The Complexity of the Homeopathic Healing Response Part 1: The Role of the Body as a Complex Adaptive System in Simillimum-Initiated Recovery from Disease.

BACKGROUND: The concepts of complex systems science enhance the understanding of how people develop and recover from disease. Living systems (human beings, animals, and plants) are self-organizing complex adaptive systems (CAS): that is, interconnected networks. CAS maintain life by initiating and carrying out non-linear dynamical changes to optimize survival fitness and function in the context of an ever-changing environment. AIMS: In Part 1 of this two-part paper, we relate concepts from complex systems science to homeopathic healing. The systemic changes of homeopathic healing involve adaptive patterns of responses to salient signals (similia) for reversing disease patterns and generating emergent multi-symptom healing over time. METHODS AND RESULTS: This narrative review relates homeopathic clinical practice theory to complex systems and network research. Homeopathic medicines communicate individually salient environmental information to the organism, with effects that are multi-system and indirect. The body's defense mechanisms recognize the self-similar information that the correctly chosen simillimum medicine at low dose conveys as a weak external/internal environmental stressor or danger signal (hormetin) to mobilize neural and cellular defenses. The body networks then use endogenous cell to cell signaling and amplify the small magnitude signal information. The results are disproportionately large: that is, non-linear, adaptive, modifications across the inter-connected self-organized biological networks/sub-systems of the body. CAS amplification mechanisms for small or weak signals include stochastic resonance, time-dependent sensitization, and hormesis. CONCLUSIONS: The body as a complex system has the capacity for self-organization, emergence and self-similarity over global (overall health and wellbeing) and local (organ) levels of organization. These features are key for future research on the systemic healing that evolves over time during individualized homeopathic treatment.

The Complexity of the Homeopathic Healing Response Part 2: The Role of the Homeopathic Simillimum as a Complex System in Initiating Recovery from Disease.

BACKGROUND: Evidence indicates that homeopathic medicines are complex self-organizing nano-scale systems that generate unique low-intensity electromagnetic signals and/or quantum coherence domains. In Part 1, we reviewed relevant concepts from complex adaptive systems science on living systems for the nature of homeopathic healing. AIM: In Part 2, we discuss the complex-system nature of homeopathic medicines. The aim is to relate the evidence on the nature and properties of homeopathic medicines to the complex systems model for homeopathic healing. METHODS AND RESULTS: The work is a narrative review, with complexity model development for the nature of homeopathic medicines. Studies suggest that homeopathic manufacturing generates nano-structures of source material, silica and silicon quantum dots if succussed in glassware or including botanical source materials; or carbon quantum dots if succussed in plastic or including any organic source materials, as well as solute-induced water nano-structures carrying medicine-specific information. On contact with physiological fluids (e.g., blood plasma), there is evidence that nano-structures additionally adsorb individualized patterns of the recipient's own proteins on to their surfaces to create a unique protein corona coat (shell). Thus, the simillimum may generate a personalized biological identity upon administration. Consequently, a medicine can serve as an individually salient, self-similar information carrier, whose protein corona constituent pattern reflects the individual's current internal state of health/disease. Homeopathic medicine complexity emerges from interactions of the component parts from source, silica from glassware or carbon from plastic containers, solvents (lactose, water, ethanol), adsorbed biomolecule layers from plant or animal sources, and adsorbed biomolecules of the recipient. Low doses of these complex medicines can act as biological signaling agents to initiate hormesis via a network-wide pattern of adaptive responses by the recipient complex adaptive system, rather than as conventional pharmaceutical drugs. Biological mediators of adaptive responses include inter-connected network elements of the cell danger/damage defense system: for example, gene expression, reactive oxygen species, heat shock proteins, cytokines, macrophages, T-cells, and associated brain-immune system mediator pathways. CONCLUSIONS: Every homeopathic medicine is a complex nano-scale system involving multiple inter-connected, interacting components, and emergent properties. Simillimum individualization derives from formation of a unique personalized protein corona shell adsorbed to the reactive surface of the homeopathic nano-structures on contact with the recipient's body fluids. Low doses of such complex nano-structures initiate the adaptive processes of hormesis to mobilize endogenous healing of a disease state. The capacity for self-organization and self-similarity in complex systems is the key to future research on the nature of homeopathic medicines and systemic healing during individualized homeopathic treatment.

Low Doses of Traditional Nanophytomedicines for Clinical Treatment: Manufacturing Processes and Nonlinear Response Patterns.

