Fighting the Skeptics By Dion Tabrett (CCH Lecturer

Here is the first in a series of blogs from one of CCH’s long-standing lecturer’s and clinic supervisor, Dion.

Picture the scene… a party or a bar somewhere. Our intrepid blogger (that’s me!) has had a few drinks and is in deep conversation with another human. A male. The conversation started with “who do you know here?” and then on to various topics such as music, guitars and maybe even martial arts (never houses, cars or pensions!).

Now comes the question… “So what do you do for a living?”

Blogger thinks to self – Right, here we go, “Homoeopathy”. Wait for eye rolling, snort of derision etc. New acquaintance appears confused, bewildered and a little disappointed. Eventually he replies “Oh that’s all nonsense isn’t it?, read it in the paper, not scientifically proven, just water and no molecules”.

Me – “Yep that’s right, and I also rode here on my unicorn and fart glitter!”. Which provokes a smile but does not prevent my new buddy from insisting that he has researched the topic and come to the conclusion that it’s all hocus-pocus.

A familiar scene to those of us in the business of serial dilution and agitation teamed up with the pharmacological phenomenon of Hormesis. Or should I just type Homoeopathy?

Hello and welcome to my blog. Each time I will be briefly discussing science and homoeopathy and giving you details to look up relevant papers. My hope is that you will research this for yourselves and take it further and acquire some new information.

The media has had a great time slating homoeopathy and this has had a knock on effect and shaped many peoples opinions. Now I’m not very interested in people who have had their ideas shaped by the media. Bunch of sheep. Baaaa! The media has a long track record in being terrible at reporting scientific ideas, remember the bird flu pandemic? Headlines shrieking “Mass graves prepared for casualties!”. Then the normal round of winter colds and coughs. What does interest me is taking a balanced look at the research on this subject and turning the tables.

As far as I am concerned the fight is on! We have had a long time turning the other cheek. And then getting that side slapped as well! What I think we should do is embrace our inner nerds! Go geek! Accept the anorak! Lets get scientific, look at research that is positive as well as negative for homoeopathy and then come to a conclusion. Surely any true skeptic would welcome both sides of the story so that they can make an informed decision?

So here’s what will happen. Each of the first three blogs will contain information and links to scientific research that is positive for homoeopathy. This means that not only are the results good but that more research is needed to explore further.

Future blogs will also cover the idea of “Hormesis”, a central theme to the clinical application of homeopathic medicines. And then whatever I feel like doing or consider appropriate.

The deal is this. For a little bit of time spent reading and researching you will gain new information with which you can counter the knee jerk, media hypnosis response detailed in the scene above. This blog will give you the swords and shields with which you can do battle.

Interested? See you next time.