4 ms·
Homeopathic isn't the same as folksy. Folksy may or may not work, but at least there could be some potential method of action beyond the placebo effect. Homeopa
by learc83 7y ago
Homeopathic isn't the same as folksy. Folksy may or may not work, but at least there could be some potential method of action beyond the placebo effect. Homeopathic treatments are just placebos. They have been diluted repeatedly to the point where they don't actually contain any active ingredients.
For example, you put garlic into water, then take 1% of that water, mix it into another container of water, take 1% of that etc... Until the "medicine" doesn't actually contain any detectable garlic. The water supposedly retains some kind of "memory" of garlic.
- JMTQp8lwXL 7y agoIt's incredible how much mindshare ideas like this get. If you could cure pancreatic cancer by mixing garlic with water, diluting several times, and then drinking it -- nobody would possibly have pancreatic cancer.
- easytiger 7y agoOne dubious use of homeopathic remedies in the UK was simply to take the burden away from Drs when certain patients kept presenting with phantom issues
- UncleOxidant 7y agoPlacebos do work for some things. Though not likely against something like Pancreatic Cancer.
- tyingq 7y agoSteve Jobs apparently tried a homepathic diet in lieu of surgery for quite a while. He did have the less aggressive type of pancreatic cancer (islet cell carcinoma vs adenocarcinoma).
- enturn 7y agoI listened to Ashton Kutcher talk about how he tried to copy Steve Jobs by drinking lots carrot juice and he ended up in the hospital.
- heavenlyblue 7y agoPlacebos probably work for problems related to neural system (the less you are nervous the more healthy you are). Taking Steve Jobs as an example here is a bad way to get healthy. Steve Jobs was simply used to listening to (back then) always smarter engineers. Medicine, however, wasn’t revolutionised the same way.