Homeopathy Research – Research on Homoeopathy

Jonathan Clogstoun-Willmott

May 17, 2020

Homeopathy research on Covid-19 patients is ongoing.

For preliminary work up to April 2020, here’s a summary of work from Italy:

“In Italy most positive and probable COVID-19 patients are at home if their clinical situation is mild. A group of homeopathic physicians treated 50 patients.The study describes their hospitalization rate, clinical evolution, homeopathic medicines used and gives an updated picture of use, limitations and perspectives of classical homeopathy in COVID-19 extra-hospital patients.”

Click to see in more detail what homeopaths in Italy are doing.

The following on homeopathy research is just a small part of an article by Robert Medhurst BNat ND DHom. I’m very grateful to him for allowing me to publish it. (Note: Robert Medhust has now retired from clinical work but maintains another site that actively promotes homoeopathy : https://hpathy.com)

The rest of the article is accessible by clicking here.

…

Background to this Homeopathy Research

The Australian Federal Government announced in 2019 that the healthcare insurance rebates for most complementary medicine consultations provided by non-registered healthcare providers, including rebates for homeopathic treatment, would cease.

This measure was taken as a means of reducing healthcare spending in areas where the government was advised that there was insufficient evidence for the treatment modality to justify the rebate.

As these rebates cease and the net cost of complementary medicine and homeopathic consultations increases, the number of consultations carried out across Australia is likely to decrease and the people who would have been treated with complementary medicine and homeopathy but can no longer afford to do so, will turn to the public health system for a solution to their disease and public health expenditure will increase.

The removal of the rebates will therefore have the opposite effect to the one originally intended by the government. The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), the Australian Federal Government’s peak advisory body on healthcare, was the organisation that assessed the evidence for these modalities and the methods used for that assessment, particularly in regard to homeopathy, have been subject to significant levels of criticism, both from academic experts working in this area and from professional prescribers.

Among other things, the NHMRC concluded that there were no health conditions for which there is reliable evidence that homeopathy is effective.

It was an interesting outcome given the amount of good quality evidence that’s easy to find that confirms the effectiveness of homeopathy.

A few years ago I wrote an article containing summaries of most of the research on homeopathy that had been published up to that time.

This article (below), completed in December 2017, is an update to that. It contains 500 abstracts from human, animal, plant and in-vitro scientific studies published in peer-reviewed journals that attest to the reality that there is an abundance of well-constructed objective evidence that confirms a positive effect from interventions using homeopathy.

Human Studies (in Homeopathy Research)

1. Albertini H, et al. Homeopathic treatment of dental neuralgia by Arnica and Hypericum. Journal of the American Institute of Homeopathy, 1985, 3, 126-129. Carried out at the Faculty of Medicine of Marseilles, this placebo controlled study was designed to determine the effectiveness of Arnica 7C and Hypericum 15C for people suffering from dental neuralgia. 60 people received either 4 pilules of Arnica alternated with 4 pilules of Hypericum every 4 hours or placebo administered in the same way. Pain levels were assessed over 3 days from the beginning of the trial. From this assessment it was found that 12 of the 30 people who received the placebo had a positive response to this intervention, and 23 of the 30 people given the homeopathic medicines responded positively to these.

2. Alibeu JP, Jobert J. Aconite in Post-Operative Pain and Agitation in Children, Pediatrie, 1990, 45, 7-8, 465-6. In this double blind placebo controlled trial, 50 children suffering from post-operative pain and agitation were given either Aconite or placebo. The effects of Aconite were significantly better than placebo

3. Ammerschlager H, et al. Treatment of inflammatory diseases of the upper respiratory tract – comparison of a homeopathic complex remedy with xylometazoline. Forsch Komplementarmed Klass Naturheilkd. 2005, 12, 1, 24-31. In a multi-centre, controlled, cohort study, 739 people suffering from rhinitis or sinusitis were given either xylometazoline (a drug commonly used for nasal congestion, sinusitis and hay fever) or a homeopathic combination. Both forms of therapy provided similarly effective results.

4. Baars EW, De Bruin A. The effect of Gencydo injections on hayfever symptoms: a therapeutic causality report. J Altern Complement Med. 2005 Oct, 11, 5, 863-9. In this study, 13 Dutch medical practitioners submitted patients (who between them had a mean history of hayfever of 9 years), for therapy involving injections of a combination homeopathic product. All but 1 patient were given the medication before the onset of the hayfever season and all were given it during the hayfever season. Of these 13, during the course of the trial 9 people found no increase in nasal and non-nasal hayfever symptoms when the hayfever season began or during it and only 1 of the 13 felt compelled to use conventional hayfever medication.

