MYTHs of Homeopathy - A Series. Ep. 4

“Homeopathy is just a placebo effect”

It is frequently argued that homeopathic medicines are ‘just sugar pills’ that don’t contain any active ingredients, so any benefits patients report are due purely to the placebo effect i.e. people believe the pills are going to help and this belief alone triggers a healing response.

With any medical treatment there is likely to be some degree of ‘placebo effect’ and in this respect homeopathy is no different, but the theory that homeopathy’s effects are only a placebo response is not supported by the scientific evidence.

If homeopathy is really just a placebo effect, how does one explain:

1. The existence of positive high quality placebo-controlled trials? These trials are designed specifically to separate out the placebo effect from the real clinical effect of the treatment being tested.
2. Homeopathic medicines having effects in laboratory experiments? Effects have been seen on white blood cells, frogs and wheat plants to name just a few examples.
3. The fact that homeopathy works in animals? A rigorous research study found that homeopathy can prevent E. coli diarrhoea in piglets¹ – a big problem in commercial farmingMore

References

Find out more about similar statements:

“A top research organisation in Australia just found homeopathy doesn’t work for anything and is just placebo”

“The UK Parliamentary report has looked at the evidence and said it’s just placebo”

Priorities and methods for developing the evidence profile of homeopathy

Priorities and methods for developing the evidence profile of homeopathy Recommendations of the ECH General Assembly and XVIII Symposium of GIRI

M. Van Wassenhoven^†

^†Vice president of the GIRI, Research Coordinator of ECH.

Received: December 9, 2004; Received in revised form: December 24, 2004; Accepted: January 24, 2005;

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.homp.2005.01.001

Abstract

To achieve scientific acceptance, homeopathy must investigate several questions:

• 1.

  The activity of very highly diluted preparations. The consensus of the meeting was that there is clear evidence of this.

• 2.

  The content of very highly diluted homeopathic preparations. More research is needed but evidence exists that a specific signal is present in homeopathic preparations.

• 3.

  A theoretical framework in which the effects of homeopathic diluted preparations can be explained. The ‘Body Information Theory’ is such a theory.

• 4.

  The clinical effectiveness of homeopathy. Because they avoid the placebo effect, animal studies are a priority.

For human trials using Quality of Life questionnaires, studies on the activity, content and theoretical basis of homeopathic preparations were reviewed approximately 70% of cases; more in children showed improvement. Homeopathy reduced costs and allowed a better improvement in work-days lost compared with conventional practice. Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) implicitly test the placebo hypothesis; RCTs have been performed and meta-analyses conclude that there is clear evidence of efficacy which cannot be attributed to placebo effect.

Priorities depend on the audience. More research is needed especially regarding the content of homeopathic preparations and the transmission of information. Theoretical issues are also important to avoid incorrect design of research protocols. More effort should be dedicated to veterinary research. Clinical effects analysis in humans remains important. Many other questions should be prioritised, such as the potential of homeopathy to avoid invasive procedures in children and the long-term effects of homeopathy in preventing chronic complications.

http://www.homeopathyjournal.net/article/S1475-4916%2805%2900025-1/fulltext

n late 2011, the Swiss government's report on homeopathic medicine represents the most comprehensive evaluation of homeopathic medicine ever written by a government

The Swiss government has a long and widely-respected history of neutrality, and therefore, reports from this government on controversial subjects need to be taken more seriously than other reports from countries that are more strongly influenced by present economic and political constituencies. When one considers that two of the top five largest drug companies in the world have their headquarters in Switzerland, one might assume that this country would have a heavy interest in and bias toward conventional medicine, but such assumptions would be wrong.  In late 2011, the Swiss government's report on homeopathic medicine represents the most comprehensive evaluation of homeopathic medicine ever written by a government and was just published in book form in English (Bornhoft and Matthiessen, 2011). This breakthrough report affirmed that homeopathic treatment is both effective and cost-effective and that homeopathic treatment should be reimbursed by Switzerland's national health insurance program. 

The Swiss government's inquiry into homeopathy and complementary and alternative (CAM) treatments resulted from the high demand and widespread use of alternatives to conventional medicine in Switzerland, not only from consumers but from physicians as well. Approximately half of the Swiss population have used CAM treatments and value them. Further, about half of Swiss physicians consider CAM treatments to be effective. Perhaps most significantly, 85 percent of the Swiss population wants CAM therapies to be a part of their country's health insurance program. 

It is therefore not surprising that more than 50 percent of the Swiss population surveyed prefer a hospital that provides CAM treatments rather to one that is limited to conventional medical care. 

