Homeopathy :: Homoeopathy in Childhood Diarrhea

Boiron Research Foundation funded a project to confirm the action of homeopathy medicines in childhood diarrhea.

This study, examined clinical trials in Nicaragua (1990, 1991) and Nepal (1994), and is published in the March 2003 issue of Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, supports that the effects of homeopathy couldn’t be explained entirely by placebo, and provides further evidence that homeopathy is efficacious for a single clinical condition — childhood diarrhea.

Acute diarrhea is a leading cause of death in children in the developing world, with more than three million deaths per year worldwide. In the US, diarrheal disease is a common cause of morbidity and exerts a heavy burden on the health care system.

The recommended treatment for diarrhea, oral rehydration therapy (ORT), reduces deaths from dehydration, but in most cases does not decrease the duration of illness. Based on the combined results and meta-analysis of these studies, the authors (Jacobs et al.) conclude that, used in combination with ORT, “homeopathy should be considered for utilization on a widespread basis for childhood diarrhea.”

An inherent methodological problem of any clinical trial of homeopathy is the use of more than one treatment medication. Because individualization is critical to homeopathic treatment, one of several different medicines was used for each patient to match the specific symptom patterns of diarrhea in that child.

The most common five medicines used in the studies, Podophyllum, Arsenicum album, Sulphur, Chamomilla, and Calcarea carbonica, all in the 30 C potency, were used in 85% of cases in Nepal and 78% of Nicaraguan cases.

(Press Release)


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