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Haukur Þorgeirsson wrote:
Yes, I see. I suppose that's a fairly typical introduction to homeopathy. It sounds sort of plausible and somewhat interesting. Here's a sample pro-homeopathy article that starts like this:
http://www.betterhealthchannel.com.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Homeopathy...
"Homoeopathic medicine deliberately mimics or provokes the symptoms of a patient's disease to strengthen the body's ability to heal itself."
Ah! So by setting fire to myself, I can heal my burns? Or by amputing a limb, it will cause another one to grow back? Wonderful!
Sounds plausible but read a bit further down and see the actual basis of the method:
"Modern homoeopathy was founded in the 18th Century by a German physician, Dr Samuel Hahnemann. He believed that:
- Disease stemmed from a disturbance to the energy field of the body,
which he called the 'vital force'.
The best cure could be achieved by using 'energised' medicine.
As the size of the dose decreased, the potency of the substance increased."
Wow... so taking no cocaine at all should get me infinitely high! I don't want some!
Anyone familiar with science or medicine should be raising eyebrows at this point - but the best is yet to come.
Science? We have no need of science when not taking drugs and self-mutilating will cure all our ills!
"These medicines then undergo a progressive series of dilutions, which includes shaking the bottle between each dilution. ... After the twelfth dilution, the homoeopathic medicine goes beyond what is called 'Avogadro's limit' and there is no discernible trace of the original substance left in the medicine."
Um, no, that depends how much you are diluting it. Of course, leaving the lid off while shaking will greatly speed up the process of dilution...
Note that this is from a *pro-homeopathy* article. They freely admit that the purported medicine is completely diluted out of the solution. They claim that it works anyway:
"Although conventional scientific methods cannot explain how they work, many clinical trials have found homoeopathic medicines to be effective in treating a range of disorders."
Like [[Hyperchondria]]? Um... I think that's how it's spelt... hmm...
Science can indeed not explain how something like that would work. If someone did prove it to work it would be a huge development in physics, chemistry and medicine. A Nobel prize would be guaranteed.
Yes, the pharmicutical companies are so horrified by the fact that people won't ever need to take drugs again...
But it hasn't been proven to work, despite their claim to the contrary. In *properly conducted* clinical trials it fails every time. But in studies conducted by homeopaths it always seems to work
- and how could it fail to work with these kinds
of criteria:
"Sometimes, symptoms get worse before they get better. This may be a sign that the medicine is working, and that the body is strengthening its efforts to fight the disease..."
They have learnt the fine game of Calvinball, eh? So have we :)
So, if you get better it's working and if you get worse, well, it's probably working anyhow.
In other news, hell has frozen over.
And look at these homeopaths' attitude to boring old conventional medicine:
"According to the homoeopathic philosophy, conventional drugs that suppress symptoms are only driving the disease deeper into the body."
Really? I'd like to see them find where it has gone.
Of course they have the requisite disclaimers about consulting with your regular doctor but they're still giving out harmful medical advice.
"Yes, the multinational pharmicutical companies will definately stop price gouging once a few thousand children die because the medicines are too expensive..."
But don't take my word for it. Read this homeopathy page for yourself (it's short) and then tell me if there's still doubt in your mind as to the pseudoscientific nature of the discipline and whether you think it is reasonable for an encyclopædia to entertain such doubts in its category system.
Argh my eyes...
- -- Alphax OpenPGP key: 0xF874C613 - http://tinyurl.com/cc9up http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Alphax There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, 'All right, then, have it your way.' - C. S. Lewis