The purpose of the present paper is to (a) summarize evidence for the nanoparticle nature and biological effects of traditional homeopathically-prepared medicines at low and ultralow doses; (b) provide details of historically-based homeopathic green manufacturing materials and methods, relating them to top-down mechanical attrition and plant-based biosynthetic processes in modern nanotechnology; (c) outline the potential roles of nonlinear dose-responses and dynamical interactions with complex adaptive systems in generating endogenous amplification processes during low dose treatment. Possible mechanisms of low dose effects, for which there is evidence involving nanoparticles and/or homeopathically-manufactured medicines, include hormesis, time-dependent sensitization, and stochastic resonance. All of the proposed mechanisms depend upon endogenous nonlinear amplification processes in the recipient organism in interaction with the salient, albeit weak signal properties of the medicine. Conventional ligand-receptor mechanisms relevant to higher doses are less likely involved. Effects, especially for homeopathically-prepared nanophytomedicines, include bidirectional host state-dependent changes in function. Homeopathic clinicians report successful treatment of serious infections and cancers. Preclinical biological evidence is consistent with such claims. Controlled biological data on homeopathically-prepared medicines indicate modulation of gene expression and biological signaling pathways regulating cell cycles, immune reactions, and central nervous system function from studies on cells, animals, and human subjects. As a 200-year old system of traditional medicine used by millions of people worldwide, homeopathy offers a pulsed low dose treatment strategy and strong safety record to facilitate progress in translational nanomedicine with plants and other natural products. In turn, modern nanotechnology methods can improve homeopathic manufacturing procedures, characterize nanoparticle end-products, and describe interactions of homeopathic nanophytomedicines with living systems at the nanoparticle and even individual organism level of detection. Faster progress toward safe and effective personalized nanophytomedicine treatments can result.

Enhancement of adaptive biological effects by nanotechnology preparation methods in homeopathic medicines.

Multiple studies have demonstrated that traditional homeopathic manufacturing reagents and processes can generate remedy source and silica nanoparticles (NPs). Homeopathically-made NPs would initiate adaptive changes in an organism as a complex adaptive system (CAS) or network. Adaptive changes would emerge from several different endogenous amplification processes that respond to exogenous danger or threat signals that manufactured nanomaterials convey, including (1) stochastic resonance (SR) in sensory neural systems and (2) time-dependent sensitization (TDS)/oscillation. SR is nonlinear coherent amplification of a weak signal by the superposition of a larger magnitude white noise containing within it the same frequencies of the weak signal. TDS is progressive response magnitude amplification and oscillatory reversal in response direction to a given low dose at physiological limits with the passage of time. Hormesis is an overarching adaptive phenomenon that reflects the observed nonlinear adaptive dose-response relationship. Remedies would act as enhanced micro- and nanoscale forms of their source material via direct local ligand-receptor interactions at very low potencies and/or by triggering systemic adaptive network dynamical effects via their NP-based electromagnetic, optical, and quantum mechanical properties at higher potencies. Manufacturing parameters including dilution modify sizes, shapes, and surface charges of nanoparticles, thereby causing differences in physico-chemical properties and biological effects. Based on surface area, size, shape, and charge, nanoparticles adsorb a complex pattern of serum proteins, forming a protein corona on contact that constitutes a unique biological identity. The protein corona may capture individualized dysfunctional biological mediator information of the organism onto the surfaces of the salient, i.e., resonant, remedy nanostructures. SR would amplify this weak signal from the salient remedy NPs with protein corona adsorbed, leading to sensitized nonlinear dynamical modulation of gene expression and associated changes in biological signaling pathways. When the system reaches its physiological limits during a homeopathic aggravation or the natural disease state, the amplified remedy signal triggers a nonlinear reversal in dynamical direction back towards health.

Acute electroencephalographic effects from repeated olfactory administration of homeopathic remedies in individuals with self-reported chemical sensitivity.

