Australia Declares Homeopathy "Useless"

The guts of the results: https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/_files_nhmrc/publications/attachments/cam02_nhmrc_statement_homeopathy.pdf

Meanwhile in Canada the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has had a number of investigative TV shows that were very negative about Homeoquackery and its mainstream acceptance. It looks like another one coming up this Friday on Marketplace, http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/
It’s the kind of drugstore remedy that sounds great: Nighton says it relieves kids’ fever, pain and inflammation, with no side effects and no dyes. It’s even licensed by Health Canada as safe and effective, a powerful stamp of approval that gives parents extra peace of mind. And yet, there is absolutely no scientific proof Nighton works as it has no active ingredients. In fact, Nighton is really nothing. We know: We made it up.
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Whether any level of any government here will actually do something is another matter. Oh. Wait, the Government of Ontario is busy setting up a College of Homeopathy so the quackers can protect the public through self regulation. :boggled: :mad:
 
To save people chasing through PDFs -

https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/_files_nhmrc/publications/attachments/cam02_nhmrc_statement_homeopathy.pdf

Based on the assessment of the evidence of effectiveness of homeopathy, NHMRC concludes that there are no health conditions for which there is reliable evidence that homeopathy is effective.

Homeopathy should not be used to treat health conditions that are chronic, serious, or could become serious. People who choose homeopathy may put their health at risk if they reject or delay treatments for which there is good evidence for safety and effectiveness. People who are considering whether to use homeopathy should first get advice from a registered health practitioner.* Those who use homeopathy should tell their health practitioner and should keep taking any prescribed treatments.
The National Health and Medical Research Council expects that the Australian public will be offered treatments and therapies based on the best available evidence.
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Rolfe said:
Not really since the remedies are usually sugar pills.

Rolfe.
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Or alcohol. Homeopaths use tinctures for liquid remedies. Tinctures use alcohol as a solvent.

Alcohol dehydrates the body stronger than lactose. Alcohol is completely
immiscible in water, so it raises the osmotic pressure of the blood similar
to dehydration. Lactose is not very soluble in water. It will eventually be
broken down into a soluble sugar by the digestive system, but that takes
place slowly. So the dehydration effects of lactose are possibly less than
the dehydration effects of alcohol.

Some other poster asked what homeopaths use for hangovers. I don't know. :crowded:
 
Badly Shaved Monkey said:
Alcohol dehydrates you because you pee excessively by suppression of ADH.
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Nope. With the possible (I would say likely) exception of beer, you're not likely to pee any more than you normally otherwise would. I'm pretty sure that it dehydrates you because when it evaporates, it's mixed with the (mostly water) liquids in your body, so some evaporates with it.
 
bigred said:
Nope. With the possible (I would say likely) exception of beer, you're not likely to pee any more than you normally otherwise would. I'm pretty sure that it dehydrates you because when it evaporates, it's mixed with the (mostly water) liquids in your body, so some evaporates with it.
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Hmm...you are pulling my monkey plonker, aren't yiu?

Ethanol (alcohol) reduces the calcium-dependent secretion of AVP by blocking voltage-gated calcium channels in neurohypophyseal nerve terminals.[15]
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasopressin

Dehydration and Electrolyte Imbal-
ance. Alcohol causes the body to increase
urinary output (i.e., it is a diuretic).
The consumption of 50 g of alcohol in
250 milliliters (mL) of water (i.e. approx-
imately 4 drinks) causes the elimination
of 600 to 1,000 mL (or up to 1 quart)
of water over several hours (Montastruc
1986). Alcohol promotes urine pro-
duction by inhibiting the release of a hormone (i.e., antidiuretic hormone,
or vasopressin) from the pituitary gland.
In turn, reduced levels of antidiuretic
hormone prevent the kidneys from
reabsorbing (i.e., conserving) water
and thereby increase urine production.
Additional mechanisms must be at
work to increase urine production,
however, because antidiuretic hormone
levels increase as BAC levels decline to
zero during hangover (Eisenhofer et al.
1985). Sweating, vomiting, and diarrhea
also commonly occur during a hang-
over, and these conditions can result in
additional fluid loss and electrolyte
imbalances. Symptoms of mild to mod-
erate dehydration include thirst, weak-
ness, dryness of mucous membranes,
dizziness, and lightheadedness— all
commonly observed during a hangover.
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http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arh22-1/54-60.pdf page 3
 
badnewsBH said:
To be fair, it's not entirely useless. It's great for bilking people out of their hard earned money via the placebo effect (and perhaps some wishful thinking). That's certainly been of use to some people with, shall we say, questionable moral fiber.
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If by questionable you mean "found in homeopathic quantity in such" then you are quite correct!!!:jaw-dropp
 
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