5. Baduluci S, et al. Zinc: Immunoglobin Relationship in Patients with Cirrhosis of the Liver Before and After treatment with Zincum metallicum 5C. International Research Group on Very Low Dose and High Dilution Effects, 1993 Giri Meeting, British Homoeopathic Journal, April, 1994, 83, 84- 100. 10 people suffering from Zinc deficiency as determined by atomic absorption spectrophotemetry were treated with Zincum metallicum 5C. Analysis following this treatment showed a substantial improvement in zinc levels.

6. Banerjee A, et al. Can Homeopathy bring additional benefits to Thalassemic Patients on Hydroxyurea Therapy? Encouraging Results of a Preliminary Study. Evidence Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2010, 7, 1, 129–136. In this observational study, 38 people suffering from thalassaemia who were taking hydroxyurea, were allowed to continue their use of hydroxyurea but were given one of several homeopathic medicines. The effects of this additional treatment were compared to the outcomes of another 38 people suffering from thalassaemia who used hydroxyurea alone, assessed immediately before and at 3 months after starting the homeopathic treatment. Of a range of haematological and clinical parameters, those people using the combined treatment showed an increase in levels of foetal haemoglobin over those on hydroxyurea alone, along with a reduction in serum ferritin. Where splenomegaly was present, a significant reduction in this was noted in those on the combined therapy and this group also noted an improvement in general health with a longer period allowed between blood transfusions.

7. Barnes J., Resch K-L., Ernst E. Homoeopathy for Post-Operative Ileus: A Meta-Analysis. Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology, 1997, Dec, 25, 4, 628- 633. 7 separate trials examining the effects of homoeopathic treatment for post-operative ileus after abdominal or gynaecological surgery when compared with placebo, specifically, for the time to first flatus after surgery. Subsequent analysis showed that homoeopathy provided superior results to placebo.

8. Bell IR, et al. Improved clinical status in fibromyalgia patients treated with individualized homeopathic remedies versus placebo. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2004, 43, 5, 577-82. 53 people suffering from fibromyalgia took part in this trial, comparing individualised homoeopathic treatment to placebo. The levels of tender points and tender point pain as well as quality of life, mood and general health were assessed by the practitioners and subjects involved in the trial. 3 months after commencing treatment, all parameters were found to be improved by the use of homoeopathy when compared to placebo.

9. Belon P, et al.Can administration of potentized homeopathic remedy, Arsenicum album, alter antinuclear antibody (ANA) titre in people living in high-risk arsenic contaminated areas? I. A correlation with certain hematological parameters. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2006, 3, 1, 99-107. To investigate whether or not potentised Arsenicum album has an effect on arsenic-induced elevations of antinuclear antibody (ANA), selected inhabitants of arsenic affected villages in India’s West Bengal were randomly assigned to receive either Arsenicum album or placebo. After 2 months of administration, it was found that not only did the remedy provide superior results in reducing the ANA titre, it also caused a correction of arsenic-induced haematological changes such as total count of red blood cells and white blood cells, packed cell volume, haemoglobin content, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and blood sugar level.

10. Belon P, et al. Homeopathic remedy for arsenic toxicity? Evidence-based findings from a randomized placebo-controlled double blind human trial. Sci Total Environ. 2007 Oct 1;384(1- 3):141-50. Epub 2007 Jul 12. This was a pilot study carried out on 25 people from an Indian village where arsenic contamination was endemic and 18 people from another Indian village without arsenic contamination. These people were randomly assigned to receive either Arsenicum album 30C or a succussed placebo control. After 2 months on either active medicine or placebo, these people had their blood and urine assessed for arsenic as well as several widely accepted toxicity biomarkers and pathological parameters related to arsenic toxicity. The use of Arsenicum album 30C had a beneficial effect on these biomarkers. It was also found to improve the appetite and general health of those people who previously exhibited signs and symptoms of arsenic toxicity.

11. Berrebi A, et al. Treatment of Pain due to Unwanted Lactation with a Homeopathic Preparation given in the Immediate Post-Partum Period. Gynecology, Obstetrics and Biological Reproduction, 2001, 30, 4, 353-7. 71 post- parturient women who were unwilling or unable to breast feed were divided into 2 groups, one being given a placebo and the other group being given a mixture of Apis 9C and Bryonia 9C, to determine the effects of either on lactation pain. A significant improvement was noted in the group using the mixture, when compared to those in the placebo group.

12. Bignamini M, Saruggia M, Sansonetti G. Homeopathic Treatment of Anal Fissures using Nitricum acidum Berlin Journal on Research in Homoeopathy, 1, 4/5, 286-287, December 1991. Patients using Nitricum acidum 9C once daily in a double blind placebo controlled trial found subjective relief with the medicine over the placebo.

(… End of Extract … These are the first 12 of 181 references of Human studies: see the rest at https://www.scottishhomeopath.org/human-studies-research.html)