Where the term came from
The phrase "evidence-based medicine" came into use in the early 1990s and quickly became standard.
Methods
Methods and approaches
This section brings together three very different worlds: modern evidence-based medicine, the doctrines of the past on which medical practice once rested, and the alternative practices patients often ask about. We do not rank the people who turn to them; instead we show how each idea was tested and what conclusions were reached.
Doctors of the past were no less intelligent than we are. What they lacked was a tool for separating impression from result — and the story of that tool is more instructive than any legend.
How this section works: for each approach we explain the core idea and how science assesses it. Specific dates and conclusions are given only from the official sources listed at the bottom of the page.
Evidence-based medicine
An approach in which treatment decisions rest on the best available research, the doctor's expertise and the patient's values.
The Cochrane Collaboration
An international network of researchers founded in 1993 that prepares systematic reviews and publishes them in the Cochrane Library.
Three parts of a decision
Research data do not override the doctor's experience or your preferences: a good decision takes all three into account.
Knowledge is updated
Guidance is revised when new data appear. This is not a weakness of medicine but the way it corrects its mistakes.
Historical doctrines
Doctrines that shaped medical practice for centuries are interesting today as examples of how easily the familiar is mistaken for the proven.
Humoral theory
Ancient physicians explained illness as an imbalance of fluids in the body. The idea was neat, but it did not rest on testing by comparison.
Bloodletting
An intervention that made sense within humoral theory and was used everywhere for a long time. Once outcomes began to be compared, it was abandoned as a universal remedy.
Samuel Hahnemann
German physician (1755–1843) and founder of homeopathy. His main work, the "Organon of the Healing Art", was first published in 1810.
Hahnemann's doctrine in its time
Hahnemann opposed the harsh methods of his era and proposed a gentler approach. But his theory was built on his own ideas, not on comparative trials.
Alternative practices: what is known
We discuss such practices in general terms and rely only on published official assessments.
The NHMRC assessment (2015)
After reviewing the research, Australia's National Health and Medical Research Council concluded that there is no reliable evidence that homeopathy is effective for any health condition.
The RAS Commission memorandum (2017)
The Russian Academy of Sciences Commission against Pseudoscience published a memorandum that called homeopathy a pseudoscience.
The NHS England decision (2017)
England's National Health Service recommended that homeopathy should no longer be prescribed at the health service's expense.
Why people feel better
Improvement after an unproven method is often explained by the placebo effect, the natural course of the illness and the attention the person received.
What sets a proven method apart
- It has been compared with a placebo or usual care, not just described through success stories
- Its results have been repeated by independent research groups
- Not only its benefits but also its risks, limitations and contraindications are known
- The findings are summarised in systematic reviews and reflected in official guidance
Related sections
- Research
How to read research: control groups, placebo, systematic reviews and levels of evidence.
- Glossary
Terms from evidence-based medicine and medical history in plain words: from placebo to systematic review.
- Sources
Which official assessments this reference relies on, what it deliberately does not do and where its limits are.
Sources
- NHMRC — Statement on Homeopathy (2015)
- Russian Academy of Sciences Commission against Pseudoscience — memorandum on homeopathy (2017)
- NHS England (2017)
- Cochrane Library
This page reflects the state of knowledge on the date it was prepared. Scientific assessments and official guidance are revised as new research appears, so make decisions about your health together with your doctor.