Homeopathy: Meta-Analyses of Pooled Clinical Data

Abstract

In the first decade of the evidence-based era, which began in the mid-1990s, meta-analyses were used to scrutinize homeopathy for evidence of beneficial effects in medical conditions. In this review, meta-analyses including pooled data from placebo-controlled clinical trials of homeopathy and the aftermath in the form of debate articles were analyzed. In 1997 Klaus Linde and co-workers identified 89 clinical trials that showed an overall odds ratio of 2.45 in favor of homeopathy over placebo. There was a trend toward smaller benefit from studies of the highest quality, but the 10 trials with the highest Jadad score still showed homeopathy had a statistically significant effect. These results challenged academics to perform alternative analyses that, to demonstrate the lack of effect, relied on extensive exclusion of studies, often to the degree that conclusions were based on only 5-10% of the material, or on virtual data. The ultimate argument against homeopathy is the ‘funnel plot' published by Aijing Shang's research group in 2005. However, the funnel plot is flawed when applied to a mixture of diseases, because studies with expected strong treatments effects are, for ethical reasons, powered lower than studies with expected weak or unclear treatment effects. To conclude that homeopathy lacks clinical effect, more than 90% of the available clinical trials had to be disregarded. Alternatively, flawed statistical methods had to be applied. Future meta-analyses should focus on the use of homeopathy in specific diseases or groups of diseases instead of pooling data from all clinical trials.

Polyperspektivität in der Medizin: Dilemma oder Chance? Zur Ganzheitlichkeit der Homöopathie Hahnemanns

“…Wenn zum Beispiel wissenschaftlich nachgewiesen wurde, dass über 90% der Homöopathie-Studien ignoriert werden müssen, um das Urteil aufrecht zu erhalten, Homöopathie sei unwirksam [42], und wenn aber gleichzeitig Wissenschaftler und Journalisten gerade dies tun, so scheint hier die rationale Wissenschaft, der reine Logos, an seine Grenzen geraten zu sein. Wenngleich man diese Situation durchaus geisteswissenschaftlich, nämlich wissenschaftssoziologisch, sozioökonomisch, kommunikationstheoretisch, medienpolitisch usw.…”

A New Kind of Biologically Active Orientation-Sensitive Field - Coupling to Complexity-Based Biological Regulatory Systems?

“…Rupert Sheldrake is a towering example of a scientist who has written extensively about such phenomena in, e.g., ‘The Sense of Being Stared At' [2], and has shown how science that fails to acknowledge such phenomena suffers from severe lacunae [3]. Another example of such a phenomenon is homeopathy, discussed in the review article in this issue [4]. …”

Homeopathy and Pluralism of Theories in Medicine Arguments Put Forward to Remove Homeopathic Products from Pharmacies Contradict Actual Scientific Evidence and Suggest Deliberate Misinformation

“…Unfortunately the texts drawn up by E. Ernst and W. Bartens are neither objective nor scientifically substantiated; instead, they present study findings on the therapeutic efficacy of homeopathy in a manner that is tendentious and factually inaccurate. This together with the fact that derogative remarks on homeopathy have become fashionable recently [6][7][8][9][10][11][12] has induced the members of the Dialogue Forum Pluralism in Medicine (DPM) as well as the institutions listed below and the physicians and scientists who have signed this reply to draw up a corrective statement with reference to international representative clinical studies, meta-analyses and HTAs on homeopathy [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25].…”

“…Pertinent targets are pursued at the medical facilities listed below. A meticulous but unbiased analysis of the published evidence on the efficacy of homeopathy reveals that high-quality studies substantiate the therapeutic efficacy of homeopathy, and that 90% of available clinical studies would have to be ignored in order to conclude that homeopathy has no effects [18]. Homeopathy applied by physicians is an important element of an Integrative Medicine which combines the best from conventional medicine and medical homeopathy for the benefit of patients.…”