Best Homoeopathy blogs?

[MRC_Hans]

*snip*

[pathetic plea for validation]
Do you still think it's funny? I thought it was hysterical when we first came up with the idea, but of couse I'm too familiar with the content to be able to judge now.
[/pathetic plea for validation]

Rolfe.

I don't think it's hysterical. In fact I think it's pretty deep. And cool. Keep it up

Hans

 

[Mojo]

That remindes me. The page should probably link to this: http://www.hans-egebo.dk/skeptic/oom.pdf

 

[RationalVetMed]

I thinks it’s hilarious, but nothing is as funny as homeopathy!

“When the Baal-shem had to deliver something difficult, some occult work to help the creatures, he went to a specific place in the woods, kindled a fire and, in deep mystical meditation, said prayers — and everything happened as he had designed. When, a generation later, the Maggid of Meseritz had to do the same... etc etc etc...” - Walach, H 1999 Magic of Signs: A Nonlocal Interpretation of Homeopathy, Society for Scientifc Exploration.

I’ll never forget the day I discovered that one! And who could forget this:

“The idea of quantum entanglement is borrowed from physics and developed into an algebraic argument to explain how double-blinding randomized controlled trials could lead to failure to provide unequivocal evidence for the efficacy of homeopathy, and inability to distinguish proving and placebo groups in homeopathic pathogenic trials. By analogy with the famous double-slit experiment of quantum physics, and more modern notions of quantum information processing, these failings are understood as blinding causing information loss resulting from a kind of quantum superposition between the remedy and placebo” - Milgrom, L Journeys in The Country of The Blind: Entanglement Theory and The Effects of Blinding on Trials of Homeopathy and Homeopathic Provings, Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2007 March; 4(1): 7–16

Oh michty me!

Here’s an anecdote I heard the other day (names omitted to protect the guilty) which might help kindle the spark. A veterinary skin specialist of renown reported at a lecture that he had taken on a skin case which was being treated homeopathically at the same time. The dog was showing signs of Cushing’s syndrome which disappeared once the ‘homeopathy’ was stopped only to reappear once it was re-started.

For clarification:
Cushing’s syndrome is occasionally caused by overdosing with steroids, a drug frequently used to treat skin conditions.
Steroids are a major bete noir of homeopaths, a sort of allopathic devil’s brew, no homeopathically inclined owner would knowingly give them to their pet.
Steroids are only available from a vet and come in the form of cheap, small, white tablets.

I only report the facts, make of them what you will!

Yuri

 

[Rolfe]

I just read your letter from early November. I thought it was great. But it's like talking to the proverbial brick wall.

I see this all started because of the August article. I've got all or most of the mags, so I'll go through in order. I don't have no 1 from 2009 though, someone must have raided my pigeonhole. Is there anything in that one that would make it worth my while stealing someone else's back?

Rolfe.

 

[RationalVetMed]

I just read your letter from early November. I thought it was great. But it's like talking to the proverbial brick wall.

I see this all started because of the August article. I've got all or most of the mags, so I'll go through in order. I don't have no 1 from 2009 though, someone must have raided my pigeonhole. Is there anything in that one that would make it worth my while stealing someone else's back?

Rolfe.

My index is at work, I'll check tomorrow.

I've already got quite a few letters OCR'd as well as a copy of the original article which started the furore (written in response to a call for integration of CAVM into general practice). I can email them if you pm me your current address.

Yuri

 

[RationalVetMed]

My index is at work, I'll check tomorrow.

Yes, there are a couple of 'pro' letters in that issue. One likening h'pathy to faith healing and one from my personal assistant Mr Taylor banging on about the lack of ingredients in the remedies.

Shouldn't take me too long to get my OCR'ing up to date if you'd like the letters for the web-site.

Yuri

(Thanks for the kind remarks about the November letter!)

 

[Rolfe]

OK, got the missing January issue from a colleague. I like the faith healing letter - the position of the tongue in relation to the cheek isn't blatant, but it's unmistakable.

