Rx Note

Introduction Homeopathy is an alternative medical system created by German physician Samuel Hahnemann in 1796. It is based on 2 unconventional theories: "Like cures like" - the notion that a disease can be cured by a substance that produces similar symptoms in healthy people. "Law of minimum dose" - the notion that lower the dose of the medication, the greater its effectiveness. Many homeopathic products are so diluted that no molecules of the original substance remain. Preparations Homeopathic preparations are prepared through serial dilution, agitation and formulation. The quantity of homeopathic substances in a product are reported in X or C dilution scales. X represents a 1:10 dilution and C represents a 1:100 dilution of solute: solvent. The number in front of the X or C is the number of subsequent dilutions. To illustrate, a potency of 6C (or 12X) gives a concentration of 10 -12 . The letters M and CM are used to represent greater dilution levels of 1000 and...

Introduction A placebo is a substance or treatment designed to have no therapeutic value. In drug testing and medical research, placebos are made to resemble active medications or therapies so that they can be used as controls. The placebo effect is a fascinating and least understood phenomenon in which a sham medical intervention (e.g. sugar pills or saline injections) causes improvements in a patient's condition due to the patient's perception of the intervention . Notably, even proven effective treatments can generate a placebo effect. Psychological Mechanisms Two hypothesized psychological mechanisms that are known to mediate the placebo effect are Classical conditioning The association between a stimulus and a response is remembered, affecting future experiences. Expectancy This is the belief that a certain outcome will occur. To Elicit Placebo Effects Barrett et. al. suggest a list of 8 specific and practical principles that doctors can use to elicit placebo effects in...