bed, with his elbows on his knees, holding his head, sweating profusely. He is weak and fears to be alone; he needs companionship. He is easily startled by any noise or touch, with a sensation of anxiety in his stomach. He has the characteristic swelling in the inner corner of the eyelids. He will effectively respond to the medication Kalium carbonicum. As a differential diagnosis, the medical expert will also consider Medorrhinum.

•The third patient is an asthmatic teenager, sweet-natured, but sensitive and restless. She adapts to her environment without protest, suppressing her anger so as not to disturb others. She suffers colds that are complicated by a choking cough, followed by wheezing and shortness of breath, especially when lying down. Our patient is worse from warmth in closed rooms, and is better in open air and open windows. This patient will respond rapidly to the remedy Pulsatilla .

We could go on showing dozens of different clinical cases requiring different remedies, but with the same clinical diagnosis of bronchial asthma. All are healed without the use of bronchodilators or cortisone or vaccines, as demonstrated by Dr Anna Pla’s research published in the British Homoeopathic Journal: about 26 cases of bronchial asthma treated with homeopathy, a study which earned her the first prize for clinical research in 1992, from the National Board of Homoeopathic Examiners, United States (Pla, 1992).

Scope of homeopathy

Homeopathy is indicated in the following situations:

•Chronic diseases : this is the biggest challenge of medicine and the field of action where homeopathy is demonstrating its effectiveness. Chronic diseases defined by conventional medicine as permanent and incurable can be gradually restored to health by homeopathic remedies, if carefully managed. This is the most difficult field of action in homeopathy and therefore requires the work of an expert homeopath.

•Acute diseases : prescription of the right remedy can solve in a short time, without side effects, acute situations that can range from neuralgia, migraine attack or sore throat, to major complications, such as pneumonia or serious infectious gastroenteritis. It is also suitable in the treatment of cardiac or cerebral vascular accidents, such as myocardial infarction or hemiplegia, but the care of these patients should be performed in specialised hospital units and under the guidance of expert homeopaths.

•Prevention of relapse: providing better emotional and biological balance, homeopathic treatment maintains a state that acts as optimal defense against other environmental, epidemic, and emotional stresses. It improves the general state and immune systems of patients with autoimmune diseases or cancer; it may prevent recurrence, making the illness less intense and improving the prognosis.

•Complementary in surgery and traumatology : when the disease, accident or trauma require surgical intervention, homeopathic treatment can supplement its action by treating the anxiety, shock, risk of infection, pain, and complications secondary to surgery. It improves healing and prevents further infections.

•First aid : this is the least known scope, but with great potential for application. Many patients already use homeopathic Arnica for trauma, bruises, and soreness from overexertion. Calendula is also used for healing and disinfecting wounds, Ledum or Urtica urens for insect bites, etc. The scope and possibilities of homeopathic remedies in the event of accidents and first aid are extraordinary. In town, in the countryside, on the beach, the mountains, tropical jungle or in the desert, homeopathic remedies can be used to great advantage. The selection of the remedy and its implementation is much simpler than in chronic diseases and can be done by anyone. It is therefore interesting to disseminate this knowledge to as many people as possible, so that they may use the indications and the kit to help others in a fast and effective manner.

I think it is interesting to enrich popular culture again by introducing the possibilities of homeopathic treatment. During the last decades, the ancestral culture of knowledge in dealing simply with accidents and illness in everyday life has been lost, increasing our dependence on specialisation and modernisation of medicine. The recovery of this knowledge would provide greater autonomy and a greater ability to solve the most basic health problems.

Preparation of the homeopathic remedies

Homeopathic remedies are made from any substance of nature, whether mineral, vegetal or animal, which has medicinal properties and is tested in healthy volunteers. This means that homeopathy has nothing to do with herbal or natural medicine, as many believe. No, homeopathy has absolutely nothing to do with phytotherapy (herbal treatment) or with natural or naturopathic medicine. Nonetheless, they all share some principles concerning hygiene and the concepts of health.

