Predictably, the homeopaths have quickly started squealing about how unfair all this is. The BBC quotes Robert Wilson, of the British Association of Homeopathic Manufacturers, saying how "disappointed" he is:
He said the MPs had ignored evidence that homeopathy was effective. "There is good evidence that homeopathy works, for example in animals and babies, neither of which experience placebo effects."I wish I had a pound for every time I have heard this pathetic argument. It is so obviously false that it immediately reveals that the speaker either has not thought for two seconds about what they are saying, or that they simply do not care that they are bullshitting. If you do not agree, pause for a moment before reading on, and see if you can think of any ways in which a placebo effect might work on a baby or animal.
Finished? OK, here is my list of possible mechanisms, in no particular order. If you have some different ones, or can explain why mine are wrong, let me know in the comments...
- The effect is psychological, and operates upon the owner/parent. Because they expect the treatment to work, they see improvement where there is nothing, or nothing more than normal time-limited or cyclical changes in the condition. This effect is greatly enhanced when the owner/parent is highly motivated to see improvement, either because they have a strong personal belief in the treatment, or have invested time, money and credibility in it. It will also reassure the "worried well" parent/owner whose baby/animal is not actually ill in the first place.
- The effect is real, but derives from changes in the parent/owner's behaviour and emotional state. Because they know their baby/animal is receiving treatment, they become less anxious. The babies/animals pick up on this mood change and so relax more themselves.
- The effect is real but derives from changes associated with the treatment, rather than the treatment itself. For example, if the baby/animal has received extra care and attention, a change of diet or sleep patterns, and a break from work or other activities, these could have caused the improvement. Similarly, if an alternative treatment has been given in conjunction with real medicine, parents/owners may attribute any success to the treatment rather than the medicine.
- The effect is real and arises as a conditioned response to the rituals of care. If the baby/animal has previously improved after taking real medicine, then the administration of a placebo in the same way can evoke the conditioned response.
- The effect is real and arises as part of the acute phase response to an injury. Pain or inflammation evolved to stimulate the suffering organism to immobilise the injury site and to seek help. Once this has been achieved, the pain/inflammation is less necessary and can dissipate.
10 comments:
Quite right - there's also selective reporting, remembering (and publication) of treatments. i.e. ten people try to cure their dog's ear infection with homeopathy, one of them just by chance seems to work amazingly well, they tell everyone about it and the story spreads. The other nine keep it to themselves.
What is the difference between a "conditioned response" and a "placebo response". The first one is based on 'experience' and the second on "expectancy". Prior experience can enhance the expectancy that produces the placebo response. There are some traces of automatic conditioning effects that impact the placebo response but these seem to be limited to unconscious processes...
@ Neuroskeptic: You are right of course, but I'm not sure that this counts as a mechanism for a placebo effect.
@ Anonymous: The placebo effect is often defined as the effect of the belief that the medicine will work. I separate this from the conditioned response because the latter can occur even in the absense of conscious belief. Of course, most of the time there will be many of these processes operating simultaneously...
What is the difference between homeopathy and placebo? Thank you!
People used "Homeopathic" remedies for thousands of years before the medical age and many modern medicines are produced from extracts of natural products. The use of herbs etc to treat illness was just common sense until recently when our so called advanced society decided it could do a better job. And yes I do concede that modern medicine may work quicker than herbal alternatives but more often than not cause more long term damage that manifests later as some horrible cancer or other! Herbal medicine has no such side effects. I think it's about time you crawled out of your narrow minded arse and looked beyond what money making pharmaceutical companies tell you!!
Scientific plausible mechanism of action of 'potentised high dilutions' in homeopathy How ‘super-avogadro dilutions’ in homeopathy stimulate the biological activity and restore the homeostatic mechanism?
http://drnancymalik.wordpress.com/article/how-homeopathy-works/
Thanks Nancy, that makes it all so clear!
Hold on... are you actually a psychologist? A certified one, recognized by some body of certification, with professional insurance, having actual patients in your care?
Broadly speaking I agree: I'm strongly against any form of homeopathy and I've always considered it 100% bullsh*t. However, now that my baby daughter has colics, we're so desperate that we're also trying with some homeopathic stuff. On my side operates the very opposite of a placebo effect: being a homeopathic-skeptic, I expect it NOT to work. Yet it seems to work... which pisses me off big time. I'm confused. Looking at the ingredients, it looks like most of these baby products have D1 or D2 dilution levels, meaning that the product is diluted very little compared with the supposedly "stronger" (D100, D200) homeopathic drugs (homeopathy is based on the absurd belief that the more you dilute, the stronger the drug). May it be that these products are diluted so little that they paradoxically turn out to be comparable with herbalist treatments, therefore actually having some active ingredients?
Yes, isn't crazy that the weak dilutions they give babies are the only ones that might actually have some ingredients in! But don't forget colic comes and goes, and there might be other reasons for the improvement. That's why scientific studies don't have n=1!
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