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homeopathy/alternative medicine in pharmacies

Akrasia

Pharmacys are places that people go to get medicine to make them better when they're sick, which is why I get really annoyed when I see them pushing 'natural healing' on their shelves with no attempt at a disclaimer or any indication that the products in the homeopathy range are not licenced medicines.

Pharmacists have ads on the whole time telling people to speak to them for medical advice. How can someone trust a pharmacist to give them honest or reliable information on which medications to take when there is a whole shelf in their store dedicated to quackery and magic sugar pills. They wouldn't sell them if they didn't want people to buy them.

For those who want to waste their money on distilled water or other 'natural' products, there are plenty of health food shops or other hippie run businesses where they can waste their money. I have no problem with people buying whatever potions they want in an alternative health shop (as long as they're not being poisoned) but pharmacys should not be permitted to sell or promote non medicines as medicines.

It's wrong.

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Einhard

Saila wrote: »

ESPECIALLY a lovely sunset! 5,000 kittens are slaughtered every day world wide to please the sun gods

/begins to frantically round up kittens.

Knasher

fontanalis wrote: »

I wonder does it remember metals from the pipes or any excrement or urine that may have ended up in there?

Of course, which is why, as a licensed practitioner of homeopathy, I am able to sell you this drinking water which has been specially trained to forget any past impurities.

spdmrphy

Just for reference if anyone is interested...

http://www.quackwatch.com/

http://www.medicine.ox.ac.uk/bandolier/knowledge.html

OutlawPete

I agree ..

Wrecks my head the crap they sell in chemists and tout as been cures for disorders and diseases.

Some of the stuff has little or no scientific evidence to warrant their sale alongside medicines which have had to go through the rigours of having to prove that they do indeed have the effect on the body that they were proclaimed to have had, such as antibiotics, painkillers, diabetic medicines (amongst many others).

Homoeopathy, SSRIs - yeah, 'tis fcuking annoying alight.

mcmoustache

sensibleken wrote: »

Fúcking reiki!!!:mad:

I got that once after a recomendation of a friend. It is the biggest, dumbest scam I have ever encountered.

But...but... you're normally so sensible, ken.

Were you young, desperate, on drugs or otherwise vulnerable? I could understand a sane person falling for homeopathy because the pseudo-scientific jargon is pretty good at convincing someone who has a limited scientific understanding. Reiki, on the other hand, is still basically magic healing. The closest attempt at making it sound convincing is by using terms like auras and chakras which are far from sciency.

sensibleken

mcmoustache wrote: »

But...but... you're normally so sensible, ken.

Were you young, desperate, on drugs or otherwise vulnerable? I could understand a sane person falling for homeopathy because the pseudo-scientific jargon is pretty good at convincing someone who has a limited scientific understanding. Reiki, on the other hand, is still basically magic healing. The closest attempt at making it sound convincing is by using terms like auras and chakras which are far from sciency.

Ive had my moments. And in my defence I didnt quite know what it wasand it was so an ex would stop nagging me.

skregs

noxqs wrote: »

That's the entire point of homeopathy. The less there is the more effective.

Because water has memory..

1: Add 1% Homeopathic mix of water to 99% dilutution of water.
2: Water gains the power of water, homeopathically, creating double water.
3: Repeat step 1 repatedly using double water mix to create super water.
4: One glass of super water is enough to irrigate an entire farm in Africa.
5: Economy is saved.

SCIENCE!

TheyKnowMyIP

Junk Science imo.

Saila

OutlawPete wrote: »

Homoeopathy, SSRIs - yeah, 'tis fcuking annoying alight.

hang on, are you saying you think SSRI's iare n the same category as homeopathy, they are clinically tested

TheyKnowMyIP

Saila wrote: »

hang on, are you saying you think SSRI's iare n the same category as homeopathy, they are clinically tested

By the drug companies, no less. Testing only means something if it's carried out fairly.