Homeopathy is based on a specific and well-defined pharmacological technique: the administration of remedies under the basic principle of the Law of Similars. The medicinal substance has undergone a process of progressive dilutions and succussions that makes it safer and more powerful in order to be used as a homeopathic remedy or similar. Let’s take Mercurius solubilis; this remedy is prepared from mercury. However, successive triturations of the pure metal, followed by progressive dilutions of 1 drop in 9 drops of water in a decimal scale (D) and 1 drop in 99 drops in a centesimal scale (C) produce different potencies of the remedy, where each new dilution and succussion progressively increase the remedy strength. This process is repeated as many times as needed and is called potentisation or dynamisation. For example, the potentisation of 30C (centesimal) is the result of the process of diluting one drop of Mercurius in 99 drops of water, succussing the new dilution 100 times and repeating this process 30 times. Therefore, the 30C Mercurius is the result of 30 times diluting one part in 99 of water, and succussing 3000 times altogether.

Using dynamisations

Low potencies, between 6 and 15D or C, are used to treat local, acute, and very superficial disorders; medium and high dynamisations, between 30 and 200C and 1000 (1M) to 10,000 (10M) Korsakov Centesimal method, are used in major and severe disorders. Hahnemannian dynamisations (C) are diluted one drop in 99 drops, succussed 100 times, each time changing the container. The Korsakov method (K or CK), proceeds in the same way, but without changing the container. C dynamisations appear to be more powerful in practice than CK. Dr. Coral Mateo, veterinary homeopath, has proved this difference administering remedies to animals, in which the placebo effect is minimal, and the reaction is very clear.

There is also a special scale called fifty-thousandth (Q or LM), in which the processing is more complex; it is shorter-acting but works more deeply and is normally reserved for the treatment of chronic diseases. It is administered repeatedly in aqueous solution. That kind of dilution is equally useful, if not more, in the treatment of acute illnesses and first aid but, as it has to be taken in solution and repeatedly, it requires more work, material, and precautions.

Characteristics of homeopathic remedies

•Increase the defenses (immune stimulation) : the homeopathic remedy stimulates the immune defense mechanisms, unlike conventional remedies that only remove the symptoms of the disease. For example, while the antibiotic kills the germs that have proliferated in our throat because tonsillar and humoral defenses are impaired, the homeopathic remedy acts directly on immune mechanisms, stimulating their action to optimal levels. This is described more fully in the chapter on the Scientific evidence for homeopathy .

•Balance organic functions : considering disease as a disorder of the body’s internal balance, and taking the individual as an integrated unit, the goal of homeopathy is the restoration of this balance (homeostasis). Conventional medication acts upon a symptom or a germ or an injury, without considering this or the different reactive constitutions of the patient.

•Lack of toxicity : the preparation of homeopathic remedies in high dilutions removes the risk of organ toxicity in an almost absolute manner. Very low toxicity is an advantage in the accidental ingestion of homeopathic remedies. At most, the patient may notice small reactive symptoms from the accidental overdose; symptoms that are transient and of low intensity. On the other hand, the toxicity of conventional medicines and the risk of accidental poisoning are well known.

•Economics : the fact that homeopathic remedies are prepared from dilutions and from very small amounts, makes us understand that, although obtaining the compound is expensive, you can produce a very significant amount of homeopathic remedies from the original substance; a fact that greatly lowers the price of the final product. Homeopathic remedies, as a result, are very affordable. If in addition, only one remedy is used, the treatment is much cheaper when compared to the price of conventional medicines necessary to treat the same condition. The cost-benefit analysis is highly beneficial both ways.

•Independence : if prescribed properly, the remedy can achieve a progressive restoration of the patient’s health, which means to regain the ability to react appropriately to environmental stressors. The patient will regain his independence and autonomy, and he will be able to stop taking the medication. In conventional medicine, most chronic diseases require medication for life; for example, patient’s dependence on anti-hypertensive medication. The physician will say: You can never stop taking the medication; you need to take it all your life. The medication will keep blood pressure within safe limits but will never free the patient of his hypertension. A well-conducted homeopathic treatment can achieve a reduction of hypertension and heal the patient.

•In conclusion: homeopathic remedies are effective, safe, inexpensive, and nontoxic; they promote our autonomy and our ability to heal. It would be useful if society and health authorities would devote an effort to investigate, learn, and develop their knowledge of this medical technique, which offers great results and a future full of possibilities in the treatment and prevention of disease.

Homeopathy in accidents

Using homeopathic remedies in accidents and first aid opens new healing possibilities that are very effective in any accident inside and outside the home.

