Bodhi Dhanapala, Quebec, Canada

Whenever adversity strikes, people look for  desperate solutions, and hurl their good senses to the winds. It is always public fear, or the fear of the unknown, that drives people to astrologers, occult sciences, offering to gods and spirits, deva-pooja and bali thovil”.  The Buddha had condemned these as thirashcheen vidya”. Another reason that drives people away from scientific medicine is because they find it over-whelming, with its expensive hospitals, costly medications and money-making doctors with their so-called channel practice” designed to gauge the patient’s pocket.  So the people look for a simple, natural” solution that they can understand. Or they look for a traditional” remedy that the village veda-mahaththaya” had been practicing claiming that what he practices has come down from generation to generation, and promulgated by ancient Rishis”.

If you look at Lanka web, 28th June 2017, a Dr. Vikas Sharma writes on Homeopathic Medicines for Dengue Prevention (original article at  the internet site Dr.Homeo.com). The author glibly states that:
Homeopathic medicines for dengue fever are very effective . They medicines are made of natural substances , are completely safe with no side effects and have shown effective cure in thousands of dengue cases.”.
No references to clinical trials, double-blind experiments etc., are mentioned.   Homeopathic writer or Homeopathic internet sites never mention the well-known studies published in the Lancet and other research journals, showing that homeopathic cures” have no action beyond the placebo effect. The placebo effect is  the positive effect that comes in believing that a medicine has been given and the enhanced hope that the illness will be cured. This slightly enhances the body’s own defences and may help to cure illnesses, especially if they are linked to a psycho-somatic effect. So, if you are sure that you have contracted Dengue fever, don’t risk your life with Homeopathic medicine, or drinking the juice of Papaya leaves”, or administering other home remedies”. The sooner you consult a doctor, the better are your chances. But the GMOA wants to go on strike, irrespective of the Dengue epidemic, as their prime objective is to prevent any new doctors from private medical schools competing with them.

There have been many studies showing that homeopathy is not a remedy to any illness, but a mere belief enhancer which is exactly what the kokatath thailaya” remedy also does. Instead of listing many studies, I will just quote from the classic article by Dr. Shang et al, published in the highly prestigious British Medical journal known as the Lancet,   Volume 366, No. 9487, p726–732, and quote from their  summary of the findings:

(begin quote)
Background
Homoeopathy is widely used, but specific effects of homoeopathic remedies seem implausible. Bias in the conduct and reporting of trials is a possible explanation for positive findings of trials of both homoeopathy and conventional medicine. We analysed trials of homoeopathy and conventional medicine and estimated treatment effects in trials least likely to be affected by bias.
Methods
Placebo-controlled trials of homoeopathy were identified by a comprehensive literature search, which covered 19 electronic databases, reference lists of relevant papers, and contacts with experts. Trials in conventional medicine matched to homoeopathy trials for disorder and type of outcome were randomly selected from the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register (issue 1, 2003). Data were extracted in duplicate and outcomes coded so that odds ratios below 1 indicated benefit. Trials described as double-blind, with adequate randomization, were assumed to be of higher methodological quality. Bias effects were examined in funnel plots and meta-regression models.

Findings

110 homeopathy trials and 110 matched conventional-medicine trials were analyzed. The median study size was 65 participants (range ten to 1573). 21 homoeopathy trials (19%) and nine (8%) conventional-medicine trials were of higher quality. In both groups, smaller trials and those of lower quality showed more beneficial treatment effects than larger and higher-quality trials. When the analysis was restricted to large trials of higher quality, the odds ratio was 0·88 (95% CI 0·65–1·19) for homeopathy (eight trials) and 0·58 (0·39–0·85) for conventional medicine (six trials).

Interpretation

Biases are present in placebo-controlled trials of both homoeopathy and conventional medicine. When account was taken for these biases in the analysis, there was weak evidence for a specific effect of homoeopathic remedies, but strong evidence for specific effects of conventional interventions. This finding is compatible with the notion that the clinical effects of homoeopathy are placebo effects.
(end quote)

But homeopathy is not a tradition that has come from an ancient  Rishi”. It was started by a charismatic German entrepreneur doctor” who claimed that like cures like” as the foundation of his homeopathic” method. So, in order to fight a given toxin, give a very small amount of the same toxin to the patient. How small should the amount be? people are so easily hoodwinked.  The fact that some homeopathic” “tincture” diluted by 20X is really only 10 to the power of minus 20 of the original strength (written as 10EE-20) is clearly obscured by the fact that homeopaths quote the dilution as 20x, and the uninformed will infer that it is 1/20th strength of the pure toxin. Did you know that 10EE-20 is  one part in 100 million trillions? Talk about  deluding th public! It is not only the public that is deluded, but  very influential  people in high places in society. Of course, we all know that Rasputins and faith healers are often the confidantes of Royalty.  Even the British royalty is known to use homeopathy” but also consult the Physician specialists of the London Hospital when the homeopahty does not work!

It is not just recently that Homeopathy has been questioned and labeled as a sham. According to Prof. Vandenbrouke, already in  1846, Dr. John Forbes compared homoeopathy and allopathy, mostly informally, but also with a few shrewd experiments. He found the results of homoeopathy for certain ailments as good as those of his treatments. Because he considered the theory of increased potency by greater dilutions an outrage to human reason”, and therefore any effect of homeopathy impossible, he proposed that his findings should lead to introspection about the effectiveness of the allopathic medicine of his time. But today, even to question homeopathy is a risky undertaking because there are vested organizations that spring to action and threaten you with law suites and challenge you and make you shut up as most of us cannot afford to hire expensive lawyers to defend ourselves.

The plant Eupatorium Perfoliatum  is proposed by  Dr Sharma  (at the website Dr.Homeo.com) as one of the best” medications for Dengue. This plant is known known as boneset” or feverwort” in USA,  and contains toxins that make you sweat heavily when you take it. In homeopathic tinctures only 20x or 10x dilutions are given. That is, the coloured tincture that is sold as homeopathic tincture does not contain ANY of the plant material since one part in a hundred trillion is less than one molecule of the medication in the little bottle given to you, and hence not a possible dilution. But both he patient and the doctor is probably ignorant of what 20x dilution means, and believe that the tincture will cure the patient. If the patient actually has Dengue, he is likely to loose his life. The other medications listed by Dr. Sharma are all in the same boat. In fact, homeopathy is a convenient means of selling colored water containing nothing!