Abstract
Alternative therapies in general, and homeopathy in particular, lack clear scientific
evaluation of efficacy. Controlled clinical trials are urgently needed, especially
for conditions that are not helped by conventional methods. The objective of this
work was to assess the efficacy of homeopathic treatment in relieving symptoms associated
with premenstrual syndrome (PMS). It was a randomised controlled double-blind clinical
trial. Two months baseline assessment with post-intervention follow-up for 3 months
was conducted at Hadassah Hospital outpatient gynaecology clinic in Jerusalem in Israel
1992–1994. The subjects were 20 women, aged 20–48, suffering from PMS. Homeopathic
intervention was chosen individually for each patient, according to a model of symptom
clusters. Recruited volunteers with PMS were treated randomly with one oral dose of
a homeopathic medication or placebo. The main outcome measure was scores of a daily
menstrual distress questionnaire (MDQ) before and after treatment. Psychological tests
for suggestibility were used to examine the possible effects of suggestion. Mean MDQ
scores fell from 0.44 to 0.13 (P<0.05) with active treatment, and from 0.38 to 0.34 with placebo (NS). (Between group
P=0.057). Improvement >30% was observed in 90% of patients receiving active treatment
and 37.5% receiving placebo (P=0.048). Homeopathic treatment was found to be effective in alleviating the symptoms
of PMS in comparison to placebo. The use of symptom clusters in this trial may offer
a novel approach that will facilitate clinical trials in homeopathy. Further research
is in progress.
Keywords
premenstrual syndrome - homeopathy - suggestibility - randomised clinical trial -
prescribing model limited range
