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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/Homeopath…
"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
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