The wide scientific and geographical spread of homeopathy

This issue of Homeopathy reflects the wide scientific and geographical spread of scientific work in homeopathy. From Phillip Cottingham and colleague's survey of New Zealand homeopaths, a country on whose homeopathic tradition little has been published [ ¹ ]; to Emma Macias-Cortés and colleagues' further analysis of the results their HOMDEP-MENOP randomised controlled trial, conducted in Mexico City.

The HOMDEP-MENOP study, whose main results were published in 2015, compared individualised homeopathic treatment with Fluoxetine and placebo in a randomised, double dummy clinical trial on 133 post-menopausal and perimenopausal women.[ ² ] Individualised homeopathy was as effective as fluoxetine and more effective than placebo, in a deprived cohort of women with high prevalence of domestic violence and overweight/obesity. Homeopathy also benefited menopausal symptoms, while fluoxetine did not. In the follow-up paper published in this issue the authors examine the association between baseline metabolic parameters including overweight/obesity, hypercholesterolaemia and hypothyroidism.[ ³ ] They found no correlation between lack of response to homeopathic treatment and dyslipidaemia, overweight or insulin resistance.

• References

• 1 Cottingham P., Adams J., Vempati R., Dunn J., Sibbritt D. The characteristics, experiences and perceptions of homeopaths in New Zealand: results from a national survey of practitioners. Homeopathy 2017; 106 (01) 11-17.
• 2 Macías-Cortés EdC., Llanes-González L., Aguilar-Faisal L., Asbun-Bojalil J. 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 2015; 10 (03) e0118440 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0118440.
• 3 Macías-Cortés EdC., Llanes-González L., Aguilar-Faisal L., Asbun-Bojalil J. Is metabolic dysregulation associated with antidepressant response in depressed women in climacteric treated with individualized homeopathic medicines or fluoxetine? The HOMDEP-MENOP Study. Homeopathy 2017; 106 (01) 3-10.
• 4 Passeti T.A., Bissoli L.R., Macedo A.P., Libame R.B., Diniz S., Waisse S. Action of antibiotic oxacillin on in vitro growth of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) previously treated with homeopathic medicines. Homeopathy 2017; 106 (01) 27-31.
• 5 Olsen S. Effects of ultra-high dilutions of sodium butyrate on viability and gene expression in HEK 293 cells. Homeopathy 2017; 106 (01) 32-36.
• 6 Cartwright S.J. Interaction of homeopathic potencies with the water soluble solvatochromic dye bisdimethylaminofuchsone. Part 1: pH studies. Homeopathy 2017; 106 (01) 37-46.
• 7 Betti L., Trebbi G., Kokornaczyk M.O. et al. Number of succussion strokes affects effectiveness of ultra-high-diluted arsenic on in vitro wheat germination and polycrystalline structures obtained by droplet evaporation method. Homeopathy 2017; 106 (01) 47-54.
• 8 Beauvais F. ‘Unconventional’ experiments in biology and medicine with optimised design based on quantum like correlations. Homeopathy 2017; 106 (01) 55-66.