Mitt Romneys sideburns
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- Jun 17, 2007
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I still know people who swear by homeopathic medication. I really dont understand how they can fall for it.
Lets start with defining Homeopathy. Its a medication that is based on the idea that you can cure illness by giving people substances that would, in a healthy person, cause the same symptoms as the ill person. By diluting this substance, the toxic effects of the substance are removed, while retaining the qualities of it.
The first problem with this is the dilution levels. The higher the dilution, the more "potent" the stuff is. Now, other than the fact that this makes no sense and defies basic dose-response relationship, the dilution is often so hight that that it is unlikely that the final result chemically retains a SINGLE molecule of the original substance.
Most remedies have a dilution starting at 6C and move up from there. That means the concentration is 1:10^12. Comparably, the allowable levels of arsenic in US drinking water is 1:10^8. Meaning when you drink a homeopathic medication, you are likely getting a higher dosage of Arsenic than you are getting of the active ingredient.
However, thats just at the low end. The recommended dilution is 30C, or 1:10^60. Are there any chemistry fans in the audience? If so, you realize we just passed a special number. Once you pass Avogadro's Constant, 6.022 X 10^23, chances are there is not a single remaining molecule of the original substance. So a 12C solution, 1:10^24, on average has no trace left of the original substance. Its just water. Common remedies go as high as 200C.
Now all that is even assuming that the original proposition of curing illness by administering substance that causes the same symptoms in a healthy person, is even true. This is superstitious nonsense at best. There is no reason to believe this notion is true. Its beyond ridiculous, and is completely inconsistent with modern medical knowledge.
Not to mention the idea that the water molecules will sill somehow "remember" the effects of the original, substance that has now been completely diluted out of the composition. An idea like this is completely contrary to the laws of chemistry.
So Homeopathy is bogus. Yet people fall for it. Why? Ignorance. People are uneducated on matters of science.
Lets start with defining Homeopathy. Its a medication that is based on the idea that you can cure illness by giving people substances that would, in a healthy person, cause the same symptoms as the ill person. By diluting this substance, the toxic effects of the substance are removed, while retaining the qualities of it.
The first problem with this is the dilution levels. The higher the dilution, the more "potent" the stuff is. Now, other than the fact that this makes no sense and defies basic dose-response relationship, the dilution is often so hight that that it is unlikely that the final result chemically retains a SINGLE molecule of the original substance.
Most remedies have a dilution starting at 6C and move up from there. That means the concentration is 1:10^12. Comparably, the allowable levels of arsenic in US drinking water is 1:10^8. Meaning when you drink a homeopathic medication, you are likely getting a higher dosage of Arsenic than you are getting of the active ingredient.
However, thats just at the low end. The recommended dilution is 30C, or 1:10^60. Are there any chemistry fans in the audience? If so, you realize we just passed a special number. Once you pass Avogadro's Constant, 6.022 X 10^23, chances are there is not a single remaining molecule of the original substance. So a 12C solution, 1:10^24, on average has no trace left of the original substance. Its just water. Common remedies go as high as 200C.
Now all that is even assuming that the original proposition of curing illness by administering substance that causes the same symptoms in a healthy person, is even true. This is superstitious nonsense at best. There is no reason to believe this notion is true. Its beyond ridiculous, and is completely inconsistent with modern medical knowledge.
Not to mention the idea that the water molecules will sill somehow "remember" the effects of the original, substance that has now been completely diluted out of the composition. An idea like this is completely contrary to the laws of chemistry.
So Homeopathy is bogus. Yet people fall for it. Why? Ignorance. People are uneducated on matters of science.