Patient-practitioner-remedy (PPR) entanglement. Part 1: a qualitative, non-local metaphor for homeopathy based on quantum theory

The use of biofield energy therapy as complementary and alternative medicine in human health care system: a narrative review and potential mechanisms

INTRODUCTION

There has been accumulating interest in the application of biofield therapy as complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) to treat various diseases. The practices include reiki, qigong, blessing, prayer, distant healing, known as biofield therapies. This paper aims to state scientific knowledge on preclinical and clinical studies to validate its potential use as an alternative medicine in the clinic. It also provides a more in-depth context for understanding the potential role of quantum entanglement in the effect of biofield energy therapy.

CONTENT

A comprehensive literature search was performed using the different databases (PubMed, Scopus, Medline, etc.). The published English articles relevant to the scope of this review were considered. The review gathered 45 papers that were considered suitable for the purpose. Based on the results of these papers, it was concluded that biofield energy therapy was effective in treating different disease symptoms in preclinical and clinical studies.

SUMMARY

Biofield therapies offer therapeutic benefits for different human health disorders, and can be used as alternative medicine in clinics for the medically pluralistic world due to the growing interest in CAM worldwide.

OUTLOOK

The effects of the biofield energy therapies are observed due to the healer's quantum thinking, and transmission of the quantum energy to the subject leads to the healing that occurs spiritually through instantaneous communication at the quantum level via quantum entanglement.

Against all odds-the persistent popularity of homeopathy

The use of homeopathy is remarkably popular. Popularity, however, is not an arbiter in a scientific discourse. In fact, the assumptions underlying homeopathy violate fundamental laws of nature. Homeopathy does not have any explanatory power and fails other criteria established for a scientific approach. Two large-scale efforts have recently documented that in spite of a plethora of clinical trials there is no evidence that homeopathic remedies have any therapeutic effect, which goes beyond that of a placebo. Relaxed regulations and lack of scientific literacy and of health education allow for continuous thriving of homeopathy. While the tide may be changing on the regulatory side, health education of the general public is presumably more important to support informed decision making by patients. Otherwise, the responsible patient, who is posited to decide on the medical choices, remains a convenient legal fiction.

Entelechy Regained? Further Musings on a Quantised Gyroscopic Metaphor for the Vital Force in Health and Dis-Ease

Background: Many complementary and alternative medicine modalities consider the vital force (Vf) an organism’s source of health and healing, Hahnemann’s notion of the Vf having similarities with quantum systems. Thus, the Vf is only indirectly observable via expressed symptoms: a quantum property is only indirectly observable via its observed experimental effects. Objective: To develop further a quantised gyroscopic metaphor of the Vf in which dis-ease slows axial rotation, causing the Vf to precess (i.e., express symptoms). The curative remedy accelerates axial rotation, throwing off the dis-ease, so precession (and symptom expression) cease. Method: Using earlier wave functions depending solely on observed patient symptoms and changes to them, 6 further wave functions are generated, representing the Vf in various states of dis-ease and health. Results: All 6 Vf wave functions can be arranged on 6 of the 9 points of an enneagram, the other 3 representing the practitioner. Conclusion: Transformations between the 6 Vf states are readily visualised. They may also be divided into two groups separated by a therapeutic “event horizon,” the practitioner being the “arbiter” between them. Thus, they could represent non-reductive information states, suitable as starting points for understanding the influence of consciousness on the therapeutic process.

'Unconventional' experiments in biology and medicine with optimized design based on quantum-like correlations

In previous articles, a description of 'unconventional' experiments (e.g. in vitro or clinical studies based on high dilutions, 'memory of water' or homeopathy) using quantum-like probability was proposed. Because the mathematical formulations of quantum logic are frequently an obstacle for physicians and biologists, a modified modeling that rests on classical probability is described in the present article. This modeling is inspired from a relational interpretation of quantum physics that applies not only to microscopic objects, but also to macroscopic structures, including experimental devices and observers. In this framework, any outcome of an experiment is not an absolute property of the observed system as usually considered but is expressed relatively to an observer. A team of interacting observers is thus described from an external view point based on two principles: the outcomes of experiments are expressed relatively to each observer and the observers agree on outcomes when they interact with each other. If probability fluctuations are also taken into account, correlations between 'expected' and observed outcomes emerge. Moreover, quantum-like correlations are predicted in experiments with local blind design but not with centralized blind design. No assumption on 'memory' or other physical modification of water is necessary in the present description although such hypotheses cannot be formally discarded. In conclusion, a simple modeling of 'unconventional' experiments based on classical probability is now available and its predictions can be tested. The underlying concepts are sufficiently intuitive to be spread into the homeopathy community and beyond. It is hoped that this modeling will encourage new studies with optimized designs for in vitro experiments and clinical trials.

