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Homeopathy (also spelled homoeopathy or homoeopathy) from the Greek words ??????, ho'moios (similar) and ?????, pa'thos (suffering), is a system of alternative medicine that aims to treat "like with like." Despite being widely discredited in scientific circles homeopathy has grown in popularity in recent years. The term "homeopathy" was coined by the German physician Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann (1755–1843) and first appeared in print in 1807, although he began outlining his beliefs of medical similars in a series of articles and monographs in 1796.
Homeopathic formulas are based on the theory that even when a remedy is diluted to the point where no molecules are left, the water will retain the "memory" of what it was once in contact with. Homeopaths assert that the therapeutic potency of a remedy can be increased by serial dilution of the drug, combined with succussion, or vigorous shaking. This dilution is often repeated such that there is no active molecule present in the solution. Thus homeopathy is best described as a magical belief system that depends on faith from practitioners and patients and is distinct from conventional medicine which is mostly supported by scientific evidence. Homeopathy regards diseases as morbid derangements of the organism, and states that instances of disease in different people differ fundamentally. Homeopathy views a sick person as having a dynamic disturbance in a hypothetical "vital force", a disturbance which, homeopaths claim, underlies standard medical diagnoses of named diseases.
Since its inception homeopathy has received criticisms on theoretical grounds, and has been subject to a number of studies aimed at testing its efficacy scientifically. The theory that extreme dilution makes drugs more powerful by enhancing their "spirit-like medicinal powers" is inconsistent with the laws of chemistry and physics and the observed dose-response relationships of conventional drugs; critics of homeopathy frequently describe it as pseudoscience and quackery. Placebo-controlled clinical trials have given some mixed results, but most of those showing positive results are found to have methodological problems, and the better-quality trials (e.g. those using double-blind techniques and large numbers of people) give negative results. Several examples of publications in high ranking journals, that were later withdrawn, are known. Additionally, cases have been reported of life-threatening complications resulting from attempts to treat serious conditions solely with homeopathic remedies.
Homeopathy is particularly popular in Europe and India, although less so in the USA, where such therapies have been subject to tighter regulation. Stricter European regulations have also been implemented recently by the EDQM.
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