142-538: Hawley Harvey Crippen (11 September 1862 – 23 November 1910), colloquially known as Dr. Crippen , was an American homeopath , ear and eye specialist and medicine dispenser who was hanged in Pentonville Prison , London , for the murder of his wife, Cora Henrietta Crippen. He was the first criminal to be captured with the aid of wireless telegraphy . Hawley Crippen was born in Coldwater , Michigan ,
284-445: A scientifically illiterate public, have "... walled themselves off from academic medicine, and critique has been all too often met with avoidance rather than argument". Homeopaths often prefer to ignore meta-analyses in favour of cherry picked positive results, such as by promoting a particular observational study (one which Goldacre describes as "little more than a customer-satisfaction survey") as if it were more informative than
426-595: A "cruel deception". Edzard Ernst , the first professor of complementary medicine in the United Kingdom and a former homeopathic practitioner, has expressed his concerns about pharmacists who violate their ethical code by failing to provide customers with "necessary and relevant information" about the true nature of the homeopathic products they advertise and sell. In 2013 the UK Advertising Standards Authority concluded that
568-429: A 30C dilution, and most modern provings are carried out using ultra-dilute preparations. Provings are claimed to have been important in the development of the clinical trial , due to their early use of simple control groups, systematic and quantitative procedures, and some of the first application of statistics in medicine. The lengthy records of self-experimentation by homeopaths have occasionally proven useful in
710-762: A bioavailability of 20-40%, reaches peak plasma concentration in about 45 minutes, and in healthy subjects has an average half-life of 5 hours (observed range 2 - 10 hours). Scopolamine is primarily metabolized by the CYP3A4 enzyme, and Grapefruit juice decreases metabolism of scopolamine, consequently increasing plasma concentration. Scopolamine is among the secondary metabolites of plants from Solanaceae (nightshade) family of plants, such as henbane ( Hyoscyamus niger ), jimson weed ( Datura ), angel's trumpets ( Brugmansia ), deadly nightshade ( Belladonna ), mandrake ( Mandragora officinarum ), and corkwood ( Duboisia ). The biosynthesis of scopolamine begins with
852-400: A clinic of Bogotá have been attributed to scopolamine, and 44% to benzodiazepines . Most commonly, the person has been poisoned by a robber who gave the victim a scopolamine-laced beverage, in the hope that the victim would become unconscious or unable to effectively resist the robbery. Beside robberies, it is also allegedly involved in express kidnappings and sexual assault . In 2008,
994-459: A consultation, which can be a 10–15 minute appointment or last for over an hour, where the patient describes their medical history . The patient describes the "modalities", or if their symptoms change depending on the weather and other external factors. The practitioner also solicits information on mood, likes and dislikes, physical, mental and emotional states, life circumstances, and any physical or emotional illnesses. This information (also called
1136-669: A girl." Had Crippen travelled third class, he probably would have escaped Kendall's notice. Dew boarded a faster White Star liner, SS Laurentic , from Liverpool , arrived in Quebec ahead of Crippen, and contacted the Canadian authorities. As Montrose entered the St. Lawrence River , Dew came aboard disguised as a pilot . Canada was then still a dominion within the British Empire . If Crippen, an American citizen, had sailed to
1278-496: A homeopath, Crippen started to practice in New York City . In 1894 he married his second wife, Corrine "Cora" Turner (born Kunigunde Mackamotski), a music hall singer who performed under the stage name Belle Elmore. That same year, Crippen started working for prominent homeopath James M. Munyon , moving to London with his wife in 1897 in order to manage Munyon's branch office there. Crippen's medical qualifications from
1420-484: A lawsuit in 2018 against the CVS pharmacy for consumer fraud over its sale of homeopathic medicines. It claimed that CVS was selling homeopathic products on an easier-to-obtain basis than standard medication. In 2019, CFI brought a similar lawsuit against Walmart for "committing wide-scale consumer fraud and endangering the health of its customers through its sale and marketing of homeopathic medicines". They also conducted
1562-483: A limit to the matter". To counter the reduced potency at high dilutions he formed the view that vigorous shaking by striking on an elastic surface – a process termed succussion – was necessary. Homeopaths are unable to agree on the number and force of strikes needed, and there is no way that the claimed results of succussion can be tested. Critics of homeopathy commonly emphasize the dilutions involved in homeopathy, using analogies. One mathematically correct example
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#17328008652201704-418: A preventive health measure. These organizations report that no evidence exists that homeopathic treatment is effective, but that there is evidence that using these treatments produces harm and can bring indirect health risks by delaying conventional treatment. While some articles have suggested that homeopathic solutions of high dilution can have statistically significant effects on organic processes including
1846-521: A rapid-onset antidepressant , with many small studies finding positive results, particularly in female subjects. NASA agreed to develop a nasal administration method. With a precise dosage, the NASA spray formulation has been shown to work faster and more reliably than the oral form to treat motion sickness. Although a fair amount of research has been applied to scopolamine in the field of medicine, its hallucinogenic (psychoactive) effects as well as
1988-405: A scopolamine overdose. Other than this supportive treatment , gastric lavage and induced emesis (vomiting) are usually recommended as treatments for oral overdoses. The symptoms of overdose include: Scopolamine can be taken by mouth , subcutaneously , in the eye , and intravenously , as well as via a transdermal patch . The pharmacological effects of scopolamine are mediated through
2130-535: A series of randomized controlled trials. In an article entitled "Should We Maintain an Open Mind about Homeopathy?" published in the American Journal of Medicine , Michael Baum and Edzard Ernst – writing to other physicians – wrote that "Homeopathy is among the worst examples of faith-based medicine... These axioms [of homeopathy] are not only out of line with scientific facts but also directly opposed to them. If homeopathy
2272-471: A significant comeback and the sales of some homeopathic companies increased tenfold. Some homeopaths credit the revival to Greek homeopath George Vithoulkas , who conducted a "great deal of research to update the scenarios and refine the theories and practice of homeopathy" in the 1970s, but Ernst and Simon Singh consider it to be linked to the rise of the New Age movement . Bruce Hood has argued that
2414-1092: A standard drug for experimentally inducing cognitive defects in animals. Results in primates suggest that acetylcholine is involved in the encoding of new information into long-term memory. Scopolamine has been shown to exert a greater impairment on episodic memory , event-related potentials , memory retention and free recall compared to diphenhydramine (an anticholinergic and antihistamine ). Scopolamine produces detrimental effects on short-term memory, memory acquisition, learning, visual recognition memory, visuospatial praxis, visuospatial memory, visuoperceptual function, verbal recall , and psychomotor speed. It does not seem to impair recognition and memory retrieval, though. Acetylcholine projections in hippocampal neurons, which are vital in mediating long-term potentiation, are inhibited by scopolamine. Scopolamine inhibits cholinergic-mediated glutamate release in hippocampal neurons, which assist in depolarization, potentiation of action potential, and synaptic suppression. Scopolamine's effects on acetylcholine and glutamate release in