Genus Epidemicus: Are Notions of Entanglement Relevant to the Homeopathic Understanding of Epidemic Disease?

BACKGROUND

Patient-practitioner-remedy (PPR) entanglement postulates non-local triadic interaction between patient (Px), practitioner (Pr) and potentised medicine (Rx), resulting in the patient's journey to cure; the in-depth homeopathic interview is considered a major contributing factor in this process. Also, by modelling entelechy, a quantised gyroscopic analogue of the Vital Force (Vf) has been developed.

OBJECTIVE

To discover whether entanglement notions explain the mode of action of homeopathy during the treatment of epidemic diseases, when the individualising in-depth homeopathic interview is neither possible nor necessary.

METHOD

The current Vf wave equation applies specifically to the in-depth patient/practitioner consultation in chronic dis-ease. A generalised form of the Vf wave equation, an earlier hypothesis based on quantum field theory (QFT) and PPR entanglement were all re-investigated.

RESULTS

The generalised Vf wave equation was found applicable in 3 main conditions: acute self-limiting, chronic and epidemic dis-ease. In the latter, a single, coherent Vf epidemic 'wave function' covering all susceptible beings could be identified, which, after practitioner intervention, disappears. Analogies were drawn between groups of atoms in a p-doped semiconductor and a collection of susceptible beings in an epidemic. Here, genus epidemicus is likened to an 'n-type dopant', which forms a 'p-n junction' with the dis-ease. Using the QFT hypothesis/metaphor, genus epidemicus acts as a 'gauge field' restoring 'global invariance' to the symmetry-broken, symptom-expressing Vf, i.e., restoring health.

CONCLUSION

Entanglement hypotheses/metaphors may have application in the homeopathic therapeutic process beyond the one-to-one in-depth interview, and so are relevant to describing the mode of action of homeopathy during treatment of epidemic disease.

Update on preliminary elements of a theory of ultra high dilutions

INTRODUCTION

The different mechanisms: A. of the interaction between the molecular mother substance and the solvent water or ethanol B. of the storage of molecule-specific information in the solvent. C. the physiological basis of the sensitivity of the living organism towards an ultra high dilution (UHD). D. the mechanism of the interaction of the test dilution with the organism are largely unknown. Several ideas have been postulated, and experiments to test them carried out in physics and in biology.

METHOD

The authors revisited a 1994 contribution on 'preliminary elements of a theory on UHDs' and updated it with regard to more recent literature and research findings.

RESULTS

Although the experimental basis can still be questioned in most cases, remarkable fundamental observations have been made to explain the effects of UHDs. For some topics in question, it appears that information specific properties of the diluted substance to be transferred is stored by means electromagnetic fields. The interaction between the UHD and the organism seems to be electromagnetic in nature. The transmission of information from (bio-)molecules to the UHD is of special interest. Again, electromagnetic actions and vector potential fields appear to be implicated.

CONCLUSION

The mechanisms of information storage and transfer in UHDs are far from fully understood, but progress has been made at experimental and theoretical levels.

On the observed specific and non-specific effects of complex therapeutic interventions: truly separate or complementary?

Specific and non-specific effects observed in randomised controlled trials (RCTs) are generally treated implicitly as ontologically separate and purely additive. Building on the notions of Heisenberg uncertainty and complementarity from the discourse of quantum theory, and using a simple arithmetic argument, it is demonstrated how this separation enables results of RCTs (particularly of complex interventions) to be treated in a convenient but ultimately incorrect manner. Conclusions drawn from RCTs (that justify--and are justified by--a reductionist approach to therapeutic efficacy) should therefore be open to question.

