On 17/2/2020 I posted this article:
The drop in cases and deaths due to COVID-19 infections in India has been attributed to India’s national policy of using homeopathy. Early in the epidemic, the national “Ministry of AYUSH, recommended the use of Arsenic album 30 as preventive medicine against COVID-19. Its prophylactic use has been advised in states like Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Maharashtra. The ‘OFFICIAL HOMEOPATHY RESOURCE’ is now claiming that homeopathy is the cause of the observed outcome…
If you click on the link, you will find that the OFFICIAL HOMEOPATHY RESOURCE has now removed the original. No problem! Thanks to Alan Henness, we can still access it; he announced in a tweet that he has archived a copy. So, here is the full article again:
India’s National Policy of Using Homeopathic Medicine To Prevent COVID is Dramatically Working
A dramatic plunge in cases and deaths of COVID in India can be attributed to India’s national policy of using homeopathy.
Early in the epidemic, the national “Ministry of AYUSH, (medical alternatives), in its guidelines, issued an advisory to states across India recommending the use of a traditional homeopathic drug, Arsenic album 30 as a form of preventive medicine against COVID-19. Its prophylactic use has been advised in states like Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Maharashtra and in some places, it has been used in high-risk areas. In places like Bhopal, claims were raised when doctors said that mild COVID cases were successfully treated with homeopathy.” [Times of India]
And now the results of that policy and use are clear, even though scientists in the conventional paradigm are mystified as to why the drop is so dramatic. They know nothing about homeopathy and its history of successfully treating epidemics.
India has a population of 1 billion, 300 million people. Relative to this massive population the number of cases per day and especially the number of deaths per day are now exceptionally low. According to the Daily Mail:
“Scientists are trying to work out why coronavirus cases in India are falling when at one point it looked like the country might overtake the US as the worst-hit nation.
In September the country was reporting some 100,00 new cases per day, but that went into decline in October and is now sitting at around 10,000 per day – leaving experts struggling to explain why.”
But why?
Why did the original disappear?
The reason seems obvious:
Saturday’s official toll recorded another 2,600 deaths and 340,000 new infections in India, bringing the total number of cases to 16.5 million, second only to the US. There have been 190,000 deaths attributed to Covid in India since the start of the pandemic. These figures are dramatic but most likely they are gross underestimates of the truth.
The egg on the face of homeopathy gets bigger if we consider things like the COVID-19 advice from ‘HOMEOPATHY INTERNATIONAL’, or the fact that UK’s biggest provider of homeopathy training encouraged the use of homeopathic potions made with phlegm to protect against and treat Covid-19. The egg finally turns into a veritable omelette, once we learn that the leading academic journal in homeopathy, HOMEOPATHY, promoted the idea that homeopathic have a place in the fight against the pandemic – not just once but repeatedly – and that the leading UK homeopath, Elizabeth Thompson, recommended homeopathy for COVID-19 infections after herself falling ill with the virus.
No, I do not feel the slightest tinge of Schadenfreude, about all this. I am writing about it because I still hope that it will prevent some people from risking their health with useless therapies and perhaps even stop some charlatans to make ridiculously irresponsible claims about them. So, please do me a favor and heed my message:
The promotion of homeopathy and other ineffective therapies costs many lives!
23 Responses to Ever wondered what a homeopathic egg on the face looks like?
Leave a Reply to UK Homeopathy Regulation Cancel reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Erm, like a splash of water – just like all homeopathic products? Or is this a trick question?
Anyway, I am pretty certain that homeopaths already have lots of excuses ready.
My personal prediction: they will blame homeopathy’s opponents for the current health catastrophe – they will argue that as a result of all that criticism, most people never got a chance to receive their hugely effective homeopathic treatment for Covid-19.
use of a traditional homeopathic drug, Arsenic album 30 as a form of preventive medicine against COVID-19.
Clearly a mistake. The topical application of cow dung and crushed garlic plus one clove of garlic internally once a day has been working well for me.
400,000 cases per day:
Ah, ‘tis clearly just a homeopathic aggravation. Proof that homeopathy is working.