2556-859: A student of Hahnemann. The first homeopathic school in the United States opened in 1835 and the American Institute of Homeopathy was established in 1844. Throughout the 19th century, dozens of homeopathic institutions appeared in Europe and the United States, and by 1900, there were 22 homeopathic colleges and 15,000 practitioners in the United States. Because medical practice of the time relied on treatments which were often ineffective and harmful, patients of homeopaths often had better outcomes than those being treated by medical practitioners. Though ineffective, homeopathic preparations are rarely detrimental, thus users are less likely to be harmed by
2698-553: A substance with a concentration of 0.01% ( volume-volume percentage ). A 6C dilution ends up with the original substance diluted by a factor of 100 (one part in one trillion). The end product is usually so diluted as to be indistinguishable from the diluent (pure water, sugar or alcohol). The greatest dilution reasonably likely to contain at least one molecule of the original substance is approximately 12C. Hahnemann advocated dilutions of 1 part to 10 or 30C. Hahnemann regularly used dilutions of up to 30C but opined that "there must be
2840-515: A survey in which they found consumers felt ripped off when informed of the lack of evidence for the efficacy of homeopathic remedies, such as those sold by Walmart and CVS. In 2021, the French healthcare minister phased out social security reimbursements for homeopathic drugs. France has long had a stronger belief in the virtues of homeopathic drugs than many other countries and the world's biggest manufacturer of alternative medicine drugs, Boiron ,
2982-544: A team looking into the evidence presented by the prosecution. Inconsistencies in the evidence and suppressed documents caused James Patrick Crippen, the closest living male relative of Crippen, to formally request the British government pardon the doctor and repatriate his remains to America. Before he was executed, Crippen wrote an eerily prophetic letter to Ethel Le Neve. In it, he said, "Face to face with God, I believe that facts will be forthcoming to prove my innocence." It
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#17328008652203124-419: A therapeutically active preparation, selectively including only the intended substance, though in reality any water will have been in contact with millions of different substances throughout its history, and homeopaths cannot account for the selected homeopathic substance being isolated as a special case in their process. Practitioners also hold that higher dilutions produce stronger medicinal effects. This idea
3266-459: A therapy derived from homeopathy in which the preparations come from diseased or pathological products such as fecal, urinary and respiratory discharges, blood, and tissue. They are called nosodes (from the Greek nosos , disease) with preparations made from "healthy" specimens being termed "sarcodes". Many so-called "homeopathic vaccines" are a form of isopathy. Tautopathy is a form of isopathy where
3408-496: A time. They were made to keep extensive journals detailing all of their symptoms at specific times throughout the day. They were forbidden from consuming coffee, tea, spices, or wine for the duration of the experiment; playing chess was also prohibited because Hahnemann considered it to be "too exciting", though they were allowed to drink beer and encouraged to exercise in moderation. At first Hahnemann used undiluted doses for provings, but he later advocated provings with preparations at
3550-666: A victim is through the use of drugs. Scopolamine is most often administered in liquid or powder form in foods and beverages. The majority of these incidents occur in nightclubs and bars, and usually, men, perceived to be wealthy, are targeted by young, attractive women. It is recommended that to avoid becoming a victim of scopolamine, a person should never accept food or beverages offered by strangers or new acquaintances, nor leave food or beverages unattended in their presence. Victims of scopolamine or other drugs should seek immediate medical attention. Between 1998 and 2004, 13% of emergency-room admissions for "poisoning with criminal intentions" in
3692-482: A victim unconscious for 24 hours or more. In large doses, it can cause respiratory failure and death. The most common seems to be recorded in Colombia , where unofficial estimates put the number of annual scopolamine incidents at approximately 50,000. A travel advisory published by the U.S. Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) in 2012 stated: One common and particularly dangerous method that criminals use to rob
3834-578: Is electrohomeopathy , where an electric bio-energy of therapeutic value is supposedly extracted from plants. Popular in the late nineteenth century, electrohomeopathy is extremely pseudo-scientific. In 2012, the Allahabad High Court in Uttar Pradesh, India, handed down a decree stating that electrohomeopathy was quackery and no longer recognized it as a system of medicine. Other minority practices include paper preparations, in which
3976-402: Is Fluxion, which dilutes the substance by continuously passing water through the vial. Insoluble solids, such as granite , diamond , and platinum , are diluted by grinding them with lactose (" trituration "). Three main logarithmic dilution scales are in regular use in homeopathy. Hahnemann created the "centesimal" or "C scale", diluting a substance by a factor of 100 at each stage. There
4118-494: Is a natural or synthetically produced tropane alkaloid and anticholinergic drug that is used as a medication to treat motion sickness and postoperative nausea and vomiting . It is also sometimes used before surgery to decrease saliva . When used by injection, effects begin after about 20 minutes and last for up to 8 hours. It may also be used orally and as a transdermal patch since it has been long known to have transdermal bioavailability . Scopolamine
4260-405: Is a collection of "drug pictures", organized alphabetically. A homeopathic repertory is a quick reference version of the materia medica that indexes the symptoms and then the associated remedies for each. In both cases different compilers may dispute particular inclusions in the references. The first symptomatic homeopathic materia medica was arranged by Hahnemann. The first homeopathic repertory
4402-486: Is a fraud perpetrated on the public with the government's blessing, thanks to the abuse of political power of Sen. Royal S. Copeland." Since the beginning of the 21st century, a series of meta-analyses have further shown that the therapeutic claims of homeopathy lack scientific justification. This had led to a decrease or suspension of funding by many governments. In a 2010 report, the Science and Technology Committee of
Hawley Harvey Crippen - Misplaced Pages Continue
4544-400: Is a preservative, a fact that Yates used in the plot of his novel The House That Berry Built . The American-British crime novelist Raymond Chandler thought it unbelievable that Crippen could be so stupid as to bury his wife's torso under the cellar floor of his home while successfully disposing of her head and limbs. Another theory is that Crippen was carrying out illegal abortions and
4686-477: Is added to part of the previous mixture, but the "Korsakovian" method may also be used. In the Korsakovian method, the vessel in which the preparations are manufactured is emptied, refilled with solvent, with the volume of fluid adhering to the walls of the vessel deemed sufficient for the new batch. The Korsakovian method is sometimes referred to as K on the label of a homeopathic preparation. Another method
4828-403: Is administered to a breastfeeding woman. Adverse effect incidence: Uncommon (0.1–1% incidence) adverse effects include: Rare (<0.1% incidence) adverse effects include: Unknown frequency adverse effects include: Physostigmine , a cholinergic drug that readily crosses the blood–brain barrier , has been used as an antidote to treat the central nervous system depression symptoms of
4970-449: Is also a decimal dilution scale (notated as "X" or "D") in which the preparation is diluted by a factor of 10 at each stage. The centesimal scale was favoured by Hahnemann for most of his life, although in his last ten years Hahnemann developed a quintamillesimal (Q) scale which diluted the drug 1 part in 50,000. A 2C dilution works out to one part of the original substance in 10,000 parts of the solution. In standard chemistry, this produces
