Homeopathy: A Pseudoscience That Is Ineffective for Treating Any Condition
Homeopathy is a Belief System, Not a Medical Treatment
Homeopathy is a system of alternative medicine created in 1796 by Samuel Hahnemann based on his doctrine of like cures like (similia similibus curentur), a claim that a substance that causes the symptoms of a disease in healthy people would cure similar symptoms in sick people.
Large-scale studies have found homeopathic preparations to be no more effective than a placebo, suggesting that positive feelings after taking homeopathic medicines are due to the placebo effect and normal recovery from illness.
Hahnemann believed the underlying causes of disease were phenomena that he termed miasms, and that homeopathic preparations addressed these. The preparations are manufactured using a process of homeopathic dilution, which involves repeatedly diluting a chosen substance in alcohol or distilled water, followed by forceful striking on an elastic body.
Dilution typically continues well past the point where no molecules of the original substance remain, which means, in homeopathic products, ingredients such as deadly nightshade, poison ivy, and liver extract are heavily diluted to minuscule amounts. So minuscule, in fact, that no trace of the original ingredient remains in the final product. In short, Homeopathy is just water.
— From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
International Medical associations have already dismissed it.
Homeopathy also emphasizes dietary restrictions. It advises patients to refrain from consuming any junk food, along with a long list of various items, in an attempt to divert their focus. If anything shows an effect, it’s more likely due to these dietary changes rather than the sugar balls soaked in cheap alcohol. However, just because a treatment includes dietary recommendations, it doesn’t automatically qualify as a legitimate medical system. The alcoholic sugar balls play a significant role in creating the illusion of medical credibility.
This is easy to sell because the average person doesn’t understand that correlation does not imply causation. Even in those rare instances where correlation may imply causation, people often aren’t aware of the specific correlation that had an effect.
Not to mention that homeopathy only makes you believe it works for symptoms that could possibly resolve on their own without any treatment. Consider this: hardly anyone claims that homeopathy can cure a serious underlying condition like cancer. It’s almost always something superficial, such as fever, cough, rash, or allergies. Fever and cough tend to resolve with time, and if they worsen, there’s an excuse for that as well. In the case of allergic reactions, you often find relief when you avoid the food that’s causing them.
When the placebo effect alleviates their symptoms, patients tend to credit homeopathy and say, “Hooray, it worked!” However, if it fails, they’re more likely to exclaim, “Why did it work for my friend but not for me?”, instead of saying it as a nonsense.
In some ways, homeopathy is a lot similar to belief in God: Claims credit if the patient gets better, but if they don’t, it’s attributed to “God works in mysterious ways”.
Any homeopathic practitioner will defend homeopathy, regardless of their personal trust in it. Why?
- The sunk cost fallacy: If you’ve invested years of your time and money in learning something (no matter how questionable it may be) that could grant you the status of a doctor, why would you risk opening yourself up to criticism that could tear it all down?
- Financial incentives: Why would anyone who stands to benefit financially from homeopathy and the trust patients have in it subject homeopathy to rational scrutiny? There’s no possible outcome where this benefits them.
It’s in their best interest to fight for homeopathy to have the same standing as conventional medicine. If homeopathy were discredited, hundreds of thousands of people who make their living from it would suddenly be out of a job. One thing I’m sure of is that people don’t like losing their jobs, and as such, I don’t see homeopathy dying out in India anytime soon. Current practitioners possess both social and financial incentives to prolong the facade for as long as they can.
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