[Omeo33] Art 0445 - BMJ, 2000, 321 (7259), 471-476

[Gino Santini]

Randomised controlled trial of homoeopathy versus placebo in perennial  
allergic rhinitis with overview of four trial series
Morag A Taylor, David Reilly, Robert H Llewellyn-Jones, Charles  
McSharry, Tom C Aitchison

Objective: To test the hypothesis that homoeopathy is a placebo by  
examining its effect in patients with allergic rhinitis and so contest  
the evidence from three previous trials in this series.
Design: Randomised, double blind, placebo controlled, parallel group,  
multicentre study.
Setting: Four general practices and a hospital ear, nose, and throat  
outpatient department.
Participants: 51 patients with perennial allergic rhinitis.
Intervention: Random assignment to an oral 30c homoeopathic  
preparation of principal inhalant allergen or to placebo.
Main outcome measures: Changes from baseline in nasal inspiratory peak  
flow and symptom visual analogue scale score over third and fourth  
weeks after randomisation.
Results: Fifty patients completed the study. The homoeopathy group had  
a significant objective improvement in nasal airflow compared with the  
placebo group (mean difference 19.8 l/min,95% confidence interval 10.4  
to 29.1, P=0.0001). Both groups reported improvement in symptoms, with  
patients taking homoeopathy reporting more improvement in all but one  
of the centres, which had more patients with aggravations. On average  
no significant difference between the groups was seen on visual  
analogue scale scores. Initial aggravations of rhinitis symptoms were  
more common with homoeopathy than placebo (7 (30%) v 2 (7%), P=0.04).  
Addition of these results to those of three previous trials (n=253)  
showed a mean symptom reduction on visual analogue scores of 28% (10.9  
mm) for homoeopathy compared with 3% (1.1 mm) for placebo (95%  
confidence interval 4.2 to 15.4, P=0.0007).
Conclusion: The objective results reinforce earlier evidence that  
homoeopathic dilutions differ from placebo.

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