5112-587: Is also inconsistent with observed dose-response relationships, where effects are dependent on the concentration of the active ingredient in the body. Some contend that the phenomenon of hormesis may support the idea of dilution increasing potency, but the dose-response relationship outside the zone of hormesis declines with dilution as normal, and nonlinear pharmacological effects do not provide any credible support for homeopathy. No individual homeopathic preparation has been unambiguously shown by research to be different from placebo. The methodological quality of
5254-575: Is also physically dangerous and officially classified as a deliriant drug, so repeated recreational use is rare. In June 2008, more than 20 people were hospitalized with psychosis in Norway after ingesting counterfeit rohypnol tablets containing scopolamine. In January 2018, 9 individuals were hospitalized in Perth, Western Australia, after reportedly ingesting scopolamine. The alkaloid scopolamine, when taken recreationally for its psychoactive effect,
5396-434: Is claimed that modern forensic science has now fulfilled his prophecy. Questions have arisen about the investigation, trial and evidence that convicted Crippen in 1910. Dornford Yates , a junior barrister at the original trial, wrote in his memoirs As Berry and I Were Saying , that Lord Alverstone took the very unusual step, at the request of the prosecution, of refusing to give a copy of the sworn affidavit used to issue
5538-544: Is correct, much of physics, chemistry, and pharmacology must be incorrect...". The exceedingly low concentration of homeopathic preparations, which often lack even a single molecule of the diluted substance, has been the basis of questions about the effects of the preparations since the 19th century. The laws of chemistry give this dilution limit, which is related to the Avogadro number , as being roughly equal to 12C homeopathic dilutions (1 part in 10 ). James Randi and
5680-686: Is derived from one type of nightshade known as Scopolia , while the name "hyoscine" is derived from another type known as Hyoscyamus niger , or black henbane. It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines . Scopolamine has a number of formal uses in modern medicine where it is used in its isolated form and in low doses to treat: It is sometimes used as a premedication , especially to reduce respiratory tract secretions in surgery , most commonly by injection . Common side effects include sleepiness, blurred vision , dilated pupils , and dry mouth. It
5822-630: Is in the antimuscarinic family of drugs and works by blocking some of the effects of acetylcholine within the nervous system . Scopolamine was first written about in 1881 and started to be used for anesthesia around 1900. Scopolamine is also the main active component produced by certain plants of the nightshade family , which historically have been used as psychoactive drugs, known as deliriants , due to their antimuscarinic-induced hallucinogenic effects in higher doses. In these contexts, its mind-altering effects have been utilized for recreational and occult purposes. The name "scopolamine"
Hawley Harvey Crippen - Misplaced Pages Continue
5964-467: Is inconsistent with subsequent identification of viruses and bacteria as causes of disease . Clinical trials have been conducted and generally demonstrated no objective effect from homeopathic preparations. The fundamental implausibility of homeopathy as well as a lack of demonstrable effectiveness has led to it being characterized within the scientific and medical communities as quackery and fraud . Homeopathy achieved its greatest popularity in
6106-763: Is located in that country. Spain has also announced moves to ban homeopathy and other pseudotherapies. In 2016, the University of Barcelona cancelled its master's degree in Homeopathy citing "lack of scientific basis", after advice from the Spanish Ministry of Health. Shortly afterwards the University of Valencia announced the elimination of its Masters in Homeopathy. Homeopathic preparations are referred to as "homeopathic remedies". Practitioners rely on two types of reference when prescribing: Materia medica and repertories. A homeopathic materia medica
6248-448: Is not recommended in people with angle-closure glaucoma or bowel obstruction . Whether its use during pregnancy is safe remains unclear, and use during breastfeeding is still cautioned by health professionals and manufacturers of the drug. Scopolamine enters breast milk by secretion . Although no human studies exist to document the safety of scopolamine while nursing, the manufacturer recommends that caution be taken if scopolamine
6390-473: Is referred to as "devil's breath". In popular media and television, it is portrayed as a method to brainwash or control people into being defrauded by their attackers. There is debate whether these claims are true. Scopolamine is used as a research tool to study memory encoding. Initially, in human trials, relatively low doses of the muscarinic receptor antagonist scopolamine were found to induce temporary cognitive defects. Since then, scopolamine has become
6532-583: Is reliable evidence that homeopathy is effective". The federal government only ended up accepting three of the 45 recommendations made by the 2018 review of Pharmacy Remuneration and Regulation. The same year the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) held a hearing requesting public comment on the regulation of homeopathic drugs. In 2017 the FDA announced it would strengthen regulation of homeopathic products. The American non-profit Center for Inquiry (CFI) filed
6674-491: Is said that Hall declined to lead Crippen's defence because another theory was to be propounded. In 1981, several British newspapers reported that Sir Hugh Rhys Rankin claimed to have encountered Le Neve in Australia, where she told him that Crippen murdered his wife because she had syphilis . Crippen was hanged by John Ellis at Pentonville Prison , London, at 9 am on Wednesday 23 November 1910. Le Neve sailed to
6816-504: Is that a 12C solution is equivalent to "a pinch of salt in both the North and South Atlantic Oceans". One-third of a drop of some original substance diluted into all the water on Earth would produce a preparation with a concentration of about 13C. Robert L. Park points out that a 200C dilution of duck liver, marketed under the name Oscillococcinum , would require 10 universes worth of molecules to contain just one original molecule in
6958-626: Is the international nonproprietary name , and scopolamine hydrobromide is the United States Adopted Name . Other names include levo -duboisine, devil's breath, and burundanga . A bush medicine developed by Aboriginal peoples of the eastern states of Australia from the soft corkwood tree ( Duboisia myoporoides ) was used by the Allies in World War II to stop soldiers from getting seasick when they sailed across
7100-470: Is unproven and does not derive from the scientific method . An account of the effects of eating cinchona bark noted by Oliver Wendell Holmes , published in 1861, failed to reproduce the symptoms Hahnemann reported. Subsequent scientific work showed that cinchona cures malaria because it contains quinine , which kills the Plasmodium falciparum parasite that causes the disease; the mechanism of action
7242-634: Is unrelated to Hahnemann's ideas. Hahnemann began to test what effects various substances may produce in humans, a procedure later called "homeopathic proving". These tests required subjects to test the effects of ingesting substances by recording all their symptoms as well as the ancillary conditions under which they appeared. He published a collection of provings in 1805, and a second collection of 65 preparations appeared in his book, Materia Medica Pura (1810). As Hahnemann believed that large doses of drugs that caused similar symptoms would only aggravate illness, he advocated for extreme dilutions. A technique
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#17328008652207384-401: Is usually taken in the form of preparations from plants of the genera Datura or Brugmansia , often by adolescents or young adults in order to achieve hallucinations and an altered state of consciousness induced by muscarinic antagonism . In circumstances such as these, the intoxication is usually built on a synergistic , but even more toxic mixture of the additional alkaloids in