[Hopefully the sarcasm is not missed this time having had a previous version of this lost to moderation].
The death rate from Covid in India in people diagnosed with this disease is 1%…and the death rate of the entire population is .0014%. Wow…what a “killer”!
The incidence of Covid is its own type of vaccine that will reduce the future incidence and death from Covid and its variants. Although there are extremely rare cases of re-exposure to Covid, there are many many more incidences of Covid in people who are vaccinated.
And when you consider that homeopathic medicines to prevent Covid are more used in Southern India, please show us the higher incidence and death rate in Southern India. In fact, you’ll find the exact opposite.
Sorry to burst your narrative, but when you pull statistics out of your back-side, you have shitty data.
good try to distract from the ineffectiveness of homeopathy!
sad to see that you try to trivialize 200 000 fatalities
The below statistics may be interesting here:
San Francisco Bay area deaths based on incidence= 1.43%
California deaths = 1.65%
USA deaths 1.77%
India deaths = 1.14%
Based on these hard statistics, deaths from Covid based on those who were diagnosed with Covid were 64.4% higher in the USA than in India.
Perhaps we should learn what India is doing to reduce Covid deaths…
perhaps you should learn that things are not as simple as you seem to think.
there are many factors determining these figures.
homeopathy is not the central one.
BUT CUDOS: ANOTHER GOOD TRY TO DISTRACT GROM THE FACT THAT HOMEOPATHY DOES NOT WORK!
@Dana Ullman
Well, having an overall far younger population probably helps.
In the US, seniors (65+) account for 22% of the total population, whereas in India, the 65+ age group only accounts for 6.5%.
And please correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t Covid-19 mortality highest by far in patients over 60? In fact, if we just look at age distribution, India should have approximately one third of the mortality rate of the US, so 0.6% if we take your numbers.
But instead it is 1.14%. Which means that the age-corrected mortality rate in India is way higher than in the US.
So no, I do not think that we should be looking at India for any solutions … And, as Edzard already remarked, homeopathy is totally irrelevant – it is as useless as it has always been, and it certainly did not help people in India.
Hey Rich…gad, if you’re going to use statistics, why would you used WRONG statistics?
According to Google, the USA population over 65 years of age is 15.2% rather than 22%.
https://www.google.com/search?q=USA+population+over+65+years+of+age&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS809US809&oq=USA+population+over+65+years+of+age&aqs=chrome..69i57j0i13j0i22i30l3j0i390l2.8493j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
It seems that the pendulum has swung back to seeing BENEFITS from India…or maybe it is not homeopathy that is helping India, perhaps it is conventional medicine that is killing Americans!?
Hey Dana
That link shows 16.5%.
Richard read the figure for 2050 not 2020 on his link. The 2020 figure on his page is for 16.9%
And
Are you trying to claim that 16.5 is a smaller number than 6.5? Even you couldn’t be that ridiculous.
And the point regarding relative rates of obesity seems to have passed you by as well.
Back inside with you, Dana. This is where the big boys come to play. Don’t you get tired of being laughed at?
“Even you couldn’t be that ridiculous.”
You don’t know Dana!
@Dana Ullman
You are absolutely right, I didn’t pay attention when reading the graph, thank you (and Lenny) for the heads-up!(*)
But even with 15% instead of 22% of the US population being 65+, this still means that India is doing relatively bad.
No, not really. US population still has over twice the 65+ ratio compared to India, yet they only have 1.5 times the mortality figure, so India still doesn’t compare favourably.
And I haven’t even looked at another major Covid-19 risk factor in the US, obesity. Also, the US arguably has one of the worst systems of healthcare of all western countries (yet also by far the most expensive one, with per capita annual expenses ~1.5 times the amount of the number 2). Which brings me to your last question:
Well, yes, in a way, by being inaccessible. Dozens of millions of Americans are deprived of the best that modern medicine has to offer, simply because they cannot afford it. This undoubtedly reflects on Covid-19 mortality figures.
Anyway, as Edzard already noticed, things rarely are as simple as they look.
