not admit to my lovely df that i think homeopathy is a load of, well, nonsense?

[ForkInTheForeheid]

My df is a big believer in homeopathy, the homeopathic Dr was the first port of call when we were kids, I'm sure we as kids and my dad have had lots of benefit from the placebo effect over the years. :-) however, as an adult with a critical mind and some scientific knowledge I came to the conclusion that I didn't believe any of homeopathy's claims. So for several years every time DS or I get any illness my dad tells me which homeopathic remedy I need, emphatic that aconite will destroy the common cold if you "catch it early enough" and that rus. tox. (?) will cure chicken pox and stop the spots from turning into scabs, they will just disappear back into the body apparently...

So aibu to politely nod and agree despite thinking it's a load of rubbish (no placebo effect if you don't believe it will work either) or should I admit my scepticism to him? I'm usually pretty honest with people and so it makes me feel icky and uncomfortable but I don't want to hurt his feelings.

If homeopathy works, how come it's never stood up to any sort of rigorous scientific study?

I'm somewhere between a "no" and a "hell no" for does homeopathy work at all beyond the placebo effect.

The only reason I am not a "hell no" is that had I been around in the late 1920s and a bloke called Flemming offered to give me some of the manky mould he got from his test tubes because he didn't wash up properly before he went on his hols in order to cure the nasty chest infection my daughter got last winter I suspect I would have turned him down.

thames water is said to be recycled 7 times.

homeopathy is about water memory.

yuck.

and homeopathy is a load of crap, although the placebo effect is incredibly amazing.

I'm a huge fan of homeopathy and use it for my children who are all terrible hypochondriacs. I'd far rather give them a placebo than be shovling paracetamol into their little bodies when they complain about headaches or other trivial aches and pains.

Obviously I wouldn't use it if I thought they needed more than a placebo.

Do read threads like this and wonder whether those people who vigorously deny the value of homeopathy are also as dismissive of organised religion. It seems to me these two things have much in common. Both provide comfort to those who believe in them and both are sneered at by those who are convinced that it's all bunkum. The difference is that when it comes to religion we have some respect for the right of the individual to believe in the irrational and imaginary, and see it as an expression of their imagination and a yearning for something better.

My only beef with homeopathy is that it shouldn't be used where a more effective and acceptable treatment is available. However, given its usually used by people who have looked for help for their problems through conventional channels and found nothing they are happy with, then this shouldn't be too much of a problem.

Drinking water contains residues from the contraceptive pill, breast milk contains flame retardants, the air we breathe is polluted by traffic.
To believe that water remembers 1 molecule of something and can cure illness requires serious stupidity.

"how does water and sugar assist your body to rid itself of phlegm faster?"
I don't know about sugar and water, have never used them.

Again, the clue seems to be in the names for each approach - allopathy (against disease), and homeopathy (like disease), they are at different ends of the treatment spectrum.

To me both disciplines have their place and I've had cause to use both; allopathy saved my son's life, but it is no prophylactic; and long-term use of drugs has too many side-effects. I have transcribed over 100 hours of interviews between doctors from all over the world, and pharmaceutical companies interested to know how their drugs are working. The common denominator on all these interviews is the doctor saying "the drug doesn't treat the condition, it just treats the symptoms", their patients are not cured, just managed.

It's interesting to hear from vets who use homeopathy; animals don't have any prejudice, they can't talk themselves into/out of a remedy working, so the placebo effect can't be cited.

Shagmundfreud:

'Do read threads like this and wonder whether those people who vigorously deny the value of homeopathy are also as dismissive of organised religion.'

absolutely correct in my case. i do indeed believe organised religion is a load of crap, in a similar bucket to homeopathy imo.

and i would also argue that what you are giving your kids is a placebo, not homeopathy.

YANBU to keep your opinions to yourself and nod politely for family harmony. I agree with you that homeopathy is just a placebo though.

"It's interesting to hear from vets who use homeopathy; animals don't have any prejudice, they can't talk themselves into/out of a remedy working, so the placebo effect can't be cited."

There is well documented bias in cases where the practitioner knows, which is why the standard for testing is a double blind study.

NJWS, if you do use homeopathic remedies, then you must have used sugar and water as a remedy. That is what homeopathic remedies are made of. This is not disputed by homeopaths- they just claim that the water remembers things. If this is such a good remedy, wouldn't it be cheaper and easier to mix it up yourself rather than pay Holland and Barrett for it?

I'd hate to think what public swimming pool water remembers. :(

Saying that water 'remembers' things is too simplistic a view. What western science questions is the dilution of the substance used in a homeopathically prepared remedy. Take arnica as an example - the substance will be diluted by 10ths, 100ths, or 1000ths to produce a certain potency; the sugar pill is just the delivery vehicle (you can use lactose pills too). Another area of lack of understanding in western medicine is to do with 'energy' - Qi in Chinese medicine, Prana in Indian medicine, Vital Force in homeopathy, Energy in western physics - it's the stuff that makes your heart beat, but that element is totally disregarded in pharmaceutical drugs and orthodox medicine.