Run for You Life: the Homeopathic Rampage - VENTING MY CYNICISM

[Guest guest]

, dar <dobbie606

wrote:

 

Although I am only beginning to explore alternative medicine, and view

it presently as something that for me might work well in combination

with allopathic medicine, I found this article to be extremely biased, and felt

the need to vent my cynicism.

 

 

> Lives will be put at risk by a controversial law which

> allows homeopathic medicines to make unproven

> scientific claims, leading doctors have warned.

 

WILL BE PUT AT RISK??? That's a pretty definitive statement. How

about MAY be put at risk???

>

> One expert likened the change to categorising Smarties

> as a medicine, on the basis that chocolate makes you

> feel better.

 

Yeah, but Smarties aren't chocolate...is that his point? Illustratingwhat?

Made a good soundbyte, though, didn't it?

 

>

> However, a recent study published in the Lancet

> suggested that the benefits of homeopathy are all in

> the imagination, with alternative remedies performing

> no better than dummy pills in clinical trials.

 

Did they study every homeopathic remedy known to humankind? That was

a pretty broad study...funny how that didn't make headline news...

>

> Unlike conventional medicines, they do not have to

> show that the remedies actually work. Instead, they

> only have to show that the remedy has a history of

> being used to treat an illness.

 

My guess is that even though we as patients are a stupid lot, if

something doesn't work after a period of time, we will drop that

treatment & look for something else that does, be it allopathic or

homeopathic.

>

> The change has so angered the medical establishment

> that hundreds of doctors and scientists have signed a

> statement drafted by the charity Sense About Science

> to oppose the new labelling system. Yesterday

> afternoon, the House of Lords debated the issue.

 

Pardon my cynicism, but perhaps they're afraid their income stream

will dry up!

>

> The critics fear that the new system could lead to

> life-threatening illnesses going undiagnosed, or to

> people binning the tablets prescribed by their GP in

> favour of an unproven alternative.

 

Unfortunately, there have been all too many people with illnesses that

have gone undiagnosed, be they life-threatening or not, because the

symptom set doesn't fit neatly in the appropriate cubbyhole that

modern medicine has assigned it.

>

> Edzard Ernst, professor of complimentary medicine at

> Exeter University, said it could cost lives.

>

> " makes a mockery out of evidence- based medicine, " he

> said. " I feel very strongly that this is a very

> serious mistake. If there are claims being made, there

> has to be evidence for them.

 

Then why the hell don't they start testing them to disprove them?

Afraid they might find they work, but can't be patented & then the

pharmaceutical income stream dries up?

>

> " Constipation could be a sign of bowel cancer and if

> somebody that has a treatable bowel cancer goes out

> and buys a homeopathic medicine, they might be

> untreatable tomorrow. Taken to the extreme, this

> regulation could cost lives. "

 

Hmmmm...yes, constipation could be sign of bowel cancer. It can also

be a sign of hypothyroidism, and last I heard people in the UK & US

are desperate for drs who will actually treat that condition.

 

>

> Professor Adrian Newland, president of the Royal

> College of Pathologists, said he was " deeply alarmed "

> by the change, which could " encourage patients to use

> them as an alternative to conventional treatments " .

 

Those poor, stupid patients...

>

> Catherine Collins, chief dietician at St George's

> Hospital in London, said those who believe homeopathic

> medicine work are being misled by the " placebo

> effect " , in which any benefit comes for the patient's

> expectations, rather than from the treatment itself.

>

> She said: " The only plausible explanation for any

> objectively determined benefit of homeopathy is the

> placebo effect.

 

How would they know that the remedies don't work, when they themselves

are claiming that they haven't been amply tested?

 

Also, my understanding from a research MD is that placebo effect

accounts for 15% of positive response in a study. Geez, I wonder if

anyone in the medical establishment has taken that info & translated

it into a study about the power of the mind on illness? Perhaps so,

but we haven't heard very much about that, have we?

>

> The Society of Homeopaths said its members are bound

> by a code of ethics designed to protect patients.

>

> Spokesman Melanie Oxley stressed that the new rules

> only apply to remedies bought in chemist and health

> food shops and used to treat minor conditions.

>

> She added: " For treatment of a serious illness, we

> would hope a patient would approach a registered

> homeopath or their doctor. "

 

Well, now, at least the Society of Homeopaths is not assuming that the patients

are total idiots!

>