12.1 goals Placebo? 411 What is homeopathy? What do you know about it? Health and Talk together, then read to check your ideas. treatments en Homeopathy s based on the idea of ke cures ke. Homeopaths wil tweat an ines using substances that, ina healthy person, would produce imilar symptoms to these af the ines, For example, the hero aria is sed to veat bruising because, when rubbed onto the skin ofa healthy person. it turns the skin purple. Another principle of homeopathy is that the more you dilute a substance ina liquid suc as water, the more efectve t's —s0 a treatment of one drop of substance in a thousand ops of water would be less effective asa remedy than a treatment of Cone drop ina milion, These treatments are not addictive and have no side effects. Cites, however, believe they have no effect at all and that @ homeopathic medicine’ is nothing more than a placebo. eae 2 How do these expressions from the paragraph differ in meaning? Can you give examples? 1. aniliness / symptoms 3. effect /side effects 2 atreatment /a remedy 4 amedicine /a placebo 2. Discuss these questions about the treatments in the box. 1 What kind of health problems can each treatment be used for? | acupuncture 2 Which would you describe as ‘conventional’ medicine? anibiotics Which are ‘alternative’? | hypnosis | 3 Which do you think: massage | a can be effective? painkillers | can have serious side effects? physiotherapy ¢ are probably just 2 placebo? Why? surgery dare probably used too much? vaccinations should be used more? EI 4 Work in two groups, A and 8. Group A read the article against homeopathy below. Group B - read the article in favour of homeopathy on p131 Identify the main arguments for or against homeopathy in your article, then compare with someone in your group. Do you agree on what the main arguments are? ‘THE SCEFTIC: BEN GOLDACRE Homeopathy — does it wor? Homeopets claim tat heir ils make people get better. Tis ren cence seal Susreen ed mermpie eel : The pile peiomn ro betas than ordinary everyday sugar e Homeopathy: Bem siswnich have never been given the magical teatmentby a Goldacre says it’s“ Fomeopath:theyre nothing moc than places. ee ee cence nonsense, Jeamette realise. t's fascinating, and it has been studied extensively by : ecg nedualstines We ow tatfecrpureoosueurpis day wil | Winterson believes Tel paniinesqickethantwo ugnrplswesrow tatan | in it - but what do __ injectionisa more effective treatment for ain hana pill, we know : ee you think? ieee a Cee eacaging on pallens ncreaees pain rei st dehencs aneTOC 1 Group A ~ read again. What examples does Ben give of: 1 ‘the placebo effect’? 2 health problems which placebos may be suitable for? 3. the bad practices of some homeopaths? Get into A/B pairs and tell each other about your articles. Which writer do you agree with more? Why? Ht works ior me Which of these sentences express a belief in something and which express scepticism? Belief and Itworks for me 7 I believe in it scepticism Itoffers no benefit 8 Ithas no scientific basis. Its tried and tested, 9 There's no proof that it works. r + Vocabulary reference ‘and practice, p150 Aa Itend to worry about the future so use astrology to find out ‘what might happen. Pale blue is calming, so I've done my living room in pale blue, Fluent speech 3 =Its ands 1 2a But ifhomeopathy users are being deceived by the placebo effect, is that so bad? Maybe not, There are often situations where people want treatment but where medicine has little to offer back pain, stress at work, medically unexplained fatigue, and most common colds. Teying every lmown medication will give you only side effects. A sugar pill in these czcumstances seems a very sensible option. But there are ethical problems Modern doctors are very open and T've found that meditation’'s reat for reducing sess. gy ifs tried and tested 2 Read the quotations about what people do to feel better. Writ expressing your reactions to each idea, using highlighted expressions from 1. | don’t believe in astrology at all. There's no proof that it works. it’s worthless. 10. It’s nothing mare than @ placebo. ‘ it’s nonsense. 11 You can see its effects, Itrust it 12. It’sino better than a sugar pill. GD You say (t's tried and tested not tes tried andtproved, sentences ~* Whenever Ihave problems ~ personal problems —Igotoacounsellor. ite using colours to change my mood. ayer reanynotps me when {don't know wit do, ‘When I wear red, I foe! more energetic. | think the reason I'm so healthy is that I only eat organic food. Lt D fs worthless. Winav's the weather lke? 3 I warm and sunny. ® should Ica him now? aa No, k's not a good idea ° Tell three or four people what you think about the Ideas in 2. Find someone who shares most of your opinions, honest with their patients. But when someone prescribes a homeopathy pill that they know is no more effective than a placebo, without telling their ratient, then they show no respect for some very important ideas, such as getting consent from your patient and respecting thei right to make decisions. There are also more concrete harms. It's routine marketing practice for hhomeopaths to attack conventional medicine. Homeopaths have been caught giving patients sugar pills © FRGMUNGNION «3 2 + EHD Listen to these expressions from 1 and practise saying them.@ 4's nonsense. At the beginning of a sentence, people often leave out the It in It's, b © Inpairs, practise these short conversations without It ‘What time i Itshalf past nine, ‘You're looting tired, Yeah, I's time to go, { {con't do meditation myself but I think it works for a lot of people, It's OK, I guess, protect them against fatal diseases like malaria while not even giving basic advice on prevention, and giving dangerous advice on vaccines. ‘Was there any action againet these bhomeopaths? None. ‘This is shamefully foolish, and to point this out should not be considered an ‘attack’ on homeopathy. Ifs simple Ben Golder is siece writer and doctorFay isa teacher at Sputhglan, school for 12-to 18-year-olds in Winnipeg, Canada will be -ing 12.2 goals Read the descriptions a-g, then discuss the questions. Students and teachers call each ather by their first names. The school is managed by a headteacher. All students have to help out in the school kitchens. All students have to wear a uniform. Lessons mainly involve listening and note-taking. Students choose which subjects they want to study. Students are expected to do regular homework How true are a-g for the schools you went to? | Which do you think are good ideas? Which are bad ideas? Why? 4220 Listen to the beginning of Fay's talk about Southglen school, Who's she talking to? What's the occasion? 3. BD Listen to the main part of Fay's talk. Which of the descriptions a-g in 1 are true for Southglen? Which are false? & 62D Listen again. How often are ‘parliaments’ held? How do they work? What examples does Fay aive of things the parliament decides about? Why does she think the parliament system is successful? What are students encouraged to do when they start at Southglen? Why? What are students expected to do if they're not in class? bb Read the script on p170 to check. 5 Talk together. Imagine: 1 youwere a member of Fay’s audience. What would you want to ask? 2. you could send a child to Southglen or a conventional school. Which would you choose? & Read the information in the box. [At the beginning of her talk, Fay uses willbe -ing to let people know what to expect [ibe taking you on 2 tour of the schi ‘We'll be coming back here to talk about the application process. This form gives the impression that a future events a simple, natural factors = ofa plan or schedule. Compare T'take you on a tour... (sounds like Fay's wish or decision VLbe taking you on a tour... [sounds like @ | '