To assess a case, one must compare the remedies proposed for each type of injury or accident. For example, Cocculus is a useful remedy in most forms of motion sickness but is not, by any means, the only one. We must pay attention to the symptoms and assess whether Petroleum, Tabacum, Nux vomica or Sepia would not in fact be better suited. The well-known Arnica, valued as a first line remedy in all injuries, might better be replaced by Bellis perennis or Sulphuricum acidum according to the evolution, the type of symptoms, haematoma, and tissue damage.

Another practical reason for using a homeopathic first aid kit is its small size, accessible price, and its wide range of action.

The most important argument for the use homeopathic remedies in first aid, however, is their effectiveness and ability to stimulate healing reactions. While the use of an anti-inflammatory analgesic spray numbs the symptoms and counters the defensive inflammation of the injury, Arnica, for example, stimulates the reabsorption capacity of the haematoma, accelerates the inflammatory healing process and, consequently, reduces the symptoms in a natural way, treating the cause and helping the body’s vital force to resolve the problem.

The use of homeopathy in competitive sports is very useful and rewarding. Ruta, for example, a homeopathic remedy prescribed to a football player for a tendon injury, can help shorten the duration of the injury, ensuring that the disappearance of pain is a guarantee of cure. On the other hand, the use of anaesthetic or cortisone, or the administration of an anti-inflammatory, weakens tissues and can produce side effects, such as gastric lesions, while it deceives the athlete into thinking he is cured, thus exposing him to the risk of aggravating the lesion that has not yet healed.

The cure is undertaken by the body, and the homeopathic remedy stimulates this cure, while some anti-inflammatories distort the symptoms and do nothing to speed healing. Consequently, if we want to avoid the risk of an Achilles tendon rupture, such as happened to the football player Ronald Koeman after repeated injections, we should take care of sports injuries with tools that stimulate the body’s own healing and immune mechanisms, in order to achieve healing gently, quickly, and without side effects.

Pregnancy

Medicating with homeopathy during pregnancy is very safe, for there is no risk of foetal damage or side effects. Uncontrolled abuse of homeopathic medication, however, can produce proving symptoms. Advice from an expert physician is imperative. Properly applied homeopathy can help the symptoms during pregnancy, reduce risks, and facilitate delivery. Homeopathy can help solve medical problems, avoiding the prenatal risks of conventional medication.

Recommendations for using homeopathy

•Choose the remedy depending on the patient’s symptoms and the circumstances of the accident. In this book we have selected the most frequent indication for the remedy. If in doubt, consult a physician. Before administering a remedy, one should consult the materia medica to make sure of appropriate selection.

•The guidelines on dosage and frequency of remedy administration have been developed to make them accessible to those unfamiliar with homeopathy. Use low potencies (from 6 to 30D and C or K) for milder cases, repeat several times in dry dose or diluted in mineral water (two to five granules in 50-100 cc). For severe cases or severe emotional or mental impairment, use higher potencies (from 200K or C to 10M).

•In severe cases, the frequency of administration initially must be high (every 1-5 minutes in severe poisoning), progressively decreasing the frequency with improvement. In medium and mild cases, every 2-8 hours the first day, and reduce the frequency to 1-2 times daily for 1 or 2 days.

•You should wait to assess the patient’s reaction to the remedy according to the intensity of their symptoms. For example, in a case of severe diarrhoea, the remedy can be changed to another one if during 1 to 3 hours there has been no improvement. In case of minor lesions, wait 1 to 3 days.

•The administration of the remedy and the treatment must be supervised by a physician. If necessary, transfer the patient to hospital as soon as possible.

•Stop or reduce remedy administration when the patient starts improving. Prolonged, unnecessary repetition of homeopathic remedies can produce proving symptoms in the patient.

•Avoid taking substances with pharmacological effects, such as coffee, medicinal teas, and other conventional medications, if possible. Do not remove essential medication for patient management. It is best to avoid toothpaste also, 1-2 hours before and after remedy administration. Also, if you are taking any other medication, consult your physician.

•Precautions: Some medications should not be discontinued, such as anti-convulsants, oral anti-diabetic agents or insulin, hormone replacement therapy, and some cardio-circulatory medications (anti-hypertensives, anti-arrhythmics and anti-coagulants). Always maintain medical supervision. This precaution is imperative in all cases.

•Avoid opening homeopathic remedy bottles near volatile chemicals, especially those containing camphor (mothballs, medicines prepared for colds such as VapoRub, etc). Keep remedies in a dry place, away from heat, sunlight, and electromagnetism, such as television or microwave.