Beginning in 1998, the government of Switzerland decided to broaden its national health insurance to include certain complementary and alternative medicines, including homeopathic medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, herbal medicine, anthroposophic medicine, and neural therapy. This reimbursement was provisional while the Swiss government commissioned an extensive study on these treatments to determine if they were effective and cost-effective. The provisional reimbursement for these alternative treatments ended in 2005, but as a result of this new study, the Swiss government's health insurance program once again began to reimburse for homeopathy and select alternative treatments. In fact, as a result of a national referendum in which more than two-thirds of voters supported the inclusion of homeopathic and select alternative medicines in Switzerland's national health care insurance program, the field of complementary and alternative medicine has become a part of this government's constitution (Dacey, 2009; Rist, Schwabl, 2009). 

The Swiss Government's "Health Technology Assessment" 

The Swiss government's "Health Technology Assessment" on homeopathic medicine is much more comprehensive than any previous governmental report written on this subject to date. Not only did this report carefully and comprehensively review the body of evidence from randomized double-blind and placebo controlled clinical trials testing homeopathic medicines, they also evaluated the "real world effectiveness" as well as safety and cost-effectiveness. The report also conducted a highly-comprehensive review of the wide body of preclinical research (fundamental physio-chemical research, botanical studies, animal studies, and in vitro studies with human cells). 

And still further, this report evaluated systematic reviews and meta-analyses, outcome studies, and epidemiological research. This wide review carefully evaluated the studies conducted, both in terms of quality of design and execution (called "internal validity") and how appropriate each was for the way that homeopathy is commonly practiced (called "external validity"). The subject of external validity is of special importance because some scientists and physicians conduct research on homeopathy with little or no understanding of this type of medicine (some studies tested a homeopathic medicine that is rarely used for the condition tested, while others utilized medicines not commonly indicated for specific patients). When such studies inevitably showed that the homeopathic medicine did not "work," the real and accurate assessment must be that the studies were set up to disprove homeopathy... or simply, the study was an exploratory trial that sought to evaluate the results of a new treatment (exploratory trials of this nature are not meant to prove or disprove the system of homeopathy but only to evaluate that specific treatment for a person with a specific condition). 

After assessing pre-clinical basic research and the high quality clinical studies, the Swiss report affirmed that homeopathic high-potencies seem to induce regulatory effects (e.g., balancing or normalizing effects) and specific changes in cells or living organisms. The report also reported that 20 of the 22 systematic reviews of clinical research testing homeopathic medicines detected at least a trend in favor of homeopathy.* (Bornhöft, Wolf, von Ammon, et al, 2006) 

The Swiss report found a particularly strong body of evidence to support the homeopathic treatment of Upper Respiratory Tract Infections and Respiratory Allergies. The report cited 29 studies in "Upper Respiratory Tract Infections/AllergicReactions," of which 24 studies found a positive result in favor of homeopathy. Further, six out of seven controlled studies that compared homeopathic treatment with conventional medical treatment showed that homeopathy to be more effective than conventional medical interventions (the one other trial found homeopathic treatment to be equivalent to conventional medical treatment). All of these results from homeopathic treatment came without the side effects common to conventional drug treatment. In evaluating only the randomized placebo controlled trials, 12 out of 16 studies showed a positive result in favor of homeopathy. 

The authors of the Swiss government's report acknowledge that a part of the overall review of research included one review of clinical research in homeopathy (Shang, et al, 2005). However, the authors noted that this review of research has been widely and harshly criticized by both advocates and non-advocates of homeopathy. The Swiss report noted that the Shang team did not even adhere to the QUORUM guidelines which are widely recognized standards for scientific reporting (Linde, Jonas, 2005). The Shang team initially evaluated 110 homeopathic clinical trials and then sought to compare them with a matching 110 conventional medical trials. Shang and his team determined that there were 22 "high quality" homeopathic studies but only nine "high quality" conventional medical studies. Rather than compare these high quality trials (which would have shown a positive result for homeopathy), the Shang team created criteria to ignore a majority of high quality homeopathic studies, thereby trumping up support for their original hypothesis and bias that homeopathic medicines may not be effective (Lüdtke, Rutten, 2008). 

The Swiss report also notes that David Sackett, M.D., the Canadian physician who is widely considered to be one of the leading pioneers in "evidence based medicine," has expressed serious concern about those researchers and physicians who consider randomized and double-blind trials as the only means to determine whether a treatment is effective or not. To make this assertion, one would have to acknowledge that virtually all surgical procedures were "unscientific" or "unproven" because so few have undergone randomized double-blind trials. 

In my view, for a treatment to be determined to be "effective" or "scientifically proven," a much more comprehensive assessment of what works and doesn't is required. Ultimately, the Swiss government's report on homeopathy represents an evaluation of homeopathy that included an assessment of randomized double blind trials as well as other bodies of evidence, all of which together lead the report to determine that homeopathic medicines are indeed effective. 

