sintesi tratta dal sito dell’ Homeopathy Research Institute (
https://www.hri-research.org).
Clinical trials overview
By the end of 2014, 189 randomised controlled trials of homeopathy on 100 different medical conditions had been published in peer-reviewed journals:1
Of these, 104 papers were placebo-controlled and were eligible for detailed review:
• 41% were positive (43 trials) – finding that homeopathy was effective
• 5% were negative (5 trials) – finding that homeopathy was ineffective
• 54% were inconclusive (56 trials)
Meta-analyses of homeopathy trials
There have been 6 meta-analyses of homeopathy:
• five were positive – suggesting that there was some evidence of an effect of homeopathy beyond placebo, but more high quality research would be needed to reach definitive conclusions2,3,4,5,7
• one was negative – concluding that homeopathy had no effect beyond placebo:6 More about this study here.
Original conclusions from the 6 meta-analyses
Developing the evidence base – progress from 2005 to 2014
The sixth and most recent meta-analysis by Mathie et al., published in 2014, found that homeopathic medicines, when prescribed during individualised treatment, are 1.5- to 2.0-times more likely to have a beneficial effect than placebo.7
Although the previous meta-analysis by Shang et al. continues to be referred to frequently, the 2014 study by Mathie et al. includes 151 placebo-controlled randomised trials – 41 more than Shang’s team identified in 2005, but which would have met their inclusion criteria if available at the time.
This demonstrates the extent to which the 10 year-old Shang et al. paper, which now covers only 73% of the eligible trials, has been superseded by the paper by Mathie et al..
References:
1. Faculty of Homeopathy, Link: facultyofhomeopathy.org/research
2. Kleijnen, J., Knipschild, P. & ter Riet, G. Clinical trials of homeopathy. BMJ, 1991; 302: 960 | PubMed
3. Linde, K. et al. Are the clinical effects of homeopathy placebo effects? A meta-analysis of placebo-controlled trials. Lancet, 1997; 350:834–843 | PubMed
4. Linde, K. et al. Impact of study quality on outcome in placebo-controlled trials of homeopathy. J. Clin. Epidemiol., 1999; 52: 631–636 | PubMed
5. Cucherat, M., Haugh, M. C., Gooch, M. & Boissel, J. P. Evidence of clinical efficacy of homeopathy. A meta-analysis of clinical trials. HMRAG. Homeopathic Medicines Research Advisory Group. Eur. J. Clin. Pharmacol., 2000; 56: 27–33 | PubMed
6. Shang A, Huwiler-Muntener K, Nartey L, et al. Are the clinical effects of homeopathy placebo effects? Comparative study of placebo-controlled trials of homeopathy and allopathy. Lancet, 2005; 366: 726–732 | PubMed
7. Mathie RT et al. Randomised placebo-controlled trials of individualised homeopathic treatment: systematic review and meta-analysis. Systematic Reviews, 2014; 3: 142
che, ripeto, non vuol dire "l'omeopatia funziona", ma solamente che la questione è ambito di ricerca, e che non è vero che la comunità scientifica è monolitica sull'argomento, per cui un po' meno di sicumera in merito non guasterebbe. a meno che faccia parte della comunità scientifica solo chi è contro l'omeopatia.|