Homeopathy, A Frontier in Medical Science. Paolo Bellavite, MD and Andrea Signorini, MD. North Atlantic Books, Berkeley, CA 1995,335 pages. $25.00
We are greatly indebted to Anthony Steele for translating this book into English from the original Italian (1993). The authors, a University Professor of General Pathology and a practicing homeopathic physician, have produced a monumental work to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the publication of Hahnemann's Organon of True Healing. Over three years were taken and 526 references consulted in the preparation of this sophisticated review of the science behind the similium principle and the microdose effectiveness. While no final explanation of the modus operandi of higher attenuations is reached, what is known and some possible explanations are given. His diagram of the possible levels at which various types of medical and pharmaceutical intervention act upon the homeostatic mechanism (p. 210) shows that "homeopathic therapy is a therapy of reactivation or regulation." "...the more complex a system is, the less energy is needed to alter its behavior and/or structure" (p. 207). In principle, homeopathic therapy is not at odds with other forms of therapy and, indeed, may actually integrate the latter.
This is a book which anyone interested in how medicine functions would do well to read.