The next article will discuss further evidence provided in this report from the Swiss government on the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of homeopathic care. 

--- REFERENCES: 

Bornhoft, Gudrun, and Matthiessen, Peter F. Homeopathy in Healthcare: Effectiveness, Appropriateness, Safety, Costs. Goslar, Germany: Springer, 2011. http://rd.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-642-20638-2/page/1(This book is presently available from the German office of the publisher, and it will become available via the American office as well as select booksellers in mid- to late-February, 2012.)(NOTE: When specific facts in the above article are provided but not referenced, this means that these facts were derived from this book.) 

Bornhöft G, Wolf U, von Ammon K, Righetti M, Maxion-Bergemann S, Baumgartner S, Thurneysen AE, Matthiessen PF. Effectiveness, safety and cost-effectiveness of homeopathy in general practice - summarized health technology assessment. Forschende Komplementärmedizin (2006);13 Suppl 2:19-29. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16883077 

Dacey, Jessica. Therapy supporters roll up sleeves after vote. SwissInfo.ch, May 19, 2009. http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/politics/Therapy_supporters_roll_up_sleeves_after_vote.html?cid=670064 

Linde K, Jonas W. Are the clinical effects of homeopathy placebo effects? Lancet 36:2081-2082. DOI:10.1016/S0140-6736(05)67878-6. http://download.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140673605678786.pdf 

Lüdtke R, Rutten ALB. The conclusions on the effectiveness of homeopathy highly depend on the set of analysed trials. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology. October 2008. doi: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2008.06/015. http://www.jclinepi.com/article/S0895-4356(08)00190-X/abstract 

Rist L, Schwabl H: Komplementärmedizin im politischen Prozess. Schweizer Bevölkerungstimmt über Verfassungsartikel «Zukunft mit Komplementärmedizin» ab. Forsch Komplementmed 2009, doi 10.1159/000203073. (Translation: Complementary medicine in the political process: The Swiss population votes on the Constitutional Article "The future with complementary medicine" http://www.ayurveda-association.eu/files/swiss_referendum_on_cam_-_forschkomplementmed_2009.pdf 

*Although this Swiss government report was just published in book form in 2011, the report was finalized in 2006. In light of this date, the authors evaluated systematic reviews and meta-analyses on homeopathic research up until June 2003. 

By, Dana Ullman, MPH, is America's leading spokesperson for homeopathy and is the founder of www.homeopathic.com. He is the author of 10 books, including his bestseller, Everybody's Guide to Homeopathic Medicines. His most recent book is, The Homeopathic Revolution: Why Famous People and Cultural Heroes Choose Homeopathy (the Foreword to this book was written by Dr. Peter Fisher, the Physician to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II). Dana lives, practices, and writes from Berkeley, California. 

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Autism Is A Research Growth Area: No Profit in Finding the Cause

Autism Is A Research Growth Area: No Profit in Finding the CauseFebruary 19, 2012 by admin in Autism, Featured, Science http://gaia-health.com/gaia-blog/2012-02-19/autism-is-a-research-growth-area-no-profit-in-finding-the-cause/ 

The Mind of the Autism Researcher 

Attempts to prove that autism is genetic, physical, or chemical in nature continue unabated. It’s proven to be a most lucrative specialty for researchers. However, the studies that promote the genetics-not-vaccine concept tend to show only the effects of autism. They demonstrate nothing to indicate the actual cause, though they often imply, or even outright state, otherwise. 

That alone should tell us what’s become of most autism research: it’s a growth area. Autism research has become very much the same as Big Pharma-based medicine. In fact, much of it is funded by pharmaceutical corporations. 

To find a disease cause and solution to prevent disease isn’t profitable. However, to find even the most minuscule physical, genetic, or chemical change in someone with an existing disease means that even more money can be squeezed out of the research funders like the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), agencies funded by taxpayers. Anything that leads away from causes and focuses on the physiochemical effects of autism always leads to more questions and more research funds. 

Gaia Health recently documented an autism study demonstrating that it shows the opposite of what is claimed. The authors attempt to demonstrate that physical changes in the brains of autistics shows that vaccines could not be the cause. In reality, the study shows a close parallel between those changes and autism’s development. That fact, though, could not be mentioned. It would likely have resulted in the researchers’ funding sources drying up. Study: White Matter Changes in Autism 

A recent study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry(1) says that children defined as high risk for developing autism become autistic because of changes in the brain’s white matter, and that autism can be predicted in advance based on MRIs showing such changes. This is all fine and dandy—but it says precisely nothing about what causes these changes. 

This study has a continuing medical education couse associated with it on MedPage Today. Passing the related test of two simple questions provides the reader, who is presumed to be a doctor, with .25 CME units. The doctor can easily collect these training credits within a few minutes, never leaving the comfort of home or office, or more significantly, without even having to bother reading the study itself. No thought process is required to determine whether the study holds any validity. The single-page course simply summarizes and regurgitates the study’s claims with no attempt to analyze whether it’s meaningful. 

