Homeopathy could be blacklisted

[Blue Valkyrie]

Nope. Not at all.

Its been shown that an injection of saline has a far better placebo effect than a single blank white pill, similarly three coloured pills are better than that blank white one and so on.

You believed the water (that's all you got - water) was going to work, and that significantly improved its placebo effect.

Well that sounds like a fair point and I did not know about different placebo levels.

However, I did believe more that conventional treatments would work, and was astounded when the one that I assume did work was the homeopathic one.

I did think the placebo effect was all about belief in success, of which I had pretty much none for the homeopathic treatment in advance.

It could of course been a coincidence, but it was my experience.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

@Westdene Seagull.

It's very closed minded to think that man made drugs are the only thing that cures stuff ..... but of course it's vitally important for Cameron & co to protect the drugs company profits !!!!!

 

[Surrey_Albion]

say you want homeopathy due to religious believes and it will be taken seriously,respectfully and may even get a tax break

 

[Notters]

It's very closed minded to think that man made drugs are the only thing that cures stuff ..... but of course it's vitally important for Cameron & co to protect the drugs company profits !!!!!

Not sure if anyone's saying that... I had four years of debilitating back pain, which in the end was cured by a book! But I'm still very skeptical about homeopathy.

 

[looney]

Arguing for homeopatheyon the grounds of the lacebo effect is like saying chasing someone with a knife will improve boths healthand fitness.Its really Dumb.

1 Its not marketed as a placebo therefor its fraudulant and those pushing that line are promoting fraudulent behaviour.

Worse.

2. Advocates claim it cures everything so if people take this for cancer instead of proven meds what you are doing is killing people. No amount of feel good will cure serious ilnesses especially when its given to young children and babies who dont know anything about meds so wont even have a placebo effect.

over 60% of people will consider alternate medication when faced with life threatening illnesses or disease to them or loved ones. so not only is it a fraud but is a fraud on people who are ill and desperate, it also sounds like involuntary manslaughter and sooner some of these woo peddlers are jailed then the better imo.

 

[sten_super]

It's very closed minded to think that man made drugs are the only thing that cures stuff ..... but of course it's vitally important for Cameron & co to protect the drugs company profits !!!!!

That's not the definition of homeopathy though, is it? To *******ise the catchphrase, natural drugs that are actually proven to cure things are called drugs. Homeopathy is about the 'memory' of water, which is complete and total nonsense (and proven as such).

 

[WhingForPresident]

My wife is Eastern European and her family swears by this doctor that specialises in homeopathic medicine. I was somewhat skeptical but went along regardless to see her when I was out there and got four different types of some little sugary pills for some minor ailments I had no idea I had (I still don't really know what they are as I don't speak the language and the missus hasn't been able to explain it in any way that actually makes sense).

I haven't noticed any difference after a couple of months, but the wife claims it 'might take a year or two' to have any impact, and I won't even notice if it does. Hmm..

I kind of see it in the same way as religion. If people want to believe in it and it makes them feel better about themselves, then fair do's, but if they're devoting their lives to it or putting their lives on the line for it, it's a bit dangerous as it seems to be utter gubbins to me.

I'll bounce this thread if any of my mystery ailments improve

 

[BigGully]

It's very closed minded to think that man made drugs are the only thing that cures stuff ..... but of course it's vitally important for Cameron & co to protect the drugs company profits !!!!!

Why do those that believe in something that is nearly always unlikely to exist or has been proved not to work, always assume that it is the others that have a closed mind.

Being illogical or believing something might work even though modern science has proved it does not doesn't show that you have some secret wisdom.

Typically you link your wholly illogical position with a swipe at the pharmaceutical companies, companies that invest, innovate and research in medicines that are proven to work and help, cure and save many millions of lives.

 

[One Love]

Now that I stay out of these threads, I do enjoy the omniscient contributions of the usual suspects.

 

[beorhthelm]

It's very closed minded to think that man made drugs are the only thing that cures stuff ..... but of course it's vitally important for Cameron & co to protect the drugs company profits !!!!!

its a good job pharmacology agrees and doesn't even suggest only man made drugs can cure ailments. bonus point for making this a conspiracy and political dig.

 

[Guinness Boy]

It's very closed minded to think that man made drugs are the only thing that cures stuff ..... but of course it's vitally important for Cameron & co to protect the drugs company profits !!!!!

Homeopathic remedies are man made and they are a massive industry. Snake oil was a business.

