Long-term homeopathy study published Homeopathy patients often report improvements in their healthby Amy Norton |
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Hahnemann Memorial |
Many people who choose homeopathic treatment for chronic illnesses report lasting improvements in their health, a new study found. Researchers received many reports of long-term improvements from patients at more than 100 German and Swiss homeopathic practices for chronic conditions such as headaches, allergies and sleep disorders. However, the researchers say these results do not necessarily mean that the alternative therapies alone were responsible for the health improvements. Homeopathy, founded in 18th-century Germany, is based on the principle of 'like cures like'. Substances that would produce certain symptoms can, in potentised form, cure the same symptoms. |
Homeopathy is controversial because some of its core concepts are incompatible with modern science and many studies have found that the remedies are no more effective than placebos. The current study, published in the journal 'BMC Public Health', focused on how patients fared in their daily lives. Therefore it cannot definitively answer the question of how effective the remedies actually were, as lead investigator Dr Claudia Witt told Reuters Health. "This observational study does not allow us to establish a causal link between the improvement in well-being and the homeopathic remedy administered, nor does it rule out the placebo effect," says Witt of Charité University Hospital in Berlin. The findings are based on an eight-year long-term study of 3,709 adults and children treated in 103 homeopathic practices. At the end of the study, Witt's team found that one third were still receiving homeopathic treatment, while another third had stopped treatment because their health had improved. The remaining patients had discontinued treatment because it had not produced the hoped-for effect. The study showed that, on average, patients reported significant improvements in their well-being over time. Almost half reported that the severity of their symptoms had decreased by at least 50%. Witt and colleagues, however, believe it is not possible to say whether the homeopathic treatment caused these improvements, because many patients also underwent other alternative treatments or received conventional medical care. According to the researchers, the placebo effect may also have played a role, with some patients feeling better simply because they believed in the effectiveness of the homeopathic remedies. |
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..................................................................................................................... Abstract on PubMed |
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