Homeopathy has stood the test of time with literally millions of satisfied patients world-wide. More research will surely further confirm its efficacy.
Meta-analyses
November 11, 2009 – 9:20 am
A meta-analyses combining results from the two diarrhea studies above and a third pilot project found highly significant results (Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, 2003). The Lancet (1997) published a comprehensive review of 89 double-blind and placebo-controlled studies on homeopathy. On average, those patients who were given a homeopathic medicine were 2.45 times more likely to experience a therapeutically beneficial result that those patients given a placebo. The British Medical Journal (1991) published a meta-analysis of 107 clinical trials of homeopathy; of the 22 best-quality studies, 15 showed positive results in conditions such as hay fever, influenza, migraine headache, trauma, and duration of delivery.
Miscellaneous studies
November 4, 2009 – 9:16 am
More recently, a study of homeopathy for acute otitis media in children found a significant decrease in symptoms within the first 24 hours of treatment. (Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, February 2001).
There have also been several studies showing no difference between homeopathy and placebo in the treatment of dental pain), muscle soreness in long-distance runners (Clinical Journal of Pain, 1998), and rheumatoid arthritis (Rheumatology, 2001).
Head injury studies
October 28, 2009 – 9:19 am
A study in an AMA publications, Archives of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery (August 1998), found that a homeopathic medicine produced a reduction in symptoms that was equivalent to conventional medicine in the treatment of patients with vertigo. The national Institute of Health Office of Alternative Medicine funded a double-blind, placebo controlled study on the homeopathic treatment of mild traumatic brain injury which found a significant improvement in some of the measures used. (Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation, December 1999).
Diarrhea
October 21, 2009 – 9:58 am
The May 1994 issue of Pediatrics published a randomized double-blind clinical trial showing homeopathy effective in the treatment of acute childhood diarrhea. This was the first study of homeopathy published in a mainstream peer reviewed American medical journal. Since that time, the authors have published a second study confirming these results in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine (March 2000).
Influenza and fibrositis
October 14, 2009 – 9:57 am
Homeopathy has also been found effective for the treatment of influenza (British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, 1989) and fibrositis (British Medical Journal, 1989).
Hay fever and allergic asthma
October 7, 2009 – 9:57 am
Results from a group of researchers in Scotland have shown homeopathic preparations effective in the treatment of allergic asthma and hay fever (Lancet, 1986 and 1994). Their most recent study in the British Medical Journal (2000) showed that hay fever sufferers given a homeopathic preparation had a 28% improvement in nasal airflow compared to placebo.
Allergies
September 30, 2009 – 9:56 am
A survey of 147 patients suffering from respiratory allergies showed that 87.6% improved. Out of 42 patients suffering from pulmonary allergies, only two aggravated and three were unchanged. (Colin P. Homeopathy and respiratory allergies: a series of 147 cases. Homeopathy (2006) 95, 68-72)
ADHD Study
September 23, 2009 – 9:56 am
The study, conducted in Switzerland, followed 62 children diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). All children were carefully diagnosed with a number of screening instruments to verity the diagnosis of ADHD, excluding other diagnoses. The study involved three phases. First the children were treated with a constitutional homeopathic medicine individualized to their case. Only the children who improved by at least 50 percent on an ADHD rating scale were included in the second phase of the study, a crossover trial with a placebo group. Following that crossover phase, the children were then treated again with their homeopathic medicine in an open label phase. Results showed that children did not improve while taking placebo, but continued to improve while taking the homeopathic medicine during the blinded phase of the trial and in the post-crossover phase. The median Conners rating for ADHD symptoms dropped from 19 at the start of treatment to median of 8 within 6 weeks after the crossover phase of the trial. During the blinded trial, the children receiving placebo had a high CGI rating of 12 compared to the homeopathic group with a rating of 9. After all children were returned to their homeopathic medicine, both groups returned to the low symptom level they had achieved before the crossover phase (median of 8). The authors formed a definitive conclusion from this study. The results of this trial point to the effectiveness of homeopathy in the treatment of ADHD. (Published July 27, 2005 online edition of the European Journal of Pediatrics).
Research on water providing clues about how homeopathic remedies work
September 16, 2009 – 9:55 am
Researchers at Penn State University, Stanford University and the University of Arizona are beginning to unravel the mystery about how ultra-dilutions (remedies) work. The Material Science Laboratory at Penn State, the #1 material science laboratory internationally (rated as such in 2003), led the research effort. In papers published in Material Research Innovations (The Structure of Liquid Water; Novel Insights From Material Science; Potential Relevance to Homeopathy; December 2005) and Homeopathy (July 2007), researches Roy, Bell, Hoover, et al present the vast data on the structure of water and its ability to change and retain structure in the presence of a remedy. These findings strongly suggest that the 19th century chemistry arguments used to denigrate homeopathy are unscientific and irrelevant. These authors establish that it is the structure of water that dictates its properties. Changes in the structure of water change the information content in water.