Homeopathy: Overdosing on nothing

[Guest guest]

This is a long story about a bunch of do-gooders with apparently lots of

extra time on their hands. I'm not a fan of New Scientist. I wonder if

these guys would go to the same extremes to prove modern medicines are

safe to take? Articles like this are not scientific and just generally

aggravate me.

Homeopathy: Overdosing on nothing

February 2010 by Robbins

Source:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20527455.800-homeopathy-overdosing-on-noth\

ing.html?full=true

Update: Hundreds of people around the world took part in the homeopathic

" overdose " on Saturday. No one died.

AT 10.23 am on 30 January, more than 300 activists in the UK, Canada,

Australia and the US will take part in a mass homeopathic " overdose " .

Sceptics will publicly swallow an entire bottle of homeopathic pills to

demonstrate to the public that homeopathic remedies, the product of a

scientifically unfounded 18th-century ritual, are simply sugar pills.

Many of the sceptics will swallow 84 pills of arsenicum album, a

homeopathic remedy based on arsenic which is used to treat a range of

symptoms, including food poisoning and insomnia.

The aim of the " 10:23 " campaign, led by the Merseyside Skeptics Society,

based in Liverpool, UK, is to raise public awareness of just exactly

what homeopathy is, and to put pressure on the UK's leading pharmacist,

Boots, to remove the remedies from sale.

The campaign is called 10:23 in honour of the Avogadro constant

(approximately 6 × 1023, the number of atoms or molecules in one mole of

a substance), of which more later.

That such a protest is even necessary in 2010 is remarkable, but somehow

the homeopathic industry has not only survived into the 21st century,

but prospered. In the UK alone more than £40 million is spent annually

on homeopathic treatments, with £4 million of this being sucked from the

National Health Service budget. Yet the basis for homeopathy defies the

laws of physics, and high-quality clinical trials have never been able

to demonstrate that it works beyond the placebo effect.

The discipline is based on three " laws " ; the law of similars, the law of

infinitesimals and the law of succussion. The law of similars states

that something which causes your symptoms will cure your symptoms, so

that, for example, as caffeine keeps you awake, it can also be a cure

for insomnia. Of course, that makes little sense, since drinking

caffeine, well, keeps you awake.

Next is the law of infinitesimals, which claims that diluting a

substance makes it more potent. Homeopaths start by diluting one volume

of their remedy - arsenic oxide, in the case of arsenicum album - in 99

volumes of distilled water or alcohol to create a " centesimal " . They

then dilute one volume of the centesimal in 99 volumes of water or

alcohol, and so on, up to 30 times. Application of Avogadro's constant

tells you that a dose of such a " 30C " recipe is vanishingly unlikely to

contain even a single molecule of the active ingredient.

The third pillar of homeopathy is the law of succussion. This states -

and I'm not making this up - that by tapping the liquid in a special way

during the dilution process, a memory of the active ingredient is

somehow imprinted on it. This explains how water is able to carry a

memory of arsenic oxide, but apparently not of the contents of your

local sewer network.

The final preparation is generally dropped onto a sugar pill which the

patient swallows.

Homeopaths claim that the application of these three laws results in a

remedy that, even though it contains not a single molecule of the

original ingredient, somehow carries an " energy signature " of it that

nobody can measure or detect.

Unsurprisingly, when tested under rigorous scientific conditions, in

randomised, controlled and double-blind trials, homeopathic remedies

have consistently been shown to be no better than a placebo. Of course,

the placebo effect is quite powerful, but it's a bit like justifying

building a car without any wheels on the basis that you can still enjoy

the comfy leather seats and play with the gear shift.

Even some retailers who sell the treatments have admitted there is no

evidence that they work. In November, , the superintendent

pharmacist at Boots, appeared before the UK parliament's Commons Science

and Technology Committee's " evidence check " on homeopathy. He was

questioned by Member of Parliament Phil Willis, who asked: " Do they work

beyond the placebo effect? "

" I have no evidence before me to suggest that they are efficacious, "

replied. He defended Boots's decision to sell homeopathic

remedies on the grounds of consumer choice. " A large number of our

consumers actually do believe they are efficacious, but they are

licensed medicinal products and, therefore, we believe it is right to

make them available, " he said.

We believe there is a risk in perpetuating the idea that homeopathy is

equivalent to modern medicine

You might agree. You might also argue that homeopathy is harmless: if

people want to part with their money for sugar pills and nobody is

breaking the law, why not let them? To some extent that's true - there's

only so much damage you can do with sugar pills short of feeding them to

a diabetic or dropping a large crate of them on someone's head.

However, we believe there is a risk in perpetuating the notion that

homeopathy is equivalent to modern medicine. People may delay seeking

appropriate treatment for themselves or their children.

We accept that we are unlikely to convince the true believers.

Homeopathy has many ways to sidestep awkward questions, such as

rejecting the validity of randomised controlled trials, or claiming that

homeopathic remedies only work if you have symptoms of the malady they

purport to cure. Our aim is to reach out to the general public with our

simple message: " There is nothing in it " .

Boots and other retailers are perfectly entitled to continue selling

homeopathic remedies if they so wish, and consumers are perfectly

entitled to keep on buying them. But hopefully the 10:23 campaign will

ram home our message to the public. In the 21st century, with decades of

progress behind us, it is surreal that governments are prepared to spend

millions of tax pounds on homeopathy. There really is nothing in it.

Robbins is a spokesperson for the 10:23 campaign (1023.org.uk).

He writes at layscience.net