Homeopathy: clarifying its relationship to hormesis.
This paper presents the case that certain types of homeopathic medicine may represent a form of hormesis, that is, either pre- or post-conditioning hormesis. An example of a post-conditioning model by van Wijk and colleagues demonstrated successful enhancement of adaptive responses using below-toxic threshold doses (i.e. hormetic doses) of inducing agents when administered subsequent to a highly toxic chemical exposure, thus satisfying a basic experimental biomedical standard. Of note is that this model uses exposures within a measurable predicted hormetic range, unlike most forms of homeopathy. This experimental framework (along with a pre-conditioning model developed by Bellavite) provides a possible vehicle by which certain aspect(s) of homeopathy may be integrated into mainstream biomedical assessment and clinical practice.
Calabrese
Edward J
EJ
Environmental Health Sciences Program, School of Public Health, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, USA. edwardc@schoolph.umass.edu
Jonas
Wayne B
WB
D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000187:drug effects*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004358:Drug Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D006705:Homeopathy / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D014116:Toxicology