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Pharmacodynamic principles of homeopathy
Medical Hypotheses (2000) 54(5), 721–722 © 2000 Harcourt Publishers Ltd doi: 10.1054/mehy.1999.0939, available online at http://www.idealibrary.com on
Pharmacodynamic principles of homeopathy J. Widakowich Bromma, Sweden
Summary Homeopathy was already known to Hippocrates and further studied by Hahnemann. However, since the discovery of the medical effects of digitalis by William Withering around 1785, and the first synthesis of an organic molecule, urea, by Friedrich Wöhler in 1828, and through the further rapid evolution of modern pharmacological chemistry and molecular biology, it has gradually been abandoned as a serious therapeutic alternative to allopathy by most practitioners of scientifically founded medicine. Because a credible scientific explanation for its mode of action has been lacking, homeopathy is regarded by many medical researchers and scientists as, at best, placebo therapy, in spite of the fact that for centuries hosts of patients have testified to its effects. It is suggested that the gulf between homeopathy and allopathy can be reconciled if one takes into consideration modern knowledge of physiology, biochemistry and the physical properties of the water used in the potentiation process. A description of the mechanisms occurring during potentiation, both inside and outside a live mammalian organism, is presented. © 2000 Harcourt Publishers Ltd
INTRODUCTION Rudolf Steiner pointed out at an early stage (1) that in medicine there is no difference between allopathy and homeopathy since all substances which reach the body’s pulsating circulatory system become potentiated. Instead, he speaks of substances which first become potentiated in the body, in contrast to substances potentiated outside the body. MECHANISM The basic principle of homeopathy can be explained thus: the forces giving rise to hydrogen bonding (2), which are probably identical both with the forces which influence what Rudolf Steiner calls ‘the ethereal body’ (3) and the ‘subtle forces’ described in ancient Indian cosmology (4), affect the water of the physical body which in reality, in the extracellular space, is a solution of 0.9% sodium chloride. In such a saline solution there exist stable ice bondings (IE structures) both at the normal
Received 20 August 1999 Accepted 11 June 1999 Correspondence to: Johannes Widakowich MD, Palettgränd 6, S-168 50 Bromma, Sweden
mammalian body temperature and at room temperatures (5). In this medium, water clusters (6,7) can be either directly formed by the above-mentioned forces or they can be introduced from the external world, provided they exist in a stabilized form. These water clusters store and convey information within the organism (8). Clusters are broken, newly formed or modified all the time when water is agitated (9) or when energy is added due to movements of the entire body or its limbs and also through the rhythmical pulsations in the organism’s different circulatory systems (1,10). Clusters in pure water are short-lived but in an organism they are stabilized by their closeness to clathrates (2,11,12). These consist of a molecule of a solute which can be gaseous, liquid or solid and which is enclosed in a cage of water molecules. In this way, larger units (13,14) are formed which consist of a central electrostricted zone surrounded by a ‘cluster zone’ (2). In the preparation of potentiated remedies, the introduction of dynamic energy creates imprints of the basic substance in the clusters of the physical medium used for potentiation (15). Their influence on the physiological processes is determined by the quality, purity, molecular form and other properties of the original substance. In pharmacology, one refers to an active substance which has a direct effect on biochemical reactions. An active substance can be introduced into an organism in pure form of mixed with a neutral substance; for Losec, 721
722
Widakowich
for example, omeprazol is the active substance, mixed with lactose and sorbitol as the main neutral substances, in addition to a whole collection of more or less potentially injurious (cell toxic or allergenic) additives and packing components. In contrast to this, when manufacturing potentiated remedies, starting from the original substance a pattern is formed in the solvent or binding medium. From a pharmacological point of view this medium was initially inert. The basic substance used to produce a homeopathic remedy, or a pharmacologically active chemical substance to be used in the potentiated form (10) in highly potentiated preparations for therapeutic purposes, may be toxic, the degree of toxicity determining how much it must be diluted in the potentiation process in order to become non-toxic. The solvent or binding medium, on the other hand, should be as pure, free from side-effects, non-toxic and non-allergenic as possible (16). CONCLUSION Stabilized clusters liberate or attract the substance which determined their form during the potentiation process. The freer they are from the molecules other than those in the solvent, the more strongly they attract the initially stabilizing molecule. An effective detoxification can be carried out in this way with potentiations in the range 12–20 (17). CLINICAL SUMMARY There is good reason to believe that the effect of all medicines is influenced, for better or worse, by the imprint in the body fluids of the molecules present in the medicines, thus their potentiated analogues. The injurious effects of a given medicine may very well be caused directly by the molecules of the chemicals present which collect on the cell walls of specific cells. Then, gradually, these cells cease to function properly or die. The beneficial effects of a medicine are presumed to arise from the substance prepotentiated outside the body or by minute quantities becoming physiologically potentiated in the body. These analogues act via the play of forces in the gases and fluids of the body on the liquid phase of the organism, the ethereal body (3).