*: And I really mean this. People makes mistakes – which is generally accepted. And people should not only admit when their mistakes are pointed out to them, but actually be thankful to the ones telling them where they were wrong. Which, unfortunately, seems a bit harder for most of us, to put it mildly.
There appears to be this psychological principle where mistakes are only made by Other People …
Oh Dana
As Richard has rightly said, the demographics need to be examined.
Which rather pisses on your fatuous little bonfire.
And why don’t we look at obesity, the other big risk for COVID deaths. Would the figures be 5% of the population in India and 25% in California? Oh! I believe they would be!
How about type 2 diabetes (although this largely falls in line with obesity) but I’ll let you look that one up, Dana.
Who granted you your MPH? The car park attendant at Berkeley?
Dana. Once again it really would be a good idea for you to have a look to check if there’s water in the pool before you jump in. As ever, with every post, you only demonstrate your own inconsequential foolishness.
Lenny,
FYI People from the Indian sub-continent are at substantially increased risk of type II diabetes, and this risk is independent of their weight. This is largely a matter of genetics. They are also more likely to be malnourished, and to be suffering simultaneously from other diseases such as TB.
I would be surprised if these factors didn’t influence the course of Covid-19 in those individuals affected. Though I don’t think this in any way supports Dana Ullman’s ludicrous claims.
There were 2 large errors: In January, 2021
The government announced that the pandemic is behind us. And vaccine is available.
This led to the public going easy and some of those I know, stopped Arsenic Alb with the idea that 2 shots of vaccine over time was easier and be done with routine use of medicines.
Neither of the above was true. The vaccine roll out was delayed and the mutated virus resurfaced.
I am aware of 3 cases (all relatives): Husband {diabetic), wife a cancer survivor and another family member. All started homeopathic treatment when tested positive. Resolved with homeopathic remedies. Remedies used- Arsenic Alb, Bryonia Alb, Belladona, Rhus Tox and Digitalis.
Took time for fever to normalize- 11 days for the first, 13 days for the second and 12 days for the third.
The test to check infection status is expected to be done early next month.
… and I am aware of more than 3 cases of serious delusion by homeopaths.
May be you can explain how 1870/m managed to die in UK? It is a lot more than the mismanaged Brazil.
I can try: we have an utterly incompetent PM.
I thought homepathy was intended for PROPHYLAXIS against coronavirus, in India – that is, to PREVENT infection?
According to its own principles, homeopathy can’t be used for prophylaxis, for two important reasons:
– A ‘remedy’ must be selected to match the symptoms of a patient as closely as possible. This basic idea behind homeopathy that there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution is also touted by homeopaths themselves.
– If you administer a ‘remedy’ to healthy persons, they should actually start exhibiting symptoms. After all, this is the fundamental principle behind ‘proving’.
Especially the second reason has some interesting consequences: one could argue that all those Covid-19 cases in India are actually only symptoms, caused by homeopathic ‘remedies’ being administered to healthy people …
Then again, administering yet another dose of (carefully symptom-matched) homeopathic ‘remedies’ to those sick people should fix this. And please note that I am not joking – all this is fully based on homeopathy’s ‘laws and principles’. (Which are admittedly a very bad joke in and of themselves.)
But let’s return to reality: I really hope that India can end this human catastrophe quickly, with the help of the rest of the world. And even though it is probably too much to ask for them to they realize that homeopathy is nonsense, and that they should really stop diverting money and precious resources towards this fairy-tale ‘medicine’, I still hope that some head-scratching will ensue.
@Lenny
Surprisingly, diabetes prevalence in India is not much lower than in the US. Apparently, genetic factors play an important role, and I recall that in the western world too, people from Hindu descent are relatively more prone to diabetes and cardiovascular disease than other ethnic groups (see e.g. https://diabetes.diabetesjournals.org/content/63/1/53 )
I am always amused how Dana tries to conjure up a white homeopathic rabbit from his potentized cylinder, which always turns out to be a rotting gnawed carrot in the end.
Indeed http://ukhomeopathyregulation.blogspot.com/2020/06/mr-homeopathy-and-his-magic-covid-19.html