Fundamental Research in Homeopathy: Considerations and Recommendations

Background: The homeopathic potentization procedure, involving successive steps of dilution and succussion to arrive at pharmaceutical preparations with specific biomedical effects, is a core tenet of homeopathy. Dilution levels generated during the homeopathic manufacturing process often exceed well beyond Avogadro’s limit. Accordingly, the scientific assessment of the potentisation procedure is of high importance. However, until now no specific guidelines in this research area existed.

Aim: To provide recommendations to promote highest quality, statistically sound, and reproducible basic research into specific effects of homeopathic preparations. Also, to provide a more uniform base upon which research protocols can be designed and discussed so as to make best use of existing knowledge and understanding in this field of research.

Methods: Input was gathered from experts (members of scientific societies dealing with homeopathic basic research) in a structured process seeking consensus as to what the most important aspects and considerations are when it comes to creating high-quality research into homeopathic potentisation.

Results: We present a series of recommendations on several topics such as: experimental controls, system stability, blinding and randomisation, environmental influences, and procedures for the production of homeopathic samples and controls, thereby taking specific challenges of the research field into account.

Conclusion: Different key aspects of homeopathy research are discussed. All together these provide a strong foundation for building meaningful research protocols, which take account of the latest thinking in the field and provide a backdrop for meaningful comparison of research protocols.

Keywords: Fundamental research, homeopathy, guidelines, basic research

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Artikel online veröffentlicht:
30. Januar 2024