Page 3 - Autumn 13

Welcome, as always, to this Autumn edition of the mag. Thanks to all who contributed, especially the regulars: Saxton, Thompson, Hamilton, Stevenson, Beukelaer – without whose efforts we here at the mag might well struggle! Not to mention Mark, Peter, Jane (upper echelons BAHVS/IAVH Committee) who’s pieces form part of the glue every quarter for all our readers. Nick’s guest editorial (alongside) points out the worrying trend of the rise of the ‘popular media scientists’ who (to say the least) don’t understand homeopathy. On the other hand, BAHVS Junior Vice President Jane Keogh has a positive outlook on the recent ‘homeo- pathic vet’ bashing episode (p.10). I hope you find it uplifting. However, the question on all readers minds will be: did she make the apple wine this year – or not?
Malene :)
Senior Vice-President – Sue Armstrong health@balancedbeing.com
Junior Vice-President – Jane Keogh j.keogh5@btinternet.com
Hon. Secretary – Stuart Marston sec@bahvs.com
Treasurer – Wendy McGrandles wendy@glenbrae-vet.co.uk
Magazine Editor – Malene Jørgensen malene@laforcevitale.eu
Communications Officer – Nick Thompson nickthompson@holisticvet.co.uk
IAVH Representitive – Peter Gregory pg.ahimsa@virgin.net
Faculty Veterinary Representitive
John Saxton
john.saxton@talk21.com
Mag distribution – Cheryl Sears cheryl.sears31@btinternet.com
Committee – IAVH
President – Peter Gregory pg.ahimsa@virgin.net
Treasurer – Don Hamilton donhamiltondvm@gmail.com
General Secretary – Helene Widmann helene.widmann@chello.at
Coordinator subcommittee for education:
Stefan Kohlrausch
stefan.kohlrausch@arcor.de
Head of IAVH Office – Markus Mayer office@iavh.org
Newsletter subcommittee
Malene Jørgensen
malene@laforcevitale.eu
IAVH Communications Officer
Nick Thompson
nickthompson@holisticvet.co.uk
LIGA contact – Marc Bär info@homeopatte.ch
Committee – BAHVS
President – Mark Elliott homeopathicvet@btinternet.com
Guest Editorial by Nick Thompson, UK What Health the Skeptics?
In our house we call the media’s favourite sci- entist Brian Cock. I used to like the guy, Dr. Brian Cox, that is; using his cool D-Ream past to boost his credibility sufficiently to make us take note of his Mancunian down-to-earth utterings on celestial pyrotechnics really appealed to me. He is, perhaps, the Patrick Moore of the moment, the Magnus Pyke of the period.
...homeopathy ‘cannot possibly work’ Dr. Brian Cox
television companies, the new high-priests of our age; encouraged in their quest to convince us that our current understanding of things is acceptable and accurate; that contemporary physics is, like the Hokey Cokey says, what it’s all about.
I’m worried that these high profile geeks are actu- ally very influential in changing minds, influencing attitudes in the U.K. today and we can’t compete. Should we compete? I hear you cry. You may be right, but what if you’re wrong and they are doing what even the titanic American Medical Association couldn’t do in USA at the beginning of the last century – annihilate homeopathy?
But his very ‘logical’ perception of science means he does not understand, and therefore, accept homeopathy. Like most vociferous skeptics, he incants that homeopathy ‘cannot possibly work’, without realising that medicine and science, two of mankind’s three greatest creations, do not always fit the same mould.
I wouldn't mind, but he’s on the box all the time, as is Goldacre, Dara O Briain, Singh and the rest of the blathering ‘science’ faction. And they are very subtly encouraged by the infinite influence of the
The Faculty [of Homeopathy] and the 4Homeopathy groups may be our last bastion. They are resourceful, but underfunded, passion- ate, but time limited and I fear a David in compar- ison with the Goliath of the media’s love of scientism and its protagonists.
We are right. They believe they are right. We should win in the end. I just hope this algal growth bloom they seem to be going through is just a short lived seasonal spurt and not an evolutionary stepping stone.
Doing the job is not enough
By John Saxton, UK
A recent news item in a popular English news- paper cast an interesting light on one of the prevailing attitudes in modern medical sci- ence, an attitude which goes some way to explaining one of the obstacles to the accept-
always the case, and those who proclaim that have loud voices. The current driving force of Evidence Based medicine (EBM) is often hijacked by such people, who have little or no real clinical experience and EBM interpreted as relying solely on ‘objective, scientific’ crite- ria – hence the undue reliance on RCTs and meta-analysis, as the only valid standards of
The British Association of Homeopathic Veterinary Surgeons (BAHVS) was formed in 1981, to advance the understanding, knowl- edge and practice of homeopathy. It aims to stimulate professional awareness of homeopa- thy and to encourage and to provide for the
training of veterinary surgeons in the practice of homeopathy.
It is an open forum for differing approaches to the subject of veterinary homeopathy and it’s application, allowing for constructive inter- changes of ideas.
This publication is copyright. No part of it may be reproduced without the permission of the Editor. Material published does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the BAHVS or the Editor.
The BAHVS does not necessarily endorse products or the companies advertised.
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ance of homeopathy as a valid discipline.
For once the news item itself was accurate! It reported some decisions by the British ‘Advertising Standards Authority’ concerning the claims made on some homeopathy related websites (but could the fact that those deci- sions cast homeopathy in a bad light have influenced the accuracy of the reporting? –
perish the thought!).
The sting, however, came in an accompa-
nying ‘boxed’ explanation of what homeopathy is. This stated that it was ‘invented’ by a German doctor Samuel Hahnemann, who’s “only experience was in general practice”. Putting aside the ‘invention’ jibe and the omis- sion that his experience also included public health, the implications of that remark are truly amazing, condemning as it does the vast majority of both the veterinary and medical professions. The concept that the judgement of those, who have a lifetime of clinical expe- rience based on practical observation, cannot be relied on surely defies all reason?
Unfortunately, in the modern era this is not
proof.
The World Health Organisation hierarchy of
evidence includes individual observation and case histories and true EBM includes the clin- ician’s judgement plus the needs/wishes of the patient but those, who prefer theory to practice, conveniently forget these. Even those on the fringes of medicine with non-medical qualifications feel justified in pronouncing on the validity of homeopathy based on their con- cept of science.
However: “The true scientific method is a triad of observation, hypothesis and experiment, which serves to add to the body of knowledge. We can safely assume that it was this method that primitive man employed when rubbing two sticks together to make fire. It is uncertain how many placebo-controlled randomised tri- als were performed, before the principle was generally accepted.”
The above quote from an unknown source, found by Peter Gregory many years ago (thanks Peter) puts things in a more realistic perspective.
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