Medical Hypotheses (2000) 54(5), 721–722
Through the use of remedies diluted to a moderate degree and also potentiated, it is possible to avoid the injurious effects (side effects) without losing the beneficial effects.
REFERENCES 1. Steiner R. Geisteswissenschaft und Medizin. Fifth lecture given to physicians and medical students at the Goetheanum on the 25th of March 1920. Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach, Switzerland 1976, p. 101. 2. Horne R. A. Water. The New Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th edn. Vol. 15, London, 1992: 759–763. 3. Steiner, Rudolf. Theosophie. Berlin: C. A. Schwetscke & Sohn Verlag, 1904. last (10th) by the author revised ed. Philosophisch-Antroposophischer Verlag am Goetheanum, Dornach, Switzerland 1922. [Several English and American translations exist.] 4. Goswami, Shyam Sundar: Lecture in connection with LayaYoga-practices. Stockholm, Sweden, 1973–75. 5. Shui-Yin-Lo, Lo-A, Li-Wen-Chong et al. Physical Properties of Water with IE Structures. Modern Physics Letters B. Vol. 10, No. 19. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing, 1996: 921–930. 6. Eisenberg D., Kauzmann W. The Structure and Properties of Water. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1969: 48. 7. Benson S. W., Siebert E. D. A simple two-structure model for liquid water. J M Chem Soc 1992; 114 (11): 4269–4276. 8. Widakowich J. Trial and Errors. [In Swedish] Tidskrift för homeopati 1995; 74(1–2): 18–25. 9. Widakowich J. Fysiska effekter vid potentiering av vatten [Physical effects from the potentiation of water]. Swed J Biol Med 1991; 2. 10. Widakowich J. Microdose therapy: dilution versus potentiation? Med Hypotheses 1997; 49: 437–441. 11. Pauling L. A molecular theory of general anesthesia. Science 1961; 134: 15–21. 12. Matsumoto J. Molecular mechanism of biological responses to homeopathic medicines. Med Hypotheses 1995; 45: 292–296. 13. Widakowich J. Funktionsmekanismen för potenserade läkemedel. [In Swedish] Tidskrift för homeopati 1995; 74 (3–4): 69–71. 14. Widakowich J. Aqueous humour water clusters: the importance of the physical properties of the aqueous humour in primary open angle glaucoma. Med Hypotheses 1998; 50: 355–356. 15. Widakowich J. Facts and a postulate on the mode of action of potentiated remedies. Med Hypotheses 1996; 47: 15–17. 16. Himmelsbach J. Das Potenzieren in der Heilmittelherstellung der WELEDA. Korrespondenzblätter fuer Ärzte, No. 137, pp. 6–22, Germany: Schwäbisch Gmuend, 1994. 17. Righetti, M. Forschung in der Homöopathie, Grundlagen, Problematik und Ergebnisse. Göttingen, Germany: Ulrich Burgdorf Verlag, 1988.
