Physiotherapy and a Homeopathic Complex for Chronic Low Back Pain Due to Osteoarthritis: A Randomized, Controlled Pilot Study

Abstract:Context: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common cause of chronic low back pain (CLBP) and can be managed with the use of drug therapy and physiotherapy. Homeopathic remedies may assist in the management of OA; however, research that supports their effectiveness is limited. Objectives: The study aimed to investigate the efficacy of a homeopathic complex in combination with physiotherapy in the treatment of CLBP due to OA. Design: The study was a six-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot. Setting: The study took place in a private physiotherapy practice in Gauteng, South Africa. Participants: The participants were 30 males and females, aged 45-75 years, who were receiving physiotherapy treatment for OA of the lumbar spine from a therapist in private practice. Interventions: The intervention and control groups both received standard physiotherapy treatment—massage, thermal therapy, and joint mobilization—every 2 weeks. In addition, the treatment group received a homeopathic complex—6cH each of Arnica montana, Bryonia alba, Causticum, Kalmia latifolia, Rhus toxicodendron, and Calcarea fluorica. The control group a received a placebo. Outcome measures: The primary measure was a visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain. Secondary outcome measures included the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), an evaluation of each patient’s range of motion (ROM) of the lumbar spine, and a determination of each patient’s need for pain medication

Physiotherapy and a Homeopathic Complex for Chronic Low Back Pain Due to Osteoarthritis: A Randomized, Controlled Pilot Study

Abstract:Context: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common cause of chronic low back pain (CLBP) and can be managed with the use of drug therapy and physiotherapy. Homeopathic remedies may assist in the management of OA; however, research that supports their effectiveness is limited. Objectives: The study aimed to investigate the efficacy of a homeopathic complex in combination with physiotherapy in the treatment of CLBP due to OA. Design: The study was a six-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot. Setting: The study took place in a private physiotherapy practice in Gauteng, South Africa. Participants: The participants were 30 males and females, aged 45-75 years, who were receiving physiotherapy treatment for OA of the lumbar spine from a therapist in private practice. Interventions: The intervention and control groups both received standard physiotherapy treatment—massage, thermal therapy, and joint mobilization—every 2 weeks. In addition, the treatment group received a homeopathic complex—6cH each of Arnica montana, Bryonia alba, Causticum, Kalmia latifolia, Rhus toxicodendron, and Calcarea fluorica. The control group a received a placebo. Outcome measures: The primary measure was a visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain. Secondary outcome measures included the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), an evaluation of each patient’s range of motion (ROM) of the lumbar spine, and a determination of each patient’s need for pain medication..

Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) Therapies in the Treatment of Meniere's Syndrome: Illness Narratives

Colonnade interior, glass wall, from above, depicting brise-soleil; The building today commonly referred to as the Old City Hall was the building that served as Ottawa's city hall from 1958 to 2000. Today it is officially known as 111 Sussex Drive and is owned by the Federal Government of Canada. The building is located on Green Island at the point where the Rideau River empties into the Ottawa. The International Style building was opened on August 2, 1958 by Princess Margaret as a member of the Canadian Royal Family. It is noted for the first building in Ottawa to be fully air conditioned. It was designed by John Bland of the firm of Rother, Bland and Trudeau and is considered one of the most important International Style buildings in Canada. Winning the Massey Medal for design in 1959, modifications were made by Moshe Safdie in 1992-1993. Today the building mainly houses foreign affairs employees. Source: Wikipedia; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page (accessed 1/10/2008

Homeopathy in the age of antimicrobial resistance: Is it a viable treatment for upper respiratory tract infections?

Background: Acute upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) and their complications are the most frequent cause of antibiotic prescribing in primary care. With multi-resistant organisms proliferating, appropriate alternative treatments to these conditions are urgently required. Homeopathy presents one solution, however there are many methods of homeopathic prescribing. This review of the literature considers firstly whether homeopathy offers a viable alternative therapeutic solution for acute upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) and their complications and secondly how such homeopathic intervention might take place. Method: Critical review of post 1994 clinical studies featuring homeopathic treatment of acute upper respiratory tract infections and their complications. Study design, treatment invention, cohort group, measurement and outcome were considered. Discussion focused on the extent to which homeopathy is used to treat URTIs; rate of improvement and tolerability of the treatment; complications of URTIs; prophylactic and long-term effects; the use of combination versus single homeopathic remedies. Results: Multiple peer review studies were found in which homeopathy had been used to treat upper respiratory tract infections and associated symptoms (cough, pharyngitis, tonsillitis, otitis media, acute sinusitis etc.). 9 RCTs and 8 report observational/ cohort studies were analysed, 7 of which were paediatric studies. 7 RCTs used combination remedies with multiple constituents. Results for homeopathy treatment were positive overall, with faster resolution, reduced use of antibiotics and possible prophylactic and longer-term benefits. Conclusions: Variations in size, location, cohort and outcome measures make comparisons and generalisations concerning homeopathic clinical trials for URTIs problematic. Nevertheless, study findings suggest at least equivalence between homeopathy and conventional treatment for uncomplicated URTI cases, with fewer adverse events and potentially broader therapeutic outcomes. The use of non-individualised homeopathic compounds tailored for the pediatric population merits further investigation, including through cohort studies. In the light of antimicrobial resistance, homeopathy offers alternative strategies for minor infections and possible prevention of recurring URTIs

