Randomised trial, 2018
Does adding homeopathy to usual care help PMS more than usual care alone?
The study found homeopathy added to usual care improved symptom scores significantly more than usual care alone, but only 46 women completed the trial out of 244 interested.
What they did
An international multi-center randomized controlled trial in the Netherlands, Sweden, and Germany. Women with PMS or PMDD completed symptom diaries for 2 months to confirm diagnosis, then 60 were randomized to individualized homeopathic treatment added to usual care or usual care alone for 4 months.
What they found
After 4 months, the Daily Record of Severity of Problems scores improved significantly more in the homeopathy group than the usual care group. Sepia officinalis and Natrum muriaticum were the most prescribed homeopathic medicines. However, recruitment was extremely difficult: of 244 women interested, only 71 completed diaries, 61 had confirmed diagnosis, 60 were randomized, and only 46 had complete data analyzed.
What it means for you
While this study suggests homeopathy added to usual care might improve PMS, the very small final sample (46 women) and extreme difficulty recruiting make it unclear whether this finding would hold in a larger study. Regulatory barriers in some countries also make future research difficult.
60
Women randomized to treatment
46
Women with complete analyzed data
244
Women initially interested
About the study
- Original title
- International Randomized Controlled Pilot Study on Homeopathy and PMS: Latest Outcomes, Opportunities and Pitfalls
- Authors
- Christien T. Klein-Laansma, Mats U. Jong, Cornelia von Hagens et al.
- Journal
- Homeopathy
- Year
- 2018
- Study design
- Randomised trial
- Participants
- 244
- What was tested
- Individualized homeopathic treatment added to usual care or usual care alone
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1055/s-0038-1633295
Topics
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