Homeopathy's Clinical Efficacy Questioned

LONDON--Evidence backing the value of homeopathic treatments is weak, and their clinical efficacy is likely a placebo effect, according to a study published online Aug. 16. in The Lancet.

Led by Aijing Shang, Ph.D., social and preventive medicine professor at University of Berne, researchers compared randomized, placebo-controlled trials on homoeopathy with similar randomized, controlled trials using allopathic treatments. This included both large and small trials on health issues such as asthma, allergies and muscular problems. The smaller trials of lower quality showed more benefit than the larger trials, which showed no evidence to support the superiority of homeopathy compared to placebo.

"Shang et al. have successfully applied a methodological approach to the articles they reviewed that is highly suitable for drawing conclusions about conventional medicine but is incomplete in evaluating homeopathic medicine," said University of Arizona scientist Iris Bell, M.D., Ph.D., who rejected the study's findings, in a release. "They did not include criteria that would apply to high-quality homeopathic research reflecting the nature of homeopathic practice. Such criteria include consideration of the quality of the homeopathy provided. Furthermore, a single remedy selection for a given conventionally diagnosed condition is not homeopathy, yet there are numerous conventionally judged high-quality studies that were so designed. The analogy would be to test the effects of penicillin for all patients with symptoms of an apparent infection."

Boiron Laboratories also criticized the study's findings, citing methodological errors, and called for additional research. Homeopathy is born of science, said Christian Boiron, chairman and president of the company. Every day, we are progressing in our search for better efficacy of our medicines. For over 200 years homeopathy has globally demonstrated its therapeutic worth. This is no longer the time for doubt and sectarianism. The time has come for the systematic study of the possibilities and limits of homeopathic medicines in each disease.