7526-509: The 10:23 campaign groups have highlighted the lack of active ingredients by taking large 'overdoses'. None of the hundreds of demonstrators in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the US were injured and "no one was cured of anything, either". Modern advocates of homeopathy have proposed a concept of " water memory ", according to which water "remembers" the substances mixed in it, and transmits
7668-465: The Bach flower remedies , which were developed by Edward Bach . Hahnemann claimed that undiluted doses caused reactions, sometimes dangerous ones, and thus that preparations be given at the lowest possible dose. A solution that is more dilute is described as having a higher "potency", and thus are claimed to be stronger and deeper-acting. The general method of dilution is serial dilution , where solvent
7810-603: The Cochrane Collaboration concluded that this evidence "fails to demonstrate that homeopathic medicines have effects beyond placebo." In 2009, the United Kingdom's House of Commons Science and Technology Committee concluded that there was no compelling evidence of effect other than placebo. The Australian National Health and Medical Research Council completed a comprehensive review of the effectiveness of homeopathic preparations in 2015, in which it concluded that "there were no health conditions for which there
7952-533: The Early Modern period and included multiple ingredients to help with the transdermal absorption of scopolamine, such as animal fat, as well as other possible ingredients to counteract its noxious and dysphoric effects. In the Bible , there are multiple mentions of Mandrake , a psychoactive and hallucinogenic plant root that contains scopolamine. It was associated with fertility and (sexual) desire for which it
8094-631: The English Channel on their way to France during the Invasion of Normandy . Later, the same substance was found to be usable in the production of scopolamine and hyoscyamine , which are used in eye surgery , and a multimillion-dollar industry was built in Queensland based on this substance. While it has been occasionally used recreationally for its hallucinogenic properties, the experiences are often unpleasant, mentally and physically. It
8236-435: The M 1 muscarinic receptor. M 1 receptors are located primarily in the central nervous system and are involved in perception, attention, and cognitive functioning. Delirium is only associated with the antagonism of postsynaptic M 1 receptors and currently other receptor subtypes have not been implicated. Peripheral muscarinic receptors are part of the autonomic nervous system . M 2 receptors are located in
8378-578: The New and Old Worlds since ancient times. Being one of the earlier alkaloids isolated from plant sources, scopolamine has been in use in its purified forms, such as various salts, including hydrochloride, hydrobromide, hydroiodide, and sulfate, since its official isolation by the German scientist Albert Ladenburg in 1880, and as various preparations from its plant-based form since antiquity and perhaps prehistoric times. In 1899, Dr. Schneiderlin recommended
8520-459: The Organon , Hahnemann introduced the concept of "miasms" as the "infectious principles" underlying chronic disease and as "peculiar morbid derangement[s] of vital force". Hahnemann associated each miasm with specific diseases, and thought that initial exposure to miasms causes local symptoms, such as skin or venereal diseases. His assertion was that if these symptoms were suppressed by medication,
8662-689: The Russian Academy of Sciences have all concluded that homeopathy is ineffective, and recommended against the practice receiving any further funding. The National Health Service in England no longer provides funding for homeopathic remedies and asked the Department of Health to add homeopathic remedies to the list of forbidden prescription items. France removed funding in 2021, while Spain has also announced moves to ban homeopathy and other pseudotherapies from health centers. Homeopathy
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#17328008652208804-634: The Society of Homeopaths were targeting vulnerable ill people and discouraging the use of essential medical treatment while making misleading claims of efficacy for homeopathic products. In 2015 the Federal Court of Australia imposed penalties on a homeopathic company for making false or misleading statements about the efficacy of the whooping cough vaccine and recommending homeopathic remedies as an alternative. Hyoscine hydrobromide Scopolamine , also known as hyoscine , or Devil's Breath ,
8946-773: The St Pancras and Islington Cemetery , East Finchley . Meanwhile, Crippen and Le Neve were crossing the Atlantic aboard Montrose , with Le Neve disguised as a boy. Captain Henry George Kendall recognised the fugitives and, just before steaming beyond the range of his ship-board transmitter, had telegraphist Lawrence Ernest Hughes send a wireless telegram to the British authorities: "Have strong suspicions that Crippen London cellar murderer and accomplice are among saloon passengers. Mustache taken off growing beard. Accomplice dressed as boy. Manner and build undoubtedly
9088-568: The United States , but remained more deeply established in European thinking. In the United States, the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938 (sponsored by Royal Copeland , a Senator from New York and homeopathic physician) recognized homeopathic preparations as drugs. In the 1950s, there were only 75 solely homeopathic practitioners in the U.S. By the mid to late 1970s, homeopathy made
9230-432: The Y chromosome that found the flesh sample on the slide was male. The same research team also argued that a scar found on the torso's abdomen, which the original trial's prosecution argued was the same one Mrs. Crippen was known to have, was incorrectly identified. The scientists found hair follicles in the tissue which should not be present in scars, a medical fact which Crippen's defence used at his trial. Their research
9372-747: The alternative medicine community, scientists have long considered homeopathy a sham or a pseudoscience , and the medical community regards it as quackery . There is an overall absence of sound statistical evidence of therapeutic efficacy, which is consistent with the lack of any biologically plausible pharmacological agent or mechanism. Proponents argue that homeopathic medicines must work by some, as yet undefined, biophysical mechanism. No homeopathic preparation has been shown to be different from placebo . The lack of convincing scientific evidence supporting its efficacy and its use of preparations without active ingredients have led to characterizations of homeopathy as pseudoscience and quackery, or, in
9514-500: The bushmaster snake ), opium , and thyroidinum ( thyroid hormone ). Homeopaths say this is to ensure accuracy. In the USA the common name must be displayed, although the Latin one can also be present. Homeopathic pills are made from an inert substance (often sugars, typically lactose), upon which a drop of liquid homeopathic preparation is placed and allowed to evaporate. Isopathy is
9656-404: The decarboxylation of L-ornithine to putrescine by ornithine decarboxylase . Putrescine is methylated to N-methylputrescine by putrescine N-methyltransferase . A putrescine oxidase that specifically recognizes methylated putrescine catalyzes the deamination of this compound to 4-methylaminobutanal, which then undergoes a spontaneous ring formation to N- methyl - pyrrolium cation. In
9798-466: The sebaceous glands appeared at the ends but not in the middle of the scar. Other evidence presented by the prosecution included a piece of a man's pyjama top, supposedly from a pair Cora had given Crippen a year earlier. The pajama bottoms were found in Crippen's bedroom, but not the top. The fragment included the manufacturer's label, Jones Bros. Testimony from a Jones Bros. representative stated that
9940-508: The "Freiburg method". It spread rather slowly, and different clinics experimented with different dosages and ingredients. In 1915, the Canadian Medical Association Journal reported, "the method [was] really still in a state of development". It remained widely used in the US until the 1960s, when growing chemophobia and a desire for more natural childbirth led to its abandonment. Hyoscine hydrobromide
