Science vs. Homeopathy

Mr. E writes "Ars Technica has an interesting look at pseudoscience as it applies to homeopathy. While most discussions about what science is get derailed by the larger controversies surrounding them, Ars chose a relatively uncontroversial pseudo-science to examine so that they could examine the factors which make homeopathy a psuedo-science: ignoring settled issues in science, misapplication of real science, rejection of scientific standards, claims of suppression, large gaps between the conclusion and evidence, and a focus only on the fringes of what we currently understand."

Comments

Rx: Placebo

[ringm000]

A friend of my cousin works in a homeopathic pharmacy (in Russia). She told a story that once in a while a client appears in the pharmacy with a prescription which literally says: "Placebo" (yes, an average Ivan is probably even less likely to be able to read a prescription than an average Joe, as Latin is not Cyrillic). The client gets the prescribed drug and pays a hefty sum for it. Supposedly, the more they pay, the more likely it is to work.

Homeopathy and the power of the mind...

[neapolitan]

I'm a doctor -- I could write an entire book on the relation of "scientific" or "evidence-based" medicine in relation to homeopathy.

In general, homeopathy is essentially tolerated, and as the article humorously points out, it tends to not do much harm because things are dilute. From the Wikipedia article, which nicely summarizes it:
> any positive effects of homeopathic treatment are simply a placebo effect.

That has pretty much been my experience -- and it is difficult for an individual (even a doctor) to tell somebody to NOT do something that is not harmful, and (very, very unlikely) may be beneficial. Physicians joke about "homeopathic" doses of drugs when we think a drug is significantly under-dosed (usually when beginning somebody on a new medicine to see how they react to it.)

It is really funny the ritual surrounding this -- you wouldn't believe the people that adhere to homeopathic remedies and spend hundreds of dollars on these cure-alls, yet still "struggle" to afford the copay on the drugs that are actually keeping them alive. However, something that reinforces positive thought (which indeed can have an effect on your health) is good, and the placebo effect is undeniable.

Despite their benign nature, the aggressive marketing of these substances to vulnerable groups (the sick) disagrees with me. I mean, look at this http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=homeopathic+remedy&btnG=Google+Search and some of the wild claims they make for cure. I can't make these outlandish claims for most of the drugs I prescribe, so how can an honest doc compete? :)

Re:The truth about doing nothing

[PCM2]

They don't know enough and truly are practicing--on their patients. If it doesn't work out, it's "oh well, we did all we could." This would be acceptable, if it wasn't for the unbearable arrogance of many in the medical profession, and their looking condescending attitude towards anyone who tries anything that has not been blessed by the high temple that is the American Medical Association.

This argument completely goes both ways.

Example: I have an embarrassing confession to make. I once contracted a disease called scabies. Scabies, long story short, is bugs living in your skin. Your skin becomes inflamed and it itches. I have no idea how I got it, but it is fairly contagious, particularly if you have prolonged close contact with somebody who has it (e.g. you share a bed). My doctor diagnosed it, prescribed a treatment for me which I used to the letter, and I was cured. End of that story. Except...

Go online and do a search for scabies and you will find all sorts of interesting stuff. There are whole forum threads devoted to it. The cure, which for me was really very simple, does not seem to be simple at all for a lot of people.

It will probably help if I explain something else about it. Like I said, scabies is bugs, and you get welts and they itch. But these are not bug bites, per se. What is happening is that your body has initiated a systemic allergic reaction to the presence of the insects. You're basically breaking out in hives. Often you will break out in areas where no bugs have ever been. And the problem with this is that the cure for scabies is to kill them. Killing them, however, doesn't get them out of your skin -- it just interrupts their lifecycle. Eventually your skin will shed and they will all be gone. But in the meantime they are dead but still there ... which means that even after you are cured of scabies, you keep having symptoms ... sometimes for several weeks after the successful treatment. So you can maybe see how this freaks people out.

Back to the Web. Go online and search for "scabies cure" and you will find all kinds of people who are very frustrated about their symptoms, which has led them to try all sorts of things:

• You're only supposed to use the medicine once, maybe twice. That will be enough to cure you. But some people apply the medicine again and again and never see any improvement. This is not really surprising; the medicine is a common commercial insecticide, which is highly inflammatory to the skin. In other words, they're wrecking their own skin and that's why the itch seems to be getting worse.
• Often, the people who claim to have the worst, least curable cases are the people who started off trying home remedies instead of just going to the doctor. "I've tried everything," they cry -- everything, that is, except the treatment that is proven to work. Other people read their accounts and assume they are in the same straits.
• You hear a lot of people claiming their entire house is infested with scabies and that's why they keep getting re-infected. This is highly unlikely. Scientists have shown that scabies mites can't live more than an absolute maximum of 48 hours when they're not on a person, and it's probably more like 12 hours. But because these people keep itching, they keep trying to self-medicate and so the symptoms never seem to go away.
• After suffering for a while, some people develop theories about their infection. Some will tell you that their fingernails are the worst trouble spot, and that they have to dig thousands of the bugs out from under their fingernails. This, again, is highly unlikely -- a scabies-infected person with a healthy immune system will probably have no more than 10-15 mites on their entire bodies.
• So as the condition progresses, out of frustration they try more and more elaborate home remedies. By "home remedies," I mean scrubbing their skin with Comet. I mean