There are times where I find my general frustration at stupidity comes to a boiling point. On these occasions, I decide to use this anger as a source of motivation to action, typically to find the will to read through such sources of stupidity, a task I would normally avoid like the black plague.

In this instance, I have been browsing through Australian homeopathic websites. Particularly this one and most interestingly, this paper on Homeopathic medicines for adverse effects of cancer treatments (Sosie Kassab, Mike Cummings, Saul Berkovitz, Robbert van Haselen, Peter Fisher).

It only takes a quick read of the abstract to see that there is quite obviously something wrong in the homeopathic industry, if indeed it is worthy of such a name, for industry implies industrious and industrious implies honest labour; an implication I’m not willing to cede to them.

Main results

Eight controlled trials (seven placebo controlled and one trial against an active treatment) with a total of 664 participants met the inclusion criteria. Three studied adverse effects of radiotherapy, three studied adverse effects of chemotherapy and two studied menopausal symptoms associated with breast cancer treatment.

Homeopathic medicines for adverse effects of cancer treatments (Review) 1 Copyright © 2009 The Cochrane Collaboration. Published by JohnWiley & Sons, Ltd. Two studies with low risk of bias demonstrated benefit: one with 254 participants demonstrated superiority of topical calendula over trolamine (a topical agent not containing corticosteroids) for prevention of radiotherapy-induced dermatitis, and another with 32 participants demonstrated superiority of Traumeel S (a proprietary complex homeopathic medicine) over placebo as a mouthwash for chemotherapy-induced stomatitis. Two other studies reported positive results, although the risk of bias was unclear, and four further studies reported negative results. No serious adverse effects or interactions were reported attributable to the homeopathic medicines used.

Authors’ conclusions

This review found preliminary data in support of the efficacy of topical calendula for prophylaxis of acute dermatitis during radiotherapy and Traumeel S mouthwash in the treatment of chemotherapy-induced stomatitis. These trials need replicating. There is no convincing evidence for the efficacy of homeopathic medicines for other adverse effects of cancer treatments. Further research is required.

In Summary. There were 8 trials in total. I must confess myself unfamiliar with proper process in medical trials so I can only take what they have written here at face value. Even so, we have 2 studies showing some benefit, with low risks of bias in the results. 2 more showed positive results, with an unclear risk of bias. The other four trials showed negative results (no mention of bias here).

That means 50% positive (maybe, depending on this elusive bias) and 50% negative (bias unmentioned).

At this point, the reasonable person determines that there is no definite or statistically significant data showing that homeopathic solutions are any better than placebo.

However, the author’s conclusions are that there is preliminary data in support of homeopathic remedies. Surely it would be an equally valid conclusion to say that there is preliminary data (an equal amount in this paper, at least) in support of the inefficacy of homeopathic remedies against the adverse effects of cancer treatment.

The author should have been happy to broaden his comment about how “There is no convincing evidence for the efficacy of homeopathic medicines for other adverse effects of cancer treatments.” to say that there is no evidence for the efficacy of homeopathic medicines for any adverse effects of cancer treatments.

And I haven’t even started delving into the actual substance of the paper…

Just thought I’d put up another good resource for information about Autism.

The Autism Spectrum Australia website has fairly comprehensive information, news about upcoming events, links to games, materials and so on.

I especially like the Thomas the Tank Engine game. I played a bit with the memory test part of the game, which does make me think I should probably train my memory, since it’s not as lightning quick as I’d probably like it to be. Ah well.

Today seems to be a good day for sound science and medecine, specifically, because the anti-vaxxers are having a bad day.

At Autism Speaks Dr Geri Dawson explains that there is no known link between vaccines and autism. Read her full article here.

She’s not absolute in saying that there is no link, they are continuing research into finding any possible causal link, but at least she is strongly advising parents to vaccinate their kids, which is the main thing.

It’s a shame that they’ve spent so much time and effort previously on making the anti-vax claims, since from a cursory look at their website, they seem well placed and have plenty of resources to actually help parents manage and raise children with autism.

In case you are looking for help dealing with autism, Aspire Early Intervention is a good place to look. Since I can’t say it any better, here’s what the site says about Aspire Early Intervention’s goals:

“We are a private early intervention service and dedicated to assist you in bringing out the full potential of your child, regardless of the difficulties they may face in socialising and learning language, playing and other skills.”

Here are two very good resources for vaccination information, to help deal with all that anti-vax mis-information.

The Truth About The Evils Of Vaccination courtesy of Todd W.

Vaccines and Autism courtesy of Steve Novella.

Then there’s this nice article which essentially states, quite clearly, that not vaccinating means that many children will die from preventable diseases.

All in all, not a bad morning. Here’s hoping the rest of the day goes as well.

Homeopathic Vaccinations were promoted on the Channel Ten morning show “9am with David and Kim”.

They start talking about concerns over the swine flu vaccine being developed, then a brief explanation of the basics of vaccines (which everyone should really have learnt at school).

Dr Isaac Golden, introduced as the world authority on homeopathic immunisation then talks about how the government isn’t considering alternatives. He is asked whether it’s possible for homeopathic remedies to be mass produced. It’s water, people, we already have some in every home. He gives an example where the Cuban government “immunised” 3 provinces with homeopathic vaccines, or about 2 million people at a cost of $400,000USD and imagines the money the US government could save by implementing a similar strategy. They could also save money by doing nothing and achieve the same effect.

I’m upset that there was no one to explain that homeopathy simply. does. not. work.

Here is the full video, if you can bear to watch it.

And here is a way to contact the show and let them know what you think.

The WHO has issued a statement making its opinion of homeopathy clear. See here for the BBC article.

People with conditions such as HIV, TB and malaria should not rely on homeopathic treatments, the World Health Organization has warned.

One key point made by Dr Robert Hagan (a researcher in biomolecular science at the University of St Andrews and member of Voice of Young Science Network, the group that asked the WHO to make some sort of official statement about homeopathy) was:

We need governments around the world to recognise the dangers of promoting homeopathy for life-threatening illnesses.

I couldn’t agree more. Well said.

At least this is a step in the right direction.

I looked at the related articles and felt my joy increase when I saw this article, about how homeopathy prescriptions are falling. Warms my heart, it really does.

It shows that things are finally improving, since the debate about homeopathy has been ‘raging’ according to the media, for years.

For example, in this article, homeopathy’s benefit is put into question after a study shows it’s no better than a placebo:

A Swiss-UK review of 110 trials found no convincing evidence the treatment worked any better than a placebo.

Followed by this article, claiming that homeopathy does in fact help:

A study at Bristol Homoeopathic Hospital shows over 70% of patients with chronic diseases reported positive health changes after treatment.

Then eventually, this article, where the NHS is urged to reject homeopathy:

The experts, led by Professor Gustav Born, of Kings College London, have written to NHS managers urging them not to fund the complementary therapy.

Unfortunately, it seems that homeopathy may still be around for a little while, but with organisations like the WHO finally jumping in, we may live to see homeopathic remedies pulled from pharmacy shelves.