10082-658: The "symptom picture") is matched to the "drug picture" in the materia medica or repertory and used to determine the appropriate homeopathic remedies. In classical homeopathy, the practitioner attempts to match a single preparation to the totality of symptoms (the simlilum ), while "clinical homeopathy" involves combinations of preparations based on the illness's symptoms. Homeopathy uses animal, plant, mineral, and synthetic substances in its preparations, generally referring to them using Latin names. Examples include arsenicum album (arsenic oxide), natrum muriaticum ( sodium chloride or table salt), Lachesis muta (the venom of
10224-423: The 19th century. It was introduced to the United States in 1825, and the first American homeopathic school opened in 1835. Throughout the 19th century, dozens of homeopathic institutions appeared in Europe and the United States. During this period, homeopathy was able to appear relatively successful, as other forms of treatment could be harmful and ineffective. By the end of the century the practice began to wane, with
10366-470: The 21st century, a series of meta-analyses have shown that the therapeutic claims of homeopathy lack scientific justification. As a result, national and international bodies have recommended the withdrawal of government funding for homeopathy in healthcare. National bodies from Australia, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and France, as well as the European Academies' Science Advisory Council and
10508-550: The Hospital Clínic in Barcelona introduced a protocol to help medical workers identify cases. In February 2015, Madrid hospitals adopted a similar working document. Hospital Clínic has found little scientific evidence to support this use and relies on the victims' stories to reach any conclusion. Although poisoning by scopolamine appears quite often in the media as an aid for raping, kidnapping, killing, or robbery,
10650-970: The UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser and head of the Government Office for Science said "homeopathy is nonsense, it is non-science." His predecessor, John Beddington , also said that homeopathy "has no underpinning of scientific basis" and is being "fundamentally ignored" by the Government. Jack Killen, acting deputy director of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine , says homeopathy "goes beyond current understanding of chemistry and physics". He adds: "There is, to my knowledge, no condition for which homeopathy has been proven to be an effective treatment." Ben Goldacre says that homeopaths who misrepresent scientific evidence to
10792-638: The US before settling in Canada finding work as a typist. She returned to Britain in 1915 and died in 1967. At Crippen's request, a photograph of Le Neve was placed in his coffin and buried with him. Although Crippen's grave in Pentonville's grounds is not marked by a stone, tradition has it that soon after his burial, a rose bush was planted over it. In the early 2000s, an investigation into Crippen’s case began with DNA expert David R. Foran, Ph.D., and forensic toxicologist John H. Trestrail III, BS Pharm, leading
10934-459: The US instead, even if he had been recognised, it would have taken extradition proceedings to bring him to trial. Kendall invited Crippen to meet the pilots as they came aboard. Dew removed his pilot's cap and said, "Good morning, Dr. Crippen. Do you know me? I'm Chief Inspector Dew from Scotland Yard." After a pause, Crippen replied, "Thank God it's over. The suspense has been too great. I couldn't stand it any longer." He then held out his wrists for
11076-412: The US with Bruce Miller and that Cora and Hawley had been living at the house only since 1905, suggesting a previous owner of the house was responsible for the placement of the remains. The defence asserted that the abdominal scar identified by Spilsbury was really just folded tissue, for, among other things, it had hair follicles growing from it, something scar tissue could not have; Spilsbury observed that
11218-488: The US with one of her lovers, a music hall actor named Bruce Miller. Dew was satisfied with Crippen's story. However, Crippen and Le Neve did not know this and fled in panic to Brussels , where they spent the night at a hotel. The following day, they went to Antwerp and boarded the Canadian Pacific liner SS Montrose , bound for Canada. The couple's disappearance led police to perform further searches of
11360-611: The United Kingdom House of Commons recommended that homeopathy should no longer receive National Health Service (NHS) funding due its lack of scientific credibility; NHS funding for homeopathy ceased in 2017. They also asked the Department of Health in the UK to add homeopathic remedies to the list of forbidden prescription items. In 2015, the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia found that "there are no health conditions for which there
11502-406: The United States were not sufficient to allow him to practise as a doctor in the United Kingdom. He initially continued working as a distributor of patent medicines , while Cora embarked on an ultimately failed stage career and socialised with a number of variety players of the time. After Crippen was sacked by Munyon in 1899 he worked for other patent medicine companies, ultimately being hired as
11644-586: The accuracy of the research. After investigation the team found that the experiments were "statistically ill-controlled", "interpretation has been clouded by the exclusion of measurements in conflict with the claim", and concluded, "We believe that experimental data have been uncritically assessed and their imperfections inadequately reported." The provision of homeopathic preparations has been described as unethical. Michael Baum , professor emeritus of surgery and visiting professor of medical humanities at University College London (UCL), has described homeopathy as
11786-465: The arrest warrant to Crippen's defence counsel. The judge without challenge accepted the prosecution's argument that the withholding of the document would not prejudice the accused's case. Yates said he knew why the prosecution did this but – despite the passage of years – refused to disclose why. Yates noted that although Crippen placed the torso in dry quicklime to be destroyed, he did not realise that when it became wet it turned into slaked lime , which
11928-477: The available systematic reviews confirmed in 2002 that higher-quality trials tended to have less positive results, and found no convincing evidence that any homeopathic preparation exerts clinical effects different from placebo. The same conclusion was also reached in 2005 in a meta-analysis published in The Lancet . A 2017 systematic review and meta-analysis found that the most reliable evidence did not support
12070-400: The brain and heart, M 3 receptors are in salivary glands and M 4 receptors are in the brain and lungs. Due to the drug's inhibition of various signal transduction pathways, the decrease in acetylcholine signaling is what leads to many of the cognitive deficits, mental impairments, and delirium associated with psychoactive doses. Medicinal effects appear to mostly be tied to activation of
12212-494: The case did not become public until after the remains were found. In December 2009, the UK's Criminal Cases Review Commission , having reviewed the case, declared that the Court of Appeal will not hear the case to pardon Crippen posthumously. [REDACTED] Media related to Hawley Harvey Crippen at Wikimedia Commons Homeopathy Homeopathy or homoeopathy is a pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine . It
12354-441: The cause of such diseases as epilepsy , cancer , jaundice , deafness , and cataracts . Since Hahnemann's time, other miasms have been proposed, some replacing illnesses previously attributed to the psora, including tuberculosis and cancer miasms. Hahnemann's miasm theory remains disputed and controversial within homeopathy even in modern times. The theory of miasms has been criticized as an explanation developed to preserve
12496-457: The cause went deeper and began to manifest itself as diseases of the internal organs. Homeopathy maintains that treating diseases by directly alleviating their symptoms , as is sometimes done in conventional medicine, is ineffective because all "disease can generally be traced to some latent, deep-seated, underlying chronic, or inherited tendency". The underlying imputed miasm still remains, and deep-seated ailments can be corrected only by removing
