A potted account of Ross' life

You need to use "Motherfucker" in a ghetto slang way more often in letters to MPs. I think we all do really.

For example: "because this would open entirely new realms of both medicine and physics, motherfucker!"

... because otherwise we'd still be using leeches, performing exorcisms or practising blood letting.

Well, the exorcisms I agree with, but leeches and bloodletting are still very effective treatments for some ailments.  Especially in the specific instances where they're one of the more effective treatments, I would hope that the NHS wouldn't dismiss them out of hand either. :)

Joe

Well, I know that leeches are having a comeback for certain conditions which I can't remember, but what good does blood letting do?

I am a nurse and over the years I have come to the conclusion that it is not always important if you understand/have access to the mechanisms of the medicine. The outcome is important. What counts is what helps the people. Suggesting to use placebos does not respect the self-determination of the corresponding patients. Finally about many medicines we only know that they work but don't have a clue why. You should be less ideological when it comes to life quality.

"The outcome is important."

Quite, Sebastian. And it's been proven, time and time again, that homeopathic treatments are no better than placebos.

"[The use of] placebos does not respect the self-determination of the corresponding patients."

Again, exactly right. And that is exactly what homeopathy is doing. It is simply the placebo effect under a different name, woven with mysticism.

Sebastian: yes, there are many medicines which work but we don't know how, such as paracetamol.  However, the difference is that it has been proven to work.

I'm happy to let people see homoeopaths with back pain and let the majestic placebo effect a 60-minute consultation can have, but when registered homoeopaths are claiming they can cure AIDS and maleria without any reaction, something is wrong.

Ross linked to an excellent article[1] about homeopathy several days ago. In it, the author mentions just how little we understand the placebo effect. Now, it might be that, psychologically, the mystery of homeopathic treatments somehow makes the placebo more potent. Or it might not. The point is, the ethical problems of placebos as treatments remains.

Placebo is an amazing thing, quoting from the Dr Goldache article in the Guardian:

The placebo response is about far more than the pills - it is about the cultural meaning of a treatment, our expectation, and more. So we know that four sugar pills a day will clear up ulcers quicker than two sugar pills, we know that a saltwater injection is a more effective treatment for pain than a sugar pill, we know that green sugar pills are more effective for anxiety than red, and we know that brand packaging on painkillers increases pain relief.

"evidence that it was in fact better than placebo would be welcomed with open arms by the scientific community"

Damn skippy. A big new mystery area with a clear potential for profit would attract major research dollars. If there was real evidence in favour of homeopathy, you better believe we'd know about it motherfucker.

Re - "what good does blood letting do?"
Ask someone with haemochromatosis.

"You need to use "Motherfucker" in a ghetto slang way more often in letters to MPs. I think we all do really." Never a truer word spoken, Iain.

jdc325: interesting, thanks. :)

markrian writes: "And it's been proven, time and time again, that homeopathic treatments are no better than placebos."

Careful with the use of the word 'proven' when trying to describe the lack of scientific rigor in someone else's studies ;) I would settle for:  studies have failed to show a significant difference between the two.

But anyway, don't underestimate the importance of the placebo effect in actually helping people get better; people who we are failing to help in other ways.

And a placebo doesn't work very well if you know that it's a placebo ... By driving home the point to the public that homeopathy is just that we would deprive a large group of people of real help that they are getting for their real (or imagined) ailments today. Homeopathy does contribute to the general health of our society, to keen down sick days, depression and hospital care.

I agree with Ross when he says homeopaths should be challenged when they claim to cure aids and malaria, but we should be careful about trying to discredit the whole discipline without having a clear alternative in place. Dr Goldache presents a solid case about how homeopathy-friendly 'research' is often skewed and unscientific but he also fails to suggest an alternative to fill the void that would result from an enlightenment campaign about homeopathy.

I don't think the public should fund the construction of homeopathy hospitals and we should work towards making people more informed about their own health. But both NHS hospitals with their home-grown resistant infections and the (generally harmless) quacks have much to improve here. We should really be helping people quit smoking, eat better and exercise. Homeopaths are a large and (by many) trusted groups now and they can probably play an important role in advising lifestyle changes. Perhaps they should be given the power to prescribe yoga classes and healthy diets on the NHS budget :)

How did you do the letter? Email? Fax? Post?

Here is a little tool to help me:
http://letter.dabase.com/

Kai: I have abiword to write letters, but I used the excellent http://www.writetothem.com/ (provided by the even more excellent mysociety.org) which emails/faxes your letter to the MP.

As a beneficiary of Homoeopathy and having acquaintances who are qualified Homoeopaths.

Homoeopaths never claimed that they could cure AIDS, fact is that the person afflicted with the virus weakens and horrible side-effects of the modern medicines make his/her life hell.
Homoeopathy claims to make his life comfortable by trying to cure his common ailments without any significant side effects.

For Malaria, Homoeopathy too uses Quinine from Cinchona tree's bark just like the Allopathic cure.

I would like to find who funded that placebo effect experiment and on whose payrolls is that lady who did that research.

Ravi:

"Join us at this one-day Symposium in London for a fascinating insight into the role of homeopathy in treating HIV/AIDS."

http://www.homeopathy-soh.org/for-homeopaths/documents/Aidsflyer.pdf

http://www.homeopathy-soh.org/, being the Society of Homeopaths, "representing professional homeopaths" and "the largest organisation registering professional homeopaths in Europe".

Sounds like homeopaths claiming they can treat AIDS to me.  This isn't some crackpot claiming they can cure it whilst the professionals discredit them, this is the professionals.

And yes, I know a homeopathic remedy for maleria uses quinine.  It was the first homeopathic treatment and was a very lucky that its also a valid treatment when actually used, instead of diluted away.