Posted by viridis on March 12, 2003, at 19:52:13
In reply to Re: homeopathy » viridis, posted by Jack Smith on March 12, 2003, at 12:11:43
I'm certainly not an expert on homeopathy, but there are a couple of things I've gleaned that might explain the successes that have occurred. Most of this is based on my wife's experience with homeopaths, so is second-hand but I assume pretty accurate (and, we also worked with a homeopathic veterinarian for a while).
The key thing she's emphasized is that the homeopathic doctors she's seen have spent a lot of time getting a detailed history, asking about nutrition, sleep, stress, etc., and then have recommended lifestyle and diet changes (in addition to prescribing the diluted meds). This is how our vet worked too, and despite the failure with our dog, she did have some successes too (e.g., identifying a food allergy that caused recurrent yeast infections in a dog's ear, which subsided once we changed diets).
So, my understanding is that homeopathy is often a more comprehensive approach that may genuinely pinpoint nutritional deficiencies, harmful behaviors, and so on, and correcting these may be of great benefit in itself (plus the confidence that detailed attention from a doctor inspires).
The other thing is that, although I don't know the details of all the "succusations" (serial dilutions), some of the preparations may not be so dilute. If so, I can believe that some of the herbs might actually do something.
And then there's the possibility of placebo effect, which I don't think can be dismissed entirely, especially if a patient has developed a good relationship with an attentive doctor. My wife uses homeopathic cold remedies and is sure they help; they do nothing for me (but I don't expect them to work).
I still can't believe that the ultradiluted preparations work, simply because after a certain number of 1 in 100 dilutions, chances are that there's nothing left of the original substance. People have tried to come up with explanations ("water memory", etc.), but none have held up. So, I still can't buy this aspect of homeopathy, although I do think that the "whole person" approach (which I think overlaps with "holistic medicine") is very sensible.
poster:viridis
thread:207975
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030310/msgs/208550.html