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Home , Steven Novella, Water memory

SI May June 11 CUT_SI new design masters 3/25/11 10:02 AM Page 28

[ THE SCIENCE OF S T E V E N NO V E L L A , MD, is assistant professor of at , the host of the Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe podcast, author of the NeuroLogica blog, executive editor of the Science-Based Medicine blog, and president of the New England Skeptical Society.

The Memory of

omeopathy is nonsense and su- It is often falsely compared to the have failed miserably. One such at tempt perstition diluted beyond all rea- body’s response to , but this is is the notion that water is capable of Hson and given as a remedy to the not an apt analogy. having memory—that it can physically grossly misinformed or scientifically il- Hahnemann’s “law of infinitessimals,” remember the chemical properties of literate. And yet there persists that very the notion that a substance be comes substances that have been diluted in it. odd creature, the modern homeo path. more potent when diluted, violates the The notion of was first While the practice is indistinguishable law of mass action and every thing we raised by French homeopath Jacques from ritual and witchcraft (with all know about chemistry. Also, many Benveniste in 1988. He was not studying due apologies to witches), the modern homeopathic remedies are diluted past the water structure itself, just trying to homeo path would like to cloak himself the point where even a single molecule demonstrate that water can retain the in the respectability of science. That is of the original substance is likely to be memory of or other substances the path to acceptance, official recogni- left behind. Hahnemann believed that diluted in it. His research, however, has tion, and reimbursement. So home- the water retained the magical “essence” been completely discredited due to the opaths have added a new head to their of the substance, which makes homeop- many flaws in Ben veniste’s methods, his hydra of —the memory athy a vitalistic belief system. lab’s cherry-picking of data, his im proper of water. Hahnemann’s ideas are sufficiently statistics, and his recounting data points A Brief History of silly that even at the time, early in the that did not fit their desired results history of science, they were ridiculed (Scrimgeour 2007). Homeopathy was invented (it is not ac- and dismissed. Homeopathy remains Materials scientist Rustum Roy, who curate to say it was discovered, which utterly nonsensical, but it is now much was enamored with spiritual healing, would imply it has some basis in reality) more sophisticated nonsense. built upon Benveniste’s discredited re- by in the late A recent fascination with unscien- search, claiming that water molecules eighteenth century. Hahnemann devel- tific health modalities has caused a are like bricks—they can be used to oped his principles of homeopathy resurgence of interest in homeopathy, build structures that contain greater from anecdote and superstition without leading to many clinical trials of the ef- complexity and information than the any chain of scientific research, evi- fectiveness of homeopathic products for bricks themselves. Specifically, water dence, or reasoning. It is therefore no specific ailments. After hundreds of molecules can encode in their structure surprise that more than two hundred clinical studies of homeopathy, system- the chemical properties of what was di- years later, scientific progress has failed atic reviews reveal that homeopathic luted in them. to validate any of Hahnemann’s ideas remedies are indistinguishable from However, the evidence does not sup- (House of Commons 2010). placebos (another way of saying that port this claim. What has been demon- Scientific knowledge builds on itself, they do not work) (Ernst 2010). strated is that water molecules form and when someone discovers a funda- This is not even a scientific contro- transient bonds with other water mole- mental property of , it leads to versy—the evidence that homeopathy cules, creating a larger ultrastructure— further discoveries and a deepened un- cannot work and does not work is over- but these water structures are extremely derstanding. Homeopathy led to noth- whelming. Only ideology, wishful think- short-lived. They are not permanent. In ing. Hahnemann’s “law of similars” is ing, and scientific illiteracy keep it alive. fact, research shows that water molecules the notion that “like cures like”—that a Water Memory very efficiently distribute from small dose of a substance will cure these bonds, making them ex tremely whatever symptoms it would cause in a Modern defenders have desperately ephemeral. One such research paper high dose. This, however, is not based tried to justify homeopathy with scien- concludes: “Our results highlight the ef- upon anything in biology or chemistry. tific-sounding explanations, but they ficiency of energy redistribution within

