Homeopathy on the NHS

[Ed209]

Very good article in the Guadian today

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/political-science/2011/jan/05/homeopathy-ban-prescription-pets

Homeopathic perscriptions by vets have just been banned by its governing body. This is all very well and good, but why the hell is the same not true for humans? The NHS is still spending millions of pounds a year peddling this mumbo jumbo bullshit? Its a disgrace that the NHS is having to decide that some (real!) medicines will not be available while still having to pay for this crock of shit. The BMA thinks it should go from the NHS so why the hell are our taxes still paying for it? It's frankly unbelievable.

I thought this was the 21st century, not the pissing dark ages

[Ed209]

heaven forbid we should look for more natural cures than giving squillions to pharmaceutical companies who give us drugs that don't always work and sometimes make things worse....

Edited January 6, 2011 by Ed209

[benc]

my old dear was pretty ill and had a pretty poor quality of life and conventional medicine was no good for her.

tried some herbal stuff and after a few weeks her quality of life had improved no end expensive stuff though, but worth it.

herbal stuff has been around a lot longer than the other chemicals

dont be so quick to judge

[Ed209]

HERBAL DOES NOT EQUAL HOMEOPATHIC!

Any benefits gained from homeopathy are purely placebo based.

[jimbob_no1]

I think that's probably the reason it hasn't gone yet. It wasn't until recently that I knew homeopathy was this strange mumbo jumbo where the essential effectiveness of a particular plant oil is apparently imprinted onto the water atoms by dilution. Scientifically impossible. The amount of dilution of a homeopathic remedy is completely crazy. To quote Ben Goldacre:

At a homeopathic dilution of 100C, which they sell routinely, and which homeopaths claim is even more powerful than 30C, the treating substance is diluted by more than the total number of atoms in the universe. Homeopathy was invented before we knew what atoms were, or how many there are, or how big they are. It has not changed its belief system in light of this information.

[Ed209]

Its very true, homeopathy has aligned itself with herbal remedies in a very clever marketing and publicity ploy, so that people think its a credibly alternative therapy. I'm not discrediting herbal remedies, I am discrediting homeopathy.

I quote a homeopath on how homeopathic malaria preventative works

“They make it so your energy doesn’t have a malaria-shaped hole in it so the malarial mosquitos won’t come along and fill that in.” “

[RABun]

Read The End of Mr Y Homeopathy can help you transcend the visible universe dude!!!

great book though.

[eFestivals]

Original Article

that's a fascinating article, that I'm very pleased to have just read - thanks for the link.

[Ed209]

that's a fascinating article, that I'm very pleased to have just read - thanks for the link.

[jimbob_no1]

Ben Goldacre is brilliant. I know you to be a bit of a science geek, Neil, so I thoroughly recommend his book "Bad Science" along with his blog http://www.badscience.net/

[Ed209]

Was about to recommend that myself. Great read that one, debunks a whole load of stuff in plain English. I think homeopathy is one area of "science" he really get's on his soap box for though!

Edited January 6, 2011 by Ed209

[5co77ie]

Homeopaths are a modern form of witch doctor and have no place in modern medicine

[Ed209]

Don't think modern medicine agrees with you, in that witch doctors have no place in modern medicine:

http://arnoldia.arboretum.harvard.edu/pdf/articles/1771.pdf

[lost]

I'm really surprised this is available, the other one I've always wondered about is IVF.... Is having your own biological kids an essential need when there are so many unwanted ones in the world?

[5co77ie]

Fair enough, maybe witch doctor was the wrong term. I understood witch doctors to mean people who used mumbo jumbo to try and heal people, rather than actual herbal remedies (which again I'll reiterate ... I'm not discrediting).

[sadwitch]

are you aware what homeopathic "medicines" are, tony?

I'm all for natural remedies that have a sound scientific basis to how they work, and have been shown in trials to be effective. What I'm not keen on is giving people water or a sugar pill, that through a 1:1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 dilution of something (so that it basically no longer exists in the solution) has left an "imprint" on the water molecule that then magically makes you better.

[pink_triangle]

Homeopathy can work, but then again so can any placebo drug. I suspect the reason that homeopathy is still going strong, is that many of the people who work in homeopathy have far better people skills, than your average doctor. You can never underestimate the effect of good counselling skills in recovery from illness.

[Ed209]

Homeopathy can work, but then again so can any placebo drug. I suspect the reason that homeopathy is still going strong, is that many of the people who work in homeopathy have far better people skills, than your average doctor. You can never underestimate the effect of good counselling skills in recovery from illness.

Edited January 6, 2011 by Ed209

[grumpyhack]

I appreciate there is a danger in prescribing things that aren't going to work. But equally if something helps some people get better, whether it's a good listening homeopath or a sugar coated pill what's wrong with that? Surely it's the results that count.

[FunkyDenz]

I appreciate there is a danger in prescribing things that aren't going to work. But equally if something helps some people get better, whether it's a good listening homeopath or a sugar coated pill what's wrong with that? Surely it's the results that count.

[pink_triangle]

I appreciate there is a danger in prescribing things that aren't going to work. But equally if something helps some people get better, whether it's a good listening homeopath or a sugar coated pill what's wrong with that? Surely it's the results that count.

[sadwitch]

I am a health professional who works in palliative care particularly with cancer patients. My main worry with these types of alternative treatments is they are generally not funded by the nhs but from the patients own pocket. People get very desperate when faced with death and willing to pay anything, a lot of these homepaths are exploiting this for financial gain. I have no problem with alternative medicine but think there needs to be some sort of regualtion to stop people being taken advantage of.

[Ed209]

As someone* said there isn't really such a thing as "alternative medicine" because if it's effective then it's just known as "medicine".

*quite who I can't remember or be arsed to research

Edited January 6, 2011 by Ed209

[eFestivals]

You can never underestimate the effect of good counselling skills in recovery from illness.

or alternatively, some people simply ignore the fact that people recover from illness even if a person has no treatment.

[feral chile]

or alternatively, some people simply ignore the fact that people recover from illness even if a person has no treatment.