Amadeus89 Posted July 18, 2012 Report Share Posted July 18, 2012 Garbage paper on homeopathic malaria prophylaxis. http://homeopathyplus.com.au/malaria2.pdf I need to completely and UTTERLY destroy this paper in front of a lay audience. So far only thing I have is a lack of a control group. Can anyone add more fodder? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-Stark Posted July 18, 2012 Report Share Posted July 18, 2012 I'd almost just say not to waste your time on something like that. A few specific points: 1) This was not a controlled trial. There was no randomization, no apparent standardization of doses (the authors readily admit that there was considerable lack of compliance amongst the subjects), and - worst - no control group. How they can comment on the efficacy of a drug - homeopathic or otherwise - without any controls is beyond comprehension. 2) There is no explicit definition of "malaria episode" and the results were reported only through subjective questionnaires. There is no evidence that the authors ensured that their trial subjects even had been infected by Plasmodium, and they even allow that clinical diagnoses were not formally available. So, overall, this is a reasonably but oddly documented trial which at best qualifies as a prospective case series lacking in detailed documentation. I'd add that the references are mostly lacking in any peer-reviewed articles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birdy Posted July 19, 2012 Report Share Posted July 19, 2012 (edited out a long rant as it wasn't terribly on-topic.) Anyway, don't. Just don't bother. Those who subscribe to homeopathy are frequently so convinced that anyone even moderately medically connected is in on 'Big Pharma' and you will not change any minds. I'm not even a med student yet, and they pull the 'well you want to be a doctor, of course you want to protect your future job!' thing. No matter what you say, those who hold up that paper as proof that their quackery works will not be convinced. As you said you are presenting it to a lay audience, maybe explain the way homeopathic preparations are made, the basis of homeopathy (the whole 'vital force' thing) and draw some comparisons so they can understand how diluted they truly are, just so they understand what homeopathy actually is, then do as A-stark suggested and shred its flaws to pieces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steffygraf Posted July 20, 2012 Report Share Posted July 20, 2012 Read this: http://skepdigest.awardspace.us/Homeopathy.html Homeopathy is a scam industry that endangers and rips off millions of consumers a year Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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