Akrasia

While there are certainly problems with the drug certification process and there are issues with publication bias and controversial claims about the clinical efficacy of some drugs, it is going a little bit too far to claim that homeopathy is equal to ssri medication. there is no active ingredient in homeopathy. their mechanism is magic not science.

Genghiz Cohen

sensibleken wrote: »

Ive had my moments. And in my defence I didnt quite know what it wasand it was so an ex would stop nagging me.

Ex, because you dumped her as soon as you found out the crap she made you endure?
Jab in the ribs would have been in order too you know.
"Get this healed ya bitch!" *Pow

positron

skregs wrote: »

1: Add 1% Homeopathic mix of water to 99% dilutution of water.
2: Water gains the power of water, homeopathically, creating double water.
3: Repeat step 1 repatedly using double water mix to create super water.
4: One glass of super water is enough to irrigate an entire farm in Africa.
5: Economy is saved.

SCIENCE!

I know homeopathic doctors (?) who prescribe a lot more than water. Yeah, some of it is probably nurofen in water, but they do loads of other stuff these days too. Saying homeopathy is all just water is like saying allopathy is all just Penicillin.

I know a lot of people who vouch by the homeopathic medicines they are taking, but yeah, I am sure it's the placebo effect, and the tricky part is that you have to believe in it (that is, be ignorant about it) for the placebo effect to happen.

TheyKnowMyIP

Akrasia wrote: »

While there are certainly problems with the drug certification process and there are issues with publication bias and controversial claims about the clinical efficacy of some drugs, it is going a little bit too far to claim that homeopathy is equal to ssri medication. there is no active ingredient in homeopathy. their mechanism is magic not science.

SSRI's don't really have any sort of valid neuro pathiophysiology behind them. They are basically just a placebo. There is enough evidence out there to support the idea that these drugs are not scientifically valid.

FWIW, I would lump Biological Psychiatry in with Homeoapathy. Neuroscience and Neurolgy are a whole different kettle of fish though. These professions don't just "come up" with diseases.

Not to mention, the chemical imbalance theory that underpins the vast majority of these drugs(if not all) has been proven scientifically to be false. This is not an opinion, it is scientific fact.

earlyevening

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMGIbOGu8q0

I love this. Homeopathic A+E.

Sofaspud

positron wrote: »

I know homeopathic doctors (?) who prescribe a lot more than water. Yeah, some of it is probably nurofen in water, but they do loads of other stuff these days too. Saying homeopathy is all just water is like saying allopathy is all just Penicillin.

The whole philosphy of homeopathy is based on the dilution of whatever substance is the cause of the problem, often set in Pill form. So diluted Nurofen wouldn't be used as a headache medicine. Maybe they'd use a 1,000,000 part water - 1 part Kopparberg solution for that.

Chuck Stone

Saila wrote: »

hang on, are you saying you think SSRI's iare n the same category as homeopathy, they are clinically tested

Yes they are clinically tested and they are shown to have little more effect than placebo.

For severly depressed patients they have moderate results against placebo.

Sky King

I saw James Randi going on about this. His vids are on youtube where he easts about 10 boxes of homeopathic sleeping tabs at the start of every lecture!

In terms of scale - homeopathy is equivalent to taking a grain of rice sized amount of 'active ingredient' and dissolving it in a glass of water the size of the solar system.

http://bodygeeks.com/2011/02/james-randi-swallows-entire-pack-of-homeopathic-sleeping-pills-doesnt-fall-asleep/

Fckin eejits.

bleg

I'm not happy about it. Although ask your pharmacist if it works and they'll say no it doesn't.

Most of the front of shop ordering is not done by the pharmacist.

Most just supply it because a patient has asked for it and they can't get it anywhere else.

MazG

Not that any of the posters so far need convincing, but here is an excellent story-strip by Darryl Cunningham about Homeopathy.

http://darryl-cunningham.blogspot.com/2010/06/homeopathy.html

In response to the question posed by the OP - I agree that homeopathic 'remedies' should not be available in pharmacies.