High-dilution effects revisited. 1. Physicochemical aspects

Several lines of evidence suggest that homeopathic high dilutions (HDs) can effectively have a pharmacological action, and so cannot be considered merely placebos. However, until now there has been no unified explanation for these observations within the dominant paradigm of the dose-response effect. Here the possible scenarios for the physicochemical nature of HDs are reviewed. A number of theoretical and experimental approaches, including quantum physics, conductometric and spectroscopic measurements, thermoluminescence, and model simulations investigated the peculiar features of diluted/succussed solutions. The heterogeneous composition of water could be affected by interactive phenomena such as coherence, epitaxy and formation of colloidal nanobubbles containing gaseous inclusions of oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, silica and, possibly, the original material of the remedy. It is likely that the molecules of active substance act as nucleation centres, amplifying the formation of supramolecular structures and imparting order to the solvent. Three major models for how this happens are currently being investigated: the water clusters or clathrates, the coherent domains postulated by quantum electrodynamics, and the formation of nanoparticles from the original solute plus solvent components. Other theoretical approaches based on quantum entanglement and on fractal-type self-organization of water clusters are more speculative and hypothetical. The problem of the physicochemical nature of HDs is still far from to be clarified but current evidence strongly supports the notion that the structuring of water and its solutes at the nanoscale can play a key role.

Homeopathy--between tradition and modern science: remedies as carriers of significance

The healing potential and description of homeopathic remedies, as determined in homeopathic pathogenic trials (HPTs) and verified by medical experience, are often found to be meaningfully connected with the symbolic content attributed to the original materials (tinctures, metals etc) through tradition or modern semantics. Such a connection is incompatible with a biomolecular mechanistic explanation of the healing action of remedies. The physiological effects of crude substances are often similar to the symptoms of illnesses cured by the corresponding homeopathic remedy. This is considered a manifestation of the similia principle. Evidence is brought here that in several cases the inverse situation occurs, with the healing properties of the crude substance and those of its homeopathic preparation partially coinciding, the remedy usually having broader healing properties. The existence of these two possibilities in the relationship of medicinal actions of remedy and the crude substance, offers evidence in favor of a direct involvement of the level of significances in the mechanism underlying the homeopathic phenomenon. Finally, an experimental methodology is proposed, which may bring the result of double-blind randomized studies for homeopathic remedies closer to the reported performance of homeopathy in real life medical practice. If successful, this method would be a further indication of a non-local, significance-related interpretation of homeopathy.

Toward a topological description of the therapeutic process: part 2. Practitioner and patient perspectives of the "journey to cure"

BACKGROUND

The discourse of quantum theory has been used to describe (1) the homeopathic therapeutic process (in terms of three-way macro-entanglement between patient, practitioner, and remedy, called PPR entanglement), and (2) the homeopathic concept of the vital force.

METHODS

Combining these two approaches leads to a semiotic (i.e., pertaining to the theory of sign systems in language) geometry that illustrates the nature of this entanglement and how it could facilitate the patient's journey to cure. Here, this geometry is extended further to gain insight into both practitioner and patient perspectives of the process.

RESULTS

From the practitioner's perspective, the semiotic geometry predicts PPR entanglement, generating a number of distinguishable therapeutic outcomes that depend on the various patient-, disease-, and remedy-based "contributions" to the overall symptom picture of the remedy arrived at holistically. Furthermore, these outcomes may be seen as different facets of a more generalized PPR entangled state whose semiotic geometrical representation is hyperdimensional. Likewise, the patient's perspective of the journey to cure can also be represented semiotically, this time as a series of cross-sections through a hyperdimensional figure of similar symmetry, entering and leaving the patient's notional "dis-ease" space.

CONCLUSIONS

The semiotic geometries representing practitioner and patient experiences of the therapeutic process ultimately converge. Where they differ is that in elaborating the patient's journey to cure, the practitioner's perspective may be seen as from the outside of a whole process. As it is the patient who ultimately is traveling this journey, the patient's perspective is necessarily from the inside, of stages or cross-sections of the whole process.

