Homeopathy for coffee-induced insomnia

The effects of homeopathic remedies on polysomnographically(1) measured sleep in young adults with a history of coffee-related insomnia

BACKGROUND
Homeopathy, a widely used form of alternative medicine, relies on individual patient reports for diagnosis and treatment.

Polysomnography is a modern method for the objective assessment of the effects of homeopathic remedies that, in the opinion of physicians, might affect the sleep quality of sensitive individuals.

In animal experiments, changes in non-rapid-eye-movement sleep have already been observed with certain homeopathic remedies

METHOD
Study participants: Young adults of both sexes (aged 18–31 years) who scored above average on standardized personality tests for either cynicism and hostility or anxiety and sensitivity (but not both combined) and who had a history of coffee-induced sleep disturbances.

Polysomnographic recordings were made weekly on two consecutive nights (at the participants' homes), for a total of eight recordings (nights 1, 2, 8, 9, 15, 16, 22 and 23).

The subjects (N = 54) received placebo globules on night 8 (single-blind) and on night 22 one of the two homeopathic remedies, Nux vomica or Coffea cruda, as C30 globules (double-blind).

Participants completed sleep diaries every morning and assessed their sleep weekly using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index; additionally, on evenings when overnight polysomnography took place, a mood profile was completed before bedtime.

CONCLUSION
The study demonstrates that home-based polysomnography is feasible. Patients' sleep was monitored throughout the night and the effects of the homeopathic remedies were investigated. The results are similar, though not identical, to effects observed in animals given the same remedies. It is possible that the homeopathic remedies triggered initial disturbances in the nonlinear dynamics of sleep patterns.

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(1) Polysomnography is an extensive study of a person's sleep. Using this technique, several different bodily functions are monitored continuously throughout the night, usually in a sleep laboratory; however, the examination can also be performed at home. These recordings allow an individual sleep profile to be created, enabling the diagnosis of sleep disorders.

(2) Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index

(3) Non-rapid-eye-movement sleep

(4) Actigraphy – a method for recording the sleep–wake rhythm