Homeopathic Medicine
 

A lively off-shoot regarding homeopathic medicine bloomed in the How do i make my cum taste better? thread, so I thought I'd copy the salient bits over here. I'm enjoying the debate, please continue.

I think that Ustwo is correct in his definition of homeopathic medicine, whereas oFia is talking about holistic medicine. Unfortunately, the terms have been scrambled over time.

Should I have quoted information from that link to ensure people would actually look at it? :eek:

I did read it. And yes, it contradicts some of what I said. My perception is still that "tiny dose = homeopathy" and "body as a whole = holistic".

But, since this is a new thread, why don't you go ahead and quote the parts you find important? I am interested in this debate.

If anyone wants a mod to copy actual posts over to this thread, just let us know which numbers and we can switch them over fairly easily. Just let me or any other staff member who's online know.

In my mind, homeopathy is all placebo, which does have a surprising success rate. Just don't spend too much money on sugar pills.

James Randi explains homepathy the best:
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It certainly SEEMS like it must be bogus. But there are lots of people who report anecdotally that it is effective. More than would seem to be accountable for by the placebo effect.

Couple days ago I heard a really interesting story about a US Army field medic named Beecher in World War II. His company was fighting at Anzio, completely cut off from supply, and he had TONS of incoming wounded, and a dwindling supply of morphine. To triage his charges, he asked them, "Solder, as you lie there, do you feel much pain?"

Something like 75% of the soldiers--men with gaping shrapnel wounds, gunshot wounds, severe burns, broken limbs, etc--reported no or minimal pain. Beecher was shocked. Prior to entering the Army, he'd run a clinic where he had frequently seen people with injuries that were of equivalent severity, and they ALL reported significant pain.

Beecher's conclusion is that the determining factor regarding pain is: context.

A soldier is shot. What goes through his mind? "Oh, damn, I'm hit. Wait... I'm still alive! If I make it, I'll get to go home. I'll be a wounded veteran--a hero! I'm going to get the Purple Heart! They'll throw me a parade!"

A shopkeeper is shot in a robbery. What goes through his mind? "Oh, damn, I've been shot. Wait... I'm still alive! Oh hell, how am I going to pay for this? My family is counting on me--how long will I be out of work? How will we ever make it?"

Beecher's assertion is that it's not the injury itself that hurts--or at least, not directly--but rather, the pain is filtered through the story that we tell ourselves about the injury.

Fundamentally, this is the theory that underlies current thinking about the placebo effect. Although nobody quite knows HOW it works, there's no doubt THAT it works. And if that's the case, I don't see the harm in there being a branch of "medicine" (I know, the term is debatable as it applies to homeopathy) that is designed to exploit that mechanism.

Website is owned by/about:

One of these bits is probably the most important info to get from the site:

Looking at the definition of holistic health on wikipedia (because it was quick, not because it was best :p)
I think I'd want any doctor I place my trust in to take a holistic approach to my health. I don't see how you can really separate this approach from any good practice of medicine. Unless you see an overworked doctor who's only interested in treating your cold or flu/etc. (Like the doctor I saw growing up...)

Looking up homeopathy on wikipedia shows me there's two sides to what people think about homeopathy.

I'm not saying every doctor who says he is practicing homeopathy is an authority in the field and is to be trusted. But that's where being informed comes in...

But, since I'm fed up with traditional American medicine (not going into why, that'll take too long) and going to a homeopathic doctor (only a few months), I have a different viewpoint.

Oh. I see I should add something.... I'd have to argue with homeopathy being only placebo effect since when I started the treatment I got worse first.

Homeopathy is regulated by the FDA, though we all know how much that's worth. The FDA approves homeopathic remedies not based on efficacy but rather on safety. They are different from herbal supplements in that they are subject to some standards.

Some homeopathic remedies do work, and some have scientific evidence to back it up. It depends on the remedy. I buy pillules from Boiron and Nelsons, as well as lozenges from Boiron. Boiron's Coldcalm lozenges are really great for getting rid of the ookies, and they really help with scratchy throats. I got my SO some drosera rotundifolia pillules to help with a cough that he had. Drosera rotundifolia is a documented anti-inflammatory and anti-spasmodic: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q...=pubmed_docsum

Regardless, there is something to be said for the power of possible placebo effect.

Herbal remedies and homeopathic remedies are not the same thing.

When I started homeopathic treatment with this doctor I had to stop using herbal remedies, including staying away from a number of other substances.

What an interesting ethical question for me here, some of you might follow.

I have to think on how to answer this.

I disagree. Anecdotally seems to suffer too much from a common plague: small sample size. I am still skeptical that the doctor saw a large enough sample size to really validate it as beyond placebo.

I don't follow. Is it the question of whether to think of placebo effects as viable medical methods?

I have decided its best not to post in this thread, please feel free to PM me with any questions on the topic.