The Human Microbiome, Conventional Medicine, and Homeopathy

Abstract

Human health is intimately linked to the ecology and diversity of the human microbiome. Together, the human organism and the human microbiome work as a complex super-organism throughout the human life cycle. Microbiome science provides direct evidence and substantiation of the fundamental principles of homeopathy, including holism, psychosomatics, direction of cure, the Law of Similars, individuality and susceptibility, minimum dose, and homeostasis. Whilst many conventional (allopathic) medical treatments irreversibly damage the ecology of the microbiome and trigger chronic immune dysfunction and inflammation, the future sustainability of the entire field of medicine depends on the ability to recognize these inconvenient biological truths and to embrace a safer approach based on this evidence. Fortunately, one of the oldest forms of clinically verifiable, evidence-based, and ecologically sustainable medicine, that does not harm the microbiome, already exists in the form of homeopathy.

Keywords

microbiome - health ecology - homeopathy - symbiosis - dysbiosis - holism - psychosomatics - direction of cure - Law of Similars - individuality and susceptibility - minimum dose - homeostasis

Highlights

• Human health is intimately linked to the ecology and diversity of the human microbiome.

• Together, the human organism and the human microbiome form a complex super-organism.

• The principles of homeopathic medicine, including Holism, Psychosomatics, Direction of Cure, the Law of Similars, Individuality and Susceptibility, Minimum Dose, and Homeostasis, are all reflected in and substantiated by microbiome science.

• The only way forward in allopathic medicine is to abandon unsustainable practices that damage the microbiome and promote chronic illness.

• The future of medicine depends on incorporating microbiome science, and one of the most practical ways of doing this is through homeopathy.

