New study: ‘Therapeutic dead-end’ of homeopathy is effective for 0 out of 68 illnesses

A leading academic in evidence-based medicine has declared that homeopathy is a “therapeutic dead-end,” adding that the alternative treatment method is no more effective than a placebo.

Professor Paul Glasziou of Bond University was given the task of reviewing 176 trials of homeopathy to establish if the treatment is valid.

From the Independent:

A total of 57 systematic reviews, containing the 176 individual studies, focused on 68 different health conditions – and found there to be no evidence homeopathy was more effective than placebo on any.

According to the NHS, “Practitioners [of homeopathy] believe that the more a substance is diluted in this way, the greater its power to treat symptoms. Many homeopathic remedies consist of substances that have been diluted many times in water until there is none or almost none of the original substance left.”

The study found that “no discernible convincing effects beyond placebo” were related to the treatment method with “no reliable evidence from research in humans that homeopathy was effective for treating the range of health conditions considered.”

Writing for the British Medical Journal, Professor Glasziou stated that he started off the study with an open mind.

I had begun the journey with an ‘I don’t know attitude’, curious about whether this unlikely treatment could ever work… but I lost interest after looking at the 57 systematic reviews which contained 176 individual studies and finding no discernible convincing effects beyond placebo…

I can well understand why Samuel Hahnemann- the founder of homeopathy- was dissatisfied with the state of 18th century medicine’s practices, such as blood-letting and purging and tried to find a better alternative.

But I would guess he would be disappointed by the collective failure of homeopathy to carry on his innovative investigations, but instead continue to pursue a therapeutic dead-end.

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