As readers of this blog will know or at least suspect, I am a fan of the margins of things. I like the margins of science, the margins of religion, the margins of nerdiness.
This fondness for the margins extends to alternative medicine - or atleast some forms of it. I recently was struck by this thought regarding homeopathy.
"I have a nut allergy, one seasame seed in a bread roll can give me anaphylactic shock; so why should homeopathy be any different?"
Just a thought...
3 comments:
One sesame seed is far more than the minimum quality that can cause anaphylaxis - hence the 'may contain traces of nuts' warnings. Many homoeopathic remedies are unlikely to contain a single molecule of the original substance. More of an allergen causes a more severe allergic reaction, homeopathy has the idea that a more dilute remedy is more potent.
I am interested in some alternative/natural medicines, but not homoeopathy.
Agreed, homeopathy is the most dubious of the 'alternatives' - interesting that this label actually covers a variety of health cares which really should not be associated together.
My reasoning goes something like this.
Premise 1. We know from certain allergic reactions that they sometimes can be treated by exposing someone to very small amounts of a substance e.g. recent study into reducing peanut allergies based on building up very small amounts.
Premise 2. How little of something do you need before it ceases to have an effect on anything less than 99% of the population?
1 part per 10,000? 1 part per 100,000? etc etc. Depends on what it is and possibly conditions that that 99% are exposed to.
So, in principle, a very small amount could have an effect.
So, in principle, some group that professes that a small amount of something may have an effect might have some truth to it - possibly yes.
This does not mean I defend the assertion that the less of something you have, the more effective it is - it strikes me that anyone saying this in an unqualified manner needs their nead checking.
However, I could imagine a statement which sounds similar being defensible: a very small amount of something may achieve an effect that a large amount could not.
I could also imagine certain systems not being activated by very small amounts of a substance, which could be used elsewhere.
However, in writing this....
1. I think homeopathy MIGHT have something as an idea; that does not necessarily translate to what we see manifested before us.
2. I think the claims of homeopathy are tantalising, but also very hard to verify.
3. I am no medical student; just a dilitante of ideas.
Post a Comment