Myths and misconceptions about Homeopathy.

Myths abound over Homeopathy and its efficacy. However, there is ongoing clinical research with respect to the use of homeopathy in treatment of various diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, asthma, atopic dermatitis etc... in different parts of the world.
Myth: Homeopaths use steroids. But the facts are

• Homeopaths do not use steroids.
• Steroids do not help in a large number of chronic diseases that are treated by homeopathy.
• Also the long term use of steroids shows obvious side effects like weight gain, moon-face, obesity, weakening of bones and alter sugar metabolism.
• Very often, test to check for the presence of steroids or done in local laboratories, which do not have the right testing instruments, leading to falsely positive results due to the fact that some homeopathic medicines derived from the plant kingdom have certain alkaloids that mimic steroids. The test is considered to be accurate only if done in FDA approved laboratories, by the TLC (thin layer chromatography) and the UV absorption methods.

Myth: Homeopathic medicines are placeboes. But the facts are:

• The World Health Organisation has recognised homeopathy as an accepted system of medicine as the second largest system. There are innumerable double blind trials conducted where the efficiency of homeopathic medicines have been proved. Studies have shown the ability of homeopathic medicines to induce physiological changes in the body temperature.
• Homeopathy works on animals in diseases like distemper and in infants even in acute diseases such as abdominal colic. This would not have been possible if homeopathic remedies were placeboes. Fifty percent of veterinary doctors in UK use homeopathy.

Myth: All homeopathic medicines look alike and hence must be the same. But the facts are

• The basic ingredients of homeopathic medicines come from 3000 different sources that are mainly derived from plants and minerals. These can be preserved either in absolute alcohol or in distilled water. Alcohol is used because it acts as a longer term preservative. Also, being inert, it does not interact with the medicinal properties.
• For palatability and longer shelf life, this liquid is poured into small globules made from cane sugar. These are highly porous and therefore absorb and retain the liquid homeopathic medicines for many months. Although they may look alike, every homeopathy remedy is different from the other.