© 2000 Harcourt Publishers Ltd
Pharmacodynamic principles of homeopathy J. Widakowich Bromma, Sweden
Summary Homeopathy was already known to Hippocrates and further studied by Hahnemann. However, since the discovery of the medical effects of digitalis by William Withering around 1785, and the first synthesis of an organic molecule, urea, by Friedrich Wöhler in 1828, and through the further rapid evolution of modern pharmacological chemistry and molecular biology, it has gradually been abandoned as a serious therapeutic alternative to allopathy by most practitioners of scientifically founded medicine. Because a credible scientific explanation for its mode of action has been lacking, homeopathy is regarded by many medical researchers and scientists as, at best, placebo therapy, in spite of the fact that for centuries hosts of patients have testified to its effects. It is suggested that the gulf between homeopathy and allopathy can be reconciled if one takes into consideration modern knowledge of physiology, biochemistry and the physical properties of the water used in the potentiation process. A description of the mechanisms occurring during potentiation, both inside and outside a live mammalian organism, is presented. © 2000 Harcourt Publishers Ltd
INTRODUCTION Rudolf Steiner pointed out at an early stage (1) that in medicine there is no difference between allopathy and homeopathy since all substances which reach the body’s pulsating circulatory system become potentiated. Instead, he speaks of substances which first become potentiated in the body, in contrast to substances potentiated outside the body. MECHANISM The basic principle of homeopathy can be explained thus: the forces giving rise to hydrogen bonding (2), which are probably identical both with the forces which influence what Rudolf Steiner calls ‘the ethereal body’ (3) and the ‘subtle forces’ described in ancient Indian cosmology (4), affect the water of the physical body which in reality, in the extracellular space, is a solution of 0.9% sodium chloride. In such a saline solution there exist stable ice bondings (IE structures) both at the normal
Received 20 August 1999 Accepted 11 June 1999 Correspondence to: Johannes Widakowich MD, Palettgränd 6, S-168 50 Bromma, Sweden
mammalian body temperature and at room temperatures (5). In this medium, water clusters (6,7) can be either directly formed by the above-mentioned forces or they can be introduced from the external world, provided they exist in a stabilized form. These water clusters store and convey information within the organism (8). Clusters are broken, newly formed or modified all the time when water is agitated (9) or when energy is added due to movements of the entire body or its limbs and also through the rhythmical pulsations in the organism’s different circulatory systems (1,10). Clusters in pure water are short-lived but in an organism they are stabilized by their closeness to clathrates (2,11,12). These consist of a molecule of a solute which can be gaseous, liquid or solid and which is enclosed in a cage of water molecules. In this way, larger units (13,14) are formed which consist of a central electrostricted zone surrounded by a ‘cluster zone’ (2). In the preparation of potentiated remedies, the introduction of dynamic energy creates imprints of the basic substance in the clusters of the physical medium used for potentiation (15). Their influence on the physiological processes is determined by the quality, purity, molecular form and other properties of the original substance. In pharmacology, one refers to an active substance which has a direct effect on biochemical reactions. An active substance can be introduced into an organism in pure form of mixed with a neutral substance; for Losec, 721
722
Widakowich
for example, omeprazol is the active substance, mixed with lactose and sorbitol as the main neutral substances, in addition to a whole collection of more or less potentially injurious (cell toxic or allergenic) additives and packing components. In contrast to this, when manufacturing potentiated remedies, starting from the original substance a pattern is formed in the solvent or binding medium. From a pharmacological point of view this medium was initially inert. The basic substance used to produce a homeopathic remedy, or a pharmacologically active chemical substance to be used in the potentiated form (10) in highly potentiated preparations for therapeutic purposes, may be toxic, the degree of toxicity determining how much it must be diluted in the potentiation process in order to become non-toxic. The solvent or binding medium, on the other hand, should be as pure, free from side-effects, non-toxic and non-allergenic as possible (16). CONCLUSION Stabilized clusters liberate or attract the substance which determined their form during the potentiation process. The freer they are from the molecules other than those in the solvent, the more strongly they attract the initially stabilizing molecule. An effective detoxification can be carried out in this way with potentiations in the range 12–20 (17). CLINICAL SUMMARY There is good reason to believe that the effect of all medicines is influenced, for better or worse, by the imprint in the body fluids of the molecules present in the medicines, thus their potentiated analogues. The injurious effects of a given medicine may very well be caused directly by the molecules of the chemicals present which collect on the cell walls of specific cells. Then, gradually, these cells cease to function properly or die. The beneficial effects of a medicine are presumed to arise from the substance prepotentiated outside the body or by minute quantities becoming physiologically potentiated in the body. These analogues act via the play of forces in the gases and fluids of the body on the liquid phase of the organism, the ethereal body (3).
