Homeopathy - Cure or Con? - CBC

Cure or Con? CBC Marketplace

Cure or Con

Erica Johnson investigates one of the country's fastest growing alternative health treatments: homeopathy. Ontario homeopaths are about to become the first province in Canada to regulate homeopathy — lending credibility to this unproven practice.

Canada's leading consumer ally takes a long hard look at the theories, and the remedies. For the first time in Canada, we conduct a test of homeopathic medicines, investigating the science behind these so-called medicines. In light of our results, we ask both the Ontario government and Health Canada why they are lending credibility to the homeopathic industry. Johnson also meets up with a rep from the world's leading manufacturer of homeopathic medicines, who admits that even the company says how homeopathty works is a mystery.

Watch, as we witness a Vancouver group of skeptics taking part in a group overdose of homeopathic remedies. Perhaps most disturbing we learn that some homeopaths are treating cancer patients with homeopathic remedies. A leading cancer specialist says there is no role for homeopathy in the treatment of cancer, that it is a "scam that is not evidence-based."

Personally, I think it's nice to see a bit of skepticism being shown by the media in regards to "alternative" medicine and other such quackery.

I'll take a stab in the dark here and say this probably won't sit well with the majority of ATS, but feel free to leave your thoughts.

Like anything else, some great, allot of crap. If you have anything specific you are looking into you should target only that as a beginning. Is there something?

Honestly i don't think any of this would be necessary if people fueled their bodys the way they should be fueled and got some exercise to keep the "machine" running smoothly. That being said the modern medical system seems to be running off greed and monetary gain instead of the fulfillment of truly helping people.I think if something works, placebo or not, and it doesn't have all the risky side effects that modern medication does, then im all for supporting it and don't think it should be shot down just because "they can't figure out how it works".

I strongly recommend that anyone who has a bit of time and interest watch the attached YouTube videos that relate directly to the point and topic of this thread. It is eye opening, and will definitely give you a new perspective on alternative remedies. The movie is in 6 parts, but I'll just link to the first part, and if you wish to see the other 5, simply put them in the search box or go to the channel of the OP. Peace...

www.youtube.com...

my mother has a friend who is combining homeopathy with chemo to cure her breast cancer...the tumor is gone, and she never got sick or lost her hair....there is something to this

When you eat, your bodies rebuild themselves. This is a daily occurrence.
Deficiencies and excesses are to be treated with moderation and understanding first. This would mean that diet is the first medicine. "Alternative" medicine is that which is synthesized/theorized.

While I agree that "cures" should be well tested, a person should be free to take whichever course brings the most good to them by their own judgment. To call homeopathic the alternative is to ignore the fact that you are what you eat! To treat communion with such malice is both ignorant and arrogant.

So that I not misunderstood; While diet is the first medicine, do not blindly reject those who deem it well to partake in modern/synthesized/alternative medicines. However, let it be understood that the most important advancements to medicine are "homeopathic" in nature besides their modern/current processes regarding extraction: antibiotics [penicillin], antacids [calcium carbonate], anti-inflammatories [aspirin], probiotics [bifidobacteria], concentrated nutrients for various reasons [vitamin c, vitamins d, vitamins b], diarrhetics [fibrous plants], diuretics [fruits, nettles, green tea], anti-diarrheals [chocolate, chamomilla], etc.

Some day eating an apple that was grown without poisons being involved will be considered "alternative."

"Alternative" medicine cured my gall bladder disease that I got from taking a pharmaceutical medicine called Yaz.
I probably would have ended up having it removed, but fortunately for me, my friend is married to a holistic practitioner.

I saw a brief clip on TV just last night about homeopathy. They were describing how their 'medicines' were made, and showed how they add their ingredients to water, then keep diluting it over and over, because they claim that the dilution process causes the water molecules to 'remember' the ingredients so that the 'treatment' is more potent.

Now please excuse me, I just vomited all over my computer after typing that...

If you're sick, get real help from a trained medical professional. Don't buy snake oil.

reply to post by DragonsDemesne


Basically, anytime people do unethical things like extreme dilution of active ingredients in 'so-called' medicine, to the point where it is a placebo, that is not a healthy or legal thing. But I think there are many people who are suspicious of the anti-homeopathy movement as having secondary intent - other than human health. When all the sceptics start ballyhoo'ing the same script at the same time.....ehhhh, something is up. And that something usually is prompted by an outside party.

I have read at least 6 'scientific studies' which have been passed to me on Homeopathy. They are all verbatim duplicative recitations of the same source material, offer no case examples, and simply outline the worst events in Homeopathy's mythology as rationale for its total condemnation. Not everyone agrees

See here: forums.hpathy.com...

or a pharma industry insider here: deskeption.wordpress.com...

