Uncategorized Homeopathy Awareness Week Andy L 9th June, 2009 22 Comments

Homeopathy Awareness Week, 14 – 21st June 2009

Are you a journalist or presenter looking for someone to discuss Homeopathy Awareness Week? Then please get in touch.

The Society of Homeopaths are promoting “Homeopathy – a natural approach for the symptoms of hay fever”

Did you know there is no convincing evidence that homeopathy can help with hayfever, or for any other condition?

Did you know that homeopaths do not just treat mild self-limiting conditions such as hayfever, but they believe that they can treat serious diseases around the world such as malaria and HIV?

Did you know that the charity Sense About Science has recently called on the World Health Organisation to condemn the use of homeopathy in the developing world for life threatening disease?

In a letter to the World Health Organisation today, early career medics and researchers are calling for the body to issue a clear international communication about the inappropriate use of homeopathy for five serious diseases. They say they are frustrated with the continued promotion of homeopathy as a preventative or treatment for HIV, TB, malaria, influenza and infant diarrhoea. The Voice of Young Science network has joined with other early career medics and researchers working in developing countries to send the letter, in advance of a ‘Homeopathy for Developing Countries’ conference in the Netherlands on 6th June.

http://www.senseaboutscience.org.uk/index.php/site/project/331/

Did you know that Founder Members, current or former Directors, Fellows and other senior figures within the Society of Homeopaths have been actively engaged in promoting or using homeopathic sugar pills to treat or prevent malaria and HIV in Africa and other developing areas?

Did you know that homeopathy organisations fail to condemn dangerous uses of homeopathy for children and serious illnesses even when terrible harm is done?

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,27574,25613668-5006009,00.html

Here is a sensible factsheet about Homeopathy, its principles and the evidence base for it.

I can put you in contact with researchers, medics and campaigners who care that the public is fully aware of what homeopathy is and what its limitations are. Let’s have the debate.

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Andy L

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22 comments

YDUE! 9th June, 2009 9:32 pm

To enhance efficacy, surely HAW should last less than a second? And other similar jokes.

Matthew Cline 10th June, 2009 7:07 am

Homeopathy – a natural approach for the symptoms of hay fever

Natural? How is repeated dilution and succession "natural"? Unless they mean "lacking in artificially produced molecules".

shpalman 10th June, 2009 7:22 am

You're right that the more awareness people have of how homeopathy is supposed to work, the more they realize what a load of old nonsense it must be. Homeopaths are happier when people think it's just some sort of natural, herbal gubbins and the stuff about dilution and succussion isn't mentioned.

John H 10th June, 2009 9:12 am

HAW indeed. Haw haw more likely – and he was hung.

If you pronounce it as a word you get close to what the practitioners do and their job description.

Mojo 10th June, 2009 1:59 pm

@John H: "HAW indeed. Haw haw more likely – and he was hung."

Lucky old Haw-Haw!

Or do you mean "hanged"?

Peterd102 10th June, 2009 3:04 pm

Homeopathy gets a whole friggin week and AIDS gets a day.

Id like to see Science appreciation month or something.

Bullshit debunking month! That would be a nice topic for schools and colledges. Find an example of bullshit in your neighbourhood and produce an presentation showing just how rubbish it is.

Ziztur 10th June, 2009 3:09 pm

I am totally ready for this debate!

I think a campaign of simply stating the principals clearly and concisely will dispel much of the myth that homeopathy makes any sense at all.

John H 10th June, 2009 4:45 pm

Mojo

I suppose I did mean hanged (although I would argue that hung is grammatically correct for someone who was suspended by the neck until dead. However, I agree that hanged is probably better usage).

Try as I might I can find no reference online to the size of Haw Haw's wedding tackle.

It is possible that like Goebbels he had none at all.

It is a grey area but I agree with your comment on the other posting above regarding the use of the title Doctor by backcrackers with a Ph.D.

