September 2005

Homeopathy results questioned;
scientists challenge report

A report published in The Lancet questioning the efficacy of homeopathy has been challenged by two homeopathic companies.

The Lancet report said the value of homeopathic treatments I weak and the clinical efficacy is likely a placebo effect. The study was led by Aijing Shang, PhD, social and preventive medicine professor at the University of Berne. Researchers compared randomized, placebo-controlled trials on homeopathy with similar randomized, controlled trials, using allopathic treatments.

Other scientists do not agree with the study’s conclusions. “Shang et al have successfully applied a methodological approach to the articles they reviewed that is highly suitable for drawing conclusions about conventional medicine, but is incomplete in evaluating homeopathic medicine,” said University of Arizona scientist Iris Bell, MD, PhD, who rejected the study’s findings in a press release.

“Homeopathy is born of science,” said Christian Boiron, chairperson and president of Boiron Laboratories, a homeopathic manufacturer. Boiron said that the study was faulty: The authors arbitrarily eliminated a number of trial series, retaining only 14 or the 220 initial studies used. The sub-group analysis is unscientific and “not rigorous.”

Frank King, ND, DC, president of King Bio, a homeopathic manufacturer, said, “It is wise to look at who has what to gain on studies done with a spin, when only a portion of the studies are used to prove a point of bias. Looking at all the studies provides a very positive outcome. These are well done scientific studies that were left out of the Lancet publication.”

King added, “Homeopathy has a high level of individuality. In other words, homeopathy addresses the underlying causes that are specific to each person. One hundred people with sinusitis will not respond to the same homeopathic. … The more individualized specific actions of homeopathy that correct an underlying interference cannot be grossly measured in the same way as drugs that force biochemical manipulation. .. Measuring homeopathy is much like measuring chiropractic, applying the same exact adjustment on every patient.”

Boiron and King both agreed that more sophisticated studies are needed.

Sources: National Products Industry Insider, www.naturalproductsinsider.com; Frank King, ND, DC, www.kingbio.com; Boiron Laboratories, www.boiron.com

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