BACKGROUND There is a discrepancy between the outcome of a meta-analysis published in 1997 of 89 trials of homeopathy by Linde et al and an analysis of 110 trials by Shang et al published in 2005, these reached opposite conclusions. Important data were not mentioned in Shang et al's paper, but only provided subsequently. QUESTIONS What was the outcome of Shang et al's predefined hypotheses? W...

Madam I am somewhat concerned that in the same issue of the Journal as the statistical paper entitled ‘Size does matter’1 there was an Overview on ‘Homeopathy treatments for premenstrual symptoms’2 which may be considered to have depended on evidence that contradicted the statistical paper. I would be grateful for your opinion as to the reliability of the one clinical trial by Yakir et al.3, wh...

Madam I am somewhat concerned that in the same issue of the Journal as the statistical paper entitled ‘Size does matter’1 there was an Overview on ‘Homeopathy treatments for premenstrual symptoms’2 which may be considered to have depended on evidence that contradicted the statistical paper. I would be grateful for your opinion as to the reliability of the one clinical trial by Yakir et al.3, wh...

Homeopathy has remained one of the most controversial medical treatments in the world. It is based on the “like cures like” principle and the idea that serial dilution of a substance renders it not less but more potent. Both of these axioms of homeopathy lack biological plausibility (Sehon and Stanley 2010). Nevertheless, homeopathy was recently cited as one of “the most popular and widely used...

In India, Latin America, and Europe, homeopathy thrives: in the UK, all one ever hears is negativity. Here, homeopathy is described as ‘(...) just a placebo’, ‘(...) contrary to the laws of science’, ‘(...) quackery practiced on the weak-minded’, and ‘(...) those who believe in it are deluded’ [1]. In addition, ‘there is no evidence homeopathy works’, ‘(...) homeopathy is unethical’ [2–5], and ...

The sharp increase of the prescription of methylphenidate (MPD) in hyperactive children in recent years is a matter of increasing uneasiness among professionals, parents and politicians. There is little awareness of treatment alternatives. The purpose of this prospective trial was to assess the efficacy of homeopathy in hyperactive patients and to compare it MPD. The study was performed in a pa...

AIM The aim of this systematic review was to critically evaluate the evidence regarding the adverse effects (AEs) of homeopathy. METHOD Five electronic databases were searched to identify all relevant case reports and case series. RESULTS In total, 38 primary reports met our inclusion criteria. Of those, 30 pertained to direct AEs of homeopathic remedies; and eight were related to AEs cause...

there are many problems in the treatment of hypertension, so we use alternative medicine to achieve better results to solve these problems. in this article we describe a hypertensive patient resisted to conventional drugs and she had some other somatic and psychotic symptoms and was treated by homeopathy, a method of alternative medicine.

Recent discourses about the legitimacy of homeopathy have focused on its scientific plausibility, mechanism of action, and evidence base. These, frequently, conclude not only that homeopathy is scientifically baseless, but that it is "unethical." They have also diminished patients' perspectives, values, and preferences. We contend that these critics confuse epistemic questions with questions of...

Homeopathy was born as an experimental discipline, as can be seen from the enormous amount of homeopathic data collected over more than two centuries. However, the medical tradition of homeopathy has been separated from that of conventional science for a long time. Conventional scientific wisdom dictates that homeopathy should have no effect above placebo but experiments on ultra-high dilutions...