12/27/2019 Scientific Evidence for Homeopathic Medicine
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Author: Events
Dana Calendar
Ullman (© 1995)
Excerpted from Consumer's Guide to Homeopathy,
(Tarcher/Putnam)
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Home / Professional Info / Professional Articles / Scientific Evidence for Homeopathic Medicine
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Section Three
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Clinical Research with Homeopathic
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Combination Remedies
Homeopathic combination remedies are formulas in which several
Scroll to Top homeopathic substances are mixed together into one remedy. This
untraditional approach to using homeopathic medicine is commercially popular in many
countries. While these remedies are not thought by homeopaths to be as effective as
individually chosen medicines, they do work and research has verified this. Yet, homeopaths
consistently find that single homeopathic medicines have the potential to truly cure a person's
disease, while combination medicines at best provide safe but temporary relief of symptoms.
The same researchers who conducted the study on asthma earlier described also performed a
study on the treatment of hayfever.19 This double-blind, placebo-controlled study prescribed a
30c potency of a combination remedy made from 12 common pollens. The results showed that
those subjects taking the homeopathic remedy had six times fewer symptoms than those given
the placebo. Both groups of subjects were allowed to use an "escape" medicine (an
antihistamine) if their remedy didn't work adequately. The study showed that homeopathic
subjects needed this medicine half as often as did those given the placebo.
Another example of significant results from a homeopathic combination remedy was in the
treatment of women during their ninth month of pregnancy.20 Ninety women were given the 5c
potency of the following remedies: Caulophyllum, Arnica, Cimicifuga, Pulsatilla, and Gelsemium.
They were given doses of this combination remedy twice daily during the ninth month. This
double-blind, placebo-controlled study showed that women given the homeopathic medicines
experienced a 40% (!) shorter labor than those given a placebo. Also, the women given the
placebo had four times (!) as many complications of labor as those given the homeopathic
medicines.
One of the limitations of research on combination remedies is that the results do not reveal
whether the effective treatment came from one specific medicine or from the unique
combination
Part: 1 2 of 3 remedies.
4 5 A recent study of 22 healthy women in their first pregnancies tested
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12/27/2019 Scientific Evidence for Homeopathic Medicine
Caulophyllum, one of the medicines used in the study cited above, which was administered in
Information for the Professional the 7c potency during the active phase of labor (one dose per hour repeated for a maximum of 4
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hours). The time of labor for those women given the homeopathic medicine was 38% shorter
than for women given a placebo.21 This trial was not double-blind; however, the researchers
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recently completed a double-blind trial and confirmed their earlier results.22
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Cured Cases A popular homeopathic external application marketed as TraumeelTM has been studied for its
Student Portal efficacy in the treatment of sprained ankles.23 This combination of 14 remedies in 2x to 6x
ProLinks potencies was given to subjects with sprained ankles. After 10 days, 24 of the 33 patients who
were given the homeopathic medicine were pain-free, while 13 of 36 patients given a placebo
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experienced a similar degree of relief. This same medicine was also used in the treatment of
Bios traumatic hemarthrosis (joint swelling) and was shown to significantly reduce healing time as
compared to a placebo. Objective measurements of joint swelling and movement and evaluation
of the synovial fluid at injury were assessed.24
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A study of 61 patients with varicose veins was performed double-blind and placebo-controlled.25
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Three doses of a popular German combination of eight homeopathic medicines were given daily
for 24 days. Measures were venous filling time, leg volume, and subjective symptoms. The
Existing Student? Log in here study found that venous filling time improved in those given the homeopathic medicines by 44%,
while it deteriorated in the placebo group by 18%. Other measures also had significant
differences.
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In addition to the various clinical studies on humans, there has also been some research using
homeopathic medicines to improve the health of animals. German researchers have shown that
Scroll to Top dairy cows given Sepia 200c experienced significantly fewer complications of birth than those
given a placebo.26 Low-potency (1x to 6x) combinations of Lachesis, Pulsatilla, and Sabina, or
Lachesis, Echinacea, and Pyrogenium, along with Caulophyllum given to pigs had preventive
and therapeutic effects on infections (inflammation of the breasts and the uterus) as well as on
diarrhea in the piglets.27
Not all clinical studies on homeopathic combination medicines find efficacy of treatment, but
there are often important factors that explain the failure. A Canadian study on the treatment of
plantar warts is one such example.28 This randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with
162 patients prescribed three medicines to each patient (Because the trial did not mix the
remedies together, it is not completely accurate to call the use of these remedies a combination.
It is more precise to consider it "polypharmacy," the use of several medicines). The remedies
used were Thuja 30c, Antimonium crud 7c and Nitric acid 7c. Thuja was taken once a week, and
the other two remedies were taken once a day.
The trial lasted six weeks. The results showed that there was no noticeable difference between
those subjects given the homeopathic medicines and those given a placebo.
Many homeopaths may be initially surprised at the result of this trial because they consider
these remedies commonly effective in the treatment of warts. But while the remedies may be
effective for treating warts, they are not necessarily effective for all types of warts or in all
people. A recent study of homeopathic treatment for various types of warts found that 18 of 19
people with plantar warts were cured in, on average, 2.2 months.29 The most common remedy
was Ruta, prescribed to 12 of the 19 patients. Thuja was prescribed for only 3 patients, and
Antimonium crud was prescribed for 2 patients.
This study teaches us that individualization and the use of well-chosen remedies are necessary
for most effective treatment.
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12/27/2019 Scientific Evidence for Homeopathic Medicine
One additional note about research using homeopathic combination medicines: The
Information for the Professional homeopathic literature refers to the fact that some remedies are antidoted by other remedies.
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While the medicines in the Canadian trial are not known to antidote each other, homeopaths
acknowledge that our understanding of which remedies antidote each other is somewhat
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primitive (for a listing of which remedies antidote each other, see the appendix in Kent's
Professional Articles Repertory or in the Indian edition of Boericke's Pocket Manual of Materia Medica with
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Repertory). Homeopathic research must, therefore, be aware of this possibility so that
conclusions from research are not overstated.
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