Tyler MacDurden

Video related

Long-ish but worth a watch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhGuXCuDb1U

positron

Sofaspud wrote: »

The whole philosphy of homeopathy is based on the dilution of whatever substance is the cause of the problem, often set in Pill form. So diluted Nurofen wouldn't be used as a headache medicine. Maybe they'd use a 1,000,000 part water - 1 part Kopparberg solution for that.

My point was that not every practitioner, or large international setups even, strictly sticks to that philosophy. That's just my personal experience, but I'm no expert.

MazG

positron wrote: »

My point was that not every practitioner, or large international setups even, strictly sticks to that philosophy. That's just my personal experience, but I'm no expert.

Even more cause for alarm then, if each homeopath is free to make up his/her own 'philosophy' and then sell 'remedies' without any regulation.

Jimoslimos

skregs wrote: »

1: Add 1% Homeopathic mix of water to 99% dilutution of water.
2: Water gains the power of water, homeopathically, creating double water.
3: Repeat step 1 repatedly using double water mix to create super water.
4: One glass of super water is enough to irrigate an entire farm in Africa.
5: Economy is saved.

SCIENCE!

You're forgetting the spanking of water with a leather paddle.....kinky:pac:

mellowdrama

Gosh this thread really has it in for pharmacists today.

Just so you know, we tend to supply what the public demands. It's mostly harmless and makes for good business, as the customer is usually adamant they know what's best and are happy to pay for it, and the pharmacist gets money

However, any worthwhile pharmacist would tell you if asked that there is no evidence for homoeopathic remedies beyond the placebo effect. If the treatments actually worked, they would no longer be 'alternative' would they?

skregs

The question I'm shocked no one has asked yet is

Where do we get these placebos?

Compak

spdmrphy wrote: »

And don't get me started on Vit C. Useful only for keeping scurvy at bay. Will have feck all effect on cold / flu symptoms.

(goes well in hot whiskeys though)

Not quite true, " it had a modest but consistent effect in reducing the duration and severity of common cold symptoms.

In five trials with participants exposed to short periods of extreme physical stress (including marathon runners and skiers) vitamin C halved the common cold risk." Cochrane review http://www2.cochrane.org/reviews/en/ab000980.html

Compak

Don't think homeopathy is some con that all health professionals are in on. Many practicing health professionals do believe in it.

Cytotoxic effects of ultra-diluted remedies on breast cancer cells. - Int J Oncol. 2010 Feb;36(2):395-403.

"The findings demonstrate biological activity of these natural products when presented at ultra-diluted doses. "

"We were quite impressed to find that homeopathic remedies have similar effects to chemotherapy."

Of course it still is a con.........:)

ebixa82

Akrasia wrote: »

Pharmacys are places that people go to get medicine to make them better when they're sick, which is why I get really annoyed when I see them pushing 'natural healing' on their shelves with no attempt at a disclaimer or any indication that the products in the homeopathy range are not licenced medicines.

Pharmacists have ads on the whole time telling people to speak to them for medical advice. How can someone trust a pharmacist to give them honest or reliable information on which medications to take when there is a whole shelf in their store dedicated to quackery and magic sugar pills. They wouldn't sell them if they didn't want people to buy them.

For those who want to waste their money on distilled water or other 'natural' products, there are plenty of health food shops or other hippie run businesses where they can waste their money. I have no problem with people buying whatever potions they want in an alternative health shop (as long as they're not being poisoned) but pharmacys should not be permitted to sell or promote non medicines as medicines.

It's wrong.

I'm a pharmacist and we don't sell any homeopathic products at all. Some do, others don't.

As a concerned consumer simply don't go into the ones that sell them if it hurts you so much.

/Thread closed

Compak

positron wrote: »

I know homeopathic doctors (?) who prescribe a lot more than water.

If its not sugar or water when analysed then they are branching out of homeopathy. The rules are strict they can't do other things under the umbrella of homeopathy