BACKGROUND: Homeopaths report that individuals with heightened self-reported environmental chemical intolerance (CI) exhibit increased reactivity to homeopathic remedies. Persons high in CI sensitize their electroencephalographic (EEG) alpha responses to repeated intermittent chemical exposures. PRIMARY STUDY OBJECTIVE: The present feasibility study explored interactions between CI and one of two specific homeopathic remedies over time (Sulphur or Pulsatilla nigricans [Pulsatilla]). DESIGN: This study used a two-arm, double-blind, placebo-controlled repeated measures design. Intervention Participants underwent a series of three once-weekly sessions during which they repeatedly sniffed one remedy (6c, 12c, 30c; one potency per week) matched to their Homeopathic Constitutional Type Questionnaire (CTQ) type and two solvent controls (distilled water and a waterethanol [95%] solution). Within sessions, remedies and control solvents were administered via 2-second sniffs (eight sniffs of each of four different succussion levels per potency, in randomized order). PARTICIPANTS: Participants were college student volunteers (N = 96, ages 18-30, both sexes), screened for good health and relatively elevated Sulphur or Pulsatilla symptom pattern scores on the Homeopathic Constitutional Type Questionnaire (CTQ). Participants also completed a validated trait CI scale. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Average 19-lead relative EEG alpha power (alpha 1 8-10 Hz; alpha 2 10-12 Hz). RESULTS: Trait CI interacted significantly with time factors for each remedy (both over visit weeks and over sniff cycles during sessions). The patterns were nonlinear and differed between the two remedies. Individuals high in CI showed greater variability over time in remedy EEG alpha effects than did those low in CI. CONCLUSION: The data suggest that CI, with an underlying susceptibility to time-dependent sensitization and oscillatory responses, could contribute to nonlinear dose-response patterns and inconsistent reproducibility of homeopathic clinical care and research.

Testing the nanoparticle-allostatic cross-adaptation-sensitization model for homeopathic remedy effects.

Key concepts of the Nanoparticle-Allostatic Cross-Adaptation-Sensitization (NPCAS) Model for the action of homeopathic remedies in living systems include source nanoparticles as low level environmental stressors, heterotypic hormesis, cross-adaptation, allostasis (stress response network), time-dependent sensitization with endogenous amplification and bidirectional change, and self-organizing complex adaptive systems. The model accommodates the requirement for measurable physical agents in the remedy (source nanoparticles and/or source adsorbed to silica nanoparticles). Hormetic adaptive responses in the organism, triggered by nanoparticles; bipolar, metaplastic change, dependent on the history of the organism. Clinical matching of the patient's symptom picture, including modalities, to the symptom pattern that the source material can cause (cross-adaptation and cross-sensitization). Evidence for nanoparticle-related quantum macro-entanglement in homeopathic pathogenetic trials. This paper examines research implications of the model, discussing the following hypotheses: Variability in nanoparticle size, morphology, and aggregation affects remedy properties and reproducibility of findings. Homeopathic remedies modulate adaptive allostatic responses, with multiple dynamic short- and long-term effects. Simillimum remedy nanoparticles, as novel mild stressors corresponding to the organism's dysfunction initiate time-dependent cross-sensitization, reversing the direction of dysfunctional reactivity to environmental stressors. The NPCAS model suggests a way forward for systematic research on homeopathy. The central proposition is that homeopathic treatment is a form of nanomedicine acting by modulation of endogenous adaptation and metaplastic amplification processes in the organism to enhance long-term systemic resilience and health.

A model for homeopathic remedy effects: low dose nanoparticles, allostatic cross-adaptation, and time-dependent sensitization in a complex adaptive system.

BACKGROUND: This paper proposes a novel model for homeopathic remedy action on living systems. Research indicates that homeopathic remedies (a) contain measurable source and silica nanoparticles heterogeneously dispersed in colloidal solution; (b) act by modulating biological function of the allostatic stress response network (c) evoke biphasic actions on living systems via organism-dependent adaptive and endogenously amplified effects; (d) improve systemic resilience. DISCUSSION: The proposed active components of homeopathic remedies are nanoparticles of source substance in water-based colloidal solution, not bulk-form drugs. Nanoparticles have unique biological and physico-chemical properties, including increased catalytic reactivity, protein and DNA adsorption, bioavailability, dose-sparing, electromagnetic, and quantum effects different from bulk-form materials. Trituration and/or liquid succussions during classical remedy preparation create "top-down" nanostructures. Plants can biosynthesize remedy-templated silica nanostructures. Nanoparticles stimulate hormesis, a beneficial low-dose adaptive response. Homeopathic remedies prescribed in low doses spaced intermittently over time act as biological signals that stimulate the organism's allostatic biological stress response network, evoking nonlinear modulatory, self-organizing change. Potential mechanisms include time-dependent sensitization (TDS), a type of adaptive plasticity/metaplasticity involving progressive amplification of host responses, which reverse direction and oscillate at physiological limits. To mobilize hormesis and TDS, the remedy must be appraised as a salient, but low level, novel threat, stressor, or homeostatic disruption for the whole organism. Silica nanoparticles adsorb remedy source and amplify effects. Properly-timed remedy dosing elicits disease-primed compensatory reversal in direction of maladaptive dynamics of the allostatic network, thus promoting resilience and recovery from disease. SUMMARY: Homeopathic remedies are proposed as source nanoparticles that mobilize hormesis and time-dependent sensitization via non-pharmacological effects on specific biological adaptive and amplification mechanisms. The nanoparticle nature of remedies would distinguish them from conventional bulk drugs in structure, morphology, and functional properties. Outcomes would depend upon the ability of the organism to respond to the remedy as a novel stressor or heterotypic biological threat, initiating reversals of cumulative, cross-adapted biological maladaptations underlying disease in the allostatic stress response network. Systemic resilience would improve. This model provides a foundation for theory-driven research on the role of nanomaterials in living systems, mechanisms of homeopathic remedy actions and translational uses in nanomedicine.

