Legitimacy of Homeopathy
Homeopathy has been practiced for centuries as a curative process for all kinds of diseases. Today, it is widely used in other countries, but has been only on the periphery of acceptability in the U. S. The National Cancer Institute defines homeopathy as: A method of treating disease with small amounts of remedies that, in large amounts in healthy people, produce symptoms similar to those being treated. Homeopathy seeks to stimulate the body’s defense mechanisms and processes so as to prevent or treat illness. In other words, homeopathic practitioners infuse harmless amounts of various compounds into the patient that will make the body react in ways it reacts to the disease, but more aggressively. This stimulates the immune system to produce more and stronger antibodies to fight the original disease.
In recent years, most medical scientists have denounced homeopathy as quackery. Having hardly any opportunities for development within mainstream medicine, research and practice has been relegated to kitchen laboratories and back offices of natural food stores. However, increasing evidence of the efficacy of the practice is beginning to stir renewed interest in unexpected places.
According to Ralph Moss’ latest Cancer Decisions newsletter, The February 2010 issue of the International Journal of Oncology reported that the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center has found that four homeopathic remedies can induce cancer cell death in breast cancer tumors. This news came out of the Integrative Medicine Program, the Department of Molecular Pathology, and the Department of Melanoma Medical Oncology at the Center. The effects of two of the remedies appear similar to the activity of Taxol, the most commonly used chemotherapy drug for breast cancer. The four remedies are typically used in India to treat breast cancer.
The biggest problem with relying solely on conventional medical science’s drug testing for an answer to cancer is that this testing always assumes certain parameters of dogmatic “facts” that prejudge the possible outcomes. If any theory doesn’t fit within preconceived outcomes, it doesn’t get a seat at the table of modern medical science. Homeopathy has not had that advantage of legitimacy, and has more or less been sidelined from consideration for cancer therapy possibilities. Now that M. D. Anderson, the top cancer center in America, has come out with a study that gives credence to the age-old practice, conventional cancer treatment researchers and practitioners have some re-thinking to do.
Just one study, even from such a prestigious institution, is not going to change conventional medicine overnight, but it is exciting to see more and more of these revelation bringing legitimacy to a new strategy for the war on cancer.