I've checked back to the August Taylor article (there are too many people called Taylor in this game, by the way). I have that and everything from there on except for no 41, the 27th October issue. However, if you've already OCRed the relevant epistles, then there's no point me repeating the process. I'll PM you.

Do I take it that the article you're referring to, the "call for the integration of (S)CAM into general practice", is the Thompson one in Veterinary Review? [Goes off to check a different pile of paper.] Oh yes, I've got that too. April last year? I think I might even have read a bit of it at the time then thrown it down in disgust.

I think all this brou-ha-ha is constructive even if we aren't obviously "winning". Simply by providing an opposing point of view, and letting the PtB know that there are members of the profession who don't take a roses-round-the-door attitide to all this nonsense certainly puts the brakes on it to a significant extent.

By the way, I propose in this (and any other) threads to refer to any individual vet homs we need to talk about as Mr./Miss/Mrs. [Surname]. I don't think any of them has such a unique surname that googling on that alone will bring up this thread. And of course we recognise that they are all perfectly sincere, and in no way resemble badgers, average or not.

Rolfe.

 

[Mojo]

...but not the most recent paper that showed it was ineffective...

Ah, but it wasn't individualised. A point almost as important as the outcome.

Now Dana is saying that trials of non-individualised homoeopathy are OK, and objecting to the "new" Jacobs trial because it used a combination remedy.

Oh, hang on, now he's citing a study of a combination remedy, so those must be OK as well.

I wonder what his next objection to the Jacobs paper will be...

 

[Mojo]

And who could forget this:[/FONT]

“The idea of quantum entanglement is borrowed from physics and developed into an algebraic argument to explain how double-blinding randomized controlled trials could lead to failure to provide unequivocal evidence for the efficacy of homeopathy, and inability to distinguish proving and placebo groups in homeopathic pathogenic trials. By analogy with the famous double-slit experiment of quantum physics, and more modern notions of quantum information processing, these failings are understood as blinding causing information loss resulting from a kind of quantum superposition between the remedy and placebo” - Milgrom, L Journeys in The Country of The Blind: Entanglement Theory and The Effects of Blinding on Trials of Homeopathy and Homeopathic Provings, Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2007 March; 4(1): 7–16

The eLetters for that one are a hoot as well, and probably deserve a link from any discussion of the "demolition job on Milgrom".

 

[RationalVetMed]

The eLetters for that one are a hoot as well, and probably deserve a link from any discussion of the "demolition job on Milgrom".

A patient enters the practitioner's 'space'and for a time, becomes during the consultation 'isolated' from the surrounding environment. This produces a "kind of 'quantum superposition' or 'coherence' between patient, practitioner, and therapy (in the case of homeopathy, this would be the remedy). When this state interacts with the outside world after the consultation, it gradually undergoes 'decoherence'(i.e., collapse of the quantum superposition), possibly to a state of cure.
​

Just reading this stuff makes me undergo decoherence.

Yuri

 

[Mojo]

"Decoherence" might explain why Lionel ended up replying to "Simon Bates".

 

[RationalVetMed]

Do I take it that the article you're referring to, the "call for the integration of (S)CAM into general practice", is the Thompson one in Veterinary Review?

The very same ("seeking harmony in therapy" - d'you see what he did there!) - it’s available online though I’m having difficulty accessing the site. Like a red rag to a bull that one I’m afraid.

I think all this brou-ha-ha is constructive even if we aren't obviously "winning". Simply by providing an opposing point of view, and letting the PtB know that there are members of the profession who don't take a roses-round-the-door attitide to all this nonsense certainly puts the brakes on it to a significant extent.

There’s no chance of getting through to the hard core (though it’s fun to wind ‘em up a bit), they’ve got far too much invested on all sorts of levels. the object is to show the reasonable face of scepticism and point out a few uncomfortable home truths to a wider audience. Homeopaths seem to be moving towards a general admission that it’s impossible to tell the difference between remedies - quite a bit of ammo there.

