Homeopathic Clinic Research Articles

Exploring General Practitioners’ attitudes to homeopathy in Dumfries and Galloway

This comparative quantitative study explored General Practitioners’ (GPs) attitudes to homeopathy in Dumfries and Galloway, a predominantly rural area in South West Scotland where there is a local British Homeopathic Association Funded Homeopathic Clinic. It aimed to determine whether there was an association between expressed attitudes to homeopathy and a number of variables. Issues arising from the House of Lords Report on CAM were also explored. A self-administered questionnaire was addressed to all 135 GPs within Dumfries and Galloway. Descriptive statistics were used in the data analysis. The response rate was 75%. The NHS GP clinic accounted for 47% of total referrals for homeopathy. A total of 86.1% of GPs within Dumfries and Galloway were in favour of a local NHS Homeopathic Specialist Clinic. Forms of evidence most influential to GPs regarding homeopathy were: randomised controlled trials; audit data on patient outcomes; safety and patient satisfaction.

Homoeopathy in primary care: Self-reported change in health status

In recent years numerous clinical trials have been carried out to evaluate homoeopathic therapy. Another approach to evaluating homoeopathy is to investigate its impact in primary health care, that is on outpatients to a homoeopathic centre. 609 patients on their first visit to a homoeopathic clinic from June 1995 to May 1997 received a telephone call 1 year later in which they were asked to rate their general health compared with 1 year ago. 1 year after first examination 73.5% of patients reported a marked or moderate improvement in their health status. Marked improvement was significantly higher in subjects who stated they were satisfied with the care received, in females, in the 0-15-year-old age group and in patients who completed therapy. For conditions which are not life-threatening, homoeopathy seems to meet patients' needs in primary health care.

Homoeopathy in primary care: self-reported change in health status

Objectives: In recent years numerous clinical trials have been carried out to evaluate homoeopathic therapy. Another approach to evaluating homoeopathy is to investigate its impact in primary health care, that is on outpatients to a homoeopathic centre. Methods: 609 patients on their first visit to a homoeopathic clinic from June 1995 to May 1997 received a telephone call 1 year later in which they were asked to rate their general health compared with 1 year ago. Results: 1 year after first examination 73.5% of patients reported a marked or moderate improvement in their health status. Marked improvement was significantly higher in subjects who stated they were satisfied with the care received, in females, in the 0–15-year-old age group and in patients who completed therapy. Conclusions: For conditions which are not lifethreatening, homoeopathy seems to meet patients' needs in primary health care.

Homeopathic medicine in the city of Oaxaca, Mexico: patients' perspectives and observations.

This article looks at the growth and use of homeopathic medicine in the city of Oaxaca, Mexico. Based on interviews with 174 male and female patients from half of the homeopathic clinics in the city, this research examined attitudes toward disease causation and how one stays healthy. Findings suggest that women are better at monitoring and trying to improve their health than are their male counterparts. Although homeopathy enjoys a strong and almost devoted following, women seem to be more convinced of the overall efficacy of homeopathic medicine than do men.

Attitudes to complementary therapies and referral for homoeopathic treatment: A survey of general practitioners in Lothian, Scotland

The main objective of this survey was to assess the attitude of General Practitioners (GPs) in Lothian, Scotland, to homoeopathy, with a view to deciding if there was sufficient support to justify the continuation and expansion of the NHS homoeopathic clinic in the area. The 540 GPs currently in practice were surveyed by means of a simple questionnaire which required them to tick selected boxes; many chose to add further comments. A total of 304 GPs (56%) responded. The questions were designed to elicit attitudes to homoeopathy and other complementary therapies and to assess the referral pattern for this. 92% of the respondents were willing to refer patients for homoeopathic treatment and 74% would welcome a specialist facility in Lothian. This level of support indicates that provision of an NHS specialist homoeopathic service in Lothian would be well-used.

Homoeopathic treatment of HPV infections previously treated by other methods

Fourteen patients with recurring HPV (human papillomavirus) infections in the form of genital and/or cervical condyloma diagnosed on examination, by cytology, PAP and biopsy, and in most cases associated with CIN (cervical intraepithelial neoplasia) were assessed. All had been previously treated with a variety of microsurgical procedures with the infection recurring. They attended the homoeopathic clinic for treatment. The aim of this paper is to collect the results obtained with this chronic disease and to carry out a survey of different strategies in the administration of homoeopathic treatment, according to the different conventional treatments used.

A Clinical Evaluation of a Wheat-free Diet

An audit was conducted of all patients seen during 1 year at one homoeopathic outpatient clinic (n = 166) A high proportion (n = 110) were considered likely to be suffering from adverse effects of wheat ingestion. These were given homoeopathic treatment either with (n = 80) or without (n = 30) the elimination of wheat from the diet. Those who were given the elimination diet did significantly better that those who were not. In a subsequent prospective, uncontrolled study, patients thought to be suffering from adverse effects of wheat were treated with a wheat elimination diet only for a period of 3 months. Twenty-two patients completed the study. Of these, 91% improved. Improvements were seen in both physical and psychological symptoms. The paper discusses a proposed wheat-related syndrome which may be linked to toxic pesticide and/or herbicide residues in the grain.