A Working Hypothesis for Homeopathic Microdiluted Remedies
Summary :
A three-step hypothesis to explain the specific organizaton of molecules of the solvent in
homeopathic microdilutions which can maintain the properties of an initial substance not effectively
present is herewith introduced, e.g. for the case of pharmaceutical substances that need grinding before
their dilution.
First:
We assume that during grinding and the first seq uential dilutions characteristic small clusters
(aggregates of a small number of molecules) of the diluted substance are fonned. They are surrounded
by shells of organized hydrogen-bonded molecules of the solvent (called clathrates).
Second:
Because of the applied forceful succussions and the different inertial properties, small
clusters move out of their clathrates. A new clathrate then forms around each relocated small cluster,
and an additional clathrate (mantle clathrate) is formed round the initial clathrate (now called the core
clathrate). which has become hollow, having lost its small cluster.
Third:
At this state, no effective amount of substance is present. The role of small clusters in dilutions
and succussions to follow is totally influenced by the compact structure of the core clathrate, which
possesses an interior void, characteristic of the properties of the initial substance. That is, due to
forcefully applied succussions and different inertial properties, core clathrates move out of their mantle
clathrates and stimulate the formation of new mantle clathrates. Likewise, old mantle clathrates
become new core clathrate and stimulate formation of their own mantle clathrates. As succussion and
dilution continues, the process isrepeated.
Important parameters involved during the preparation of a homeopathic remedy arc 1) the applied
force and its fixed direction in each succussion to separate small clusters from their clathrates or core
clathrates from their mantle clathrate; 2) the time between two successive succussions to allow the
rcorgani7ation of the molecules of the solvent to form new clathrates and 3) the number of successive
dilutions necessary to reach the desired density and size of hollow clathrate s which resemble the
properties of the initial substance.
Introduction remedy, which isthe subject matter of thepresent
After many successes in specific cases, homeopathy has attracted a lot of attention and tends to
become accepted fact [l]. A significant percentage of physicians in the USA and Europe consider themselves homeopaths. Despite this
impressive number, however, even to date few
medical professionals or consumers know anything about the structure of the homeopathic
communication.
The homeopathic pharmaceutical process
called "potentialization" refers Lo a method of
sequential dilutions and succussions (each time
between two sequential dilutions the mixture is
vigorously shaken a specific number of times,
e.g.40times). Manyphysiologicalprocesses are
certainly controlled, or affected, by minute quantities of substances. However, Lhis does not explain the action of potencies diluted far beyond
the Avogadro's number, e.g. 1/10
100 (called
microdilutions). Recently, researchers suggested
that the therapeutic properties of the remedy in
the latter case lies in the solvent [2) rather than in
the diluted substance.
Various technique s have been employed to
demonstrate that there arc physical differences
between potentized dilutions and the solvent itself. These studies have included the use of ultraviolet spectra, conductivity measurements and
infrared analysis, surface tension measurement,
nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and
other methods (3-9].
Several theoretical attempts to explain the
unusual behavior of microdilutions suggest certain organization [2,11] of the water molecules
(polymerization of the solvent). However, there
is no convincin g explanation for the specific
organization of solvents which is able to main lain
in these dilutions some properties of the initial
substance, which is no longer effectively present.
The purpose of this work is to contribute to an
understanding of microdilutions by using some
principles of physics. Specif1cal\y, we introduce
the following three-step hypothesis.
Step One
We assume that during grinding and the first
stages of dilution small clusters [11-14] of the
substance are formed(i.e.aggregateswith asmall
number of molecules). As known from physics,
these clusterspossesspropertiesdistinctly differentfrom the bulk properties of the substance as a
resultof differencesin equilibriumgeometry and
electronic structure.Thegrindingofalkalimetals
used in homeopathy and their further dilution
into solvent may cause the formation of small
clusters, which thereafter exhibitsubstantial stability and possess the characteristic shape of the
specificsubstance,withhighlysymmetricalfonns
[15-17]. Up to this stage, the succussions used in
homeopathy play no role.
For better understanding of oof our three-step
hypothesis, we take,incombination with Figures
1-3, the example where the substance on which
the remedy of interest is based issodium, and the
smallclustersformedarecomposed of,letussay,
40 molecules (atoms). According to Reference
16, each small cluster of Na
40 is made up of
sequential concentric shells of 2, 6, 12 and 20
atoms (see Fig. 2 of Ref. 16). Specifically, the
outside shell is a dodecahedron, as shown in
Figure la.
Molecules of the solvent (water)surrounding
each of the small clusters now form bonds with
one another (e.g. hydrogen bonds) [18), giving
rise to a shell with a shape similar to that of the small cluster, having the small cluster as its core.
That is,thesewater moleculesform what iscalled
a clathrate [19] structure which, in itself, is a
small cluster of water molecules.
Figure 1b shows the clathrate around the dodecahedron of Figure la, which again has a
pentagonal dodecahedron structure and whose
site is restricted (at this stage) by the size of the
small cluster rather than by the strength of hydrogen bonding. As a result of this restriction, we
have a loose clathrate.
In Figure 2a the small cluster (A) and the
clathrate (B) arc shown together in schematic
fo1m inside the unperturbed water (D). Between
layers (B) and (D) of this figure and the figures to
follow, an incompatibility layer (C) of semi organized water molecules is seen. In general, the
situation shown in Figure 2a presents the solute solvent system in a rather early stage of remedy
preparation.
Step Two
If the subsequent succussions arc forceful
enough, small clusters with an inertial behavior
different from the surrounding loose clathratcs
overpass the cohesion forces and move to other
positions(Figure 2c) outside thcir clathrate shells
along the direction of the external force. At each
new position for each small cluster, a new loose
clathrate is formed (Fig. 2c).