•Take remedies without touching them with the fingers: take them directly from the bottle cap or with the help of a spoon. Contact with fingers can alter the stability and antidote the medicinal capacity if perfume, chemicals or other substances are present on the hands.

2. The Word as therapy

The Word, a useful tool to assist the injured

Dr Gonzalo Fernandez

Homeopathic physician. Specialist in Brief Strategic Therapy.

"In the world nothing is more fragile than water, and yet of all the agencies that attack hard substances nothing can surpass it.

Of all things there is nothing that can take the place of Tao. By it the weak are conquerors of the strong, the pliable are conquerors of the rigid. In the world every one knows this, but none practice it."

Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching. §78

Freud said that words were originally magic, and they still retain much of that ancient power today. He also believed that with words, one could make a person happy or upset. Accordingly, we should never dismiss the value of words.

The study of words, however, the verbal and nonverbal communication of the doctor-patient relationship, which patients (and doctors) value so much, and which influences the success of a prescription is, surprisingly, one of the most forgotten studies in conventional medical training, both in college and, until recently, in postgraduate courses. This generates numerous misunderstandings and frustrations.

In homeopathy, this relationship is generally better, but it is based more on the physician’s own empathy rather than on a consistent and effective methodology. Here, we see a paradox, where the homeopathic physician prescribes a remedy that will produce the same symptoms he wants to cure ( simillimum) and yet, in cases of psychological disorders, he offers tips to the patient that contradict the homeopathic method. This happens when we try to encourage a depressed patient and try to make him see how wonderful life is, or when we try reasoning with an absurd obsessive compulsive ritual, or try comforting someone in a panic attack.

The paradoxical phenomenon of similarity is present in nature and in almost every field of human knowledge, and its adaptation to therapy begins with the origins of medicine and psychotherapy themselves. The sophist pre-Socratic tradition or the ancient Chinese writings of the 36 Chinese stratagems (Anonymous, 2000) or The Art of War (Sun Tzu, 2000) are clear examples of this.

Nowadays, symptom prescription (for dysfunctional behaviour we want to avoid) and other homeopathic techniques are widely studied, collected, and confirmed in the psychological literature.

In the twentieth century, we must mention the renowned psychologist Viktor Frankl, founder of logotherapy or existential therapy, as a precursor of the technique he called paradoxical intention (Frankl, 1991).

Milton Erickson (Zeig, 1992, O’Hanlon, 1993, Haley 1999), physician and heterodox therapist with an almost unlimited creativity, increased these techniques, refining and using them in countless cases with surprising effectiveness. It was later, however, in the Palo Alto School, that Watzlawick, Weakland, Haley, Fisch, and others, were inspired by their personal contacts with G. Bateson (Bateson 1998, 2002) and Erickson himself. They were influenced by the cybernetics of Wiener (Wiener, 1985) and the emerging theories of information, which determined the structure of what is called Brief Strategic Therapy.

Although the epistemological differences with homeopathy are obvious, many of the techniques used are clearly based on the phenomenon of similarity and may well be said to represent a kind of mental homeopathy. Watzlawick himself mentioned the homeopathic slogan similia similibus curentur (like cures like) in several of his books (Watzlawick, Beavin, Jackson, 1987; Watzlawick, 1994; Watzlawick, Nardone, 1995). G. Nardone, one of the most modern representatives of this therapy, has studied and systematised many of these techniques (Nardone 1995, 2002, 2009). The philosophical movement, called radical constructivism (Glasersfeld, 1998), to which most of these authors adhere, explains that we construct the reality that we suffer from. This is very close to Sankaran’s concept of disease (the disease as delusion) and Scholten’s (the disease as creation), two leading contemporary homeopaths.

Rajan Sankaran writes in one of his first books (Sankaran, 1991) about psycho-homeopathy and presents some cases. Unfortunately, he has not further developed this idea. This term suggests that we would produce a mental state similar to the original state in the patient, through words and images, and confront him with it, like looking in a mirror, so that there would be a healing reaction.

Jan Scholten also mentioned Milton Erickson in some articles, referring to paradoxical techniques as homeopathic references. It is Hahnemann himself, however, more than two hundred years ago (Hahnemann, 1988), who wrote about these ideas in several paragraphs of the Organon that have apparently gone unnoticed. For example:

"In like manner, mourning and sorrow will be effaced from the mind, by the account of another and still greater cause for sorrow happening to another, even though it be a mere fiction."

