Use and interest in complementary and alternative veterinary medicine (CAVM) is increasing internationally with a 2022 survey finding 85% of German vets implement CAVM in their practice, homeopathy is the most common.(1)
Homeopathy has a small but significant use by veterinary surgeons,(2) and is an accepted practice by veterinary regulatory bodies worldwide including the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons in the UK.(3)
In farm animal medicine, homeopathy is favoured by organic farmers who rightly perceive the downsides of conventional drugs(4) due to their disadvantages which include ineffectiveness, toxicity, transference into meat and milk, and contribution to antimicrobial and anthelmintic resistance.(5) Homeopathy was reported to be the main alternative to antibiotics on UK organic farms, accounting for 50% of mastitis treatments.(6)
Due to poor data reliability meta analysis found Other Than Placebo-controlled trials did not provide useful insight into the effectiveness of homeopathy in animals,(7) and systematic review concluded insufficient evidence to recommend homeopathy to replace or reduce antibiotics in the treatment of farm livestock.(8)
Homeopathy shows potential for significant reduction in the use of antibiotics(9-11) and further methodologically high-quality human and veterinary homeopathy studies are urgently needed due to the global threat of antibiotic resistance. Effectiveness of homeopathy in general, in particular treatment of infections, is adequately proven for further research in this field.(12,13)
Prior to 2014, five of six meta-analyses concluded homeopathy differs from placebo.(14-18) One systematic review with meta-analysis,(19) the second Australian NHMRC Report,(20) and the EASAC Statement,(21) where more than 90% of the studies were excluded from analysis, did not show any effectiveness of homeopathy beyond placebo. Interestingly, a 2013 review confirmed that more than 90% of studies must be excluded to be able to find homeopathy ineffective(22).
As individualized homeopathy especially demonstrates effects at all quality levels according to Cochrane criteria, even in the methodologically high-quality studies, an obvious conclusion is that non-scientific interests consequently lead to misinformation about homeopathy,(23) Weiermayer et al.,(24) cite and rebut the recent A Systematic Review of Complementary and Alternative Veterinary Medicine: “Miscellaneous Therapies”(25) as a case in point.
The placebo effect is unlikely and counter intuitive in veterinary medicine as an animal is without cognitive capacity to expect recovery, but apparently it can be specifically organized by prior conditioning of the animal…(4) Caregiver placebo effects apply to subjective outcome judgements by the animal’s owner or veterinarian and can be detrimental when perceived improvement may not be present.(26-28)
Indisputably, conventional drugs contribute greatly to animal welfare and the relief of suffering but many have significant disadvantages,(4) with some used by veterinarians despite sufficient evidence of efficacy.(29)
Non conventional therapy (NCT) research is scarce compared to available drug research due to:(30-31)
a) lack of funding especially for therapies not supported by pharmaceutical companies;
b) research published in languages other than English
c) publication bias against NCT.
An online database enabling overview of homeopathy veterinary clinical research is available,(32) but despite increased global uptake and extensive acceptance and practice in France, Italy, Germany and India(4) veterinary homeopathy studies decreased by 33% during the last decade.(33)
Sarah has a published case study Canine Astraphobia in an Eleven-Year-Old Border Collie - homeopathy has been shown to alleviate stress responses in pigs.(34)
Sarah Penrose BSc(hons)Hom can be contacted at goodhealthforgreatlife.com
References
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2 Lees et al., 2017(a). Comparison of veterinary drugs and veterinary homeopathy: part 1. Vet Rec. Aug 12;181(7):170-176. Available from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28801498/
3 Viner, 2016. Homeopathy and cancer. Vet Rec. Jul 16;179(3):79. Available from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27422920/
4 Lees et al., 2017(b). Comparison of veterinary drugs and veterinary homeopathy: part 2. Vet Rec. Aug 19;181(8):198-207. Available from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5738588/
5 Toutain et al., 2016. Veterinary Medicine Needs New Green Antimicrobial Drugs. Front Microbiol. Aug 3;7:1196. Available from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4971058/
6 Hovi & Roderick, 1999. An investigation of the incidence, treatment strategies and financial implications of mastitis in organic and conventionally managed UK dairy herds Report to Defra, OF0124T. Reading, UK, Reading: p 19 pp https://www.cabdirect.org/cabdirect/abstract/20000406390
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8 Doehring & Sundrum, 2016. Efficacy of homeopathy in livestock according to peer-reviewed publications from 1981 to 2014. Vet Rec. Dec 17;179(24):628. Available from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5256414/
9 Van der Werf et al., 2018. Do NHS GP surgeries employing GPs additionally trained in integrative or complementary medicine have lower antibiotic prescribing rates? Retrospective cross-sectional analysis of national primary care prescribing data in England in 2016. BMJ Open. Mar 5;8(3):e020488. Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29555793/
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13 Weiermayer et al., 2020. Evidenzbasierte Veterinär-/Homöopathie und ihre mögliche Bedeutung für die Bekämpfung der Antibiotikaresistenzproblematik – ein Überblick [Evidence-based homeopathy and veterinary homeopathy, and its potential to help overcome the anti-microbial resistance problem - an overview]. Schweiz Arch Tierheilkd. Oct;162(10):597-615. German, French. Available from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33006555/ Synopsis at https://cam-europe.eu/evidence-based-homeopathy-and-veterinary-homeopathy/
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17 Cucherat et al., 2000. Evidence of clinical efficacy of homeopathy. A meta-analysis of clinical trials. HMRAG. Homeopathic Medicines Research Advisory Group. Eur J Clin Pharmacol 56(1): 27–33. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10853874/
18 Mathie et al., 2014. Randomised placebo-controlled trials of individualised homeopathic treatment: systematic review and meta-analysis. Syst Rev 3: 142. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25480654/
19 Shang et al., 2005. Are the clinical effects of homeopathy placebo effects? Comparative study of placebo-controlled trials of homeopathy and allopathy. Lancet 366(9487): 726–32. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16125589/
20 NHMRC Information Paper, Evidence on the effectiveness of homeopathy for treating health conditions. 2015. Australian Government National Health and Medical Research Council. Canberra, Australia. https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/about-us/resources/homeopathy
21 European Academies Science Advisory Council. Homeopathic products and practices: assessing the evidence and ensuring consistency in regulating medical claims in the EU, 2017. Halle, Deutschland. (letzter Zugriff 20.7.2020).
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