title: Mutual information and the homeopathic effect.
abstract: We explore the feasibility of using mutual information to characterize the homeopathic effect. This quantity measures the information gained about a signal at time (t + tau), from its value at an earlier time t; it quantifies the predictability of data. We illustrate our method with an analysis of the homeopathic effect of Strophanthus hispidus on the cardiac rhythm of healthy human subjects, using data from a previous experiment. Our results allow an intuitively clear rendering and agree with the similitude principle applied to this case. They also show that the solvent has a significant effect on the signal; hence, it does not act as an ideal placebo and we discuss some therapeutic corollaries to this observation.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Física y Matemáticas, Universidad Michoacana, Morelia, Michoacán, México.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Waldo
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Torres
mesh_terms: D005240:Feasibility Studies; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000187:drug effects*; D006705:Homeopathy / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology; D010946:Plants, Medicinal; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D030013:Strophanthus
chemical_list: D010936:Plant Extracts