I was actually going to make a new thread in regards to homeopathic "medicines", but I have less than 20 posts
I was just speaking with another mom a few days ago regarding our children. We both attend a counselling program for our sons with behavioural issues. She informed me that she has been taking her son to a homeopath since about November. They tested his hair samples I believe she said and found very high levels of lead and I'm assuming mercury (she said it started with an "M" but couldn't remember what it was so I'm just assuming mercury). Of course they were very concerned and started making changes to his diet and he is taking some kind of supplements/medicines from the homeopath.

She claims that about the 6 week mark they saw a marked change and have had great success with their son. His behaviours, attitude, and general overall happiness have done a complete 360. No more calls home from school, suspensions, arguements fighting etc. The downfall...they have now spent over $1000 in the past 3.5 months to see this homeopath and purchase the "medicines" he is taking. (I say medicines as I have no idea what homeopathic supplements are called).

I am very much considering going this route as after dealing with these problems for 3 years with my own son I am exhausted, overwhelmed and have had to seek counselling and help for my own spiral into depression over this. Our family does not have a lot of expendable income and the price tag is very steep...as in some bills might not get paid if I do choose this route...but at this point it might be worth it?

Anyone with info, personal experience etc that would be willing to share their story with me would be much appreciated. I will be keeping an eye on this thread and seeing what people think of homeopathy.

Sorry to hijack the thread, but as soon as I saw it...I immediately felt it might help me..

thanks,

Michelle

reply to post by Whyhi

Depends on who you ask.
Ask a patient and you will find many people who swear it is a cure and have evidenced an improvement or cure for their condition.
Ask a doctor who stands to lose money and his livelihood if you accept that, and you might get a different answer.

If you have a mouse problem the exterminator is not going to tell you to get a cat...but a cat works as well as the exterminator...maybe better. (no harmful side effects or poisons around)

Vaccinations are "homeopathy" at work.
A little bit of the harmful is used in order to make "the body" produce it's own cure.
Are vaccinations a cure or a con?

Originally posted by rusethorcain
Vaccinations are "homeopathy" at work.
A little bit of the harmful is used in order to make "the body" produce it's own cure.
Are vaccinations a cure or a con?

There's a pretty significant difference - homeopathic preparations are so diluted that they don't contain ANY of the original material. They're just water, which is supposed to have some kind of memory for the original ingredient.

Its a scam, read a book called bad science by a guy named Ben Goldacre.

He is a science columnist for the gaurdian and this book teaches you how to recognise the bad science etc in media as well as published and recognised papers etc.

Truly eye opening read for me and he has a chapter in this book on this very subject.

MooseVernel

Originally posted by rusethorcain
reply to post by Whyhi

 

Depends on who you ask.
Ask a patient and you will find many people who swear it is a cure and have evidenced an improvement or cure for their condition.

I would probably put that down to the placebo effect..

I can only speak by personal experiences, I am big on homeopathy after all before the big pharma take over we used to treat each other with natural medicine and did just fine.

It works for me and I am very satisfied with it.

But also I am realistic and alopathy medicine does have its benefits in many instances.

Let remember that what big pharma have is a multi billion dollar empire that benefits from sickness and they don't have to cure anything to make profits, in other words cures are not profitable and anything that compete with their profits is bombarded by million dollars propaganda.

Just remember who came first big pharma or natural medicine.

Originally posted by moosevernel

Originally posted by rusethorcain
reply to post by Whyhi

 

Depends on who you ask.
Ask a patient and you will find many people who swear it is a cure and have evidenced an improvement or cure for their condition.

I would probably put that down to the placebo effect..

And in a few cases you might be right however not all.
If it were that easy we would all have a bottle of "placebos" in the medicine chest.

reply to post by rusethorcain


We do, and most of them come from Big Pharma

If homeopathy is real, then why can I take an entire bottle of homeopathic sleeping pills and feel completely fine without feeling tired at all?

Originally posted by C0bzz
If homeopathy is real, then why can I take an entire bottle of homeopathic sleeping pills and feel completely fine without feeling tired at all?

edit on 1/3/11 by C0bzz because: (no reason given)

You might not feel a half bottle of alcohol in a night but stop at one drink and you will feel it.

You can kill a sense.
A whole pack of cigarettes is never so nauseating and poisonous as that first cigarette in a clean system.

We are subtle, sensitive "origami like" creatures.
We use hammers to form our origami selves.

reply to post by C0bzz


You would be fine because it is a healthy medicine. Do you think all medicines should be poisonous to the body?