Publication History

Received: 17 December 2019

Accepted: 17 February 2020

Article published online:
14 May 2020

• References

• 1 Gorman J. Aliens Inside Us: A (Mostly Friendly) Bacterial Nation. New York Times; 2003:F3
• 2 Bashiardes S, Zilberman-Schapira G, Elinav E. Use of metatranscriptomics in microbiome research. Bioinform Biol Insights 2016; 10: 19-25
• 3 Servick K. Do gut bacteria make a second home in our brains?. Science 2018; November 9
• 4 Adolph TE, Grander C, Moschen AR, Tilg H. Liver–microbiome axis in health and disease. Trends Immunol 2018; 39: 712-723
• 5 Aagaard K, Ma J, Antony KM, Ganu R, Petrosino J, Versalovic J. The placenta harbors a unique microbiome. Sci Transl Med 2014; ;21; 6: 237ra65
• 6 Baker JM, Chase DM, Herbst-Kralovetz MM. Uterine microbiota: residents, tourists, or invaders?. Front Immunol 2018; 9: 208
• 7 Païssé S, Valle C, Servant F. et al. Comprehensive description of blood microbiome from healthy donors assessed by 16S targeted metagenomic sequencing. Transfusion 2016; 56: 1138-1147
• 8 Kwon D. The connection was electric. Sci Am 2016; 314: 20
• 9 Simard SW. Mycorrhizal networks facilitate tree communication, learning and memory. In: Baluska F, Gagliano M, Witzany G. , eds. Memory and Learning in Plants. Chap. 10. Springer; 2018: 191-213
• 10 Li K, Bihan M, Yooseph S, Methé BA. Analyses of the microbial diversity across the human microbiome. PLoS One 2012; 7: e32118
• 11 Sleator RD. The human superorganism – of microbes and men. Med Hypotheses 2010; 74: 214-215
• 12 Turnbaugh PJ, Ley RE, Hamady M, Fraser-Liggett CM, Knight R, Gordon JI. The human microbiome project. Nature 2007; 449: 804-810
• 13 Pastuzyn ED, Day CE, Kearns RB. et al. The neuronal gene arc encodes a repurposed retrotransposon gag protein that mediates intercellular RNA transfer. Cell 2018; 172: 275-288.e18
• 14 Milani RV, Lavie CJ. Health care 2020: reengineering health care delivery to combat chronic disease. Am J Med 2015; 128: 337-343
• 15 Nguyen LDN, Viscogliosi E, Delhaes L. The lung mycobiome: an emerging field of the human respiratory microbiome. Front Microbiol 2015; 6: 89
• 16 Gritz EC, Bhandari V. The human neonatal gut microbiome: a brief review. Front Pediatr 2015; 3: 17
• 17 O'Hara AM, Shanahan F. The gut flora as a forgotten organ. EMBO Rep 2006; 7: 688-693
• 18 Sampson TR, Mazmanian SK. Control of brain development, function, and behavior by the microbiome. Cell Host Microbe 2015; 17: 565-576
• 19 Aroniadis OC, Brandt LJ. Fecal microbiota transplantation: past, present and future. Curr Opin Gastroenterol 2013; 29: 79-84
• 20 Bhattacharjee S, Lukiw WJ. Alzheimer's disease and the microbiome. Front Cell Neurosci 2013; 7: 153
• 21 Berrington JE, Stewart CJ, Embleton ND, Cummings SP. Gut microbiota in preterm infants: assessment and relevance to health and disease. Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed 2013; 98: F286-F290
• 22 Hahnemann S. Organon of the Medical Art. Aphorism 9. In: O'Reilly WB. , ed. Redmond, WA: Birdcage Books; 1996: 65
• 23 Paterson J. The potentised drug and its action on the bowel flora. Br Homeopath J 1936; 26: 163-188
• 24 Saha SK, Das S, Khuda-Bukhsh AR. Phenotypic evidence of ultra-highly diluted homeopathic remedies acting at gene expression level: a novel probe on experimental phage infectivity in bacteria. J Chin Integr Med 2012; 10: 462-470
• 25 Nelson LS, Juurlink DN, Perrone J. Addressing the opioid epidemic. JAMA 2015; 314: 1453-1454
• 26 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Antibiotic use in outpatient settings, 2017. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/antibiotic-use/stewardship-report/outpatient.html
• 27 Bell IR. The complexity of the homeopathic healing response Part 1: The role of the body as a complex adaptive system in simillimum-initiated recovery from disease. Homeopathy 2020; 109: 42-50
• 28 Lazarou J, Pomeranz BH, Corey PN. Incidence of adverse drug reactions in hospitalized patients: a meta-analysis of prospective studies. JAMA 1998; 279: 1200-1205
• 29 Prescribers' Digital Reference. Available at: https://www.pdr.net/
• 30 Cryan JF, O'Mahony SM. The microbiome-gut-brain axis: from bowel to behavior. Neurogastroenterol Motil 2011; 23: 187-192
• 31 Grenham S, Clarke G, Cryan JF, Dinan TG. Brain-gut-microbe communication in health and disease. Front Physiol 2011; 2: 94
• 32 Matthews DM, Jenks SM. Ingestion of Mycobacterium vaccae decreases anxiety-related behavior and improves learning in mice. Behav Processes 2013; 96: 27-35
• 33 Roberts RC, Farmer CB, Walker CK. The human brain microbiome; there are bacteria in our brains! Psych Behav Neurobio 2018 . U Alabama, Birmingham, Birmingham, AL. Program No. 594.08. 2018 Neuroscience Meeting Planner. San Diego, CA: Society for Neuroscience, Online
• 34 Valasquez-Manoff M. An Epidemic of Absence. Scribner, NY: 2012
• 35 WholeHealthNow. Dr. Constantine Hering M.D. (1800–1880). Available at: http://www.wholehealthnow.com/bios/constantine-hering.html
• 36 Vijayakar P. Predictive Homeopathy. Mumbai, India: Shree Smaran Enterprises; 2003
• 37 Kivellos S, Skifti S, Vithoulkas G. EHMTI-0396. Reappearance of high fever on migraine patients, after individualized homeopathic treatment, is a valuable prognostic factor. J Headache Pain 2014; 15 (Suppl. 01) M7
