homeopathic medicines are no better than pure water

Dr.Barai

Although many researchers claim that the effects of homeopathy can be measured, none have yet applied for James Randi's million dollar prize to prove that homeopathy does work!!! An NGO "Horizon" decided to conduct their own scientific experiment.

They gathered a team of scientists from among the most respected institutes in U.K. The Vice-President of the Royal Society, Professor John Enderby oversaw the experiment, and James Randi flew in from the United States to watch.

As with Benveniste's original experiment, Randi insisted that strict precautions be taken to ensure that none of the experimenters knew whether they were dealing with homeopathic medicine, or with pure water Two independent scientists performed tests to see whether their samples produced a biological effect. Only when the experiment was over was it revealed which samples were real.

To Randi's relief, the experiment was a total failure. The conclusion was that homeopathic medicines are no better than pure water.

greenchutney

thanks doc. but i swear by them. its worked for me and for many many folks in my extended family and friends. in fact, i dont know what would we have done without it.

it all is about the right diagnosis. did you also know that india has one of the largest number of homoeopaths in the world..million or so..and calcutta had the most?

i am happy this alternative form of medicine is there..to save me as much as possible from the alloepathic crooks, pharma mafia and indiscriminate pill pushers ~

regardless of any research anyone wants to carry about the effectiveness of it....i believe in it just because its worked for me personally..and saved me from ghastly antibiotics and what not..~~~ taking that arsenic, mercury, carbo veg, sulphur, allium cepa, kali mur...yes siree~

Dr.Barai

u derived benefit from placebo effect. Plz read the second post by me on this topic.

greenchutney

and you are so sure about it eh?..all the times it was the placebo effect?

while it may happen sometimes, i dont think i agree with its 100%placebo... there is some mysterious secret to it and i think it may be more than my brain could reason or research...

i am sure in the future they will come up with some better explanations on why it works or how it works.

Number Six

I think the placebo effect is even more mysterious than homeopathy if you think about it...

greenchutney

ha! excellent point. autosuggestion..i think its a TM term..(correct me here), placebo..all are so mysterious...

Dr.Barai

I do not know what your ailment was, which was helped by homeopathy, but in all probability it was a disease with strong psychosomatic component.

I shall give u two examples of alternative medicine
1.Baba Ramdev from India is a pioneer of alternative medicines and have millions of followers and claims to cure nearly all ailments known to mankind. Surprisingly he is unable to cure his own Facial palsy !!

2.Recently a very renowned homeopathic doctor (claims to cure nearly all ailments known to mankind) whom I know for long developed advanced kidney diseases and will require transplantation. Homeopathy could not help him I guess !

Lugubert

Wrong! They are much better than ordinary water. It is impossible for scientists to get water as pure as some homeopathic preparations claim they are. Some common dilutions correspond to a concentration of the allegedly active substance that is less than one molecule in the known universe.

greenchutney

there are limits to what homeopathy can do. every form of medicine has that. the normal homeopaths i went to are not saying its a replacement to anything. the homeopathic doctors i went to in fact open with that statement (about it not being a replacement to 'popular' medicine) to set expectations..

now if you want to drag some diva's or celebrity like ramdev and use his quotations..well..you are free to do so but the majority of the homoepaths or alternative medicine practitioners dont do that.

ha! a psychosomatic component eh? prozac for me...dopamine inhibitors eh sure.....

Number Six

The weirdest thing about the placebo effect is it works on animals! ie vet gives the animal a placebo (he thinks its a proper medicine not a placebo) and the animal gets better!
Correct me if im wrong somebody, but i think several studies have been done to support this.

Karan321

I never thought of it like that...
Yes that is true and that is truly weird.

Dr.Barai

I hope we all agree that Humans are most advanced animal in this planet. Since under stringent controlled laboratory condition homeopathy fails to act any differently that plain water in the animal called Human how can it work in another animal!!!!! We should all accept that there are self-limiting diseases. 80% of patients with typhoid fever will recover completely even without medicine.
Anyone claiming such this should be requested to reproduce his results under stringent controlled laboratory condition. Needless to say challenge by Mr.James Randi still stands!

Number Six

No no Doctor I wasnt meaning homeopathy works in animals but the placebo effect.

greenchutney

yeah put a monument up for james randi and worship him for all i care.

if you see the world so black and white...god bless...wait though..god doesnt exist in a scientific world..right?

tell that to one million practitioning homeopaths and their zillions of patients in india..all ya'll just go and prescribe that paracetamol, antibiotics and what not...cause whatever you do has not been tested in stringent laboratory conditions...yeah all your patients are mental, give em' psycho allopathic medicine and give 'em some other medicine to deal with those side effects...yeah put them on the yearly subscription prescription plan..yes! my revenues are set!....dependency is good....is very very good...

Number Six

Greenchutney please! There is a lot of room for God in a scientific world. Read your physics young man!