Several key principles of homeopathy feature in this issue of the journal. The first of our papers, however, features the physiological principle of preconditioning, whose specific example here is enhancing the therapeutic efficacy of mesenchymal stem cells by prior modulation of the cells' culture conditions. The in-vitro study by Aphale and colleagues offers evidence that homeopathic Arsenicum enhanced the cells' capacity to reduce a lipopolysaccharide-induced cytokine storm in blood mononuclear cells.[1] That a homeopathic remedy may increase immunomodulatory potential in this way is a noteworthy finding.

Whether water is itself potentised in the process of preparing a homeopathic medicine is a principle that is methodically addressed in the paper by Cartwright & Pinkus.[2] Using a solvatochromic dye to detect the presence of potencies it was found that, compared with Arsenicum 10M, ‘Water 10M’ did not potentise. Water thus appears to be merely an inert carrier for the potentisation of substances placed in it, laying to rest any remaining considerations that water has a ‘memory’.

Articles that herein report promising findings for individualised homeopathy in the treatment of Tinea infections[3] and of knee osteoarthritis[4] are followed by a paper from Berna & Bagot which proposes that N-of-1 clinical trials in homeopathy should estimate for each patient the prior probabilities that a given medicine is effective for that particular individual and that the person's symptoms are actually curable.[5] And a philosophical argument is advanced in a Commentary article by Schmidt noting that the practice of homeopathy can be viewed as being constituted on the principles of rationality, similarity and healing.[6]

A human clinical case report by Carvalho & Ribeiro and a veterinary clinical case series by Barros et al illustrate the imaginative use of homeopathic medicines—the former using a homeopathic formulation of Cannabis sativa to treat a patient with fibromyalgia[7] and the latter using Sulphur ointment as adjunctive treatment for myiasis in sheep.[8] The finding that the latter's therapeutic efficacy is based on inhibiting the development of the living causative agent, the parasitic blowfly larva, is itself an intriguing concept in terms of the overarching principle of homeopathy as a stimulatory agent for healing in nature. The present issue of the journal is completed by a timely reminder from Dutta that the involvement of patients themselves in the planning of clinical projects is a key principle to adopt in optimising research study design in homeopathy.[9]

Article published online:
26 July 2024

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