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Challenging Homeopathy

Raoul Drapeau Ashburn, Virginia

In the September/October issue, Kendrick Frazier describes comparison tests of high-potency homeopathic preparations that a German skeptic group plans to conduct.

I think that uninformed readers will be greatly confused by the term high potency. Homeopaths use the term to describe a treatment that has great effect, whereas a scientist would consider it the weakest possible strength. This is because the greater the dilution of the active ingredient, the higher the potency they claim! So if the German test is to distinguish between various high potency remedies, the subjects will be comparing samples consisting of more or less pure solvent, probably quite difficult.

For those not familiar with homeopathy, a remedy is considered high-potency if it has a dilution of the active ingredient of 30C (1/10030) or more. For comparison, a pinch of salt in the ocean would be about a 12C (1/10012) dilution. Oscillococcinum cold remedy has a 200C (1/100200) dilution (unachievable, since there are estimated to be only 10080 atoms in the universe). The Cold-Eze cough remedy has a dilution of 2X (1/102); equivalent to 1C. Yet the box of both products states that they are homeopathic. The latter can definitely be bioactive, whereas the former is certainly not (assuming that the solvent is absolutely pure). Thus, homeopathic is a term of marketing art, not one of science.

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