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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Homeopathy 2023; 112(03): 152-159
DOI: 10.1055/s-0042-1759543
Original Research Article

Self-assembled Patterns Formed in Evaporating Droplets to Analyze Bi-component Homeopathic Preparations in the Low Dilution Range

Maria Olga Kokornaczyk 
1   Society for Cancer Research, Arlesheim, Switzerland
,
Sandra Würtenberger
2   Scientifc and Regulatory Affairs, Hevert-Arzneimittel GmbH & Co. KG, Nussbaum, Germany
,
Stephan Baumgartner
1   Society for Cancer Research, Arlesheim, Switzerland
3   Institute for Integrative Medicine, University of Witten/Herdecke, Herdecke, Germany
› Institutsangaben Funding This study was funded by Hevert-Arzneimittel GmbH & Co. KG. S.W. was an employee of Hevert-Arzneimittel GmbH & Co. KG during the planning phase and the first part of the experimental implementation of the study.
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Abstract

Background Homeopathic complex remedies, composed of several homeopathic medicines in the low potency range, are frequently used in the treatment of a number of common disorders. At the same time, they represent an almost unexplored area of research. Are complex remedies just additive mixtures of the components, or are there interactions between the latter leading to new properties of the complex?

Methods In the present study, we analyzed as an example the simple bi-component complex, Luffa 4x – Mercurius bijodatus 9x, by means of patterns from evaporated droplets and tested what influences the complex's single compounds have upon the patterns and if there are any interactions. For this purpose, we compared in a series of five experiments patterns from evaporated droplets of the complex, Luffa 4x – Mercurius bijodatus 9x, and three comparison samples in which one or both of the complex's compounds were replaced by potentized solute. The patterns were photographed and evaluated for their gray-level distribution and texture using the software ImageJ. The experimental set-up's stability was tested by means of systematic control experiments.

Results We found that Mercurius bijodatus 9x significantly influenced the patterns of Luffa 4x, increasing their homogeneity; at the same time, the patterns of Mercurius bijodatus 9x combined with solvent were more heterogeneous than those obtained from a control consisting of two pure solvents.

Conclusion In this phenomenological assay, the complex Luffa 4x – Mercurius bijodatus 9x does not correspond to a simple addition of the components. The exact nature of the underlying interaction needs to be elucidated in further investigations.

Keywords

homeopathic complex remedies - self-assembled patterns - droplet evaporation - texture analysis


Publikationsverlauf

Eingereicht: 08. August 2022

Angenommen: 06. Oktober 2022

Artikel online veröffentlicht:
10. Februar 2023

© 2023. The Faculty of Homeopathy. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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