Nonlinear dynamical systems effects of homeopathic remedies on multiscale entropy and correlation dimension of slow wave sleep EEG in young adults with histories of coffee-induced insomnia.

BACKGROUND: Investigators of homeopathy have proposed that nonlinear dynamical systems (NDS) and complex systems science offer conceptual and analytic tools for evaluating homeopathic remedy effects. Previous animal studies demonstrate that homeopathic medicines alter delta electroencephalographic (EEG) slow wave sleep. The present study extended findings of remedy-related sleep stage alterations in human subjects by testing the feasibility of using two different NDS analytic approaches to assess remedy effects on human slow wave sleep EEG. METHODS: Subjects (N=54) were young adult male and female college students with a history of coffee-related insomnia who participated in a larger 4-week study of the polysomnographic effects of homeopathic medicines on home-based all-night sleep recordings. Subjects took one bedtime dose of a homeopathic remedy (Coffea cruda or Nux vomica 30c). We computed multiscale entropy (MSE) and the correlation dimension (Mekler-D2) for stages 3 and 4 slow wave sleep EEG sampled in artifact-free 2-min segments during the first two rapid-eye-movement (REM) cycles for remedy and post-remedy nights, controlling for placebo and post-placebo night effects. RESULTS: MSE results indicate significant, remedy-specific directional effects, especially later in the night (REM cycle 2) (CC: remedy night increases and post-remedy night decreases in MSE at multiple sites for both stages 3 and 4 in both REM cycles; NV: remedy night decreases and post-remedy night increases, mainly in stage 3 REM cycle 2 MSE). D2 analyses yielded more sporadic and inconsistent findings. CONCLUSIONS: Homeopathic medicines Coffea cruda and Nux vomica in 30c potencies alter short-term nonlinear dynamic parameters of slow wave sleep EEG in healthy young adults. MSE may provide a more sensitive NDS analytic method than D2 for evaluating homeopathic remedy effects on human sleep EEG patterns.

Short-term effects of repeated olfactory administration of homeopathic sulphur or pulsatilla on electroencephalographic alpha power in healthy young adults.

INTRODUCTION: Homeopathic pathogenetic trials usually rely on symptom self report measures. Adding objective biomarkers could enhance detection of subtle initial remedy effects. The present feasibility study examined electroencephalographic (EEG) effects of repeated olfactory administration of two polycrest remedies. METHODS: College student volunteers (ages 18-30, both sexes) from an introductory psychology course were screened for good health and relatively elevated Sulphur or Pulsatilla symptom scores on the Homeopathic Constitutional Type Questionnaire (CTQ). Subjects underwent a series of 3 once-weekly double-blind sessions during which they repeatedly sniffed the remedy matched to their CTQ type and solvent controls. Each remedy was given in a 6c, 12c, and 30c potency, one potency per week, in randomly assigned order. Solvent controls included both plain distilled water and a water-ethanol (95%) solution. All sniff test solutions were further diluted just prior to laboratory sessions (0.5 ml test solution in 150 ml distilled water). Within a session, remedies and control solvents were administered via 2-s sniffs (8 sniffs of each of 4 different succussion levels for the potency in randomized order). Primary outcome variable was relative EEG power (alpha 1 8-10 Hz; alpha 2 10-12 Hz) averaged over 19 electrode sites, including all succussions for a given potency. RESULTS: Mixed-effect models revealed significant main effects for remedy type (Sulphur >Pulsatilla) in both alpha bands, controlling for gender, baseline resting EEG alpha, and solvent control responses. Additional analyses showed significant nonlinear interactions between dilution and time (weekly session) in alpha 2 for both remedies and alpha 1 for Sulphur. CONCLUSION: EEG alpha offers an objective biomarker of remedy effects for future studies and potential method for distinguishing time-dependent effects of specific remedies and remedy potencies from one another.

