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Is homeopathy a sham?

If our view is that homeopathic medicine has no effects at all, it makes homeopathy equal to placebo, which is an accepted phenomenon that sometimes has desirable effects. Is placebo a sham? In a way yes, the doctor knowingly misleads the patient to believe that he is receiving effective medication, while the doctor knows the medication to be effectless in itself.
 
ehcks said:
I'm glad we got that out of the way. That's precisely the answer I was planning to give when I clicked the link.
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This could be the shortest thread ever in the history of General Skepticism and The Paranormal. :D
 
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Is this a trick question, how can magic shoogled water not be effective....... Now that was sarcasm. I should add that magic shoogled water is very effective at curing a heavy wallet. I understand that the sugar pills are good for diabetics.....
 
This could be the shortest thread ever in the history of General Skepticism and The Paranormal. :biggrin:
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That would make me proud, 23 Tauri.
 
23_Tauri said:
This could be the shortest thread ever in the history of General Skepticism and The Paranormal. :D
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That would make it the most potent thread in JREF history. I'm honored to be a part of it.

Steve S
 
JJM 777 said:
If our view is that homeopathic medicine has no effects at all, it makes homeopathy equal to placebo, which is an accepted phenomenon that sometimes has desirable effects. Is placebo a sham? In a way yes, the doctor knowingly misleads the patient to believe that he is receiving effective medication, while the doctor knows the medication to be effectless in itself.
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There's a big difference, though. Homeopathy is usually self-prescribed or prescribed by people without real medical training. So, the use of the useless "medication" may allow a real problem to go undiagnosed and untreated.

Another problem is that not every product labeled "homeopathic" is really homeopathic. Products often use that designation to avoid government regulation. So, they may actually have active ingredients that could cause harm.

-- Roger
 
steve s said:
That would make it the most potent thread in JREF history. I'm honored to be a part of it.

Steve S
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Laughter is the best medicine!
 
What really annoys me are the comments on that story (and any homeopathy story) chastising BIG PHARMA for only treating symptoms, or for making a profit. It's enough to overload even a top-of-the-line irony detector. I've yet to find any pharmaceutical with a higher profit margin than tap water dripped onto sugar pills.
 
^^^
Amazing how few homeopathic enthusiasts see that point, isn't it?
 
It had better be a sham. I don't want every drop of water I drink remembering some of the stuff i flusheddown the u-bend.
 
Stomatopoda said:
What really annoys me are the comments on that story (and any homeopathy story) chastising BIG PHARMA for only treating symptoms, or for making a profit. It's enough to overload even a top-of-the-line irony detector. I've yet to find any pharmaceutical with a higher profit margin than tap water dripped onto sugar pills.
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And homoeopathy does nothing but attempt to treat symptoms. It considers nothing else.
 
I've never really gotten what's supposed to be so horrible about "Treating the symptoms" anyway.

If a bacterial infection in my GI track is making me vomit and live on the toilet do I care if whatever treatment I'm giving banishes the bacteria to the Phantom Zone or just stops my GI track issues? What differences does it make on a practical level?
 
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