Knowing what we are talking about: The CORE-Hom database on clinical research in homeopathy is an important advance

In 1993, after ten years of deliberation with all healthcare parties, the Dutch Health Board published a report on research in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).[ ¹ ] One of the recommendations of this 775 pages report was: “… if repeated research according to the recommendations in this report show positive results, then the method should be recognised”. We repeatedly asked what was meant by ‘repeated research’ and what conventional medical methods were recognised on how much research. We never received an answer.

Two years earlier, Kleijnen et al had concluded, after reviewing 105 clinical trials of homeopathy: “The amount of positive evidence even among the best studies came as a surprise to us. Based on this evidence we would readily accept that homeopathy can be efficacious, if only the mechanism of action were more plausible … the evidence presented in this review would probably be sufficient for establishing homeopathy as a regular treatment for certain indications”.

Maybe we should have made a contract before the first review of homeopathic research was commissioned, but would that have made a difference? The Cochrane handbook for systematic reviews of interventions states: “Review authors' prior knowledge of the results of a potentially eligible study may, for example, influence the definition of a systematic review question, the subsequent criteria for study eligibility, the choice of intervention comparisons to analyse, or the outcomes to be reported in the review.”.[ ² ] It appears that the problem of recognition based on scientific evidence has been underestimated.

• References

• 1 Gezondheidsraad. [Alternative modes of treatment and scientific research]. Alternatieve Behandelwijzen en Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek. Den Haag: Gezondheidsraad; 1993. publication nr. 1993/13.
• 2 Higgins JPT, Green S. Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions, version 5.1, chapter 2.1. http://handbook.cochrane.org/ accessed 7 September 2014.
• 3 http://www.carstens-stiftung.de/core-hom/index.php Accessed 8 September 2014.
• 4 Clausen J., Moss S., Tournier A., Lüdtke R., Albrecht H. CORE-Hom: A powerful and exhaustive database of clinical trials in Homeopathy. Homeopathy 2014; 104: xx-xx.
• 5 Shang A., Huwiler-Müntener K., Nartey L. et al. Are the clinical effects of homeopathy placebo effects? Comparative study of placebo-controlled trials of homeopathy and allopathy. Lancet 2005; 366: 726-732.
• 6 Linde K., Clausius N., Ramirez G. et al. Are the clinical effects of homeopathy placebo effects? A meta-analysis of placebo-controlled trial. Lancet 1997; 350: 834-843.
• 7 http://www.carstens-stiftung.de/hombrex/index.php Accessed 9 September 2014.