A Cure for Diabetes! Too bad it's a Homeopathic One.

The latest load of bullshit from the UK Homeopathy Association:

I was diagnosed with diabetes Type II in 2006. I was put on Mertformin 500mg three times a day AND Gliclazide 80mg twice a day. However from January 2010, I no longer take any medication. My latest blood test done by my doctor, shows my HbA1c at 6.4 and my fasting blood sugar at 6.2.

My cholesterol levels have dropped to the lowest in 4 years. Total Serum Cholesterol 2.8, triglycerides 1.0 !!!!

I have now officially be taken off ALL conventional medications by my doctors (even though I had done this myself since Jan 2010)

Ok. I'm not a doctor and on the surface those medical terms sound rather convincing, but, the sceptic should know better. One of two things is going on here 1) he's being honest with this statement but their exists an explanation other than homeopathy. 2) He's being purposefully deceptive and using medical jargon to impress and entice. I'm inclined to go with 2 as the junk medicine world seems to be about duping the gullible out of hard-earned money.

As for the decision to stop using conventional (the stuff that's more likely to work) medication without doctor consent. Do I really need to point out how fucking stupid that is? Not the type of behaviour any responsible health practitioner would encourage though this is a homeopath we are talking about.

Of course, this all ignores the lack of evidence (as far as I know and please correct me if I'm wrong) in regards to a cure of type II diabetes.

Homeopathy and Depression: A Dangerous Mix

I'm on the UK Homeopathy's mailing list. (Hey, it's a good way to keep up with what's going on in the world of woo). They are touting treatment for depression. The e-mail starts off well enough. Discusses the dangerous and hardship of depression. Then we get to the testimony:

Here is what one of my patients had to say:

I recently suffered from really bad anxiety followed by depression. I couldn't work out why I was going through this bad patch as I'm a jolly person and never let stress get the better of me. I went to see my GP and he put me on depression tablets, however I wanted something that cured me and not something that would eliminate it temporarily. I decided to try homoeopathic remedy, so I searched on the Internet and came across Mohamed's website, furthermore, he was the cheapest in comparison to other sites. I managed to see him straight away. When I had my first consultation, I was shaking with nerves particularly my leg. I couldn't sleep for 3 weeks due to panic attacks and fear. The first night I took homoeopathic remedy I slept throughout the night, I was so grateful to Mohamed that I actually had a decent night sleep. Over time I grew stronger and could face going to work and outdoors. Mohamed has been so supportive throughout, I would contact him by email or phone about my progress. What was so comforting, he was there for me when I needed. I'm now a big fan of homoeopathic remedies and have recommended it to my friends. So give it a go, you have nothing to lose, the remedies are natural with no side effects. I would also like to add, Mohamed is a very good counsellor, I always felt so confident and refreshed after our sessions.'

The ravings of one person is not satisfactory evidence. I've heard people say reflexology works but we know that isn't the case. Where are the links to studies proving the effectiveness of homeopathy? Testing, analysis, etc. It's not there because it doesn't exist. You also have the standard bashing of traditional medicines. A "temporary" fix.

It bothers me to think of the people who will receive this e-mail and be convinced to give up their anti-depressants and turn to an alternative treatment with homeopathy. Considering the dangers of untreated depression, homeopathic practitioners are being downright irresponsible by touting a treatment that may do nothing to prevent the depression from worsening.

Sky News: Calls to regulate alternative medicine

Sky News: Calls to regulate alternative medicine

Alternative medicine needs to be regulated, we can't let this happen again:

There are calls for tighter regulation of the alternative medicine industry after a woman's agonising death.

Penelope Dingle died in August 2005 after initially refusing cancer surgery, opting to be treated with alternative remedies instead.

Dingle was treated for rectal cancer by a homeopath who has been blasted by a coroner investigating the case, saying she was an 'incompetent health professional'.

The Cancer Council says the case highlights the desperation of some cancer sufferers.

Spiritual Or Religious?

