[Thyme]

I would say homeopathy is just theatre.  And the reason I would say that is not because science doesn't have an explanation, but because every time they take a hundred sick people and treat half of them with homeopathy and half with plain sugar pills, doing it all randomised and double-blind so the sick people don't know which they are getting and the doctors don't know which they are giving, the results are that there is no difference between the number of people who got better with the homeopathy and the number of people who got better with the sugar pill.

But, the complicating factor, to me, is that theatre often works.  The placebo effect is a really powerful thing that we don't understand very well!  (A scientist friend of mine, Nick Humphrey, has been studying this for ten years.)  There is experimental evidence that it works some of the time even on people who are told they are getting a placebo.  There is some evidence that it works on infants and animals, both indirectly by affecting the caretaker and also sometimes directly on the patient.  So I can't be completely anti-homeopathy (or acupuncture, or having the local shaman paint your forehead with mud and chicken feathers) because it's not dumb to make as much use of the placebo effect as we can.  As long as it's not preventing people from getting conventional medical care when it's needed.

[Marches Farmer]

I thought aspirin came from willow bark?  However the list you mention are herbal medicines and not homeopathic medicines.
[/quote]

I beieve meadowsweet was the first plant used, willow came later.  Someone, somewhere must have decided to try out brews of these plants before "science" got hold of them and analysed them.  I try to keep an open mind, on the basis I think there's a lot more I don't know than I do know.

[Beeducked]

Meadowsweet and willow both contain salicylates, that active compound in aspirin. Both existed before humans understood their potential worth so not sure one can be considered to have "come first."


Again I think we need to separate herbalism from homeopathy. Herbalism is the practice of whole plants being used for medicinal purposes and is proven to have an effect (both positive and negative like all drugs) and is the basis of modern pharmacology. Many plants contain physiologically active compounds that effect how our bodies work both individually and in combination with other compounds in the plant.
Homeopathy has already been described a number of times here so I won't repeat it. Personally I do not believe in the memory of water. All water at some point has been though an organism and even if it does have a memory then how is that separated out from all the other compounds it has been in contact with (like those in your gut and the guts of cattle!). That being said, providing that it doesn't prevent people accessing effective treatments for themselves and more importantly those dependent on them, it's personal choice.

[verdifish]

Homeopathy is like religion,science has proved its rubbish and does more harm than good ,I was once called in to see a Lamimitic pony by the German equivalent of our esteemed RSPCA ,the owner had been treating the pony with homeopathic remedies that " worked without fail" .The pedal bone was rotated and through the sole and the tip was gone!!! Under police questioning the owner was asked how long the pedal bone had been visible ,7 months she said quite proudly "but its getting better and going back in as I can see less and less every week "!!! The pony was euthanized and never went to pony heaven and thus happened in the 21st century !!! Homeopathy in my eyes is worse than witchcraft or maybe the same thing with a posh name !!!

[landroverroy]

I would be loathe to assume that because you've encountered one person who neglected their pony, you can then pass judgement on every one else who uses homeopathy. The fact you believe you were told that the remedy "worked without fail" shows that the person allegedly using it had no idea what they were doing.
 To me homeopathy is one tool for effecting healing, along with many other natural methods, and conventional medecine. They are none of them self exclusive. It has been previously mentioned that there are instances where homeopathy has succeeeded where conventional wisdom has failed,and vice versa. 
Why are you rubbishing people who use it successfully on the basis of hearsay from an apparent idiot?