Issue 51
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martyn94
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The edition on the website seems reasonably current. Which moves me to say that it is wholly irresponsible to suggest (under the headline "Chemists") that homeopathic flu pills are any sort of substitute for a flu jab. Flu is exactly the sort of "self-limiting" illness that drives the sale of sugar pills : you mostly just get better anyway, and are grateful for that if someone has sold you a pill. But thousands of vulnerable people do die of it, and sugar pills don't help.
If you have a needle phobia - and I don't much like them myself - just save your money: you will probably live.
If you have a needle phobia - and I don't much like them myself - just save your money: you will probably live.
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Kate
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Hi BT
Next issue out in mid March, cos we're changing seasons.....not in the 'I am Mother Nature' sense
but in the swapping from March - May as it has been for many years to April - June and so on. Should be a good one! Great boost to me to know that you're actually looking forward to it. Thanks sooooo much.
Martyn, I do agree with you to a certain extent. Think that irresponsible is a bit strong...I am (fortunately) not my member's keeper lol.....but this is how it was put to me by the interviewed chemist.
I think people who believe in homeopathy will try these 'sugar pills' anyway and people who don't, won't.
Don't forget, there is also this chap here http://anglophone-direct.com/flu-in-lan ... oussillon/ which gives more medical based advice.
Next issue out in mid March, cos we're changing seasons.....not in the 'I am Mother Nature' sense
but in the swapping from March - May as it has been for many years to April - June and so on. Should be a good one! Great boost to me to know that you're actually looking forward to it. Thanks sooooo much.Martyn, I do agree with you to a certain extent. Think that irresponsible is a bit strong...I am (fortunately) not my member's keeper lol.....but this is how it was put to me by the interviewed chemist.
I think people who believe in homeopathy will try these 'sugar pills' anyway and people who don't, won't.
Don't forget, there is also this chap here http://anglophone-direct.com/flu-in-lan ... oussillon/ which gives more medical based advice.
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martyn94
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I don't want to start the Third World War, but the piece says that "influenzinum" is "just as effective as the nasty needle" - no attribution to an interviewed pharmacist, just stated as fact. In an ideal world, nobody would be so scientifically illiterate as to believe it, but here on planet earth lots of people do.Kate wrote:Hi BT
Next issue out in mid March, cos we're changing seasons.....not in the 'I am Mother Nature' sense
Martyn, I do agree with you to a certain extent. Think that irresponsible is a bit strong...I am (fortunately) not my member's keeper lol.....but this is how it was put to me by the interviewed chemist.
I think people who believe in homeopathy will try these 'sugar pills' anyway and people who don't, won't.
Don't forget, there is also this chap here http://anglophone-direct.com/flu-in-lan ... oussillon/ which gives more medical based advice.
I don't much care if people want to buy sugar pills for minor ailments where there is often no "genuine" treatment that will do any better. But inviting you to use them instead of an effective (though not perfect) vaccine against a potentially life-threatening illness seems to me a paradigm case of irresponsibility, even if (as is evidently so) it was done entirely innocently.
"Excess mortality" attributed to flu was something over 10,000 last year, according to this
http://www.english.rfi.fr/france/201503 ... enza-blame
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Kate
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You're probably right in retrospect, and I will delete that part from the original article (for you mere mortals).....though in my defense m'lud, the second article does say....
"Many French chemists have a wide range of homeopathic remedies so if, like me, you are a little needle phobic but should have a flu jab, ask your pharmacist for ‘Influenzinum’, homeopathic remedy of granules made up each year according to the current virus, but unlikely to be as efficient as the nasty needle."
Absolutely no chance of WW3. The only way that PO Life remains honest and interesting is by taking people's comments and constructive criticism on board. I'm certainly no great authority on much of what i write about - it comes from others, and as such is fallible!!
Appreciate your input. Honest!
"Many French chemists have a wide range of homeopathic remedies so if, like me, you are a little needle phobic but should have a flu jab, ask your pharmacist for ‘Influenzinum’, homeopathic remedy of granules made up each year according to the current virus, but unlikely to be as efficient as the nasty needle."