• 38 Kozyrskyj AL, Ernst P, Becker AB. Increased risk of childhood asthma from antibiotic use in early life. Chest 2007; 131: 1753-1759
• 39 Wickens K, Pearce N, Crane J, Beasley R. Antibiotic use in early childhood and the development of asthma. Clin Exp Allergy 1999; 29: 766-771
• 40 Foliaki S, Pearce N, Björkstén B, Mallol J, Montefort S, von Mutius E. International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood Phase III Study Group. Antibiotic use in infancy and symptoms of asthma, rhinoconjunctivitis, and eczema in children 6 and 7 years old: international study of asthma and allergies in childhood phase III. J Allergy Clin Immunol 2009; 124: 982-989
• 41 Droste JH, Wieringa MH, Weyler JJ, Nelen VJ, Vermeire PA, Van Bever HP. Does the use of antibiotics in early childhood increase the risk of asthma and allergic disease?. Clin Exp Allergy 2000; 30: 1547-1553
• 42 Dickson RP, Martinez FJ, Huffnagle GB. The role of the microbiome in exacerbations of chronic lung diseases. Lancet 2014; 384: 691-702
• 43 Bach JF. The effect of infections on susceptibility to autoimmune and allergic diseases. N Engl J Med 2002; 347: 911-920
• 44 Mahesh S, Jaggi L, Jaggi A, Tsintzas D, Vithoulkas G. Individualised homeopathic therapy in ANCA negative rapidly progressive necrotising crescentic glomerulonephritis with severe renal insufficiency - a case report. J Med Life 2019; 12: 49-55
• 45 Doux JD, Bazar KA, Lee PY, Yun AJ. Can chronic use of anti-inflammatory agents paradoxically promote chronic inflammation through compensatory host response?. Med Hypotheses 2005; 65: 389-391
• 46 Yun AJ, Lee PY, Bazar KA. Paradoxical strategy for treating chronic diseases where the therapeutic effect is derived from compensatory response rather than drug effect. Med Hypotheses 2005; 64: 1050-1059
• 47 Ackerman J. The ultimate social network. Sci Am 2012; 306: 36-43
• 48 Ball TM, Castro-Rodriguez JA, Griffith KA, Holberg CJ, Martinez FD, Wright AL. Siblings, day-care attendance, and the risk of asthma and wheezing during childhood. N Engl J Med 2000; 343: 538-543
• 49 McKinney PA, Okasha M, Parslow RC. et al. Early social mixing and childhood Type 1 diabetes mellitus: a case-control study in Yorkshire, UK. Diabet Med 2000; 17: 236-242
• 50 Strachan DP. Hay fever, hygiene, and household size. BMJ 1989; 299: 1259-1260
• 51 Zuany-Amorim C, Sawicka E, Manlius C. et al. Suppression of airway eosinophilia by killed Mycobacterium vaccae-induced allergen-specific regulatory T-cells. Nat Med 2002; 8: 625-629
• 52 Vermund SH, MacLeod S. Is pinworm a vanishing infection? Laboratory surveillance in a New York City medical center from 1971 to 1986. Am J Dis Child 1988; 142: 566-568
• 53 Cooper PJ, Barreto ML, Rodrigues LC. Human allergy and geohelminth infections: a review of the literature and a proposed conceptual model to guide the investigation of possible causal associations. Br Med Bull 2006; 79-80: 203-218
• 54 Lynch NR, Hagel I, Perez M, Di Prisco MC, Lopez R, Alvarez N. Effect of anthelmintic treatment on the allergic reactivity of children in a tropical slum. J Allergy Clin Immunol 1993; 92: 404-411
• 55 Liu J, Morey RA, Wilson JK, Parker W. Practices and outcomes of self-treatment with helminths based on physicians' observations. J Helminthol 2017; 91: 267-277
• 56 Khan WI, Blennerhasset PA, Varghese AK. et al. Intestinal nematode infection ameliorates experimental colitis in mice. Infect Immun 2002; 70: 5931-5937
• 57 Elliott DE, Li J, Blum A. et al. Exposure to schistosome eggs protects mice from TNBS-induced colitis. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol 2003; 284: G385-G391
• 58 Leonardi-Bee J, Pritchard D, Britton J. Asthma and current intestinal parasite infection: systematic review and meta-analysis. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2006; 174: 514-523
• 59 Cheng AM, Jaint D, Thomas S, Wilson JK, Parker W. Overcoming evolutionary mismatch by self-treatment with helminths: current practices and experience. J Evolutionary Med 2015; 3: 235910
• 60 Journal Psyche. Jung and his individuation process. Available at: http://journalpsyche.org/jung-and-his-individuation-process/
• 61 Eckburg PB, Bik EM, Bernstein CN. et al. Diversity of the human intestinal microbial flora. Science 2005; 308: 1635-1638
• 62 National Institute of Justice. Forensic applications of microbiomes. Available at https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/forensic-applications-microbiomes
• 63 Rao SSC, Rehman A, Yu S, Andino NM. Brain fogginess, gas and bloating: a link between SIBO, probiotics and metabolic acidosis. Clin Transl Gastroenterol 2018; 9: 162
• 64 Bell IR, Schwartz GE, Boyer NN, Koithan M, Brooks AJ. Advances in integrative nanomedicine for improving infectious disease treatment in public health. Eur J Integr Med 2013; 5: 126-140
• 65 Weis S, Rubio I, Ludwig K, Weigel C, Jentho E. Hormesis and defense of infectious disease. Int J Mol Sci 2017; 18: 1273
• 66 Frass M, Linkesch M, Banyai S. et al. Adjunctive homeopathic treatment in patients with severe sepsis: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in an intensive care unit. Homeopathy 2005; 94: 75-80
• 67 Hahnemann S. Organon of the Medical Art. 6th ed. New Delhi, India: Jain Publishers; 17