Is homeopathy a sham?

Stereolab said:
Reality shows that homeopathic medicine works.
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Would you please cite some EVIDENCE for this claim. An example of something that is NOT evidence is:

Stereolab said:
One look at amazon.com proves I am right, honestly.
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There are tens (hundreds?) of thousands of items on amazon.com. Damn few of them relate to homeopathy. Just cite ONE and explain in your own words how it supports your view.
 
Stereolab said:
THAT is anectodal evidence.
Reality shows that homeopathic medicine works.
One look at amazon.com proves I am right, honestly.
Let's all take a step back, please, and talk about the benefits of homeopathy.
Lesson to be learned here--don't be so closed-minded!
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So, do you think anectodal evidence is good or bad?
 
Stereolab said:
Read "Homeopathic Medicine At Home" -- it has four and a half stars on Amazon.
Only the very best books get that high a rating!
Let me guess--you're too closed-minded to even give it a try.
Labelling me as misinformed is more fun for you, I suppose.
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Could you provide a link to studies which substantiate the effectiveness of homeopathic medicine, please?

Stereolab said:
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Let's PLEASE all approach homeopathy with an open mind.
Lying to yourself about it doesn't only hurt yourself--it hurts society.
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Could you provide a link to studies which substantiate the effectiveness of homeopathic medicine, please?


Stereolab said:
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Of COURSE I would use homeopathic medicine if diagnosed with cancer.
Lord knows doctors and the pharmaceutical industry are corrupt and untrustworthy.
Lots of evidence of homeopathy has been presented--read those books!
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Could you provide a link to studies which substantiate the effectiveness of homeopathic medicine, please?

Stereolab said:
...Let's all take a step back, please, and talk about the benefits of homeopathy.
Lesson to be learned here--don't be so closed-minded!
Click to expand...

Could you provide a link to studies which substantiate the effectiveness of homeopathic medicine, please?
 
kerikiwi said:
Certainly.
...
There, talking about the benefits of homeopathy done.
That was quick, wasn't it?
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To be fair placebo treatments can have some beneficial results, especially when the symptoms are wholely or even partly psychosomatic. The point is you could get those same results by simply giving the patient the blank sugar pill and telling them it was the homeopathic remedy, without going through the rigmorole of repeatedly diluting/shaking etc and putting a drop of the resulting water onto the pill and letting it evaporate.

This "evidence = the number of books on Amazon" argument is amusing, I've never come across it before. If it was valid we could pack up this board and go home, because everything from ancient astronauts and astrology to vampires and wizards would instantly be proved true. :D

There are, of course, some good books amongst the moneymaking dross:

Bad Science by Ben Goldacre

Trick or Treatment? by Singh and Ernst
 
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Stereolab said:
THAT is anectodal evidence.
Reality shows that homeopathic medicine works.
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These anecdotes somehow are not reality?
They all tell gruesome tales. Do you have at least one anecdote of someone who healed from cancer purely on homeopathic medicine? :rolleyes:
 
Stereolab said:
THAT is anectodal evidence.
Reality shows that homeopathic medicine works.
One look at amazon.com proves I am right, honestly.
Let's all take a step back, please, and talk about the benefits of homeopathy.
Lesson to be learned here--don't be so closed-minded!
Click to expand...

Amazon? You must be joking.
 
Stereolab said:
Let's all take a step back, please, and talk about the benefits of homeopathy.
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Hmmm...let's see...


It makes a crap-ton of money for unscrupulous snake-oil peddlers.

It empties the pockets of gullible consumers, preventing them from spending it on...I don't know...nuclear weapons?

It makes for entertaining forum threads.

When really, really sick people use it, it quickly removes their carbon footprint from the environment.
 
Stereolab: you keep mentioning that we need to keep an open mind. Are you open minded enough to read actual (properly condtucted) studies about homeopathy? Are you open minded enough to consider the possibility that you could be fooled, both by yourself and by others?
 
Stereolab said:
THAT is anectodal evidence.
Reality shows that homeopathic medicine works.
One look at amazon.com proves I am right, honestly.
Let's all take a step back, please, and talk about the benefits of homeopathy.
Lesson to be learned here--don't be so closed-minded!
Click to expand...

aggle-rithm said:
*Shrug*

It was nice knowing you.
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The list of dead people at whatstheharm is "anecdotal evidence." Maybe this thread is an extended April Fool's joke? If not, it's as tasteless and tragic as the long list of dead AIDS denialists.
 
Pixel42 said:
To be fair placebo treatments can have some beneficial results, especially when the symptoms are wholely or even partly psychosomatic.
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I mentioned in a previous thread about homeopathy and I think it bares reiteration here.

When I say homeopathy is complete bunk, that it's impossible on a base level, that they concept by which it operates as a delusion fantasy that flies in the face of everything we know about modern medicine chemistry I mean it.

But what I am not saying is that people who claim to have to have been helped by homeopathy are liars. I honestly think they are wrong, but I do not think they are liars

We need to maintain a very distinct line between something making you "feel better" and something actually treating a disease or condition.

How you "feel" is a nebulous concept made of countless factors. If I stub my toe I can either stand there staring at my toe thinking about how much it hurts or I can do something to take my mind off it. Doing this does make me "feel better" by any reasonable definition, but it doesn't make things I use to take my mind off medicine by any reasonable definition.

And I think a lot of woo actually falls into this category.
 
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