Toward a topological description of the therapeutic process

INTRODUCTION

Two (2) quantum theoretically based metaphor/models have been proposed recently to describe the therapeutic process in homeopathy in terms of (1) a representation of the vital force (Vf) as a spinning quantized gyroscope, describable as a wave function; and (2) a form of nonorthodox quantum theoretical entanglement (called PPR entanglement) between the patient, practitioner, and remedy.

METHOD

Combining these two descriptions permits "normalization" of the Vf gyroscopic wave function. In this context, "normalization" refers to the probability of a patient's symptom totality being expressed and observable to the practitioner within a "therapeutic state space" that has mirror-like characteristics.

RESULTS

The Vf gyroscopic wave function contains a constant A related to this symptom totality and its expression. Normalization provides values for A at various stages of the patient's journey to cure, while at the same time suggesting a possible Möbius strip-like "topology" for the practitioner-derived "therapeutic state space."

CONCLUSIONS

Changes in the value of A on normalization indicate how expression of symptom totality varies at different stages of the patient's journey to cure, while suggesting a "topology" for the therapeutic process and how the practitioner could be affected by it.

Quasi-quantum phenomena: the key to understanding homeopathy

On the basis of the first- and second-order Gompertzian kinetics it has been proved that the crystallization and its reciprocal process of dissolution belong to the class of quasi-quantum non-local coherent phenomena. Hence, there exists a direct link to homeopathy: molecules of the remedy prepared in the process of dilution of the active substance are non-locally interconnected at-a-distance. The results obtained provide strong arguments justifying formulated ad hoc macroscopic versions of quantum non-locality, entanglement and coherence employed in interpretation of the homeopathic remedies activity and effectiveness. In particular they are consistent with the predictions of the weak quantum theory developed by Atmanspacher and coworkers.

A formal approach to the problem of reproducing experimental effects with homeopathic potencies

OBJECTIVE

This paper investigates a general concept of reproducibility with regard to its application on experiments with homeopathic potencies.

METHODS

The experimental situation for distinguishing a homeopathic potency and its solvent is described in a formal way. This allows the application of the weak law of large numbers. Experimental arrangements are described in a formal way. This allows conclusions to be drawn about the possible existence of nonlocal influences on an experiment.

CONCLUSIONS

From a pragmatic as well as from a global point of view, a general concept of reproducibility supports decisions whether or not effects in experiments with homeopathic potencies do exist.

A new geometrical description of entanglement and the curative homeopathic process

INTRODUCTION

The Memory of Water, a "local" explanation of homeopathy's efficacy, has been supplemented recently by complementary "nonlocal" hypotheses. One of these envisages "quantum macro-entanglement" among patient, practitioner, and remedy to form a "PPR" entangled state, from which the possibility of cure may manifest.

METHODS

Semiotic analysis affords a geometrical description of this entangled state as a patient-centered chiral tetrahedron. Its four corners depict three different types of symptoms (of the patient, the dis-ease, and the remedial substance) and the potentized remedy.

RESULTS

Reflecting this state in a practitioner-derived mirror-like "therapeutic state space" generates two notional patient-centered chiral tetrahedra: cure may be thought to arise from their patient-driven combination "through the looking glass" of the therapeutic state space, into one polyhedron called a stella octangula or stellated octahedron; in essence, a 3-dimensional Star of David.

CONCLUSIONS

The practitioner helps in forming these notional semiotic polyhedra, but the patient is at their epicenters (i.e., the practitioner facilitates but ultimately does not control the curative process).

Homeopathic pathogenetic trials produce more specific than non-specific symptoms: results from two double-blind placebo controlled trials

We conducted two parallel, blinded homeopathic pathogenetic trials conducted at two different sites to determine whether symptoms reported by healthy volunteers were significantly different for homeopathic remedies than for placebos. Study 1 used a two-armed design, testing ozone against placebo. Study 2 used a three-armed design, testing ozone and iridium against placebo. We found significantly more remedy-specific symptoms in provers taking ozone or iridium than in provers taking placebo in the three-armed trial and in both trials pooled for ozone and placebo. We, therefore, conclude that homeopathic remedies produce more symptoms typical for a remedy than non-typical symptoms. The results furthermore suggest a somewhat non-classical pattern because symptoms of one remedy appear to be mimicked in the other trial arm. This might be indicative of entanglement in homeopathic systems.

