Modern view on the problems of homeopathy
The debate about whether homeopathy is a science or a pseudoscience has been going on since the time of S. Hahnemann. They touch on various aspects of this problem - moral and ethical, legal, economic, scientific, and medical. In this review article, we have tried, as objectively as possible, to consider some questions concerning the legality and validity of the use of homeopathic medicines (HM) in medical practice, the effectiveness of their mono-, combined or combined use, the effects of their effects on tissue and cell cultures, plants, animals and humans, as well as to demonstrate the depth of the approach and prevalence of homeopathic treatment throughout the world. The data presented in the article are based on long-term scientific research conducted by scientists from Switzerland, Sweden, Italy, Great Britain, France, India and other countries, who studied the effects of HM at various levels of organization of a living organism (cellular, molecular and systemic) using modern diagnostic methods (nuclear magnetic resonance, optical spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy, biochemical and histological methods, immunohistochemistry and cytochemistry, immunoblotting and polymerase chain reaction, flow cytometry and electronic microscopy). The article does not deny that there is no clear, generally accepted, scientifically-based understanding of the mechanisms of action of HM, but at the same time, it provides data indicating certain successes achieved in solving this problem.