It may sound inviting and even plausible to some, but Homeopathy is the Scientology of alternative therapies. It's bollocks.
It's lovely to have alternatives available for conventional, Western medicine. It's nice to have an open mind. I make these statements with only a touch of wryness; I do sincerely try to keep an open mind. Nevertheless, I am really rather relieved to read news reports about a group of leading British doctors who have directly challenged the way many National Health Service (NHS) trusts use their funds. As reported by The Times Online:…
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Article comments
26 - Roy
I wonder if deceive is the right word. My take on the process is that users enter into a consensual belief system which sometimes has beneficial effects (eg my colleague's painful skin condition clearing up.) This involves 'metaphysical poppycock to make things seem magical and mysterious', though to some this is akin to the small print that comes with the proper drugs - you know it's there, but don't take much notice. I concede that the issue of funding via the NHS is problematic. However, I don't see the harm - furthermore, let's say your argument prevails - my colleagues painful skin condition would not have been fixed, so is there a greater good that would justify his particular suffering continuing?
27 - Nukapai
So you're saying the end justifies the means?
I would say "sometimes".
I just have a particular problem with dishonesty for profit.
28 - Christine Wyndham-Thomas
There are some wonderful success stories on the above website that includes animals, which vet wanted to have put to sleep. One was a dog that broke its shoulder bone, jaw and teeth, had a collapsed lung and various cuts and abrasions when it was knocked down by a car. And another one where a dog lost all its fur but with the help of ONLY homeopathy is now recovering.
Conventional vets are jealous of the fact they're unable to cure such cases. Thankfully homeopathy can and at a fraction of the cost.
29 - Eanna
Don't believe everything that you read. Much of the medical research is funded by the drug companies, and you can guess what the outcome will be. Drugs are big business, and the drug companies have a vested interest in discrediting alternative medicine. Try homeopathy for yourself, and see what you think.
30 - Nukapai
I wish the staunch defenders of Homeopathy would take their own advice (in not believing everything) and I also wish they would add something new to this discussion.
We have already established that there is plenty of anecdotal evidence for Homeopathy and that there are plenty of strong believers in its ability to heal.
There is, however, no actual scientific evidence for how it could work (in any other way than by a complex combination of placebo and other environmental factors).
Defenders of Homeopathy tend to favour emotional appeals, conspiracy theories and the old "ah, but it's been said to work on animals, so it must work."
But such defenders rarely argue based on reason, logic or evidence.
I can post links too:
Ben Goldacre:
"Time after time, properly conducted scientific studies have proved that homeopathic remedies work no better than simple placebos. So why do so many sensible people swear by them? And why do homeopaths believe they are victims of a smear campaign? Ben Goldacre follows a trail of fudged statistics, bogus surveys and widespread self-deception.
Ben Goldacre
The Guardian
Friday November 16 2007"
Full article here.
TIME magazine.
"Millions of people around the world swear by the alternative medicine homeopathy. In Britain, the Royal Family endorses and uses it. But that hasn't deterred the editors of The Lancet, the prestigious British medical journal, which has launched an all-out attack on homeopathy. In its current issue, The Lancet published a massive study that compared the results of 110 trials of homeopathy with the same number of trials of conventional medicine. The conclusion: benefits attributed to homeopathy were, at best, placebo effects."
.... but then, posting links to material that others have written does not really accomplish much.
Especially not in the Homeopathy arguments, where we could be at this until we grow old.
I can't force a person to consider things reasonably if they refuse to do so. That's why I know that trying to have a debate about Homeopathy with one of its advocates is, ultimately, a bit futile.
Finally, I'd like to add that throwing Homeopathy into the large category of "alternative therapies" is a bit like throwing Scientology into the larger category of "Spiritual thought".
I am by no means pro-huge drug companies. I don't agree with much of what they're up to either. I also really don't see why calling Homeopathy to prove itself on scientific ground or stop being sold as "medicine" somehow defaults me into the pro-drug company position. Those aren't naturally opposing positions.
What if I'm anti-bullshitting consumers, regardless of where the bullshit comes from?
31 - Dr. Nancy Malik
Homeopathy cures where Conventional Medicine fails
32 - health blog
Good article.
I do agree with you but do my words.
There are many people who have chronic diseases, wether it is back pain, stress, skin disorders etc..
For these, traditional medecine can only offer limited relief. For that kind of pain/problems alternative therapies can go a very long way to provide much more comfort to these people.
Hope that makes sense
33 - Steve W
Great article and though a little old now, I'd still like to add something to the table.
Perhaps water may have some properties that are not fully understood yet, but I always find it funny when believers in homeopathy keep on giving the argument that water may have a long term memory for substances.
If we were to run with that idea of water having a long term memory, isn't it wonderfully convenient that it remembers the substance which, in its incredibly diluted form, will do you some good and that the water has luckily got amnesia when it comes to all the excrement, urine and other nasty stuff that has been in it which, y'know, might just skew the desired effect just a bit.