Hi everybody,
I wanted to know if "Homeopathy" has a scientific basis or not
Bertie

11 responses total.

Not.

My understanding is that homeopathy generally involves natural substances 
designated as "active ingredients", then diluted repeatedly until you'd
get a larger dose of 'em in tap water (as naturally-occuring contaminants)
than in a bottle of the homeopathic "medicine".  Why one should pay any
more for the homeopathic "medicine" than for tap water never seems to
get explained.....

I've seen people get herbal medicine and homeopathy confused.  They are
VERY different approaches, though somewhat similar in spirit. 

Homeopathy also involves choosing active ingredients that cause symptoms
that are like the disease or condition. That where the "homo" comes
from, meaning "the same" or "like". For example, if you are suffering
from low blood oxygen, cyanide would be prescribed. However only the
*essence* of cyanide is required, and that is (according to the theory)
retains as it is diluted many times. If I recall correctly, "1X" is
a ten fold dilution, 2X is a 100 fold, etc. The "essence" becomes
stronger as the dilution is increased, so 5X or (if you think you can
take it) 8X is desired. 

8X would be a 100,000,000-to-1 dilution if i understand correctly.
Unless the "active ingredient" is able to reproduce (virus, bacteria,
etc.) or is awesomely potent (pure plutonium is FAR too feeble - try
something like botulinus toxin), the "active ingredient" will be
scientificly meaningless in the final homeopathic "medicine" - which
is why i ignored it.

Of course....but the *thought* is still there. 

Some people get a bit better by believing hard enough that they will get
better.  The reduced stress helps the immune system.  Placebo effect.

My understanding about quinine is that it works like a homeopathic remedy.
If so, there may be something to the homeopathics.  Personally I use many
such remedies.  They produce results on a par with allopathic methods (that
is about a 40% success rate).  At least, when you buy such a remedy off the
shelf, noone tells you to try this and if it doesn't work, come back.  When
I say homeopathic remedies have a 40% success rate, I am speaking from
personal experience and site no scientific study..

Quinine is NOT "homeopathic" but has a definite does-response relation. 
Exactly how it works is not fully understood, but what it *does* is well
known. Among other things, it eradicates the erythrocytic stages of
plasmodia. 

Just to be a "devil's advocae", how do you know that whatever you were
treating would not have gotten better by itself without your having wasted
your money? 

Chuckle.  90% of illness is supposed to be psychosomatic.  I figure if an
ailment doesn't get better in 6 weeks of doing nothing, then try something.
I'm not arrogant enough to say you are wrong, nor am I in love with illness
enough to culture it inorder to participate in double blind studies.  How one
could do double blind studies by ones self would be challange enough.

Since I read lot  I can't remember where I read about the quinine.  Apparently
when given to healthy people in small quantities, will produce the symptoms
of malaria.  That aspect is a major quality of homeopathic remedies.

That's where the idea of homeopathy came from - to find drugs that
produced symptoms like diseases and use those drugs to treat the
disease (but indefinitely diluted), but that concept is a weird idea
to begin with. Quinine was discovered because native  people were
treating themselves with it with apparently some success (they did
not, of course, know about "quinine", but rather some medicinal plants).

One of the earlier forms of homeopathy was when saints' blood, infinitely
diluted, would accomplish miracles.  You could cure someone's illness by
having them wash in water which contained a drop of water that had washed a
bit of the true cross (of which there were tons).

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