You're scientific, atheist, etc. Is Homeopathy OK for your parents, relatives, and friends who INSIST on taking them? How do you best safeguard them despite Homeopathy? Read on for my view.
Q1. Does Homeopathy work?
Yes and no. So drop your completely negative attitude. Homeopathy and other non-scientific medicines work on a principle called "placebo" [1] where the change (or effect) is due to body's response to the whole process rather than medicine itself. In some cases, placebo can be beneficial. That being said, it has been demonstrated scientifically that high potency versions of homeopathic medicines (the ones usually prescribed) are nothing but sugar water. Therefore, homeopathic medicine surely does not work, but the whole consultation process might work due to the placebo effect.
Q2. When is it OK to take Homeopathic medicine?
If one insists, homeopathic medicine might not be a problem or might even be beneficial under these circumstances:
1. If one is taking homeopathic medicine alongside modern medicine with knowledge of both the doctor (i.e. MBBS/MD) and the homeopath.
2. When the doctor has not prescribed any medication -- e.g. as in common cold.
3. When the doctor has deferred the medication for later or has advised against it -- e.g. surgery in very young or old people.
In any case, it is best to keep the doctor informed about the homeopathic medicine.
Q3. When is it NOT OK to take Homeopathic medicine?
Clearly, it is NOT OK if the conditions in the answer to question Q2 are not satisfied. Furthermore, it is also NOT OK when the prescribed homeopathic medicine is not truly homeopathic. "True" homeopathic medicines are just sugar water. But some homeopaths (the bad ones) might prescribe other non-homeopathic drugs and other unrelated (baby) products! One has to be careful and check the details of the prescription on the Web before beginning with the medication.
Q4. Is it OK to go to a Doctor with both MBBS/MD and Homeopathy degrees?
No, for two reasons. First, it is unlikely that the doctor prescribes both modern medicine and homeopathic medicine together (see answer to Q2 above). And second, a person truly invested in modern medicine is unlikely to endorse Homeopathy.
Q5. As Homeopathy has placebo benefits, shouldn't it be encouraged?
While it appears to be beneficial to encourage it, this would be the wrong direction. Conducting scientific research into understanding the placebo effect would be far better than cheating one into placebo like how Homeopathy does. So in the long term, Homeopathy does not seem to be a good idea. Hopefully scientific research on placebo catches up before it is too late (for us).
Q6. Should I recommend Homeopathy to others?
Definitely no. The people who lose the most are the ones who are poor and cannot avail or have no access to modern medicine. When assessed that the conditions in the answer to question Q2 cannot be satisfied, recommending Homeopathy is a very bad idea to the extent that it should be (but isn't) considered an offence as it could result in life threatening conditions.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Placebo