Lol… I guess not… “riddled with issues” applies as much to pharmaceuticals and vaccines…in my view even more so…the corporate stance on vaccines and a media compliant with pharmaceutical lobbyists… and the introduction of mandatory vaccines on an awakening and unwilling populace shows desperation on their part…this is really old news from 2003… “riddled with issues”…??? https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/glaxo-chief-our-drugs-do-not-work-on-most-patients-5508670.html
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Placebo works very well for me… 
why are the trolls jumping on this thread. I did say from the outset that I was simply looking to increase my knowledge of the subject and was looking to connect with others who want to share their knowledge and experience.
Funny how those who have no time for it seem to have plenty of time to ‘dis’ anything not considered to be ‘mainsteam science’. Why not start your own thread perhaps entitled ‘why any medical practice outside what is considered ‘scientific’ in the mainstream, cannot be beneficial’.
regards
geoff
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…there is currently an outright war on homeopathy and all alternative natural medicine…you only have to look at the current battle between the RCVS and their wholly unlawful approach towards the more than qualified homeopathic vets and the animal guardians who don’t want to give up their rights to using homeopathy as a first line of defence for their pets…and the battle of trying to make homeopathy unavailable on the nhs…there are those who will just automatically dismiss it without ever trying out it out for themselves…and those who will quote the totally discredited snopes …it’s a programmed response…maybe not all trolls and I doubt anyone here could be considered trolls…but big Pharma DO pay big bucks to silence any dissent from those awake and aware enough to ask the questions…How do we move past that…??? I don’t know…but I will back you all the way in My your our search for answers…It would be great to have a reasoned discussion…it would be great to have integrated medicine available to all rather than this either or approach that is doing so much damage to our youngsters…there is currently a trending hashtag “said no mother ever”…I don’t pretend to get hashtags nor know how to deal with big Pharma political corporate lobbyists…I only know that those involved with alternative medicine are the most genuine people I have ever come across…
Oh dear, I thought they were funny. I’ll remove the video.
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The video was hilarious…reminds me of smack the pony witch I also found hilarious…lol…no don’t delete them…humour is one of our best defences against any and all corporate bullshit…x 
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Trolls is a bit strong Geoff.
“Finding out more” has to include finding out that some of us do not accept that homeopathy works.
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Oops I had Jonathon pie on copy and paste to send to one of my kids…it could just have well have been that video of the lorry driver in Brazil who I was going to send to my son who has just passed his Hgv licence lol…,smack the pony… x Smack the Pony - Competitions - YouTube
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And finding out more also has to include finding out that homeopathy works and Homoeoprophylaxis also works and should not be dissed out of hand just because big Pharma stands to make a huge loss should the truth about vaccines ever become mainstream…,
Actually I said it seriously. I have tried a lot of stuff, every time I noticed that I felt a change to the better. This feeling disappeared every time in 2-3 weeks. So for for me: Placebo works well for me, but only for a very short time. 
Hello Geoff
I don’t have any knowledge of this subject but through your post have looked at many interesting reports.
As a believer in using ‘gentler methods’ like essential oils and homeopathy, instead of rushing to the doctors at the first sign of a cough or sore throat, I wish I had known about HP before.
I had vaccinations for travel some years ago and was unwell, I don’t believe that we are suited to having a ‘rush’ of drugs enter the system, I am talking here of prevention and not ‘cure’.
I did also refuse some drugs prescribed by my doctor, as when I asked at the pharmacy to read the instructions etc; before I accepted them, I found out that they were actually antibiotics. How can a doctor prescribe 6 months of antibiotics for travel, especially as one of the cautions was to avoid exposure to the sun, great in a tropical country!
As we all know health is an emotive issue, the drug companies play on peoples fears, just look at some of the adverts on the television where people are encouraged to take product x and y to stay in good health.
I wish you luck in finding someone who has more knowledge of this subject, maybe even a forum of like minded people.
I will certainly follow this with interest and plan on discussing it with my French friends.
Thanks for the post
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yes, you’re right Paul. I applogise for suggesting Trolls.
Of course I already know that some people do not accept that it works.
Perhaps I am one of those people too, having never tried it myself.
The point I am trying to make is that I wanted to start a thread simply to better understand the subject, rather than a place where those ‘in favour’ slag it out with ‘those against’. Perhaps that is not possible; perhaps I was naive in thinking that the two are inseparable.
Sorry for any offence caused
geoff
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Hi Helen, I don’t know anything about the original post but our French doctor offers both homeopathic & conventional medical treatment, he’s always very, very busy. I personally don’t use the homeopathic remedies as I don’t feel they work for me, a view he respects, but my OH will use them, just depends on whats wrong. Personally I think everyone should be free to use what works for them 
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Ah, Helen I am afraid that we are never going to see eye to eye on this one.