Absolutely no chance of WW3. The only way that PO Life remains honest and interesting is by taking people's comments and constructive criticism on board. I'm certainly no great authority on much of what i write about - it comes from others, and as such is fallible!!
Appreciate your input. Honest!
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martyn94
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But the second article is absolutely no better. If you "should" have a flu jab, you should have a flu jab. Point final. The effectiveness of homeopathic "remedies" is not a matter of likelihood: it is a choice between something that might work and something that definitely won't.Kate wrote:You're probably right in retrospect, and I will delete that part from the original article (for you mere mortals).....though in my defense m'lud, the second article does say....
"Many French chemists have a wide range of homeopathic remedies so if, like me, you are a little needle phobic but should have a flu jab, ask your pharmacist for ‘Influenzinum’, homeopathic remedy of granules made up each year according to the current virus, but unlikely to be as efficient as the nasty needle."
Absolutely no chance of WW3. The only way that PO Life remains honest and interesting is by taking people's comments and constructive criticism on board. I'm certainly no great authority on much of what i write about - it comes from others, and as such is fallible!!
Appreciate your input. Honest!
If you can't get over your needle phobia, just save your money. Your risks are not high, but not trivial either. Unless you - or someone close to you - is seriously vulnerable through age or poor health.
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Kate
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I think we will agree to disagree. This one states that the homeo option is less efficient. Some people swear by these treatments - and is is therefor an option for the needle phobic - but less efficace.
It is very easy to say to people 'if you should have an injection, then you must' but needle phobias are big and debilitating things.
One of the few advantages of being a titch is that when I was younger, I was a bit of a featherweight, below the necessary weight to be allowed to give blood so I could blather indignantly about wanting to but not being able to - if the'd said yes, I would probably have fainted!!
Not too light now!
This one states that the homeo option is less efficient. Some people swear by these treatments - and is is therefor an option for the needle phobic - but less efficace. It is very easy to say to people 'if you should have an injection, then you must' but needle phobias are big and debilitating things.
One of the few advantages of being a titch is that when I was younger, I was a bit of a featherweight, below the necessary weight to be allowed to give blood so I could blather indignantly about wanting to but not being able to - if the'd said yes, I would probably have fainted!!
Not too light now!
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martyn94
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Nobody "must" have a flu jab, and I didn't say so. A really strong needle phobia could be an adequate reason to pass it up. In which case do nothing. But the problem is with people (like me) who don't like needles much, but could grin and bear it if told (accurately) that the jab is the only effective precaution (beyond basic hygiene).Kate wrote:I think we will agree to disagree.
It is very easy to say to people 'if you should have an injection, then you must' but needle phobias are big and debilitating things.
One of the few advantages of being a titch is that when I was younger, I was a bit of a featherweight, below the necessary weight to be allowed to give blood so I could blather indignantly about wanting to but not being able to - if the'd said yes, I would probably have fainted!!
Not too light now!
The fact that some people "swear by" homeopathic remedies (or lucky white heather) is no reason to regard a homeopathic prophylactic against flu as "efficace" to any degree at all. The "therefore" in your post just doesn't follow. I'm sorry to be difficult, but people die from misinformation like this. It is disgraceful that (French ) pharmacists can get away with it, but you don't have to.
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martyn94
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You've missed some arcane pleasures. Like the rest of my family, I have quite deep difficult veins. It's usually a bit like pinning the tail on the donkey. But I used to give blood in the seventies at a session run by a mitteleuropean woman doctor of a certain age who not only did it very well, but had a magician's gift for misdirection as she did it: "been anywhere nice recently?" and whack, double top. It was worth the effort to see an artist at work, even if they had just thrown it away.Kate wrote: One of the few advantages of being a titch is that when I was younger, I was a bit of a featherweight, below the necessary weight to be allowed to give blood so I could blather indignantly about wanting to but not being able to - if the'd said yes, I would probably have fainted!!
Not too light now!
My sister used to give blood about the same time at her workplace in Paris. To recuperate you got a big glass of red wine and a salami sandwich: better put back what you have lost. I don't think that applies now: I take pills against hypertension which disqualifies me, to my regret.
