Homoeopathic medicine test according to the crossover design: from theory to practice

Abstract

An homoeopathic pathogenic trial (HPT, proving) was carried out using a double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover method. The name of the medicine was also unknown to the volunteers. A number of subjects withdrew at the last minute, leading to an unbalanced randomisation. A strong period effect was observed, which makes results difficult to interpret. Most subjects were able to guess correctly which treatment was active and which placebo.

Can homeopaths detect homeopathic medicines? A pilot study for a randomised, double-blind, placebo controlled investigation of the proving hypothesis

“…This would involve asking a somewhat different research question such as 'can homeopaths determine whether a given bottle contains an ultramolecular dilution or placebo?' Order effects have been observed in previous HPTs 3,5 and may seem to be a structural problem in HPTs of cross-over or time series design. However, cross-over trials are insensitive to pure order effects 6 because, as illustrated by this trial, the overall effect will be the average of the effect in the two strata (verum=placebo and placebo=verum).…”

“…One further analysis looked at the possibility of an order effect; that whether the order in which the Can homeopaths detect homeopathic medicines A Vickers et al medications were presented had an effect on participant response. The proving literature 3,5 indicates that more symptoms tend to be reported in the first weeks. This would make participants more likely to decide that verum was taken during the first phase.…”

“…Two studies published since this review was undertaken have similarly failed to find strong evidence of a drug proving effect. 2,3 One trial of a homeopathic prophylactic did find statistically significant differences between placebo and active treatment for the number of adverse events reported by subjects. 4 However, the reported analysis was unplanned and may have been data driven.…”

Can Homeopathically Prepared Mercury Cause Symptoms in Healthy Volunteers? A Randomized, Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Trial

“…Moreover, there does not appear to be any empirical evidence that drug-proving symptoms require several weeks of treatment. Quite the opposite, most drug provings show that the number of symptoms reported by subjects dissipates rapidly with time (Koster et al, 1998).…”

“…The number of symptoms reported per subject was related to the methodological quality of the drug proving with only one of the four best studies reporting more proving symptoms in subjects than controls. Two studies published since this review was undertaken have similarly failed to find strong evidence of a drug proving effect (Walach et al, 1997;Koster et al, 1998). One trial of a homeopathic prophylactic did find statistically significant differences between placebo and active treatment for the number of adverse events reported by subjects (Attena et al, 1995).…”