Indian Journal of Research in Homoeopathy
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Effect of Homoeopathic treatment on Activity of Daily Living (ADL) in Knee Osteoarthritis: A prospective observational study
Get PDFObjectives: To investigate the effect of individualized homoeopathic medicines in improving ADL by reducing pain, stiffness and limiting the disease progress. Materials and Methods: 131 consecutive patients with OA of knee were recruited and followed up for minimum period of twelve months. Two orthopaedic surgeons diagnosed the disease based on clinical examination of the patients. Three trained homoeopathic physicians prescribed individualized homoeopathic simillimum and the patients were evaluated for pain on WOMAC Osteoarthritis Index LK3.1 (IK) survey form measuring pain, stiffness and ADL. The pain was also measured on Numerical pain rating scale for confirmation. Result: Individualized homoeopathic medicines prescribed as per law of similia improved the mean ADL from 35.85 to 19.08 (p- 0.0001). Mean pain on WOMAC Osteoarthritis Index survey form improved from 10.50 to 5.48 (p-0.0001). The mean pain score on NRS improved from 6.34 to 3.77 (p-0.0001) and the mean morning stiffness also improved from 4.55 to 2.18 (p-0.0001). Conclusion: Homoeopathic medicines have potential to improve the ADL of OA patients by reducing pain and stiffness and limiting progress of the disease without any adverse systemic effects and can safely be employed as a comprehensive health care therapeutics
Homoeopathic treatment in a case of co-morbid atopic dermatitis and depressive disorder
Get PDFAtopic dermatitis (AD) is a skin disease characterized by itching, typical morphology, and distribution of rash, chronic relapsing course, and personal or family history of “atopic diathesis.” Stress is an important precipitating factor of AD. Stress has also some causal link with depression. Rationale of this case report is to demonstrate the co-occurrence of AD and depression in a patient, and better improvement of AD occurs when homoeopathic treatment focuses on psychological symptoms. Here, a 38-year-old male presented with a 6-month history of eczematous skin lesions with associated symptoms of depression in the background of chronic ongoing stress. A diagnosis of AD with comorbid depression was made. He initially did not show stable improvement on homoeopathic medicine selected on the basis of totality of symptoms and miasmatic background. On changing the medicine giving more priority to psychological symptoms, he gradually showed stable improvement on both the domain of symptoms and reached remission by 3 months. Remission maintained without any recurrence over the next 3½ years. Hence, the main lesson from this case is the demonstration of importance of mental symptoms over other physical symptoms in homoeopathic treatment
A case of multiple urinary calculi
Get PDFA patient with urinary calculi of sizes 16 mm in the right renal pelvis and 9 mm in the right mid-ureter, presenting with complaints of pain in right iliac region extending to genitals and legs with dribbling urine and painful micturition reported in the OPD of the Central Research Institute for Homoeopathy, Kottayam, Kerala. Patient had not undergone treatment before. Based on the presenting symptoms Nux vomica 30C was prescribed, which proved to be effective in the dissolution and expulsion of both the stones
An open-label pilot study to explore usefulness of Homoeopathic treatment in nonerosive gastroesophageal reflux disease
Get PDFBackground and Aim: Nonerosive gastroesophageal reflux disease or nonerosive reflux disease (NERD) is characterized by troublesome reflux-related symptoms in the absence of esophageal erosions/breaks at conventional endoscopy. There are a number of medicines cited in homoeopathic literature which can be used for treatment of symptoms such as heartburn and regurgitation. A pilot study was undertaken to explore usefulness of homoeopathic medicines in treatment of NERD. Methodology: In this study, 78 patients were screened and 34 were enrolled, having symptoms of heartburn and/or regurgitation at least twice a week, having a gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) symptom score of more than 4. Homoeopathic medicine was prescribed on the basis of presenting symptoms. Response to treatment was assessed on GERD symptom score, visual analog scale (VAS) for heartburn, and World Health Organization quality of life-BREF (WHO-QOL) questionnaire evaluated at baseline and at end of 8 weeks of treatment . Results: Significant difference was found in pre- and post-treatment GERD symptom score (8.79 ± 2.7 vs. 0.76 ± 1.8; P = 0.001) and VAS for heartburn (47.47 ± 19.6 vs. 5.06 ± 11.8; P = 0.001). Statistically significant improvement was seen in three domains of WHO-QOL score, i.e. psychological health, social relationship, and environmental domain. Conclusion: The findings are encouraging to open avenues for further studies on reflux disease
Evidence-based Homoeopathy: A case of corneal abscess
