Homeopathy

[Vanquisher]

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/814619


There is a lot of anti-science, pseudoscience happening right now. This one, though, of all the bullshit out there makes me ragey.

Why would anyone buy this horseshit? Why?

Someone posted the above article on LDW in support of homeopathy. A few likes so far. My thought is this...who is your hubby, and where does he practice? I want no part of that shit in my medical care. I'd like evidence based medicine and not WATER to cure my ______.

[BonBon]

I personally think it smells like bullshit. Homeopathy makes zero sense to me...water has a "memory" of what was dissolved in it? In that case, I shudder to think about what my tap water is doing to me.

I like to be open to new ideas and not dismiss them out of hand because they sound ridiculous. However, from everything I've read, homeopathy does not actually stand up to scientific scrutiny. I'm wondering if there are a lot of people who confuse homeopathy with herbal remedies?

ETA: as to why? No idea. A lot of people say whatever they want on the internet and people believe it. I don't get it.

[spotty_dog]

Well to play Devil's advocate, if these studies bear fruit and pass peer review and can be replicated, then they ARE evidence-based, eh?

When I was growing up my mom was a nutritionist who swore by Vitamin C and zinc and was anti-dairy for a long time. Last I heard my dad couldn't sleep without his Calms Forte homeopathics. My friend in California is getting better results with her rheumatoid arthritis and cutaneous lupus from dietary change than from methotrexate.

I do think there is a gray area when it comes to things that the immune system can just kind of handle with support, vs. things that medicine and surgery have a good record of helping. I don't know exactly where that line is, and despite my earlier fascination with homeopathy (especially classical homeopathy and the incredibly complex mapping of symptom pictures to remedies) I couldn't say I would ever trust it as my sole approach to a chronic condition. But I do think it seems more sane than essential oils, somehow.

[ladymoreta]

If it can hold up to double blind, peer reviewed studies, I'm all for it. They need to make sure they're basing their results on the actual treatment, not the placebo effect. But it does make me wonder if we could make up something and create a placebo effect that would actually help people. Not ethical, but you know... For discussion's sake...

[scrub-jay]

Well if your affliction is dehydration...perhaps homeopathic remedies are the way to go! Otherwise, I'm with Heidi.

[medpedspouse]

Meh, I think that there is room for both. Some things are quite out there but others it has just taken time for someone from a western medicine standpoint to test it and deem it good. For example, I grew up drinking coconut water, using coconut oil, etc. because my grandmother (Mrs. All natural before it was the in thing) deem it healthy. She had no double blind study. All she was going by was what her mother taught her and what her grandmother taught her mother. Not saying that we must believe all old wive's tales but there I think we can keep our minds open and recognize that there is some value. I have countless examples like these. We all would roll our eyes and try to run away from my grandmother when she would try to make us use her remedies but as I get older I have begun to appreciate that body of knowledge. One of the things I loathed was having to flush my nose with salt water when my allergies acted up. My grandmother either sent us to the beach or made us salty water concoction. Today, I have saline nose sprayers I can buy at CVS. Who thunk-ith.

Now, I am pissed off that everyone thinks coconut is awesome because what used to be cheap is now pricey...but that is another soapbox.

[wiva]

I'm not much of a believer, either, but if it goes through the same rigors that all of our other prescription medications have, then I don't see why people would have an objection. At least they don't have the horrible side effects that so many prescriptions have.

[Thirteen]

Things we have in house that we use:

L-Lysine (canker sores, only)
Zinc (cold onset sx, only)
Tea Tree Oil (natural antiseptic properties)


Things I wish we had, but don't currently:
Lavender oil (the smell calms me, but I don't pretend to believe it will cure cancer or anything like that)


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[Vanquisher]

None of that is homeopathy. Homeopathy is literally water.

[Deebs]

There's a big difference between alternative medicines and homeopathy. The biggest problem with it (and the reason it's considered quackery) is that people think they're getting treatment when, in fact, they are taking water. It's not going to be harmful in many cases, but can definitely result in delays in care.


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[BonBon]

There's a big difference between alternative medicines and homeopathy.

This. I think a lot of people equate herbal medicines, dietary changes, essential oils, etc with homeopathy.

[bobk]

None of that is homeopathy. Homeopathy is literally water.

Is that really all it is? FWIW, we've been using an ear wax removal product that's labeled homeopathic and it's way more effective than the common Dobrox stuff. I'll have to look at the ingredient list.

[spotty_dog]

There's a big difference between alternative medicines and homeopathy. The biggest problem with it (and the reason it's considered quackery) is that people think they're getting treatment when, in fact, they are taking water. It's not going to be harmful in many cases, but can definitely result in delays in care.

So let's say I'm suffering from pimples.

Option one: I look at my whole symptom picture, note that I also sometimes have an issue with writer's cramp and cold sores, that my ears itch and my tonsils are a bit swollen. I match my symptoms to the remedy Sulphur iodatum, and opt for a strong potency (aka. high dilution like 1:1000 which almost certainly has no molecules of substance but lots of good juju).

Option two: I use ayurvedic medicine to rebalance my Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. I change my diet to avoid crunchy foods and cold beverages, I drink cumin/coriander/fennel tea and organic aloe vera juice daily, and I take herbal tree-resin tablets and cook with turmeric.

How is one of these more quackery than the other, really?

[PrincessFiona]

Homeopathy can provide a strong placebo effect. We all know that the placebo effect can work to limit someone's suffering. In this day and age, physicians and mid-level providers are very busy and have little time for patients. Sometimes patients perceive a real paternalistic attitude by their medical providers. I think a lot of people turn to homeopathy out of a frustration for how they experience medicine and how it is practiced. Homeopathic healers offer listening and compassion that sometimes is missing in traditional doctor's offices.

I don't personally embrace homeopathy. My mil was given the exact same homeopathic remedy to treat her dying cat as I was given after the birth of my son to ensure that my milk came in, prevent PPD, etc. My midwife even instructed me to shake the bottle and tap it twice for it to be most effective. I thought it was ridiculous, but a part of me wanted to believe in it. (I didn't). I scared my mil to death when I ate one of her cat's pills to show her it was a sugar pill.

[Vanquisher]

Both quackery to me. I'd say, wash your face, use a benzoyl peroxide, and maybe an antibiotic, retin-a, or a hormone like BCP.

Alternative medicine that works is called medicine. Like aspirin, which comes from the bark of a tree.

As Tim Minchin says, "That, say, homeopathy works,
Then I will change my mind
I'll spin on a fucking dime
I'll be embarrassed as hell,
But I will run through the streets yelling
It's a miracle! Take physics and bin it!
Water has memory!And while it's memory of a long lost drop of onion juice is Infinite
It somehow forgets all the poo it's had in it!