Homeopathy Healing or Placebo effect? Limitations?

bumping for more views

mpost, I completely agree with you. The placebo effect is very real and if it means it helps some people feel better, that's great. But that's all there is to homeopathy.

hahaha - Great video.

Albeing slightly less entertaining, I've seen some videos by James Randi on the subject.

James Randi Explains Homeopathy
/youtu.be/lmOfEoDcjks

Homeopathy, Quackery and Fraud - James Randi
/youtu.be/c0Z7KeNCi7g

In the second video, James swallows the contents of an entire bottle of homeopathic sleeping pills - to no effect. He states he's been doing this same thing for 8-10 years. I've found similar YouTube videos of others who have done the same thing - sometimes, by large crowds of people.

So, there's that.

But, I also have read about and talked to people who swear homeopathy worked for them. Placebo? Who knows? A placebo effect is STILL an effect, as you noted.

Googling the matter, of course, will yield all sorts of articles stating that numerous studies have shown that homeopathy doesn't work.

1,800 Studies Later, Scientists Conclude Homeopathy Doesn't Work
/bit.ly/2KrOUPS

Homeopathy 'Treatments' Must Be Labelled To Say They Do Not Work, US Government Orders
/ind.pn/2rKB2Zu
/bit.ly/2f71t3j

Homeopathy Doesn't Work For Cows, Either
/bit.ly/2wKrYJU

Personally, over the years, I've tried perhaps a dozen over-the-counter homeopathic remedies. Of those, exactly zero have worked for me.

Recently, I spoke to a Chiropractor, regarding homeopathy. I explained my lack of success, as well as my skepticism about it. She told me I need to stop thinking of things with my logical mind and start thinking in "Quantum Physics" terms.

Good Lord.

(Fortunately, I was on the telephone, because I rolled my eyes so hard, I briefly glimpsed my cerebellum. When I hear stuff like that, I know the person has watched "The Secret" too many times.)

After she mentioned ionic foot baths, I knew I had to quickly bring the discussion to a close, before we started talking about crystals, chakras, or opening my third eye.

Although I'm willing to try it again, have a different experience, and change my opinion, currently, I don't find homeopathy to be effective for me.

A homeopathist I went to told me only 20% of people respond really well to homeopathy. My neighbours swear by it. The homepathist/naturopath said she wouldn't give me homeopathy until I had done a proper heavy metal detox.
But even with that homeopathy was just money down the drain for me.

The Dude Abides said...

How on Earth would a profession with an 80% failure rate continue to survive? It's obviously not because of repeat business.

control (water) kills 15-17% of borrelia in vitro. duck liver dilluted one parts per billion is also probably killing 15-17% borrelia in vitro, and in vivo !!

best business on the planet: homeopathy!!
- u cannot kill any patient as u literally sell them water or small amounts of sugar
- u choose to treat conditions that are generally not deadly and tend to resolve by themselves - flu, allergic attacks, etc...
- u refuse selling treatment for any severely ill people - your legal department told you it is wise to do that
- u only use the best duck liver u can possibly buy on your continent. You only need one duck liver per year to produce 50 billion doses of pure homeopathic gold
- u price this treatment at 20$ a bottle and brag you are more expensive than competitors because the water or sugar u use is hi quality H2o or fructose harvested using ecological agriculture

The Dude Abides said...


I wonder if Josh Axe is a homeopath?

/youtu.be/wO59q1o18hE?t=2m38s

LoL this was really funny!

countingstarsx said...
I am treating with homeopathy with success. I wouldnt be able to do it on my own, you really need to see a trained homeopath to help you pick the right remedies. I plan to go to school to be a homeopath sometime in the next few years because of the success I've had. I actually just cured a tooth infection with homeopathy, it was like a miracle.

The thing is that it really is energy medicine, it isn't physical chemicals having an effect as everyone thinks is the point.

