Get a 93 year old to provide a single, baseless, testimonial. Even worse, the BBC are guilty: 93-year-old - 'I know they work'.
Ms Gilchrist said the reason it was difficult to provide proof from research that alternative medicines worked was because they worked differently on individuals. "Everyone is unique. For the same symptoms, people might have different medications." However, she said that the proof they helped was shown by the number of people who wanted to use alternative medicines.
So, if the effect is different on everyone, doesn't that still mean there is (by definition) no measurable effect? In other words, taking homeopathic remedies has no difference from not taking homeopathic remedies. Or, to put it more simply, there is no evidence that homeopathy works.
And just because people want to use something, doesn't mean that's "proof" that they work. A clearly logically fallacious statement. EoR bets lots of people wish they could fly, but it's still not happening.
EoR wants more information: how many people live to their nineties and do not use homeopathic remedies? EoR postulates that more nonagenarians do not use homeopathic remedies as opposed to those who do. In which case, it would be clearly demonstrable that homeopathy actually lessens the lifespan, and that consuming such "remedies" can have clearly fatal consequences.
However, she said that the proof they helped was shown by the number of people who wanted to use alternative medicines.
ReplyDeleteAnd people have wanted to use slave labour for centuries too
Not only does it not work, but it quickly becomes more expensive than conventional medicines the more people use it.
ReplyDeletehttp://badhomeopath.com/?p=17
So much for the "it'll save the NHS money" line they're taking now. How long will it be before all the water on the planet is cross-contaminated with homeopathic medicines?
We're already hearing that some conventional medicines can pass through the body and enter the water supply, surely magic water can as well.
Fairly soon, nobody will need to take medicine as drinking water from a stream or your tap will cure all known diseases!
Yes - you are right about longterm cost. The public pay double in the end. I just can't figure how magic became so respectable. Harry Potter to blame?
ReplyDeleteThe growth in the homeopath industry gives it lobbying force. if it argues successfully to be exempt from testing due to its so called unique and individual qualities, it could squander masses of public health $$ (not to mention water - increasingly scarce here).
As i have said before, and as many leading scientists recently said, BBC science reporting is quackery:
ReplyDeletehttp://skeptico.blogs.com/skeptico/2006/04/bbc_science_rep.html
This is pretty low though, even by their standards. One old lady says it works. That's it?