OT truth in advertising

May 20, 2007 130 Replies

It might well be. The trouble, though, is that homeopathic "remedies" are diluted so much that absolutely *none* of the original substance remains, rendering the question of its biological activity completely moot. They're basically pure water. Google is your friend here; if you search on "rhus tox" you will quickly discover that the normal homeopathic dose is "30X". More diligent Googling will show you the meaning of 30X as used by homeopaths: X means 10-to-1 dilution, and 30 means the dilution is repeated a total of 30 times.

Let's suppose for the sake of argument that the molecular weight of the supposed active ingredient is, say, 100. Thus one mole of the substance weighs

100 grams. The chemist Avodgadro showed, in the 16th century, that one mole of any substance contains 6 * 10^23 molecules of that substance. (Google "Avogadro's number", or look that up in any chemistry textbook, for a full explanation.) Now suppose we start out with a kilogram of the original substance. That means we have ten moles, or 10 * 6 * 10^23 = 6 * 10^24 molecules.

Dilute that 10:1 one time, and retain a portion equal to the original volume. You now have 6 * 10^23 molecules of the original substance in that portion.

Do that twenty-three more times -- you have six molecules.

Do it one more time -- you have a 60% probability of having one molecule.

That's only 25 dilutions. We still have five to go before we've reached the "30X" level, and by the time we get there, it's guaranteed that it's so dilute, that any random sample, of equal volume to the original, drawn from the entire diluted batch has only 6 chances in a million of containing even ONE MOLECULE of the original substance.

It would surprise me greatly if that proved to be biologically active.

Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com) It\'s time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

Oops -- 19th century.

Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com) It\'s time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

You're probably thinking of Jacques Benveniste (correct spelling posted for the convenience of anyone wishing to do a Google search).

Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com) It\'s time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

The stuff I take is 6X. There's plenty of active ingredient in it. You can distinctly taste something in fact and it's not just the sugar.

The idea that homoeopathic remedies increase in strength through dilution is one step too far for me but hey, I don't have to believe in it.

30X is absolutely not the 'normal' strength btw.

Graham

6X means it's been diluted a MILLION TO ONE. "Plenty of active ingredient" is simply not possible.

At a million-to-one dilution, whatever you're tasting cannot possibly be the "active ingredient".

Yes, you do -- otherwise it doesn't work.

Appears to me that it is, but even if it's not, that's immaterial. The basic point remains that homeopathic ingredients are diluted far beyond the point at which any biological activity that they might originally have had could possibly remain. At any dilution beyond 25X, *none* of the original substance is left.

Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com) It\'s time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

You're mistaken. The classic 'over the counter' strength is 6X.

homeopathic ingredients are

originally have had

substance is left.

I agree entirely. It's undeniably so. I've made no claims for that stuff though.

Graham

OK, fine, the classic 'over the counter' strength is a million-to-one dilution. (You *do* know that's what "6X" means, don't you?)

Point is, there can't be enough of the original substance left to make any difference.

Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com) It\'s time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

typical homeopathic remedies contain on average less than one moelcule of the "active" component in the vial.

Bye. Jasen

Some homeopathic literature actually claims that "The more you dilute it, the better it works!" That must be the basis of the "20C" products. Let's see, 20 100:1 dilutions leaves 1 part in 10 to the *fortieth*. It would make more sense to claim that the good wishes of the maker of the "medicine" are what causes the effect.

But, how would you conduct one? "Well, you'll either be getting placebo, or placebo..." ?:-/

Thanks, Rich

Like I said... Google is your friend here.

Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com) It\'s time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

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