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Posted - 08/26/2005 : 09:17:44
Note Dr. Sarno has noted in his books that that most of the alternative remedies are actually placebos. If it were not for the placebo affect these remedies would have been discredited long ago. Sarno's work, on the other hand, is not a placebo, but sound clincal practice which has been proven over and over again from testimonies of recovered patients.
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Homeopathic remedies no better than placebo, study finds
By SHERYL UBELACKER
Friday, August 26, 2005 Page A13
Canadian Press (via Toronto Globe and Mail)
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050826/HHOMEOPATHY26/TPHealth/?query=homeopathic
Homeopathic remedies may help people feel better, but the impact appears to be no greater than a placebo effect, a comparison of more than 200 studies of alternative medicine and conventional treatments concludes.
Homeopathy, which aims to stimulate a patient's own healing processes with minute dilutions of specific remedies, is based on the theory of treating "like with like." The patient describes symptoms in detail and the practitioner prescribes tiny, non-toxic doses of a selected substance that, at higher doses, would produce those symptoms in a healthy person.
A group of international researchers wanted to determine whether homeopathic medicine actually works beyond the power of suggestion.
"We do know that people do get better with homeopathy," said co-investigator Dr. Matthias Egger, head of social and preventive medicine at the University of Bern in Switzerland. "I have friends who tell me they went to see a homeopath and got better.
"But the question is, how does it work?"
After searching the medical literature, the researchers distilled 110 studies that compared homeopathic remedies to placebo, or dummy pills, and an equal number that compared conventional medicine treatments to placebo.
The team, whose paper appears today in The Lancet, matched the studies to ensure patient profiles were similar and the ailment being treated was the same. Ailments included respiratory tract infections, asthma and gastrointestinal problems.
Because small studies tend to produce effects that appear significant but may actually be misleading, the authors limited their analysis to patient trials for both homeopathic and conventional therapies that were well designed and involved large numbers of patients.
"What we saw was [that] when you looked at these good, large studies, you did no longer see an effect for homeopathy, whereas you still saw an effect for conventional medicine," Dr. Egger said yesterday from Bern.
"Conventional medicine interventions did better than placebo, whereas the homeopathy interventions basically did the same as placebo."
Dr. Egger stressed that the researchers are not disputing patients' reports that taking homeopathic remedies makes them feel better.
"It just means that the reason why they feel better is probably not because of that little white pill," he said. "It's more likely to be due to the fact that they see someone, spend quite a bit of time with someone who takes a very detailed history of his or her symptoms and gives a lot of attention to this patient."
Ruth Anne Baron, president of the Ontario Association of Naturopathic Doctors, disputed the researchers' conclusions.
"The homeopathic effect, I have felt it myself, I have seen it in my patients, but it's very elusive, it's so difficult to quantify it," said the Toronto naturopath. "I personally believe we don't have a fine enough measurement tool yet."
She said the Lancet analysis involved studies using several different homeopathic approaches, not all of them considered valid by many practitioners. Furthermore, the alternative medicine system can't be studied using the same methods as conventional medicine, she added.
In an editorial accompanying the research, The Lancet writes that the conclusion drawn by Dr. Egger's team is not surprising. "Of greater interest is the fact that this debate continues, despite 150 years of unfavourable findings. The more diluted the evidence for homeopathy becomes, the greater seems its popularity."
Dr. Egger agrees there is a need for conventional doctors to offer patients the kind of personalized attention provided by homeopathic practitioners, because it appears to promote healing.
"The problem is that conventional doctors try to do this, but they often find it more difficult to do," he said. "For example, in the U.K. and also in Canada, they are basically in a strict system and the system to some extent dictates how long they can spend with a patient in a normal consultation.
"At the end of the day, it's all about costs."
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| Curiosity18 |
Posted - 08/26/2005 : 21:45:04
I have also experienced wonderful results from homeopathy. Many years ago I suffered from chronic bronchitis. It was primarily related to colds, but then would linger on for several months afterwards. out of desperation I saw a homeopathic physician, who gave me a remedy. Within several days the symptoms were completely gone, and I have never had bronchitis since that time. Homeopathy also helped me in resolving menstrual cramps. However, before I knew about TMS I tried using it for musculoskeletal pain and IBS. It did absolutely nothing! Now I understand why.
Curiosity18 |
| NLK |
Posted - 08/26/2005 : 14:35:52
I can only report on my own experience treating cats homeopathically.
Years ago I had a cat who was sick... it was as if he had a cold, with a very stuffy, boogery nose stopped up to the point he was breathing out of his mouth.
After some research of his behavior and symptoms, I tried an indicated homeopathic remedy, and overnight his head cleared up, he regained his appetite and was up and around.
It was startling how well he looked in such a short time. I know that when I have a cold, it takes days and days of slow symptom improvement before I feel better. It's tough to judge with a cat who can't talk, but just going by his appetite and nasal discharge, it seemed appropriate to credit the remedy for contributing to his recovery. |
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