Homeopathy is Witchcraft, Says Dolphin

[Mojo]

Really?

I thought the remedy was meant to cure the symptoms based off the idea that the "active ingredient" caused the symptoms.

No, the basic idea behind homoeopathy (the so-called "Law of Similars") is that a remedy which causes symptoms similar to those exhibited by the patient will cure the patient.

To determine what symptoms a remedy will cause, homoeopaths carry out what they call "provings", in which the remedy is given to healthy volunteers who then note down any symptoms or feelings (or even unrelated exents such as road accidents) they may experience over the course of the "proving". The homoeopath in charge, who knows what remedy they have been given, then decides which of the symptoms recorded are characteristic for the remedy.

Hahnemann originally used material doses in provings, but he was also using material doses to treat his patients. The dilutions came later when he eventually realised that he was poisoning them. By the time he published the 5th edition of the Organon (the last published during his lifetime) he was recommending that provings should be carried out using 30C remedies, and this seems to be what homoeoapths generally do to this day. See the Organon 5th ed aphorism 128:

The most recent observations have shown that medicinal substances, when taken in their crude state by the experimenter for the purpose of testing their peculiar effects, do not exhibit nearly the full amount of the powers that lie hidden in them which they do when they are taken for the same object in high dilutions potentized by proper trituration and succussion, by which simple operations the powers which in their crude state lay hidden, and, as it were, dormant, are developed and roused into activity to an incredible extent. In this manner we now find it best to investigate the medicinal powers even of such substances as are deemed weak, and the plan we adopt is to give to the experimenter, on an empty stomach, daily from four to six very small globules of the thirtieth potentized dilution of such a substance, moistened with a little water, and let him continue this for several days.

For a more recent source, see Kayne, S. B. (2006): Homeopathic pharmacy: theory and practice, p. 52:

Most recent provings have been conducted with ultramolecular dilutions (>12c). It is highly unlikely that any original molecule is present in such medicines.

The idea that provings are carried out using material doses and the dilution somehow reverses the effect of the crude substance is a misconception, but one that homoeopaths often don't seem to eager to dispel (see the example of onions as a treatment for a cold that they often use, for example), perhaps because the reality is even more ridiculous than the misconception. Not only are the medicines imaginary, but so are the symptoms that they are supposed to cause.

 

[Sledge]

You know what this thread needs?

 

[Mojo]

RLHH under threat?

‘Witchcraft’ hospital (National Hospital for Homeopathy) for chop?

The future of the building in Great Ormond Street, part of which was opened by Prince Charles in 2005, is hanging in the balance after the British Medical Association (BMA) told NHS bosses to stop funding its alternative treatments.

NHS Camden – the biggest spenders on homeopathy in the country with a £1.86million budget – has ordered an immediate review after a survey found patients supported proposals to decommission services.

As usual there's a testimonial from a satisfied customer:

“I dread to think what would happen to patients like me if the hospital lost its funding. I think we would be very much at the mercy of a system that does no research into ME.

“Normal GPs are unable to treat ME successfully, but the Homeopathic Hospital is a different medical world altogether.”

It might have read better if they had called it "CFS".

How much research does homoeopathy do into any condition?

 

[Mojo]

Meanwhile, in Germany: Homeopathy draws ire of German government officials .

The 200-year-old dubious medical treatment may soon be dropped from German medical insurance providers as a cost-saving measure. The the United Kingdom may also do the same.

 

[Mojo]

And a comment about the recent health white paper and the parliamentary debate about it: Better clinical outcomes ahead?

The only definite winner in the future is evidence-based medicine. After a quick probing from MP David Tredinnick on whether homeopathy would be more widely available, Mr Lansley said commissioning would be based solely on “scientific evidence, clinical evidence and guidelines”. Isn’t that about as close to ‘no’ as you can get without saying it?

 

[caniswalensis]

Even when homeopathy's bogus dilutions and "potentizing" process are ignored, it is entirely appropriate in a real and tangible way to label homeopathic practices as witchcraft.

I remember reading in The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi, a bit of practical advice for the warrior. It stated that to heal internal injuries incurred during a fall from a horse, one should mix mare’s milk with some blood of the horse that you fell off of and drink it. It is exactly the same type of magical thinking, known as “sympathetic magic" that homeopathy is based on. It is simply the superstition that one thing has power over that which it resembles, or is connected with.

There is no scientific hypothesis that predicts red onions will cure hay fever because they both give you itchy, watery eyes, yet that is exactly what homeopathy claims. It is witchcraft, not medicine, and not science.

The homeopathic principle of "like cures like" is simply the ages old practice of sympathetic magic all tarted up in a frilly little dress with ribbons placed in its hair. Well, I ain’t taking it to the dance, brother!

Canis

 

[Rolfe]

It's even funnier than that, if you look at the relevant chapter of Frazer!

Rolfe.

 

[Mojo]

Ten PCTs pull NHS funding for homeopathy

Actually a single decision by the prescribing advisory group covering the PCTs:

The Greater Manchester Medicines Management Group (GMMMG) has told PCTs and commissioners across the region that homeopathic treatments cannot be recommended, as an independent review commissioned by another trust, NHS West Kent, found they are neither clinically nor cost effective.

Tim Evans, chair of the GMMMG and chief executive of NHS Bolton, told Pulse he was keen not to appear to be wasting NHS resources.

 

[Asolepius]

Ten PCTs pull NHS funding for homeopathy

Actually a single decision by the prescribing advisory group covering the PCTs:

I am gratified to see how Andrew Sikorski has been stung by this.