title: Unequal brothers : are homeopathy and hormesis linked?
abstract: The debate between those who believe homeopathy and hormesis derive from the same root and those who believe the two are different phenomena is as old as hormesis. It is an emotionally loaded discussion, with both sides fielding arguments which are far from scientific. Careful analysis of the basic paradigms of the two systems questions the claim of the homeopaths, who find similarities between them. The authors discuss these paradigms, indicating the differences between the claims of homeopathy and hormesis. It is time for thorough and serious research to lay this question to rest. One possible approach is to compare the activity of a hormetic agent, prepared in the usual way, with that of the same agent in the same concentration prepared homeopathically by serial dilution and succussion.
authors: The Center for Integrative Complementary Medicine, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel. Electronic address: oberbaum@netvision.net.il.
authors: Menachem
authors: M
authors: Oberbaum
authors: Department of Internal Medicine I, Outpatient Unit Homeopathy in Malignant Diseases, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria. Electronic address: michael.frass@meduniwien.ac.at.
authors: Michael
authors: M
authors: Frass
authors: Psychiatric Services, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel. Electronic address: psychiatry@scmc.org.il.
authors: Cornelius
authors: C
authors: Gropp
mesh_terms: D006705:Homeopathy / Q000379:methods*; D059165:Hormesis / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D007201:Indicator Dilution Techniques
keywords: Homeopathy; Hormesis; repeatability; specificity