June 2013
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74 Reads
Focus on Alternative and Complementary Therapies
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June 2013
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74 Reads
Focus on Alternative and Complementary Therapies
January 2013
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70 Reads
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3 Citations
Swiss medical weekly: official journal of the Swiss Society of Infectious Diseases, the Swiss Society of Internal Medicine, the Swiss Society of Pneumology
April 2011
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1,212 Reads
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47 Citations
Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Homeopathic preparations are used in homeopathy and anthroposophic medicine. Although there is evidence of effectiveness in several clinical studies, including double-blinded randomized controlled trials, their nature and mode of action could not be explained with current scientific approaches yet. Several physical methods have already been applied to investigate homeopathic preparations but it is yet unclear which methods are best suited to identify characteristic physicochemical properties of homeopathic preparations. The aim of this study was to investigate homeopathic preparations with UV-spectroscopy. In a blinded, randomized, controlled experiment homeopathic preparations of copper sulfate (CuSO(4); 11c-30c), quartz (SiO(2); 10c-30c, i.e., centesimal dilution steps) and sulfur (S; 11×-30×, i.e., decimal dilution steps) and controls (one-time succussed diluent) were investigated using UV-spectroscopy and tested for contamination by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The UV transmission for homeopathic preparations of CuSO(4) preparations was significantly lower than in controls. The transmission seemed to be also lower for both SiO(2) and S, but not significant. The mean effect size (95% confidence interval) was similar for the homeopathic preparations: CuSO(4) (pooled data) 0.0544% (0.0260-0.0827%), SiO(2) 0.0323% (-0.0064% to 0.0710%) and S 0.0281% (-0.0520% to 0.1082%). UV transmission values of homeopathic preparations had a significantly higher variability compared to controls. In none of the samples the concentration of any element analyzed by ICP-MS exceeded 100 ppb. Lower transmission of UV light may indicate that homeopathic preparations are less structured or more dynamic than their succussed pure solvent.
January 2011
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118 Reads
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10 Citations
This HTA uses systematic surveys, clinical studies and single case reports to research the effectiveness of homeopathic methods of treatment. It needs clinical studies on relevant indications for which sufficient RCTs, non-randomized prospective controlled and uncontrolled trials are available, as well as high-quality case studies.
October 2009
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79 Reads
Forschende Komplementärmedizin / Research in Complementary Medicine
October 2009
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360 Reads
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52 Citations
Homeopathy
Two experimental studies on wheat preintoxicated with Arsenic trioxide yielded a significant shoot growth increase after an isopathic application of Ars-alb 45x. One independent reproduction trial however, yielded an effect inversion: wheat shoot growth was significantly decreased after application of Ars-alb 45x. In this study we investigated the role of three potential confounding factors on the experimental outcome: geographical location of the experiments, influence of the main experimenter, and seed sensitivity to Arsenic poisoning. Laboratory-internal reproducibility was assessed by meta-analysis. Wheat poisoned with Arsenic trioxide was cultivated in vitro in either Ars-alb 45x, water 45x, or unpotentised water. Treatments were blinded and randomised. Shoot length was measured after 7 days. The stability of the experimental set-up was assessed by systematic negative control (SNC) experiments. The SNC experiments did not yield significant differences between the three groups treated with unpotentised water. Thus the experimental set-up seemed to be stable. We did not observe any shoot growth increase after a treatment with Ars-alb 45x in any of the newly performed experiments. In contrast, the meta-analysis of all 17 experiments performed (including earlier experiments already published) yielded a statistically significant shoot growth decrease (-3.2%, p=0.017) with isopathic Ars-alb 45x treatment. This effect was quantitatively similar across all five series of experiments. Ultramolecular Ars-alb 45x led to statistically significant specific effects in arsenic poisoned wheat when investigated by two independent working groups. Effect size and effect direction differ, however. The investigated factors (geographical location, experimenter, seed sensitivity to Arsenic poisoning) did not seem to be responsible for the effect inversion. Laboratory external reproducibility of basic research into homeopathic potentisation remains a difficult issue.
