Bayesian homeopathy: talking normal again

• Published in: Homeopathy : the journal of the Faculty of Homeopathy Vol. 96; no. 2; p. 120
• Main Author: Rutten, A L B
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany 01-04-2007
• Subjects: Bayes Theorem; Data Interpretation, Statistical; Diagnosis; Homeopathy - methods; Humans; Likelihood Functions; Materia Medica; Molecular Epidemiology - methods; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; Research Design; Terminology as Topic
• ISSN: 1475-4916
• DOI: 10.1016/j.homp.2007.03.004

Homeopathy has a communication problem: important homeopathic concepts are not understood by conventional colleagues. Homeopathic terminology seems to be comprehensible only after practical experience of homeopathy. The main problem lies in different handling of diagnosis. In conventional medicine diagnosis is the starting point for randomised controlled trials to determine the effect of treatment. In homeopathy diagnosis is combined with other symptoms and personal traits of the patient to guide treatment and predict response. Broadening our scope to include diagnostic as well as treatment research opens the possibility of multi factorial reasoning. Adopting Bayesian methodology opens the possibility of investigating homeopathy in everyday practice and of describing some aspects of homeopathy in conventional terms.