[Omeo33] Art 0454 - Rheumatology, 2001, 40 (9), 1052-1055

[Gino Santini]

Un articolo "negativo", ma che potrebbe avere 
qualche spunto intoressante (quanto meno per la 
rivista su cui è stato pubblicato, ad 
elevatissimo IP)...

Un saluto a tutti,
Gino

A randomized controlled trial of homeopathy in rheumatoid arthritis
P. Fisher, D. L. Scott

Objective. To test the hypothesis that homeopathy 
is effective in reducing the symptoms of joint 
inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
Method. This was a 6-month randomized, 
cross-over, double-blind, placebo-controlled, 
single-centre study set in a teaching hospital 
rheumatology out-patient clinic. The participants 
of the study were 112 patients who had definite 
or classical RA, were seropositive for rheumatoid 
factor and were receiving either stable doses of 
single non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs 
(NSAIDs) for 3 months or single disease-modifying 
anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) with or without 
NSAIDs for 6 months. Patients who were severely 
disabled, had taken systemic steroids in the 
previous 6 months or had withdrawn from DMARD 
therapy in the previous 12 months were excluded. 
Two series of medicines were used. One comprised 
42 homeopathic medicines used for treating RA in 
6cH (10-12) and/or 30cH (10-30) dilutions (a 
total of 59 preparations) manufactured to French 
National Pharmacopoeia standards, the other 
comprised identical matching placebos. The main 
outcome measures were visual analogue scale pain 
scores, Ritchie articular index, duration of 
morning stiffness and erythrocyte sedimentation 
rate (ESR).
Results. Fifty-eight patients completed the 
trial. Over 6 months there were significant 
decreases (P<0.01 by Wilcoxon rank sum tests) in 
their mean pain scores (fell 18%), articular 
indices (fell 24%) and ESRs (fell 11%). 
Fifty-four patients withdrew before completing 
the trial. Thirty-one changed conventional 
medication, 10 had serious intercurrent illness 
or surgery, 12 failed to attend and three 
withdrew consent. Placebo and active homeopathy 
had different effects on pain scores; mean pain 
scores were significantly lower after 3 months' 
placebo therapy than 3 months' active therapy 
(P=0.032 by Wilcoxon rank sum test). Articular 
index, ESR and morning stiffness were similar 
with active and placebo homeopathy.
Conclusions. We found no evidence that active 
homeopathy improves the symptoms of RA, over 3 
months, in patients attending a routine clinic 
who are stabilized on NSAIDs or DMARDs.

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