Modern or post-modern? Local or non-local? A response to Leick

Most debates in science and the humanities that cannot be settled are not about truth, nor about data, but about beliefs and world views. Philippe Leick's comment on entanglement models of homeopathy are a good example. Because of this, no argument, however, convincing to some, will settle that debate. The only thing that can resolve it is a large cultural shift. My own ideas about non-local models, for a whole category of possibly similar events of which homeopathy is but one example.

The nature of the active ingredient in ultramolecular dilutions

This paper discusses the nature of the active ingredient of homeopathic ultramolecular dilutions in terms of quantitative physics. First, the problem of the nature of an active ingredient in ultramolecular dilutions is analysed leading to the recognition of the necessity of characterizing the active ingredient as a non-local quality. Second, non-locality in quantum mechanics, which is used as a paradigm, is formally presented. Third, a generalization of quantum mechanics is considered, focussing on the consequences of weakening of the axioms. The formal treatment leads to the possible extension of the validity of quantum theory to macroscopic or even non-physical systems under certain circumstances with a while maintaining non-local behaviour. With respect to the survival of entanglement in such non-quantum systems a strong relationship between homeopathy and non-local behaviour can be envisaged. I describe how several authors apply this relationship. In conclusion, the paper reviews how quantum mechanics is closely related to information theory but why weak quantum theory and homeopathy have not hitherto been related in the same way.

Hypothesis: do homeopathic medicines exert their action in humans and animals via the vomeronasal system?

There is significant debate on the nature of the active therapeutic ingredient in homeopathic medicines and whether the effect of homeopathic medicines is exerted locally. This paper accepts that there is an active therapeutic ingredient in homeopathic medicines that acts pharmacologically in the body and proposes a possible receptor site. The vomeronasal organ (Jacobson's organ) is the receptor site for the detection of non-odorant molecules, eg pheromones, in reptiles, amphibians and mammals. The organ forms the main part of a chemoreceptor system known as the vomeronasal system. This paper proposes that it is this system that constitutes the receptor for homeopathic medicines in both animal and human subjects.

Immunology and homeopathy. 4. Clinical studies-part 2

The clinical studies on the effectiveness of homeopathy in respiratory allergy (18 randomized trials and 9 observational studies) are described. The literature of common immunologic disorders including also upper respiratory tract infections (URTI) and otorhinolaryngology (reported in part 1), is evaluated and discussed. Most of initial evidence-based research was addressed to the question of whether homeopathic high dilutions are placebos or possess specific effects, but this question has been often equivocal and is still a matter of debate. The evidence demonstrates that in some conditions homeopathy shows significant promise, e.g. Galphimia glauca (low dilutions/potencies) in allergic oculorhinitis, classical individualized homeopathy in otitis and possibly in asthma and allergic complaints, and a few low-potency homeopathic complexes in sinusitis and rhinoconjunctivitis. A general weakness of evidence derives from lack of independent confirmation of reported trials and from presence of conflicting results, as in case of homeopathic immunotherapy and of classical homeopathy for URTI. The suitable methods to evaluate homeopathy effectiveness, without altering the setting of cure, are also analyzed.

Towards a New Model of the Homeopathic Process Based on Quantum Field Theory

BACKGROUND

Quantum theory's notions of non-locality and entanglement have previously informed attempts to model the therapeutic process. Of these, Weak Quantum Theory (WQT) and Patient- Practitioner-Remedy (PPR) entanglement are developing into mathematically- based models of homeopathy.

OBJECTIVE

The present study attempted to identify fundamental concepts within quantum field theory (QFT) that could be used to broaden the scope of PPR entanglement models, prior to constructing a more rigorous mathematical treatment.

METHODS

In QFT, particles and forces are considered as fully interacting relativistic quantum matter and force fields, respectively. These interactions are visualized graphically as spacetime Feynman diagrams. Further, these interacting field systems can have ground states with broken symmetry; the so-called Higgs field being responsible for this symmetry breaking. In the new model, patient, practitioner and remedy are imagined as fully interacting quantum-like fields; patients and practitioners in terms of quantum matter-type fields, and remedies and diseases as quantum interaction-type fields.

