Homeopathy and Its Kindred Delusions

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Title page of the first edition, 1842

Homeopathy and Its Kindred Delusions (German for example: Homeopathy and similar errors) is an essay by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. , based on his two lectures Medical Delusions and Homeopathy from 1842. In it he criticizes homeopathy and compares it with "Astrology, palmistry and other methods that profit from the weaknesses and gullibility of people. ”The text is one of the most important works of Holmes and is one of the oldest critical debates on homeopathy.

content

Homeopathy and Its Kindred Delusions has two parts. In the first part, Holmes explains how the placebo effect can lead to false-positive results and describes various popular but ineffective forms of quackery (such as the royal touch, the Perkins' needles and the gun ointment ). He shows that positive anecdotal case reports do not necessarily indicate effective medical therapy. He describes how Elisha Perkins attributed the healing properties of his needles to a special metal alloy and how the needles fell in popularity after it was discovered that they always had the same effect regardless of their nature. In the second part, Holmes criticizes homeopathy itself, including the theory of potentiating . Another topic is homeopathic drug proving (the practice of testing substances for what symptoms they produce). Holmes complains that the test subjects would view even the smallest discomfort (such as itching) as results of the test substances and that this method could not prove causality.

In the work Holmes expresses his conviction that "real progress can only be achieved after years of work by highly qualified professionals who care little about fame and recognition."

reception

Homeopathy and Its Kindred Delusions received both praise and criticism after its release. In a series of letters called Some Remarks on Dr. OW Holmes's Lectures on Homeopathy and Its Kindred Delusions; Communicated to a Friend compared Robert Wesselhöft Holmes' work negatively to that of authors who “make fun of their fellow human beings” and viewed them as an example of “old-school medicine continued to disdain reforms”. In contrast, Eric W. Boyle, in his 2013 book Quack Medicine, described Holmes' work as "an extremely carefully reasoned examination of homeopathy as a dangerous and deadly aberration."

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Oliver Wendell Holmes: Homoepathy and Its Kindred Delusions . William D. Ticknor, Boston 1842.
  2. ^ William C. Dowling: Oliver Wendell Holmes in Paris . University Press of New England, 2007, ISBN 1584655801 , pp. 41, 80, 100-1, 158.
  3. ↑ Gerald Weissmann: Homeopathy: Holmes, Hogwarts, and the Prince of Wales . FASEB Journal. Retrieved December 6, 2013.
  4. ↑ Charles Ryskamp, Herbert Cahoon, Thomas V. Lange: American Literary Autographs, from Washington Irving to Henry James . Dover Publications, 1977, ISBN 0486235483 , p. 40.
  5. ↑ K. Patrick Ober: Mark Twain and Medicine: Any Mummery Will Cure . University of Missouri Press, 2003, ISBN 0826264484 , pp. 196-7.
  6. ↑ Andrew Weil, Health and Healing: The Philosophy of Integrative Medicine . Mariner Books, 2004, ISBN 0618479082 , p. 22.
  7. ^ Winton U Solberg: Reforming Medical Education . University of Illinois Press, 2009, ISBN 0252033590 , p. 14.
  8. ^ Stephanie Browner: Profound Science and Elegant Literature: Imagining Doctors in Nineteenth-Century America . University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004, ISBN 0812238257 , pp. 19, 94.
  9. ^ The Medical Brief: A Monthly Journal of Scientific Medicine, Volume 39 . Henry R Strong, 1911, pp. 246-7.
  10. ^ Robert Wesselhoeft: Some Remarks on Dr. OW Holmes's Lectures on Homoeopathy and Its Kindred Delusions: Communicated to a Friend . Otis Clapp, Boston 1842.
  11. ^ John S. Haller Jr: The History of American Homeopathy: The Academic Years, 1820-1935 . Psychology Press / CRC Press, 2005, pp. 202, 207-8.
  12. ↑ Eric W. Boyle: Quack Medicine: A History of Combating Health Fraud in Twentieth-Century America . Praeger, 2013, ISBN 031338567X , p. 8.