Drugs, homeopathic

Sjunod, S.W., An alternative perspective homeopathic drugs. Royal Copeland, and federal drug regulation. Pharmacy in History, 42, 13, 2000, Available at www.homeowatch.org/his-tory/ reghx.html... 

Office of Regulatory Affairs, Conditions Under Which Homeopathic Drugs May Be Marketed, CPG 7132.15, Sec. 400.400, FDA, Rockville, MD, Revised March 1995. 

Barrett, S. et al.. Petition regarding homeopathic drugs. Docket 94P-0316/CP 1, Filed August 29,1994. 

Seals, gaskets and diaphragms, blood filter seals overmoulded on a PC base. .. Medical equipment components, homeopathic drug dispensers. .. 

A. Lopez-Molinero, A. Villareal, C. Velilla, D. Andia and J. R. Castillo, Determination of arsenic in homeopathic drugs by bromide volatilisa-tion-inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry, J. AO AC Int., 85(1), 2002, 31-35. 

As mentioned under introduction, high dilutions of drugs are used in Homeopathy. At present there are more than 3000 homeopathic drugs. 

Homeopathic drugs are produced from natural substances such as plant materials, animal sources, minerals, diseased parts of man etc. They are also produced from the diluent medium of aqueous ethanol exposed to ionizing radiation. Remedies of plant and animal sources are named according to the binomial nomenclature introduced by Linnaeus (1753). 

Figure 4. Inhibitory effect of Arnica 30 and Hypericum 200, and excitatory effect of Arsenic 30 on the lateral hypothalmic area (LHA) neurons of cats. Arrows indicate the time of application of drugs on the tongue of the test animal. (Reproduced, with permission, from Sukul et al. Neuronal activity in the lateral hypothalmus of the cat and the medial frontal cortex of the rat in response to homeopathic drugs. Indian Biologist 1991 23 19)...

Before describing the application of Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to potentized homeopathic drugs we would first discuss the basic principles of NMR spectroscopy. This spectroscopy is a powerful tool providing structural information about molecules. Like UV-visible and infra red spectrometry, NMR spectrometry is also a form of absorption spectrometry. Nuclei of some isotopes possess a mechanical spin and the total angular momentum depends on the nuclear spin, or spin number 1. The numerical value of I is related to the mass number and the atomic number and may be 0, Vi, 1 etc. The medium of homeopathic... 

Table 4. Spin lattice relaxation time (Ti) of 2H of 90% ethanol and potentized homeopathic drugs in 90% ethanol. Figures in parentheses represent chemical shifts in ppm. Measurements were taken by a AMX-400 NMR spectrometer operating at 61.41 MHz at 22°C. Starting with the control other drugs are given in alphabetical...

Potentized homeopathic drugs are capable of producing effects on both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. Prokaryotic cells are usually smaller in size (1 - 10 pm) than eukaryotic ones (5 - 100 pm). Membrane-bound organelles like mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi complexes etc. are present in eukaryotic cells but absent in prokaryotic ones. While eukaryotic cells have nucleus containing DNA with histone and non-histone proteins in chromosoms, prokaryotic cells have no nucleus and their DNA with non-histone proteins lies in nucleoid without any membranous envelope. However, both types of cells are covered by plasma membrane with some common features. 

While all the membrane proteins are affected by a homeopathic potency we can lay special emphasis on aquaporins as primary targets because these proteins are ubiquitous in all forms of life and are closely related to health and disease. We have described earlier how the function of aquaporins is regulated. Homeopathic potencies may influence those regulatory processes and thus alter the permeation of water through plasma membranes. We have already presented evidence for enhanced peremeation of water through red blood cells AQPj by potentized homeopathic drugs (chapter II 2.4.2). 

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