| Homoeopathy
Research
Listed below are health
problems for which Homoeopathy has been shown to help. For full details,
please click on the health problem.
Homoeopathic
treatment of chronic skin infections
A new study conducted in
Germany has found that the homoeopathic remedy, Sulfur Oligoplex, seems to
be very beneficial for people suffering from chronic skin infections and
related skin disorders including acne and eczema.
Sulfur Oligoplex is a formulated homoeopathic
remedy which has been used by homoeopaths on the continent for over 85 years
in the treatment of chronic skin conditions including seborrhoeic eczema,
skin infections and acne. It contains Sulphur 6x, Alumen 6x, Cuprum oxydatum
nigrum 6x and Magnesium sulfuricum 6x.
A study was conducted in Germany to evaluate the
efficacy of Sulfur Oligoplex for various skin disorders. 4,339 patients were
evaluated; 3078 (70.9%) of them were over 12 years of age, 912(21%) were
between 6 -12 years of age, 259 (6% were aged between one year and 6 years,
and 90 (2.1%) were under one year of age.
Data was collected via questionnaires which were
completed by the attending health practitioners who had used Sulfur
Oligoplex for an average of 10 years (the shortest period a practitioner had
used the remedy was six months and the longest was 34 years). The average
duration of treatment for patients was 6 weeks.
The results showed that 2065 (47.6%) patients
experienced a complete clearance of symptoms, 1742 (40.1%) experienced a
clear improvement, 382 (8.%) experienced a minor improvement and only 150
patients (3.5%) experienced no improvement.
Side effects were noted in 166 (3.8%) of the
patients, but these were mainly typical homoeopathic reactions involving a
slight worsening of symptoms at the commencement of the treatment. The
tolerability of the treatment was judged to very good’ by 96.2% of the
patients.
One important factor was that 64.5% of the patients
used no additional complementary medicines or treatments, but the other
patients were prescribed other remedies including other homoeopathic
preparations, dietary changes, mineral preparations, acupuncture treatment
and herbal remedies to assist.
Overall, the study showed that Sulfur Oligoplex was
effective (in varying degrees) in 96.5% of the patients treated although at
least one third of the patients also used additional therapies. Although
this was not a double-blind, controlled study, the high success rate
observed by the practitioners and the large number of patients provide
strong evidence that this may be a useful complementary medicine for people
of all ages suffering from chronic skin infections.
In summary, although this research goes some way to
supporting the use of Sulfur Oligoplex as, at least, a complementary
therapeutic intervention for patients suffering from chronic skin infections
and disorders, further controlled, double-blind studies would be required to
fully understand the efficacy of the treatment.
Source: Alternatives in health V.2 I.4 June 1997
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Homoeopathy
& heart rate
Homoeopathic
medicine can affect heart rate according to Mexican researchers. ECGs
were recorded from healthy human subjects during 24-hour long
intervals, using ambulatory equipment. The researchers calculated from
the data various parameters, searching for those that change in a
clear and systematic way under a homeopathic stimulus, (Strophantus
hispidus 30c). The energy fraction at high frequencies in the power
spectrum of heart rate variability fulfills this condition, and the
researchers were able to interpret the results in a way consistent
with the information on this medicine in the homeopathic Materia
Medica.
Br Homeopath J 1999
Jul;88(3):106-11 Ruiz
G, Torres JL, Michel O, Navarro R, Instituto de Fisica y Matematicas,
Universidad Michoacana, Morelia, Mexico.
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Homoeopathic
treatment of mosquito bites
A randomised, placebo
controlled clinical trial was recently conducted to examine the efficacy of
a homeopathic after-bite gel in providing symptomatic relief of mosquito
bites. Sixty-eight healthy volunteers were bitten under laboratory
conditions by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes at three spots on the forearm. One
bite was treated with the homoeopathic after-bite gel, another bite with a
placebo gel, which was identical in appearance and smell to the homoeopathic
after-bite gel, and the third bite remained untreated and was used as a
control.
Immediately after the bites
and at 1,3,6, 26 and 31 hours afterwards, the length and width of the
erythema were measured with a calliper, and photographs were also taken of
the bite sites. The extent of itching was assessed by each patient using a
verbal analogue scale.
The results showed that the
bites treated with the homoeopathic treatment group fared significantly
better than the placebo and control groups. The average (median) total
erythema was 10.500 mm2*h in the homoeopathic group, 12.900 mm2*h in the
placebo group and 13.300 mm2*h in the control group.
After pooling the data of a
very similar previous pilot study involving 15 people and the present study
(total number of subjects = 83), the homoeopathic after-bite gel was found
to be significantly superior to placebo or no treatment. The extent of
itching was positively correlated with the area of the erythema, and
treatment of mosquito bites with the homoeopathic after-bite gel was found
to effectively reduce the erythema.
Hill N.; Slam C.; Tuinder S.;
Van Haselen R.A. A placebo controlled clinical trial investigating the
efficacy of a homoeopathic after bite gel in reducing mosquito bite induced
erythema. Eumpean Journal of Clinical Pharmacology (Germany), 1995,49/1-2
(103-108)
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Homoeopathic
treatment of acute ankle sprains
The
homoeopathic ointment Traumeel (R) was tested in a placebo-controlled,
randomized double-blind study involving a total of 73 patients who had
sports-related sprains of
the ankle. Electrotherapy was
administered to all patients as basic treatment.
The study design took the quantifiable
objective criterion for the degree of restitution of ankle mobility and the
difference in total angulation of the joint measured in extension and
flexion between the affected and non-affected joints. Treatment was
administered on an outpatient basis seven times within a two-week period.
The basic electrotherapy treatment
produced an improvement in joint mobility in both groups, however on closer
examination of the data, the researchers found that the homoeopathic
treatment resulted in a significantly faster recovery than was observed in
the placebo group.
Zell J.; Connert W.-D.; Mau
J.; Feuerstake G. Treatment of acute sprains of the ankle. Controlled
double-blind trial to test the effectiveness of a homeopathic ointment.
FORTSCHR. MED. (Germany, Federal Republic of) , 1988, 106/5 (62-70)
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