That said, its totally not for some people. That's cool with me.

i respect your beliefs and your treatment. But at least are you aware how easy is for anyone to trick you into selling you stuff they say is impregnated with energy when actually it's not ?

mpost said...

countingstarsx said...
I am treating with homeopathy with success. I wouldnt be able to do it on my own, you really need to see a trained homeopath to help you pick the right remedies. I plan to go to school to be a homeopath sometime in the next few years because of the success I've had. I actually just cured a tooth infection with homeopathy, it was like a miracle.

The thing is that it really is energy medicine, it isn't physical chemicals having an effect as everyone thinks is the point.

That said, its totally not for some people. That's cool with me.

i respect your beliefs and your treatment. But at least are you aware how easy is for anyone to trick you into selling you stuff they say is impregnated with energy when actually it's not ?

You respect it, but still try to tell me I easily could be being scammed?

Well, I would rather be scammed for $12 than hundreds. Ive never regreted a homeopathic purchase. The money I have spent has been well spent, and the health gains I have made have been worth it.

It amazes me how open to homeopathy other countries are, but Americans are so anti something they have never tried or even researched in depth enough to grasp a basic understanding.

There are professional, well respected homeopathic pharmacies. I don't buy remedies off some guy on the street. As with anything you put into your body you have to verify you have a good source.

When my kids were babies, twins, they started getting ear infections after every cold. All the pediatrician was able to do was to prescribe antibiotics. After 3 rounds of AB in less than a year, I started looking for alternatives!

This is where homeopathy came in. Both babies' reaction was immediate. The cold symptoms resolved by I'd say 90%, and were NOT followed by the usual ear infection. Now these are babies we're talking about, which I'd say eliminates the placebo effect argument. And, there were two of them, same age, same bug, same reaction to the medication.

We continued using this remedy with every cold for years. And it worked for years. If they got a cold and missed the remedy, the ear infection would show up again. Catch up on the remedy and it cleared up overnight. Every time.

I started taking the same remedy for colds, and it worked astonishingly well. My husband took it too, and it barely had an effect. According to classical homeopathy, it wasn't the right remedy for his physiognomy, so he would need to try another. He never bothered to, but his colds were never terrible.

Needless to say, we used homeopathy for everything as our kids were growing up. And it worked for everything.

Homeopathy is used all over the world with a lot of success. Based on our experience, I can certainly understand it. I have other experiences with H, but this post is getting too long already.

Best to everyone.

ChickenArise,

Thanks for those articles. Very interesting.

mpost,

As far as being scammed, for people buying remedies at the health store, I don't see where it's any different than buying herbs or supplements. We all know there's no guarantee that the herbs/supplements are going to work for us the same way they worked for someone else. We're all gambling with our money and tend to invest in what we put the most faith in.

I've never used homeopathy, but now I'm thinking maybe I shouldn't dismiss it so easily. It's just much harder to wrap my head around than herbs.

ChickenArise, thanks for posting that excellent article by Dana Ullman. It's actually his book, Everybody's Guide To Homeopathic Medicines, or something like that, which we used when raising our children.

I want to post a quote from his article for people who don't have time to read the entire thing, because I believe it's an important point regarding the argument there's nothing left of the highly diluted remedies, therefore how can they work. Homeopathic remedies seem to function in a way not completely understood, YET, but are effective.

"Additional obvious bias was evidenced when the FTC's ruling cited old and incorrect information asserting that homeopathic medicine is "so diluted that no single molecule of the original substance remains." In actual fact, an important study in 2010 was published in the famed journal, Langmuir20(published by the American Chemistry Society), that verified that six different homeopathic medicine were found to have nanoparticles of the original medicinal agents even after they were diluted 1:100 two-hundred times and this fact was confirmed by three different types of spectroscopy. Further, the nanodoses that remained in water were, according to Archives in Internal Medicine,21comparable to the nanodoses to which many common hormones and cell-signaling agents are known to operate. Based on this research, anyone who says that there are "no active ingredients" or "no molecules" in homeopathic medicines are basing such assertions on disproven theories, not scientifically verified facts."