Documentary Description
Homeopathy was pioneered over 200 years ago. Practitioners and
patients are convinced it has the power to heal. Today, some of the
most famous and influential people in the world, including pop stars,
politicians, footballers and even Prince Charles, all use homeopathic
remedies. Yet according to traditional science, they are wasting their
money.
The Challenge
Sceptic James Randi is so convinced that homeopathy will not work,
that he has offered $1m to anyone who can provide convincing evidence
of its effects. For the first time in the programme’s history, Horizon
conducts its own scientific experiment, to try and win his money. If
they succeed, they will not only be $1m richer – they will also force
scientists to rethink some of their fundamental beliefs.
Homeopathy and conventional science
The basic principle of homeopathy is that like cures like: that an
ailment can be cured by small quantities of substances which produce
the same symptoms. For example, it is believed that onions, which
produce streaming, itchy eyes, can be used to relieve the symptoms of
hay fever.
However, many of the ingredients of homeopathic cures are poisonous
if taken in large enough quantities. So homeopaths dilute the
substances they are using in water or alcohol. This is where scientists
become sceptical – because homeopathic solutions are diluted so many
times they are unlikely to contain any of the original ingredients at
all.
Yet many of the people who take homeopathic medicines are convinced
that they work. Has science missed something, or could there be a more
conventional explanation?
The Placebo Effect
The placebo effect is a well-documented medical phenomenon. Often, a
patient taking pills will feel better, regardless of what the pills
contain, simply because they believe the pills will work. Doctors
studying the placebo effect have noticed that large pills work better
than small pills, and that coloured pills work better than white ones.
Could the beneficial effects of homeopathy be entirely due to the
placebo effect? If so, then homeopathy ought not to work on babies or
animals, who have no knowledge that they are taking a medicine. Yet
many people are convinced that it does.
Can science prove that homeopathy works?
In 1988, Jacques Benveniste was studying how allergies affected the
body. He focussed on a type of blood cell known as a basophil, which
activates when it comes into contact with a substance you’re allergic
to.
As part of his research, Benveniste experimented with very dilute
solutions. To his surprise, his research showed that even when the
allergic substance was diluted down to homeopathic quantities, it could
still trigger a reaction in the basophils. Was this the scientific
proof that homeopathic medicines could have a measurable effect on the
body?
The memory of water
In an attempt to explain his results, Benveniste suggested a startling
new theory. He proposed that water had the power to ‘remember’
substances that had been dissolved in it. This startling new idea would
force scientists to rethink many fundamental ideas about how liquids
behave.
Unsurprisingly, the scientific community greeted this idea with
scepticism. The then editor of Nature, Sir John Maddox, agreed to
publish Benveniste’s paper – but on one condition. Benveniste must open
his laboratory to a team of independent referees, who would evaluate
his techniques.
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