The result of this is sure to be yet more MRI tests on infants, which will, of course, further increase the cost of medicine and will likely produce no benefit to children—unless yet another toxic drug is considered helpful. Study: Genetic Changes in Autism 

Another study, published in PLoS Genetics(2), states that functional mutations in the SHANK2 gene, resulting in changes in synapses, are associated with some, but not all, autism. A functional mutation is not a birth defect. It is caused by something. 

However, the study researchers weren’t interested in what causes the SHANK2 gene to be damaged. They were quite satisfied with the idea that the damage was just spontaneous. One would have thought that the researchers would at least be curious about what causes these changes—but apparently curiosity that doesn’t bring in big financial payments has been bred out of researchers. 

Their interest was only in the idea where the finding indicates that several genes acting in combination must be associated with autism. Author Bergeron states: 

There are so many combinations that might be important. We still have a lot of work to do at the genetic level. 

Wow! Those researchers may have found a mother lode of research grants for all the follow-up research that they can now claim should be done. Just imagine the money that’s going to be made by Big Pharma in vaccines or drugs to treat the broken SHANK2 genes. Obviously, finding the cause of those broken genes would interfere with the profits to be made in attempts to fix them. Study: Brain Activity Changes in Face Recognition 

A study published in Nature Neuroscience(3) claims that functional MRIs can examine the fusiform gyrus, a part of the brain believed to focus on face identification, and that it will be able to study people—specifically, autistics—who are too unresponsive to cooperate in such studies. Author J.D. Gabrieli told the Simons Foundation: 

Functional brain studies have been limited to the most high-functioning individuals, because we had to use active tasks that required following instructions. This method may open ways to look at the many autism patients who cannot follow task instructions. 

Thus, this study has been performed to pave the way for yet more studies of autistic people. Whether it might actually benefit them is … well, that doesn’t seem to be the issue. The Third Rail of Medical Research 

There exists just one thing that autism researchers won’t touch: the cause. It’s the third rail of medical research. Autism has developed into a huge money-maker for modern medicine and its supporting agencies. Big Pharma is now selling drugs to send autistic kids to oblivion and further damage their brains. Doctors have a huge group of children whose parents are conditioned to take them back over and over again for tests and treatments, none of which help. Agencies and charities have organized to promote awareness of the condition and, in most cases, to promote the well-being of the top-line managers’ pay. Researchers and medical journals all help feed into this newly profitable condition. None of them actually help. For that, you must leave the modern medical system and find alternatives. 

If the cause of autism were officially found. The focus would be on prevention. But then, none of this enormous pool of money could be tapped by any of these groups. Their bottom line is benefited by putting on blinders to the most likely cause, vaccines. To that end, they’ve established a PR campaign to convince the public—not to mention their own members—that vaccines aren’t the cause of autism and that autism isn’t truly a new disorder, but one that was previously unrecognized. Of course, as most parents of autistic children can state without reservation, there is no possibility that what’s happened to their children could ever have gone unnoticed. 

So, they’ve developed a most magnificent arrangement of patting each others’ backs: 

The doctors get to take absurdly simple CME courses that tell of phony breakthroughs, thus getting that nuisance requirement of continuing education out of the way without stress. Medical websites that take most of their money from Big Pharma can pump out these nonsensical courses, pulling doctors to their sites for the easy ride. Doctors get more and more patients. Medical suppliers get to sell more and more equipment for tests. Big Pharma gets to develop new drugs and find ways to push old ones on autism sufferers. To support it all and give the seal of so-called “evidence based medicine” to these practices, medical researchers produce study after study, all of them focused on anything but finding the cause of autism. 

It’s a cozy arrangement for everyone but the autistic children, their families, and society as a whole. Finding the cause would shut down the researchers’ gushing funding tap, and preventing autism would cut into all arenas of this exploding area of the medical industry. 

Sources: 

(1)Differences in White Matter Fiber Tract Development Present from 6 to 24 Months in Infants with Autism, doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.2011.11091447. (2)Genetic and Functional Analyses of SHANK2 Mutations Suggest a Multiple Hit Model of Autism Spectrum Disorders (3)Anatomical connectivity patterns predict face selectivity in the fusiform gyrus, doi: 10.1038/nn.3001 

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ABC News Doc Recommends Homeopathy for Stomach Viruses

ABC News Doc Recommends Homeopathy for Stomach Viruses  January 26, 2012 by Peter Filed under Blog, Flu, Homeopathy In The News, Parents Guide to Children's Health 

ABC News doc - Dr. Albert Levy M.D. just did a story for ABC on stomach viruses.  Eli Manning of the New York Giants recently had a bad stomach virus - so ABC wanted to share treatment options with their viewers.  In the piece, viewable at the link below, Dr. Albert Levy M.D. recommends homeopathic remedies for these viruses.  Good piece.  Check it out! 

