Prevalence and associated factors with homeopathy use in Brazil: a population-based study

Faisal-Cury, Alexandre; Rodrigues, Daniel Maurício de Oliveira

doi:10.1590/0102-311xen261821

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 37 publications

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“…Pharmacological treatment mainly depends on antidepressants. However, these drugs have numerous adverse events [3][4][5], and their superiority over placebo is still a matter of controversy [6], which can contribute to the search for solutions in complementary medicine, including homeopathy [7,8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Homeopathy for Major Depressive Disorder: Protocol for N-of-1 Studies

Adler¹,

Adler²,

César³

et al. 2023

Complement Med Res

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Background: N-of-1 studies allow the formal assessment of a patient’s treatment. A single participant receives different interventions the same number of times in a crossover, double-blind, randomized design. Using this methodology, we will investigate the effectiveness and safety of a standardized homeopathy protocol in treating 10 cases of major depression. Methods: The method is described below: Design: crossover double-blind placebo-controlled randomized N-of-1 studies, with at most 28 weeks of duration per participant. Participants: women and men at age over 18 years with a diagnosis of a major depressive episode given by a psychiatrist, who have presented a therapeutic response, i.e., a reduction ≥50% of the baseline depressive symptoms, self-assessed by the Beck Depression Inventory – Second Edition (BDI-II), and sustained for at least 4 weeks during an open homeopathic treatment following the protocol of the sixth edition of the Organon, with or without concomitant use of psychotropic drugs. Interventions: individualized homeopathy following the same protocol, one globule of the fifty-millesimal potency diluted in 20 mL of 30% alcohol; placebo – 20 mL of 30% alcohol, in the same posology as homeopathy. Crossover study: the participant will go through three consecutive treatment blocks, with two random and masked treatment periods (A or B), corresponding to homeopathy or placebo. Treatment periods will have 2, 4, and 8 weeks in the first, second, and third blocks, respectively. A clinically significant worsening (characterized by an augmentation in BDI-II inclusion score ≥30%) will result in the termination of study participation and resumption of the open treatment. Primary measure: progression of the depressive symptoms, self-assessed by the participant using the BDI-II scale at weeks 0, 2, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28 and analyzed throughout the study concerning homeopathy and placebo partitions. Secondary measures: score of the Clinical Global Impression Scale; mental and physical health scores assessed by the 12-Item Short-Form Health Survey; participant’s blind preference for treatment A or B at each block; clinical worsening; and adverse events. Data analysis: the participant, assistant physician, evaluator, and statistician will remain blinded for the study treatments until the completion of data analysis of each study. We will follow a 10-step procedure for analyzing N-of-1 observational data of each participant and conduct a meta-analysis of the combined results. Discussion: We understand that each N-de-1 study will be a chapter with its teachings in a book of ten, allowing a broader view of the effectiveness of the homeopathy protocol of the sixth edition of the Organon in treating depression.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Homeopathy for Major Depressive Disorder: Protocol for N-of-1 Studies

Adler¹,

Adler²,

César³

et al. 2023

Complement Med Res

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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Working with patients’ treatment expectations – what we can learn from homeopathy

Wilhelm,

Hermann,

Rief

et al. 2024

Front. Psychol.

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The usual homeopathic remedy, “globules,” does not contain any pharmacologically active ingredient. However, many patients and practitioners report beneficial effects of homeopathic treatment on various health outcomes. Experimental and clinical research of the last two decades analyzing the underlying mechanisms of the placebo effect could explain this phenomenon, with patients’ treatment expectations as the predominant mechanism. Treatment expectations can be optimized through various factors, such as prior information, communication, and treatment context. This narrative review analyses how homeopathy successfully utilizes these factors. Subsequently, it is discussed what evidence-based medicine could learn from homeopathic practice to optimize treatment expectations (e.g., using an empathic, patient-centered communication style, deliberately selecting objects in practice rooms, or using clear treatment rituals and salient contextual stimuli) and thereby treatment effectiveness. Homeopathic remedy does not work beyond the placebo effect but is recommended or prescribed as an active treatment by those who believe in it. Thus, practitioners need to understand the manner in which homeopathy (as an example of inert treatment) works and are advised to reintegrate its underlying effective placebo mechanisms into evidence-based medicine. This promises to increase treatment efficacy, tolerability, satisfaction, and compliance with evidence-based treatments, and addresses the desires patients are trying to satisfy in homeopathy in an ethical, fully informed way that is grounded in evidence-based medicine.

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Prevalence and associated factors with homeopathy use in Brazil: a population-based study

Cited by 2 publications

References 37 publications

Homeopathy for Major Depressive Disorder: Protocol for N-of-1 Studies

Homeopathy for Major Depressive Disorder: Protocol for N-of-1 Studies

Working with patients’ treatment expectations – what we can learn from homeopathy

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