Article on homeopathy from the Guardian

[siestatime]

http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/...210104,00.html

"Waiter, there´s a nanoparticle permeating my soup."

Not the same somehow.

[Jocky]

This article is permeated by the usual nanoparticles of misunderstanding which infest those who persist in believing that hoeopathy is anything other than a catalyst for a placebo effect.

if the medicines really are ineffective, why is it that so many people who have tried homeopathy have found that it makes a difference to their wellbeing?

If it can really make a difference to "so many people", then why does it have no effect in blinded trials? Because anecdote does not equal evidence

[Admin]

All she's basically saying is that science shows that it doesn't work yet some people believe it works for them (they perceive a benefit).

That's a pretty good description of a placebo treatment!

Anyone with a smidgeon of rationality can see it for what it is.

[bindeweede]

If homeopathy worked, there'd be no Traviata or Boheme

http://dcscience.net/?p=21

[mahakala]

Actually, the only thing you all can say with certainty is that homeopathy doesn't make any sense in view of the current understanding of medicine and science.

Kind of like a lot of things we now take for granted when they were first introduced.

Anybody who has used homeopathy in all its various forms, under a variety of circumstances, can see clearly that it is not just a placebo.

[Mongrel]

Actually, the only thing you all can say with certainty is that homeopathy doesn't make any sense in view of the current understanding of medicine and science.

Kind of like a lot of things we now take for granted when they were first introduced.

...before we knew a lot more about the world we live in.

Like cures like is the basic principle behind homeopathy, and that was based on a single incident that was probably an allergy.

It then goes on to ridicule the principles of EBM, physics and chemistry and has now turned it's lecherous gaze upon quantum physics\mechanics. It's had 200 years to come up with any form of compelling evidence and all they've got hand waving, bluster and nonsense...

[bindeweede]

Ratbags Holistic Health Academy
Training course for homeopaths

Some may think that all you have to do to become a homeopath is get a copy of Materia Medica and practice diluting and succussing. There is in fact a comprehensive training program.

1. Remove the brain. It does not have to come out in one piece, so any method may be used which does not damage the skull too much.
2. Blend the brain with 10 times its weight in sand.
3. Take 10% of the mixture and blend that with 10 times its weight in sand.
4. Repeat step 3 20 times.
5. Pour the final mixture back into the cavity where the brain was.
6. If the brain was removed by trepanning or arthroscopy, seal the hole in the skull with a cork (do not use a rubber bung). If the entire top of the skull was removed, put the top back on carefully and apply an electric current vertically until the bone knits again.
7. Succuss the head twice on each side with a brick.
8. Award certificate of competence.

It should be noted that some less reputable training institutions have been offering accelerated courses which leave out the first 6 steps. To ensure that your homeopath has been properly trained, look for the horizontal scar running around the head just above the eyes, or ask to see the cork.


[From http://www.ratbags.com/rsoles/comment/homeopathy.htm}

[Admin]

Actually, the only thing you all can say with certainty is that homeopathy doesn't make any sense in view of the current understanding of medicine and science.

Is there an alternative understanding of medicine and science where things like antibiotics, transplants, life-saving cancer treatments, brain surgery, etc., don't work but homeopathy does then?

Honestly! I don't know which is the most stupid: homeopathy itself or the numbskulls who believe in it.

[mahakala]

I see that your concept of medicine is um, rather limited, which of course is a common tactic that can be used to exclude anything which doesn't fit with one's particular prejudices.

And by the way, perhaps you could differentiate a little between certain people's meager attempts to explain things, and the reality that they just don't know.

Do you now where the information in your computer is stored?

Anyway, tell your narrow minded b.s. to a friend of mind who uses Aconite 200C quite regularly to control his arrythmia, a life threatening medical condition, just as one example.

[bobdezon]

Its not about prejudices its about efficacy. Homeopathy does not work except as a placebo. It is water, that is all. If it did work it would kill everyone on the planet. I mean all the worlds water has filtered through every substance on earth at some point. Homeopaths tell us some solutions can be dangerous. If it had any truth to it we would all be very ill very well or very dead.

[Mongrel]

I see that your concept of medicine is um, rather limited, which of course is a common tactic that can be used to exclude anything which doesn't fit with one's particular prejudices.

Well, there goes my irony meter...

And by the way, perhaps you could differentiate a little between certain people's meager attempts to explain things, and the reality that they just don't know.

Luckily it was already broken

Do you now where the information in your computer is stored?

Yes, some of us dislike wallowing in our own ignorance.

Anyway, tell your narrow minded b.s. to a friend of mind who uses Aconite 200C quite regularly to control his arrythmia, a life threatening medical condition, just as one example.

1) Anecdotes are not data
2) Arrythmia is a catch-all term for 'irregular heart beat' and it ranges from mild annoyance to full blown cardiac arrest. The majority of irregularities can be controlled with stress exercises, dietary changes and exercise.

[vbloke]

I see that your concept of medicine is um, rather limited, which of course is a common tactic that can be used to exclude anything which doesn't fit with one's particular prejudices.

Touché

And by the way, perhaps you could differentiate a little between certain people's meager attempts to explain things, and the reality that they just don't know.

Perhaps you could differentiate between 2 unlabelled homeopathic preparations?

Do you now where the information in your computer is stored?

Yes; the principle and methods behind this are very well understood.

Anyway, tell your narrow minded b.s. to a friend of mind who uses Aconite 200C quite regularly to control his arrythmia, a life threatening medical condition, just as one example.

Anyway, tell your irrational b.s. to this baby girl.

[mahakala]

So nobody can tell me where the information on my computer is stored?

Interesting that you attack my anecdotes using anectodes.

I can tell by your rabid responses that really it all comes down to this, "I don't understand it so therefore it is bollocks." Or, "I don't like so it must be bollocks." Or, "there are a bunch of prats using it so it must be bollocks."

Of course millions of people are wrong. You handful are right.

[mahakala]

Oh, by the way thousands of people die every year because of mistakes in hospitals and reactions to drugs prescribed by doctors.

[JJM]

Oh, by the way thousands of people die every year because of mistakes in hospitals and reactions to drugs prescribed by doctors.

The Imperfections of real medicine do not validate your kooky theories.

http://pandabearmd.com/blog/2007/11/...dicine-part-1/