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Homoeopathy on the NHS
Should homoeopathic medicines be funded by the NHS ? Currently £4 million pounds are paid to four homoeophathy hospitals.
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Even though it pains me to write this... I agree that Homeopathy should be available on the NHS because the cost is negligible in the grand scheme of things. I know that from a scientific perspective, Homeopathy taken in isolation is utterly useless as the remedies they prepare contain absolutely zero active ingredient. Therefore, Homeopathic remedies shouldn't work.
But due to the much studied but still little understood Placebo effect, it appears that they do work on some individuals. They 'work' SOMETIMES on those individuals who believe in crystal healing, lay-lines, spiritual healers, and other such nonsense. Of course, the Homeopathic remedies don't actually have any inherent healing properties of their own but to those who 'believe', they do seem to have a real effect. The healing powers of Homeopathic remedies are directly linked to a person's gullibility.
And it's all down to the Placebo effect. Which is an absolutely fascinating subject, if you're boring like me...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Placebo
I've written 'sometimes' in capitals for a very good reason... some people who have had life threatening illnesses have resorted to Homeopathic remedies and turned their backs on modern medicine and have endured enormous pain and suffering as a result.
The bottom line is, if you think that...
placing crystals on your body in specific positions will help your 'wellness';
'Bifidus Digestivum ' is actually real, rather than a fictitious ingredient in yoghurt;
etc.
then Homeopathy is for you!
Fill your boots.
But due to the much studied but still little understood Placebo effect, it appears that they do work on some individuals. They 'work' SOMETIMES on those individuals who believe in crystal healing, lay-lines, spiritual healers, and other such nonsense. Of course, the Homeopathic remedies don't actually have any inherent healing properties of their own but to those who 'believe', they do seem to have a real effect. The healing powers of Homeopathic remedies are directly linked to a person's gullibility.
And it's all down to the Placebo effect. Which is an absolutely fascinating subject, if you're boring like me...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Placebo
I've written 'sometimes' in capitals for a very good reason... some people who have had life threatening illnesses have resorted to Homeopathic remedies and turned their backs on modern medicine and have endured enormous pain and suffering as a result.
The bottom line is, if you think that...
placing crystals on your body in specific positions will help your 'wellness';
'Bifidus Digestivum ' is actually real, rather than a fictitious ingredient in yoghurt;
etc.
then Homeopathy is for you!
Fill your boots.
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On the news today was a report that children with peanut allergy are to be given minute amounts of the nuts or oil to build up their resistance to the problem. This sounds similar to the way homoeopathy works.
Personally, after twenty+ years of seeking a cure from GPs and dermotologists, my psoriasis was almost gone within two weeks of starting a homoeopathic treatment.
Personally, after twenty+ years of seeking a cure from GPs and dermotologists, my psoriasis was almost gone within two weeks of starting a homoeopathic treatment.
As you know they claim even something diluted a million times is just as effective as the original dose. Yet when you buy a packet of Homoeopathic pills they often tell you to take 6 pills 3 times a day . Why 6 ? Why not just take one, it should be just as effective as 6 or 6 million if what they claim is true.
Playbill - “... Children with peanut allergy are to be given minute amounts of the nuts or oil to build up their resistance to the problem. This sounds similar to the way homoeopathy works.”
No it's not. And I have heard this theory repeated many, many times. Building up one's immune system by introducing small amount of the substance that is causing the problem is NOT Homeopathy.
Homeopathic remedies are diluted to such an extent that there will be no molecules of the active ingredient left in the does you will get. So you don't get 'a bit' of nut – you get zero nuts. Absolutely nothing whatsoever.
No it's not. And I have heard this theory repeated many, many times. Building up one's immune system by introducing small amount of the substance that is causing the problem is NOT Homeopathy.
Homeopathic remedies are diluted to such an extent that there will be no molecules of the active ingredient left in the does you will get. So you don't get 'a bit' of nut – you get zero nuts. Absolutely nothing whatsoever.
Continued...
