Effects of homeopathic treatment in women with premenstrual syndrome: a pilot study

Abstract

Alternative therapies in general, and homeopathy in particular, lack clear scientific evaluation of efficacy. Controlled clinical trials are urgently needed, especially for conditions that are not helped by conventional methods. The objective of this work was to assess the efficacy of homeopathic treatment in relieving symptoms associated with premenstrual syndrome (PMS). It was a randomised controlled double-blind clinical trial. Two months baseline assessment with post-intervention follow-up for 3 months was conducted at Hadassah Hospital outpatient gynaecology clinic in Jerusalem in Israel 1992-1994. The subjects were 20 women, aged 20-48, suffering from PMS. Homeopathic intervention was chosen individually for each patient, according to a model of symptom clusters. Recruited volunteers with PMS were treated randomly with one oral dose of a homeopathic medication or placebo. The main outcome measure was scores of a daily menstrual distress questionnaire (MDQ) before and after treatment. Psychological tests for suggestibility were used to examine the possible effects of suggestion. Mean MDQ scores fell from 0.44 to 0.13 (P<0.05) with active treatment, and from 0.38 to 0.34 with placebo (NS). (Between group P=0.057). Improvement >30% was observed in 90% of patients receiving active treatment and 37.5% receiving placebo (P=0.048). Homeopathic treatment was found to be effective in alleviating the symptoms of PMS in comparison to placebo. The use of symptom clusters in this trial may offer a novel approach that will facilitate clinical trials in homeopathy. Further research is in progress.

Research on Homeopathy: State of the Art

“…94,100 Only when all Arnica studies are put together, independent of the model, can effects be seen. 92 Our review shows a prominent feature of clinical homeopathy research: The problem is not finding a stunning initial result, as in early studies such as those done with fibromyalgia, [125][126][127] or with premenstrual syndrome, 128 or combination homeopathy in ulcers in children with cancer, 129 although some recent results from initial studies have produced negative results. [131][132][133] The real problem is replicating the effect once it has been seen in a model, potentially in different independent studies.…”

Homeopathy on the crossroads of traditional and integrative medicine in the Middle-East

“…Yakir et al [27] Safety studies Israel Apparent life-threatening events in infants resulting from a homeopathic remedy…”

“…Engystol [24], Traumeel S [25] ) ( Table 2). Clinical studies have examined the effects of homeopathy in gynecology (postpartum bleeding and premenstrual syndrome) [26,27] ), hemato-oncology (chemotherapyinduced stomatitis) [28], neurology (cerebral palsy and trigeminal neuralgia) [29,30], orthopedics (hallux valgus surgery) [31], oral health (stomatitis, aphthous ulcerations) [28,32], pediatrics (cerebral palsy, asthma,) [29,33], and psychiatry (generalized anxiety disorder) [34]. Researchers have also addressed related issues, such as the safety of homeopathic treatment in infants [35] and conducted a cost-effective analysis in atopic patients.…”

Place de l’homéopathie en gynécologie

“…L'homéopathie s'adresse aux troubles des règles [8][9][10][11][12], tumeurs bénignes du sein (jusqu'à la maladie de Reclus), des ovaires, de l'utérus, troubles de l'allaitement (pas assez, trop de lait, mastodynies, engorgement mammaire. .…”