'Homeopathy works!'

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'Homeopathy works!'

 

by JENNY HOPE, Daily Mail

femail.co.uk - 14th June 2003

Homeopathy really does work and doctors should recognise its healing effects,

say researchers.

 

A study found that allergy sufferers who were given homeopathic treatment were

ten times more likely to be cured than those given a dummy pill instead.

 

Doctors should be more positive about the alternative medicine, which is the

only complementary therapy available on the NHS, the researchers said.

 

Their study attempts to settle the controversy over homeopathic treatment, which

critics say is not effective because of the tiny level of active substance used

in most remedies.

 

It works on the principle that a substance which in large doses will cause the

symptoms of an illness can be used in minute doses to relieve the same symptoms.

 

Critics argue that the active substance is so diluted that homeopathic remedies

have no more effect than placebo or dummy treatment.

 

The study put homeopathy to the test in 50 patients suffering from nasal

allergies. They were given either a homeopathic preparation or a placebo.

 

Each day for four weeks patients recruited from general practices and a hospital

in London measured their nasal air flow and recorded symptoms such as blocked,

runny or itchy nose, sneezing or eye irritation.

 

Both groups reported that they got better - but on average patients who received

homeopathy had a 28 per cent improvement in nasal air flow compared with 3 per

cent among those in the placebo group.

 

The study was carried out by doctors in Glasgow, led by Dr David Reilly of the

Glasgow Homeopathic Hospital, one of five specialist hospitals in Britain. He

said the difference in results from the two treatments was statistically

significant.

 

Dr Reilly said this was the fourth trial carried out by his hospital, all with

similar results. In addition, there were positive findings in 70 per cent of a

further 180 clinical trials.

 

'I hope this will encourage doctors to examine the volume of evidence supporting

homeopathy - they might be quite surprised at the positive outcome in many

trials,' he said.

 

He added that it would take consistent scientific investigation to persuade some

doctors, but attitudes were changing.

 

About 20 per cent of doctors in Scotland have basic homeopathic training

compared with one per cent 15 years ago.

 

'It isn't just about the remedies, which can be put to the test in trials, but

about a greater holistic approach in encouraging self-healing and

self-recovery.'

 

Dr Bob Leckridge, president of the Faculty of Homeopathy - the body for doctors,

vets, nurses and other health professionals - said: 'This latest research builds

on existing evidence that homeopathy works, something that hundreds of doctors

and their patients have known for 200 years.'

 

 

 

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©2003 Associated New Media

 

 

 

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