Potency Scales
Several potency scales are in use in homeopathy. Hahnemann created the centesimal or "C scale", diluting a substance by a factor of 100 at each stage. The centesimal scale was favored by Hahnemann for most of his life. A 2C dilution requires a substance to be diluted to one part in one hundred, and then some of that diluted solution diluted by a further factor of one hundred. This works out to one part of the original substance in 10,000 parts of the solution. A 6C dilution repeats this process six times, ending up with the original material diluted by a factor of 100−6=10−12. Higher dilutions follow the same pattern. In homeopathy, a solution that is more dilute is described as having a higher potency, and more dilute substances are considered by homeopaths to be stronger and deeper-acting remedies. The end product is often so diluted that it is indistinguishable from the dilutant (pure water, sugar or alcohol).
Hahnemann advocated 30C dilutions for most purposes (that is, dilution by a factor of 1060). In Hahnemann's time it was reasonable to assume that remedies could be diluted indefinitely, as the concept of the atom or molecule as the smallest possible unit of a chemical substance was just beginning to be recognized. We now know that the greatest dilution that is reasonably likely to contain one molecule of the original substance is 12C, if starting from 1 mole of original substance.
Some homeopaths developed a decimal scale (D or X), diluting the substance to ten times its original volume each stage. The D or X scale dilution is therefore half that of the same value of the C scale; for example, "12X" is the same level of dilution as "6C". Hahnemann never used this scale but it was very popular throughout the 19th century and still is in Europe. This potency scale appears to have been introduced in the 1830s by the American homeopath, Constantine Hering. In the last ten years of his life, Hahnemann also developed a quintamillesimal (Q) or LM scale diluting the drug 1 part in 50,000 parts of diluent. A given dilution on the Q scale is roughly 2.35 times its designation on the C scale. For example a remedy described as "20Q" has about the same concentration as a "47C" remedy.
Potencies of 1000c and above are usually labelled with Roman numeral M and with the centesimal 'c' indicator implied (since all such high potencies are centesimal dilutions): 1M = 1000c; 10M = 10,000c; CM = 100,000c; LM (which would indicate 50,000c) is typically not used due to confusion with the LM potency scale.
The following table is a synopsis comparing the X and C dilution scales and equating them by equivalent dilution. However, the homeopathic understanding of its principles is not explained by dilution but by "potentisation", hence one can not assume that the different potencies can be equated based on equivalence of dilution factors.
| X Scale | C Scale | Ratio | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1X | — | 1:10 | described as low potency |
| 2X | 1C | 1:100 | called higher potency than 1X by homeopaths |
| 6X | 3C | 10−6 | |
| 8X | 4C | 10−8 | allowable concentration of arsenic in U.S. drinking water |
| 12X | 6C | 10−12 | |
| 24X | 12C | 10−24 | Has a 60% probability of containing one molecule of original material if one mole of the original substance was used. |
| 26X | 13C | 10−26 | If pure water was used as the diluent, no molecules of the original solution remain in the water. |
| 60X | 30C | 10−60 | Dilution advocated by Hahnemann for most purposes: on average, this would require giving two billion doses per second to six billion people for 4 billion years to deliver a single molecule of the original material to any patient. |
| 400X | 200C | 10−400 | Dilution of popular homeopathic flu remedy Oscillococcinum |
| Note: the "X scale" is also called "D scale". 1X = 1D, 2X = 2D, etc. | |||
Read more about this topic: Homeopathic Dilutions
Famous quotes containing the words potency and/or scales:
“A few more years will destroy whatever yet remains of that magical potency which once belonged to the name of Byron.”
—Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800–1859)
“As deaths have accumulated I have begun to think of life and death as a set of balance scales. When one is young, the scale is heavily tipped toward the living. With the first death, the first consciousness of death, the counter scale begins to fall. Death by death, the scales shift weight until what was unthinkable becomes merely a matter of gravity and the fall into death becomes an easy step.”
—Alison Hawthorne Deming (b. 1946)