Homeopathy in denial

By Jonathan Comeau

Alternative medicines are on the rise as an increasing number of patients try to fill the void left by the failure of Western medicine by taking a more holistic approach to their health. But while exploring alternatives is in our best interests, claims that homeopathic treatments have withstood the tests of science are false.

Towards the end of the 18th century, Dr. Samuel Hahnemann proposed what is one of the fundamental principles of homeopathic treatments: Like cures like. In other words, a very small amount of a similar substance to that which causes illness can cure the original ailment. In this method, the treatment is prescribed as a very dilute solution of the active ingredient.

Scientists quickly realized that the probability of these diluted homeopathic medicines containing even a single molecule of active substance was essentially zero. The concentration is equivalent to putting a pinch of your favourite spice in the Atlantic.

The fact that most of these remedies appear to be nothing but water has not discouraged homeopathy advocates. Immunologist Jacques Benveniste explained the effects of homeopathic medicines in a 1988 paper and suggested that it was the structure of water itself that was the active ingredient in homeopathic cures. According to him, water remembered what had been dissolved in it because its altered structure remained locked in place long after the active ingredient was diluted.

To Benveniste’s credit, his experiment withstood the scrutiny it takes to be published in one of the most prestigious journals in the world. The problem is, water molecules rearrange in picoseconds – that’s 1,000 times faster than a billionth of a second. If water has a memory it’s of the extremely short-term variety.

The bigger problem is that Benveniste’s results have never been repeated by other researchers. So the only explanation left is the placebo effect: The well studied phenomenon that inert substances can improve patients’ health because of the high expectations placed on the treatment itself.

Many legitimate treatments fall under the broad umbrella of alternative medicine, but specific claims of dilute solutions – or water – being useful as fighters of disease is ridiculous.

You can put your faith where you like, but don’t be swayed by testimonials and rhetoric. Science will never give us all the answers, but in specific, testable cases it sure goes a long way.

If you believe in science then you can’t turn your back on it when a theory you’re fond of is suddenly debunked; we must learn to dismiss that which has been disproved. That’s how science works: Throw an idea out there and the rest of the world will try to prove you wrong. It’s a tough business, but there it is.

Jonathan Comeau

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