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the hydrogen-bonded network, and that tures would have to survive transfer to a them to be useful as oral agents. The liquid water essentially loses the memory sugar pill (often homeopathic remedies chemicals are simply broken down by of persistent correlations in its structure are prepared by a drop of the water the digestive process. In other words, within 50 fs” (Cowan 2005). That’s fifty being placed onto a sugar pill). the ephemeral bonds of this alleged femotoseconds, or fifty quadrillionths These water structures would then water memory—if this fiction of water (10-15) of a second. Contrary to Roy’s have to be transferred to the sugar mol- memory even existed—would have a claims, water does not hold memory. In ecules because before long the water bioavailability of zero. fact it is characterized by being ex- will evaporate. This pill will then sit on tremely efficient at not holding memory. Scientists can argue about whether or not water can display ultrastructure lin- Absurd does not even begin to cover gering for longer than femtoseconds the leaps of logic that are being under certain conditions—but they are arguing over incredibly small fractions of committed here. In short, invoking a second. Recently Nobel Laureate Luc Mon - water memory as an explanation for tagnier has given a boost to the “water homeopathic effects just adds more memory” hopes of homeopaths by pub- lishing a series of experiments in which layers of magical thinking to the he claims that DNA highly diluted in water is able to generate radio signals notion of homeopathy. (Montagnier 2009). There are numerous problems with these studies, however. Conclusion Prime among them is that Montagnier’s a shelf for days, months, or years before study design is laughably sloppy (see it is finally consumed by a gullible pa- The notion that water has memory is Myers 2011). Montagnier used a crude tient. The sugar pill will be broken nothing more than a restating of Hah- signal detection device hooked up to a down in the homeopathy proponent’s nemann’s superstitious notion that sub- computer and generated worthless noise- stomach, and the sugar molecules will stances can transfer their “vital essence” ridden results. His studies proved noth- then be digested, absorbed into the to other substances. Water memory is ing (and, not surprisingly, have not been blood stream, and distributed through another fiction of homeo pathy; it is not replicated), but that has not stopped the blood to the tissues of the body. based upon any science and is implau- n homeopaths from seizing upon his work Presumably, whatever molecules are sible in the extreme. to claim vindication. retaining this alleged ultrastructure are References So we are still left with no plausibil- sticking together throughout all of these ity and no evidence that water can form processes and finding their way to the Cowan M.L., B.D. Bruner, N. Huse, et al. 2005. Ultrafast memory loss and energy redistribu- ultrastructures for a biologically mean- target organ in which they are able to tion in the hydrogen bond network of liquid ingful amount of time. It is amazing have their chemical/biological effect. H2O. Nature 434 (March 10):199–202. that Roy, Montagnier, and others so en- Absurd does not even begin to cover doi:10.1038/nature03383. Ernst, E. 2010. Homeopathy: What does the thusiastically extrapolated from the the leaps of logic that are being com- “best” evidence tell us? The Medical Journal of claim that water can hold structures mitted here. In short, invoking water Australia 192(8) (April 19): 458–60. slightly longer than previously believed memory as an explanation for homeo- House of Commons, Science, and Technology Committee. Evidence check 2: Homeopathy. (itself probably bogus) to the notion pathic effects just adds more layers of Available online at www.publications.parlia- that this can explain the biological ef- magical thinking to the notion of ho- ment.uk/pa/cm200910/cmselect/cmsctech/ fectiveness of homeopathy. Let’s take a meopathy; it wouldn’t offer a plausible 45/45.pdf. Myers, P.Z. 2011. It almost makes me disbelieve close look at the nontrivial steps they explanation even if the theory of water that HIV causes AIDS. Pharyngula ( January glossed over. memory was true, which it isn’t. 24). Available online at http://scienceblogs. If this kind of water “memory” is an Some chemical bonds are strong com/pharyngula/2011/01/it_almost_makes_ me_disbelieve.php. explanation for homeopathy, then these enough to survive this process intact Montagnier L., J. Aissa, S. Ferris, et al. 2009. structures would have to survive not and make it through the body to the Electromagnetic signals are produced by only in a sample of water but through target tissue where they can bind to re- aqueous nanostructures derived from bacterial ceptors or undergo their chemical reac- DNA sequences. Interdisciplinary Sciences: the physical mixing of that water with Computational Life Sciences 1(2): 81–90. other water. In fact, they would have to tions. Even most chemicals, however, Scrimgeour, H.J. 2007. Water memory tests all wet: transfer their structure, like a template, cannot make it through this biological A reassessment of the Benveniste experiments to surrounding water molecules. This gauntlet with their chemical activity in- by a DVM. Association for Science and Reason (August 8). Available online at www.science- would need to be reliably repeatable tact—which is why the bioavailability andreason.ca/pseudoscience/alternativemedi- over many dilutions. Then these struc- of many potential drugs is too low for cine/water-memory-tests-all-wet/.

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