EEC banning herbal medicines

[locum76]

Mary:

Despite Red's kind offer I could swap you Aloe Vera for Horseradish when you visit the farm. The stuff has gone feral here.

Rob

 

[Toddy]

Now that simplifies things

I guess I really do need to grow the stuff in a pot then ?

and look out recipes too by the sounds of it

atb,
M

 

[British Red]

...and prepare it outdoors!


Grating horse radish is an evil task ...makes your eyes stream! Lovely condiment though....our native "hot stuff"....grated with some sour cream and lemon juice and spread on strong cheddar sandwiches....mmm

 

[Toddy]

Thank you for the warning I'll be careful. Are the leaves edible and tasty ?

I mind my Granny making wee jars of hot, salty pickle from horseradish root. I'm sure it was just sliced almost paper thin.
My Grandpa liked the stuff with egg on a lunchtime sandwich.
I'll need to see if she ever wrote down the recipe.

cheers,
M

 

[zarkwon]

I use both Herbal and Homoeopathic remedies and will continue as they have worked for me..

I'm with Rik, quackery! An alternative remedy which has been proven to work is medicine! Homeopathic remedies??? Now you're taking the mick aren't you? They have not one bit of scientific credibility. There is no active ingredient and the basic idea behind it is preposterous. What's wrong with going to the doctors, I don't get it? You'll be telling us about the virtues of acupuncture or chiropractic and the dangers of getting your kids vaccinated next. The reason 'Big Pharma' charges a lot for some medicines is the cost to them for R@D and to get products to market through the strict testing schedule. The scientific method is the best tool we have for examining the world around us. If you are selling something which is untested or unproven by this tool then I am not putting it in my body or that of my child. If we are ill we should have the most effective cure as determined by double blind testing and the use of the scientific method. Anything else is madness.

 

[Graham_S]

I've always been amused by the central concept of homeopathy.
"The memory of water"
What makes the water remember the particles of whatever active ingredient it has been in it, but forget all the bodily wastes that have been through it.
Snake oil, the lot of it.

 

[British Red]

Thank you for the warning I'll be careful. Are the leaves edible and tasty ?

I mind my Granny making wee jars of hot, salty pickle from horseradish root. I'm sure it was just sliced almost paper thin.
My Grandpa liked the stuff with egg on a lunchtime sandwich.
I'll need to see if she ever wrote down the recipe.

cheers,
M

Not tried the top growth - you don't get that much - just miles of rope like root. It is lovely pickled in white vinegar (although I grate). The hardness of the root when twined is another reason to pot grow - just dump the pot out at harvest time. Put a few root pieces in a new pot and process the rest.

I carefully brought some from Hampshire - then looked in the dyke opposite - where the worlds supply grows wild

 

[Tadpole]

I'm with Rik, quackery! An alternative remedy which has been proven to work is medicine! Homeopathic remedies??? Now you're taking the mick aren't you? They have not one bit of scientific credibility. There is no active ingredient and the basic idea behind it is preposterous. What's wrong with going to the doctors, I don't get it? You'll be telling us about the virtues of acupuncture or chiropractic and the dangers of getting your kids vaccinated next. The reason 'Big Pharma' charges a lot for some medicines is the cost to them for R@D and to get products to market through the strict testing schedule. The scientific method is the best tool we have for examining the world around us. If you are selling something which is untested or unproven by this tool then I am not putting it in my body or that of my child. If we are ill we should have the most effective cure as determined by double blind testing and the use of the scientific method. Anything else is madness.

I've always been amused by the central concept of homeopathy.
"The memory of water"
What makes the water remember the particles of whatever active ingredient it has been in it, but forget all the bodily wastes that have been through it.
Snake oil, the lot of it.

Much as I hate to do this, but there is a growing body of research that supports some homeopathic medicines link

 

[zarkwon]

The huffington post? Surprise surprise! A publisher well known in the realms of skepticism for publishing such nonsense.
Counter with this. It's what you should be reading anyway http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=2081
Or this http://www.quackometer.net/blog/2009/10/why-i-am-nominating-luc-montagnier-for.html

 

[Tadpole]

The huffington post? Surprise surprise! A publisher well known in the realms of skepticism for publishing such nonsense.

