Mike takes Homeopathic Remedy Nux Vom for a week to see what will happen

I have had many responses to my previous columns on alternative medicine, where people have argued I am wrong, and that thanks to their experience, they know that remedy X is effective.

So, if I and the scientific community are saying the majority of alternative treatments do not work, how can we explain why so many people believe in their efficacy?

Very easily.

I find the psychology behind what makes people believe in nonsense fascinating, and by getting to know the mistakes of reasoning that people typically make, you can protect yourself from being drawn into mumbo-jumbo healthcare.

Last month, a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that the herbal supplement Ginkgo biloba does not appear to help memory or slow the rate of cognitive decline in healthy older people.
On Yale neurologist Steven Novella’s “Science-Based Medicine” Web site he explained, “The study was a direct comparison of Gingko biloba at 120 mg twice a day versus placebo—a double blind, randomized, multi-center trial involving 3,019 subjects aged seventy-two to ninety-six, followed for a median of 6.1 years.

Subjects were followed with standardized tests of cognitive function. The results are easy to report: every measure showed no difference between Gingko biloba and placebo. There was no difference in cognitive function, risk of developing dementia, rate of progression of dementia, or normal cognitive decline with aging.”

Gingko biloba is one of the world’s top-selling herbal supplements, widely advertised as having been proven effective in helping people increase memory and concentration. The fact that study after study has shown it is not effective comes as a blow to the herbal industry, but new research suggests that Gingko may actually harm some people.

Two homeopaths - Louise McLean and Helen Kimball-Brooke - attended the 10:23 event in London. Today, her report from the demonstration appeared on the "Homeopathy Heals" website.

In her report, Louise notes:

"Of course homeopaths know that one dose of however many pills taken together in one go, is the equivalent of only one dose, because it is the time frame that counts. So if they had repeatedly taken a dose every hour for the rest of the day, the skeptics would most certainly have felt the effects. "

Sounds like a challenge to me!

Last weekend was the 1023 campaign’s big event. We were there, so present to you this special episode. Normal service will be resumed on Friday as usual.

Key moments:
Martin Robbins (3:00)
Carmen D’Cruz (5:45)
Evan Harris MP (11:28)
Dave Gorman (yes, that Dave Gorman) (13:33)
Simon Singh (16:09)
Countdown Speeches (19:20)
The Big Overdose (28:15)

On January 30th 2010 over 300 skeptics around the world took part in a mass homeopathy overdose. The point of this was to raise awareness and create debate on the subject of homeopathy.

The event was a huge success gaining much publicity.

The campaign also had skeptics in America, Australia and New Zealand taking part.

Well done to everyone involved.

Will also broadcast on cable TV in America, in certain cities, listings to come.

A public mass overdose of homeopathic remedies has forced the New Zealand Council of Homeopaths to admit openly that their products do not contain any "material substances". Council spokeswoman Mary Glaisyer admitted publicly that "there´s not one molecule of the original substance remaining" in the diluted remedies that form the basis of this multi-million-dollar industry.

The NZ Skeptics, in conjunction with 10:23, Skeptics in the Pub and other groups nationally and around the world, held the mass overdose in Christchurch on Saturday to highlight the fact that homeopathic products are simply very expensive water drops or sugar/lactose pills. A further aim was to question the ethical issues of pharmacies, in particular, stocking and promoting sham products and services.

Skeptics with a K is the podcast of the Merseyside Skeptics Society, recorded and edited at the region’s internationally-renowned Summit Studios. Each episode features Mike, Marsh and Colin chatting about stuff that interests them, often with a skeptical angle.

Homeopathy Special! In this extended episode, Mike, Marsh and Colin discuss the government’s Evidence Check session on homeopathy, the Merseyside Skeptics Open Letter to Boots and the trials which support homeopathy. Plus, we have a psychic Power double, Jesus in the UK and a Fantastic Fact!

The 1023 Homeopathy campaign being spoken about on the Wright Stuff.

Matthew Wright is obviously an idiot, as is his other guest, but thank God that another of the guests is the legendary Dave Gorman, for this man speaks sense. Listen to Dave Gorman!!

The single most audacious pitch in the history of Dragons Den worldwide!