Spiritual Or Religious?

Tanveer Ahmed has an article on the demand for alternative medicine. I'll highlight the paragraph that concerns me:

Most of my patients - the vast majority - will not admit to being religious. Most will, however, describe themselves as being ''spiritual''. When pressed on the nature of this spirituality, the dominant theme is being free from any institutional or political authority.

By this reckoning, the notion of being spiritual is removed from the taint of power. It is then free to pick up any lost forms of spirituality or any of the new varieties that seem to regularly spring up. In essence, it is a consumerist approach to religion.

The past decade has seen vicious academic assaults on organised religion. It is already on the canvas in secular Western democracies, and the likes of the evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins and the dilettante journalist Christopher Hitchens have continued to intellectually beat it to a pulp.

Religion now hangs by certain proofs and demonstrables, such as the literal acceptance of texts, by which no great religion can ever flourish. Narrowing the definition of religion is increasing its frailty. It is being identified with its most extreme forms. Pushing religion out of the public sphere in the name of rationality has given more room to world views or practices that trivialise the ''felt life'' of human consciousness.

One arena of growth that I see as a doctor is the phenomenal increase in the use of alternative therapies. Estimates on the size of the market vary from $1.5 billion to $2 billion a year.

A survey in 2008 by Cardinal Health found 74 per cent of us had used a vitamin, mineral or herbal supplement in the past year. Companies like Blackmores are expanding around the globe.

Much of the time, the use of vitamins or supplements is unwarranted in healthy people. More often than not, the body will merely expel it. But this does not deter consumers, suggesting rationality has little to do with its use.

The fact many of the treatments have links with ancient Chinese or ayurvedic traditions of the subcontinent only increase its spiritual appeal to the Western consumer.

A session at a recent GP conference highlighted that most patients are concerned with health management and ''wellness'', suggesting there was a growing need to integrate the reality of alternative therapies into the business of being a medical doctor. This is driven by the consumer. It does not come from new developments in knowledge. Many GPs now advertise their credentials in alternative medicine.

While patients might be fleeing the rational reductionism of medicine and its apparent indifference to life's mysteries, organised religion appears to concentrate exclusively on the unknown. In alternative therapies, people have discovered a compromise. They attract patients disaffected by conventional medicine as well as those dissatisfied by religion's solutions.

Alternative therapies are not confined by the limits of testable knowledge, making their potential power of explanation enormous, and leaving patients thinking their troubles have real spiritual significance.

For example, a naturopath will diagnose problems with a mix of genuine biological and physiological terminology, adopting a sense of medical authority. But the problems will be addressed with questionable, untested treatments such as homeopathy or herbal products.

Patients are left reassured they are not dealing with a quack, but retain a link with nature and the spirit. They are told their condition is unique to them and the power to heal exists inside their own bodies.

The sector's influence is only likely to increase when medicine does not pretend to have a cure for a chronic illness. Medicine can only offer ''disease management'', an unsatisfying outcome for many patients.

Humans are not content with essentially material descriptions of reality, but want to know the nature of reality, whether there is meaning in it. We are fundamentally meaning-seeking machines.

As the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, said: "Without the transcendent we shall find ourselves unable, sooner or later, to make any sense of the full range of human self-awareness".

A growing number of health and dietary practices seem to be replacing the more profound philosophical and ethical traditions inherent in the major religions. It is unlikely to cure significant illnesses, but it remains to be seen whether the transcendence that religious leaders espouse can be found in such behaviours.

Medical doctors should not be considering alternative therapies, regardless of what the consumer wants. The patient can be wrong. Any responsible doctor would not use untested treatments on their patients, no matter how badly they believe it will work.

Atheist worldview is unintelligible | INFORUM | Fargo, ND

Atheist worldview is unintelligible | INFORUM | Fargo, ND

I'm not sure now to make sense of this quote:

An atheist cannot really tell you what is true, what is real or what is right or wrong. His worldview just doesn’t allow it.

