Comments on: What actually gets taught on a homeopathy course

By: rogibson

rogibson — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 12:32:13 +0000

Thanks for putting this up guys.

By: Marsh

Marsh — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 10:53:07 +0000

It’s great to see that people are starting to pay real attention to what homeopathy is (unscientific nonsense) – and what it really isn’t (medicine). For anyone who hasn’t seen yet, there’s a campaign gathering pace in the UK to raise awareness of the unscientific nature of homeopathy, and to appeal to Boots pharmacy to cease stocking these useless little sugar pills alongside real medicine. More information on the 10:23 campaign can be found at http://www.1023.org.uk

By: Raymond

Raymond — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 09:49:44 +0000

@Roz is it the antibiotics or the over usage of antibiotics that causes MRSA? I guess the latter.
But indeed MRSA is no joking matter and you’re not a happy camber when you get it and trust me all you homeopaths your “holy water” will not help when you drink it. No doubt it will help pooring it over the festering wound day after day after day. But regular tap water is just as effective and cheaper.

Best way to avoid MRSA is not to get into a hospital. So when you need a trivial opp like an appendix you may want to just do it yourself at home. Get some friends in make a saturday night out of it. As long as your friends know that the appendix is not the thing that pulsates every 0.8-1seconds then your survival rates at home maybe higher than in the hospital. At least more fun than playing Trivial Pursuit.

By: roz

roz — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 19:25:05 +0000

sometimes traditional medicine works TOO well–that’s the explanation for MRSA!

By: Raymond

Raymond — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 18:05:21 +0000

Nopke, how can you say that homeopathic thinking is good and that traditional medicine doesn’t work all the time?

Sure traditional medicine can fail when the wrong drug is prescribed, but those drugs have been tested to deal with certain specific problems. Where there’s ample proof that homeopathic drugs don’t do anything and aren’t tested at all.

Aren’t you confused with herbal remedies? Those do work and are the source of many traditional meds. Think about aspirin (acetylsalicyl) found in most roots. Certain plants can heal you or kill you when the applied wrongly but you are taking in massive quantities of a working substance unlike homeopathic drugs.

By: Paul

Paul — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 17:18:38 +0000

Nopke – that’s the best example of ‘word salad’ I have seen in ages, thank you.

Interesting video of a debate about homeopathy at the Natural History Museum a few years ago:
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/life/plants-fungi/homeopathic-medicine/index.html
Ben Goldacre bravely fighting his corner while outnumbered by true believers. There’s an intriguing exchange in the discussion at the end where a homeopath offers to give Goldacre a remedy that will make him “very ill”, but Goldacre refused. I’ll take a sugar pill that’s supposed to make me ill, bring it on! Anyone else?

By: keeyop

keeyop — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 16:45:36 +0000

paraphrasing Nopke’s barely intelligible comments:

“just read one book, that’s all you need to know” [yikes, a recipe for ignorance. or brainwashing]

“homeopathy works because it’s like falcons and hawks” [good enough for me... *gulp*]

“medicine is useless when the body knows of its presence.” [more aptly, REASONING is useless when the brain is unaware of its ability]

“sneaky, insidious tactics are more effective” [well, THAT one's all too true]

By: flapjack

flapjack — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 14:56:32 +0000

Erm, so let’s get this straight… you require a professional degree course to dilute stuff to the point that there’s no actual working ingredients in it but water and sugar?
Even a work experience cleaner could figure that process out.
I would say that it takes 2 minutes to teach the actual techniques of the trade, and the remaining 3 years to teach students how to convince the public that it’s actually worth the money you’re charging for it.
(In that respect it’s exactly like my old fine art course )

By: gwendoneth

gwendoneth — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 14:51:47 +0000

My favourite thing ever on homeopathy (because it’s as entertaining as it is true) is this little gem by James Randi: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSKxz1BNU6s&feature=fvw

A lot of the strength of homeopathy, and any alternative medicine, I think, lies in the fact that these therapists take time and talk to their patients. I even talked to one of these alternate therapists who confirmed this to me: the very fact of taking time to talking to the patients brings them relief. The administered placebo just serves to heighten this effect. It is fraudulent behaviour, but then, the placebo would not work if you told the patient it was really placebo … It would seem that, if not accompanied by false claims, this combination of attention, psychology and placebo can actually complement conventional medical treatment.

By: Nopke

Nopke — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 14:23:29 +0000

Just read Dr Bird’s books and you know all there is too know about it. Dr A. Vogel that is. Birds see a lot .. but do they see it all or just one prey …

To get in without triggering someone’s self asks for a disguise … the most minimal one …. once in you can get boosted by the body itself …
Normally it”s the self that wont make it work … regular medicine will take someone’s self down or will influence it .. wont heal quite often either .. wont get to the real cause ..

Not speaking about cancer or such in this area, just small things .. caused by other things … layers … The idea is quite good behind homeopathy … excellent in my opinion .. that’s the flaw in regular medicine ..