To be driven mad by how many people are utterly convinced by homeopathy?

[Wannabuyawatch]

I am just completely baffled by how many educated, clued up people I know, including family members and many close friends, that do not question homeopathy in any way. It is complete nonsense that bases its "science" on the memory of water?? You might as well wave your magic wand and say Hocus Pocus. Of course the placebo effect can be a cure in itself but not for children?? Even my brilliant pediatrician tries to give me homeopathy (probably bc she thinks it will calm me down rather than my children!!)
There is a mum at school whose son has horrendous allergies and asthma. She has taken him off all his inhalers as she wants to "cleanse his system" and only gives him homeopathy. Arrrgh. I see the little boy in tears every day in the spring as he can´t sleep and is exhausted due to his breathing.
My MIL insisted on giving their old dog who was in agony and riddled with cancer homeopathy instead of conventional medicine and god, did it suffer, why why??
Don´t know why but it drives me mad…such an irresponsible industry that suckers vulnerable people in and leads some to give homeopathy instead of conventional meds in dangerous situations.

Homeopathy is 'based' on the memory of water - you drop in a tiny, tiny, tiny amount of the original thing, dilute it 100s of times (iirc, originally you had to hit the mix against a bible in between dilutions - now, I think they just have to be succussed against a special board), and then take a drop of the dilution, which through the magic of dilution and shaking, is really, really potent. Possibly you put a drop of the water on a sugar tablet - so it's no longer even the memory of water, but the hearsay of lactose.

A 2C dilution is 1 part in 10,000. A 12C dilution is the equivalent to putting a pinch of salt in the Atlantic (North and South). There is more of you in the whole observable universe than there is original molecule in a 40C dilution.

Question: How do you make water forget all the piss and shit and mud and assorted other stuff it's had in there? Even if it's been distilled, filtered and sterilised and there's no observable molecule of any of that stuff in it, if water can remember the homeopathic remedy, how can it forget the rest of it's history, all the way back to the initial formation of those hydrogen atoms?

Either way, the placebo effect is a brilliant, fascinating thing.

You've got to hand it to whoever first made an industry out of persuading people to buy sugar pills with a drop of water on them. Pretty clever. Either that, or a sad indictment of our society that so many believe in such nonsense.

Iwin after reading the posts I have double checked the Rescue I used: I have confused the product as you have said. It is actually a combination of homeopathy and herbal remedy:

^Natura Rescue Remedy is the tried and trusted remedy which quickly calms and soothes you through a shocking or stressful event. It leaves you feeling relaxed and clear- headed during times of emotional turmoil.

INDICATIONS
For use in the relief and treatment of

• emotional shock
• fear
• nervous stress
• feeling of desperation
• tearfulness and grief
• mild anxiety
• sleeplessness due to emotional stress

COMPOSITION
Homoeopathic- flower essence combination complementary medicine.

Ambra grisea D6
Banisteropsis caapi Spag D60
Clematis vitalba (Clematis) aqua inf.
Helianthemum nummularium (Rock Rose) aqua inf.
Impatiens glandulifera (Impatiens) aqua inf.
Melissa officinalis Spag D3
Moschus moschiferus D6
Ornithogalum umbellatum (Star of Bethlehem) aqua inf.
Prunus cerasifera (Cherry Plum) aqua inf.^

It is sold as a homeopathic treatment here, and you find it in the homeopathic section of medicines too.

My mum practiced homeopathy. My brother has bad arthritis age 5 in his legs and was in hospital for 6 weeks after he collapsed at school, the doctor said he would never walk again. My mum never believed that and used homeopathy to heal him. He made a full recovery and nobody could believe he didn't have it anymore. She also healed a bird with a broken wing. We never knew how she did it but the next day it was flying and when she released it it refused to leave and kept flying at the windows to come in! We grew up without any conventional medicine and were so rarely ill it was unbelievable. I had flu once and took a homeopathic pill and felt fine after a few hours! Maybe she was a witch. I guess I'll never know!

All I do know is there are a lot of spooky things in this world that defy logic and reason and could be to do with the power of the mind. I put a fertility symbol in an old yew tree near where I live (where pagans hold ceremonies on special occasions and the tree is filled with notes and offerings) a few weeks ago and whispered 'November' over and over. I got pregnant and due November 25th.

I believe that anything that doesn't harm should be tried. Nothing to loose by giving alternative therapy a try.

BUT- never ever in place of vital medication. The asthma thing is bloody dangerous.

So now homeopathy can cure broken bones in one night? There must be a massive global conspiracy to cover that up.

murphys, You've missed off the bit where it says your rescue remedy is suspended in Alcohol
That well known relaxant...

fs2013, so you had an x-ray machine at home?

