Turning One's Own Hopes to Alternative Medicine Revealed Its
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Journal of Allergy and Immunology Editorial Open Access the hazard to lead to awkward fakes. In few words, we can summarize Turning One’s Own Hopes to the argumentation and reach this final comment. People are lesser and Alternative Medicine Revealed lesser prompted to accept physical reality and are led to be convicted that their illness is a “self-suggestion”, which could be cured by “self- Its Dramatic Failure in Italy conviction to heal”. Hating reality is a typical anthropological hallmark of our times. Salvatore Chirumbolo* Anyway, the immune system, “feels” this attitude, as immune Department of Neurological and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Italy system is finely regulated by the gut-immune-brain axis (GIBA) and it is not theoretically impossible to conceive, in the next future, a medical *Corresponding author: Salvatore Chirumbolo, Email: [email protected] approach based on the modulatory and chaotic activity of our GIBA, of which yet we are aware very poorly. Received: 05 September 2016; Accepted: 21 September 2016; Published: 02 January 2017 However, the main concern is the scientific ground of these empirical approaches. Background In the field of immunology and allergy, a lot of people still consider The recent outbreak of journalistic news, concerning death of some Oscillococcinum® as a leading therapy against flu and colds. Despite Italian patients with cancer, who rejected official medical care to turn the many concerns, controversial opinions and the debate recently to alternative therapy, showed us how an anthropological and cultural expanded about this homeopathic remedy [8-12], this available therapy belief about medicine growing up in Western countries recently met its does not comply with any existing rules of official pharmacopeia, most dramatic and sad failure. Very recently, the newspaper “Il Resto customers cannot be informed about the molecules or active principles del Carlino” published a new reporting that a 34-years old woman died existing in this product, their mechanism of action is completely obscure and never addressed nor demonstrated, its ability to work is quite in Rimini on Sept 3rd 2016 because she refused chemotherapy, after completely claimed by enthusiastic people, who are convicted to be having undergone a mastectomy for breast cancer and treated herself healed by Oscillococcinum®. This remedy is a classical, paradigmatic on its own with ricotta and nettle infusion. In the past months, further example of what means folk medicine without EBM for the commonest dramatic facts occurred in our country concerning people who died people. Misinformation, based exclusively on only presumptive and because they appreciated to use alternative proposals respect to official wondrous positive outcomes [13], people claim and commercial spots, medicine. At Padua, a 18-years old girl, from Bagnoli, who was represent all what prompts individuals to trust this therapy as potentially affected by leukaemia, died because their parents decided to treat their efficacious. What is particularly convicting is the “myth” around the daughter with Ryke Geerd Hamer’s theory, instead of chemotherapy, material, which is able to overwhelm any legitimate doubt about its real rd on April 3 2016 the Italian newspaper La Repubblica published a effectiveness. Can the attractive myth create a positive expectation so to new concerning the death of Marina L., who was counselled to treat generate a placebo effect? We do not know it. her melanoma with homeopathy (Sulphur) and Hamer’s theory instead of chemotherapy by Dr G. Durando, on October 2011 a 4-years old Medicine or Some other Else? child with flu died in Miggiano (Puglia, Southern Italy) because he was The recent attempts to settle a sound and experimental ground treated with homeopathy by his father, Dr M. Monsellato, a homeopath to support the supposed scientific tenet of homeopathy failed almost practitioner. completely. A huge mass of criticisms and controversial opinions There are at least three main factors leading people to make so crowded the debate about many bench experimental works conducted a hazardous choice. The first is an increasing conviction that current in Italy, where the recent mass media information put in the spotlight deaths because of neglecting orthodox medical therapy (Table 1). This medicine is completely unable to heal people from cancer, the second kind of scientific struggle, who was often misconfused with personal is the very crowded mass of information in the web, often causing attacks, should suggest that homeopathy might gain its notoriety uproar and leading to bad decisions, fakes and false hopes and third an by the huge outcry about its medical and scientific plausibility and ancestral, long-lasting willingness in coming back to the wild and pure the consequent discussion from this. Therefore, it is plausible that nature, made by spirituality and neglecting pain, bodies and the raw people are powerfully attracted and appealed