Proving and therapeutic experiments in the HomBRex basic homeopathy research database

Abstract

The HomBRex database of basic research experiments on homeopathy indexes studies on biological systems including animal, human, plant, fungi and microbial organisms. Its objective is to index proving and therapeutic experiments on the Similia Principle and the role of dilution and succussion of substances in experimental biologic systems. The database was analyzed when it contained more than 1100 experiments in more than 900 original articles. The database provides information on 732 experiments using healthy human, animal and plant systems. These experiments were divided into 'ideal' model proving (475) and prophylactic (257) categories. It also includes 397 therapeutic experiments, in which an effect of a substance was tested in a diseased or disturbed system. A large number of substances were used, including high and low dilutions and potencies-191 substances in proving, 130 in prophylactic and 112 in therapeutic experiments. In general, basic research in homeopathy does not directly investigate the Similia Principle. We conclude, that from the overwhelming variety in organisms, diseased states, and substances, only a limited number of biological systems and states should be selected to study the Similia Principle.

Animal models for studying homeopathy and high dilutions: Conceptual critical review

“…Since these approaches are closer to the traditional scientific approach, many studies in fundamental research have focused on such models, using in vivo or in vitro protocols. 5,6 In fact, studies based strictly on the Similia principle are not numerous in the literature. Most experiments concentrate on the simple demonstration (or not) of some effect of high dilutions, without clarifying their physiopathological aspects or biological meaning.…”

An overview of 45 published database resources for complementary and alternative medicine

“…After removing duplicates, 1665 references were still included, which after thorough screening left 61 selected references for possible inclusion. After a second step of exclusion, articles describing a total of 45 different CAM‐related databases remained 14–58 …”

“…Some of them, such as amed or CAM base , concentrate on the broader scope of CAM in general and offer access to full‐text publications, whereas others are specialised in well‐defined areas like clinical trials in acupuncture ( acubriefs ), 14 art therapy ( arthedata ), 18 basic research in homoeopathy (e.g. H om BR ex ), 35 or Traditional Chinese Medicine (e.g. C hina N ational K nowledge I nfrastructure Database) 26 .…”

Homeopathic treatments modify inflammation but not behavioral response to influenza antigen challenge in BALB/c mice

“…In the present work, a new attempt to register 'proving' effects 17,15 in experimental animals was presented, without significant results, considering the behavioral data obtained from the OF test, body and organ weights and histomorphometry. Similar difficulties were also shared by Coelho et al, 18 who were not able to demonstrate pathogenetic effects when rats were treated with Dolichos pruriens homeopathic preparations.…”