Homeopathy…a dead-end
Friday, February 19, 2016 20:07
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Professor Paul Glasziou, a leading academic in evidence based medicine at Bond University, was the chair of a working party by the National Health and Medical Research Council which was tasked with reviewing the evidence of 176 trials of homeopathy to establish if the treatment is valid.
A total of 57 systematic reviews, containing the 176 individual studies, focused on 68 different health conditions – and found there to be no evidence homeopathy was more effective than placebo on any. The review found “no discernible convincing effects beyond placebo” and concluded “there was no reliable evidence from research in humans that homeopathy was effective for treating the range of health conditions considered”.
Professor Glasziou states: “I had begun the journey with an ‘I don’t know attitude’, curious about whether this unlikely treatment could ever work… but I lost interest after looking at the 57 systematic reviews which contained 176 individual studies and finding no discernible convincing effects beyond placebo.”
“I have no country to fight for; my country is the Earth, and I am a citizen of the World.” – Eugene V. Debs
Source: http://mailstrom.blogspot.com/2016/02/homeopathya-dead-end.html
The very nature of homeopathy is not conducive to such “empirical” tests. There is not one single remedy for a particular condition, but many that might possibly be used depending on the specifics of the person. Hence, a particular remedy can not be compare for efficacy in standard randomized double-blind studies. Immunizations, which are recognized as effective in standard medical practice, use homeopathic doses of a a deactivated pathogen to protect against the disease that would be caused by that pathogen in an active dose, which is basic homeopathy.
First there is abundant evidence that homeopathy works. The biggest example is in the legal cases. Look at the case of King Bio. There are many others. In the court of law it cannot be proven that homeopathy is ineffective.
Second, is that placebo effect is worth something. If you had insomnia, how much would you pay for a placebo pill that helped you go to sleep? You really do not care how it works, you are paying for the effect. So if you think about it, placebo actually has value. You cannot create placebo out of thin air. It has to be believed.