Adjunctive care with nutritional, herbal, and homeopathic complementary and alternative medicine modalities in stroke treatment and rehabilitation.

This article presents an overview of nutritional, herbal, and homeopathic treatment options from complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) as adjuncts in stroke prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation. Despite many promising leads, the evidence does not favor recommendation of most of these treatments from a public health policy perspective. However, simple preventive interventions such as use of a high-quality multivitamin/multimineral supplement in patients with undernutrition may improve outcomes with minimal long-term risk. Natural agents such as the antioxidant alphalipoic acid, certain traditional Asian herbal mixtures, and some homeopathically prepared remedies show promise for reducing infarct size and associated impairments. A number of nutrients and herbs may assist in treatment of stroke-related complications such as pressure sores, urinary tract infections, and pneumonia. Individualized homeopathy may even play a helpful adjunctive role in treatment of sepsis. However, a great deal of systematic research effort lies ahead before most of the options discussed would meet mainstream medical standards for introduction into routine treatment regimens.

Models for the study of whole systems.

This article summarizes a network and complex systems science model for research on whole systems of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) such as homeopathy and traditional Chinese medicine. The holistic concepts of networks and nonlinear dynamical complex systems are well matched to the global and interactive perspectives of whole systems of CAM, whereas the reductionistic science model is well matched to the isolated local organ, cell, and molecular mechanistic perspectives of pharmaceutically based biomedicine. Whole systems of CAM are not drugs with specific actions. The diagnostic and therapeutic approaches of whole systems of CAM produce effects that involve global and patterned shifts across multiple subsystems of the person as a whole. For homeopathy, several characteristics of complex systems, including the probabilistic nature of attractor patterns, variable sensitivity of complex systems to initial conditions, and emergent behaviors in the evolution of a system in its full environmental context over time, could help account for the mixed basic science and controlled clinical trial research findings, in contrast with the consistently positive outcomes of observational studies in the literature. Application of theories and methods from complex systems and network science can open a new era of advances in understanding factors that lead to good versus poor individual global outcome patterns and to rational triage of patients to one type of care over another. The growing reliance on complex systems thinking and systems biology for cancer research affords a unique opportunity to bridge between the CAM and conventional medical worlds with some common language and conceptual models.

Patient-Provider Interactions Affect Symptoms in Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease: A Pilot Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: It is unclear whether the benefits that some patients derive from complementary and integrative medicine (CIM) are related to the therapies recommended or to the consultation process as some CIM provider visits are more involved than conventional medical visits. Many patients with gastrointestinal conditions seek out CIM therapies, and prior work has demonstrated that the quality of the patient-provider interaction can improve health outcomes in irritable bowel syndrome, however, the impact of this interaction on gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is unknown. We aimed to assess the safety and feasibility of conducting a 2 x 2 factorial design study preliminarily exploring the impact of the patient-provider interaction, and the effect of an over-the-counter homeopathic product, Acidil, on symptoms and health-related quality of life in subjects with GERD. METHODS: 24 subjects with GERD-related symptoms were randomized in a 2 x 2 factorial design to receive 1) either a standard visit based on an empathic conventional primary care evaluation or an expanded visit with questions modeled after a CIM consultation and 2) either Acidil or placebo for two weeks. Subjects completed a daily GERD symptom diary and additional measures of symptom severity and health-related quality of life. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in GERD symptom severity between the Acidil and placebo groups from baseline to follow-up (p = 0.41), however, subjects who received the expanded visit were significantly more likely to report a 50% or greater improvement in symptom severity compared to subjects who received the standard visit (p = 0.01). Total consultation length, perceived empathy, and baseline beliefs in CIM were not associated with treatment outcomes. CONCLUSION: An expanded patient-provider visit resulted in greater GERD symptom improvement than a standard empathic medical visit. CIM consultations may have enhanced placebo effects, and further studies to assess the active components of this visit-based intervention are warranted. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01915173.

Translating a nonlinear systems theory model for homeopathy into empirical tests.