It was interesting that the original ‘pro’ article appeared in a journal with no letters page; hence the change of publication for the reply article. Almost as if someone didn’t want to give room for further discussion. The same author is notable by his absence so far in the correspondence as well as his presence as a lecturer at a CPD course on alt med.

By the way, I propose in this (and any other) threads to refer to any individual vet homs we need to talk about as Mr./Miss/Mrs. [Surname]. I don't think any of them has such a unique surname that googling on that alone will bring up this thread. And of course we recognise that they are all perfectly sincere, and in no way resemble badgers, average or not.

Rolfe.

Agreed, we wouldn’t want any unpleasantness. I’ve always loved badgers, the way they root around in the nuts on BBC Springwatch - ahhh!

Yuri

ps. I like the name August Taylor, I may use that!

 

[Rolfe]

Veterinary Review sometimes publishes letters. They published one of mine, when I had a go at one of their articles, a guy trotting out yet another miracle cure story to justify it all. Interestingly, that was published as "part 1 of 2", but we never got to see part 2 for whatever reason. It was that letter that prompted one of the Vet Times correspondents to refer to my letters "in this and other publications". But then again there was a short exchange of fire in Veterinary Practice as well....

I may not be able to resist the challenge of the microscopic appearance of saturated sugar solutions.

Rolfe.

PS. I know what it was about that original article. In the same issue there was also an article by a sales executive employed by one of the serial offenders in the "just buy our lab machines, never mind if you have no expertise and no training in laboratory management, you too can be your own pathologist" department. All about quality control. How about, "there's no way a rank amateur (like a vet or a nurse) can ever hope to get professional-quality results from your machine, and experienced technical staff would probably fare no better, why are you selling it anyway?" Two in the one magazine. I just went off and made a cup of coffee I'm afraid.

 

[Rocko]

Actually, a page setting out the critiques of the handful of papers that homoeopaths cite (e.g. the Reilly asthma studies, Frass et al, the various Jacobs childhood diarrhea studies, Linde et al, etc.) would be really handy. Many of the good critiques are scattered around on various forums and blog comments, often spread out over several posts, which makes them difficult to link to.

Yes, this would be absolutely excellent. Very useful, especially as I now no longer have Athens access

 

[Rolfe]

Got the files, Yuri, received and understood.

Rolfe.

 

[RationalVetMed]

I'm thinking it's time to smarten the Voodoo Society web site up a bit.

For the humour section -

“Voodoo practitioners always recommend Panexa, the drug you know your pet would prefer. Remember, there are no known medical circumstances (based on extensive internal testing) in which PANEXA cannot be used - it’s what your best friend would want.”

Apologies if we’ve had these already:
Science based medicine
Majikthyse
UK sceptics forum
Harriet Hall’s skepdoc
Sense about science
Gimpy’s blog

... and what happened to the bad homeopath! Anyone know?

There’s so much good stuff out there, it’s great fun going through all my old links!

Yuri

 

[RationalVetMed]

Got the files, Yuri, received and understood.

Rolfe.

Excellent, not so dyslexic as I htought.

Yuri

 

[Rolfe]

“Voodoo practitioners always recommend Panexa, the drug you know your pet would prefer. Remember, there are no known medical circumstances (based on extensive internal testing) in which PANEXA cannot be used - it’s what your best friend would want.”

That's fall-down funny!!!

Rolfe.

 

[Asolepius]

Sorry Rolfe, I am travelling through the Americas right now and only just picked this up from my hotel room in Costa Rica. I can strongly recommend the e-book Charisma and a Horse. It contains the best demolition of Hahnemann and homeopathy that I have read.

 

[Rolfe]

Oh, great, I hadn't seen that. Looks fantastic. And a plug from my esteemed senior colleague Vince Marks too!

Rolfe.