From: sue@netcom.com (Sue Miller)
Subject: Re: Homeopathy
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest)
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1992 05:15:27 GMT

Bernie Simon) writes:
> I wrote:
>
>   I can't speak on the former, but I'll damn sure speak on the
>   latter.  My ex-mother-in-law (rest her soul) suffered from
>   rheumatoid arthritis for over 40 years.  Before she had a proper
>   diagnosis and (allopathic) treatment, she was treated by all sorts
>   of quacks, homeopathic and otherwise, who had her teeth pulled,
>   sat her in mineral/mud baths, etc. etc.  
>
>   While there is no cure for rheumatoid arthritis, the allopathic
>   treatments available are far more than 'palliative'.  They allowed
>   her to live a fairly normal life when she originally seemed doomed
>   to rotting in a wheelchair at a very early age because of the severity
>   of her condition.
>
>I'm sorry to hear that your mother had such a poor experience with
>alternative health practitioners. Individual cases don't prove much,
>however. I could also cite cases of friends who were not helped by
>allopathic doctors and were cured of their problems by alternative
>medicine. The best evidence comes from clinical studies. One study
>shows that homeopathy is effective against rheumatic arthritis (1).

The best evidence does come from clinical studies - no kidding.
You didn't seem to be able to come up with one in favor of homeopathy
wrt rheumatoid arthritis.  Homeopathy can't cure RA.  As far as I am
aware, NOTHING can (I leave out miracles, these can't be studied).

>
>Could you please tell me what kind of homeopathic treatment your
>mother received and for how long? Needless to say, neither pulling
>teeth nor mud baths are standard homeopathic practices.

It's not necessary to go into that.  And what are "standard" homeopathic
practices?  Is there a standards body somewhere?

>
>If Usenet serves any useful purpose, it's the exchange of information.
>My experience has been that when the insults start, the information
>content quickly drops to zero. You and others have used the term
>"quack" to refer to alternative health practitioners. This term is
>purely a term of abuse. I would hope that future postings on
>alternative medicine could avoid insults and abuse.

Sorry, I'll call this one as I see it.  These people took my in-laws
money and gave her water in the guise of a "cure".  These people were
QUACKS.

>
>My dictionary (Compact Oxford Dictionary) defines "palliate" as
>"alleviate (disease) without curing". According to this definition,
>what your mother received was palliative treatment. I think some of
>the disagreement in previous posts about the effectiveness of
>allopathic treatment of rheumatoid arthritis arises from differing
>definitions of palliation. To me, palliation is more than pain relief.

Look you, what makes you think that all my mother-in-law got was pain
relief?  You don't even KNOW how she was treated.  BTW, rheumatoid
arthritis is a systemic condition that affected her internal organs
as well as her joints and bones.  *I* don't even know, but I did see
the befores and afters of joint replacements, fusions, medicines to 
treat her liver and heart complications (which then prevented further
problems).  She took lots-o-NSAIDS to reduce the inflammation which
was ruining her joints and other inflamed tissues.  This is not merely
"pain relief" but part of a fairly massive treatment program that not
only prolonged her life but helped her make it worth living.  My mother
in-law had a very acute and severe case of rheumatoid arthritis that
could and did put her in a wheelchair when she was very young (and put
her back in it at various points).  Allopathic doctors took her back
OUT of it, again and again.

>I am aware that some allopathic treatments of rheumatoid arthritis
>slow the progress of the disease. However, I am not aware of any that
>cure it. If some knowledgable person is aware of such a treatment,
>could they please follow up with a post?

Just as soon as you post one that shows that homeopathy can cure it.

>
>(1) P.Fischer, A.Greenwood, E.C.Huskisson, et al., "Effect of
>Homeopathic Treatment on Fibrositis (Primary Fibromyalgia)," British
>Medical Journal 299(1989):365-366.


Nice try, Bernie. Either you're not very switched on, or you think we're
pretty stupid.  Fibrositis has absolutely no relationship to rheumatoid 
arthritis.  In fact, last I heard they were still deciding whether
fibrositis/fibromyalgia were really diseases at all or a convenient way
to group hysterics with joint aches and muscle pains.


sue

Newsgroups: sci.med