Last August , the British medical journal The Lancet proclaimed “The End of Homeopathy” in its lead editorial , based on a new analysis of earlier studies comparing homeopathy and conventional medicine to the use of placebos. The analysis on eight placebo-controlled trials with homeopathy and six with conventional medicine, reported that homeopathy appears to work no better than a placebo. In other words, any positive effects from homeopathy are all in people’s heads. Lancet editors concluded, “Now doctors need to be bold and honest with their patients about homeopathy’s lack of benefit, and with themselves for the failings of modern medicine to address patients’ needs for personalized care.”
A number of researchers, however, contend that the editorial is slanted, inaccurate and ignores the real issues. Among them is Dr. Wayne Jonas, who published a meta-analysis incorporating a number of studies, an approach similar to the Lancet study. After analyzing 89 studies, Jonas and his colleagues reported that homeopathy was almost 2.5 times more effective than a placebo.
Every homeopathic physician that I have talked to over the years “converted” to homeopathy because they saw it work either on themselves or a family member. Once one experiences the healing power of homeopathy, they become life long advocates for this gentle yet powerful system of medicine. The end of homeopathy? I think not.
Terry Pfau DO HMD