Why do people still believe in homepathy when it has no medical proof or even a tangable thoery.?

Anicdotal evidence is no evidence at all. Can anyone actually give a reason why it works rather than just examples of stories where it has worked. In all the stories I've heard the person/animal/child could well have just got better anyway. if every time i have a cold I take a smartie and get better I could say that smarties cure colds.

Every defence I've heard basically says that you can't dismiss it because it works.... BUT how can it if the remedy has no active agent whatsever. the dilutions they state ARE chemically water as far as I understand. I would love to be proved wrong or ignorant because I recently heard on radio 4 that it can even help in the fight against AIDS/HIV. If this is true then this is a miricle and we should pour ALL our resources into such a powerful and diverse treatment.

help, I just can't see why. Does anyone claim it's magic or are all practising homeopaths claiming that it's science.

Three fine answers and appreiciated however, I was looking for a real justification or,. well anything to hang my hat on and say ok this might work. i'm not a doctor but an engineer with a loose backround in biology (nothing major). How does any homeopathic remedy physically do anything.. anything at all. they are always scared to answer this question straight. Always. Basically, homeopaths......SHOW ME THE MONEY!!!!!!!!! and I'll change my mind.

People are gullible- why do so many think there is some validity to astrology? Does it surprise you that homeopathy would have its adherents, given the level of science/ skeptical thinking that is taught in schools? How many people still cling to creationism or believe in psychic powers? Homeo is PSEUDOSCIENCE, meaning that certain precepts of science have been adopted to attempt to give creedence to an erroneous theory. (Same with astrology, BTW...) Any 'cure' attributed to homeopathy is either placebo effect, or the passage of enough time so that the body has healed itself.

Same as Religion if you believe you believe facts and proof not needed

Because sometimes you can't trust "them" when we live in a country that is all about money and health insurance.

homeopathy doesn't do very well in reductionist double blind trials but there is some evidence to support it does do better than placebo (The Lancet has published articles extensively from both camps).
My view is that the reductionist research model is flawed. If it wasn't it would be impossible to refute research because the results would be so conclusive it would be very clear to see that anything else could not be correct.
In reality you can design a reductionist experimental model to prove or disprove almost anything making it possible for opposing camps to keep refuting each others results.

Not talking about homeopathy I would also like to point out that my therapy (Osteopathy) doesn't do well when analysed in reductionist double blind trials for the simple reason that the philosophy behind it is multifactorial in nature and not reductionist.
It is extremely difficult to design experiments testing osteopathy using the Allopathic model simply because the philosophy and treatment modalities are so different.

In view of this I'd like to ask the questioner if its possible the research might not prove homeopathy is effective because the research model doesn't fit in with the philosophy?

I'd also like to ask what is science?
I thought it was about exploration and questioning things to discover more because we haven't discovered everything yet.
Is it possible that with our current incomplete scientific knowledge we can't measure how homeopathy works (if it does)?

Lastly I'd like to talk about anecdote.
For some reason' anecdotal evidence from inteligent people is invalid and unscientific if it supports fringe concepts which are difficult to research.
It is always good to be cautious and question the evidence presented but the evidence of abscence does not by default make the evidence totally absent. It is just as likely that the evidence hasn't been found.
Anecdote swings both ways.
Anyone who has learn't the practicle application to science will have come into contact with a methodology for performing a task not based on randomised trials but based on knowledge passed down by experienced people in the field.
When Medical students are being taught, if a teaching professor says to them 'text books will say this but i have seen this combination of unusual symptoms presenting a few times and I am suggesting this is what is wrong' should the student say, ' I'd like to see the research papers of randomised control trials proving what you are saying is correct because all you are giving me is anecdote'?

Don't get me wrong I'm not saying anecdote should always be taken on face value but I am saying it has a place.

Added:
I would say sorry that you haven't received reams of the answer you were looking for but because of the vitriolic response to the answers you didn't like, I won't.
I won't offer a theory as to why homeopathy works (if indeed it does) because I don't have one. I have an open mind about it and am trying to point out the incomplete nature and inconsistencies in science so that we can question methodology in general and improve our knowledge.

No one knows for certain how homeopathy works. There are theories, but none proven at this time. Evidenced based studies have shown a 10-20% effectiveness over placebo level, so apparently, something is working.

Just letting you know, the same could be said about prescription medication that has been approved by the FDA. Did you know only 20% of medications are evidenced based proven to work? A lot of these medications, we still do not know how they fully work yet we blindly put our faith in them based mostly on anecdotal evidence.

My professional stance on homeopathy is this. If the disease is not serious, and if I believe the patient may benefit from homeopathy, I will refer the patient to a homeopathic doctor. There is no serious side effects from homeopathy, and the worse case scenario... the patient drank some very expensive water.

