Effects of Homeopathic Medicines on Mood of Adults with Histories of Coffee-Related Insomnia

Abstract

Background/Aims: The purpose of this within-subjects feasibility study was to determine whether two different homeopathic remedies, Nux Vomica (NV) and Coffea Cruda (CC), exert effects on subjective mood ratings in healthy adults with a history of coffee-induced insomnia. The impact of individual personality traits, anxiety sensitivity or Type A cynical hostility, and homeopathic constitutional type (HTYPE-NV, HTYPE-CC), on remedy effects was examined to evaluate differential responsivity, in accord with clinical claims. Subjects and Methods: Young adults of both sexes (ages 18–31) with above-average scores on standardized personality scales for either cynical hostility or anxiety sensitivity, and a history of coffee-induced insomnia, participated in the month-long study. At-home polysomnographic recordings were obtained on successive pairs of nights once per week for a total of 8 recordings (nights 1, 2, 8, 9, 15, 16, 22, 23). Subjects (N = 59) received placebo pellets on night 8 (single-blind) and verum pellets in 30c doses of one of two homeopathic remedies, NV or CC, on night 22 (doubleblind). Subjects completed the Profile of Mood States Scales at bedtime. Results: The remedies produced differential effects on anger and overall mood, with improved mood following CC administration. A similar trend for depression was observed. Anxiety sensitive subjects experienced less tension following CC, whereas hostile subjects receiving CC became more tense. The high HTYPE-CC receiving CC experienced less vigor. The high HTYPE-CC receiving NV experienced more vigor.

Effects of homeopathic medicines on polysomnographic sleep of young adults with histories of coffee-related insomnia

“…Moreover, personality type interacted with the specific remedy received to produce differential changes in the POMS; effects are reported elsewhere [57]. Thus, even if the passage of time contributes to some of the apparent differences between the week 2 placebo and week 4 remedy findings, the data suggest remedy effects beyond those from the simple passage of time.…”

Multiweek Resting EEG Cordance Change Patterns from Repeated Olfactory Activation with Two Constitutionally Salient Homeopathic Remedies in Healthy Young Adults

“…Nonetheless, the present data raise the possibility of adding psychophysiologic EEG measures to self-reported symptom patterns in distinguishing effects of one homeopathic remedy from another in future homeopathic pathogenetic trials. 2,28,29,32 The phenomenon of time-dependent sensitization (TDS) may also be relevant to the current observations. 34 TDS is the progressive amplification of host response by intermittent repeated exposures to an initially low-dose agent or stressor.…”

“…The current research team examined this individual difference question in a separate exploratory study on sleep and mood effects of two other homeopathic remedies and personality types in relatively healthy young adults and found complex interactions between the type of person who received a specific remedy and the remedy given. 32 Whether or not the current design would yield similar person-type by remedy-received interactions remains a testable but unexamined question.…”

“…The findings lend additional support to the growing literature demonstrating the ability to distinguish one homeopathic remedy from another, even at doses believed to be diluted beyond Avogadro's number, in both basic science 18,19,[60][61][62] and human studies. 28,29,32 The remedy received was confounded intentionally by the subject-selection process, which was designed to mirror homeopathic practice theory, 15 by preselecting and matching potentially reactive subjects to their respective remedies. Thus, the most conservative conclusion is that people who are Sulphur types and receive Sulphur show a different pattern of changes in their cordance-related prefrontal brain activity (e.g., perfusion) over time than do people who are Pulsatilla types and receive Pulsatilla.…”

“…22,31 Previous research in this laboratory showed complex interactions between trait and state variables of the individual exposed to a given remedy. 32 Moreover, animal studies have shown that the direction of response to a given remedy can be biphasic, depending on the state of the recipient at the time of administration. 33 The present study tested the hypotheses that: (1) resting EEG cordance changes in human subjects, after sniffing a specific homeopathic remedy, 34 would fluctuate over sessions, modified by recent exposure history to the agent [35][36][37] ; and (2) the EEG cordance patterns in two different groups of people, each receiving a constititutionally salient homeopathic remedy, would differ from each other, even after controlling for nonhomeopathic baseline subject characteristics.…”