To ask whether or not people here believe in homeopathy?

[DaisyLovesMetronidazole]

I don't at all.

However, I'm not out for a bunfight!

Just curious, as was surprised by the response of a certain group to this question today.

I haven't called anyone an idiot either, or said that I think believers in homeopathy are less intelligent. Perhaps if we just say that their intelligence is diluted by a factor of 30, then both sides will be happy?

no

but for some reason thuja works on verrucaes and warts

I'm going with the people who can hold up an argument. So far, with Torridon, that's me. So if my intelligence is diluted by 30, what does that make Torridon?

JellyKat, as a scientist, I would say that if a tree falls in a forest, its kinetic energy is still converted into sound energy.

Similarly to the way in which if I leave the television on when I leave the room, it remains switched on.

I dont think Torridon's on the diluting team, but apparently yours is really, really powerful, as long as you believe it is.

How about I make a joke about people who give their children chicken pox vaccine having their intelligence diluted by 30?

Come on, it's a joke. It's funny.

I'm not really on the same page as you, Goose. Is that supposed to wind me up or upset me?

For all the hippy image that woo medicine has, it sure seems to attract people who take themselves very seriously and come across as a bit, er, uptight, man.

Gooseberrybushes It's not my job to explain other people's experiences.

When homeopathy moves beyond personal anecdotes as evidence then I might start taking it seriously. Until then I reserve the right to think of it as a crock of shit.

I'm a bit of a hippy but not an uptight one !

I love all things alternative, and my view is that as long as you're not compromising your health then do whatever works for you. If it's a placebo effect, then fair enough. I don't actually use homeopathy myself, but I see a kinesiologist regularly and have done for many year. Both my mum and I swear by it, but my dad thinks it's a load of rubbish .

Oh there we are. "Hippy woo". No wonder you're so selective in who is arsey and who isn't.

I don't use homeopathy. Uptight because I don't like being called arsey on a thread full of abuse and name-calling, which I'm criticising and trying to avoid?

Yeah sure. As in "let me say any damn thing I like, or you're being uptight".

I knew you would say anecdote. So -- is northerngirl lying?

Her experience is easy to explain, apparently. So, she's either lying, or you will find the effect easy to explain. Which is it?

Yes, it is easy to explain. She got better. It happens.

And your evidence that it's a coincidence would be?

Christ, you really are desperate for a fight aren't you? I'm not calling anyone a liar and I don't like your sneaky wee insinuations. Look, google Bad Science and homeopathy, there's reams of stuff out there that will explain it all far better than I could. I'm away to have my dinner now just in case you think I'm 'running away' again.

Ok, if northerngirl is telling the truth, the only possible effect the homeopathy could have had is placebo. You say it's not complex to understand.

Go on then.

I haven't read the whole thread but know that Homeopathy works. I turned to Homeopathy when conventional medicine was unable to help my son. Since then, Homeopathy has been my first port of call for the whole family for minor illnesses. We don't use paracetamol / calpol / antibiotics and I believe we will be healthier in the long run if we continue to find our health solutions in as natural a way as possible without increasing reliance on chemical substances that have side effects. I am not adverse to using conventional medicine and do not believe that any one form of medicine has all the answers for every person.

I dont see homeopathy as "natural" at all. its just a substitute potion.

from memory Im sure the stuff includes petrolium (crude oil), flint and sulphur...hardly natural

petroleum rather

I don't believe that homeopathy works for the reasons practitioners state. I do believe that the placebo effect is only effective in alleviating pain and in improving perceptions of health.

I also believe that a few practitioners over-state the case for homeopathy being a miracle cure and conventional medicine being toxic.

It is of course personal choice, and as long as you aren't causing harm to another by with-holding proper medical care then it shouldn't really be an issue. I don't use it and can't conceive of any circumstances where I would.

Why are you directing me to Bad Science? I don't use homeopathy and I believe the only effect it can have is placebo.

Trying to hold a train of argument here -- you made three claims, which you can't stand up, you're arguing with straw men, you're making up what I think and you can't even begin to attempt to explain the apparent success of homeopathy despite your claim that placeo "isn't that complex".

Just remembered that my mum gave my DD those granules during a bad teething phase. They didn't work for DD. Calpol and chewing on a clean frozen flannel did.

That's just an anecdote and doesn't count pinhead.

Sorry? What did I do? I was under the impression that this thread was for people to share their personal beliefs and experiences about homeopathy

Whilst homeopathy may or may not have been proven to work in clinical trials, I would have thought that common sense says that there are elements of it that MUST work.
Most modern medicines have, at their source, some plant material or similar cell structures. Certainly many new drug discoveries are the result of rapid throughput screening of plant material.
If drugs, which have at their root (pardon the pun), plant life, work, then it is a fair bet that the plant base itself may well work for some people.
It certainly works for the animal kingdom in the jungle.