Medical Hypotheses (2000) 54(5), 721–722
Through the use of remedies diluted to a moderate degree and also potentiated, it is possible to avoid the injurious effects (side effects) without losing the beneficial effects.
REFERENCES 1. Steiner R. Geisteswissenschaft und Medizin. Fifth lecture given to physicians and medical students at the Goetheanum on the 25th of March 1920. Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach, Switzerland 1976, p. 101. 2. Horne R. A. Water. The New Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th edn. Vol. 15, London, 1992: 759–763. 3. Steiner, Rudolf. Theosophie. Berlin: C. A. Schwetscke & Sohn Verlag, 1904. last (10th) by the author revised ed. Philosophisch-Antroposophischer Verlag am Goetheanum, Dornach, Switzerland 1922. [Several English and American translations exist.] 4. Goswami, Shyam Sundar: Lecture in connection with LayaYoga-practices. Stockholm, Sweden, 1973–75. 5. Shui-Yin-Lo, Lo-A, Li-Wen-Chong et al. Physical Properties of Water with IE Structures. Modern Physics Letters B. Vol. 10, No. 19. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing, 1996: 921–930. 6. Eisenberg D., Kauzmann W. The Structure and Properties of Water. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1969: 48. 7. Benson S. W., Siebert E. D. A simple two-structure model for liquid water. J M Chem Soc 1992; 114 (11): 4269–4276. 8. Widakowich J. Trial and Errors. [In Swedish] Tidskrift för homeopati 1995; 74(1–2): 18–25. 9. Widakowich J. Fysiska effekter vid potentiering av vatten [Physical effects from the potentiation of water]. Swed J Biol Med 1991; 2. 10. Widakowich J. Microdose therapy: dilution versus potentiation? Med Hypotheses 1997; 49: 437–441. 11. Pauling L. A molecular theory of general anesthesia. Science 1961; 134: 15–21. 12. Matsumoto J. Molecular mechanism of biological responses to homeopathic medicines. Med Hypotheses 1995; 45: 292–296. 13. Widakowich J. Funktionsmekanismen för potenserade läkemedel. [In Swedish] Tidskrift för homeopati 1995; 74 (3–4): 69–71. 14. Widakowich J. Aqueous humour water clusters: the importance of the physical properties of the aqueous humour in primary open angle glaucoma. Med Hypotheses 1998; 50: 355–356. 15. Widakowich J. Facts and a postulate on the mode of action of potentiated remedies. Med Hypotheses 1996; 47: 15–17. 16. Himmelsbach J. Das Potenzieren in der Heilmittelherstellung der WELEDA. Korrespondenzblätter fuer Ärzte, No. 137, pp. 6–22, Germany: Schwäbisch Gmuend, 1994. 17. Righetti, M. Forschung in der Homöopathie, Grundlagen, Problematik und Ergebnisse. Göttingen, Germany: Ulrich Burgdorf Verlag, 1988.
© 2000 Harcourt Publishers Ltd