RESULTS

Disease manifestation by the Vital Force (Vf) could be an event similar to spontaneous symmetry breaking in QFT: the curative remedy acting to restore the broken symmetry of the Vf field. Entanglement between patient, practitioner, and remedy might be representable as Feynman-like diagrams.

CONCLUSION

QFT demonstrates that quantum properties can be physical without being observable. Thus, an underlying similarity in discourse could exist between homeopathy and quantum theory which could be useful for modelling the homeopathic process. This preliminary investigation also suggested that key elements of previous quantum models of the homeopathic process, may become unified within this new QFT-type approach.

Research on homeopathy: state of the art

In this paper, we review research on homeopathy from four perspectives, focusing on reviews and some landmark studies. These perspectives are laboratory studies, clinical trials, observational studies, and theoretical work. In laboratory models, numerous effects and anomalies have been reported. However, no single model has been sufficiently widely replicated. Instead, researchers have focused on ever-new models and experiments, leaving the picture of scattered anomalies without coherence. Basic research, trying to elucidate a purported difference between homeopathic remedies and control solutions has also produced some encouraging results, but again, series of independent replications are missing. While there are nearly 200 reports on clinical trials, few series have been conducted for single conditions. Some of these series document clinically useful effects and differences against placebo and some series do not. Observational research into uncontrolled homeopathic practice documents consistently strong therapeutic effects and sustained satisfaction in patients. We suggest that this scattered picture has to do with the fourth line of research: lack of a good theory. Some of the extant theoretical models are reviewed, including placebo, water structure, silica contamination, energy models, and entanglement models. It emerges that local models, suggesting some change in structure in the solvent, are far from convincing. The nonlocal models proposed would predict that it is impossible to nail down homeopathic effects with direct experimental testing and this places homeopathy in a scientific dilemma. We close with some suggestions for potentially fruitful research.

Homeopathy for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Pilot Randomized-Controlled Trial

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study was to carry out a preliminary trial evaluating the effectiveness of homeopathy in the treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

DESIGN

This work was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

SETTINGS/LOCATION

This study was conducted in a private homeopathic clinic in the Seattle metropolitan area.

SUBJECTS

Subjects included children 6-12 years of age meeting Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 4th edition (DSM-IV) criteria for ADHD.

INTERVENTIONS

Forty-three subjects were randomized to receive a homeopathic consultation and either an individualized homeopathic remedy or placebo. Patients were seen by homeopathic physicians every 6 weeks for 18 weeks.

OUTCOME MEASURES

Outcome measures included the Conner's Global Index-Parent, Conner's Global Index- Teacher, Conner's Parent Rating Scale-Brief, Continuous Performance Test, and the Clinical Global Impression Scale.

RESULTS

There were no statistically significant differences between homeopathic remedy and placebo groups on the primary or secondary outcome variables. However, there were statistically and clinically significant improvements in both groups on many of the outcome measures.

CONCLUSIONS

This pilot study provides no evidence to support a therapeutic effect of individually selected homeopathic remedies in children with ADHD. A therapeutic effect of the homeopathic encounter is suggested and warrants further evaluation. Future studies should be carried out over a longer period of time and should include a control group that does not receive the homeopathic consultation. Comparison to conventional stimulant medication for ADHD also should be considered.

Does a form of 'entanglement' between people explain healing? An examination of hypotheses and methodology

Quantum entanglement is a phenomenon in which entangled systems exhibit correlations that cannot be explained by classical physics. It has recently been suggested that a similar process occurs between people and explains anomalous phenomena such as healing. This paper explores the hypothesis that the therapeutic interaction involves some kind of 'entanglement' between people. There are several different versions of the theory that entanglement is possible between people: the versions differ in the way entanglement between people is derived, and the way it has a therapeutic effect. The two main versions are generalised, specific entanglement, and global, emergent entanglement-specific entanglement. Two research ideas are presented for testing the hypothesis of entanglement between people, both of which are based on predicting variation in outcome in naturally occurring contexts (the naturalistic observational study).

Presentiment or entanglement?

