Although some people say homeopathy, a type of alternative
medicine, is safe and leads to better outcomes when used along with
conventional medicine, others say it can be harmful, and it is
unethical for doctors to recommend it.
Homeopathy is based on
the idea that "like cures like," meaning that diseases can be
treated with substances that would produce symptoms in healthy
people that are similar to the symptoms of the disease. (Such as
deadly nightshade for cold and flu, or poison ivy for
rashes.)
Supporters of the practice also believe that the substances used in
treatments should be diluted, because lower doses of a treatment
are actually more potent. But this means that many homeopathic
remedies are diluted so much that not a single molecule from the
original "active" substance would remain, according to the National
Institutes of Health.
As such, any ideas that homeopathic treatments could actually work
to treat sick people "fly in the face of science," said Dr. Edzard
Ernst, an emeritus professor at the University of Exeter in the
United Kingdom, who studies complementary medicine.
Controlled studies tend to show that outcomes for people who
receive homeopathic treatments are indistinguishable from those of
people who receive placebos, Ernst wrote in the July 14 issue of
the BMJ.
Still, because there isn't any active substance present in
homeopathic treatments, they are unlikely to cause serious harm,
Ernst said.
In fact, Peter Fisher, director of research at the Royal London
Hospital for Integrated Medicine, argues that homeopathic
treatments can improve patient outcomes. Fisher, who wrote a
counterpoint to Ernst's arguments, also published today in the BMJ,
points to several studies that suggest that patients who use
homeopathic treatments along with conventional medicine have better
outcomes than those who don't. For example, one study with 450
patients who had acute upper respiratory problems, including
allergies, found that after two weeks, 82 percent of homeopathic
patients had no symptoms, compared with 68 percent of patients who
used conventional medicine.
Other studies have found that patients who use homeopathic
treatments tend to use less antibiotics and nonsteroidal,
anti-inflammatory drugs, said Fisher, who also serves as editor in
chief of the journal Homeopathy. [Wishful Thinking: 6 'Magic
Bullet' Cures That Don't Exist]
But Ernst argued that homeopathic treatments can still be harmful
if they are used in place of an effective therapy. "Nobody can say
how often they have caused actual harm to patients; anecdotally,
however, I know of several deaths that have occurred in this
unnecessary way," Ernst said. "The ultramolecular homeopathic
remedy might be harmless, but the same cannot be said for all
homeopaths," he said.
The National Institutes of
Health also says that there is little evidence to support
homeopathy as an effective treatment, and that some products that
are labeled as homeopathic can actually contain active ingredients
that could cause side effects and drug interactions.
"The axioms of homeopathy are implausible, its benefits do not
outweigh its risks," Ernst said. "Therefore, it seems unreasonable,
even unethical, for healthcare professionals to recommend its
use.
yahoo