Would You Use Homeopathic Products?

So you're feeling ill and want to feel better. There are hordes of medicines and therapies on the market and we all bring our particular understanding to our acceptance or rejection of any particular treatment. Drug actions should certainly not go unquestioned, especially as even drugs which act effectively against the illness they're prescribed for may have other undesirable effects.

Nothing in homeopathic 'treatments' but water

But there's a big difference between treatments which contain therapeutic agents - causative agents proven to act on inflammation or kill bacteria and other pathogens- and products which don't. "Homeopathic products" are nothing but water and any effect they may have is due to the psychology of 'being cared for' and/or paying for a 'cure.' While people with minor ailments and psychosomatic troubles may feel homeopathy helps them, they are actually paying over the odds for drops of water, and making use of their own beliefs to help them feel better.

The patient, not the product, produces the placebo effect

That classic placebo effect can be beneficial but it's the individual, not the homeopathy, that 'works'.
Here's how one typical homeopathic 'therapist', Jacob Mirman, describes what he calls homeopathic 'preparations':

"The preparation involves serial dilutions and shaking of the product between dilutions. After several dilutions, the initial substance is essentially washed out and cannot be detected chemically in the final product. Confused? That's very reasonable as it makes no sense whatsoever in light of present day science. But regardless of what our sciences tell us is impossible, in practice, the higher the dilution the stronger and longer lasting the effect."

Homeopathy is dishonest mumbo jumbo - and big business

This is dishonest mumbo jumbo.

According to homeopathic 'theory', if you put a tiny quantity of penicillin in water and kept diluting the water till the penicillin is undetectable, the effect of the penicillin would be stronger and longer-lasting than before the water was diluted. As Mr Mirman says, it makes no sense.

It's unscientific and irrational. And frankly just as silly as saying chilli con carne will be saltier without salt than with.

The proponents of this phoney therapy are either charlatans or plain daft. And dangerous too where people have serious illness and put their faith in this 'strong' water.

But of course homeopathists always clamour to say: 'No, no, we don't advocate homeopathy for serious illness'.

Of course they don't, because it's useless. If it were used for any serious condition, in place of scientifically proven treatments, people would die because of it. And homeopathists, mindful of their incomes or unscientific beliefs, don't wish to discredit their 'treatments'.

The same homeopathist - but it could be any homeopathist - goes on to say that homeopathy can "successfully address":

"inflammatory conditions, autoimmune diseases, ulcers, headaches, depression, ADD, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, seasonal affective disorder, anxiety, viral syndromes, chronic ear infections, menopausal symptoms, eczema and many more".

The list is revealing because, without exception, these are conditions that will either resolve spontaneously, fluctuate in severity, or respond to psychological boosts.

There's a pretty good chance that if you're anxious, depressed or prone to headaches there'll come a time, or at least you'll have a day, when you feel better. And then, if you've been drinking homeopathic water, you may think: "Oh, it's the water I bought." And the homeopathist will claim a 'cure' which was in fact effected by time and your own immune system.

On the other hand, if you feel worse, you're more likely to blame your horrible husband, wife, boss, hormones or the weather.

So a homeopathist's claims are designed to make sure he can't really lose. And this explains why homeopathy doesn't claim to cure anything that can't be affected by psychology or our natural healing powers.

When we break a leg, get meningitis, develop throat cancer, catch Hepatitis C, have leukaemia, suffer a heart attack or form a kidney stone, the homeopathic 'therapist' is forced to admit that we need scientifically-valid, evidence-based medicine. Just as we do for 101 other conditions that require more than time or optimism.

The bottom line is that if you have a serious health problem, you need intervention based on science.

If you have a health problem that doesn't require intervention based on science, there's no point paying for homeopathic water. You'll be better off, financially and healthwise, relaxing, seeing friends, eating well, taking a hot bath with fragrant oils. And maybe taking an aspirin.

But water containing substances not detectable chemically? Pull the other one!