What is "tautopathy"

Not to be confused with tauopathies, a real scientific field covering neurodegenerative diseases.

Tautopathy is a practice of alternative medicine that is similar to homeopathy in that it uses very diluted substances to treat illness. However, tautopathy does not rely on the law of similars, as homeopathy does. According to tautopathy practitioners, dilute solutions of lead and arsenic can cause the body to excrete excess amounts of these toxic metals. Also, according to advocates, a patient exhibiting negative side effects from conventional medication could be treated by a dilute solution of the same medication, to give the same healing effect while lessening the side effects. The term "tautopathy" was coined by Dudley Wooton Everitt, the former director of Nelsons Homeopathic Pharmacy.

There are no known scientific clinical trials that support the use of tautopathy, and it suffers from many of the same criticisms levelled at homeopathy. See Homeopathy: Medical and scientific analysis.