Get PDFCorneal abscess is a circumscribed collection of pus within the layers of cornea. It is usually endogenous in origin and commonly found near the limbal blood vessels close to corneal margin. Treatment in modern medicine is use of local and systemic antibiotics. Homoeopathy has mentioned medicines for corneal abscess. A case reported was a female of 68 years of age suffering from symptoms of redness, dull pain, and foreign body sensation in the right eye and was diagnosed as corneal abscess. The homoeopathic medicine Hepar sulphuris 200C was prescribed on the basis of pathology. Abscess was reduced considerably within 5 days and it was absorbed completely in 21 days. No recurrence of abscess was observed thereafter. Ocular photographs during follow-up visits have provided documentary evidence about the effectiveness of homoeopathic Hepar sulphuris 200C in corneal abscess
A multicentric randomized clinical trial of homoeopathic medicines in fifty millesimal potencies vis-à -vis centesimal potencies on symptomatic uterine fibroids
Get PDFObjective: The primary objective was to evaluate the effects of homoeopathic medicines in fifty millesimal (LM) potencies vis-à -vis centesimal (CH) potencies on symptomatic uterine fibroids. Materials and Methods: A multicentric randomized clinical trial was conducted at six centers under the Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy. Patients were screened for symptomatic uterine fibroids with the preset inclusion and exclusion criteria. A consultant specialized in obstetrics and gynecology was engaged at each center to screen and follow-up the enrolled patients. Homoeopathic physicians engaged in the study were responsible for prescription and follow up for 12 months. The primary outcome was changes in symptoms of uterine fibroid on a visual analog scale (VAS) of 0–10 and findings through ultrasonography (USG) between LM and CH potencies. The secondary outcome was to assess the changes in uterine fibroid symptom quality of life questionnaire (UFSQOL). Data analysis was done as per intention to treat (ITT) analysis. Results: Of 216 patients enrolled in the study (LM: 108 and CH: 108), 209 patients were analyzed under modified ITT (LM: 106, CH: 103). Both LM and CH potencies were equally effective in reducing the symptoms (percentage change) due to uterine fibroid on VAS scale after 1 year of treatment (P \u3e 0.05). The health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and subdomains of UFSQOL also showed equal effectiveness in both the groups (P = 0.05). However, no difference was observed in all the USG findings except for uterine volume (P = 0.03). There was overall difference before and after homoeopathic treatment irrespective of assigned groups, i.e., LM or CH (P \u3c 0.05) in all the above parameters. The medicines frequently prescribed were: Pulsatilla, Sulphur, Lycopodium, Sepia, Phosphorus, Calcarea carbonica, and Natrum muriaticum. Conclusion: LM and CH potencies are equally effective in giving symptomatic relief to patients suffering from symptomatic uterine fibroids
Prognostic factor research in Homoeopathy
Get PDFValidation of homoeopathic medicines is about validating effectiveness in individual cases. Homoeopathic practitioners base their expectation that a medicine will work on the experience that specific symptoms of the patient indicate specific medicines. The prevalence of such symptoms is higher in a population responding well to a specific medicine than in the remainder of the population. This principle has a solid mathematical foundation in Bayes\u27 theorem, identifies homoeopathic symptoms as prognostic factors, and offers an interesting perspective of individualized research. This kind of research depends on recording symptoms and results of treatment. An important challenge in this research is establishing causality between medicine and improved health. Prognostic factor research could become one of the main pillars of Homoeopathy\u27s scientific identity
The contribution of homeogenomic and homeogenetic studies in the support of the practice of Homoeopathy
Get PDFAlmost two decades ago, it was postulated that homoeopathic remedies could deliver their benefits by interacting with the genetic blueprint. Over the years, the results of many homeogenomic gene expression studies have confirmed this postulate. The results of homeogenomic studies have begun to recognize which of the estimated 25,000 human genes are targeted by different homoeopathic remedies and how the expression profiles of these targeted genes are rearranged. From a mechanistic standpoint, seminal homeogenomic studies have shown that homoeopathic remedies can also facilitate epigenetic modifications such as DNA methylation. This is an important discovery because DNA methylation plays an important role in the control of the expression of many genes. Understanding of the genes targeted by different homoeopathic remedies, taken together with information about the function of the protein/s encoded by the targeted gene/s provides a further complementary approach to homoeopathic remedy selection. In this review, as an example, we show how the results of homeogenomic studies support the applicability of frequently used homoeopathic remedies in patients suffering from cancer, particularly with respect to upregulation of the gene TP53. This review also outlines how the results of homeogenomic studies may also provide further help with potency selection and optimum dosage regimen