Sir, – Brian Boyd's piece rubbishing alternative therapies was, like some of the therapies he decries, ill-informed and irresponsible ("Goodbye and good riddance to the nonsense of homeopathy", Opinion & Analysis, November 23rd). I won't mention its arrogance.
Jumping to conflate all alternative therapies with homeopathy is analogous to saying “Shut down the media because Breitbart is fascistic”.
Clearly some practices he mentions may run the gamut from being devoid of scientific proof, to being as yet unprovable, to being patently daft.
However, there is plenty of evidence to show that such practices as mindfulness, meditation, and acupuncture can not only increase a personal sense of wellbeing, which boosts health, but can effectively treat or slow certain illnesses and debilitating conditions.
Brian Boyd’s article runs the risk of turning people away from practices that may help them, and with fewer side-effects than some other treatments, while being guilty of practising what he condemns – making spurious claims without considering all of the evidence. – Yours, etc,
CONOR GRAHAM,
Galway.