Homeopathy

Homeopathy is used by millions of people in India and is recognised under the Ministry of Ayush. We are going to describe it honestly, because you are entitled to accurate information about anything you might take.

What it is

A system founded in the late eighteenth century on two principles: that like cures like, and that repeated dilution increases potency. At the dilutions commonly used, no molecule of the original substance remains in the preparation.

What the evidence shows

Systematic reviews of homeopathy have consistently found effects no greater than placebo. Several national health bodies have reached the same conclusion after major reviews. We are not going to tell you otherwise.

What we will say is that placebo effects are real and measurable, particularly for pain, nausea and subjective symptoms, and that a long, careful consultation - which homeopathic practice tends to involve - has value of its own. People are not imagining feeling better. The question is what produced it.

Homeopathic remedies are safe. The danger is not what is in them - it is what someone might use them instead of.

Where this becomes dangerous

Homeopathy should never replace treatment for a serious or infectious illness, and should never replace vaccination. "Homeopathic immunisation" does not protect against any disease, and children have died of preventable illness because of it.

If you use homeopathy alongside medical treatment for minor complaints, that is your choice to make. Make it with accurate information rather than without it.