Homeopathy & RDBPC trials
in over one hundred medical conditions
Randomized double blind placebo control (RDBPC) trials are the “gold standard.”
When well designed, RDBPC trials are the most convincing research design of Randomized Controlled Trial.
In RDBPC trials, the randomly assigned intervention can eliminate influences of unknown / immeasurable confounders, which may lead to biased and incorrect estimates of treatment effect.
Randomization eliminates confounding, and blinding eliminates confounding by co-interventions, removing the possibility that the observed intervention effects are due to other treatments.
The best comparator is placebo, this allows participants, investigators and study staff to be blinded. The advantage of trial over an observational study is the ability to demonstrate causality.1
Over 160 randomized double blind placebo controlled trials of homeopathy have been published in peer reviewed journals in one hundred medical conditions2 including:
Acute Otitis Media3
Allergic Rhinitis4
Atopic Dermatitis5
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)6
Chronic fatigue syndrome7
Endometriosis associated Pelvic Pain8
Fibromyalgia9
Generalized Anxiety Disorder10
Irritable Bowel Syndrome11
Knee Osteoarthritis14
Menopausal hot flashes15
Menopausal symptoms16
Plantar Fasciitis17
Primary dysmenorrhea18
Premenstrual syndrome19
Vitiligo22
‘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.23 Accordingly, the efficacy evidence from placebo-controlled randomised trials provides no justification for regulatory or political actions against homoeopathy in health-care systems.’24
Misra S, 2012. Randomized double blind placebo control studies, the "Gold Standard" in intervention based studies. Indian J Sex Transm Dis AIDS. Jul;33(2):131-134. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3505292/
Homeopathy research Institute, 2024. What scientific evidence is there that homeopathy works? Available from: https://www.hri-research.org/resources/homeopathy-faqs/scientific-evidence-for-homeopathy/
Jacobs J, Springer DA, Crothers D. Homeopathic treatment of acute otitis media in children: a preliminary randomized placebo-controlled trial. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2001 Feb;20(2):177-83. Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11224838/
Kim et al., 2005. Treatment of seasonal allergic rhinitis using homeopathic preparation of common allergens in the southwest region of the US: a randomized, controlled clinical trial. Ann Pharmacother. Apr;39(4):617-24. Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15741420/
Mandal et al., 2023. Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial of Individualized Homeopathic Medicines in Atopic Dermatitis in Adults: A Replication Trial with 6 Months' Follow-up. Homeopathy. Nov;112(4):251-261. Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36882111/
Brulé et al., 2023. A Randomized Three-Arm Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Study of Homeopathic Treatment of Children and Youth with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. J Integr Complement Med. Sep 6. Available from https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/jicm.2023.0043?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori%3Arid%3Acrossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub++0pubmed
Weatherley-Jones et al., 2004. A randomised, controlled, triple-blind trial of the efficacy of homeopathic treatment for chronic fatigue syndrome. J Psychosom Res. Feb;56(2):189-97. Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15016577/
Teixeira et al., 2017. Potentized estrogen in homeopathic treatment of endometriosis-associated pelvic pain: A 24-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol. Apr;211:48-55. Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28187404/
Bell IR, Lewis DA 2nd, Brooks AJ, Schwartz GE, Lewis SE, Walsh BT, Baldwin CM. 2004. Improved clinical status in fibromyalgia patients treated with individualized homeopathic remedies versus placebo. Rheumatology (Oxford) [online]. May;43(5):577-82. Available from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14734789/
Parewa M, Burman AS, Brahma A et al. Individualized Homeopathic Medicines in the Treatment of Generalized Anxiety Disorder: A Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Pilot Trial. Complement Med Res 2021; 28(5):407-418. Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33662951/
Das et al., 2023. Efficacy of individualized homeopathic medicines in irritable bowel syndrome: A double-blind randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Explore (NY). Jul-Aug;19(4):519-527. Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36307315/
Michael et al., 2019. Efficacy of individualized homeopathic treatment of insomnia: Double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Complement Ther Med. Apr;43:53-59. Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30935555/
Naudé et al., 2010. Chronic primary insomnia: efficacy of homeopathic simillimum. Homeopathy. Jan;99(1):63-8. Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20129178/
Bhattacharyya et al., 2024. Individualized Homeopathic Medicines in the Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis: Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Feasibility Trial. Homeopathy. Aug;113(3):158-166. Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37748512/
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 R D. Sep 1;12(3):107-19. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3585763/
Gupta J, Dimpi K, Lamba C, et al. Homoeopathic medicine – Sepia for the management of menopausal symptoms: A multicentric, randomised, double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial. Indian J Res Homoeopathy 2019;13(4):219-228. Available from: https://www.ijrh.org/journal/vol13/iss4/3/
Shahid S, Ghosh S, Chakraborty AS et al. Efficacy of Individualized Homeopathic Medicines in Plantar Fasciitis: Double-blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial. Homeopathy 2021 Sep 07. Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34492725/
Ghosh S, Ravindra RK, Modak A et al. Efficacy of individualized homeopathic medicines in primary dysmenorrhea: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, clinical trial. J Complement Integr Med 2021 Jun 3. Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34085495/
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://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31434111/
Balamurugan et al., 2023. Individualized Homeopathic Medicines in the Treatment of Psoriasis Vulgaris: Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial. Complement Med Res. 2023;30(4):317-331. Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37263249/
Bernstein et al., 2006. Treatment of mild to moderate psoriasis with Reliéva, a Mahonia aquifolium extract--a double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Am J Ther. Mar-Apr;13(2):121-6. Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16645428/
Karuppusamy et al., 2022. Individualized Homeopathic Medicines in Treatment of Vitiligo: Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Pilot Trial. J Integr Complement Med. Jan;28(1):96-102. Available from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35085016/
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. Available from: 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