Homeopathy. 2002 Apr; 91(2): 89-94.

Homeopathic effect: a network perspective.

Torres JL.

Instituto de Fisica y Matematicas, Universidad Michoacana, Morelia, Mexico. jltorres@ifm1.ifm.umich.mx

There are two aspects to the problem of describing the homeopathic effect in physical terms: the nature of the therapeutic agent, and the system on which it acts. The latter can be considered as a network, which provides a conceptual framework that throws new light on long-standing questions, based on generic results such as the enhanced susceptibility of networks near critical states. It suggests a characterisation of health and disease in terms of distance from a critical state. The Internet provides a concrete analogy. This predicts a limiting condition on the acceptable loss of highly connected nodes in the system, and suggests a procedure to measure its connectivity and related parameters.