Or these two:

It is only such emotional diseases as these, which having been freshly engendered and subsequently kept up by the mind itself, and which being of recent occurrence and not yet having made very great inroads on the physical body, may, by means of psychical methods such as a display of confidence, friendly exhortations, sensible advice, and often by a well-disguised deception, be rapidly changed into a healthy state of the mind...

Most severe disease may be produced by sufficient disturbance of the vital force through the imagination and also cured by the same means...

Another prestigious medical homeopath of early last century, J. T. Kent (Kent, 1989) writes even more clearly:

... there are many instances of mind cure that are based on the law of similars. One example of this is seen in the young girl who has lost her mother or lover and is ill as a consequence, is depressed with grief, is constantly sobbing, and has become melancholy. She sits in a corner, hears nobody, thinks no one can pity her because no one has had just such grief. Let us apply allopthic treatment to her. Come, there is nothing the matter with you ; why don’t you brace yourself up ; why don’t you try to arouse yourself? But this only throws her into a deeper state of melancholy. Scolding and harsh treatment do not good. But introduce the homoeopathic treatment, employ a nurse if you will who is a good actress and who has gone through the same identical grief, and let her make a big fuss in the other corner. Pretty soon the patient will say, You seem to have the same grief that I have. Yes, I have lost a lover. Well, you can sympathize with me, and the two fall to bellowing and weep it out together. There is a bond of sympathy. Sometimes a curable case of insanity can be reached in this way, and thus we have a mind cure.

Even before Epimenides said: all Cretans lie (he was a Cretan himself), a statement that to be true must be a lie and vice versa, paradoxes have been the discordant spot, the deep crack throughout the edifice of traditional logic that no one has solved completely. Nowadays, beyond the third excluded true/false or the non-contradiction of Aristotelian logic, the topic in both mathematics and philosophy of non-ordinary logic, paraconsistent logic is presented (Newton da Costa). These include paradox, contradiction, and ambiguity. To better understand the significance of all this in the field of psychology, or more properly, in the study of human beings, it appears that this type of phenomena, that is, contradiction, paradox, and ambiguity (Nardone, 2009 ) is the rule rather than the exception.

Indeed, it is our emotions, our feelings, which normally govern our actions and make our behaviour not as rational or consistent as it looks. In other words, human beings live more in a state of contradiction and paradox than in any other alleged rational cognitive state.

It does not take much research to realise this, as our everyday reality tells us so. Hence, the special relevance of paradox, and let us remember that similarity is an example throughout the human sphere.

Psycho-homeopathy in first aid

The first thing to remember, once again, is the value of words and of nonverbal communication. As important as the different manoeuvres or emergency action protocols are, we have to interact with the injured patient (depending, of course, on the degree of injury and consciousness).

Instilling serenity, calmness, and security with understanding, empathy and human warmth to the patient is not a minor issue for the homeopath, so that he can mobilise all the patient’s resources and those of his environment, if needed.

Following the homeopathic strategy, all this is achieved more effectively by first adapting to the patient’s language and structure. This means entering his/her system of language, verbal and nonverbal, in his/her way of perceiving his/her environment. We have to be like water, which can adapt to all terrain, to every circumstance, capable of continually changing and still remaining itself; it represents the essence of this therapy, for we have to first tune into the patient and then, gently guide him/her, with no resistance.

We should also avoid negative formulas (no does not exist in the world of persuasion) and avoid contradicting him/her as much as possible (always depending on the situation). This is basic in our guidelines if we want to be accepted without opposition, so all efforts are concentrated on the objective. Moreover, here, as in the rest of our work, the way we transmit the message is often more important than the content of the message.

Panic

In the event of a man suffering from a panic attack, not considering pharmacological medication, an attempt to calm or quiet him will only work if the crisis is mild, otherwise it is rather counterproductive. Indeed, panic increases the patient’s lack of control progressively because he anticipates and fears what he believes will inevitably happen. This is because he notices that the attempts to relax, logical reasoning or distraction, do not work, and, in fact, worsen his state if he, his family or a doctor assist him.

