"Homeopathy not a cure, says WHO"

Source: BBC News, 20 August 2009

People with conditions such as HIV, TB and malaria should not rely on homeopathic treatments, the World Health Organization has warned.

It was responding to calls from young researchers who fear the promotion of homeopathy in the developing world could put people's lives at risk.....

However Paula Ross, chief executive of the Society of Homeopaths, said it was right to raise concerns about promotion of homeopathy as a cure for TB, malaria or HIV and Aids.

Do you know what homeopathy is? The term, from the same root as homosexual or homogenized, comes from the idea that one treats disease "with more of the same" and is contrasted with the heteropathy which treats disease with something that opposes the cause of the disease. According to Wikipedia:

Homeopathy (also spelled Homoeopathy or Homœopathy) is a form of alternative medicine, first proposed by German physician Samuel Hahnemann in 1796, that treats patients with heavily diluted preparations which are thought to cause effects similar to the symptoms presented. Homeopathic remedies are prepared by serial dilution with shaking by forceful striking, which homeopaths term "succussion," after each dilution under the assumption that this increases the effect of the treatment. This process is referred to as "potentization". Dilution often continues until none of the original substance remains.

It sounds pretty weird to me, but so does acupuncture and I understand that there is evidence that acupuncture does work in some circumstances.

Our understanding of physiology and pathology continues to develop, and we don't always correctly understand why things work or don't work. That is why randomized case-control studies are so important. They give credible evidence that a treatment does or does not work.

I am glad that WHO is speaking out, since I am sure there is a lot of very bad health care being offered in the world, especially in poor areas with patients who don't understand medical statistics and don't have access to properly trained health professional practitioners.