Disclosure and adverse effects of complementary and alternative medicine used by hospitalized patients in the North East of England

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the prevalence, disclosure and adverse effects of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use in hospitalised patients, and to explore the associations between patients’ perceived side-effects and relevant factors. Methods: Patients who were admitted to a district general hospital and met the eligibility criteria were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. Their medications and pertinent details were verified from the medical notes. All quantitative and qualitative data were collated and analysed. A chi-squared test was performed to test the associations of the perceived CAM side-effects with the significance level determined at a=0.05. Results: A total of 240 in-patients completed the study. They were mostly white British (98.8%). The prevalence of CAM use within two years was 74.6% and one month 37.9%. Only 19 of 91 patients (20.9%) using CAM within one month disclosed their current CAM applications. Nearly half of patients (45.8%) who used CAM within two years experienced various CAM side-effects that tended to resolve after discontinuation. Slightly more than half (57.6%) perceived CAM side-effects and their perceptions were significantly associated with gender (P=0.048) and consideration for future CAM use (P=0.033). Potential interactions between herbal remedies/dietary supplements and prescribed drugs, such as garlic with lisinopril or aspirin, were assessed in 82 patients (45.8%). Conclusion: Most in-patients used CAM and experienced some adverse effects. The disclosure of CAM use and its adverse outcomes should be encouraged by healthcare professionals

From Thick to Thin: The Remaking of Homeopathy in France

Homeopathy is an alternative healing method originated by German physician Samuel Hahnemann in the 18th century. Since its advent, it has undergone many transformations, as a clinical method as well as a philosophy, as it has confronted the changing climates of scientific knowledge and politics. Today, it faces challenges to its existence from industry and “official” science and medicine and is riven with internal discord on matters of homeopathic ideology and orthodoxy. This dissertation seeks to illuminate the nature of these challenges by studying the homeopathic community in France, where homeopathic treatment is widely sought by patient-consumers and is partially reimbursed by the public health insurance system. The specific focus of this research is the loss of homeopathy’s “thickness,” which describes the method’s clinical particularities, which attend to the “whole” patient and which are being erased as the homeopathic remedy industry in France transforms homeopathy from a form of clinical expertise into a “thinned” consumer healthcare commodity. Through ethnographic interviews conducted over a period of 18 months with a range of stakeholders in the French homeopathic community, including industry actors, physicians, pharmacists, and academics, this dissertation explores how these stakeholders differentially articulate the method’s epistemological, ideological, and political identities, risks, and hopes for the future. The future of clinical homeopathy is increasingly determined by industry, to which the homeopathic community has affixed its hopes of survival. The research herein suggests that industry is ultimately not interested in preserving homeopathy’s “thick” clinical method; it is only interested in the “thin,” simplified, market-friendly version of homeopathy that sells product. The effect of industry’s remaking of homeopathy is that it obviates the role of the traditional homeopath. And to the extent that homeopaths rely on industry for financial support of their research and professional conferences, they are complicit in their own decline. Many homeopaths fear challenging industry because to do so would be to challenge the hand that feeds them. The ethnographic accounts in this dissertation provide a view on clinical homeopathy’s Faustian bargain with industry

FDA and the Challenge of Alternative Medicine: Realistic Assessments and Regulatory Flexibility

Alternative medicine has already established a role for itself in the health care of many Americans. FDA, however, has been slow to develop a meaningful and coherent regulatory response to this growing phenomenon. Reluctant to change its mind-set, FDA acts under the mistaken belief that the current regulatory scheme can accommodate any alternative medicine that will be useful to the public. Because of their conceptual and philosophical differences from conventional medicine, however, many alternative therapies simply cannot meet the demands of the current regulatory system. This reality does not imply that such medicines are not valuable. While it is true that many practices that are labelled alternative are nothing more than health fraud and often dangerous, there are also many medicines with great potential to improve how Americans think about and use medicine. A coherent policy toward alternative medicine and a more flexible regulatory scheme are required of FDA if Americans are to be given the freedom to choose different forms of health care safely and wisely

Can Administration of Potentized Homeopathic Remedy, Arsenicum Album, Alter Antinuclear Antibody (ANA) Titer in People Living in High-Risk Arsenic Contaminated Areas? I. A Correlation with Certain Hematological Parameters

To examine whether elevated antinuclear antibody (ANA) titers reported in random human population of arsenic contaminated villages can be reverted to the normal range by administration of a potentized homeopathic drug, Arsenicum album, randomly selected volunteers in two arsenic contaminated villages and one arsenic-free village in West Bengal (India) were periodically tested for their ANA titer as well as various blood parameters in two types of experiments: ‘placebo-controlled double blind’ experiment for shorter duration and ‘uncontrolled verum fed experiment’ for longer duration. Positive modulation of ANA titer was observed along with changes in certain relevant hematological parameters, namely total count of red blood cells and white blood cells, packed cell volume, hemoglobin content, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and blood sugar level, mostly within 2 months of drug administration. Thus, Arsenicum album appears to have great potential for ameliorating arsenic induced elevated ANA titer and other hematological toxicities