An Overview of Positive Homeopathy Research and Surveys

December 15, 2006 by Kate Chatfield  

Filed under Homeopathy Scientific Research | Hpathy Ezine, December, 2006
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By Hpathy

The European Network of Homeopathy Researchers

This document has been produced by the European Network for Homeopathy Researchers (ENHR). The ENHR was established in 2004 with support from the European Council for Classical Homeopathy (ECCH). ECCH currently assists the ENHR in its secretarial work. The ENHR consists of 55 individuals from 14 different countries involved in or with a special interest in homeopathy research. The ENHR is open to membership for any individual involved or interested in homeopathy research.

Purpose of the European Network of Homeopathy Researchers (ENHR):

1. The primary aim of the ENHR is to contribute to improving homeopathy research for the benefit of patients.
2. A long-term objective of the ENHR is to contribute to carrying out international EU funded research projects within the area of homeopathy research.
3. The ENHR consists of researchers, research advisors and representatives of the homeopathy profession as well as consumer/patient groups with an interest in the area of homeopathy research.
4. Members of the ENHR inform each other about homeopathy research that is in the planning stages or being carried out, as well as published research articles.

Introduction

This document contains a sample of brief summaries of positive homeopathy research, together with the full references. Additional information may be found in the document entitled ‘Facts about homeopathy and other CAM therapies’ (an ECCH document), and on the enclosed list of website addresses. Readers are recommended to read the full research articles in order to acquire a more profound knowledge base of research that has been undertaken.

Contents Page

Use of homeopathy and other CAM therapies

User surveys showing patient satisfaction with homeopathic treatment

Meta-analyses

Key trials and surveys

Diarrhoea in children

Respiratory tract complaints

Musculo-skeletal problems

Hay fever, asthma and perennial rhinitis

Pre menstrual syndrome (PMS)

Homeopathy in menopausal complaints

Homeopathy and oestrogen withdrawal

ADHD

ME/CFS

Surgery

Dengue haemorrhagic fever

Cost benefit

Basic research – The effect of high dilutions

Treatment of animals

Research website addresses

USE OF HOMEOPATHY AND OTHER CAM THERAPIES

Homeopathy is being practised in 41 out of 42 European countries.

The Legal Situation for the Practice of Homeopathy in Europe, revised report, May 2006, European Council for Classical Homeopathy. Legal Status of Traditional Medicine and Complementary/ Alternative Medicine: A Worldwide Review, World Health Organization, 2001.

Homeopathy is the most frequently used CAM therapy in 5 out of 16 surveyed countries in Europe and among the three most frequently used in 11 out of 16 surveyed countries.

Norges offentlige utredninger, NOU 1998:21 Alternativ medisin. (Official report published by the Norwegian Department of Health. Available at: http://odin.dep.no/hd/norsk/publ/)

Ot.prp. nr. 27 (2002-2003). Om lov om alternativ behandling av sykdom mv.

Public interest in, and acceptance of alternative treatment increases in most European countries. Percentage of the population using alternative treatment varies from 18 to 71 % depending on country.

Ot.prp. nr. 27 (2002-2003). Om lov om alternativ behandling av sykdom mv. Det kongelige helsedepartement. http://odin.dep.no/repub/02-03/otprp/27/

Homeopathy is officially recognised and included in the national health system in a number of countries within and outside of Europe.

Legal Status of Traditional Medicine and Complementary/Alternative Medicine: A Worldwide Review, World Health Organization, 2001.

Three Europeans out of four know about homeopathy and of these 29 % use it for their health care.

Homeopathic medicinal products. Commission report to the European Parliament and the Council on the application of Directives 92/73 and 92/74.

A study of 1097 patients visiting 80 Norwegian homeopaths showed that one in four patients were children between 0 and 9 years of age, compared to one in ten in 1985 and in general practice. The most commonly presented complaints were respiratory, skin and psychological complaints.

Steinsbekk A, Fønnebø V. Users of homeopaths in Norway in 1998, compared to previous users and GP patients. Homeopathy (2003) 92, 3-10.

A survey of 1400 patients treated in a homeopathic clinic showed that 36 % were under the age of 16 in 2004, compared to 26 % in 1995. Respiratory complaints, complaints of ears and skin accounted for 70 % of patients in the age group from 0 to 10 years. More than half of the patients had university or other higher education.

