If you make up 1000 random rumors about hollywood celebrities, purely out of thin air, I’ll look at the list and say “this is a bunch of bullcrap”. If we then investigate all 1000 rumors, and 3 of them turn out to be true, those three were obviously true back when I declared the entire list to be bullcrap. I wasn’t declaring it to be bullcrap because I had tested every last item on it. I was declaring it to be bullcrap because of the methods used to create it, and the lack of evidence for it.
No one has said “every single remedy proposed by every type of alternative medicine is ineffective”. But every single remedy that remains “alternative” medicine is, by definition, of undemonstrated effectiveness.
My – brief – encounter with something akin to homeopathy.
When I was younger, I had a couple episodes of intercranial hypertension (a/k/a “pseudo-tumor cerebrii”) which caused constant, migraine-level headaches and nausea, and affected my balance and vision. One of the few treatments that helped with the symptoms was massage therapy, because the weight of my head (with extra fluid) causes my neck and shoulders to hurt. Plus, the massage helped the headaches.
But then the massage therapist started telling me my “energy” was off and my “chi” was not in alignment or some such shit, and suggested I do reiki. (Note that I even linked to a *pro-*reiki page; I trust the value of this “treatment” is readily apparent from the new-agey babble used.) This would involve her “massaging” me without touching my body at all. AND she wanted to charge more money (!)
I figured she was either trying to fleece me or she was too dumb to know quackery when she saw it. I switched massage therapists. I asked the new one if she thought my “energy” was off. She rolled her eyes and said, “I think your neck hurts because your head is too heavy.” Bingo.
You’re arguing on the same side as me!
I am not denying that plenty of natural substances have pharmacological effects. I’ve written articles on herbal medicine. I know that many drugs are based on natural compounds, or are designed to have similar activity.
What I am saying is a crock is the belief that “man-made drugs” are automatically worse for you than “natural remedies”, when, as you say, many drugs are based on natural remedies. People are so hung up on “chemicals = bad” that they demonise refined drugs, which have been isolated to reduce side-effects and formulated to an effective dose, but are happy to take dried bark or whatever, that contains a thousand and one other chemicals, many of which may be harmful, in addition to the active ingredient!
The irony is that in trying to avoid “chemicals” they are taking a far more impure product, containing far more chemicals, than they would if they took an over-the-counter product, which typically contains only half a dozen or so different compounds.
By the “logic” of homeopathy, sewer water (diluted) should be good for just about EVERY human ailment! It contains all of the items that provoke an illness…of course, it would have to be diluted.
By the way, should the FDA get around to testing these homeopathis “drugs”-how would they do this? At some dilutions, NOT ONE molecule of the original substance would remian.
So how could these remediesever be tested?
Maybe it doesn’t qualify as homeopathy exactly-but I notice large pharmaceuticals were more than happy to try to “patent” neem and turmeric-long-standing ayurvedic remedies in India.
My brother dated a girl that was into massage therapy (which in itself isn’t a bad thing), but then she started studying skull lumps and doing a bunch of weird new age shit that really annoyed me. The corker was when she was working on my back, feeling the “energy flow” and trying to determine the direction of my energy and asked me to put this magic potion under my tongue. I call it “voodoo drops”. Anyway, I was certain it was nothing more than purified water, so I humored her. And GUESS WHAT? My strained back was better in three days! Just as if I had laid on the couch drinking beer for three days! Whodathunkit?