There is a good discussion about the use of Doctor in the medical world at:

http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2009/02/the_most_ridiculous_kerfuffle_ever.php

Interestingly this eventually goes seriously off topic and turns into a prolonged slugging match between a real doctor and a backcrackquack. Guess who won ?

Michael Kingsford Gray 11th June, 2009 4:47 am

I wonder if this is going to result in the same debacle that has Chiroquactic Awareness Weak? (sic)

Homeopatheticness is totally and utterly BOGUS! (very sic)

apgaylard 13th June, 2009 7:35 am

I've posted my take on the evidence.

Diego Luego 17th June, 2009 8:04 am

The Australian Journal of Pharmacy (vol 90 June 2009) published an article "Does Homoeopathy work?"

It was written by one Robert Medhurst, who just happens to be a manager for Brauer, a major provider of homoeopathic products into the Australian market.

The only cogent evidence the article provided was that lots of people buy homoeopathic products so it must work

The Captains 19th June, 2009 1:29 am

Hello Le Canard!

You and other Bad Science bloggers (especially with the coverage of Jeremy Sherr) inspired me to write and perform this song with my band The Captains: Its called The Homeopathy Song, and to celebrate [sic] "Homeopathy Awareness Week", we have knocked together a rough cut and released it on YouTube:

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

Hope you enjoy it!

The Captains

Givescepticsachance 21st June, 2009 11:40 am

I have not been aware of either HAW or HAW HAW week- Journalists and editors are more interested in MPs expenses and Jordan/Victoria Beckham it seems.
To stir up the masses (well a few thousand sceptics now since the Chiroprators inadvertantly helped with the recruitment drive ) I would suggest 'The Captains' rework a trad campaign song. I will offer the first verse.

Imagine theres no homeopathy
Its easy if you try
No need for bogus treatments
Deliberate deception not implied

The Captains 12th July, 2009 7:07 pm

Hello!

Cheers 'Givescepticsachance', we haven't reworked that song, but a friend of ours has reworked The Homeopathy Song for us, and created The Diluted Mix, a vast improvement on the original!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0-8dQF6TOQ

Cheers,

The Captains

dawn bowles 19th April, 2011 5:54 pm

Anyone here debunking Homeopathy ever tried it?
Or do you just take the reports (paid for mainly by the Drug companies) as gospel?

Le Canard Noir 19th April, 2011 6:16 pm

yes. I have taken Belladonna 30C, Sulphur 30C and Lachesis 5M every day for a month as I was assured by a homeopath this would have profound effects. of course, nothing. They are just sugar pills. You don’t need to be paid by drug companies to know that homeopathy is pish.

Alan Henness 19th April, 2011 8:17 pm

Dawn

You’ll find that many commenters here have taken these sugar pills to no effect whatsoever.

Anyway, what’s that got to do with the utter lack of any good evidence for homeopathy?

Will 19th April, 2011 10:35 pm

Dawn, what evidence do you have that homeopathy works?

I mean apart from reports paid for mainly by homeopaths.

Badly Shaved Monkey 20th April, 2011 7:31 am

Dawn, in case you are wondering, now is the point at which you offer a gracious apology.

It’s not that I expect one, but it would be nice to see one believer show a little integrity in these discussions. Sadly, most just go very quiet when they receive a reply like LCN’s and I have never seen one honestly reflect on what LCN’s statement might imply for the basis of their belief.

Will 20th April, 2011 7:45 am

Also, by asking whether we take x, y or z as ‘gospel’ you show that you have no understanding of how evidence works.

We don’t take anything as gospel. We look at the quality of the evidence and weigh up whether it shows that homeopathy works, shows that it doesn’t work, or is of insufficient quality to say anything either way.

One can only take things as gospel (and I think by this terminology we both mean unquestioning acceptance of what is presented) when we are looking for evidence to support our existing point of view. Then we either accept it when it supports us or reject it when it doesn’t. This is the behaviour of a closed mind.

Instead, the open minded question all the evidence, positive or negative, and just see what the totality of it says. We’re not looking to attack homeopathy because we don’t like it, we’re debunking it because it doesn’t work.

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