Viksveen P, Steinsbekk A. Changes in patients visiting a homeopathic clinic in Norway from 1994 to 2004. Homeopathy (2005) 94, 222-228.

A survey of more than 70,000 citizens showed that approximately 9 million people in Italy (15.6 % of the population) have used at least one unconventional therapy in the period from 1997 to 1999. Homeopathy was the most frequently used (8.2 % of the population). Homeopathy was also quite commonly used by children (7.7 %). The use of CAM therapies has almost doubled since 1991.

Menniti-Ippolito, F., Forcella, E., Bologna, E., Gargiulo, L., Traversa, G., & Raschetti, R. Use of unconventional medicine in children in Italy. Eur J Clin Pharmacol 2002 Apr;58(1):61-4.

USER SURVEYS SHOWING PATIENT SATISFACTION WITH HOMEOPATHIC TREATMENT

In an observational study of 6544 consecutive patients during a 6-year period, and over 23,000 consultations, results showed that 70.7 % reported positive health changes, with 50.7 % recording their improvement as better (+2) or much better (+3). Of the 1270 children that were treated 80.5 % had some improvement, and 65.8 % were better (+2) or much better (+3).

Spence DS, Thompson EA, Barron SJ. Homeopathic Treatment for Chronic Disease: A 6-Year, University-Hospital Outpatient Observational Study. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. Volume 11, Number 5, 2005, pp. 793-798.

In a prospective, multi-centre cohort study with 103 primary care practices treating 3981 patients, disease severity decreased significantly (p<0.001) over a 2 year period. Major improvements were observed for quality of life for adults and young children. 28 % (1130) of the patients were children and 97 % of all diagnoses where chronic with an average duration of 8.8 years. The most frequent diagnoses were allergic rhinitis in men, headache in women, and atopic dermatitis in children.

Witt CM, Luedtke R, Baur R, Willich SN. Homeopathic Medical Practice: Long-term results of a Cohort Study with 3981 Patients. BMC Public Health 2005, 5:115.

Seven out of ten patients visiting Norwegian homeopaths reported a meaningful improvement in their main complaint 6 months after the initial consultation.

Steinsbekk, A. Patients’ assessments of the effectiveness of homeopathic care in Norway: A prospective observational multi-centre outcome study. Homeopathy, Volume 94, Issue 1, January 2005, Pages 10-16.

One year after their first visit to a homeopathic clinic, 609 patients were asked to rate their general health compared with a year ago. 73.5 % reported a marked or moderate improvement in their health status.

F. Attena et al. Homeopathy in Primary Care: self reported change in health status. Complementary therapies in Medicine Vol 8 No 1. March 2000.

A study of 829 patients treated with homeopathic medicines, where conventional treatment had been unsatisfactory or contraindicated. 61 % had a substantial improvement with homeopathy.

Sevar, R. Audit of outcome in 829 consecutive patients treated with homeopathic medicine. British Homeopathic Journal Vol 89 No.4. Oct 2000.

A survey of more than 900 patients treated homeopathically showed substantial improvement in quality of life over the first 6 months after treatment and this effect remained more or less stable over the following years.

Güthlin C, Lange O and Walach H. Measuring the effects of acupuncture and homoeopathy in general practice: An uncontrolled prospective documentation approach. BMC Public Health 2004, 4:6.

British prospective survey of homeopathic treatment of 223 patients, 1996. 90% improvement or more: 32%. 60% improvement or more: 65% 50% improvement or more: 72%.

Report on NHS practice-based homoeopathy project. Analysis of effectiveness and cost of homoeopathic treatment within a GP practice at St. Margaret’s Surgery, Bradford on Avon, Wilts. Elizabeth A Christie, Andrew T Ward ISBN 1 901262 006

British prospective survey of homeopathic treatment of 160 patients, 1994.

Very positive effect: 73%. Some effect: 27%. No effect: 0%.

Report on a Homoeopathy Project in an NHS Practice. Covering 18 month period from February 1993 to August 1994. Elizabeth A Christie, Andrew T Ward,. Reprinted February 1997.