In cases like these, what is most effective (and homeopathic) is to, whenever possible, use the same language and to reflect his emotional state, asking him to accurately describe his symptoms. This is a variation of the journal strategy (Nardone, 1995), which requires the subject to write down exactly what he is feeling at the time of a panic attack in a notebook he always carries, with the intention that we might better understand his state. During the next visit, the patient usually remarked that when he noted all his symptoms, they strangely diminished or disappeared (the effect the therapist is actually looking for). This will be one of the first wedges to enter his rigid perceptual system. Indeed, the point in writing the journal is that he cannot do any of the alleged logical solutions that actually increase his symptoms, and at the same time it draws his attention away from his anticipated fears.

Cases treated with psycho-homeopathy

Some personal examples of this method both during first aid and consultation:

"A few years ago, I witnessed a motorcycle accident involving a teenage boy. He had multiple injuries, which, at first sight, did not seem too serious. We had to take him to the nearest hospital about 40km away through mountainous roads. After a few kilometres, the boy began to spontaneously wave his arms and scream that he was in a lot of pain and that he was going to die. He was becoming more and more agitated. Instead of calming him down, I peremptorily asked him where it hurt (to adapt to him, and reflect his emotional state)... He began to babble and before he finished, I asked him again in the same tone, exactly where ... and before he finished, I asked how the pain was, how far it spread, what the sensation felt like, and so on. I gradually lowered my tone and he did too ... That must hurt a lot, I said… "A lot ... a pain one can hardly tolerate (reflecting his emotional state, ‘tolerate’ is a hypnotic word). He nodded. The body secretes substances called endorphins, (the reader will understand that the scientific explanation here is the least important thing, the importance is to be credible) that soothe and relieve (hypnosis) … I did not know whether this would be his case, but if I applied pressure in the area (diverting attention) perhaps when we got there, a few kilometres later, he would feel relief (hypnosis) ... and maybe later on, he would feel it even more ... I had to slowly press and release constantly... Soon, he calmed down, enough to move him without any problems."

"The parents of a seven-year-old boy who constantly sucked his thumb had already tried all the methods – rewards and punishments, irritants in the nails, and various psychological treatments – without success. I spoke with the parents rather than the child, in order not to label the child, saying that they should tell their child that the doctor had said that sucking this thumb was a good habit for his neurological development (for a number of random reasons that sounded very credible), but it really was undemocratic and unfair to do so only with one finger and leave the rest out. So, from now on, every day his mom would call him and control the time to suck his fingers. A couple of minutes for each finger, three or four times daily.

The first day the boy was beside himself with joy and began to suck on his fingers loudly and with great relish, but, little did he know, poor boy, that all imposed pleasure becomes a torture ... So, the next day, when the mother called him with a timer on the table during the cartoons, he complained, but she reminded him what the doctor had said about the neural connections, etc., so he returned to the task, each time with less enthusiasm ... so little enthusiasm that after a few days, he gradually began to quit on his own, until he abandoned it permanently."

A thirty-year-old young man was referred to me by a colleague, with progressive agoraphobia for over a year, which kept him from using the subway and bus, and from going to music concerts, department stores or crowded places. He experienced three to four episodes of tachycardia per day, along with sweating, nausea, butterflies in the stomach", dizziness, etc. This complaint limited his life greatly and somebody had to accompany him to work, with all the prejudices this situation generated. After starting treatment, he could gradually return to his normal activity and better the relationship with his partner, which was somewhat impaired by his problems, a situation that is usually quite common. The follow up of five years showed he had no relapse.

One of the most useful techniques in this case (used in many other phobias or fears) was the one called "worst fantasy (Nardone, 1995), which consists of spending thirty minutes daily in a room imagining the worst thoughts, real or fictitious, related to his condition and try with all his might to provoke the same symptoms he felt in these situations (similia similibus).

Another example (Fiorenza, 2003), is the case of a child who was spitting constantly and compulsively on other children at school. They had tried everything: reasoning, punishments, isolation, etc. The psychology unit had done tests and diagnosed a psychological disorder requiring a strategy of containment and an authoritarian management of the child. As there was no result, the strategy therapist stepped in and first stopped all the solutions put in place, which had mostly contributed to worsen the problem. Then, he told the teachers to tell the child that another boy with the same behaviour had been detected in a school nearby. This had attracted so much attention that they had organised a challenge between the two boys to see who the best spitterwas. School teachers hoped that he would win, so from then on, they would take the child to a training" classroom and put a paper at a certain distance as a target for spitting and counted the points. The rest of the children could clap or whistle depending on the results. This was to be repeated three times a day, fifteen minutes each time.