Were it not the 15 or so decent links from the 25 that were included at the bottom of that page I'd agree, but even the BMJ and Lancet are not dissmissing it out of hand, so I don't see why any reasonable person would just because it is in the Huff'

 

[zarkwon]

Not just because it's in the "Huff" (although that is a big flashing warning to me) but because it is preposterous and flies in the face of scientific thinking since the enlightenment. As well as the fact that the paper is not even written properly. When it's repeated by someone capable of getting it into a proper peer reviewed publication I'll start to pay attention. I'm not holding my breath.
P.s. It's not even about homeopathy anyway.

 

[Mikey P]

From the look of this, it seems that all substances with a claimed medicinal property, that are to be sold on the basis of this medicinal property, must prove that it actually works! This is merely evidence-based techniques. It means that everyone is on the same playing field, does it not?

However, I suspect that the providers of the herbal medicines will not have the money and resources to put their products through the strict testing required to show that it is safe for use.

I guess that, if you really want the stuff you should learn to make your own, as you are exempt from legislation if it's only for personal use.

 

[Graham_S]

I see no problem with a company being required to say what is in the product they sell, and that it does what they claim.

 

[myotis]

I've always been amused by the central concept of homeopathy.
"The memory of water"
What makes the water remember the particles of whatever active ingredient it has been in it, but forget all the bodily wastes that have been through it.
Snake oil, the lot of it.

The memory of water isn't the central concept, the central concept is based purely on observational studies where diluted medicine seemed to be more effective than the more concentrated doses, With effectiveness increasing the more you diluted them. I don't think any homoeopath pretends to know how this might be actually working,

The two theories are the like cure like one, where the a weak dose of something "some how " stimulates the bodies natural response to a disease, and the limited research into this water memory business, suggesting another possible part in the how it works story. But this is just put forward as a possible part of an essentially unknown mechanism.

http://www.britishhomeopathic.org/research/how_homeopathy_might_work.html

Graham

 

[demographic]

I see no problem with a company being required to say what is in the product they sell, and that it does what they claim.

My take exactly. +1

 

[demographic]

The memory of water isn't the central concept, the central concept is based purely on observational studies where diluted medicine seemed to be more effective than the more concentrated doses, With effectiveness increasing the more you diluted them. I don't think any homoeopath pretends to know how this might be actually working,

The two theories are the like cure like one, where the a weak dose of something "some how " stimulates the bodies natural response to a disease, and the limited research into this water memory business, suggesting another possible part in the how it works story. But this is just put forward as a possible part of an essentially unknown mechanism.

http://www.britishhomeopathic.org/research/how_homeopathy_might_work.html

Graham

Err, that's all the sort of thing this legislation is designed to tighten up on. If it goes to plan there should be less snakeoil on the market and suckers won't be duped into forking out cash for "medicines" that are of no more value than placebos.

 

[myotis]

Err, that's all the sort of thing this legislation is designed to tighten up on. If it goes to plan there should be less snakeoil on the market and suckers won't be duped into forking out cash for "medicines" that are of no more value than placebos.

Not sure I follow your point, the point I was making is that whether water has or has not got a memory is not a central concept to homoeopathy, and irrelevant to the argument as to whether it works or doesn't work.

Just because we can't explain how something works isn't evidence of it not working.

Graham

 

[Andy BB]

Be interested to see any genuine double-blind, statistically valid tests on these.

 

[myotis]

Be interested to see any genuine double-blind, statistically valid tests on these.

A starting point would be http://www.facultyofhomeopathy.org/research/

Not that you can draw any conclusions from them, well maybe that depends on what you believe in the first place

"Between 1950 and 2009, 142 randomised controlled trials (RCTs) in homeopathy have been reported. This represents research in 74 different medical conditions. Of these 142 trials, 63 were positive, 11 negative and 68 non-conclusive. "

Graham

 

[durulz]

Nurse! Nurse! I've had an aneurism - quickly pass me a poultice of marjoram, nettles and honey!