# What is the name of that idiotic medical pseudoscience... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 10, 2009, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-that-idiotic-medical-pseudoscience/517050 "2009-11-10T15:44:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-that-idiotic-medical-pseudoscience/517050/1 "2009-11-10T15:44:24Z")
that claims certain chemicals have a greater effect on human bodies the smaller their doses are? I am in the midst of a brain fart. Stupid middle age. ETA: Never mind. The word _homeopathy_ just popped into my head. ---
**Author:** ![rayman5321](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@rayman5321](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rayman5321)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-that-idiotic-medical-pseudoscience/517050/2 "2009-11-10T15:45:34Z")
Homeopathy ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-that-idiotic-medical-pseudoscience/517050/3 "2009-11-10T15:49:46Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > that claims certain chemicals have a greater effect on human bodies the smaller their doses are? [Oh, it’s so much more than that.](http://www.quackwatch.com/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/homeo.html) ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-that-idiotic-medical-pseudoscience/517050/4 "2009-11-10T16:14:25Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > [Oh, it’s so much more than that.](http://www.quackwatch.com/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/homeo.html) I know. I’ve read that link, not to mention the Perfect Master’s article on it. As I said, I was just having a brain fart. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-that-idiotic-medical-pseudoscience/517050/5 "2009-11-10T16:16:41Z")
“Homeopathy” by Duran Duran ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-that-idiotic-medical-pseudoscience/517050/6 "2009-11-10T17:17:29Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > “Homeopathy” by Duran Duran Best listened to through an amp that goes up to 10[sup]-11[/sup]. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-that-idiotic-medical-pseudoscience/517050/7 "2009-11-10T17:37:42Z")
You dirty homeophobe! ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-that-idiotic-medical-pseudoscience/517050/8 "2009-11-10T22:55:59Z")
Ah, that’s 1920s style “Homeopathy”. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-that-idiotic-medical-pseudoscience/517050/9 "2009-11-11T00:38:27Z")
I always get homeopathy and naturopathy mixed up. One is slightly less kooky than the other, but I think they’re both somewhat questionable. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-that-idiotic-medical-pseudoscience/517050/10 "2009-11-11T13:25:26Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I always get homeopathy and naturopathy mixed up. > > One is slightly less kooky than the other, but I think they’re both somewhat questionable. Somewhat questionable? Did you read the link? Homeopathy is unadulterated bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-that-idiotic-medical-pseudoscience/517050/11 "2009-11-11T13:45:30Z")
This thread has actually been kind to homeopathy. The Skeptics Dictionary has a great write up on it. Contains a quote from SDMB’s very own Phil Plait ( **Bad Astronomer** )! [http://www.skepdic.com/homeo.html](http://www.skepdic.com/homeo.html) . ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-that-idiotic-medical-pseudoscience/517050/12 "2009-11-11T14:52:09Z")
Actually, I think “homeopathy” gives pseudoscience a bad name. ---
**Author:** ![Elysium](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3be4f8/32.png) [@Elysium](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elysium)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-that-idiotic-medical-pseudoscience/517050/13 "2009-11-11T14:55:44Z")
Here, let me let Michell and Webb explain it: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/HMGIbOGu8q0/hqdefault.jpg "That Mitchell and Webb Look: Homeopathic A&E") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMGIbOGu8q0) ---
**Author:** ![otternell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecc23a/32.png) [@otternell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/otternell)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-that-idiotic-medical-pseudoscience/517050/14 "2009-11-11T15:10:50Z")
I have read the links and am generally skeptical of all that crap. But I have found one that works (for me) and my husband is convinced its just the placebo affect, but when I am stressed out, it calms me down and helps me sleep. And since it doesn’t give me a “hangover” in the morning, I love it. Is it the homeopathy, or my belief that this stupid little pill will help me sleep? Doesn’t matter, cause I haven’t been able to convince my brain to lighten up any other way, so as long as I get a good nights sleep, let the homeopathic remedy give me its placebo affect. ---
**Author:** ![Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bcef8e/32.png) [@Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Petrobey_Mavromihalis)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-that-idiotic-medical-pseudoscience/517050/15 "2009-11-11T15:30:03Z")
> [@Elysium](#): > > Here, let me let Michell and Webb explain it: > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMGIbOGu8q0](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMGIbOGu8q0) That’s great, thanks! In return can I offer you [House, before the medical training.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoAe6LanFkg) ---