The alleged psychological disorder began to decline the first day, when the child began to show little interest in continuing with the task. On the third day, the boy told the teacher he did not want to train any more. It was recommended to go back to training, if there was any sign of relapse. There was none, and the child ostensibly changed his behaviour, becoming much more supportive and cooperative in games with other children."

All cases, along with the strategies themselves, were accompanied by a rigorous communication technique (verbal and nonverbal), homeopathic in certain aspects, as we have seen, without which the chances of success would not be the same.

Thus, words are the first tool the physician has to alleviate or cure the suffering of people. Used in homeopathic form, they are even more effective, as all these psychological tendencies demonstrate in their application in clinical practice. Let us remember the true value of words: warmth, humanity, hope, comfort and, above all, therapeutic efficiency. These have immense value; they are magical!

3. Scientific evidence for homeopathy

Sergio Abanades and Marta Durán

Physicians specialising in Clinical Pharmacology. Masters in Homeopathic remedy research.

It is interesting to note the growing debate about the scientific evidence for homeopathy. When medicine was still based on the implementation of ineffective and invasive methods, such as bloodletting and poultices, well before the start of so-called scientific medicine, homeopathy was discovered by Samuel Hahnemann. His method was developed by pioneering work, a true forerunner of the current scientific method, based on testing hypotheses generated from a detailed observation of phenomena. According to homeopathy, each substance will have a different effect on the living organism, so we will need to analyse each one individually to observe the pattern of its effects. As a result, homeopathy was the first medical system that attempted to systematically demonstrate the effects of each substance on the body, identifying those that differ from each other. The study of the effect of remedies in humans by pure experimentation is the forerunner of what later would become the paradigm of scientific medicine: a clinical trial for the study of medications (Hahnemann, 1841; Alderson, 2009; Sherr, 1994). In addition, homeopathy was the first medical system to test medication on healthy persons prior to its use in patients.

We see how homeopathy is a pioneer in the development of the scientific method in the study of remedies. Nowadays, though, there is a visceral rejection of it from some sectors of so-called scientific skepticism. The position against homeopathy and its dismissal as a pseudoscience are mainly aimed at the process of dilution and potentisation of homeopathic remedies. The fact is, taking into account Avogadro’s number, from around the 12C dilution, the probability of finding molecules of the original substance in the homeopathic ultra-dilutions is presumably negligible. The belief that molecules are necessary for the remedies to be efficient generates the most important rejection, which is often expressed as follows: "Since I do not understand how it could be possible, then it cannot be possible." Considering the above, numerous scientific proofs of a biological effect of homeopathy are ruled out a priori. If, however, homeopathy did not work, the ultradilutions of homeopathic remedies would neither be able to induce the biological effects tested in cells or isolated cell systems in in vitro studies or in animal or plant models, in in vivo studies.

Biological effects of ultradilutions

In vitro studies

There have been many studies on the biological effects of homeopathic ultradilutions. Recently, the results of a meta-analysis, a statistical analysis that combines and integrates the results of several independent studies, have been published (Witt, 2007). Sixty-seven meta-analysed in vitro studies in seventy-five publications about homeopathic ultradilutions were studied (1/3 of them were replications). Most of these studies measured the effect of homeopathic ultradilutions on basophil activation and histamine release. It was found that about 3/4 of the studies showed an effect from the ultradiluted remedies, which persisted in studies of higher methodological standard. Subsequently replicated studies have been conducted, which confirmed the results made under more restrictive methodological conditions with random and blind protocols, and of the process of dilution and succussion (Belon et al., 2004; Chirumbolo et al., 2009). Very recently, a study published the results on the effects of four ultra-diluted remedies (30C): Carcinosinum, Phytolacca, Conium and Thuja, on two cell lines of breast adenocarcinoma. The four remedies induced a significant alteration in the expression of cell cycle regulatory proteins, classically described as a demonstration of the anti-tumour effect. Interestingly, the remedy induced cytotoxic effects preferentially on cancer cells, but not in control cells. This study, which needs to be replicated, is a pioneer in demonstrating an in vitro anti-tumour effect of homeopathic remedies (Frenkel, 2010). Later, it was found that the anti-tumour effect of homeopathic ultradilutions is mediated by the induction of apoptosis in tumour cells (Preethi, 2011).

Studies in animals, plants, and human cells

Apart from the effects "in vitro, there have been numerous studies showing the effects of homeopathy in vivo". A model that has been researched and replicated is one about the effect of utradilutions