Integrative Medicine Center
Derby, Conn
Dr. David Katz, faculty at Yale University uses homeopathy to wean patients from morphine, so I suppose it is effective there.

Angel
Evidently the reference given here to the Yale professor is not considered an answer to your question. Obviously, your mind was made up before you asked the question. You seem to fein interest in a topic in order to to rant.

the general consensus among researchers is that the placebo effect is 30% of the effect all prescribed medications.

Add
Guess Angel needs to get in touch with the "idiots" at Yale and leave AltMed forum in peace

I did a small amount of study of homeopathy, and didn't fully understand it, but in basic terms my understanding is that everyone, and every disease, illness, ache, pain whatever, has it's own vibration, so if you are sick, your vibration is different to how it should be. It's kind of like scales (in my mind, don't quote me on it, I'm not expert). If you are sick, you are a bit off balance, so putting the right vibration in your body just balances it up. The first time I came across homeopathics I was with you, thought it was just ridiculous. I was very very sceptical, but I've seen it work. I have a one year old, and when she was younger she had really bad thrush all through her mouth, the doctor treated it over and over again and it just made her throw up constantly, made her miserable, and only worked for maybe a week then it was back. After trying different things for weeks we tried a homeopathic and haven't seen a sign of it since. I know you didn't want stories, but really, I just think if it works on a baby who has no concept of what it is, or what it is supposed to do, that's a little different to giving it to an adult and thinking it's a placebo effect.

My GP, whom I would normally think of as a sane, logical man who is very good at his job, believes in homeopathy and I can't understand why.

In my view, it is complete nonsense.

However, there is one born every minute.

who told you there's no medical proof or a " tangible story"..
how many books have you read about homeoapthy?

I thinm you should rephrase your question to:
Why do people still belive in homeopathy when I have not seen any medical proofs ( & haven't tried either probably either & haven't spoken to anyone whom it has helped ) & haven't bothered to read any tangible stories?

if you're interested, there's a book which I can send you.

PS> NEWLY ADDED
you can't understand quantum physics either & you must read about it & it's too complex for me to make you understand, if you'd really like to know please read the book Health & Healing

There are always skeptics wherever you go. (some can even spell). Homeopathic remedies do work and are gaining ground in the treatment of substance and alcohol abuse. There is no telling what medical advances will be made if homeopathic remedies are studied more thoroughly and extensively.

Hi,

You are not going to get an answer that satisfies you today because nobody knows the answer to how it works! Hopefully this will change in the future but until then you either believe in it or you don't. There are many people who rely on their own experience and therefore they believe that it works - but why does this bother you?

Thing is - it works on animals - even my clever old dog couln't read labels, but he benefitted from homeopathic treatment!

homeopathy was (an may still be) the medicine of choice for England's royal family for many generations. Homeopathy administered during some great plague long ago protected the users while those around them succumbed and died. It is not a placebo effect because it works equally well on animals as well as children and not only on "thinking" people. I used it when an allopathic doctor was stumped, and it worked for a pain in my eye. but also like allopathic medicine there are good and not so good practitioners. I used a different homeopath 15 years later and was not impressed, but I believe that it is a true healing modality anyway. By the way you cannot see wind but windmills turn so what does it matter that there is no detectable chemical in the remedy. we do not have all the answers in the world yet.

I would say, because they've used it and found it to work. That's me. As Hamlet said, there are more things .. than are dreamed of in your philosophy. In other words, the fact that you don't understand it doesn't mean it doesn't happen.

not really some homeopathic remedies do work it's according to what you are using and for what ever the problem is you need to be careful and use the right ones for the problem

Homeopathic medicine is like praying to God; it only helps those who actually believe in it. Like quitting smoking, you have to WANT for it to happen in order for it to actually happen.

Personally, I put great stock in certain kinds of homeopathic medicine, but for others I believe that it's best to use modern interventions. To combat the over-use of antibiotics that has resulted in the evolution of super-bugs, it might be nice for minor infections to try something homeopathic instead of penicillin, tetracyclene, or zithromax. Maybe rub some of the well-knwon antiseptic lavender oil on a surface wound?

It would be ridiculous, however, to say that the aforementioned minor antiseptic properties of lavender would be beneficial to someone with, say, severe gangrene.

Then again, it all depends on how you look at it. Call it "the placebo effect," if you will. No matter what you give someone, if they believe strongly enough that it works, it could very well help them.

That being said, when I rub lavender on small cuts and scrapes, maybe they heal faster because I think they are or because I believe strongly that the lavender will help.

Perspective.