And if you want to learn how to treat stomach bugs and other acute conditions like earaches, sore throats, coughs, flu and more - consider becoming a member of the National Center for Homeopathy. 

(http://www.nationalcenterforhomeopathy.org/member-benefits/)

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Homeopathy as an alternative to antibiotics in diarrhoea in piglets

Homeopathy as an alternative to antibiotics in diarrhoea in pigletsA research study conducted at the Wageningen University in the Netherlands suggests that homeopathy may be an alternative to antibiotics in neonatal diarrhea of piglets.The overuse of antibiotics in poultry, beef cattle and swine production poses a serious threat to human health, animal health and the environment. Sustainable alternatives to antibiotics are desperately needed.

In the organic livestock sector antibiotics are preferably replaced by complementary or alternative medicines (CAM), of which homeopathy is the most frequently applied. Homeopathic treatment has significant benefits since there are no residues of homeopathic medicines in animal products, nor does homeopathy generate resistant microorganisms.

The Biological Farming Systems Group at the Wageningen University in the Netherlands recently conducted a research study to investigate if homeopathy might be an alternative to antibiotics in one of the most common illnesses in swine which is neonatal diarrhoea of piglets. This disease leads to weight loss and increased piglet mortality, which has substantial economic consequences. Conventional treatments of Escherichia coli (E. coli) diarrhoea is administration of antibiotics to affected piglets, or preventive vaccination of the sows.

To investigate if E. coli diarrhoea in neonatal piglets could be prevented by homeopathy, the researchers set up a randomised, observer blind and placebo-controlled trial. On a commercial pig farm 52 sows of different parities, in their last month of gestation, were treated twice a week with either the homeopathic agent Coli 30K or placebo. The 525 piglets born from these sows were scored for occurrence and duration of diarrhoea.

Piglets of the homeopathic treated group had significantly less E. coli diarrhoea than piglets in the placebo group (P < .0001). Especially piglets from first parity sows gave a good response to treatment with Coli 30K. The diarrhoea seemed to be less severe in the homeopathically treated litters, there was less transmission and duration appeared shorter.

Advantages at farm level are application of the treatment by the farmer and cost reduction. These advantages and the positive results from this study make the homeopathic agent Coli 30K an attractive potential alternative in the prevention of E. coli diarrhoea. This study also suggests that homeopathic treatment in livestock may help the European citizen be protected from pharmacological residues in animal products and thus reduce the problem of antibiotic resistance.

Reference Camerlink I, Ellinger L, Bakker EJ, Lantinga EA (2010). Homeopathy as replacement to antibiotics in the case of Escherichia coli diarrhoea in neonatal piglets. Homeopathy, 99; 57–62.

PubMed abstract can be found here, full article here: http://www.homeopathyeurope.org/media/news/homeopathy-as-an-alternative-to-antibiotics-in-diarrhoea-in-piglets

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Homeopathy Halts Cuban Epidemic Better Than Vaccines

Homeopathy Halts Cuban Epidemic Better Than Vaccines  Swamp fever, also known as leptospirosis, is a major problem in Cuba.  Each year, an epidemic of swamp fever plagues the island nation during the flood season when the illness is transferred from rats to people. 

The very serious symptoms of swamp fever include fever, diarrhea, vomiting, jaundice, meningitis, liver failure, renal damage, respiratory illness and in many cases, death. 

Fortunately for Cuba, Big Pharma is not much interested in monopoly control of its healthcare system which leaves the door open for alternative and nontoxic approaches to health to bloom. 

In this environment very open to homeopathy, the Finlay Institute, a Cuban research foundation, worked with Cuban doctors to develop a homeopathic nosode for swamp fever. 

The remedy was based on the homeopathic principle that “like cures like” and was developed and administered on a wide scale as a preventative treatment.  In 2008, 2.5 million people who were most susceptible to the disease were treated with 2 doses of the remedy seven to nine days apart.   The Cuban Ministry of Public Health implemented and managed the operation. 

The results of this effort were nothing short of spectacular. The typical rate of infection when vaccination and antibiotics are used is a few thousand cases per year including some deaths. 

When the homeopathic remedy was used, however, only ten cases of swamp fever were reported among the 2.5 million treated with the homeopathic nosode with no mortality of any hospitalized patients! 

The financial cost to the Cuban government for this astonishingly successful health campaign was only $200,000 compared with the $2,000,000 that would have been incurred for conventional vaccination and antibiotics. 

