Individualized homeopathic medicines in the treatment of premenstrual syndrome: A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. (2024)1
‘Individualized Homeopathic medicines were found to be significantly effective, compared to placebo in reducing PMS symptoms.’ (The most frequently prescribed remedy was Natrium muriaticum.)
A 2019 double blind randomized controlled trial (DBRCT) showed individualized homeopathy acted favourably in primary dysmenorrhea, and is associated with improved PMS, reduced sick days and less medication.2
You’ll note the italicized individualized.
Why?
True homeopathy always has the utmost respect for theindividual therefore, the prescribed homeopathic medicine should fit the person not the name of the disease.3
A homeopath worth their salt is able to apply coherence in their working knowledge of homeopathic principles particularly the therapeutic similitude principle (like with like) in order to be able to assist people suffering chronic disease to improved health.4
The sophisticated understanding of health and disease that is the system of homeopathy was first outlined by Dr. Samuel Hahnemann in his “Organon der rationellen Heilkunde nach homöopathischen Gesetzen” (Organon of Rational Art of Healing according to Homoeopathic Laws) and have been standard practice in homeopathy since 1810.5
‘Standardized practice is the only way forward for homeopathy if it is to stand the test of scientific rigor and survive for the future amidst fantasies, and self-promotions, and compromised, vested-interest-driven practice and teaching out there…’Dr. Seema Mahesh6
To reiterate, individualized homeopathy typically takes the 35,000 foot view of the individual and has scientific support for potential positive therapeutic effect.7
NOMEOPATHY (non-individualized homeopathy) - combination, clinical, complex, and isopathy - utilizes homeopathic medicines in compartmentalized ways, and are all methodologies with unsupported/unclear therapeutic effect.8
Nomeopathy undermines and poses an incredible threat to the art and science of homeopathy.
Why?
It is human nature to seek shortcuts.
Stochastic prescriptions using homeopathic medicines dilute the standardized principles and therefore the practice of homeopathy.
Why?
Because both the prescription and the purported improvements are unable to be accurately documented and/or tracked in accordance with established materia medica, or with the theoretical concepts of direction of cure, the continuum theory, or levels of health theory,(as always, if I have missed a peer reviewed published case report example documenting nomeopathy and improved chronic health status please pop it in the comments) and sometimes result in the person being worse off than before…9
Oh, and did I say instagram?
Instapaths are trying to sell you all sorts of non-sense as homeopathy with their expert ‘prescribing certificate knowledge’ gained after a few months ‘study’ with non-certified ‘homeopathy colleges.’ (And yes, there are a lot more than one… even advertising here on Substack!)
Leading people (often desperate for improvements) to a non-result reinforces the urban myth that homeopathy doesn’t work thereby doing the work of the paid skeptic which has to be the reason why (in this definite age of online censorship of anything health truth related - much worse than anything we ever saw with googles medic update of 2017) instapaths are able to amass cult followings - because they’re doing it wrong.
Homoeopathy may be beneath contempt -" nonsense "-" sugar pills "- " imagination " but it works, provided that you hit the remedy.
Otherwise it is all the things they say against it but that is when it did not happen to be Homoeopathy at all.
Get it out of your head that a drug is homoeopathic, and that Homoeopathy must stand or fall by it because it comes out of a homoeopathic case, or has been prepared after the manner of Hahnemann by a homoeopathic chemist, or has been potentized, or prescribed by a homoeopathic doctor (or even by a lay homoeopath!) or because it has been "worked out " and has, more or less, " come through ".
Whereas, an the other hand, a remedy may be absolutely homoeopathic when it comes from an ordinary chemist's shop, is prescribed by an old school doctor, and is supposed to be an ordinary " allopathic " drug: As for instance;
Ipecac, for incessant nausea and vomiting which it causes: Pot. iod. for gummata (which it has produced, and cures): Salicylic acid for Meniere's disease, whose symptoms it evokes, and so on, a large number of drugs: I think it was Dr. Dyce Brown who discovered enough of these to fill a pamphlet.
So, when we have failed it was not because Homoeopathy was incapable of curing, but because we were incapable of finding the homoeopathic remedy.
Homeopathy and female hormonal disorders published studies
Endometriosis
The Ghosh et al.,(2021) randomized controlled trial (RCT) showed improvement in dysmenorrhea, pelvic, bowel, and body pain, vitality, mental health and depression symptoms in fifty women (in the homeopathic group) with a diagnosis of deeply infiltrating endometriosis.11 The Teixeira et al.,(2017) randomized (non-individualized) study found homeopathy acted favourably in treatment of primary dysmenorrhea.12
Infertility
The Feng et al.,(2021) (non-individualized) Systematic review concluded homeopathy might be effective for infertility caused by: psychological problems, ovulation disorders, sperm abnormalities, and unknown causes. And, in addition, found homeopathy may improve patients' health, sperm quality, and hormone levels.13
The Kalampokas et al.,(2014) case series of five cases of female infertility treated successfully with homeopathy in a large obstetrics-gynaecology hospital were published in a mainstream medical journal.14 (publication of homeopathy papers is becoming more frequent thanks to the excellent work of the International Academy of Classical Homeopathy (IACH) research team headed up by Dr. Seema Mahesh.)
