> -----Original Message----- > From: Gruss Gott [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Monday, March 05, 2007 10:59 PM > To: CF-Community > Subject: Any Homeopaths? > > Belfast Homeopathy Results
This is actually really old - the original study mentioned was done in 2001 (or earlier - it was first mentioned in the media - in "The Gaurdian", as far as I could find, in 2001). New Scientist brought it back to life in 2005. I'm not sure how it's getting around now. There are MANY issues with this. First off nobody has found any evidence that Ennis was "the scourge of homeopathy". It's only later retellings that place her in the position of bitter skeptic-turned-believer. Looking at the biographies available online it's not even mentioned. The BBC very publicly tried to recreate the results in an attempt to win Randi's Million Dollar challenge. They, of course, failed completely. A transcript of the show is online here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/horizon/2002/homeopathytrans.shtml Jacques Benveniste is a well-known "scientist" that seems to find "proof" for all sorts of things related to homeopathy. He "discovered", for example, that the "homeopathic signal" can be transmitted electronically - via email, for example. He's made a lot of money sending homeopathic remedies via email and the phone. The only time that any of Benveniste's work has been replicated is when he or a member of his staff has been involved. A member of his team was involved in this study. >From scielo.br concerning the Ennis study: "Recently, an allegedly positive replication of this study was reported. This new experiment was performed in 4 European laboratories, and a member of Benveniste´s original team took part in them. This study, however, was only published as a short, non-peer reviewed article, and, apparently, had methodological flaws that could compromise its results. For instance, the authors reported that one-quarter of their data had to be discarded, although no clear justification was presented for that. Also, the statistical techniques used appear inadequate." - R Almeida - Rev Hosp Clin Fac Med S. Paulo, 2003 The whole article: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0041-878120030006000 07&lng=es&nrm=iso&tlng=en Finally there's the assumptions and effects. First, even if we grant the study, replicate it and gather proof (none of which has been done) that would only confirm that would NOT confirm homeopathy. It would confirm this one, small effect in this one, small circumstance. Food for thought, yes! Implications for further studies, sure! But one of the reasons that these results keep appearing and reappearing so often is that they are constantly being used to SELL. The results are being used sell remedies for everything - this is just plain wrong. The study simply can't be applied to homeopathy as practiced. The practice of homeopathy does not deal with "real" medicine - rather it deals with symptoms. You actually "take" a substance that creates your symptoms in healthy people - the classic example is if you have insomnia you take a homeopathic solution of caffeine. So, in the study, they diluted histamine and reported seeing the effects of histamine. This is EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE of what traditional homeopathic claims would suggest! In short there's absolutely no evidence, even granting this study, that the "medication" you can buy in any store will be effective in any way. It's a completely skeptical viewpoint but nobody explains homeopathy better than James Randi: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWE1tH93G9U I was lucky enough to see him give this speech live and personal (he happened to be speaking at Tufts University during a blizzard - only about ten of us made it to the lecture). He's incredibly engaging in person. Jim Davis ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| ColdFusion MX7 and Flex 2 Build sales & marketing dashboard RIAâs for your business. Upgrade now http://www.adobe.com/products/coldfusion/flex2 Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:229520 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5
