Homeopathy is just one modality in a wide array of alternative medical treatment modalities. It is one of those modalities that should be considered highly suspect, and the only efficacy one really can derive from it is little better than placebo, though studies have shown that patients who trust their homeopaths often obtain better results from homeopathy for ailments such as chronic allergies. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeopathy Homeopathy i/ˌhoʊmiˈɒpəθi/ (also spelled homoeopathy[1] or homœopathy) is a form of alternative medicine in which practitioners treat patients using highly diluted[2][3] preparations that are believed to cause healthy people to exhibit symptoms that are similar to those exhibited by the patient. The collective weight of scientific evidence has found homeopathy to be no more effective than a placebo.[2][3][4][5][6] There are also some treatments that homeopaths use that are not dilutions. For instance, I know several homeopaths who use essential oils in their prescriptions, some of them to be ingested, some as rubs, and some to be burned. It's not homeopathy, it's herbology, but practitioners of alternative medicine rarely stick to one specialty. The FDA is a corporatist organization and, for some reason, American socialists simply love it and can't imagine a world without it.
Uh. Starting from the top: Catholicism Protestantism Islam The US Government and all of its economic and social intervention policies Buddhism Various other religions Prayer in general All other government economic and social interventions Ionization/Magnet Therapy/Therapeutic metals like copper or titanium Colon hydrotherapy So, I'm curious, what do you believe the size of an industry has to do with its efficacy? I agree that people are turning away from western medicine and going back to where they can be heard by someone who cares, but that's a problem of western medicine and doesn't mean that the alternatives chosen are actually effective. Your argument is simply an appeal to the bandwagon fallacy.
I meant medicine therapies, so I only included the above. Are the two you posted even multi-million dollar industries? I find it really, really hard to believe that Homeopathy is the only "placebo-based" multi-billion dollar medicine industry if a medicine system can grow to a multi-billion dollar industry if it's no better than the placebo effect. Shouldn't there be a TON of multi-billion dollar industries of medicine therapies that don't work if one can get that valuable from not working?
Only one other? PS - you should alert all those major Health Insurance Companies that cover Chiropractic that is doesn't work. I'm sure they'll give you a big reward for saving them so much money.
The placebo effect occurs at the molecular level just like every other neurological and somatic process.
Herbal Supplement Industry. (I didn't realise this was a test. Is there a specific number you're looking for?) Health Insurance Companies also cover Homeopathy.
What makes chiropractics "snake oil"? Early chiropractors, and a few cranky old practitioners still in business today, held that all disease came from imbalances in the spinal cord, but that is no longer the case and chiropractics focuses on spinal manipulation as a way to cure maladies related to the spine, not all diseases. Many chiropractors today spend more time in medical school and getting medical CEUs than the average general practitioner which is not to say that it's more efficacious, but that they are frequently doctors who prefer to work with patients rather than insurance companies and government bureaucracies.
Many people still consider Chiropractors to be snake oil salespeople. Many people say they work. If they work for many people, that's great! I've tried a few, and they had no affect whatsoever. In fact, one made my condition worse. Similarly, my father was treated by a Chiropractor and he now has a permanent limp. Of course, these are only 2 examples; there are many happy customers out there. However, I'm sure you are aware that a large proportion of the population considers Chiropractic to be snake oil: it has no affect. . . .
Yes. There are many thousands of qualified colonic irrigation specialists. And, if a company like Nike is mass marketing titanium bracelets as a treatment for physical ailments, it's not because it's only worth a few million. Well, I did find a study which found homeopathy to be slightly better than placebo. I think what they pointed out, and quite correctly, is that the comparison is not entirely apt and studies on homeopathy must take into account the relationship between practitioner and patient. They did not find any evidence of efficacy in the homeopathic solutions. Why would there be? I'm not following your logic. Amway is a multi-billion dollar multilevel marketing company. There are tons of multilevel marketing companies but none so large or with such a reach as Amway. Does that mean Amway works to make all of it's members rich as they promise, or is it just because it got there early and had a really good system of recruitment and network support? The same applies to alternative medicine. There's tons of money in acupuncture, which has been around for thousands of years in the east and has very clear charts and rituals and methodology, and there's tons of money in homeopathy which had great support early on and a system which supports practitioners with clear rituals and methodology. There are many other alternative medical practices which simply don't have the organization behind them and aren't as big, except for Chiropractics which is entering mainstream medicine very quickly. It's also relatively easy to learn, and many complementary medicine practitioners incorporate it into their overall holistic medical operation. In fact, I don't know any homeopaths who focus solely on homeopathy. Most of them also do reiki, some form of acupressure or acupuncture (if trained), reflexology, aromatherapy, colon irrigation, etc. et al. And yes, I know quite a few as it was my wife's business to work with alternative medicine in the San Francisco Bay Area for many years.
I said medicines that DON'T work and if you say herbs don't work, you are in denial. You should alert them too.
You said: I answered your question. You didn't like the answer. I'm taking an objective view. Settle down. http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_02/b4016109.htm
Read my post again. It was a question, not a statement. The question mark at the end gives it away. I am looking for the answer to this question: "are you saying that major Health Insurance Companies only cover treatments/therapies that work?" I'm not sure of the answer, which is why I asked the question. This is how conversations work.
You are confusing snake oil within an industry with the whole industry being snake oil. Let me remind you that most surgeries are unnecessary and MD's and prescriptions are in the top 5 leading causes of death.
So it's heart attacks, cancer, something, something, doctors? Sounds like a tall claim...... care to prove it?
