Homeopathic remedies shot down once again

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/homeopathic-remedies-no-better-than-placebo-study-finds/

Said none of them proven to work any better than the placebo.

I have always felt strongly about this view, while I know many others swear by certain products.  There are no magic pills or cures, plain and simple.

I agree. I get emails and posts from well-meaning friends with cure stories about apricot seeds, cyanide, baking soda and molasses, and yesterday, one with a video of a doctor who can cure all cancers in 6-12 weeks.

Homeopathy is not comparable to the nonsensical apricot seeds type cures etc.

It can be very effective. I was a total skeptic until my 12 yo (at the time) noncommunicative son who had severe problems in school, failing everything, unable to write, unable to verbally express any ideas, having rages of frustration occasionally at home when he couldn't do anything, was diagnosed with ADD (not hyperactive at all). My ex (whom I think is a total ass) wanted him to go to homeopathic doctor before considering meds. Since it was not a life threatening issue in any way, I didn't argue and took him to a very reputable homeopathic doc., thinking i would take him to MD for meds when problem didn't get better.

I was stunned a couple weeks after the appointment when I realized my son was now passing in school, writing his papers, talking more, smiling more. The difference was amazing.

After tutoring 2 x a week for years, attending special classes, reduced assignments, many meetings with teachers about his problems, 2 days of psyched testing, he took a homeopathic pill, and was (mostly)better!!

A couple years later in high school he was getting A s in all his math and science classes, though writing was still his weakness.

When I had a continual headache for 3 years and went to many doctors who all said nothing was wrong, and that I didn't have a thyroid condition (which i thought all my symptoms pointed to), I finally went to an allergist MD who was also a homeopathic doc, thinking maybe my headache was caused by an allergy. He didn't give me homeopathy. but he had me take my temperature every morning before i got out of bed. he said if it was low it indicated low thyroid. sure enough it was and a week after starting thyroid medicine my headache want away for good. I've had a couple other real medical issues that a homeopathic MD has really helped with.

I have a lot of respect for homeopathy (in combination with "real" medical doc).

Saying they are no more effective than a placebo tells us almost nothing. In treating some diseases, placebos are sometimes as or more effective than some of the drug treatments.

If a placebo has a 10% effective rate, maybe the homeopathic solution has a 9% effective rate. Should that be ignored?

I can't discount all homeopathic treatments, as I have seen some do what they were purported to be able to do. We have to separate snake-oil from valid treatments.

A good example is Calendula. It is derived from a flower, and works to help burns and skin irritations. Arnica (another flower) helps bruising heal. Do I think they will cure my PCa? No. But a homeopathic flu medicine was found to be somewhat effective against bird flu, while nothing else was.

Every thing has its place. Some find that in the garbage can.