AIBU?
to think homeopaths really just make money out of the gullible?
WidowWadman · 08/06/2013 20:59
A remedy made from diluted bits of the Berlin Wall - seriously, that's surely just a test to find out how far they can push it, isn't?
exexpat · 08/06/2013 21:06
YANBU - but they are not necessarily doing it consciously (though I expect some are). I know one or two homeopaths who genuinely believe in the whole thing, and get very upset if you point out the lack of scientific evidence. It really is more of a belief system than a type of medicine.
HumphreyCobbler · 08/06/2013 21:19
I am sure that most of them believe in it and it is not a cynical attempt to make money out of people.
But it is SUCH bollocks. I have a friend who is always pushing it onto me, insisting it will sort stuff out and implying that I am a bit stupid for not taking it. It takes a lot of self control to be measured in my response.
GrendelsMum · 08/06/2013 21:29
I completely agree with Salbertina. DH once (to keep his mum quiet) had an appointment with a homeopathist for a chronic health problem he has, which the GPs had sadly been very little help with. He said that although the homeopathy was bollocks, the bloke was absolutely great, and that it was the first time someone had sat down and talked about how he managed the problem day to day, talked to him about preventing flare ups, actually sympathised about how painful it was, and gave him lots of useful tips.
The sad thing is that the GPs didn't have the time or perhaps the knowledge to do this.
ForkInTheForeheid · 08/06/2013 21:34
In case anyone, like me, is wondering what diluted Berlin wall is supposed to cure...
From: time2transcend.wordpress.com/traditional-healing/homeopathy/
There has even been a remedy made from a piece of the Berlin Wall. My homeopath had this remedy, and says it was so powerful she had to keep it away from her other remedies, out in the garden shed.
According to an editorial in the International Homeopathic Internet Journal, ?Berlin Wall has many symptoms that fit the psychological aspects of that wall, a split between two worlds. The wall in Berlin seems to have been immersed with the psychological emotions and thoughts of humankind.?
OP Yanbu.
CailinDana · 08/06/2013 21:40
My mil believes totally in it. When i was depressed she put me in contact with her homeopath and paid for a consultation which involved a few lengthy chats on the phone and resulted in a concoction being sent in the post. As far as i can see the benefit people experience comes from the indepth questions the homeopath asks - the consultation is more like a counselling session. The potion usually requires some sort of pointless ritual - eg shake 10 times then bang on the table then drop on the middle of the tongue. There's a magical element to it that suits a certain mindset. The effect is psychological imo but that doesn't mean it's not real. It did nothing for me but i know mil gets comfort from it despite it never having had any physical benefit for her whatsoever.
crashdoll · 08/06/2013 21:48
My mum believes in it. I had tonsillitis or an ear infection every few weeks as a child. Repeated doses of antibiotics left me with chronic thrush and diarrhoea. She decided the GP was useless and used to take me to a homeopath instead for remedies. To be fair, doctors were more antibiotic happy in those days! I used to get better after taking the sugar pills but I probably had self-limiting illnesses that would have got better anyway. 
My thrush and diarrhoea stopped because I wasn't on ABs anymore, although she truly believe the homeopathy had healed my immune system. I had my tonsils out eventually and all the infections stopped.
Ragusa · 08/06/2013 21:59
YANBU. I know homeopaths offer counselling and comfort but it is the blatant dishonesty in it that irks me. The practitioners must know it's bollocks?
I think the confusion between homeopathy and herbal meds doesn't help. Some people conflate the latter with the former, which is a shame because herbalism has active ingredients while homeocrockathy really doesn't.
MangoJuiceAddict · 08/06/2013 22:44
I compeltely agree! My sister was considering homeopathy to treat her DS's skin condition but I thought it seem a bad idea. I asked my father in law, a doctor (who has been studying/working in medicine for 45 years), his opinion and he believes it is a complete waste of time and money. No comparison to good, modern drugs. My DH (also a doctor) sees it as a complete waste of time too, infact everyone except for homeopaths (the ones making money from it! ) sees it as a waste of time and money.
megsmouse · 08/06/2013 22:47
This reply has been deleted
Message withdrawn at poster's request.
WidowWadman · 08/06/2013 22:56
puffinmuffin - arnica is used as a herbal remedy, which is one which contains actual ingredients, and as homeopathic remedy, which contains feck all.
I don't know what the evidence is for the herbal remedy working, but the homeopathic version can't work.
minouminou · 08/06/2013 23:16
Any improvement of a condition that's observed after the start of homeopathic treatment is down to regression to the mean which is the natural improvement and worsening of a condition around a midline. In chronic conditions, symptoms wax and wane, and people attribute the waning to the homeopathy.
To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.