Towards understanding molecular mechanisms of action of homeopathic drugs: an overview

Abstract

The homeopathic mode of treatment often encourages use of drugs at such ultra-low doses and high dilutions that even the physical existence of a single molecule of the original drug substance becomes theoretically impossible. But homeopathy has sustained for over two hundred years despite periodical challenges thrown by scientists and non-believers regarding its scientificity. There has been a spurt of research activities on homeopathy in recent years, at clinical, physical, chemical, biological and medical levels with acceptable scientific norms and approach. While clinical effects of some homeopathic drugs could be convincingly shown, one of the greatest objections to this science lies in its inability to explain the mechanism of action of the microdoses based on scientific experimentations and proofs. Though many aspects of the mechanism of action still remain unclear, serious efforts have now been made to understand the molecular mechanism(s) of biological responses to the potentized form of homeopathic drugs. In this communication, an overview of some interesting scientific works on homeopathy has been presented with due emphasis on the state of information presently available on several aspects of the molecular mechanism of action of the potentized homeopathic drugs.