Various investigators have proposed that nonlinear systems theory, notably chaos and complexity theory, provides a heuristically useful modelfor conceptualizing the way in which complementary and alternative medicine therapies, which purport to modify subtle energies, effect change throughout the individual as a whole. In this paper we apply this theory to classical homeopathy and outline an empirical approach for testing the resultant hypotheses. Such research may advance understanding of the mechanisms of homeopathic remedy effects and provide a direction for homeopathic research that expands the previous emphasis on clinical trials and the remedies themselves. In refocusing attention on the dynamics of the patient as a nonlinear complex system, the proposed research program is consistent with the homeopathic emphasis on the individual rather than the disease. This approach may have additional applications that can elucidate similar effects of other energy medicine modalities (eg, acupuncture) on the healing process of the person as a unified whole.

Homeopathic practitioner views of changes in patients undergoing constitutional treatment for chronic disease.

OBJECTIVES: To identify areas that classical homeopathic practitioners would want to see evaluated in a patient self-report questionnaire sensitive to change during constitutional treatment. DESIGN: Open-ended, written practitioner questionnaire, analyzed using inductive content analysis. SETTINGS/LOCATION: Two classical homeopathic meetings held in the western United States. SUBJECTS: Homeopathic practitioners attending the above professional meetings and volunteering to complete the questionnaire in response to announcements prior to sessions. DATA COLLECTION METHODS: Practitioners completed a demographic questionnaire and answered an open-ended question inquiring for changes about which to ask people undergoing classical homeopathic constitutional treatment. RESULTS: The categories that the 38 homeopaths identified included changes in: (1) emotions; (2) mentation; (3) specific physical functioning; (4) general physical changes; (5) perception of self; (6) relationships; (7) spirituality; (8) lifestyle; (9) energy; (10) dream content and tone; (11) well-being; (12) perceptions by others; (13) life relationships; (14) a sense of freedom or feeling less "stuck"; (15) sleep; (16) coping; (17) ability to adapt; (18) creativity; and (19) recall of past experiences. Sixteen percent (16%) of participants added more in-depth description of the nature of changes across categories (i.e., a rhythmical process of innovation and flux). CONCLUSIONS: The findings are consistent with the systemic orientation of classical homeopathic philosophy to evaluate and treat the patient as a whole. Taken together, the results support the need for development of new, multidimensional outcome measures for clinical research in homeopathy beyond the disease-specific and health-related quality-of-life scales available from conventional medical research.

Gas discharge visualization evaluation of ultramolecular doses of homeopathic medicines under blinded, controlled conditions.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the feasibility of using a computerized biophysical method, gas discharge visualization (GDV), to differentiate ultramolecular doses of homeopathic remedies from solvent controls and from each other. DESIGN: Blinded, randomized assessment of four split samples each of 30c potencies of three homeopathic remedies from different kingdoms, for example, Natrum muriaticum (mineral), Pulsatilla (plant), and Lachesis (animal), dissolved in a 20% alcohol-water solvent versus two different control solutions (that is, solvent with untreated lactose/sucrose pellets and unsuccussed solvent alone). PROCEDURES: GDV measurements, involving application of a brief electrical impulse at four different voltage levels, were performed over 10 successive images on each of 10 drops from each bottle (total 400 images per test solution per voltage). The dependent variables were the quantified image characteristics of the liquid drops (form coefficient, area, and brightness) from the resultant burst of electron-ion emission and optical radiation in the visual and ultraviolet ranges. RESULTS: The procedure generated measurable images at the two highest voltage levels. At 17 kV, the remedies exhibited overall lower image parameter values compared with solvents (significant for Pulsatilla and Lachesis), as well as differences from solvents in fluctuations over repeated images (exposures to the same voltage). At 24 kV, other patterns emerged, with individual remedies showing higher or lower image parameters compared with other remedies and the solvent controls. CONCLUSIONS: GDV technology may provide an electromagnetic probe into the properties of homeopathic remedies as distinguished from solvent controls. However, the present findings also highlight the need for additional research to evaluate factors that may affect reproducibility of results.

Strength of vital force in classical homeopathy: bio-psycho-social-spiritual correlates within a complex systems context.