A number of authors have recently discussed the possible role entanglement in homeopathy. Walach et al have published a homeopathic proving which they interpreted as demonstrating entanglement between placebo and verum groups in a proving. The lack of a 'run-in' period was a weakness of this trial. We present further results of our proving of Belladonna which show that subjects who reported symptoms during the placebo run-in period ('presentiment provers') were more likely to report symptoms during the treatment period. This data suggests and the observations of Walach et al may be explicable by conventional mechanisms including differential reporting and constitutional type.

Homeopathic proving symptoms: result of a local, non-local, or placebo process? A blinded, placebo-controlled pilot study

BACKGROUND

Homeopathic pathogenetic trials (HPTs) (provings) are the pillar of homeopathy. Symptoms experienced by healthy volunteers are used to find the correct medicine for therapy. It is unclear whether these symptoms are specific or due to placebo noise. Furthermore, it is uncertain whether proving effects, if present at all, are due to a local or non-local process

OBJECTIVES

To develop a test model which allows for testing if homeopathic proving symptoms are caused by placebo or causative mechanisms, and if these symptoms are due to local or non-local processes.

DESIGN

Randomised, blinded, placebo-controlled, parallel-group study, with 1-week baseline and 2-weeks proving period.

SUBJECTS

11 healthy volunteers from two different homeopathic schools. PROVING SUBSTANCE: An homeopathic medicine (Cantharis 30c), blindly chosen from 12 potential medicines, compared to placebo.

OUTCOME MEASURE

Number of symptoms typical for the medicine in the experimental and control group during baseline and proving period.

RESULTS

During baseline there was no difference in the number of typical or atypical symptoms in either group. During the proving period, both more typical symptoms for Cantharis (P= 0.03) and more atypical symptoms (P= 0.02) were observed compared to baseline. Between-group differences were not significant. Effect sizes for the difference between the proving and control group for typical symptoms was d=0.4, and for atypical symptoms d=0.6.

DISCUSSION

This proving model could be valuable in studying the validity of proving symptoms of homeopathic substances in healthy volunteers.

CONCLUSION

Homeopathic proving symptoms appear to be specific to the medicine and do not seem to be due to a local process. Since this was a pilot study using a small number of provers, rival hypotheses cannot be ruled out and the study needs replication.

A Double-Blind, Randomized, Homeopathic Pathogenetic Trial with Healthy Persons: Comparing Two High Potencies

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

According to homeopathic theory, symptoms provoked by the homeopathic remedy in a pathogenetic trial (PT) make up the remedy picture serving as the basis for the homeopathic treatment. Little is known whether the symptoms produced by the remedy differ from symptoms produced by placebo. This is because both homeopathic remedy and placebo also produce so-called unspecific effects due to psychological reasons. We therefore explore the distinctiveness of homeopathic symptoms and placebo symptoms.

DESIGN

A three-armed, randomized PT pilot study.

SETTING

A blinded materia medica expert identifies symptoms with regard to their number and specificity.

PARTICIPANTS

21 healthy homeopathic practitioners note symptoms produced after remedy intake.

INTERVENTIONS

Patients are randomly assigned to receive either (1) Calendula officinalis, (2) Ferrum muriaticum, or (3) placebo. After a seven-day baseline symptoms recording period, proving substances are taken until symptoms occur. In daily supervision phone calls, symptoms are verified by the supervisor.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE

Total number of symptoms produced and number of specific symptoms produced.

OUTLOOK

The results showed that both remedies 'produced' significantly more symptoms than placebo. With regard to the specificity, the Calendula officinalis group displayed more remedy-specific symptoms than placebo. However, in the Ferrum muriaticum group more Calendula symptoms than placebo were also recorded.

Patient-practitioner-remedy (PPR) entanglement. Part 5. Can homeopathic remedy reactions be outcomes of PPR entanglement?

The possibility that well-documented types of reaction to the prescribed homeopathic medicine may be outcomes of PPR entanglement is discussed within the context of a previously described model for homeopathy that incorporates GHZ three-particle entanglement and Weak Quantum Theory.

