Integrative medicine to tackle the problem of chronic diseases.

This article summarizes important ways that integrative medicine can contribute to resolving the global health crisis with special reference to the US. Research using modern methods of analysis of cellular changes at the epigenetic level has shown that diet and lifestyle interventions greatly improve the state of patients' health. Estimates have been given that up to 75% of all US health costs can be saved by these methods, particularly if applied preventatively. It is thus vital that active steps are taken to implement such programs, to reduce costs to citizens and society alike, as well as to Government.

Characterization of the structure of ultra dilute sols with remarkable biological properties.

Most natural waters are probably "ultra dilute": aquasols. While the composition of such waters is routinely characterized thoroughly with respect to composition, very little attention has been paid to the solid phases which are certainly suspended in most, if not all, such. Our recent work having established the importance of the structure of water on its properties, [[1]; R. Roy, W.A. Tiller, I. Bell, M.R. Hoover; Mater Res Innov. 9 (2005) 577.] we have examined the structures of many waters with easily demonstrated (e.g. silver aquasols) or long-claimed (e.g. homeopathic remedies) biological effects. The results show that such materials can be easily distinguished from the pure solvent, and from each other, by the use of UV-VIS and Raman spectroscopy, while FTIR is insensitive to these differences. This opens up a whole new field of endeavor for inorganic materials scientists interested in biological effects.

The defining role of structure (including epitaxy) in the plausibility of homeopathy.

The key stumbling block to serious consideration of homeopathy is the presumed "implausibility" of biological activity for homeopathic medicines in which the source material is diluted past Avogadro's number of molecules. Such an argument relies heavily on the assumptions of elementary chemistry (and biochemistry), in which the material composition of a solution, (dilution factors and ligand-receptor interactions), is the essential consideration. In contrast, materials science focuses on the three-dimensional complex network structure of the condensed phase of water itself, rather than the original solute molecules. The nanoheterogenous structure of water can be determined by interactive phenomena such as epitaxy (the transmission of structural information from the surface of one material to another without the transfer of any matter), temperature-pressure processes during succussion, and formation of colloidal nanobubbles containing gaseous inclusions of oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and possibly the remedy source material. Preliminary data obtained using Raman and Ultra-Violet-Visible (UV-VIS) spectroscopy illustrate the ability to distinguish two different homeopathic medicines (Nux vomica and Natrum muriaticum) from one another and to differentiate, within a given medicine, the 6c, 12c, and 30c potencies. Materials science concepts and experimental tools offer a new approach to contemporary science, for making significant advances in the basic science studies of homeopathic medicines.