by this “attitude” within reality. What science can do in this complex scenario? complementary and alternative therapy. The concept is: if there are a lot Immunology, Allergology and Homeopathy of people talking and turning to homeopathy, then it surely works! In podiatry, an increasing number of people use homeopathy to care their People quite completely trust homeopathy should work in children and prevent cold or flu. Negative evidence, yet, exists, even for immunological affections of upper respiratory traits (URTIs), flu, cancer [14,15]. colds and allergy. While renowned scientists recently reviewed the topic [1-4], noteworthy one may admit that colds and most of URTIs, Therefore people should be better informed and counselled by even in children, have a high probability of spontaneous healing, due expert and honest physicians, funding their practice and expertise on to immunity, which should act even on cancer [5]. Aside from these EBM. convictions, there are many scientists who reject the hypothesis that placebo could heal cancer affected subjects [6,7]. As fundamentally Otherwise, we are talking not about medicine but some other else. Hamer’s theory is funded on the speculation that tumors arise from “psychological conflicts” and, therefore, may be treated with placebo, Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Scientific Open Access homeopathy could be involved in the therapeutic approach but with Journals LLC. Chirumbolo Volume 1, Issue 1 J Allergy Immunol 2017; 1:e001 Table 1: Critical comments on homeopathy in Italy. Research Papers Critical comments Main reply Cervo L, Torri V. Comment on: "Dose- effect study of Gelsemium sempervirens in high dilutions on anxiety-related responses Magnani P et al., in mice” Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2012 Psychopharmacology (Berl). Mar;220(2):439-40; author reply 441-2 2010 Jul;210(4):533-45 Chirumbolo S. High diluted molecules and gene expression. Front Pharmacol. Bellavite P. Gelsemium sempervirens and Gelsemium 2014 Aug 14;5:183. Animal Behavioral Models. Front Neurol. Behavioural 2011 Sep 12;2:56. test-mice Chirumbolo S. On Gelsemium and Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) in Anxiety and Experimental Technical Notes (unpublished comments) Bellavite et al., Evid Based Neurology. Neurol Ther. 2015 Jun;4(1):1-10 www.paolobellavite.it Complement Alternat Med. Chirumbolo S. Plant-derived extracts in the RG profile 2012;2012:954374 neuroscience of anxiety on animal models: biases and comments. Int J Neurosci. 2012 Apr;122(4):177-88 Bigagli et al., Dose Chirumbolo S. Dose response of high dilutions Apis Response. 2016 Jan in gene expression and the concept of hormesis Gene microarray 6;14(1):1559325815626685 Human Exper Toxicol, Aug 2016, in press Olioso D et al, J Ethnopharmacol. 2014 Apr 28;153(2):535-9 Chirumbolo S. High diluted molecules and Gelsemium Marzotto e al., Front Pharmacol. 2014 Nov gene expression. Front Pharmacol. 2014 Aug Gene microarray 12;5:237 Marzotto et al., BMC 14;5:183 Complement Altern Med. 2014 Mar 19;14:104 Chirumbolo S, Bjorklund G. Commentary: Arnica montana effects on gene expression in Arnica Olioso et al., Homeopathy. 2016 Olioso et al., Reply on the forthcoming a human macrophage cell line. Evaluation by Gene microarray May;105(2):131-47 issue of Front Immunol Sept 2016 quantitative Real-Time PCR Front Immunol, July 2016, in press Chirumbolo S. Oscillococcinum®: Garattini S, Bertele' V, Banzi R. Misunderstanding or biased Bellavite P, Fisher P. Homeopathy: where is Homeopathy cannot even be used to Oscillococcinum interest? Eur J the bias? Eur J Intern Med. 2014 Jun;25(5):e66 replace placebo. Eur J Intern Med. 2014 Intern Med. 2014 Jun;25(5):e68 Mar;25(3):e35-6 Chirumbolo S. More on the clinical usefulness of Oscillococcinum. Eur J Intern Med. 2014 Jun;25(5):e67 References 7. Hróbjartsson A, Gøtzsche PC. Is the placebo powerless? An analysis of clinical trials comparing placebo with no treatment. N Engl J Med. 2001; 1. Bellavite P, Marzotto M, Chirumbolo S, Conforti A. Advances in 344:1594-1602. Review. Erratum in: N Engl J Med. 2001; 345:304. homeopathy and immunology: a review of clinical research. Front Biosci (Schol Ed). 2011; 3:1363-1389. 8. Beghi GM, Morselli-Labate AM. Does homeopathic medicine have a preventive effect on respiratory tract infections? A real life observational 2. Jong MC, Buskin SL, Ilyenko L, Kholodova I, Burkart J, Weber S, et al. study. Multidiscip Respir Med. 2016; 11:12. Effectiveness, safety and tolerability of a complex homeopathic medicinal 9. Azmi Y, Rao M, Verma I, Agrawal A. Oscillococcinum leading to product in the prevention of recurrent acute upper respiratory tract infections angioedema, a rare adverse event. BMJ Case Rep. 2015. in children: a multicenter, open, comparative, randomized, controlled clinical trial. Multidiscip Respir Med. 2016; 11:19. 10. Chirumbolo S. Oscillococcinum®: Misunderstanding or biased interest? Eur J Intern Med. 2014; 25:e35-36. 3. Zanasi A, Mazzolini M, Tursi F, Morselli-Labate AM, Paccapelo A, Lecchi M. 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