12638-416: The deeper disturbance of the vital force. Hahnemann's hypotheses for miasms originally presented only three local symptoms: psora (the itch), syphilis (venereal disease) or sycosis (fig-wart disease). Of these the most important was psora , described as being related to any itching diseases of the skin and was claimed to be the foundation of many further disease conditions. Hahnemann believed it to be
12780-657: The development of modern drugs: For example, evidence that nitroglycerin might be useful as a treatment for angina was discovered by looking through homeopathic provings, though homeopaths themselves never used it for that purpose at that time. The first recorded provings were published by Hahnemann in his 1796 Essay on a New Principle . His Fragmenta de Viribus (1805) contained the results of 27 provings, and his 1810 Materia Medica Pura contained 65. For James Tyler Kent's 1905 Lectures on Homoeopathic Materia Medica , 217 preparations underwent provings and newer substances are continually added to contemporary versions. Though
12922-467: The diseases that they treat. This led to the name "homeopathy" , which comes from the ‹See Tfd› Greek : ὅμοιος hómoios , "-like" and πάθος páthos , "suffering". The doctrine that those drugs are effective which produce symptoms similar to the symptoms caused by the diseases they treat, called "the law of similars", was expressed by Hahnemann with the Latin phrase similia similibus curentur , or "like cures like". Hahnemann's law of similars
13064-418: The drug's competitive antagonism of the peripheral and central muscarinic acetylcholine receptors . Scopolamine acts as a nonspecific muscarinic antagonist at all four ( M 1 , M 2 , M 3 , and M 4 ) receptor sites. In doses higher than intended for medicinal use, the hallucinogenic alteration of consciousness , as well as the deliriousness in particular, are tied to the compound's activity at
13206-451: The early primary research was low, with problems such as weaknesses in study design and reporting, small sample size , and selection bias . Since better quality trials have become available, the evidence for efficacy of homeopathy preparations has diminished; the highest-quality trials indicate that the preparations themselves exert no intrinsic effect. A review conducted in 2010 of all the pertinent studies of "best evidence" produced by
13348-481: The effect of those substances when consumed. This concept is inconsistent with the current understanding of matter, and water memory has never been demonstrated to have any detectable effect, biological or otherwise. Existence of a pharmacological effect in the absence of any true active ingredient is inconsistent with the law of mass action and the observed dose-response relationships characteristic of therapeutic drugs. Homeopaths contend that their methods produce
13490-593: The effectiveness of non-individualized homeopathy. Health organizations, including the UK's National Health Service , the American Medical Association , the FASEB , and the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, have issued statements saying that there is no good-quality evidence that homeopathy is effective as a treatment for any health condition. In 2009, World Health Organization official Mario Raviglione criticized
13632-411: The effects of this drug and the way it is applied by criminals (transdermal injection, on playing cards and papers, etc.) are often exaggerated, especially skin exposure, as the dose that can be absorbed by the skin is too low to have any effect. Scopolamine transdermal patches must be used for hours to days. There are certain other aspects of the usage of scopolamine in crimes. Powdered scopolamine
13774-515: The evening of 31 January 1910, Cora disappeared following a party at the Crippen residence at Hilldrop Crescent. Crippen claimed that she had returned to the US and later added that she had died and had been cremated in California. Meanwhile, Le Neve moved into Hilldrop Crescent and began openly wearing Cora's clothes and jewelry. Police first heard of Cora's disappearance from her friend, the strongwoman Kate "Vulcana" Williams , but began to take
13916-444: The experiments with positive results could be reproduced by all investigators. In 1988, French immunologist Jacques Benveniste published a paper in the journal Nature while working at INSERM . The paper purported to have discovered that basophils released histamine when exposed to a homeopathic dilution of anti-immunoglobulin E antibody. Skeptical of the findings, Nature assembled an independent investigative team to determine
14058-690: The expression " allopathic medicine ", which was used to pejoratively refer to traditional Western medicine. Hahnemann conceived of homeopathy while translating a medical treatise by the Scottish physician and chemist William Cullen into German. Being sceptical of Cullen's theory that cinchona cured malaria because it was bitter, Hahnemann ingested some bark specifically to investigate what would happen. He experienced fever, shivering and joint pain : symptoms similar to those of malaria itself. From this, Hahnemann came to believe that all effective drugs produce symptoms in healthy individuals similar to those of
14200-452: The final step, hyoscyamine undergoes epoxidation catalyzed by 6beta-hydroxyhyoscyamine epoxidase yielding scopolamine. Plants naturally containing scopolamine such as Atropa belladonna (deadly nightshade), Brugmansia (angels trumpet), Datura (Jimson weed), Hyoscyamus niger , Mandragora officinarum , Scopolia carniolica , Latua and Duboisia myoporoides have been known about and used for various purposes in both
14342-441: The final substance. The high dilutions characteristically used are often considered to be the most controversial and implausible aspect of homeopathy. Homeopaths claim that they can determine the properties of their preparations by following a method which they call "proving". As performed by Hahnemann, provings involved administering various preparations to healthy volunteers. The volunteers were then observed, often for months at
14484-539: The growth of grain and enzyme reactions , such evidence is disputed since attempts to replicate them have failed. In 2001 and 2004, Madeleine Ennis published a number of studies that reported that homeopathic dilutions of histamine exerted an effect on the activity of basophils . In response to the first of these studies, Horizon aired a programme in which British scientists attempted to replicate Ennis' results; they were unable to do so. A 2007 systematic review of high-dilution experiments found that none of
14626-600: The handcuffs. Crippen and Le Neve were arrested on board Montrose on 31 July 1910. Crippen was returned to the UK on board the SS ; Megantic . Crippen was tried at the Old Bailey before the Lord Chief Justice , Lord Alverstone , on 18 October 1910. The proceedings lasted four days. The first prosecution witnesses were pathologists. One of them, Bernard Spilsbury , testified they could not identify
14768-559: The highly diluted drugs: "No poison, however strong or powerful, the billionth or decillionth of which would in the least degree affect a man or harm a fly." Nineteenth-century American physician and author Oliver Wendell Holmes was also a vocal critic of homeopathy and published an essay entitled Homœopathy and Its Kindred Delusions (1842). The members of the French Homeopathic Society observed in 1867 that some leading homeopaths of Europe not only were abandoning
14910-430: The hippocampus favor retrieval-dominant cognitive functioning. Scopolamine has been used to model the defects in cholinergic function for models of Alzheimer's , dementia, fragile X syndrome , and Down syndrome. Scopolamine has been identified as a psychoplastogen , which refers to a compound capable of promoting rapid and sustained neuroplasticity in a single dose. It has been and continues to be investigated as
15052-530: The house. During the fourth and final search, they found the torso of a human body buried under the brick floor of the basement. William Willcox (later Sir William Willcox, senior scientific analyst to the Home Office ) found traces of the toxic compound hyoscine hydrobromide (scopolamine) in the torso. The remains were identified as Cora's by a piece of skin from the abdomen; the head, limbs and skeleton were never recovered. Her remains were later interred at