Typical Homeopathic dilution is called 30C; this means that the original substance has been diluted to one drop in a hundred, thirty times over. This means that a 30C Homeopathic preparation is a dilution of 10^60, or one followed by sixty zeros. To demonstrate, this is a dilution of one in 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.
Just to get this enormous number into perspective, there are about 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 molecules of water in an Olympic sized swimming pool.
Imagine a sphere of water with a diameter of 150million kilometres (the distance from the Earth to the Sun). It takes light, which is pretty nippy stuff, approximately eight minutes to cover that distance. In that imagined sphere, there would be ONE molecule of active ingredient:
that's a 30C dilution.
Typical Homeopathic dilution is called 30C; this means that the original substance has been diluted to one drop in a hundred, thirty times over. This means that a 30C Homeopathic preparation is a dilution of 10^60, or one followed by sixty zeros. To demonstrate, this is a dilution of one in 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.
Just to get this enormous number into perspective, there are about 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 molecules of water in an Olympic sized swimming pool.
Imagine a sphere of water with a diameter of 150million kilometres (the distance from the Earth to the Sun). It takes light, which is pretty nippy stuff, approximately eight minutes to cover that distance. In that imagined sphere, there would be ONE molecule of active ingredient:
that's a 30C dilution.
Continued....
You can even buy Homeopathic remedies at even higher dilutions. You can get 200C dilutions but then it gets a bit silly as the universe doesn't contain that many molecules.
The problem arose because Hahnemann – the 'inventor' of Homeopathy – didn't know what a molecule was or that a molecule has a physical size and there comes a point where solutions cannot be diluted any further.
Modern-day Homeopaths know about the limitation of dilution but claim that it's irrelevant anyway because they say that water has 'memory'.
But then we're getting very silly indeed.
You can even buy Homeopathic remedies at even higher dilutions. You can get 200C dilutions but then it gets a bit silly as the universe doesn't contain that many molecules.
The problem arose because Hahnemann – the 'inventor' of Homeopathy – didn't know what a molecule was or that a molecule has a physical size and there comes a point where solutions cannot be diluted any further.
Modern-day Homeopaths know about the limitation of dilution but claim that it's irrelevant anyway because they say that water has 'memory'.
But then we're getting very silly indeed.
birdie1971: I mentioned the report about peanuts because it was announced yesterday and seemed relevant. But my faith in homoeopathy remains since it worked for me. If it was simply a placebo and I was wishing the cure to happen, why did not the ointment, creams and lotions prescribed by numerous doctors over the years work? I was wishing for the same cure from them.
Playbill – Your case is similar to tens (if not hundreds) of thousands of cases throughout the world - Conventional medicine didn't help.... tried everything... tried Homeopathy and Bingo!
The fact remains that Homeopathic remedies are nothing more than a placebo. They cannot be anything else - every single active ingredient has been meticulously diluted out of whatever substance is ingested. So how can it possibly work on a chemical/biological level?
It can't. It is biologically/chemically/physically impossible. So there must be another explanation for it's efficacy in some patients. The explanation can be found in the mind of the patient in question.
It does work in those who believe in such things – as you readily attest to, “... my faith in homoeopathy remains since it worked for me...”. Of course it worked for you – you believed that it would and it did. Your use of the word 'faith' speaks volumes.
However, it is a placebo and nothing more.
That being said, I'm glad it worked for you. I really am.
The fact remains that Homeopathic remedies are nothing more than a placebo. They cannot be anything else - every single active ingredient has been meticulously diluted out of whatever substance is ingested. So how can it possibly work on a chemical/biological level?
It can't. It is biologically/chemically/physically impossible. So there must be another explanation for it's efficacy in some patients. The explanation can be found in the mind of the patient in question.
It does work in those who believe in such things – as you readily attest to, “... my faith in homoeopathy remains since it worked for me...”. Of course it worked for you – you believed that it would and it did. Your use of the word 'faith' speaks volumes.
However, it is a placebo and nothing more.
That being said, I'm glad it worked for you. I really am.
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