July 2009
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1,196 Reads
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25 Citations
The Science of Nature
Quantitative meta-analyses of randomized clinical trials investigating the specific therapeutic efficacy of homeopathic remedies yielded statistically significant differences compared to placebo. Since the remedies used contained mostly only very low concentrations of pharmacologically active compounds, these effects cannot be accounted for within the framework of current pharmacology. Theories to explain clinical effects of homeopathic remedies are partially based upon changes in diluent structure. To investigate the latter, we measured for the first time high-field (600/500 MHz) 1HT(1) and T(2) nuclear magnetic resonance relaxation times of H2O in homeopathic preparations with concurrent contamination control by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Homeopathic preparations of quartz (10c-30c, n = 21, corresponding to iterative dilutions of 100(-10)-100(-30)), sulfur (13x-30x, n = 18, 10(-13)-10(-30)), and copper sulfate (11c-30c, n = 20, 100(-11)-100(-30)) were compared to n = 10 independent controls each (analogously agitated dilution medium) in randomized and blinded experiments. In none of the samples, the concentration of any element analyzed by ICP-MS exceeded 10 ppb. In the first measurement series (600 MHz), there was a significant increase in T(1) for all samples as a function of time, and there were no significant differences between homeopathic potencies and controls. In the second measurement series (500 MHz) 1 year after preparation, we observed statistically significant increased T(1) relaxation times for homeopathic sulfur preparations compared to controls. Fifteen out of 18 correlations between sample triplicates were higher for controls than for homeopathic preparations. No conclusive explanation for these phenomena can be given at present. Possible hypotheses involve differential leaching from the measurement vessel walls or a change in water molecule dynamics, i.e., in rotational correlation time and/or diffusion. Homeopathic preparations thus may exhibit specific physicochemical properties that need to be determined in detail in future investigations.
October 2008
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377 Reads
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53 Citations
BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine
This study is part of a nationwide evaluation of complementary medicine in Switzerland (Programme Evaluation of Complementary Medicine PEK) and was funded by the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health. The main objective of this study is to investigate patient satisfaction and perception of side effects in homeopathy compared with conventional care in a primary care setting. We examined data from two cross-sectional studies conducted in 2002–2003. The first study was a physician questionnaire assessing structural characteristics of practices. The second study was conducted on four given days during a 12-month period in 2002/2003 using a physician and patient questionnaire at consultation and a patient questionnaire mailed to the patient one month later (including Europep questionnaire). The participating physicians were all trained and licensed in conventional medicine. An additional qualification was required for medical doctors providing homeopathy (membership in the Swiss association of homeopathic physicians SVHA). A total of 6778 adult patients received the questionnaire and 3126 responded (46.1%). Statistically significant differences were found with respect to health status (higher percentage of chronic and severe conditions in the homeopathic group), perception of side effects (higher percentage of reported side effects in the conventional group) and patient satisfaction (higher percentage of satisfied patients in the homeopathic group). Overall patient satisfaction was significantly higher in homeopathic than in conventional care. Homeopathic treatments were perceived as a low-risk therapy with two to three times fewer side effects than conventional care
August 2008
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340 Reads
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56 Citations
Complementary Therapies in Medicine
Investigation of the conditions for reproducibility of dwarf pea shoot growth stimulation through homeopathic potencies of gibberellic acid. 4 batches of pea seed (Pisum sativum L. cv. Früher Zwerg; harvests from 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2000) were tested regarding their reaction to gibberellic acid 17x and 18x (compared to unsuccussed and succussed water (1x) as controls) in 8 independent randomized and blinded experiments. Pea seed was immersed for 24h in watery solutions of homeopathic potencies or controls, and cultivated under controlled laboratory conditions. Pea shoot length was measured after 14 days. Two systematic negative control experiments assessed the stability of the experimental set-up. The systematic negative control experiments yielded no significant effects and confirmed the stability of the experimental set-up. 2 out of 4 seed batches reacted to the homeopathic treatment (p<0.05). Seed batch 1997 showed a reproducible reaction to gibberellic acid 17x (shoot length stimulation of +11.2%, p=0.007), and seed batch 1998 showed a significant varying response (increase/decrease). Seed batch 1997 differed from the other 3 batches by an increased glucose and fructose content, and reduced 1000kernel weight. Meta-analysis with data of earlier experiments is in accordance with the results of the present experimental series. We identified 'seed quality' as a possible trigger factor for successful reproducibility in homeopathic basic research. Premature harvesting as a possible key factor for responsiveness of dwarf peas to homeopathic potencies of gibberellic acid is our current working hypothesis to be tested in future experiments.
