HOMEOPATHY IS A FRAUD
JOSE VICENTE SOLER (jvs1@um.es)
RETIRED FULL PROFESSOR OF INORGANIC CHEMISTRY. MURCIA UNIVERSITY
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Homeopathy is a pseudotherapy without scientific support in which, nevertheless, many people trust. To understand why it cannot be considered a type of medicine, it is necessary to review some knowledge of chemistry and physics.
First of all, atoms are entities which weights are extremely small if expressed in grams. Therefore, they are expressed in a much smaller unit: the atomic mass unit (amu), which is the weight of a hydrogen atom (H). On this scale, one atom of H weighs, by definition, 1 amu, one of carbon (C) 12 amu and one of oxygen (O) 16 amu.
Secondly, a molecule is the result from the union of two or more atoms by means of what is called a "chemical bond". Thus, carbon monoxide is the compound made up of molecules resulting from the bonding of a C atom and an O atom,. This is why it is represented as CO. A CO molecule weighs 28 amu (12 of carbon and 16 of oxygen). Water consists of molecules in which one O atom is bonded to two of H atoms (H₂O), therefore, a water molecule weighs 18 amu (2 from hydrogen and 16 from oxygen).
The atomic weight of an element (H, C, O, etc.) or the molecular weight of a compound (M) is a number equal to the amu that the atom or molecule weighs, respectively. Thus, the atomic weight of H is 1; that of C, 12; that of O, 16; and the molecular weight of CO is 28. A mole of a substance is its molecular weight in grams (M gr): 1 mole of water is therefore 18 grams of H₂O. If we establish that 1 g = k amu then, one mole of a compound of molecular weight M (M gr) will weigh Mk amu.
We can calculate the number of molecules contained in a mole of any substance by dividing what a mole weighs (Mk amu), by what a molecule weighs (M amu), i.e., Mk/M=k molecules. Therefore, one mole of any compound contains k molecules, i.e., a constant, whatever the compound is.
Conclusion: the value of k, which is known as Avogadro's number, is a universal constant, like the π number or the speed of light in vacuum (c). The value of k number has been experimentally determined as 6,022x10²³ (approx. 6 followed by 23 zeros) molecules/mole.
The fact that it has been determined experimentally does not mean that the molecules have been counted one by one, but that scientific instruments have been used with which anyone who makes the measurement anywhere in the world will obtain this value. No one, therefore, can doubt that in 1 mole of any substance contains 6,022x10²³ molecules.
How to prepare a homeopathic product
The father of homeopathy, Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843), and the users (homeopaths and their patients), base their therapeutic proposal on the following idea: "To combat a disease, minimal amounts of a substance that causes the same symptoms as that disease should be used. For example, caffeine to cure insomnia or Berlin wall to combat "an unbearable oppression". There is no scientific proof of this hypothesis and, given the time elapsed since its formulation and the facts discussed below, it is easy to conclude that it will never be proved.
They start by preparing very diluted solutions (following rather esoteric procedures; Hahnemann used his Bible as a parapet for the dilution process) of the desired product (natural or synthetic) in 100 milliliters (mL) of solvent (water or alcohol) from which a hundreth part (1 mL) is extracted. If they start from 1 mole of the substance (M gr) the extracted 1 mL will contain the number of molecules resulting from dividing 6,022x10²³ by 100 and therefore with 2 zeros less than initially, i.e. 6,022x10²¹ molecules. After adding the extracted 1 mL to 99 mL of solvent, the resulting 100 mL solution is said to be of 1C concentration.
When this process is repeated they obtain solutions with a number of molecules that has two zeros less at each step, i.e., for an nC solution it would be 6,022x1023-2n. Thus, an 11C solution will have 6,022x1023-22, i. e. 60 molecules approx. In the next step (12C), as the molecules are not divided in the processes of dilution and extraction, in the 1 mL extracted (and therefore in the 100 mL solution prepared from it) there is 60 % probability of having one molecule and 40 % of not having any, which means that it will contain one or none molecule.
With the resulting solution, about 35.000 spheres of the excipient (sugar or lactose) are impregnated to give the homeopathic granules. Only 1 out of them, at most, will have one molecule. Referring to a preparation of 30 unidoses of Oscillococcinum, the sugar ingested costs 881 €/kg.
Conclusion: when the patient ingests the prescribed granules, whatever the name of the product on the package or the disease for which it is used, he is taking exactly the same thing: the excipient (sugar or lactose) plus the absolute nothingness. It is therefore demonstrated that this is a double fraud. It should be known that Hahnemann used to use 30C solutions but there are commercial preparations diluted up to 200C.
Placebo effect without proven efficacy
Are these data sufficient to conclude the fraudulent nature of homeopathy? Evidently, yes. In support of the above, it should be added that numerous reports from national and international scientific and professional health institutions have established that homeopathic products only have curative effects on minor illnesses that are cured on their own or by the patient's suggestion (placebo effect). It should be noted that, contrary to the apparently harmless character that could be attributed to this practice (a few milligrams of sugar is not very dangerous), there is a serious risk, which can be qualified as criminal, when used instead of drugs of proven therapeutic efficacy, in diseases that require them.