Not only was homeopathy clearly more effective than vaccines for preventing swamp fever, it was also a much more cost effective solution with no toxic side effects such as is the case with vaccination. 

Homeopathy for epidemics works.  There is no need for toxic and expensive vaccine injections which produce masses of auto-immune compromised children and adults alike in need and dependent upon – more drugs! 

The catalyst for widespread use of homeopathic nosodes as a safe and effective alternative to the ever growing list of toxic vaccines must come from parents, in particular mothers.  Mothers must refuse toxic vaccines for their children and demand this type of safe and effective remedy at a grassroots level as it will never come from the conventional medical establishment which has a strongly invested profit motive for keeping things the way they are. 

Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist 

http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/homeopathy-halts-cuban-epidemic-better-than-vaccines/

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Effective Cancer Treatment with Popular Cuban Homeopathic Drug Vidatox

Effective Cancer Treatment with Popular Cuban Homeopathic Drug Vidatox

What is Vidatox?

Vidatox is a drug produced from five protein peptides extracted from the venom of the blue scorpion (Rophalorus junceus), which is endemic to Cuba and which has analgesic, anti-inflammatory and anti-carcinogenic effect in more than 15 different cancer cell lines. The result of 15 years of research, by October 2010 Vidatox had been tested on more than 10,000 cancer patients, some 3,500 of them foreigners, with positive results both in improving quality of life and stopping tumour growth.

Labiofam, a Cuban pharmaceutical laboratory, is set to release a new homeopathic cancer drug to the international market. Marketed as Vidatox, it is the result of work by Cuban biologist, Misael Bordier with the venom of the blue scorpion.

The medication was produced from over 5,000 scorpions of the Rhopalurus junceus variety, native to eastern Cuba. According to the company, it has no contraindications and is compatible with any other oncological treatment.

The company presented the results of its Vidatox research in its first international congress in late September in Havana before some 500 delegates from all parts of the world. Vidatox International Congress: Results of Scientific Research

The Company is all set to register its homeopathic version in coming days and go for its commercial production. The medication, and Labiofam says that its homeopathic version should be registered in the coming days and could be commercially produced immediately. González added that the company would continue research to produce synthetic or biotechnological versions of the compound.

Report on the Current Situation Regarding Vidatox 30 CH (Translated from Spanish)

The use of natural products in traditional and alternative medicine is widely practiced today. In particular, the Poison Scorpion have been little studied and a few years ago began their potential pharmacological evidence.

In Cuba there are 32 species and subspecies of scorpions, including 28 endemic among the most common being the scorpion Rhopalurus junceus the which has been used in traditional medicine to apply under the Cuban stomach in case of urinary retention and improvement of some diseases.

The 30 CH VIDATOX ® is the registered trademark for the drug homeopathic and natural (health record: H-11 – 038 – NO2) obtained from junceus Rhopalurus scorpion venom, endemic to Cuba, indicated as adjunctive therapy in the treatment of symptoms caused by effects of cancer and pain relief. The decision to produce is the result over 15 years of a research project aimed at characterization of the poison, and evaluating their potential as antitumor agent, analgesic, antiinflammatory, and toxicological safety.

Based on the evidence of safety and efficacy provided by the preclinical research, VIDATOX 30 CH was applied in a controlled study of 174 cancer patients of both sexes with histopathological diagnosis confirmed, which was administered 5 sublingual drops every 12 hours during the period 3/12/2007 to 2/2/2010.

Samples were grouped by location, neoplastic families, stage evolution of the disease, treatment received and the presence of cancer neoplasia. At the conclusion of the study period (2 years) lung, prostate, colon, breast and uterus were the most sensitive effect of the product. Similarly, it is demonstrated that administration of medication in 96% of patients, led to a life of greater than 12 months regardless of the location and stage of disease, especially in those patients for whom there were no treatment options available in conventional medicine.

As another important clinical outcome may be mentioned that 90% of patients who received VIDATOX ® 30 CH in the dose given, reported improvement of clinical symptoms based on consultation, and in 62% of them initial pain evolved into a mild form that did not require treatment necessarily to their relief, while 27% said absence of pain.

This latter aspect of his enormous influence on the quality of life of patients, is important to detail that 62% of patients with presence of severe pain with continuing need for medication (level 2), after treatment passed to the condition of minimal or moderate pain without medication (level 1).

Generally in patients comprising the sample are referred to herein has been:

• Improvement in pain
• Improvement of inflammation
• Improvement in hematologic parameters
• Improvement of appetite
• Improvement of general health
• Improved function in organs and systems affected
• Weight gain
• Reduction of cough
• Desire to live

We conclude that the use of 30 CH VIDATOX ®, can improve the quality of life, increase survival and slow tumor growth without the appearance of patients today cause undesirable symptoms and cytostatics radiation to which we subject our patients.

