Homeopathy - Does it work

[admin]

We all know the homeopathy discussion is a long running battle sometimes.

What do our forum users think?

Do you think it works?

Have you seen any real evidence or have personal experience it works?

:shock:

[Zoggite]

homeopathy- does it work?

in my days in belgium I remember a farmer who used to come in regularly for homeopathic veterinary remedies for some of his prize cattle (the famous Belgian Blue breed) who suffered with arthritis. It seems to be quite a common problem, those poor animals have been bred to have a muscle mass much heavier than what their joints can take... Anyway, this farmer swore by his homeopathy, and as there are no residue problems in milk or meat, he didn't have to worry about "waiting times" like for allopathic drugs used in animals destined for human consumption.So I reckon that if someone as tight-fisted as a farmer has been convinced that it works, then there must be something in it...!
So far, I understand that it's been a bit like proving that God exists: you can't prove He does, but no-one has proved that he(or should that be She?) doesn't; No-one has ever demonstrated that homeopathy works, but no-one either has ever proved that it definitely doesn't...
So I'm staying on the fence, basically!

[Pari]

Re: Homeopathy - Does it work

Do you think it works?

well, a friend of mine has told me that her uncle is a physician in India and he always prescribes the Homeopathic remedies, and the patiens always benefit! he just cure them. but I have not meet his patients! so I have no idea. But it makes me think of starting a discussion about all sort of traditional medicine. Actually the other day when I read Navid's question about warm & cold foods etc, I was thinkig of strating a new topic about it but because of the New Year I have no enough time to write down something good. so what would you say to such a topic? shall we strat?

[admin]

New Topic

Pari

Go ahead and start as many new topics as you wish - the more the better!

[Nik]

Re: Homeopathy - Does it work

Parents prosecuted after homeopathic treatment leads to daughter's death

Parents prosecuted after homeopathic treatment leads to daughter's death - Wikinews, the free news source

Clearly not in this case

[Fleegle]

Re: Homeopathy - Does it work

Avogadro's number in relation to dilutions always used to (and still does) bother me. The number of repeated 1 in 100 dilutions involved in homoeopathy often indicate to me that the last molecule of active substance has been completely diluted out...then the resultant 'aliquot' is poured over a few placebo tablets and 'triturated'?

Can't agree with it. full stop.

Fleeg.

[happy_bunny]

Re: Homeopathy - Does it work

I think homeopathic remedies can be useful in cases where a definitive diagnosis is not forthcoming and the patient is ready to try anything - even though they are unlkely to do any good, the placebo effect can be helpful and a product so massively diluted is unlikely to do any actual harm provided the person seeks further medical help if their condition worsens.

[PtitpupUK]

Re: Homeopathy - Does it work

I am still unsure about it. Worked a while with a pharmacist who was also qualified as a homeopath but he never said too much about the subject, but I think some things can work.
Grandma swears by it. She takes her homeopathic anti-flu remedy every year and never gets the bug (she doesn't get injection).
She's allergic to bee stings, and got stung once when we were cutting the lavender. She started swelling up really quickly. She has a homeopathic kit with detailed schedule of what pill she has to take at what time, and she did get over the allergic reaction.
I expect some of it works, as long as it is from a reputable person and tailored to your needs. I wouldn't recommend anyone to go and help themselves from Holland and Barrets for example.

[johannes]

Re: Homeopathy - Does it work

We all know the homeopathy discussion is a long running battle sometimes.

What do our forum users think?

Do you think it works?

Sometimes

Have you seen any real evidence or have personal experience it works?

:shock:

Real evidence I haven't seen, if you mean scientific.
But customers who had been prescribed homoepahtics came in again speaking about positive.

Are homoeopahtic preparations licenced?

What do you think about "Bach flower remedies"?

[Rafael]

Re: Homeopathy - Does it work

Sometimes

But customers who had been prescribed homoepahtics came in again speaking about positive.

That's the same as the psychological effect of someone on a placebo pill, without knowing it contains no active ingredients, and telling you oh i am feeling better well. of course he/she will feel better after a couple of days if he suffers from a cold/cough or any minor illness.

majority, if not all, of cough medications have no scientifical evidence that they work. if someone experiencing a mild cough, i expect his cough to resolve within a 4-7 days, regardless if he took any coughtmedication or not.
MHRA does not object selling these cough medications that are not evidence-based, as they do not harm (and they do not benefit as well), so it's just another source to generate money.

[Nik]

Re: Homeopathy - Does it work

I am glad that this couple have been prosecuted. The fact that they turned to homeopathy repeatedly, despite improvement being shown in the very short times they treated her with allopathic medicine makes this unforgivable. Unfortunately homeopathic practices are extremely common in south east Asia (where this couple originated from) particularly in countries like India and Bangladesh, where millions of poor people get duped by fake practitioners. The sad situation is that the CAM lot protest about the adverse effects of true medicine without realising the benefits offset the risks.

[Defblade]

Re: Homeopathy - Does it work

Well, as I understand it, the original set up for homeopathy requires that the mixture is banged on a King James Bible.

Any procedure that wouldn't have worked for the millions of years before a particular book was written and then does start working after is very suspect in my eyes.

[marteditor]

Re: Homeopathy - Does it work

I never heard the bit about the Bible. Does that mean there's no such thing as an atheist homoeopath, or would banging it on a copy of 'Das Kapital' work as well? - room for a study there, I should think. But homoeopaths explain the fact that these things work despite there being, as Fleegle noted, none of the active substance actually there, by the fact that the banging implants a memory of the molecular structure in the water, or some such, er, ingenious explanation. What I want to know is, does that make the sea a potent homoeopathic cureall, with all those traces of this and that being banged around by the action of the waves?

For me, it's difficult to see how you can subscribe to a scientific view of medicine and simultaneously favour homoeopathy. But it certainly works financially - there are companies and individuals doing very well out of it.

PaulB

[johnep]

Re: Homeopathy - Does it work

As Barnum said 'One born every minute'.
johnep

[Fleegle]

Re: Homeopathy - Does it work

I never heard the bit about the Bible. Does that mean there's no such thing as an atheist homoeopath, or would banging it on a copy of 'Das Kapital' work as well? - room for a study there, I should think. But homoeopaths explain the fact that these things work despite there being, as Fleegle noted, none of the active substance actually there, by the fact that the banging implants a memory of the molecular structure in the water, or some such, er, ingenious explanation. What I want to know is, does that make the sea a potent homoeopathic cureall, with all those traces of this and that being banged around by the action of the waves?

For me, it's difficult to see how you can subscribe to a scientific view of medicine and simultaneously favour homoeopathy. But it certainly works financially - there are companies and individuals doing very well out of it.

PaulB

Fully agree. One particular company in Scotland has done extremely well from a predominantly homoeopathic pharmacy for the last 25 years...with some very close links to RPSGB into the bargain...

Fleeg.