History of homeopathy

History of homeopathy. History of a science of health? The homeopathic school was founded by the German doctor Samuel Hahnmemann (image), who was recognized by the scientific world for his work in pharmacology, hygiene, public health, and for his special work in the treatment with arsenic poisoning. Disappointed by the medicine that was practiced in the eighteenth century, it withdraws from the medical world and is dedicated to conducting chemical research, writing, and translating different documents. During this time, Samuel began to question the ability of drug treatment of different diseases, believing that these could cause new problems, even more difficult to eradicate than the original. (Pizzorno, 2013) Homeopathy gains its reputation in acute and epidemic diseases especially in Cincinnati in 1849, as two German immigrants published results of their cholera treatments with Camphor, a homeopathic treatment, claiming to have an extremely low mortality rate. A similar case occurred during yellow fever in 1879, where homeopaths had a lower mortality rate than ordinary doctors. Homeopathy has remained a worldwide tradition. It is currently considered a medical specialty of official postgraduate in many countries and there are clinics as well as homeopathic hospitals that are part of the public health system of countries like England, India, Argentina, Mexico and in several regions of Europe. Since the time of Hahnemann it is considered that the greatest benefit of homeopathic medication is the placebo effect, since until today there is no clear evidence of advantages of these medications over conventional ones. According to Samuel, patients who are accustomed to taking medication daily in constant doses feel better, although not all doses administered include the homeopathic medicine, if not some type of placebo such as lactose, raspberry juice, among others. The placebo effect is mainly based on making the patient feel better, which is the goal of any medication. (Jütte, 2014). Despite the birth of homeopathy for centuries and its current popularity, the scientific and medical community continues to have an apathetic view towards this practice. This is largely due to the lack of evidence to support its effectiveness. First, it is important to emphasize the difference between effectiveness and effectiveness. Efficacy is understood as "the extent to which a specific intervention, procedure, medication, regimen or service produces a beneficial result under ideal conditions"; while effectiveness is defined as "a measure of the extent to which an intervention, procedure, medication, regimen or service, employed in routine circumstances has a desired effect on a specific population." (Relton, O'Cathain and Thomas 2008) The effectiveness of homeopathic medicine has been proven for a long time due to its placebo effect. Samuel Hahnemann based this practice on the "law of the like" (the similar cures to the similar). Under this principle, homeopathy creates extremely diluted drugs, some of which reach a dilution of one part per million or up to one part per 102,000 parts of water. By means of stoichiometric and basic statistical calculations it can be verified that any drug diluted to a part by 1024 or more, may not contain a particle of its active component. This would not make it different from other types of homeopathic medicines or, even, the water with which it is ingested. For this reason, because the drug practically does not contain its active component, it lacks effectiveness. (Sehon and Stanley, 2010) Another obstacle that hinders the establishment of homeopathy as a health science is the lack of reliable evidence to confirm the therapeutic use of homeopathic medicines. Many of the clinical cases are biased because there is a certain degree of bias in favor or against this practice, which explains the tendency to exaggerate the results. On the other hand, there is also resistance to further studies due to the cost involved. (Relton, O'Cathain and Thomas, 2008) Because of this, many questions that arose from the creation of homeopathy 200 years ago, like what is the mechanism of their drugs, still can not be elucidated. (Sehon and Stanley, 2010) Undoubtedly, despite the most recent studies and the little experimental and observable evidence on homeopathy as a science of health, there is no doubt about the efficacy of this medical practice as a placebo effect. However, given the low concentration of active components in their medications, their efficiency