The Student Room Group

Homeopathy

Just noticed a post in another thread and thought I would bring the subject up.

Does anyone swear by it?
Any experiences?
Scientific input?


Personally, I think it's a load of cobblers. When I worked in boots I used to cringe when I sold it to people and I was even more annoyed when I had to "give advice" as to which thing people should take - in the end I just used to give them the booklet because I couldn't bear being a part of something I think is a scam.

I believe the premise is something along the lines of - a little bit of what ails you will cure you. But how on earth is that supposed to work? And how is it supposed to work when the way they dilute the "active ingredient" means that there are no particles of the "ingredient" whatsoever (I watched a Panorama invesitgation about this a few years ago).

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Reply 1
I think the vast majority of it is a placebo, but it does good for so many people who believe in it; for the most cases it can only be a good thing.
I've never used it and have no real experiences with it.

However, if one takes it and it helps them - i.e. they convince themselves that it IS working - irrespective of whether it does so medically, then i believe it to be a good thing.
Reply 3
timeofyourlife
I think the vast majority of it is a placebo, but it does good for so many people who believe in it; for the most cases it can only be a good thing.

Granted.

I suppose as long as people are buying it themselves, rather than the NHS paying for it (would they ever?) I could allow it :wink:
Reply 4
Regarding the poll, I probably would never use it myself but I don't think it's a con. The people who practice it usually fully believe in it, so I don't think they're trying to con people.

blissy
Granted.

I suppose as long as people are buying it themselves, rather than the NHS paying for it (would they ever?) I could allow it :wink:


That's an interesting point, as there are Homeopathy NHS hospitals around. There's one in bristol that I used to walk past pretty often. Homoeopathy has been part of the NHS since it began. Most health authorities are prepared to pay for homoeopathic treatment on the NHS. All you need is a referral letter from your GP.

You might want to look here. The article's a few years old but the points are still valid.
Reply 5
There must be some sort of science behind it for people to use it at all, as in, it must, in some cases, do the job its said to do.
i think it was my post that you will have seen it in and i would have thought that it would have been completely psychosamatic for the ppl that it worked for but i got dragged along, as a last hope before the operation and didn't have any faith in it what so ever!!!! As a scientist i didnt see how it could work at all and the fact that she assessed my lifestyle more than anything for her prescription made me all the more sceptical! but hey it worked so i cant complain, mind i won't be tripping over myself to replace prescribed medicine!!!
Reply 7
I've seen nothing to incline me to the belief that homoeopathy is any way effectual other than as a placebo. I'm quite willing to use so-called 'herbal' remedies though: I've had fairly good experiences with echinacea, valerian root, and the like, and there's an increasing body of scientific literature to support the efficacy of these drugs.
lessthanthree
well I've had it, and every time it's worked for me. It's probably entirely psychosomatic, but then I think -if it's something minor that doesn't need medical attention, or indeed if it's something terminal that no doctor can help anymore, there's nothing wrong with the effects being psychosomatic.

Herbal remedies are an utter con. there are very few that work, and in those that do their traditional uses have been forgotten and replaced with total rubbish. All the best 'herbal rememdies' like tonic water, willow bark, foxglove etc have already been used to make more effective synthetic drugs. Whats left is often misused, and the users misinformed.

But worse is that few people realise that herbal rememdies can adversely affect the medicinal drugs they are taking, such as the pill.
Unless a doctor or nurse tells me to take anything like that I think i'll just stick to conventional medicines, best to be safer than sorry.
Reply 10
foolfarian
Herbal remedies are an utter con. there are very few that work, and in those that do their traditional uses have been forgotten and replaced with total rubbish. All the best 'herbal rememdies' like tonic water, willow bark, foxglove etc have already been used to make more effective synthetic drugs. Whats left is often misused, and the users misinformed.

But worse is that few people realise that herbal rememdies can adversely affect the medicinal drugs they are taking, such as the pill.


Theres some stuff that does work though. My mum takes black cohosh because she has problems taking HRT and the doctor actually reccommended that and believe me she is absolutely unbearable without it, it really does alleviate her moods and I know she says it reduces her hot flushes etc.
I think alot of it is crap. But if it stops people going to the doctors and they think that it does help them then it has to be worth it.
Reply 11
I don't think it's fair for anyone to call herbal remedies a con, to be quite honest. They do work for some things, when I had acne (several years ago) I went to a Chinese Herbalist who prescribed me some tablets. They worked well, but my GP went spare when we told her what I'd been taking and she told me to stop and referred me to a dermatologist to be considered for Roaccutane. The Roaccutane definitely worked better for me, despite the side effects.
Reply 12
Swear by it.

Love it.

Wonderful.

My mum has been using it on me from birth, i'd probably be a sceptic otherwise but it works wonders for my hayfever and anxiety especially.
Sophdoph
Swear by it.

Love it.

Wonderful.

My mum has been using it on me from birth, i'd probably be a sceptic otherwise but it works wonders for my hayfever and anxiety especially.


What do you take for your hayfever out of interest?
for years i had really bad acne.. i tried everything... creams, prescribed stuff and used homeopathy just to see if it made any difference. i was on it for only a year, but though the effects were amazing. it didn't clear my acne totally, but it worked from the inside, rather than the actual spots themselves.
Reply 15
hey

gosh i cant believe how opinionated half of you are without even trying it!!!

i see a homeopath, and have done for almost 3years. i had/have a lot of health problems and homeothopy has helped me a great deal. infact i think its saved me from another lot of surgery.

if you see a homeopath from the royal society of homeopaths then u can be assured you are not getting ripped off. common, there is a huge homeopathic hospital in great portland street (or near there) why the hell would it be there and have lotz of people going there if it was a 'con'?

just an example... i get REALLY bad airsickness. whenever i go on a plane i am sick the whole journey. my homeopath recently gave me airsickness pills and i wasnt sick once when i went to tenerife last month, and thats without the side effects of normal airsickness medication, e.g. drowsyness.

yeah, i agree, some 'homeopathic' remedies can be a con, depending on where you get it from, but people.. dont judge something youve never tried!! if you use your common sense and buy respectable brands, see qualified homeopaths then whats the problem? plenty of people turn to homeothopy when 'normal medicen' (i cant spell medicen lol!) cannot help them, and homeopathy has had some good results.

soooo many people sware by well known homeopathic remedies such az varillian root, rescue remedy, echinasia, st johns wart etc.

if youve ever been in position where you are ill and conventional medicen (that damn word!) cannot help you and homeopathy does help you... yourl see where im coming from!

obviously homeopathy cannot replace conventional medicen (lol!) but from my experience homeothopy can be very helpful.

Em xxx
Homeopathics Website
There is no such thing as a standard homeopathic headache remedy (though, sadly that doesn't mean no such product is sold...).

Even the marketing staff admit it's a scam...
Reply 17
Surely you'd never use it because it's a con? I don't get the difference between the two options and for that matter, which to vote for.
Reply 18
Pfeh, show me a homeopathic medicine that can cure cancer or the common cold and then i'll be interested. As it is I think it is nothing more than an elaborate con for selling placebos. If you believe in it then it may work, but as I don't believe in it I doubt it would work for me.
Reply 19
Adhsur
Surely you'd never use it because it's a con? I don't get the difference between the two options and for that matter, which to vote for.

I changed it because of toyl's post saying he wouldn't use it, but doesn't think it's a con. If you think it's a con it's implied that you wouldn't use it either.