In this context, one should not ignore the massive consumption of the product for more of 26,000 people, from October 1 to April 10 of 2010 without reported adverse effects to date of application, confirming the preclinical experimental results.

MSC: Fabio De J. Linares Pazoz Production manager Laboratories Homeopathic Products LABIOFAM-CUBA

Inhibition of basophil activation by histamine: a sensitive and reproducible model for the study of the biological activity of high dilutions

Inhibition of basophil activation by histamine: a sensitive and reproducible model for the study of the biological activity of high dilutions

J. Sainte-Laudy^1, , , Ph Belon²

Received 8 July 2009; revised 21 September 2009; Accepted 23 September 2009. Available online 27 November 2009.

Background

At the beginning of this series of experiments we were looking for a model based on the use of purified commercially available compounds based on a fully described and accepted pharmacological model to study of the biological effect of high dilutions. Negative feedback induced by histamine, a major pro-inflammatory mediator, on basophils and mast cells activation via an H2 receptor me these criteria. The simplest way of measuring basophil activation in the early 1980's was the human basophil activation test (HBDT).

Objectives

Our major goal was first to study the biological effect of centesimal histamine dilutions beyond the Avogadro limit, on the staining properties of human basophils activated by an allergen extract initially house dust mite, then an anti-IgE and N-formyl-Met-Leu-Phe (fMLP). Technical development over the 25 years of our work led us to replace the manual basophil counting by flow cytometry. The main advantages were automation and observer independence. Using this latter protocol our aim was to confirm the existence of this phenomenon and to check its specificity by testing, under the same conditions, inactive analogues of histamine and histamine antagonists. More recently, we developed an animal model (mouse basophils) to study the effect of histamine on histamine release.

Methods and results

For the HBDT model basophils were obtained by sedimentation of human blood taken on EDTA and stained with Alcian blue. Results were expressed in percentage activation. Histamine dilutions tested were freshly prepared in the lab by successive centesimal dilutions and vortexing. Water controls were prepared in the same way. For the flow cytometric protocol basophils were first labeled by an anti-IgE FITC (basophil marker) and an anti-CD63 (basophil activation marker). Results were expressed in percentage of CD63 positive basophils. Another flow cytometric protocol has been developed more recently, based on basophil labeling by anti-IgE FITC (fluorescein isothiocyanate) and anti-CD203 PE (another human basophil activation marker). Results were expressed in mean fluorescence intensity of the CD203c positive population (MFI-CD203c) and an activation index calculated by an algorithm. For the mouse basophil model, histamine was measured spectrofluorimetrically.

The main results obtained over 28 years of work was the demonstration of a reproducible inhibition of human basophil activation by high dilutions of histamine, the effect peaks in the range of 15–17CH. The effect was not significant when histamine was replaced by histidine (a histamine precursor) or cimetidine (histamine H2 receptor antagonist) was added to the incubation medium. These results were confirmed by flow cytometry. Using the latter technique, we also showed that 4-Methyl histamine (H2 agonist) induced a similar effect, in contrast to 1-Methyl histamine, an inactive histamine metabolite.

Using the mouse model, we showed that histamine high dilutions, in the same range of dilutions, inhibited histamine release.

Conclusions

Successively, using different models to study of human and murine basophil activation, we demonstrated that high dilutions of histamine, in the range of 15–17CH induce a reproducible biological effect. This phenomenon has been confirmed by a multi-center study using the HBDT model and by at least three independent laboratories by flow cytometry. The specificity of the observed effect was confirmed, versus the water controls at the same dilution level by the absence of biological activity of inactive compounds such as histidine and 1-Methyl histamine and by the reversibility of this effect in the presence of a histamine receptor H2 antagonist.

Keywords: Human basophil; Mouse basophil; High dilutions; Homoeopathy; Histamine; Flow cytometry; Histamine release; IL4 release

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1475491609000952

Homeopathic Arnica montana for post-tonsillectomy analgesia: a randomised placebo control trial

Homeopathic Arnica montana for post-tonsillectomy analgesia: a randomised placebo control trial A. Robertson1, R. Suryanarayanan2, Corresponding Author Contact Information, E-mail The Corresponding Author, A Banerjee3 Purchase 1 ENT Department, University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, UK 2 ENT Department, Arrowe Park Hospital, Wirral, UK 3 ENT Department, Leicester Royal Infirmary, Leicester, UK Received 19 June 2006; revised 3 August 2006; Accepted 30 October 2006. Available online 14 January 2007.

