Canadian Veterinary Journal wrote:Dear Sir:
We are concerned that readers may have a false notion
of the potential efficacy of homeopathic treatment after
reading the article by Dr. Vockeroth (Can Vet J 1999; 40:
592-594).
Samuel Hahnemann was a German physician who
became "lost in occultism" prior to the "discovery" of
homeopathy in the late 1700s (1). Hahnemann's "work"
is merely a collection of the "symptoms" claimed to have
occurred after ingestion of highly diluted substances.
Under scientific testing, subjects have repeatedly been
unable to distinguish between homeopathic preparations
and water.
In addition to dubious remedies, Hahnemann also
developed some creative approaches to disease pathogenesis,
suggesting that there were only a few causes of
acute and chronic illnesses, called "miasms." The first,
"psora" (itch), refers to a general susceptibility to disease
and was considered the source of all chronic diseases.
Two other miasms are syphilis and sycosis (gonorrhea).
These 3 conditions were purported to cause at least 80 per
cent of all chronic diseases. Hahnemann rejected any
external causes of disease, stating, "The causes of our
maladies cannot be material, since the least foreign
material substance, however mild it may appear to us, if
introduced into our blood-vessels, is promptly ejected by
the vital force, as though it were a poison....no disease,
in a word, is caused by any material substance, but that
every one is only and always a peculiar, virtual, dynamic
derangement of the health" (2).
Besides its nonsensical foundations, there appear to be
2 primary reasons for the rejection of homeopathy by
the science-based medical community. First, there is no
plausible mechanism by which homeopathic dilutions -
substances so diluted that not a molecule of the original
substance is likely to exist - can act (other than on the
minds of their users). While advocates of homeopathy are
forever inventing ad hoc "physics theories" to explain
effects they are unable to demonstrate, the physical
sciences have not given any reason to believe that a true
mechanism of action will be forthcoming.
Second, there is a huge body of scientific work that
shows that homeopathic preparations are ineffective.
There is no single condition in which homeopathic
preparations have been shown to have an effect beyond
placebo. Indeed, in 11 reviews or meta-analyses that have
been conducted since 1986, in human and veterinary
medicine, no therapeutic effect of high dilution homeopathic
remedies has been found (3-5).
While individual studies may purport to show an effect
of the remedies, these studies are generally conducted
under less than ideal conditions. Indeed, one might expect
that the record of studies comparing homeopathic
remedies with placebos would be quite confusing. Such
studies merely compare one placebo treatment with
another; random results would be expected under such
conditions. Recent reviews have confirmed that under the
best experimental models, the purported effects of
homeopathic preparations disappear (6).
"The greatest obstacle" to employing homeopathy in
veterinary practice is not any preconceived notion, nor
is it a failure to understand the arcane principles of
Hahnemann. Rather, it is a 200-year record of failure of
homeopathic remedies to successfully treat any non-selflimiting
condition. Veterinarians interested in educating
themselves about this historical therapeutic oddity
might review a detailed paper on the subject at
http://www.phys.hawaii.edu/vjs/www/med/homeop.html.
David Ramey, DVM
P.O. Box 5231
Glendale, California 91221 USA
Robert Imrie, DVM
448 NE Ravenna Blvd
Seattle, Washington 98115 USA
Drew Bowles, DVM
40 Noble Street
Toronto, Ontario M6K 2C9