British prospective survey of homeopathic treatment of 37 patients suffering from psychological complaints, 1998. Very satisfied: 81%. Satisfied: 16%. Not satisfied at all: 3%.

Homoeopathy within the NHS. Evaluation of homoeopathic treatment of common mental health problems. 1995 – 1997. Alistair Dempster,. Rydings Hall Surgery, Brighouse, West Yorkshire. ISBN No 1901262014.

Retrospective survey of homeopathic treatment, Danmarks Farmaceutiske Højskole, 1995.

73% of patients stated they improved after homeopathic treatment.

Andersen HE, Eldov P. Klassisk homøopati – og dens brugere. Institut for Samfundsfarmaci, Danmarks Farmaceutiske Højskole. 1995. Andersen, Helle Egebjerg. En undersøgelse af Klassisk Homøpati. Teorier, praksis og brugererfaringer. 1999. ISBN 87-987279-0-7

The effect of homeopathy, acupuncture and osteopathy. Result: 89% of patients stated they experienced positive effect from the treatment. Particularly clear effect on reduction of pain, increased vitality, ability to function socially and with regards to limitations at work and in daily activities influenced by physical problems. Homeopathy was particularly effective for patients suffering from arthritis, hay fever, asthma and skin complaints.

Richardson J. Quasi-randomised control trial to assess the outcome of acupuncture, osteopathy and homoeopathy using the short form 36 item health survey. Health Services Research and Evaluation Unit, The Lewisham Hospital NHS Trust. December 1996.

REVIEWS AND META-ANALYSES

A meta-analysis is a means of combining results from more than one trial to look for overall trends. (NB! In general complicated research terminology such as OR, CI, and words such as significant or randomized should only be used in communications with people who will understand such terminology. Otherwise stick to what can be understood by all, e.g. a survey of all the high quality research that has been carried out clearly shows that homeopathy is effective.)

Results were found in favour of homeopathy in 20 of 22 systematic reviews on the effect of homeopathic high-potencies on cells or living organisms. For upper respiratory tract infections and allergies six out of seven studies were in favour of homeopathy. The authors of this article concluded that the effectiveness of homeopathy can be supported by clinical evidence and treatment is safe. The article has been published by authors who took part of the Program for Evaluation of Complementary Medicine (PEK), the same program which in August 2005 resulted in the publication of an article by Shang et al, where the conclusion was that the effect of homeopathy is placebo.

Bornhöft et al. Effectiveness, Safety and Cost-Effectiveness of Homeopathy in General Practice – Summarized Health Technology Assessment. Forsch Komplementärmed 2006;13(suppl 2):19-29.

In a review of homeopathy research the authors found three independent systematic reviews of placebo-controlled trials on homeopathy that reported effects that seem to be more than placebo, and one review that found its effects consistent with placebo.

Jonas, W. B., Kaptchuk, T. J., & Linde, K. 2003b, “A critical overview of homeopathy”, Ann.Intern.Med., vol. 138, no. 5, pp. 393-399.

A systematic review and meta-analysis showed highly significant results for surveys adding up to a total of 2 617 patients (P=0.000036). Results were not that significant for high quality surveys (P=0.08). The author concludes that further high quality studies are needed to confirm results.

Cucherat, M., Haugh, M. C., Gooch, M., & Boissel, J. P. 2000, “Evidence of clinical efficacy of homeopathy. A meta-analysis of clinical trials. HMRAG. Homeopathic Medicines Research Advisory Group”, Eur.J.Clin.Pharmacol., vol.. 56, no. 1, pp. 27-33.

A systematic review of results from 93 substantive RCTs was carried out by Robert Mathie (2003). It concludes that of the 35 different medical conditions covered by these trials the weight of evidence favours a positive treatment effect in 8: childhood diarrhoea, fibrositosis, hay fever, influenza, pain (miscellaneous), side-effects of chemotherapy or radiotherapy, sprains and upper-respiratory tract infections.

Mathie, R. The research evidence base for homeopathy: a fresh assessment of the literature. Homeopathy 92: 84-91. 2003.

