Under the conditions of this study, 2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid was not effective in producing any clinical or biochemical benefit or any histopathological improvement of skin lesions in patients with chronic arsenicosis.
<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> Individualized homeopathy (IH) in atopic dermatitis (AD) remained under-researched. <b><i>Objective:</i></b> We aimed at evaluating efficacy of IH in AD. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, short-term, preliminary trial was conducted in an Indian homeopathy hospital. Patients were randomized to either IH (<i>n</i> = 30) or identical-looking placebo (<i>n</i> = 30) using computerized randomization and allocation. Outcomes were patient-oriented scoring of AD (PO-SCORAD; primary end point), Dermatological Life Quality Index (DLQI) score, and AD burden score for adults (ADBSA; secondary end points), measured monthly for 3 months. An intention-to-treat sample was analyzed after adjusting baseline differences. <b><i>Results:</i></b> On PO-SCORAD, improvement was higher in IH against placebo, but nonsignificant statistically (<i>p</i><sub>month 1</sub> = 0.433, <i>p</i><sub>month 2</sub> = 0.442, <i>p</i><sub>month 3</sub> = 0.229). Secondary outcomes were also nonsignificant – both DLQI and ADBSA (<i>p</i> > 0.05). Four adverse events (diarrhea, injury, common cold) were recorded. <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> There was a small, but nonsignificant direction of effect towards homeopathy, which renders the trial inconclusive. A properly powered robust trial is indicated.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.