Homeopathic vs conventional primary care
Here is a large study conducted at 57 primary care clinics in the US and Europe. It shows that “in primary care, homeopathic treatment for acute respiratory and ear complaints was not inferior to conventional treatment.”
More than 1500 people complaining of runny nose, sore throat, ear pain, sinus pain, or cough over the previous 5 days were treated with homeopathic or conventional treatment. After 14 days of treatment, the number of patients with “complete recovery” or “major improvement” was reported.
- Most patients in each group were recovered or improved
- No differences of response rates after 14 days in children and adult.
- Onset of improvement within the first 7 days after treatment was significantly faster with homeopathic treatment in children and adults
- Adverse drug reactions were more frequent in adults (but not in children) in the conventional group
- There were also no differences at 7 and 28 days
The results support an earlier study of patients with upper and lower respiratory tract complaints including allergies, or ear complaints. There too, homeopathy “appeared to be at least as effective as conventional medical care in the treatment of patients with the three conditions studied.”
3/8/07 21:52 JR
