Homoeopathy and homeostasis in the vascular system - Part I

This two-part paper offers a novel, experimentally derived explanation of how homoeopathic remedies may work. It expands, at the kind suggestion of the Editor of the British Homoeopathic Journal, on a short article which I submitted earlier on the same subject to the Newsletter of the Homoeopathic Association of Ireland. The first part of the paper presents evidence of a homeostatic mechanism in a dog's vein which provides a physiological basis for the Law of Similars. The second part offers evidence that the same mechanism operates throughout the body and that homoeopathic physicians already make empirical use of it. Part 1 of the paper has three sections. The first explains what the Law of Similars is and what it implies. It suggests the reasons why, I believe, main-line pharmacologists and allopathic physicians deny its plausibility. It describes the first evidence I obtained of a physiological process which would allow the Law of Similars to operate in the lateral saphenous vein of the dog. The second section describes experiments in which noradrenaline, isoprenaline and acetylcholine were used to both constrict and dilate the saphenous vein by direct action on its smooth muscle. Section three deals with the vasa vasorum which are a crucial element in vascular homeostasis and in the operation of the Law of Similars in the dog's vein. It describes some of the special features which characterize the action of drugs released through the vasa vasorum. Section four in part 2 shows that the homeostatic mechanism which is present in the vein operates also in the circulatory system in general and the coronary vessels in particular. It offers evidence which suggests that the mechanism operates also in the kidney and the brain and in the whole body. Section five examines the nature of homoeopathy in the light of the new knowledge. It suggests how homoeopathy works and how the homoeopathic physician can maximize the effectiveness of his prescribed drugs. It shows how the Law of Similars is implicated in the aetiology of many common degenerative diseases and in ageing. It closes with a look at environmental pollution and shows why standard testing techniques fail to detect the true extent of this problem