Immediately after each small-cluster relocation the corresponding clathrate shell ofthewater
molecules is partially broken (Fig.2b).However,
neighbor molecules of the solvent (water) try to
fill the empty space inside the broken clathrate in
competition with the shell trying to repair itself
(helped by itshigh symmetry [19])to its previous
form where the small cluster was ils core. Because of this competition, some clathrate shells structure than in Figure 2a. Another mantle
clathrate is now formed outside this core clathratc,
i.e.,the semi organized molecules in the Clayer of
Figure 2a and b become organized in the form of
a clathrate whose size now depends on the size of
the core clathrate and not on the strength of the
hydrogen bond alone (Figure 2d). The form of
this mantle clathrate is not necessarily the same
as that of the core clathrate.
StepThree
Now let us assume thatwehave a solution with
empty clathrates (holes), but having not even one
molecule of the initial substance (see Fig. 3a
identical to Fig. 2d). In this solution we apply
forceful succussions.The role of small clusters of
substance is now taken on by the empty clathratcs
of water molecules. Their symmetric and compact structure givesthem extra stability and, thus,
they behave like large complex olecu les, i.e.,
molecules with a much larger mass and, so, with
different inertial properties than regular water
molecules or accidental formations of water molecules. Specifically, during these succussionsthe
core clathrate moves into another position outside the mantle clathrate (Fig. 3c), leaving an
empty space at its initial position. Then the story
repeats itself as in the second step, that is, by
repairing and shrinking the broken mantle
clathrate, which finally becomes a compact core
clathratc surrounded by a newly formed, loose
mantle clathrate. These new core and mantle
clathrates arc not necessarily identical to the core
and mantle clathratesin StepTwo.The finalstage
of this procedure leads to Figure 3d, which resembles, but it is not necessarily identical to
Figures 3aand 2d. At the same time, the relocated
core clathrate of Figure 3c acquires a new mantle
clathratc, i.e., Figure 3c is transformed into Figure 3e,which isidentical to Figures 3a and 2d. As
the succussions continue, more and more shaped
holes arc created in the solvent. Their form and
size depend on that of the small clusters of the
initial substance, which is actually absent. A
sufficient time interval must exist between two
sequential succussions in order to allow all necessary orientations and organizations of water
molecules involved during our steps 1-3 to take
place.In a brief review of our three-step procedure,
we notice that the important parametersinvolved
are (1) the guarantee that small clusters of the
diluted substance arc formed, (2) the force applied to each succussion which should be able to
compensate for the cohesion between a small cluster and a clathrate or between a core clathrate
and a mantle clathrale, (3) the direction of the
force, which should stay fixed (one-way) for all
succussions so that each succussion does not
destroy the effects of the previous ones, (4) the
number of succussions per dilution inrelation to
the strength of the applied forceand to thedimensions of the vessel used during potentialization,
(5) the frequency of succussions, whereby the
time between two successive succussions must
be large enough to permit the formation of the
necessary mantle clathrates around the small
clusters of the substance or around thecore clathrates, and (6) the number of sequential dilutions
necessary in order to reach the desired density
(and size) of holes in the solvent and, thus, in the
remedy.
If our solute (substance) were a noble gas
instead of the alkali atom (e.g. sodium) assumed
previously, the structure (and to some extent the
size) of the small cluster and thus of the related
clathrates wou ld be different than the one discussed. That is, the surface structure of the relevant small cluster would not be that of Figure la,
but the icosahed ral structure shown in Figure 1of
Reference 16. If, as another example, our substance were a mixture of alkali metals, then the
geometry of related clusters would follow that of
Figure l of Reference 17.Thus, we see that some
of th e properties of the initial substance can be
traced by the properties of the shaped holes in the
solvent. Inother words, the specific homeopathic
remedy resultig from microdilutions of a certain
substance may have some characteristic properties of that substance, although it is not physically
present, a fact which constitutes the foundations
of homeopathy.
While the organization of water molecules in
shells around a central molecule (up to three
layers per central molecule) or the formation of
holes in water are well-known phenome n a in the
science of Physical Chemistry [20-22), the introduction of the small cluster concept is necessary
to explain the symmetrical organization of water
molecules (clathrates) and consequently the formation of shaped holes in the solvent exhibiting
stable symmetrical forms characteristic of the
initial substance. InPhysical Chemistry wc speak
about holes and shells in general. Here, wc speak
of holes and shell s with specific shapes and
properties which constitute the basis of homeopat hic remedies. For such remedies, the initial
physical presence of a substance as well as the
formation of small clusters of that substance
during grinding and at the early stages of the
sequential microdilutions are essential.
The next stage in our effort to explain the
mechanism wit h which potentialization affects
the homeopathic remedy is the performance of
suitable experiments to verify all steps of our
hypothesis. Finally, if our hypothesis is proved to
be correct, it will contribute a great deal towards
obtaining better homeopathic remedies and towards standardization of their preparation. As a
result, all remedies derived from a certain substance and prepared using the same kind of
potentialization would have more or less fixed
properties. At present, lack of standardization is
the major defect of our remedies. In order to
achieve st andardization, the optimum force and its
frequency should be established for any particular
case. The necessary number of succussions for
each dilution and the total number of dilutions to
obtain the desired properties of the specific homeopathic remedy should also be determined.
We hope that work presented herewillstimulatefurtherexperimenral and theoreticalresearch
on the subject and will thusshed some light on a
hot subject of alternative medicine in which the
hopes of millions of people in the world are
rested. This work constitutes one of the first
objective scientificanemptsfocussedonthe theoretical basis of the science of homeopathy.
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