**Author:** ![badbadrubberpiggy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@badbadrubberpiggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badbadrubberpiggy)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-that-idiotic-medical-pseudoscience/517050/16 "2009-11-11T15:42:43Z")
> [@otternell](#): > > I have read the links and am generally skeptical of all that crap. But I have found one that works (for me) and my husband is convinced its just the placebo affect, but when I am stressed out, it calms me down and helps me sleep. And since it doesn’t give me a “hangover” in the morning, I love it. > > Is it the homeopathy, or my belief that this stupid little pill will help me sleep? Doesn’t matter, cause I haven’t been able to convince my brain to lighten up any other way, so as long as I get a good nights sleep, let the homeopathic remedy give me its placebo affect. What is it? Is it actually homeopathic, or is it just a natural/herbal supplement or something? If it’s actually homeopathic, I’d say it’s a placebo affect. But a lot of herbs in the correct dosages (ie, more than you get in homeopathic medicines) will make you relaxed and sleepy. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-that-idiotic-medical-pseudoscience/517050/17 "2009-11-11T15:48:04Z")
> [@badbadrubberpiggy](#): > > But a lot of herbs in the correct dosages (ie, more than you get in homeopathic medicines) will make you relaxed and sleepy. One herb in particular, when dried and combusted, its vapors then inhaled, will create profound drowsiness. I’ve heard.😉 ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-that-idiotic-medical-pseudoscience/517050/18 "2009-11-11T16:07:26Z")
Like many another bit of quackery, homeopathy results in horrible generalization and reasoning from a more-or-less-valid premise: small or weakened quantities of a toxin or pathogen will serve to cause one’s immune system to build up a tolerance or immunity to the potentially harmful agent. It’s the principle on which vaccines work, for example. What the homeopaths did, though, was to extract from this valid concept the idea that a dilute enough solution of _any_ toxin or pathogen would function to cure any ailment, if one properly diagnosed the ailment and applied the proper homeopathic cure. And much of the herblore of the homeopaths was mpre quiackery than is heard outside of the National Ducks Convention. In this regard, an excerpt from A.E. Housman’s long poem “Terence, This Is Stupid Stuff” may be informative (though relatively long, it is a short element of the poem, and fits the ‘fair use’ criteria): > [@](#): > > There was a king reigned in the East: > There, when kings will sit to feast, > They get their fill before they think > With poisoned meat and poisoned drink. > He gathered all that springs to birth > From the many-venomed earth; > First a little, thence to more, > He sampled all her killing store; > And easy, smiling, seasoned sound, > Sate the king when healths went round. > They put arsenic in his meat > And stared aghast to watch him eat; > They poured strychnine in his cup > And shook to see him drink it up: > They shook, they stared as white’s their shirt: > Them it was their poison hurt. > —I tell the tale that I heard told. > Mithridates, he died old. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-that-idiotic-medical-pseudoscience/517050/19 "2009-11-11T16:20:47Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > Like many another bit of quackery, homeopathy results in horrible generalization and reasoning from a more-or-less-valid premise: small or weakened quantities of a toxin or pathogen will serve to cause one’s immune system to build up a tolerance or immunity to the potentially harmful agent. It’s the principle on which vaccines work, for example. > > What the homeopaths did, though, was to extract from this valid concept the idea that a dilute enough solution of _any_ toxin or pathogen would function to cure any ailment, if one properly diagnosed the ailment and applied the proper homeopathic cure. And much of the herblore of the homeopaths was mpre quiackery than is heard outside of the National Ducks Convention. > > In this regard, an excerpt from A.E. Housman’s long poem “Terence, This Is Stupid Stuff” may be informative (though relatively long, it is a short element of the poem, and fits the ‘fair use’ criteria): I’m fairly sure “Terence…” is long out of copyright anyway. It’s not like Disney was involved in it (although I’m sure they’d like to claim they were). Why, yes, that WAS a gratuitous shot at the Mouse! ---
**Author:** ![badbadrubberpiggy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@badbadrubberpiggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badbadrubberpiggy)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-that-idiotic-medical-pseudoscience/517050/20 "2009-11-11T16:24:29Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > One herb in particular, when dried and combusted, its vapors then inhaled, will create profound drowsiness. I’ve heard.😉 But if you don’t take enough of it, it won’t have any effect. You know. So I’ve heard. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-that-idiotic-medical-pseudoscience/517050.md?page=2)