Meta-analysis of 89 trials of homeopathic medicine versus placebo. Result: significantly in favour of homeopathy (OR 2,45 (95% CI 2,05-2,93)). This meta-analysis included 186 placebo-controlled studies of homeopathy published until mid-1996, of which data for analysis could be extracted from 89. The overall odds ratio was 2.45 (95% confidence intervals 2.05-2.93) in favour of homeopathy, which means that the chances that homeopathy would benefit the patient were 2.45 times greater than placebo. When considering just those trials of high quality published in MEDLINE listed journals, and with predefined primary outcome measures, the pooled odds ratio was 1.97 and significant. Even after correction for publication bias the results remained significant. The main conclusion was that the results “were not compatible with the hypothesis that the effects of homeopathy are completely due to placebo”. If the result of new trials were to show no difference between homeopathy and placebo, we would have to add 923 trials with no effect with 118 patients in each in order to balance the two.

Linde K, Clausius N, Ramirez G, et al. Are the clinical effects of homoeopathy placebo effects? A meta-analysis of placebo-controlled trials. Lancet 1997;350:834-43.

HMRG report with overview of clinical research in homeopathy, identified 184 controlled clinical trials. They selected the highest quality randomized control trials, which included a total of 2617 patients for a meta-analysis. This meta-analysis resulted in a p-value of 0.000036 (which means that results are highly significant) indicating that homeopathy is more effective than placebo. The researchers concluded that the “hypothesis that homeopathy has no effect can be rejected with certainty”. Homeopathic Medicine Research Group.

Report to the European Commission directorate general XII: science, research and development. Vol 1 (short version). Brussels: European Commission, 1996:16-7.

Of the 105 trials with interpretable results, 81 trials indicated positive results. Most studies showed results in favour of homeopathy even among those randomized controlled trials that received high-quality ratings for randomization, blinding, sample size, and other methodological criteria. They came to the following conclusion: “The amount of positive evidence even among the best studies came as a surprise to us. Based on this evidence we would readily accept that homeopathy can be efficacious, if only the mechanism of action were more plausible. The evidence presented in this review would probably be sufficient for establishing homeopathy as a regular treatment for certain indications”.

Kleijnen J, Knipschild P, Ter Riet G. Clinical trials of homoeopathy. British Medical Journal. 1991b;302:316-23.

A health technology assessment report on effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and appropriateness of homeopathy was compiled on behalf of the Swiss Federal Office for Public Health. Results showed a positive overall result in favour of homeopathy in 29 studies on upper respiratory tract infections and allergic reactions. Results also showed many high-quality investigations of pre-clinical basic research proved homeopathic high-potencies inducing regulative and specific changes in cells or living organisms. 20 of 22 systematic reviews detected at least a trend in favour of homeopathy.

Boarnhoft G, Wolf U, Ammon K, Righetti M, Maxion-Bergemann S, Baumgartner S, Thurneysen AE, Matthiessen PF. Effectiveness, safety and cost-effectiveness of homeopathy in general practice – summarized health technology assessment. Forsch Komplementarmed. 2006; 13 Suppl 2: 19-29.

A meta-analysis of three trials on homeopathic immunotherapy. Result: significant effect in favour of homeopathic treatment.

Reilly D, Taylor MA, Beattie NGM, Campbell JH, McSharry C, Aitchison TC, Carter R, Stevenson RD. Is evidence for homoeopathy reproducible? Lancet. 1994;344:1601-1606.

A review of placebo-controlled clinical trials using homeopathic medicines to treat people with AIDS or who are HIV-positive found 5 controlled clinical trials. Results showed statistically significant results in subjects with stage III AIDS, and specific physical, immunologic, neurologic, metabolic, and quality-of-life benefits, including improvements in lymphocyte counts and functions and reductions in HIV viral loads in patients receiving homeopathic treatment.

Ullman D. Controlled Clinical Trials Evaluating the Homeopathic Treatment of People with Human Immunodeficiency Virus or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. Volume 9, Number 1, 2003, pp. 133-141.

Meta-analysis of 105 articles on laboratory research. Result: positive effect 50% more frequently than negative effect among trials of highest methodological quality. (1994)

Linde K. Jonas WB, Melchart D, Worku F, Wagner H, Eital F. Critical Review and Meta-Analysis of Serial Agitated Dilutions in Experimental Toxicology. Human and Experimental Toxicology. 1994;13:481-492.

Kate Chatfield