Fs that's why it's more useful to pay attention to proper, controlled studies than it is to form an opinion on a freak occurrence or two. While I'm sure there are some practitioners who really believe what they're saying, the fact is that it's been demonstrated repeatedly not to work beyond any expected placebo effect.

Placebo effect is great for some people is wonderful, but the rest is utter rubbish. Homeopathy for asthma? Bloody Hell, instead of talking about it on here report it to someone who can actually do something to help the poor boy.

Fs2013, not wanting to denigrate your mum and your beliefs, but don't you think that maybe the fact that you were having sex sometime around, oh, let me see, February, might have contributed to you getting pregnant and due in November?

Plants and herbs may well have properties that help people.

That isn't the same as believing that hitting a piece of rosemary with a belt five hundred times and then blowing the molecules into a glass of water will cure your tennis elbow. I know that isn't really what they claim to do, but it makes about as much sense.

Juvenile arthritis does often get better as children age.

I would guess that the bird's wing was not actually broken, and that you did not actually have flu.

People who have unprotected sex usually get prgnant.

Giles - I believe that anything that doesn't harm should be tried. Nothing to loose by giving alternative therapy a try.

It is not the homepathy that causes the harm, but the refusal to use conventional medicine which is proven to work.

Giles,
I have a theory that cheese and pickle sandwiches can cure most of the worlds illnesses
My basis for this is that my nan is very partial to a cheese and pickle sandwich, and she is still alive in her 90s
Plus, I gave one DC a cheese and pickle sandwich after they got stung by a wasp, and by the next day, the sting had gone. The other DC did NOT get a cheese and pickle sandwich and the next day, they still had a welt. And the non-sandwich eater gets terrible hayfever, so I'm pretty sure they are a cure for that as well

So anyway, I think you should definitely not discount the healing properties of cheese and pickle sandwiches and try them as a first stab. After all, they won't do any harm will they. Especially if administered with a cuddle

And I said that it should never be used in place f vital medication

Yanbu, it drives me mad too. There's an occasional locum at our doctors surgery who is always pushing homeopathic remedies, I refuse to see him any more. (He also told me that the cure for my son's persistent severe ear infections was to eat porridge and wear socks.)
It's not just the dilution, it's that it has to be beaten on a leather pad in between. That's what makes the water magically remember the active ingredient rather than the piss/shit/bacteria. Simple when you know how, eh?! I agree that a whole load of people seem to confuse herbal remedies and homeopathic remedies. There's also been some psychological studies on beliefs that show that if someone has a belief and is then shown evidence disproving it, it actually reinforces their belief rather than diminishes it. Which is kind of depressing.

I actually do think that people persistently believing in something that has been repeatedly proved not to work is actually damaging. It's not good to have a significant chunk of a country's population that gullible, and resistant to reason. It means that the people in power can spin us any old crap and we don't know how to analyze the evidence and see whether it's bulls it or not,

So why use it all then Giles when there is absolutely no evidence that it works?

I know unbelievable right? The bird prob never had a broken wing at all. Whatever she did though was pretty cool. You can always discount that one if you want. It doesn't matter really, my point is about the power of the mind and what can be possible. I don't think anything works if you don't believe in it but I have had so much spooky stuff happen to me because of the power of positive thinking.

I got given that book 'the secret'. I filled out the 'magic check' for £10,000 and really believed I would get the money somehow. A month later I won a £10,000 trip round the world. I think things happen when you refuse to believe anything else and have utter faith. I'm a bit spooky though!

Martorana, that is a very good point
And also the lemming mentality of blindly buying into health scares because they read it in the Daily Mail

I wonder if there is a correlation between people who believe in homeopathy, and people who vote UKIP

Evie2014 of course! Nothing works unless you put all the right things in place! I'm not God! I reckon it helped though. It's just an opinion. Your MN name is the name my child will be.

"Juvenile arthritis does often get better as children age.

I would guess that the bird's wing was not actually broken, and that you did not actually have flu.

People who have unprotected sex usually get prgnant".

You're probably right. But it's boring to think like that! Anyway like I said it doesn't matter. I feel lucky, I am lucky and I'm a spooky person :)

Fs, I don't find your joke funny. There are people who genuinely do get taken in by this stuff, with serious consequences.

Op, please report the parents of the asthmatic child.

Why not? If it makes someone feel better? If they feel more positive then that can only help the healing process.

Why would you want to take away someone's hope or choice? So you think when some ones sick and is doped up on all their other meds that insulting their beliefs or hopes that something might make them feel better is helpful?