OBJECTIVE: To explore associations between a global rating for the classical homeopathic construct of vital force and clinician and patient ratings on previously validated bio-psycho-social-spiritual questionnaires. METHODS: Sixty-two (62) community-recruited patients with fibromyalgia (FM) were assessed at baseline prior to a clinical trial of individualized homeopathy. Two homeopaths jointly performed case-taking interviews. A conventional medical provider independently evaluated patients with a standardized history and physical examination. Homeopaths rated each patient's vital force (five-point Likert scale, with 1 = very weak to 5 = very strong). Homeopaths and the conventional medical provider rated their Clinical Global Impression (CGI) of the severity of illness (1 = normal; 7 = among the most extremely ill). Patients completed self-rating scales on pain, global health, mood, quality of life, coping style, health locus of control, multidimensional well-being, spirituality, sense of coherence, positive states of mind, and social desirability. RESULTS: Greater vital force ratings (mean 2.9 standard deviation [SD] 0.6) correlated moderately (p < or = 0.005) with less severe CGI illness ratings by the homeopaths (r =-0.59), decreased patient-rated mental confusion (r =-0.43), higher vigor (r = 0.38), and greater positive states of mind (r = 0.36). Vital force also showed correlations (p < 0.05) with lower CGI ratings by the conventional medical provider (r =-0.32), better selfrated quality of life (r = 0.33), lesser fatigue (r =-0.31), better global health (r = 0.29), greater sense of coherence (r = 0.28), powerful-others health locus of control (r = 0.27), increased emotional well-being (r = 0.27), and higher social desirability (r = 0.27), but not with age, pain, or illness duration. CONCLUSION: Homeopathic vital force ratings reflect better perceived mental function, energy, and positive dimensions of the individual, beyond absence of disease.

Individual differences in response to randomly assigned active individualized homeopathic and placebo treatment in fibromyalgia: implications of a double-blinded optional crossover design.

OBJECTIVE: To assess individual difference characteristics of subgroups of patients with fibromyalgia (FM) patients with respect to the decision to stay in or switch from randomly-assigned verum or placebo treatment during an optional crossover phase of a double-blinded homeopathy study. DESIGN: Double-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled, optional crossover clinical trial. PARTICIPANTS: Fifty-three (53) community-recruited patients with FM entered the optional crossover phase. INTERVENTION: Two homeopaths jointly selected an individualized homeopathic remedy for all patients. The pharmacy dispensed either verum LM remedy or indistinguishable placebo in accord with randomized assignment for 4 months and the patient's optional crossover decision for an additional 2 months. OUTCOME MEASURES: Patients completed a battery of baseline state/trait questionnaires, including mood, childhood neglect and abuse, and trait absorption. They rated global health (whole person-centered) and tender point pain on physical examination (disease-specific) at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months. RESULTS: Rates of optional crossover from verum to placebo or placebo to verum were comparable (p = 0.6; 31%, and 41%, respectively). The switch subgroups had greater baseline psychologic issues (emotional neglect in placebo-switch; depression and anger in verum-switch). The verum-stay subgroup scored highest on treatment helpfulness and included all six exceptional responders who fell, prior to crossover, into the top terciles for improvement in both global health and pain. Patients staying in their randomly assigned groups, active or placebo (n = 34), scored significantly higher in trait absorption than did those who switched groups (n = 19). CONCLUSION: Individual difference factors may predict better and poorer responders with FM to specific and nonspecific effects of homeopathic and placebo treatment.

Electroencephalographic cordance patterns distinguish exceptional clinical responders with fibromyalgia to individualized homeopathic medicines.

OBJECTIVES: To characterize initial central nervous system responses to olfactory administration of homeopathic remedies as biomarkers for subsequently exceptional, simillimum-like clinical outcomes at a systemic level (i.e., both locally and globally). DESIGN: Double-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial. SETTING: A private homeopathic clinic in Phoenix, AZ, and a university laboratory in Tucson, AZ. PATIENTS: Sixty-two (62) persons with physician-confirmed fibromyalgia (FM) (mean age, 49 years; 94% women) enrolled; 53 completed the 3-month assessment visit. Exceptional responders (n = 6, 23% of active treatment group; none on placebo) were those with improvements in the top one-third for both tender point pain and global health ratings after 3 months. INTERVENTION: Patients took daily oral doses of treatment solution in LM (1/50,000 dilution) potency (active group received individualized remedy; placebo group received plain solvent). Dependent measures: Baseline and 3-month difference scores for initial prefrontal electroencephalographic alpha frequency cordance (EEG-C, a correlate of functional brain activity) during 16 pairs of randomized, double-blinded bottle sniffs (treatment minus control solutions). RESULTS: Exceptional responders versus other patients exhibited significantly more negative initial EEG-C difference scores at prefrontal sites. Right prefrontal cordance findings correlated with subsequently reduced pain (r = 0.85, p = 0.03), better global health (r =-0.73, p = 0.10), and trait absorption (genetically determined ability to focus attention selectively and fully) (r = 0.91, p = 0.012). CONCLUSIONS: These observations suggest prefrontal EEG-C as an early biomarker of individualized homeopathic medicine effects in patients with FM who later exhibit exceptional outcomes. Prefrontal cortex controls executive function, including ability to redirect attention. Interactions between executive function, absorption, and the simillimum remedy could facilitate exceptional responses.

