Homeopathy in parasitic diseases

Background: The use of homeopathic medicines has increased, partly because conventional drugs do not always elicit the desired effects, and partly because their side effects might compromise the patient’s’ adherence to treatment. Several studies showed benefits in the use of highly diluted medicines for the treatment of infectious diseases. Aim: The aim of the present review was to perform a critical discussion about aspects of homeopathy and the current status of veterinary experimentation, as well as of the use of highly diluted drugs in infectious and parasitic diseases. The main aspects of effects, therapeutic regimens and / or dynamizations used in various models are discussed. Methods: Articles published since 2000 in journals included in databases PubMed and SciELO and specialized journals sought for and reviewed using keywords “parasitic diseases/homeopathy” and “parasitic diseases/ ultra-dilutions”. Results: Several recent experimental studies demonstrated the biological effect of highly diluted medications on parasitic infections, with reduction of the number of parasites and improvement of the clinical condition of the affected animals. Several articles exhibit problems in the description of methods, which threaten the reproducibility of experiments. Conclusion: The acknowledgment of homeopathy depends on the credibility of investigators. Although research on homeopathy has clearly increased in recent years, relative to both implementation of more consistent methods and description of data and methods, improvement is still required. Precise and detailed descriptions will contribute to advance the use of homeopathy, so that society at large might benefit in actual practice.