On Ultra-High Dilutions: Global Effects Caused by Minimal Quantities

Introduction: The role played by minimum quantities, generating large scale effects, and even of catastrophic consequence, is very commonly observed in many areas of science. In Physics, for example, the doping of impurities in materials like silicon (as low as one atom per billion) results in spectacular semiconductor properties. In Biology, the effects of pheromones produced by insects and other animals are so dramatic that females of the emperor moth can attract mating males from kilometers away. And, concerning human health, severe body reactions may occur following the ingestion of very diminutive quantity of some allergic food. In this paper, the question of how Nature provides mechanisms for developing such dramatic and many times unexpected results, from very faint stimulus, will be proposed and discussed. In particular, a model for the controversial issue of how homeopathic remedies can influence and impose organic responses will also be addressed. This model particularly rely on the here named infotrans mechanism, which is based on a type of resonant property that may induce living organisms to promptly over-react after a pseudo environmental aggression. Finally, arguments will be provided to demonstrate that water, mainly due to its very high dielectric constant, can be considered a very good mediator for the infotrans. The Role of Water in Important Biological Mechanisms: Assuming that water molecules can indeed rearrange themselves to form larger clusters, it is reasonable to accept that different external excitations might induce these structures to assemble in distinctive ways. As matter of fact, experimental evidences already exist in literature showing that ultra-high dilutions of different substances, when compared to pure water, do exhibit relevant physico-chemical differences. More recently, investigations have shown that water plays a crucial role in biological systems such as the protein folding process or the twisting of DNA helixes. Thus, it is reasonable to accept that water, having the possibly of structuring itself in an almost endless variety of ways, it will impact in a unique and own peculiar way the individual cells and even entire organs. That is, the codified information related to the specific architecture of the water cluster, in result to previous stimulus (infotrans), will be passed on to the living organism through the nervous system and induce, in consequence, a prompt reaction. The specific type of response commanded by the mind, after detecting a particular infotrans, will depend on the array of experiences the living being had previously undergone. In some circumstances, however, the mind may mistake the information received from the nervous system, treating a harmless organic process as a dangerous attack. In this situation the overall body reaction can be very dramatic, as the reported cases of children that had to be hospitalized in serious health conditions (even with some fatal occurrences) after the ingestion of only residual amounts of allergic foods like peanut, wheat and milk. The Transfer of Information (InfoTrans) and the Placebo Effect: Interestingly, the mechanism of infotrans is much more extensive and does not restrict itself to transference of information by material means. All our five senses are channels that bring information to the mind and which might cause global body reactions. The picture of a grotesque insect, for example, may induce a sensitive (entomophobic) person to sweat, feel dizzy and, sometimes, even trigger severe emotional reactions like panic and terror. Moreover, different persons that listen to a playing music are observed to react in different ways. Of course, it is not the music being played that causes, by itself, these reactions. What happens is that each individual’s mind will process the same stimulus (the music) differently, based on the various situations experienced throughout the person’s existences, and which had been stored in his sub-conscience. To finalize, it is not difficult to conclude, from the discussion above, that the ‘placebo effect’ can be easily understood in terms of the here proposed infotrans mechanism. By accepting the suggestion from any health personnel, and/or truly believing that a prescribed healing procedure will be effective, the mind eventually triggers many sorts of organic reactions that turn out to be efficient enough to resolve a person’s medical problem. Conclusions: In this work the mechanism of infotrans (transferred information) is proposed as an explanation of how homeopathic remedies are very successful in restoring people’s health. It is based on the innumerous experiences a person has undergone throughout his lives and which have been imprinted in his sub-conscience. After receiving the information from an homeopathic preparation (codified by the way the water clusters structured themselves), if the corresponding infotrans does resonate with some archetypal experience the patient has stored in his sub-conscience (related to an ancient case in which he had suffered a type of illness which has caused the same kind of symptoms he is now experiencing), his defensive immune system will automatically receive from the mind a command to counterattack the (hypothetical) aggression by strongly intensifying the defensive measurements already on course and/or initiating new ones.