15194-610: The increased popularity of homeopathy in recent times may be due to the comparatively long consultations practitioners are willing to give their patients, and to a preference for "natural" products , which people think are the basis of homeopathic preparations. Towards the end of the century opposition to homeopathy began to increase again; with William T. Jarvis , the President of the National Council Against Health Fraud , saying that "Homeopathy
15336-430: The last exclusively homeopathic medical school in the United States closing in 1920. During the 1970s, homeopathy made a significant comeback, with sales of some homeopathic products increasing tenfold. The trend corresponded with the rise of the New Age movement , and may be in part due to chemophobia , an irrational aversion to synthetic chemicals, and the longer consultation times homeopathic practitioners provided. In
15478-464: The majority of randomized trials in homeopathy have shortcomings and that such trials were generally of lower quality than trials of conventional medicine. A major issue has been publication bias , where positive results are more likely to be published in journals. This has been particularly marked in alternative medicine journals, where few of the published articles (just 5% during the year 2000) tend to report null results . A systematic review of
15620-578: The manager for the Drouet Institute for the Deaf. There he hired Ethel Le Neve , a young typist, in 1900. By 1905, the two were having an affair. After living at various addresses around London, Crippen and his wife finally moved to No. 39 Hilldrop Crescent, Camden Road , Holloway , where they took in lodgers to augment Crippen's meagre income. Cora had an affair with one of these lodgers, and in turn, Crippen took Le Neve as his mistress in 1908. On
15762-500: The matter more seriously when asked to investigate when two other friends, the actress Lil Hawthorne and her husband/manager John Nash, pressed their acquaintance, Scotland Yard Superintendent Frank Froest . Crippen's house was searched, but nothing was found. Under questioning by Chief Inspector Walter Dew , Crippen admitted that he had fabricated the story about his wife having died, claiming that he did so to avoid personal embarrassment because she had in fact left him and fled to
15904-463: The next step, the pyrrolium cation condenses with acetoacetic acid yielding hygrine . No enzymatic activity could be demonstrated to catalyze this reaction. Hygrine further rearranges to tropinone . Subsequently, tropinone reductase I converts tropinone to tropine , which condenses with phenylalanine -derived phenyllactate to littorine . A cytochrome P450 classified as Cyp80F1 oxidizes and rearranges littorine to hyoscyamine aldehyde . In
16046-601: The only surviving child to Andresse Skinner and Myron Augustus Crippen, a merchant. He was educated first at the University of Michigan 's homeopathy school, then graduated from the Cleveland Homeopathic Medical College in 1884. After his first wife, Charlotte Jane ( née Bell), died of a stroke in 1892, Crippen entrusted his parents, living in San Jose , California , with the care of his son, Hawley Otto (1889–1974). Having qualified as
16188-413: The peripheral receptors and only from marginal decreases in acetylcholine signaling. Although often broadly referred to as simply being 'anticholinergic', antimuscarinic would be more specific and accurate terminology to use for scopolamine, as, for example, it is not known to block nicotinic receptors . Scopolamine undergoes first-pass metabolism and about 2.6% is excreted unchanged in urine. It has
16330-516: The plants which includes atropine and hyoscyamine . Historically, the various plants that produce scopolamine have been used psychoactively for spiritual and magical purposes, particularly by witches in western culture and indigenous groups throughout the Americas , such as Native American tribes like the Chumash . When entheogenic preparations of these plants were used, scopolamine
16472-588: The practice of administering infinitesimal doses but were also no longer defending it. The last school in the United States exclusively teaching homeopathy closed in 1920. According to academics Paul U. Unschuld [ de ] and Edzard Ernst , the Nazi regime in Germany was fond of homeopathy, and spent large sums of money on researching its mechanisms, but without gaining a positive result. Unschuld also states that homeopathy never subsequently took root in
16614-542: The preparations are composed of drugs or vaccines that a person has consumed in the past, in the belief that this can reverse the supposed lingering damage caused by the initial use. There is no convincing scientific evidence for isopathy as an effective method of treatment. Some modern homeopaths use preparations they call "imponderables" because they do not originate from a substance but some other phenomenon presumed to have been "captured" by alcohol or lactose . Examples include X-rays and sunlight . Another derivative
16756-582: The product was not sold prior to 1908, thus placing the date of manufacture well within the time period of when the Crippens occupied the house and when Cora gave the garment to Hawley the year before in 1909. Curlers, and bleached hair consistent with Cora's, were also found with the remains. Throughout the proceedings and at his sentencing, Crippen showed no remorse for his wife, only concern for his lover's reputation. The jury found Crippen guilty of murder after just twenty-seven minutes of deliberations. Le Neve
16898-418: The proving process has superficial similarities with clinical trials, it is fundamentally different in that the process is subjective, not blinded , and modern provings are unlikely to use pharmacologically active levels of the substance under proving. As early as 1842, Oliver Holmes had noted that provings were impossibly vague, and the purported effect was not repeatable among different subjects. Outside of
17040-423: The remains found in Crippen's cellar were not those of his wife. Researchers used genealogy to identify three living relatives of Cora Crippen (great-nieces). By providing mitochondrial DNA haplotype , researchers were able to compare their DNA with that extracted from a microscope slide containing flesh taken from the torso in Crippen's cellar. The original remains were also tested using a highly sensitive assay of
17182-755: The selected substance is repeatedly diluted until the final product is chemically indistinguishable from the diluent . Often not even a single molecule of the original substance can be expected to remain in the product. Between each dilution homeopaths may hit and/or shake the product, claiming this makes the diluent "remember" the original substance after its removal. Practitioners claim that such preparations, upon oral intake, can treat or cure disease. All relevant scientific knowledge about physics, chemistry, biochemistry and biology contradicts homeopathy. Homeopathic remedies are typically biochemically inert, and have no effect on any known disease. Its theory of disease, centered around principles Hahnemann termed miasms ,
17324-422: The system of homeopathy in the face of treatment failures, and for being inadequate to cover the many hundreds of sorts of diseases, as well as for failing to explain disease predispositions, as well as genetics , environmental factors, and the unique disease history of each patient. Homeopathy achieved its greatest popularity in the 19th century. It was introduced to the United States in 1825 by Hans Birch Gram,
17466-489: The team leader as a 'less than optimal sample'". Foran responded by saying "tests showed unequivocally that the remains were male". Traces of the blonde hair found in curlers at the scene are now preserved in the Metropolitan Police's Crime Museum . Another researcher said they asked to be provided with samples from them for DNA testing, but the request has been denied several times. However, New Scotland Yard
