3 ms·

Well, in America, the placebo effect is more effective than many pharmaceuticals, so, yes, I'd recommended homeopathy as well, knowing that it can do well and f

by kolev 12y ago

Well, in America, the placebo effect is more effective than many pharmaceuticals, so, yes, I'd recommended homeopathy as well, knowing that it can do well and for sure do no harm compared to drugs that just address symptoms, don't cure anything, and do certain damage especially in the long run. I'm not saying that plecebo could help anyone with PMS, I honestly doubt that, but he lists that as the last resort in that particular article and being a doctor who's seen a lot of patients, why would I doubt his recommendation? Maybe it really works for some, how can I know?

NickNameNick 12y ago
||for sure do no harm compared to drugs That really depends on who prepared your homeopathic treatments. They aren't regulated or subject to reasonable quality control. A few years ago a couple of manufacturers had to pull a number of products - the FDA had discovered that they contained medicinal quantities of actual medicine (no wonder they worked for some people!) Worse, because of the lack of quality control, the dosage was wildly inconsistent from batch to batch, and of course with the active ingredients not listed anywhere people were having allergic reactions to medicines they didn't think they were taking. The homeopathic medicine market is not in anyway trustworthy.
- kolev 12y ago
  I think Boiron and Hyland are pretty trustworthy, but I agree that maybe there are questionable manufacturers out there. The same applies to supplement manufacturers, but that's a whole another chapter of this discussion! I recently found (thanks to my ConsumerLab subscription) that one of the leading vendors of organic raw cacao actually had pretty high levels of cadmium (way above the norm) and I've read in the news feeds that even strictly controlled pharmaceuticals have recalls, so, it's all a matter of luck.
djokkataja 12y ago
Please cite some sources. "in America, the placebo effect is more effective than many pharmaceuticals" - There's nothing particularly unique about Americans that would require different treatment than humans in the rest of the world (except for perhaps the incredible obesity problem). "I'd recommended homeopathy as well, knowing that it can do well and for sure do no harm compared to drugs that just address symptoms" - Actually, there is harm is encouraging people to spend money and time on things that are demonstrably false, because it prevents that time and money from being applied towards worthwhile causes (like finding effective treatments for Alzheimer's). "being a doctor who's seen a lot of patients, why would I doubt his recommendation?" - An MD degree does not bestow infallibility or scientific inscrutability on the people who have them. MDs disagree with each other pretty routinely, so if you're curious about a doctor's recommendation, 1. find another doctor who disagrees, and try to understand why they disagree, and 2. read some summaries of the actual scientific studies behind whatever the recommended treatment is. If you can't find any scientific studies supporting the treatment, that should be a warning sign. "Maybe it really works for some, how can I know?" - http://lmgtfy.com/?q=can+placebo+help+pms http://lmgtfy.com/?q=can+placebo+help+pms turns up http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19678774 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19678774 and http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8533564 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8533564. Both of those have really small sample sizes (85 people for the first, 35 for the second), but in both studies, placebo was less effective than the actual therapy being tested.
- kolev 12y ago
  1. Regarding the placebo/nocebo effect, cultural and other differences matter. I can't find where I read about Americans being generally more affected by it, but I won't be surprised if it's related to powerful marketing of pharmaceuticals on media. Trying to find this, I just read that Americans are the most hypochondriac - maybe it's related. 2. I agree with what you said on second opinions and doing your own due diligence, but my point was different - I'm not a doctor, so, I'd take his advice on PMS with a grain of salt although I personally doubt that the placebo can help with that. Hyman's main theme is reducing sugar intake and I honestly haven't found a doctor so far who argues with that. I've only found people living in denial, because they are so hooked up to that substance. 3. As I said, I personally don't believe that the placebo effect of homeopathy can help with PMS and many other conditions, but maybe it does work better for women who look alternative therapies.

by kolev 12y ago

NickNameNick 12y ago

||for sure do no harm compared to drugs That really depends on who prepared your homeopathic treatments. They aren't regulated or subject to reasonable quality control. A few years ago a couple of manufacturers had to pull a number of products - the FDA had discovered that they contained medicinal quantities of actual medicine (no wonder they worked for some people!) Worse, because of the lack of quality control, the dosage was wildly inconsistent from batch to batch, and of course with the active ingredients not listed anywhere people were having allergic reactions to medicines they didn't think they were taking. The homeopathic medicine market is not in anyway trustworthy.

kolev 12y ago
I think Boiron and Hyland are pretty trustworthy, but I agree that maybe there are questionable manufacturers out there. The same applies to supplement manufacturers, but that's a whole another chapter of this discussion! I recently found (thanks to my ConsumerLab subscription) that one of the leading vendors of organic raw cacao actually had pretty high levels of cadmium (way above the norm) and I've read in the news feeds that even strictly controlled pharmaceuticals have recalls, so, it's all a matter of luck.

djokkataja 12y ago

Please cite some sources. "in America, the placebo effect is more effective than many pharmaceuticals" - There's nothing particularly unique about Americans that would require different treatment than humans in the rest of the world (except for perhaps the incredible obesity problem). "I'd recommended homeopathy as well, knowing that it can do well and for sure do no harm compared to drugs that just address symptoms" - Actually, there is harm is encouraging people to spend money and time on things that are demonstrably false, because it prevents that time and money from being applied towards worthwhile causes (like finding effective treatments for Alzheimer's). "being a doctor who's seen a lot of patients, why would I doubt his recommendation?" - An MD degree does not bestow infallibility or scientific inscrutability on the people who have them. MDs disagree with each other pretty routinely, so if you're curious about a doctor's recommendation, 1. find another doctor who disagrees, and try to understand why they disagree, and 2. read some summaries of the actual scientific studies behind whatever the recommended treatment is. If you can't find any scientific studies supporting the treatment, that should be a warning sign. "Maybe it really works for some, how can I know?" - http://lmgtfy.com/?q=can+placebo+help+pms http://lmgtfy.com/?q=can+placebo+help+pms turns up http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19678774 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19678774 and http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8533564 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8533564. Both of those have really small sample sizes (85 people for the first, 35 for the second), but in both studies, placebo was less effective than the actual therapy being tested.

kolev 12y ago
1. Regarding the placebo/nocebo effect, cultural and other differences matter. I can't find where I read about Americans being generally more affected by it, but I won't be surprised if it's related to powerful marketing of pharmaceuticals on media. Trying to find this, I just read that Americans are the most hypochondriac - maybe it's related. 2. I agree with what you said on second opinions and doing your own due diligence, but my point was different - I'm not a doctor, so, I'd take his advice on PMS with a grain of salt although I personally doubt that the placebo can help with that. Hyman's main theme is reducing sugar intake and I honestly haven't found a doctor so far who argues with that. I've only found people living in denial, because they are so hooked up to that substance. 3. As I said, I personally don't believe that the placebo effect of homeopathy can help with PMS and many other conditions, but maybe it does work better for women who look alternative therapies.