By: Melody

Melody — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 10:05:12 +0000

Uck, I know, I see this all the time. As unfortunate as it is that these things are airing, I do use them as teaching moments, when my family is around and I will make some remark such as, “Wait, they’re selling homeopathy? Why not just get some tap water and save me the 20 bucks?” I’ve already explained homeopathy with an analogy of marbles to explain the dilution and how in most cases there’s hardly any molecules or no molecules of the “active” substance left, and the “like cures like”, but my parents forget stuff like that so I sometimes give a shortened version of “it’s diluted down so much that it’s effectively water, and homeopathy proclaims that the dilution makes the active ingredient that may not be present in the bottle have a stronger effect”.

They have a commercial selling a “version” for dogs as well as one for humans. I can’t help but wonder if a person is convinced this will help their dog that they might ignore or minimize joint problems that would warrant vet attention, and dogs can’t talk and say “this homeopathy isn’t helping any”, whereas I think that at least some of the gullible but not woo-ified consumers would quit the product after some time if they don’t notice any significant changes (even if a subset of that group would just hop to another woo remedy).

Have you seen the commercials for something called – Triple Flex I believe it is? It’s basically a chondroitin/glucosamine supplement. That sort of thing is really insidious, too, because it looked much less “infomercial-y” than the homeopathy spray and looked much more like a legitimate OTC treatment in its marketing.

Too bad I don’t get the science channel. I don’t watch much TV though, but I do get the science blogs.

Comments on: Pseudoscience on the Science Channel

By: Melody