Integrative nanomedicine: treating cancer with nanoscale natural products.

Finding safer and more effective treatments for specific cancers remains a significant challenge for integrative clinicians and researchers worldwide. One emerging strategy is the use of nanostructured forms of drugs, vaccines, traditional animal venoms, herbs, and nutraceutical agents in cancer treatment. The recent discovery of nanoparticles in traditional homeopathic medicines adds another point of convergence between modern nanomedicine and alternative interventional strategies. A way in which homeopathic remedies could initiate anticancer effects includes cell-to-cell signaling actions of both exogenous and endogenous (exosome) nanoparticles. The result can be a cascade of modulatory biological events with antiproliferative and pro-apoptotic effects. The Banerji Protocols reflect a multigenerational clinical system developed by homeopathic physicians in India who have treated thousands of patients with cancer. A number of homeopathic remedy sources from the Banerji Protocols (eg, Calcarea phosphorica; Carcinosin-tumor-derived breast cancer tissue prepared homeopathically) overlap those already under study in nonhomeopathic nanoparticle and nanovesicle tumor exosome cancer vaccine research. Past research on antineoplastic effects of nano forms of botanical extracts such as Phytolacca, Gelsemium, Hydrastis, Thuja, and Ruta as well as on homeopathic remedy potencies made from the same types of source materials suggests other important overlaps. The replicated finding of silica, silicon, and nano-silica release from agitation of liquids in glassware adds a proven nonspecific activator and amplifier of immunological effects. Taken together, the nanoparticulate research data and the Banerji Protocols for homeopathic remedies in cancer suggest a way forward for generating advances in cancer treatment with natural product-derived nanomedicines.

Encontrar tratamientos más seguros y más eficaces para cánceres específicos sigue siendo un desafío significativo para los médicos integrales e investigadores en todo el mundo. Una estrategia emergente es el uso de formas nanoestructuradas de fármacos, vacunas, venenos animales tradicionales, hierbas y agentes nutracéuticos en el tratamiento del cáncer. El reciente descubrimiento de las nanopartículas en medicinas homeopáticas tradicionales aporta otro punto de convergencia entre la nanomedicina moderna y las estrategias intervencionistas alternativas. Una manera en la que los remedios homeopáticos podrían iniciar efectos anticancerígenos incluye acciones de señalización entre células de nanopartículas exógenas y endógenas (exosoma). El resultado puede ser una cascada de acontecimientos biológicos moduladores con efectos antiproliferativos y proapoptóticos. Los protocolos de Banerji reflejan un sistema clínico multigeneracional desarrollado por médicos homeopáticos en la India que han tratado a millares de pacientes con cáncer. Un número de fuentes de remedios homeopáticos de los protocolos de Banerji (p. ej., calcárea fosfórica; carcinosina, tejido derivado del tumor de cáncer de mama preparado homeopáticamente) se solapan con aquellos estudiados en la investigación de la vacuna para el cáncer de exosomas tumorales nanovesiculares y nanopartículas no homeopáticas). Anteriores investigaciones sobre los efectos antineoplásicos de nanoformas de extractos botánicos como la Phytolacca, Gelsemium, Hydrastis, Thuja y Ruta así como sobre la potencia de los remedios homeopáticos derivados de las mismas clases de materiales de origen sugieren otras coincidencias importantes. El descubrimiento replicado de la liberación de silicio, silicona y nanosilicio de la agitación de líquidos en cristal añade un activador inespecífico probado y un amplificador de los efectos inmunológicos. En conjunto, los datos de la investigación de nanopartículas y los protocolos de Banerji de remedios homeopáticos en el cáncer sugieren un camino a seguir para avanzar en el tratamiento del cáncer con nanomedicinas derivadas de productos naturales.