Abstract Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of Homeopathic Arnica in reducing the morbidity following tonsillectomy

Methods: Randomised double blind, placebo controlled trial at a tertiary referral centre. 190 patients over the age of 18 undergoing tonsillectomy were randomised into intervention and control groups receiving either Arnica 30c or identical placebo, 2 tablets 6 times in the first post-operative day and then 2 tablets twice a day for the next 7 days. The primary outcome measure was the change in pain scores (visual analogue scale) recorded by the patient on a questionnaire over 14 days post-operatively; Secondary outcome measures were: analgesia consumption, visits to the GP or hospital, antibiotic usage, the day on which their swallowing returned to normal and the day on which they returned to work. Results: 111 (58.4%) completed questionnaires were available for analysis. The Arnica group had a significantly larger drop in pain score from day 1 to day 14 (28.3) compared to the placebo group (23.8) with p<0.05. The two groups did not differ significantly on analgesic consumption or any of the other secondary outcome measures (number of post-operative visits to GP, use of antibiotics and secondary haemorrhage readmissions).

Conclusion: The results of this trial suggest that Arnica montana given after tonsillectomy provides a small, but statistically significant, decrease in pain scores compared to placebo. Keywords: homeopathy; surgery; pain management; tonsillectomy

Influence of Potassium Dichromate on Tracheal Secretions in Critically Ill Patients*

Influence of Potassium Dichromate on Tracheal Secretions in Critically Ill Patients*Michael Frass, MD; Christoph Dielacher, RN; Manfred Linkesch, MD; Christian Endler, PhD; Ilse Muchitsch, PhD; Ernst Schuster, PhD; and Alan Kaye, MD Background: Stringy, tenacious tracheal secretions may prevent extubation in patients weaned from the respirator. This prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study with parallel assignment was performed to assess the influence of sublingually administered potassium dichromate C30 on the amount of tenacious, stringy tracheal secretions in critically ill patients with a history of tobacco use and COPD. Methods: In this study, 50 patients breathing spontaneously with continuous positive airway pressure were receiving either potassium dichromate C30 globules (group 1) [Deutsche Ho- mo ̈opathie-Union, Pharmaceutical Company; Karlsruhe, Germany] or placebo (group 2). Five globules were administered twice daily at intervals of 12 h. The amount of tracheal secretions on day 2 after the start of the study as well as the time for successful extubation and length of stay in the ICU were recorded. Results: The amount of tracheal secretions was reduced significantly in group 1 (p < 0.0001). Extubation could be performed significantly earlier in group 1 (p < 0.0001). Similarly, length of stay was significantly shorter in group 1 (4.20 􏰀 1.61 days vs 7.68 􏰀 3.60 days, p < 0.0001 [mean 􏰀 SD]). Conclusion: These data suggest that potentized (diluted and vigorously shaken) potassium dichromate may help to decrease the amount of stringy tracheal secretions in COPD patients. (CHEST 2005; 127:936–941) Key words: COPD; double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study; extubation; homeopathy; tracheal secretions Abbreviations: APACHE 􏰁 acute physiology and chronic health evaluation; BMI 􏰁 body mass index; CPAP 􏰁 con- tinuous positive airway pressure; Fio2 􏰁 fraction of inspired oxygen

Research Study on the remedy "Plumbum metallicum"

Homeopathic pathogenetic trial of Plumbum metallicum: the complete 2000 trial with a synthesis of the original 1828 trial

ABSTRACT Background: in a previous paper we reported the statistical analysis and other distribution data of a homeopathic pathogenetic trial (HPT) of Plumbum metallicum 30cH carried out by our group. However, at that time we did not report the resulting pure materia medica, i.e., the totality of symptoms elicited by the tested medicine on healthy volunteers. Aim: to communicate to the homeopathic community the full record of symptoms collected in our HPT of Plb. Methods: methods to collect and select symptoms have been reported in the previous paper. In synthesis were excluded all previous common symptoms of volunteers, even with slight differences, and selected only those that were really unknown, never seen, unusual or very strange for the prover. In this paper special emphasis was given to new symptoms as well as unusual or repeated dreams, while in the previous paper special emphasis was given to repeated and crossed symptoms. Results: symptoms are reported in their chronological order of appearance in each volunteer. 37 new symptoms were found, useful to update Homeopathic Repertories. It is also included a synthesis of the original HPT of Plb carried out in 1828 in order to make available the full experimental materia medica currently existing. Conclusions: the new HPT, besides widening the pathogenetic picture of Plb (skin and mucosae symptoms), also allowed us to give new and deeper meanings to some of the symptoms reported in the original trial, such as Anxiety, Activity, Depression, Slowness, Gastro-oesophageal problems, Colitis. The dreams complete the remedy image, mainly in work, religion and sexual themes. Up to the present time there is no peer-reviewed publication devoted to HPTs. For this reason, researchers are compelled to publish HPTs as private editions. This results in poor control of the quality of publications and a lack of standards on how to present the results of HPTs. Key words: Homeopathic pathogenetic trials, Plumbum metallicum, retrial, clinical indications.