March 2007
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362 Reads
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89 Citations
BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine
The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of homeopathy compared to conventional treatment in acute respiratory and ear complaints in a primary care setting. The study was designed as an international, multi-centre, comparative cohort study of non-randomised design. Patients, presenting themselves with at least one chief complaint: acute (< or = 7 days) runny nose, sore throat, ear pain, sinus pain or cough, were recruited at 57 primary care practices in Austria (8), Germany (8), the Netherlands (7), Russia (6), Spain (6), Ukraine (4), United Kingdom (10) and the USA (8) and given either homeopathic or conventional treatment. Therapy outcome was measured by using the response rate, defined as the proportion of patients experiencing 'complete recovery' or 'major improvement' in each treatment group. The primary outcome criterion was the response rate after 14 days of therapy. Data of 1,577 patients were evaluated in the full analysis set of which 857 received homeopathic (H) and 720 conventional (C) treatment. The majority of patients in both groups reported their outcome after 14 days of treatment as complete recovery or major improvement (H: 86.9%; C: 86.0%; p = 0.0003 for non-inferiority testing). In the per-protocol set (H: 576 and C: 540 patients) similar results were obtained (H: 87.7%; C: 86.9%; p = 0.0019). Further subgroup analysis of the full analysis set showed no differences of response rates after 14 days in children (H: 88.5%; C: 84.5%) and adults (H: 85.6%; C: 86.6%). The unadjusted odds ratio (OR) of the primary outcome criterion was 1.40 (0.89-2.22) in children and 0.92 (0.63-1.34) in adults. Adjustments for demographic differences at baseline did not significantly alter the OR. The response rates after 7 and 28 days also showed no significant differences between both treatment groups. However, onset of improvement within the first 7 days after treatment was significantly faster upon homeopathic treatment both in children (p = 0.0488) and adults (p = 0.0001). Adverse drug reactions occurred more frequently in adults of the conventional group than in the homeopathic group (C: 7.6%; H: 3.1%, p = 0.0032), whereas in children the occurrence of adverse drug reactions was not significantly different (H: 2.0%; C: 2.4%, p = 0.7838). In primary care, homeopathic treatment for acute respiratory and ear complaints was not inferior to conventional treatment.
... It is claimed that the resistance to recurrent infections can be increased with individualized homeopathic therapy (iHOM) [8] and iHOM has proven clinical effectiveness in treating recurrent upper respiratory tract infections [9,10]. In this respect, it seems reasonable to test, whether this accounts as well for RUTIs. ...
January 2011
... Unfortunately the texts drawn up by E. Ernst and W. Bartens are neither objective nor scientifically substantiated; instead, they present study findings on the therapeutic efficacy of homeopathy in a manner that is tendentious and factually inaccurate. This together with the fact that derogative remarks on homeopathy have become fashionable recently [6][7][8][9][10][11][12] has induced the members of the Dialogue Forum Pluralism in Medicine (DPM) as well as the institutions listed below and the physicians and scientists who have signed this reply to draw up a corrective statement with reference to international representative clinical studies, meta-analyses and HTAs on homeopathy [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]. ...
