5 years ago
5
Research shows that knowingly taking placebos can be highly beneficial
On Amazon, you can shell out about $15 to buy pills made of cellulose, titanium dioxide, gelatin, and dye. None of these ingredients have any medical effect, but customers report taking these pills for pain relief, to reduce excessive sweating, and even to quit smoking. It’s not surprising, really. Medical quackery has a long and proud history, and so long as there’s gullible people, there will be somebody selling snake oil. But here’s the rub: Right on the bottle, in big, blue letters is the word “placebo.” The only claim the manufacturer makes about these pills is that they are guaranteed not to contain any kind of medicine.
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So why the huge campaign against homeopathy?
I believe because it's misleading and advertised as a real alternative to pharmaceuticals.
And yet, according to this research, it really is. And at least some modern drugs and even some surgery is not as good as placebos.
Agreed, I mean if you have anxiety and you take some fake pills, and for some reason it helps you then I'm all for it, but when we're talking about someone with stage 4 cancer and their only reasonable option if they want to survive is proven medicine, hmm maybe I'm against duping people into that.
Because homeopathy drugs were sold as "cure everything". People were taking them thinking they can treat serious diseases, which they can't, so people were losing time and money when conventional medicine could actually provenly cure them.
Placebo-effect can only take you so far. It can help with everything that is perceptional: pain, depression, maybe minor inflammation etc. But it won't help to treat diseases that root in physical conditions like bacteria, tumors etc. etc.
However shammy people were making placebo for everything. Common cold, liver disease, cancer, you name it. This is highly detrimental for people and society health.
It is especially so for scammers usually bundle in some horse shit with your "medicine". Like conspirology theories (government does want you to know this ancient medicine secret...) or even religious gibberish.
So, that's why. There is a huge difference in consequences between believing in nonsense and using irrational mind effect.