tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6123453264169963762.post65399706981583047..comments2023-04-27T18:37:40.633-07:00Comments on Pinata of Pathology: Nobel Prize Winner Believes in Homeopathy (Edited)Medical Mojavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14445140579589340514noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6123453264169963762.post-5805843124479011712011-02-03T09:25:07.558-08:002011-02-03T09:25:07.558-08:00The main reason I refuse to buy into homeopathy is...The main reason I refuse to buy into homeopathy is because it violates a well-known Law of Chemistry.<br /><br />A bit of explanation first: In chemistry, we mesure the amount of "stuff" we have in a unit called moles. One mole of carbon would be 6.02 x 10^23 carbon atoms. One mole of sugar would be the same number of sugar molecules. This is because the molar mass - the mass of one mole of a substance - differs greatly between what you're looking at, but it's still the same amount of 'stuff'. Case in point: One mole of hydrogen weighs slightly more than one gram. One mole of bismuth weighs about two hundred and nine grams. But, to a chemist, it's still the same amount of stuff. <br /><br />For salts, like table salt, it's a little different: One mole is 6.02 x 10^23 formula units, which is in the case of table salt, NaCl, would be one Na+ ion and one Cl- ion. In silver nitrate, which I use below, a formula unit would be one positively-charged silver ion and one negatively-charged nitrate ion.<br /><br />So, let's say you want to make some Argentum Nitricum, which is a homeopathic remedy for fear. Argentum nitricum is Latin for silver nitrate, and a little research shows that silver nitrate is the "active" ingredient. Silver nitrate has a molar mass of about 170 grams. So, now you'd have to make a 1:1 mixture. Now, I'm not sure if the homeopaths use a volume/volume, a weight/weight, or a mol/mol ratio, but mol/mol is most generous to homeopathy, so I'll use that. <br /><br />We take 170grams of silver nitrate (one mol) and mix it with 18mL of water (roughly one mol of water). That gives us a solution with a concentration of 55.56 mol/L. <br /><br />Now, let's make a one C solution. Take one mililiter of this 55.56 solution, and dilute it by a factor of 100. We can calculate the concentration by using the following equation: M_1 x V_1 = M_2 x V_2, where M_1 is our starting concentration, V_1 is 1mL, M_2 is what we want to find (the new concentration) and V_2 is our new volume (100mL). Rearrange and substitute, and we get a new concentration of 0.5556 mol/L. Which means that we have 0.5556mol of silver nitrate for every liter of solution. Since we only have 100mL of solution, we have 0.05556mol, or 3.3447 x 10^22 formula units of silver nitrate. <br /><br />Now, we should go to a 2C solution. Using the same process, we get 0.0005556mol of silver nitrate, or 3.3447 x 10^20 formula units. <br /><br />Repeat this 10 more times, and you'll reach a 12C solution, where in your new solution, you have 3.3447 formula units. Except that you can't have only part of a formula unit, so we have to round. Normally you'd round down here, but I'm trying to be generous to homeopathy, so I'll round up. 4 formula units. Repeat the dilution, for a 13C remedy. Now you'd have 0.04 formula units. Except, as I stated before, you can't have part of a formula unit. Mathematically, there's <i>nothing</i> left of the silver nitrate. <br /><br />Now, think that a lot of the remedies out there have stuff that's 100C, or 200C, or even 400C. They're diluting water into water, and coming up with more water. <br /><br />As for Dr. Montagnier's study, I'm not qualified to comment on it since I'm a chemist, not a microbiologist, but Orac over at <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/" rel="nofollow">Respectful Insolence</a> does a good job of pointing out likely flaws and providing reasonable alternate explanations for his results <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2010/11/luc_montagnier_the_nobel_disease_strikes.php" rel="nofollow">here</a>.Sarahhttp://sarahsasthmablog.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6123453264169963762.post-90100525828413911652011-02-02T18:04:44.881-08:002011-02-02T18:04:44.881-08:00Yeah, the Huffington Post is like that. They do so...Yeah, the Huffington Post is like that. They do some kind of minor screening of bloggers and writers based on credentials (like being a celeb apparently qualifies some people to write on the environment), but mostly they're looking for watercooler type stuff that gets people talking and draws clicks. Even most mainstream newspapers do that with their op-ed pages (and even more so on their websites). <br /><br />I'm pretty skeptical on homeopathy, personally. (I started a comment here before you updated the post, but I guess I failed to finish it and post it. Oops!) But this is interesting!Avivahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16411667763810131618noreply@blogger.com