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martyn94
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Just to be a bit more positive, I think it's well worth mentioning homeopathy (and aromatherapy etc) in a piece on chemists in France, but more neutrally. I kicked myself a few years ago when I asked for something for a persistent cough. I should have known that there was nothing to be done and it would soon go away (as it did). As it was I got €9 worth of sugar pills, which I only realised once I got home.
It might go like this "You will find that homeopathic (and other "alternative") treatments are much more "mainstream" here. If you are looking for an "over-the-counter" treatment, you may well be offered one. If that's what you want, you will be well served. If not, it's worth making that clear".
It might go like this "You will find that homeopathic (and other "alternative") treatments are much more "mainstream" here. If you are looking for an "over-the-counter" treatment, you may well be offered one. If that's what you want, you will be well served. If not, it's worth making that clear".
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Kate
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Webdoc
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I have just finished reading Bad Science by Ben Goldacre.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Science_(book)
Published years ago (2008) - I found it in a charity shop and bought it not really knowing what it was about. Very informative and entertaining.
The main thrust of the book is about how very badly science topics (health-related mostly) are reported in the media, and why. The reader is also educated in easily understood terms about "the scientific method". Along the way many health myths are debunked (including homeopathy) but the author (a doctor) who is at pains to point out that he has no problem with people taking homeopathic medicine if they wish as long as their homeopath doesn't also encourage them to throw the insulin away.
Having read it I am a slightly wiser man. My copy's up for grabs if anyone wants it. Free, naturally.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Science_(book)
Published years ago (2008) - I found it in a charity shop and bought it not really knowing what it was about. Very informative and entertaining.
The main thrust of the book is about how very badly science topics (health-related mostly) are reported in the media, and why. The reader is also educated in easily understood terms about "the scientific method". Along the way many health myths are debunked (including homeopathy) but the author (a doctor) who is at pains to point out that he has no problem with people taking homeopathic medicine if they wish as long as their homeopath doesn't also encourage them to throw the insulin away.
Having read it I am a slightly wiser man. My copy's up for grabs if anyone wants it. Free, naturally.
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martyn94
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[quote="Webdoc"]I have just finished reading Bad Science by Ben Goldacre.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Science_(book)
Published years ago (2008) - I found it in a charity shop and bought it not really knowing what it was about. Very informative and entertaining.
The main thrust of the book is about how very badly science topics (health-related mostly) are reported in the media, and why. The reader is also educated in easily understood terms about "the scientific method". Along the way many health myths are debunked (including homeopathy) but the author (a doctor) who is at pains to point out that he has no problem with people taking homeopathic medicine if they wish as long as their homeopath doesn't also encourage them to throw the insulin away.
Having read it I am a slightly wiser man. My copy's up for grabs if anyone wants it. Free, naturally.[/quote
I read it years ago. I don't think he's cool about homeopathy, but recognises, as all the research shows, that it can be effective, as a placebo, against conditions that don't matter much and are "self-resolving". In a wider perspective, it's on all fours with the desire for antibiotics against colds: something that people seek with great tenacity, and " medicins traitants" indulge to the tune of many millions of euros a year. What would you do, if your waiting room was full?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Science_(book)
Published years ago (2008) - I found it in a charity shop and bought it not really knowing what it was about. Very informative and entertaining.
The main thrust of the book is about how very badly science topics (health-related mostly) are reported in the media, and why. The reader is also educated in easily understood terms about "the scientific method". Along the way many health myths are debunked (including homeopathy) but the author (a doctor) who is at pains to point out that he has no problem with people taking homeopathic medicine if they wish as long as their homeopath doesn't also encourage them to throw the insulin away.
Having read it I am a slightly wiser man. My copy's up for grabs if anyone wants it. Free, naturally.[/quote
I read it years ago. I don't think he's cool about homeopathy, but recognises, as all the research shows, that it can be effective, as a placebo, against conditions that don't matter much and are "self-resolving". In a wider perspective, it's on all fours with the desire for antibiotics against colds: something that people seek with great tenacity, and " medicins traitants" indulge to the tune of many millions of euros a year. What would you do, if your waiting room was full?