 

[GT49er]

£4 million is about the current turnover of my small company that employs over 30 skilled people in IT. Imagine how many nurses you could get for it.

Rather a shallow comment that (but pretty much in tone with this thread!) Yes, £4M would be more money than I've ever seen in my life, and it may be a lot to your business too, but in terms of the NHS budget, or indeed of government expenditure as a whole, it is a drop in the ocean.
Oh, and the answer to the second part of your post, is about 150 nurses, at a push. Again, a drop in the ocean.

 

[Guinness Boy]

Rather a shallow comment that (but pretty much in tone with this thread!) Yes, £4M would be more money than I've ever seen in my life, and it may be a lot to your business too, but in terms of the NHS budget, or indeed of government expenditure as a whole, it is a drop in the ocean.
Oh, and the answer to the second part of your post, is about 150 nurses, at a push. Again, a drop in the ocean.

Let's say it was only 100 nurses that's still better than chucking it at shaky shaky water. Proportionally it is a drop in the ocean, I agree. I can't say there'd be a single senior manager in any institution who'd turn his nose up at a 4 million windfall.

 

[GT49er]

Let's say it was only 100 nurses that's still better than chucking it at shaky shaky water. Proportionally it is a drop in the ocean, I agree. I can't say there'd be a single senior manager in any institution who'd turn his nose up at a 4 million windfall.

Oh, we're talking about a single institution now, are we? I thought the £4M was over the whole of the NHS.

 

[GT49er]

Well if it wasnt serious then I thought you might like to share it and discuss it, but I understand as its your shout and I suspect even you know that there is no logical reason why your homoeopathy treatment might have impacted on your ailment, yet you still choose to believe it.

So let me get this straight. He has stated he had a condition which was helped by homoeopathy, but you refuse to even acknowledge that unless he publishes his medical history on line, with full details of his condition, how he acquired it, with detail of all the medication he took? How very reasonabe!

It happened like he said (unless you're calling him a liar) - get over it!

 

[Guinness Boy]

Oh, we're talking about a single institution now, are we? I thought the £4M was over the whole of the NHS.

Well if you're not wasting it on Not Medicine it could be either. Targetted at a particular Trust with staff shortages or that is failing inspections, proportionally spread in to an HR budget ringfenced for medical staff or chucked at a particular hospital (a children's hospital would get excellent use out of it).

If we spunked £4 million on a useless striker people on here would be hopping mad. Spending that on placebos is barking mad.

 

[beorhthelm]

if homeopathy worked, a bottle of Budweiser would cure coeliac disease

 

[GT49er]

Sorry, I'll pass on getting so personal - it was ongoing for many months though, but not serious in the grand scheme of things.

.....is the correct response to a rude and very personal question.

I too can vouch for a first hand experience where homoeopathy has worked. My brother had a chronic condition, and the drugs the NHS GP was pumping into him (cortisone) just made it worse - he was near death when in desperation Mum and Dad took him to see a practitioner of homoeopathy (and osteopathy as well, incidentally). His condition improved - he lived, and still does almost 60 years later - and the GP, blessed with the same prejudice as exhibited on here, crossed the whole family of the NHS treatment list in retribution for going to a homoeopath. And no, my brother didn't 'think himself better', or any of the other twaddle suggested on here - he was 18 months old at the time.
He later had NHS treatment from the very excellent Royal London Homoeopathic Hospital, which operated an excellent regime using the best of homoeopathy and conventional medicine.

 

[Cian]

Anecdotes do not make for medical evidence

No trial has ever shown homeopathy to be better than placebo. There have been so many of them at this stage none more need funding - the process hasn't changed, the results don't change.

Its water. It does nothing. People get better in other ways and assign that to the water, which did nothing. That's the scientific fact and calling it "twaddle" and claiming "prejudice" for stating that water is water and nothing more shows severe contempt for science. Rather funny to be doing it via a computer.

"It made me/person I know better" isn't proof something works.

edit: by the way, the placebo effect works on babies. And animals. Being 18 months old does not prevent either placebo effect or regression to mean being entirely valid explanations for a recovery. Magic water is never a valid explanation.

 

[GT49er]

Its water. It does nothing. People get better in other ways and assign that to the water, which did nothing.

Sigh. That's bollox. It's not even what it says in the very badly researched and written BBC article. However, I've no doubt you will continue to believe whatever you want to believe.