Post by Amaris on Feb 16, 2011 20:31:32 GMT
news.change.org/stories/snake-oil-on-the-shelves-homeopathys-misleading-claims-under-fire
Snake Oil on the Shelves:
Homeopathy’s Misleading Claims Under Fire
by Brie Cadman · February 09, 2011
This past Saturday, people around the world staged an event in which popular homeopathic remedies were taken in 'overdose' quantities. Everyone survived, even though handfuls and entire bottles of pills were swallowed in one sitting, well over the recommended dosage. The international protest proved its point: with homeopathic drugs, there's nothing in them.
The event was organized by the UK-based 10:23 Campaign and James Randi, who has an educational foundation focusing on exposing charlatans and pseudoscientific claims. Randi renewed his offer of $1 million to any homeopathic manufacturer that can prove, in a scientifically-backed study, that their product does what the label says it does. His foundation is also using a Change.org petition to challenge major pharmacies to accurately label homeopathic products so that consumers realize there is no evidence proving the products work.
Many consider homeopathy to be the ultimate snake oil. Homeopathic medicine rests on the assertion that a disease can be cured by a substance that produces the same symptoms in healthy people, that is, "like cures like." According to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), homeopathy is widely criticized because "a number of its key concepts are not consistent with the current understanding of science, particularly chemistry and physics." Specifically, homeopathic medicines are often diluted to the point where there are no molecules of the purported healing substance left. For instance, a typical dilution is 30C; meaning that the active substance is diluted by one drop in 100, then diluted 30 more times. The result? A dilution so great that nothing remains but water.
What brings the belief system over the realm of make-believe, though, is that practitioners of homeopathy believe that it works because the active substance has left its imprint or "essence" in the water, and this spurs the body to heal itself. This theory is the called the "memory of water."
A liquid that can learn? Suffice to say it's hard for scientists to throw themselves behind this idea.
Homeopathic medicines are not the same thing as herbal remedies, which are plant-based. Instead, homeopathic concoctions use anything found in nature -- minerals, botanicals, animal organs, etc. According the NCCAM, homeopathic remedies are regulated like over-the-counter drugs, but because they don't have any active ingredients, they don't have to undergo safety and efficacy testing.
Which makes you wonder how they pass for "drugs" at all. The majority of research has determined that there is little evidence to show that the remedies work any better than placebos. In fact, a 2005 Lancet study indicates that homeopathic medicine might be entirely due to the placebo effect. To be sure, the placebo effect can be powerful: it doesn't just mean that people think they are getting better; placebo pills with no active ingredient have even been shown to produce biochemical responses.
So what's the harm, then, in homeopathic medicine? If it's just water, then certainly it's just another way to part a fool and his money. After all, there are many products on the market that claim health benefits without having any (Airborne and Dannon's Activia come to mind).
But practitioners of homeopathic medicine, and the companies that sell millions of dollars worth of pills, push their ideas beyond the scope of harmless. In Africa, they are using homeopathy to help "treat" HIV, and claiming cases of miraculous cures. They've visited earthquake-ravaged Haiti to treat diseases with water drops, when people really needed antibiotics, sanitation and medical care. And in the U.S., people may forgo real medical treatment believing that homeopathic medicines are a proven remedy.
Part of the problem stems from pharmacies -- places where people go to get real medicine -- endorsing homepathic medicines by carrying them on their shelves, right next to real, proven treatments. As James Randi says in his video, "Consumers have the right to know what they are buying. No one should walk out of a drugstore with a homeopathic product without knowing these basic facts: There is no credible evidence that the product does what it says. There is not one bit -- not a single atom -- of the claimed 'active ingredient' in the package, and no U.S. health agency has tested or approved the product."
Rather than letting pharmacies continue to dupe their customers, sign on to the James Randi Education Foundation's petition calling on Rite-Aid, Walgreens and CVS to accurately label their homeopathic medicines. Consumers have the right to know the truth.
Brie Cadman is Change.org's health editor. Previous professions include biochemist, clinical trial coordinator, indoor air pollution researcher and farm hand. She earned her Master of Public Health from U.C. Berkeley.
