homeopathy
Respectful Insolence
Tag archives for homeopathy
A homeopath unplugged from reality
Posted by Orac on May 21, 2010 Yesterday’s post made me sad. It always makes me sad to contemplate a 14 year old boy facing the loss of his father to an aggressive form of leukemia, as Danny Hauser is. The kid just can’t catch a break. First he himself develops Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Because he happens to live in a family that…
Fear the homeopathic bomb
Posted by Orac on April 24, 2010 Oh, no. I think we have another reason to be afraid–very afraid–of homeopathy/ Apparently New Agers have developed a homeopathic bomb: The world has been placed on a heightened security alert following reports that New Age terrorists have harnessed the power of homeopathy for evil. ‘Homeopathic weapons represent a major threat to world peace,’ said…
The return of Dana Ullman, homeopathic apologist, 2010 edition
Posted by Orac on April 21, 2010 I tell ya, I go away for a few days, let the blogging slow down, decrease the usual logorrhea. Heck, I even go for the lazy blogger trick of an open thread. In the meantime, while I was busy learning about real science at the 2010 AACR Meeting, the forces of pseudoscience have not been…
In which Orac does his part to increase awareness of homeopathy in honor of World Homeopathy Awareness Week, part 2
Posted by Orac on April 11, 2010 As I pointed out yesterday, World Homeopathy Awareness Week began yesterday. One common question that’s asked about homeopathy goes something like this: If homeopathy is just water, then what’s the harm? Here’s the harm: Part 1 Part 2 Homeopathy is magical thinking, far more religious or superstitious in nature than medical or scientific. And this…
In which Orac does his part to increase awareness of homeopathy in honor of World Homeopathy Awareness Week
Posted by Orac on April 10, 2010 Today, April 10, is the first day of World Homeopathy Awareness Week (WHAW), or, as I like to call it, World Sympathetic Magic Awareness Week. Now, given my dim view of homeopathy, in which I view it as nothing more than, well, sympathetic magic, you’d think I wouldn’t want people to pay attention to WHAW.…
Why, oh, why can’t I have something like this aimed at me? (part 2)
Posted by Orac on April 5, 2010 Remember John Benneth? He’s a homeopath who runs a website called The Science of Homeopathy and produced a woo-tastic video claiming to show us how homeopathy works. Steve Novella also took on his video. For his trouble, he was rewarded with one of the most hilariously off-base attacks I’ve ever seen, even from anti-vaccine loons.…
Why, oh, why can’t I have something like this aimed at me?
Posted by Orac on March 19, 2010 I’m envious of Steve Novella. No, the reason isn’t his vastly greater influence in the skeptical community than mine, his podcast The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe, or the fact that he gets called a lot more for commentary when something involving quackery versus science-based medicine comes up. He’s earned that, having been at this…
Homeopathy vs. science?
Posted by Orac on March 9, 2010 I have a hard time arguing against the proposition that this is the perfect metaphor for homeopathy. Well, not exactly. The homeopath and homeopathy user are both far too rational in this example.
A “homeopathic” bit of breast cancer “science,” or: Who knew alcohol was so toxic?
Posted by Orac on March 4, 2010 Homeopaths are irritating. They’re irritating for a number of reasons. One is their magical thinking, and, make no mistake, their thinking is nothing but pure magic, sympathetic magic to be precise. That’s all that the principle of “like cures like” really is at its heart. Normally, that principle states that “like produces like,” but homeopathy…
Your Friday Dose of Woo: Homeopathy gets needled
Posted by Orac on February 26, 2010 I realize that there are two huge target-rich articles out there that my readers have been clamoring for me to comment on. First, there’s a particularly silly and simplistic article by Nicholas Kristof about how it’s supposedly the “toxins” causing autism (an article in which he apparently doesn’t realize that Current Opinions in Pediatrics is…
How does homeopathy work?
Posted by Orac on February 23, 2010 How does homeopathy work? Heh. Yes, this is in honor of my post earlier today. I’m also appreciative that homeopaths have apparently diagnosed what’s wrong with Parliament. Apparently it’s emitting an angry purple aura.
The Long Dark Tea-Time of Homeopathy
Posted by Orac on February 23, 2010 Sometimes politicians actually get it right. I know, I know, it makes me choke on my words to admit it, but sometimes politicians can actually get science right. I’m referring to something that happened in the U.K., yesterday, when the Science and Technology Select Committee delivered its verdict on homeopathy. Indeed, the Committee has gone…
Studying homeopathy in Third World countries, revisited
Posted by Orac on January 19, 2010 I’d like to start this post by thanking a commenter named Paul Grenville. He provided me with this blogging material and, indeed, may have supplied me with material for two blog posts. He did it by showing up in an old post about a homoepath named Jeremy Sherr, who has been bringing woo to the…
Homeopathy and side effects due to cancer therapy: When bad journalism attacks
Posted by Orac on April 17, 2009 I’ve complained about it time and time again because it’s annoyed me time and time again. Specifically, I’m talking about how various news outlets report scientific studies involving so-called “complementary and alternative medicine” (CAM), sometimes called “integrative medicine” (IM), the latter of which I like to refer to adding a bit of woo to make…
Best anti-homeopathy poster ever?
Posted by Orac on April 8, 2009 You be the judge! Clicking on the picture will lead you to a blog post where you can download a high resolution version suitable for printing up and either distributing or putting up on a bulletin board or wall. I particularly like that it was made by The American Institute for the Destruction of Tooth…
Your Friday Dose of Woo: Miraculous quest for the quantum
Posted by Orac on January 19, 2007 I admit it. I’m a gadget freak. I sometimes think I should have gone into radiology. If you’re a radiologist and work with MRI, CT scans, PET scanners, and numerous other cool gadgets. Of course, you also have to sit in dark rooms in the basement of the hospital and stare at films for several…