I understand your faith is unshakeable and that I will not budge you from it. I know that you feel that you have seen these treatments work and I do not deny your experience - but would suggest that something else was at play - most fevers settle of their own accord and removing the sting and bathing in water will certainly ease a bee sting (though a bit of bicarb might help).
Adults can choose their own fate in terms of medical treatment and we must allow them that right, even if it appears foolhardy.
But I do get a bit cross when I hear of children dying whose parents turned to homeopathic (or herbal, in come cases) remedies and only to conventional medicine when it was too late.
I do get very cross when cancer patients are sold false hope and charged 10’s of 1000’s of £ $ or € for ineffective treatments. I am very aware of the limitations of conventional treatments for patients with late stage cancer but sensible oncologists will be frank with patients about the chance of success (sometimes higher than you might think) and sensible oncologists will put quality of life high on their list of priorities when talking to patients about treatment.
Of course I get equally cross about the cost of treatment - a one year course of Herceptin which can be used to reduce the risk of breast cancer returning after surgery or help control the disease if it has spread is roughly £22,000 - that’s OK for the patient is in the UK or France, or the US if you have insurance but if you don’t then it is likely an amount that you can’t afford. I doubt that the actual production cost is anything like that, even taking into account research and development costs.
I also get pretty worried when I think that many developing nations might be persuaded to set up vaccination schemes with “vaccines” which are about as effective as bomb detectors made from toy golf ball finders because they will not protect individuals and, ultimately, people who did not choose to be dosed with an ineffective vaccine will die.
So when you speak of your concern about conventional vaccination I have an equal concern about the idea that homeopathy might work - the evidence is that it does not, anybody with even a modicum of understanding can see there is no way it could work as claimed - but substituing “real” medicine with homeopathy could have disastrous consequences.
It will not surprise you to learn that I am a big fan of James Randi
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Or from Professor Brian Cox’s point of view.
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Richard Dawkins on the subject:
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Randi’s uses the disreputable instrument of ridicule in this supposedly disinterested inquiry into the claims of homeopathy. He does neither himself nor his argument any credit.
I think I have a good understanding of the claims of homeopathic practitioners myself and I bring that understanding to my assessment of those claims. They do not line up well with scientific method as many doctors understand it, many of them imperfectly because medicine is not grounded in scientific method as much as in experiential and subjective judgement, highly developed, and medical doctors are only occasionally trained scientists.
My view is that intelligent scepticism trumps ideologically based certainty that homeopathy must be wrong, because in one paradigm its claims can not be justified, or understood. I am pretty confident from a lifetime of experience as a nurse and as a researcher that medicine has a great deal to offer humankind, and has earned a valued place in Healthcare, but not to the level of suppressing or demeaning other approaches that may be shown to be of equivalent significance in future, when the scales fall from some eyes, and the arrogance and short-sightedness of some medical men outlives itself.
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Yes, I agree that ad hominem attacks are inappropriate and argument from the point of incredulity is weak but Randi is just using the standard arguments against homeopathy, albeit with some showmanship added - he was addressing an audience after all.
I don’t have any great problem with the idea that we don’t understand something and that at some point in the future understanding will improve and the veils of mystery will fall away and, if homeopathy had a demonstrable effect that might be a reasonable stance but the fact is that homeopathy has no demonstrable effect beyond that of placebo so there is not only no credible mechanism but no measurable effect either.
Randi did make one point which has reminded me to also offer this observation - back in the late 1700’s when Hahnemann was formulating his theories they were no more “alternative” than “conventional” medicine - which pretty much had no effective treatment for anything and allowing the doctors of the day anywhere near someone who was ill was probably worse than doing nothing in most cases.
Time moved on, we acquired understanding of disease, microorganisms, atomic structure, cellular biochemistry and a host of other things and applied those to medicine with the emergence of ever more effective treatments. We developed an understanding of statistics and how to run clinical trials to sift through confounding data to search for real effects from those treatments. We are still a long way from perfect but there is a slow steady improvement.
What did the homoeopaths do - not much, they continued to rely on magic for an explanation of how their treatments might work and blind faith that they did, in fact, so do. Latterly a few scientific sounding terms have been sprinkled around.
To believe in homeopathy is to believe in magic.
Of course some people don’t mind that they believe in magic but I’m not one of them.
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but if the magic works and it seems to for many, at least is does not harm, whereas over 6% of UK hospital admissions are caused by side effects of prescribed drugs (Pirmohamed. M; BMJ, 2004) , furthermore doctors and medical treatments are the third largest cause of death in the USA (Starfield. B; JAMA 2000).
I think that we would all be a lot better off if ‘mainstream’ medicine was encouraged to be more open minded about ‘alternative’ therapies - but that is not going to happen when there is no industry profit in promoting ‘magic’.
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