Is homeopathy a cult or pseudoscience?

Does it require faith to work?

Homeopathy is pseudoscience. The medications they create have trace amounts of real medicine, and the rest is inert. I've talked to a few pharmacists about it, and they say that there's so little actual medication in some of them that there's no guarantee of even getting a single molecule from the medicine in a normal dose. People who believe in it think that by adding a small amount of something to an inert substance, the inert substance takes on the properties of the medicine. So by putting a drop of Robitussin in a 55 gallon drum of water, they would think they have a 55 gallon drum of medicine. This is of course bunk.

If it works for people it's because of the placebo effect. Some of the homeopathic allergy nasal sprays work simply because washing your nose with saline does provide some relief.

You posted this in the Religion and Spirituality section, and not the Science section.. You pretty much answered your own question there.

Does it require faith to work?
Well "the power of positive thinking" is certainly the only ingredient in high enough quantity to have any possible effect.

@coffee_pot12.
A lot of pharmaceutical medicine is based on natural ingredients.

Your argument from antiquity is ludicrous, if people had good cures for ailments thousands of years ago why were humans life expectancies half of what they are today?

I don't agree with a lot of things "Big Pharma" does, but at least they're making money from drugs that have been proven to work, not water pills that don't. Big Phamra may be extortionists, but homeopathy manufacturers are con-artists.

Homeopathy is cheaper because it hasn't had years of expensive scientific research poured into a treatment. It's manufacturers just pick stuff that sounds intuitively right then water it down so much that it can't possibly be dangerous.

Homeopathy has no side-effects because it has no primary effects. It's impossible to do anything bad when you don't do anything at all.

Thanks for the anecdotal evidence, but could you show me a single credible (blinded, controlled, impartial) scientific study that proves the efficacy of homeopathy.

neither....

perhaps you need to do some study of things in nature that have been used for health purposes by many cultures for thousands of years with very good results long before the pharmaceutical companies started making money with chemical formulas....

a small example= I can take all kinds of over the counter and Dr prescriptions for arthritis, with all kinds of bad side effects or no effects, or causes something else that needs another pill...don't work and waste of $$..

the homeopathic arthritis pain formula that I use works and I can get things done.... does what it is supposed to do and nothing else and is a fair price....


2nd example= grand daughter is ADHD and they have had this and that, DR this and that and the other pill, etc...Plus with the school policy today of so much documentation of any kid with meds and such there were just too many hoops and silliness... sent them the link for the homeopathic version....They have been using the homeopathic drops and diet guidelines for a month and have had dramatic results...they are over joyed and my grand daughter who is 11 is very happy about this also...

I have a nursing assistant and med assistant back ground so have a small bit of knowledge in this area...will go with homeopathic for many things....

Homeopathy is pseudoscience and yes it requires faith to work.

3 thumbs down? what the hell...?

It needs something. It doesn't work.