17608-587: The terms for substances and dilutions are written on pieces of paper and either pinned to the patients' clothing, put in their pockets, or placed under glasses of water that are then given to the patients. Radionics , the use of electromagnetic radiation such as radio waves , can also be used to manufacture preparations. Such practices have been strongly criticized by classical homeopaths as unfounded, speculative, and verging upon magic and superstition. Flower preparations are produced by placing flowers in water and exposing them to sunlight. The most famous of these are
17750-406: The torso remains or even discern whether they were male or female. However, Spilsbury found a piece of skin with what he claimed to be an abdominal scar consistent with Cora's medical history. Large quantities of scopalamine were found in the remains, and Crippen had purchased the drug before the murder from a local chemist. Crippen's defence , led by Alfred Tobin , maintained that Cora had fled to
17892-409: The torso was that of one of his patients who died and not his wife. Another theory put forward is that the torso was Belle's former lover killed by Belle herself due to her having a short fuse temper and psychotic behaviour, and that Crippen may or may not have known about it. In October 2007, Michigan State University forensic scientist David Foran claimed that mitochondrial DNA evidence showed
18034-575: The treatment that is supposed to be helping them. The relative success of homeopathy in the 19th century may have led to the abandonment of the ineffective and harmful treatments of bloodletting and purging and begun the move towards more effective, science-based medicine . One reason for the growing popularity of homeopathy was its apparent success in treating people suffering from infectious disease epidemics. During 19th-century epidemics of diseases such as cholera , death rates in homeopathic hospitals were often lower than in conventional hospitals, where
18176-424: The treatments used at the time were often harmful and did little or nothing to combat the diseases. Even during its rise in popularity, homeopathy was criticized by scientists and physicians. Sir John Forbes , physician to Queen Victoria , said in 1843 that the extremely small doses of homeopathy were regularly derided as useless and considered it "an outrage to human reason". James Young Simpson said in 1853 of
18318-508: The use of homeopathy to treat tuberculosis ; similarly, another WHO spokesperson argued there was no evidence homeopathy would be an effective treatment for diarrhoea . They warned against the use of homeopathy for serious conditions such as depression , HIV and malaria . The American College of Medical Toxicology and the American Academy of Clinical Toxicology recommend that no one use homeopathic treatment for disease or as
18460-546: The use of scopolamine and morphine for surgical anaesthesia, and it started to be used sporadically for that purpose. The use of this combination in obstetric anesthesiology (childbirth) was first proposed by Richard von Steinbuchel in 1902 and was picked up and further developed by Carl Gauss in Freiburg , Germany , starting in 1903. The method, which was based on a drug synergy between both scopolamine and morphine came to be known as Dämmerschlaf (" twilight sleep ") or
18602-445: The words of a 1998 medical review, "placebo therapy at best and quackery at worst". The Russian Academy of Sciences considers homeopathy a "dangerous 'pseudoscience' that does not work", and "urges people to treat homeopathy 'on a par with magic ' ". The Chief Medical Officer for England, Dame Sally Davies , has stated that homeopathic preparations are "rubbish" and do not serve as anything more than placebos. In 2013, Mark Walport ,
18744-527: Was Georg Jahr's Symptomenkodex , published in German in 1835, and translated into English as the Repertory to the more Characteristic Symptoms of Materia Medica in 1838. This version was less focused on disease categories and was the forerunner to later works by James Tyler Kent . There are over 118 repertories published in English, with Kent's being one of the most used. Homeopaths generally begin with
18886-427: Was charged only with being an accessory after the fact and acquitted . Although Crippen never gave any reason for killing his wife, several theories have been propounded. One was by the late Victorian and Edwardian barrister Edward Marshall Hall , who believed that Crippen was using scopolamine on his wife as a depressant or anaphrodisiac but accidentally gave her an overdose and then panicked when she died. It
19028-437: Was conceived in 1796 by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann . Its practitioners, called homeopaths or homeopathic physicians, believe that a substance that causes symptoms of a disease in healthy people can cure similar symptoms in sick people; this doctrine is called similia similibus curentur , or "like cures like". Homeopathic preparations are termed remedies and are made using homeopathic dilution . In this process,
19170-515: Was considered to be the main psychoactive compound and was largely responsible for the hallucinogenic effects, particularly when the preparation was made into a topical ointment, most notably flying ointment . Scopolamine is reported to be the only active alkaloid within these plants that can effectively be absorbed through the skin to cause effects. Different recipes for these ointments were explored in European witchcraft at least as far back as
19312-430: Was created in 1796 by Samuel Hahnemann . Hahnemann rejected the mainstream medicine of the late 18th century as irrational and inadvisable, because it was largely ineffective and often harmful. He advocated the use of single drugs at lower doses and promoted an immaterial, vitalistic view of how living organisms function. The term homeopathy was coined by Hahnemann and first appeared in print in 1807. He also coined
19454-511: Was devised for making dilutions that Hahnemann claimed would preserve the substance's therapeutic properties while removing its harmful effects. Hahnemann believed that this process enhanced "the spirit-like medicinal powers of the crude substances". He gathered and published an overview of his new medical system in his book, The Organon of the Healing Art (1810), with a sixth edition published in 1921 that homeopaths still use today. In
19596-468: Was found to be scientifically, logically and ethically flawed, with most authors having a conflict of interest . The Swiss Federal Office of Public Health later released a statement saying the book was published without the consent of the Swiss government. Meta-analyses , essential tools to summarize evidence of therapeutic efficacy, and systematic reviews have found that the methodological quality in
19738-567: Was published in the August 2010 issue of the Journal of Forensic Sciences . However, the new scientific evidence for Crippen's innocence has been disputed. In The Times , journalist David Aaronovitch wrote: "As to the body being male, well the American team was using a 'special technique' that is 'very new' and 'done only by this team' and working on a single, century-old slide, described by
19880-481: Was reliable evidence that homeopathy was effective." The European Academies' Science Advisory Council (EASAC) published its official analysis in 2017 finding a lack of evidence that homeopathic products are effective, and raising concerns about quality control. In contrast a 2011 book was published, purportedly financed by the Swiss government, that concluded that homeopathy was effective and cost efficient. Although hailed by proponents as proof that homeopathy works, it
20022-443: Was willing to test a hair from the crime scene for a fee, which in turn was rejected by the investigators as "over the top." Researchers hypothesized that the police planted the body parts and particularly the fragment of the pajama top at the scene to incriminate Crippen. He suggests that Scotland Yard was under tremendous public pressure to find and bring to trial a suspect for this heinous crime. An independent observer points out that
20164-535: Was yearned by Rachel , who was "barren" (infertile) but trying to conceive. The effects of scopolamine were studied for use as a truth serum in interrogations in the early 20th century, but because of the side effects, investigations were dropped. In 2009, the Czechoslovak state security secret police were proven to have used scopolamine at least three times to obtain confessions from alleged antistate dissidents . Ingestion of scopolamine can render
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