Has this person never looked out how we form our arguments? We do it through the observation of evidence? A good atheist/sceptic wouldn't even make the claim to know the truth because we can never know with certainty, claiming to know the truth is foolish as the evidence could change tomorrow. The evidence allows us to have a pretty good guess, which is not a weakness.

Homeopathy will not be banned by NHS despite critical report - Telegraph

Homeopathy will not be banned by NHS despite critical report - Telegraph

Bad news of the UK. Quackery has won out over reason and science, for now.

From Richard Alleyne:

Health minister Anne Milton said complementary and alternative medicine "has a long tradition" and very vocal people both in favour of it and against it.
A report by a group of MPs said homeopathic medicine should no longer be funded on the NHS and called for a ban on the medicines carrying medical claims on their labels.

The Commons Science and Technology Committee said there is no evidence the drugs are any more effective than a placebo - the same as taking a sugar or dummy pill and believing it works.

Last month, doctors attending the British Medical Association (BMA) annual conference backed this view, saying homeopathic remedies should be banned on the NHS and taken off pharmacy shelves where they are sold as medicines.

The treatment was described as "nonsense on stilts" and that patients would be better off buying bottled water.
Ms Milton said the Government welcomed the MPs' report but "remain of the view that the local National Health Service and clinicians are best placed to make decisions on what treatment is appropriate for their patients".

These decisions should take account of safety, and clinical and cost effectiveness, she said, adding that the Government remained committed to providing good-quality information on the treatments.

Homeopathy, which dates back 200-years, has been funded on the NHS since the service's inception in 1948.
It differs from herbal medicine in that it relies on substances being diluted many times, something the MPs said could not be scientifically proved to work.
There are four homeopathic hospitals in the UK, in London, Bristol, Liverpool and Glasgow.

Estimates on how much the NHS spends on homeopathy vary, with the Society of Homeopaths putting the figure at £4 million a year including the cost of running hospitals.

Former Liberal Democrat MP Evan Harris, who was a member of the Science and Technology Committee when it published its report, said: "This is not a good start for the new Health Secretary when it comes to evidence-based policy.

"How does the Government justify allowing treatments that do not work to be provided by the NHS in the name of choice, when it allows medicines which do work to be banned from NHS use?"

The Great Beyond: Homeopathic treatment works! (But not in a good way.)

The Great Beyond: Homeopathic treatment works! (But not in a good way.)

Good news for proponents of alternative medicine: a paper published in a prestigious medical journal appears to demonstrate that a homeopathic remedy really does have a pretty powerful biological effect. Unfortunately, this effect is to rob some users of their sense of smell.

Concerns that popular ‘homeopathic’ cold remedy zinc gluconate can cause a loss of smell have been around for a while. Now an analysis by two San Diego researchers shows these concerns may be well founded.

Terence Davidson and Wendy Smith, of the University of California, San Diego, looked at a set of nine criteria* for establishing a causal relationship and concluded that zinc nasal therapy can cause smell loss (anosmia). Their paper also details 25 patients who turned up at their Nasal Dysfunction Clinic complaining of smell loss after use of homeopathic zinc gel – which, unusually for a homeopathic treatment, does have an active ingredient.

They are now calling on the Food and Drug Administration to step up and do something.

“Given the rapid expansion of the homeopathic drug market into a multimillion-dollar industry, it is clear that more stringent FDA regulation is needed to monitor the safety of these popular remedies,” they write in Archives of Otolaryngology.

“... Protecting our patients from the potential risks of intranasal zinc medications and other homeopathic drugs, especially ones with limited proven therapeutic benefit, should be a high priority of the FDA.”

Last year the FDA called for three specific zinc nasal sprays to be pulled from the market amid concerns over asnosmia. It said then it had received over 130 reports of smell loss associated with such products, which continue to be widely available.

Davidson and Smith’s paper notes that evidence zinc nasal sprays help with colds is “questionable”.