Patient-practitioner-remedy (PPR) entanglement. Part 6. Miasms revisited: non-linear quantum theory as a model for the homeopathic process

The possibility that non-linear quantum theory could be used to model PPR entanglement is discussed in relation to the treatment of miasms. In this model, miasms are imagined as disease entities behaving like solitary waves, or 'solitons' which, when trapped in a therapeutic state space, requiring equally soliton-like (miasmatic or high potency) remedies to effectively 'annihilate' them.

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.

Extended Network Generalized Entanglement Theory: therapeutic mechanisms, empirical predictions, and investigations

Extended Network Generalized Entanglement Theory (Entanglement Theory for short) combines two earlier theories based on complexity theory and quantum mechanics. The theory's assumptions are: the body is a complex, self-organizing system (the extended network) that self-organizes so as to achieve genetically defined patterns (where patterns include morphologic as well as lifestyle patterns). These pattern-specifying genes require feedback that is provided by generalized quantum entanglement. Additionally, generalized entanglement has evolved as a form of communication between people (and animals) and can be used in healing. Entanglement Theory suggests that several processes are involved in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). Direct subtle therapy creates network change either through lifestyle management, some manual therapies, and psychologically mediated effects of therapy. Indirect subtle therapy is a process of entanglement with other people or physical entities (e.g., remedies, healing sites). Both types of subtle therapy create two kinds of information within the network--either that the network is more disregulated than it is and the network then compensates for this error, or as a guide for network change leading to healing. Most CAM therapies involve a combination of indirect and direct therapies, making empirical evaluation complex. Empirical predictions from this theory are contrasted with those from two other possible mechanisms of healing: (1) psychologic processes and (2) mechanisms involving electromagnetic influence between people (biofield/energy medicine). Topics for empirical study include a hyperfast communication system, the phenomenology of entanglement, predictors of outcome in naturally occurring clinical settings, and the importance of therapist and patient characteristics to outcome.

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.

Complexity science and homeopathy: a synthetic overview

Homeopathy is founded on 'holistic' and 'vitalistic' paradigms, which may be interpreted--at least in part--in terms of a framework provided by the theory of dynamic systems and of complexity. The conceptual models and some experimental findings from complexity science may support the paradoxical claims of similia principle and of dilution/dynamization effects. It is argued that better appreciation of three main properties of complex systems: non-linearity, self-organization, and dynamicity, will not only add to our basic understanding of homeopathic phenomena but also illuminate new directions for experimental investigations and therapeutic settings.

Patient–practitioner–remedy (PPR) entanglement Part 4

The possibility of classifying and unifying some of the recent entanglement models for homeopathy is discussed. Unification involves combining the previous GHZ/WQT-based entanglement model, itself a fusion of Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) three-particle entanglement and a generalised version of quantum theory, called Weak Quantum Theory (WQT), with Walach's semiotic model involving double entanglement. The new combined model invokes a 'geometry' of patient-practitioner-remedy (PPR) entanglement embedded in a therapeutic state space.

Patient-practitioner-remedy (PPR) entanglement. Part 3. Refining the quantum metaphor for homeopathy

The notion of patient-practitioner-remedy (PPR) entanglement, previously proposed for homeopathy, is refined by adapting concepts derived from Greenberger, Horne, and Zeilinger's treatment of three-particle entanglement (GHZ states), and a generalised version of quantum theory, called weak quantum theory (WQT). These suggest that for maximum PPR entanglement during the therapeutic encounter, the practitioner's awareness needs to be directed inward as well as outward toward the patient, and that health and disease are mirror images of each other, similar to and represented by, the relationship of complex numbers to their complex conjugates.

Patient-practitioner-remedy (PPR) entanglement. Part 2: Extending the metaphor for homeopathy using molecular quantum theory

A quantum metaphor developed previously for homeopathy, involving triadic patient-practitioner-remedy (PPR) entanglement, is extended by importing concepts used in chemistry to describe the electronic structures of molecules. In particular, the electronic energy states of triangular tri-atomic molecules are used metaphorically to predict that (a) the more a homeopathic medicine is potentised, the deeper the level of cure is likely to be, and (b) the practitioner can be included as a beneficiary of the therapeutic process. The model also predicts that remedy attenuation and degree of PRR interaction could (in the quantum theoretical sense) represent a pair of complementary conjugate variables.