Snake Oil on the Shelves:
Homeopathy’s Misleading Claims Under Fire
by Brie Cadman · February 09, 2011
This past Saturday, people around the world staged an event in which popular homeopathic remedies were taken in 'overdose' quantities. Everyone survived, even though handfuls and entire bottles of pills were swallowed in one sitting, well over the recommended dosage. The international protest proved its point: with homeopathic drugs, there's nothing in them.
The event was organized by the UK-based 10:23 Campaign and James Randi, who has an educational foundation focusing on exposing charlatans and pseudoscientific claims. Randi renewed his offer of $1 million to any homeopathic manufacturer that can prove, in a scientifically-backed study, that their product does what the label says it does. His foundation is also using a Change.org petition to challenge major pharmacies to accurately label homeopathic products so that consumers realize there is no evidence proving the products work.
Many consider homeopathy to be the ultimate snake oil. Homeopathic medicine rests on the assertion that a disease can be cured by a substance that produces the same symptoms in healthy people, that is, "like cures like." According to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), homeopathy is widely criticized because "a number of its key concepts are not consistent with the current understanding of science, particularly chemistry and physics." Specifically, homeopathic medicines are often diluted to the point where there are no molecules of the purported healing substance left. For instance, a typical dilution is 30C; meaning that the active substance is diluted by one drop in 100, then diluted 30 more times. The result? A dilution so great that nothing remains but water.
What brings the belief system over the realm of make-believe, though, is that practitioners of homeopathy believe that it works because the active substance has left its imprint or "essence" in the water, and this spurs the body to heal itself. This theory is the called the "memory of water."
A liquid that can learn? Suffice to say it's hard for scientists to throw themselves behind this idea.
Homeopathic medicines are not the same thing as herbal remedies, which are plant-based. Instead, homeopathic concoctions use anything found in nature -- minerals, botanicals, animal organs, etc. According the NCCAM, homeopathic remedies are regulated like over-the-counter drugs, but because they don't have any active ingredients, they don't have to undergo safety and efficacy testing.
Which makes you wonder how they pass for "drugs" at all. The majority of research has determined that there is little evidence to show that the remedies work any better than placebos. In fact, a 2005 Lancet study indicates that homeopathic medicine might be entirely due to the placebo effect. To be sure, the placebo effect can be powerful: it doesn't just mean that people think they are getting better; placebo pills with no active ingredient have even been shown to produce biochemical responses.
So what's the harm, then, in homeopathic medicine? If it's just water, then certainly it's just another way to part a fool and his money. After all, there are many products on the market that claim health benefits without having any (Airborne and Dannon's Activia come to mind).
But practitioners of homeopathic medicine, and the companies that sell millions of dollars worth of pills, push their ideas beyond the scope of harmless. In Africa, they are using homeopathy to help "treat" HIV, and claiming cases of miraculous cures. They've visited earthquake-ravaged Haiti to treat diseases with water drops, when people really needed antibiotics, sanitation and medical care. And in the U.S., people may forgo real medical treatment believing that homeopathic medicines are a proven remedy.
Part of the problem stems from pharmacies -- places where people go to get real medicine -- endorsing homepathic medicines by carrying them on their shelves, right next to real, proven treatments. As James Randi says in his video, "Consumers have the right to know what they are buying. No one should walk out of a drugstore with a homeopathic product without knowing these basic facts: There is no credible evidence that the product does what it says. There is not one bit -- not a single atom -- of the claimed 'active ingredient' in the package, and no U.S. health agency has tested or approved the product."
Rather than letting pharmacies continue to dupe their customers, sign on to the James Randi Education Foundation's petition calling on Rite-Aid, Walgreens and CVS to accurately label their homeopathic medicines. Consumers have the right to know the truth.
Brie Cadman is Change.org's health editor. Previous professions include biochemist, clinical trial coordinator, indoor air pollution researcher and farm hand. She earned her Master of Public Health from U.C. Berkeley.