complex homeopathy - The Skeptic's Dictionary (original) (raw)

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Complex homeopathy is homeopathy that uses remedies that are mixtures of ingredients or that prescribes several remedies taken in combination. The remedies may vary in strength. In classical homeopathy, single remedies of a given potency are used.

Complex homeopathy selects remedies based mainly on the symptoms of the patient, rather than on a detailed personal interview. Symptoms such as producing mucus when one has a cold, vomiting or sweating when feverish, increased urination with a bladder infection, and diarrhea are taken as the body's natural way to rid itself of whatever is harming it. Remedies are selected that will not suppress but rather encourage these natural processes of elimination.

Dr. Hans Heinrich Reckeweg, M.D. of Germany reasoned that "if there were ten remedies that did the same thing, then it would be prudent to add all ten to one formula, and let the patient’s system choose the one that it wanted."* Reckeweg also added multiple potencies of the same remedies, and let the patient’s system choose not only which remedy it wanted, but which potency of the remedy it wanted. Why this would be prudent is not clear but it wouldn't be imprudent since homeopathic remedies are essentially inert. If you add ten zeros you still have zero. Even if there are a few molecules in each of the remedies, that's no guarantee that together they'll add up to an effective medicine. Calling the interaction "synergistic" doesn't make it so. In any case, this mixing process won't work with active substances like narcotics. If you take ten different narcotics and let the body choose which one it wants, more than likely your body won't have to make any more decisions about anything. Dr. Reckeweg developed over 2,000 remedies during the 40 years he practiced what he called "homotoxicology." One practitioner of homotoxicology wrote me that the method is called "nanopharmacology." Sounds scientific.

Practitioners of complex homeopathy favor detoxifying the body and seem to see disease as complicated by toxins the body is striving to eliminate. These toxins may be due to pollutants in the environment or to such things as smoking or drug abuse.

Complex Homoeopathic therapy addresses the patient's particular stress factors rather than her or his constitutional type, and the remedies are combined in a way to cover the highest number of toxic and functional disturbances. The object is to reduce the toxic and other stress burdens and thus free the patient's energies that are tied up in coping with these stress factors.*

One variant of complex homeopathy is called resonance homeopathy by its creator, Dr. Roy Martina, M.D. of Holland. He claims he can amplify the energy in a remedy by mixing it with "other carefully chosen ingredients with similar energetic signatures."* According to Dr. Martina,

The goal of resonance homeopathy is to create the best harmonizing resonance for the body and use potent ingredients to create that one synergetic force that will stimulate the body to heal itself.

That may be the goal but he gives little information as to what this might mean and even less evidence as to how it can be achieved

See also anthroposophic medicine,homeopathy, isopathy, and nosode.

further reading

Homeopathy 3 : Complex Remedies by John Morley, with help from Peter Bartlett "Complex Homoeopathy is not a school of Homoeopathy. It is rather an attempt to achieve the necessary clinical efficacy in today's polluted world where the patients are not simple cases that could be covered by a pathogenic study, but a complex net of toxic, functional and sensory symptoms, that often are not related to a disease, but to an interaction of pathological phenomena and iatrogenic syndromes which are very difficult to prescribe for."

Last updated 27-Oct-2015