[The authors of the new Lancet study were Matthias Egger and colleagues from the University of Berne in Switzerland. They looked at 110 trials using homeopathic remedies and 110 using conventional medicine in matching conditions. They looked for an effect in both the smaller, low quality trials and in larger, higher quality trials. Homeopathic remedies were more likely to have had a positive effect in the small, low quality trials. In the better trials, they say, homeopathy was no better than placebo.] Our study powerfully illustrates the interplay and cumulative effect of different sources of bias, ... We acknowledge that to prove a negative is impossible, but we have shown that the effects seen in placebo-controlled trials of homeopathy are compatible with the placebo-hypothesis. |
But the question is how does it work? |
Conventional medicine interventions did better than placebo, whereas the homeopathy interventions basically did the same as placebo. |
no convincing evidence that homeopathy was superior to placebo, whereas for conventional medicine an important effect remained. |
Our study powerfully illustrates the interplay and cumulative effect of different sources of bias. We acknowledge that to prove a negative is impossible, but we have shown that the effects seen in placebo-controlled trials of homeopathy are compatible with the placebo-hypothesis. |
The effect of homeopathy disappears if you look only at large, good trials; whereas the conventional medicines' effect is still there, ... This means there is no difference between placebo and homeopathic remedies. |
The launching of these treatments has been quite staggering. At least a million people are now being treated in the South. That's still perhaps only 15 per cent of all people who need treatment, but it's a significant change compared with two or three years ago. |
We do know that people do get better with homeopathy, |
We know from studies that these treatments do reduce mortality considerably, but we were interested in whether they work equally well in Africa, Asia and Latin America. |
What one would have expected is that large studies of high quality would have shown an effect, which wasn't the case for homeopathy. This means that clinical effects of homeopathy are placebo effects. |
What we saw was [that] when you looked at these good, large studies, you did no longer see an effect for homeopathy, whereas you still saw an effect for conventional medicine, |
What we saw was when you looked at these good, large studies, you did no longer see an effect for homeopathy, whereas you still saw an effect for conventional medicine, |