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Evidence-based medicine – treatments based on evidence of safety and efficacy from clinical trials – has been in the ascendant for decades now in Europe and around the world. So why is one system of treatment which has been dismissed as ineffective by clinical trials still in use?
History
Homeopathy, developed in the 18th century by physician Samuel Hahnemann in Germany, is based on the principles that 'like cures like' and that greater dilutions of treatments have the most beneficial effects. When mainstream treatments included blood-letting and purging, and surgery frequently led to fatal infection, these principles may have had the benefit of at least seeming benign. But now that modern medicine has a far greater understanding of the causes of disease and their treatments, homeopathy has been dismissed as – at best – a placebo.
There are signs that governments in Europe are hardening their attitudes to state funding of homeopathy, with the UK, France, and Spain all announcing an end to funding or support for homeopathic products or services in recent months. We took a look at the popularity of homeopathy across the continent, the different traditions of its use, and ask whether attitudes are changing.