January 2013
Swiss medical weekly: official journal of the Swiss Society of Infectious Diseases, the Swiss Society of Internal Medicine, the Swiss Society of Pneumology
... Homeopathy stimulates the vital force of plants through the balance triggered by the environment, working to reduce diseases and undesirable insects through a systemic approach and with no side effects (Baumgartner et al., 2000). The application of homeopathic preparations on plants validates the benefits of this technique in stimulating growth and behavior of plants in producing secondary defense compounds, the quantity and shape of fruits, the abundance of leaves, and the ability to control or reduce the incidence of most known insects and diseases (Ileana et al., 2017). ...
January 2000
... naturopathy, homeopathy) [3]. Research emphasis related to Homeopathy has tended to be dominated by mechanism of action initiatives [4][5][6][7], laboratory research [8][9][10][11][12] and some clinical research [13][14][15][16][17] but there is sparse empirical evidence that exists in relation to homeopathy education [18][19][20] or practice [21,22]. Little is known about the most basic features of the homeopathy profession, demographics of practitioners and patients, the spread and geographical location of licensed medical and unlicensed professional homeopaths, much less their attitudes and perspectives. ...
August 2008
Complementary Therapies in Medicine
... 22 Similar studies using high potencies of homeopathic arsenic performed in plants and microorganisms have shown similar effects. [26][27][28] Given that such homeopathic dilutions often exceed the limit of Avogadro's number, it is necessary to consider the possible existence of mechanisms other than purely biochemical ones to explain the observed protective effects described above. From a biological point of view, what expression (p 0.001) in relation to baseline. ...
October 2009
Homeopathy
... 5 Among the many physico-chemical techniques used for this purpose, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) has been recognised as one of the most promising and powerful tools, [6][7][8] demonstrating that liquid homeopathic medicines, even at the highest dilutions, differ from their controls; they can no longer be considered as pure solvents and different starting materials can be discriminated. [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] In addition, NMR suggested for the first time the presence of nanometric superstructures, 19 which was further confirmed by evidence of the involvement of nanobubbles. 14,17 Then, Chikramane et al 20 showed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) the presence of nanoparticles (NPs) in commercial ultra-high dilutions of 30cH and 200cH metal-based homeopathic medicines. ...
July 2009
The Science of Nature
... Centesimal method (based on Korsakov dilution methodology), which is one percent dilution, was used to prepare ultra-high diluted compounds (UHDs) [29]. In detail, 1 mg of extracts powder diluted in 1 mL of alcoholic water (75 percent). ...
April 2011
Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine
... German naturalist physician and philosopher Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, better known by his pen name Paracelsus, presided over this school of thought from 1493 to 1542 (Wiegant, 1994). The person created the theory of signatures, or "signa naturae," which holds that particular characteristics of plants or minerals, including their forms or colors, can be used to deduce a plant's or mineral's medical properties (Marian et al., 2008). For instance, plants with pointed leaves are believed to be effective for alleviating stabbing pains, while Euphrasia flowers, resembling irises, are thought to be beneficial for treating eye ailments. ...
October 2008
BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine
... [1] There are studies providing evidence to support the therapeutic effect of individualised homoeopathic medicine in ADHD children. [17][18][19][20] This patient, falling into an unconventional age group, sought consultation in a clinical setting. Remarkably, the patient showed significant improvement with continuous follow-up and no relapses. ...
December 2005
European Journal of Pediatrics
... Reports have suggested the positive role of high dilutions of homoeopathically potentised Arsenicum album in seedling/germination and growth in various plant species in non-stressed as well as stressed conditions. Brizzi et al. (2000) reported that use of 45X dilution of Arsenicum album was able to induce germination in healthy wheat seeds.Whereas, Binder et al.(2005) reported that Arsenicum Album 45X inhibited wheat shoot growth compared to control group (unpotentized water) instead of enhancing it. Lahnstein et al. (2009) reported 2 studies where significant increase in shoot growth after treatment with Arsenicum Album 45x in those plants which were prior toxicated with Arsenic Trioxide. ...
November 2005
Forschende Komplementärmedizin und Klassische Naturheilkunde / Research in Complementary and Classical Natural Medicine