This man claims his magic water can cure pretty much every disease and ailment in existance.

It's all fun and games until he claims it cures cancer.

Luckily the Dragons don't agree and send this fruitcake packing.

I have just purchased a packet of Boots-brand 84 arnica homeopathic 30C Pills for £5.09, which Boots proudly claim is only 6.1p per pill. Their in-store advice tells me that arnica is good for treating “bruising and injuries”, which gives the impression that this is a very cost-effective health-care option.

Unlike most medication, it didn’t list the actual dose of the active ingredient that each pill contains, so I checked the British Homeopathic Association website. On their website it nonchalantly states that to make a homeopathic remedy, they start with the active ingredient and then proceed to dilute it to 1 per cent concentration. Then they dilute that new solution again, so there is now only 0.01 per cent of the original ingredients. For my 30C pills this diluting is repeated thirty times, which means that the arnica is one part in a million billion billion billion billion billion billion.

On January 30th, 2010, at exactly 10:23am, large groups of skeptics will gather in the town centres of around a dozen cities in the UK and consume a full bottle of homeopathic pills, in order to demonstrate the ineffectiveness of homeopathy. Marsh explains why...

Homeopathy in the UK is alarmingly pervasive - setting aside the fact that the industry is worth an estimated £40million per year, the National Health Service actually plows £4million per year of taxpayers' money into providing sugar pills as a Complementary Alternative Medicine - much of which goes into the upkeep of the four government-run homeopathic hospitals.

Clear Air Turbulence, the podcast that is seared on the reality grill, and trust me, we taste good.

Our mission as always is to discuss anomalous phenomena that include the subjects of the paranormal, UFO, pseudoscience, extrasensory perception, and everything in between. We also intend to have some fun while doing it.





This Weeks Show
In February 2009, Michael Marshall - or ‘Marsh’ - set up the Merseyside Skeptics Society with his fel­low Merseyside-based skep­tics. He appears on the Skeptics with a K and Righteous Indignation podcasts can often be found making slightly out­landish drunk statements at the Skeptics in the Pub nights he runs in Liverpool with his fellow society members.

In 2010, he and the rest of the MSS are running the 10:23 campaign to raise awareness of what homeopathy is, and what it really isn't.

Good Skeptic, Bad Skeptic is a shiny new pod­cast pro­duced by our friends from the Greater Manchester Skeptics.

"We are a Manchester based organisation dedicated to rational thinking, non-homoeopathic drinking and the promotion of skepticism."

In episode one they dis­cuss skep­ti­cal fails and everyone’s favourite honey-toned mys­tic Deepak Chopra. There’s also an inter­view with Carmen D’Cruz of ‘Carmen Gets Around’ blog.

While flicking through the sports pages of my local paper[1], I'm used to reading a fair degree of bulls*it. But on a recent occasion, I noticed a piece of bulls*it that literally took my breath away. It concerned a miracle cure for vitiligo - a chronic disorder which causes depigmentation of the skin.

"Dr. Gorania successfully worked on the prinicipals [of Homeopathy] and treated 20,000 of leucoderma (Vitligo). The success rate is very good - 100% (excluding those who do not wait for a reasonable time). It proves if the internal cause of any disease properly diagnosed and correctly treated with the finest precision it should scientifically respond in practice."

That's right folks. This bulls*itter (sorry, I meant homeopath) claims to be able to treat vitiligo with a 100% success rate. For comparison, that's a better success rate than any medical treatment on the face of the planet.

I live in Bradford-On-Avon - a small town in Wiltshire, England. To my dismay the town is very heavy with the promotion of alternative medicine, spirit healing and other such woo practices. It's enough to make a skeptic heave.

Simply because of the amount of alternative stores in the tiny town I am always vigilent for the promotion of services that could mislead people - especially the vulnerable.

For example, a while ago I was involved in the exposure of a local 'spiritual healer' who claimed to be able to cure cancer - a claim that was removed from their site shortly after it was pointed out how the claim was - er, slightly illegal. I was accused of being a liar and threatened with the police. However, the screencaps are available for everyone to see.