Menopause
The Macías-Cortés et al.,(2015) randomized controlled trial found homeopathy an effective antidepressant for climacteric women and that homeopathy, but not fluoxetine, improved menopausal symptoms scored by Greene Climacteric Scale15 was retracted five years later in 2020.16
The Colau et al.,(2012)17 and Andrade et al., (2019)18 (nomeopathy) randomized controlled trials of proprietary combination homeopathic medicines found reduction in hot flashes.
Pre menstrual syndrome (PMS)
The Yakir et al.,(2019) randomized controlled trial found improvement of PMS symptoms, and reduced sick days and medication use.19
The Klein-Laansma et al.,(2017) randomized feasibility study found significant reduction in Premenstrual syndrome and premenstrual dysphoric disorder - and concluded non- feasibility for a larger, international, pragmatic randomized trial on (semi-)individualized homeopathy for PMS/PMDD.20
‘In contrast to frequent claims, the available MAs of homoeopathy in placebo-controlled randomised trials for any indication show significant positive effects beyond placebo. Compared to other medical interventions, the quality of evidence for efficacy of homoeopathy was similar or higher than for 90% of interventions across medicine.21Accordingly, the efficacy evidence from placebo-controlled randomised trials provides no justification for regulatory or political actions against homoeopathy in health-care systems.’22
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Yakir et al., 2019. A Placebo-Controlled Double-Blind Randomized Trial with Individualized Homeopathic Treatment Using a Symptom Cluster Approach in Women with Premenstrual Syndrome. Homeopathy. Nov;108(4):256-269. Available from: https://www.thieme-connect.com/products/ejournals/abstract/10.1055/s-0039-1691834
Gaertner et al., 2023. Bibliography of Homeopathic Intervention Studies (HOMIS) in Human Diseases. J Integr Complement Med. Jan;29(1):14-21. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/364144294_Bibliography_of_Homeopathic_Intervention_Studies_HOMIS_in_Human_Diseases
Hamre et al., 2023. Efficacy of homoeopathic treatment: Systematic review of meta-analyses of randomised placebo-controlled homoeopathy trials for any indication. Syst Rev. Oct 7;12(1):191. Available from: https://systematicreviewsjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13643-023-02313-2#Abs1
Ghosh et al., 2021. Efficacy of individualized homeopathic medicines in primary dysmenorrhea: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, clinical trial. J Complement Integr Med. Jun 3. Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34085495/
Teixeira et al., 2017. Potentized estrogen in homeopathic treatment of endometriosis-associated pelvic pain: A 24-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. European Journal of Obstetrics Gynecology and Reproductive Biology.Apr;211:48-55. Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28187404/
Feng et al., 2021. The Efficacy of Complementary and Alternative Medicine in the Treatment of Female Infertility. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2021 Apr 23;2021:6634309. Available from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33986820/
Kalampokas et al., 2014. Homeopathy for infertility treatment: a case series. Clinical and Experimental Obstetrics and Gynaecology [online]. 41(2):158-9. Available from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24779242/
Macías-Cortés et al., 2015. Individualized homeopathic treatment and fluoxetine for moderate to severe depression in peri- and postmenopausal women (HOMDEP-MENOP study): a randomized, double-dummy, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. PLoS One. Mar 13;10(3):e0118440. Retraction in: PLoS One. 2020 Apr 23;15(4):e0232415. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4359147/
Colau et al., 2012. Efficacy of a non-hormonal treatment, BRN-01, on menopausal hot flashes: a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Drugs in R&D. Sep 1;12(3):10719. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22852580/
Andrade et al., 2019. Efficacy of a Homeopathic Medicine of Capsicum frutescens L. (Solanaceae) in the Treatment of Hot Flashes in Menopausal Women: A Phase-2 Randomized Controlled Trial. Homeopathy. May;108(2):102-107. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30736083/
Yakir et al., 2019. A Placebo-Controlled Double-Blind Randomized Trial with Individualized Homeopathic Treatment Using a Symptom Cluster Approach in Women with Premenstrual Syndrome. Homeopathy. Nov;108(4):256-269. Available from: https://www.thieme-connect.com/products/ejournals/abstract/10.1055/s-0039-1691834
KLEIN-LAANSMA ET AL., 2017. SEMI-INDIVIDUALIZED HOMEOPATHY ADD-ON VERSUS USUAL CARE ONLY FOR PREMENSTRUAL DISORDERS: A RANDOMIZED, CONTROLLED FEASIBILITY STUDY. J ALTERN COMPLEMENT MED. PMID: 29565636
Howick et al., 2022. Most healthcare interventions tested in Cochrane Reviews are not effective according to high quality evidence: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Clin Epidemiol. Aug;148:160-169. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35447356/
Hamre et al., 2023. Efficacy of homoeopathic treatment: Systematic review of meta-analyses of randomised placebo-controlled homoeopathy trials for any indication. Systematic Rev. Oct 7;12(1):191. https://systematicreviewsjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13643-023-02313-2#Abs1
Nomeopathy...learnt a new word!