how deos homeopathy work?

Question

personally i dont think it makes any rational sense so i was just wandering if it was just me and there is some scientific basis behind it, or, homeopathy doesnt make any rational sense.
please be detailed with answers.
thanks

Answer 1

It doesn't.



Homoeopathy has no plausible mechanism to work, it's never been demonstrated to work in high quality trials and there is no rational reason why it should work either.



Homoeopathy is based on two concepts "like cures like" (e.g. if you are having problems sleeping, give something known to cause insomnia as a cure) and the Law of Similars/Law of Infintesimals meaning the more a substance is diluted the more powerful it becomes There is no evidence to support either of these laws. Science tells us that dilution of a substance to such an extent that barely a single molecule of any active substance remains, leads to the original substance being absent from the final preparation.



Homeopaths claim that water has memory..this theory has never been proven. This idea is akin to throwing a pint of beer into the sea and drinking the sea water hoping to get drunk. The "water has memory" concept is the most ridiculous out of all the homeopathic principles. Even IF water had memory, homeopathy would still be implausible. Homoeoquacks claim that they can control exactly what the water remembers...So basically they claim to be able to do something scientifically impossible, with something that does not exist in the first place!



Homoeopathy is supported by a long line of fallacious arguments, -including conspiracy theories, methodologically inept trials, personal anecdotes and quantum BS. If they get nowhere with that, they invent ad hoc meta-analyses and hope that no one has the sense to see what they’ve done. It’s bunk.

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And just take a look at the logic (or lack of as the case does) in Omoikane's answer!



Check out the special pleading fallacy. Notice how he does not even attempt to present data to support homeopathy, instead he claims he won't because we won't accept it! So what he's essentially saying is that we are wrong simply because we won't accept poor evidence! Science does not give credence to this type of childish uneducated BS. This is a sure sign of a crank, if there is robust evidence that demonstrates homeopathy to work, we'd be forced to change our position.



Look lets cut the BS, Mr E and the like simply don't supply evidence because they can't- there is none. Mr E has provided ridiculous links in the past, and we'd refuted them. Now he's too embarrased to submit anything and has resorted to using fallacious arguments as a reason for there being no data demonstrating homeopathy- this is pure insanity!



Whats chiropractic got to do with this question Mr E/Omoikame? How about you answer the actual question which is about homoeopathy instead of using red herring fallacies. However, since you brought it up, just because chiropractic has been around for over a century does not demonstrate efficacy. This is a logical fallacy.



It's STILL a LOL FAIL guys but thanks for the laugh.

Answer 2

Glad you asked.



The first principle of homeopathy is 'like cure like' - so if you have insomnia, homeopaths will often give you a remedy made from Coffea, which is made from the coffee bean. If you think that sounds stupid, they actually dilute this coffea, and they think the more you dilute something, the stronger it gets!



So a typical dilution of coffea may be "6C". 6C means a dilution ratio of 10 to the power of 12. The percentage of active ingredient in the final solution is 0.0000000001%. Or the equivalent of one metric drop of water in 20 Olympic swimming pools.



If you think this is nuts, they have remedies with dilutions up to 1500C, and even higher. Consider that a typical 200C dilution, that is; 10 to the power of 400, would require giving two billion doses per second to six billion people for 4 billion years to deliver a single molecule of the original material to any patient.



And consider there are only about 10 to the power of 80 atoms in the entire observable universe; so a dilution equivalent to one atom in the observable universe would equal only about 40C.



When you are buying truly homeopathic 'medicine' you are buying water or sugar pills only. Not one molecule of the original active ingredient remains. To counter this, homeopaths will claim the water has a 'memory'. Of course this is rubbish and is supported by no science.



Furthermore - the vast majority of research literature on homeopathy shows clearly that it is no better than placebo. And the better the quality of clinical trial, the worse the result.



So homeopathy has zero plausibility and and no good evidence of efficacy. Knowing this, only cognitive dissonance can excuse someone from believing in it.



Late last January, skeptics in several countries protested against homeopathy being sold in pharmacies, by publicly taking mass overdoses of homeopathic medicines. No one experienced any ill effects, except sugar rush.



Homeopathy: there's nothing in it.

http://www.1023.org.uk/



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EDIT: @omoikane, I can't believe you would quote such drivel from Mr E. Is that the best you can do? Second hand attacks on science is not answering the question.

Answer 3

I've been asking that question for a long time and no one seems to have given me a good answer. There are some weird stuff about water memory and citations of a study done by a famous scientist that is unfortunately still not reproduced by anyone else. There's also some silliness relating the effect of water memory with quantum mechanics. Oh, please.



Any homeopaths out there who can give the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of homeopathy?

Answer 4

Your absolutely right, it doesn't make any rational sense, and it does not work other than by placebo, have a laugh at it first and then I'll add the serious bit afterwards.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMGIbOGu8q0



I'd love to see one of the homoeopathic believers go to this hospital and refuse REAL medicine!



More to come, I'm off for a homoeopathic pint of lager!!!



Oops, I was going to add James Randi's youtube but Sarah's beaten me to it. Let me add this one then, JR offers a $1,000,000 to anyone who can prove any paranormal power, which homoeopathy by definition does, he has reaffirmed that it does qualify, so come on Homoeopaths, put your money where your mouth is (Randi's quote not mine).



http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/581-homeopathy-qualifies-for-the-million-dollar-challenge.html

Answer 5

The first answer sums it up. Homeopathy is quack medicine. This youtube video is by well known skeptic James Randi, and is his debunking of Homeopathy.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWE1tH93G9U

Answer 6

Homeopathy has never been proven to work.

Answer 7

Apart from all what has been written :

rational sense and science have notbing to do with workings of homoeopathy..



I hope you understand what science is.

I hope you understand the total of the human mind and body is very complex.



If you don't understand the workings of informational medicine,

you should study Quantum Elbowology.



If you're lucky, you can find Nitram, he is a SCAM in QE, a Securely Closed Ascended Master in Quantum Elbowology.

the only non-hermit whose chakras are fairly aligned, still waiting for the last alignment of his muladhara chakra. This can only happen through secret attunement from his peers.



Let's pray to the Universe this attunement happens soon so Nitram can pass his knowings to the world so we can come to a profound understanding of the human microcosm and macrocosm.

Answer 8

I will quote this highly wise answer from Mr. E

to the willfully blind, proof is an impossibility, so why waste your time? though i appreciate those like red angel and others who bother to substantiate the truth, i have long been past that. another alternative, chiropractic, has been around for well over a century, the principle is simple, and even the most feeble-minded and allopathically brainwashed are capable of understanding it and seeing it's results, nonetheless they refuse to. their so-called science is very selective in what it sees, and denies whatever facts don't fit their warped model. in other words, it's not science at all.



There truly is nothing more to add.

Thank you very much MrE, for my English is too crap to materialize my prethoughts and thoughts in such clear words.