Anyway, the first case of nonsense that I have come across in 2010 dropped through my letter box in early January. It was a free magazine called 'A local life.'
On the cover of the magazine were the words 'A healthy start to 2010' and this got my skeptical senses tingling.

For more articles on Alternative Therapy, Homeopathy and other health related nonsense check out www.badhomeopathy.co.uk

The ability to use reason, weigh evidence and make rational decisions is an essential skill.

Strongly held beliefs unsupported by evidence can cause significant damage to the deluded individual and those who surround them.

An individual approaching a homeopath for a cold remedy will probably do no more self harm than to waste their money and feed their own delusion, but the homeopath who convinces their client that they're safe to go to West Africa with nothing more than a sugar pill for malaria protection may well kill them.

But mumbo-jumbo becomes most dangerous when it is believed by those with power.

Ben Goldacre, Guardian columnist and author of Bad Science, explores homeopathy and the placebo effect. Not all alternative therapies are equal, you know

A special compilation of Pod Delusion reports about homeopathy, made for badhomeopathy.co.uk. Features an undercover report, what happened when homeopaths faced Parliament, the 1023 campaign and the question of whether conventional medicine is actually any good.

About
The Pod Delusion is a podcast about interesting things. From scepticism to lefty liberal things, it's commentary from a secular, rationalist, 'Guardianista', sort of perspective. A bit like From Our Own Correspondent but with more jokes.

Happy New Year! And to start the new year BadHomeopathy member James O'Malley decided to test Homeopathy for himself and publish his results here for everyone to see.

During the past week, bemused TV viewers in Australia may have noticed a brief TV commercial relating to a retraction by EASE-a-Cold.

I say "bemused" because it's an ad you could easily "see" several times without taking in much of it and certainly without understanding the context.

In my view, that's perfectly understandable. I think it's an ad that has been deliberately designed NOT to be effective.

Skeptics with a K is the podcast of the Merseyside Skeptics Society, recorded and edited at the region’s internationally-renowned Summit Studios. Each episode features Mike, Marsh and Colin chatting about stuff that interests them, often with a skeptical angle.

Seances and twitter, Mr T ’s graduation, syndicated culture and lunacy. All this plus the homeopaths guide to physics.

A recent study of the long-term effects of homeopathic treatment and remedies have found that 32 participants of the study have since died!

Another 207 adults and 53 children withdrew their consent to participate in the study and 9 adults and 3 children had simply gone missing.

Despite this, the researches of the study conclude that "patients who receive homeopathic treatments are likely to improve considerably".

By Jon Donnis

The 10:23 Campaign will launch in early 2010. Aim of this campaign is to raise public awareness of the quackery that homeopathy is.

This will be a concerted effort of the skeptic community across the UK, with the various Skeptics in the Pub groups acting as local hubs.

If you want to actively take part in this event, please register on www.1023.org.uk More details will be released over time.

SIMON PERRY belongs to a group called Skeptics in the Pub, which seeks to rigorously and openly apply the methods of science and reason to commonly held beliefs and claims. In his occasional column for the Mercury, he reveals the results of his investigations.

Trust Boots is the tagline that has been offered by the high street pharmacist since 2005.

According to Boots' 2006 Corporate Responsibility Strategy, "Everything we do that builds trust is good for our business; anything which could compromise it, a risk we can't afford to take."
So has Boots shown itself to be worthy of our trust?

Hitler discusses Chiropractic Evidence and gets quite upset!

You gotta love these Hitler videos!

Hopefully you have already read the open letter to Boots regarding its sale of Homeopathic remedies in its stores nationwide.

This letter was sent due in part to an answer given at the recent discussion between The House of Commons Science and Technology Committee and various homeopaths and scientists to discuss evidence for the alternative therapy.

The Boots brand is synonymous with health care in the United Kingdom. Your website speaks proudly about your role as a health care provider and your commitment to deliver exceptional patient care. For many people, you are their first resource for medical advice; and their chosen dispensary for prescription and non-prescription medicines. The British public trusts Boots.

However, in evidence given recently to the Commons Science and Technology Committee, you admitted that you do not believe homeopathy to be efficacious. Despite this, homeopathic products are offered for sale in Boots pharmacies – many of them bearing the trusted Boots brand.