Br Homeopath J 2001; 90(03): 148-153
DOI: 10.1054/homp.1999.0491
Original Paper
Copyright © The Faculty of Homeopathy 2001

Effects of homeopathic treatment in women with premenstrual syndrome: a pilot study

M Yakir
a   The Hebrew University, Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel
,
S Kreitler
b   Psychology Department, Tel Aviv University, Israel
,
A Brzezinski
c   Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hadassah Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel
,
G Vithoulkas
d   Alonisos 37005, Greece
,
M Oberbaum
e   The Institute of Research on Complementary Medicine Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Jerusalem
,
Z Bentwich
f   Ruth Ben Ari Institute of Clinical Immunology, Kaplan Hospital, Rehovot 76100
› Author Affiliations

Subject Editor:
Further Information

Publication History

Received25 September 2000
revised06 November 2000

accepted26 March 2001

Publication Date:
28 May 2018 (online)

Abstract

Alternative therapies in general, and homeopathy in particular, lack clear scientific evaluation of efficacy. Controlled clinical trials are urgently needed, especially for conditions that are not helped by conventional methods. The objective of this work was to assess the efficacy of homeopathic treatment in relieving symptoms associated with premenstrual syndrome (PMS). It was a randomised controlled double-blind clinical trial. Two months baseline assessment with post-intervention follow-up for 3 months was conducted at Hadassah Hospital outpatient gynaecology clinic in Jerusalem in Israel 1992–1994. The subjects were 20 women, aged 20–48, suffering from PMS. Homeopathic intervention was chosen individually for each patient, according to a model of symptom clusters. Recruited volunteers with PMS were treated randomly with one oral dose of a homeopathic medication or placebo. The main outcome measure was scores of a daily menstrual distress questionnaire (MDQ) before and after treatment. Psychological tests for suggestibility were used to examine the possible effects of suggestion. Mean MDQ scores fell from 0.44 to 0.13 (P<0.05) with active treatment, and from 0.38 to 0.34 with placebo (NS). (Between group P=0.057). Improvement >30% was observed in 90% of patients receiving active treatment and 37.5% receiving placebo (P=0.048). Homeopathic treatment was found to be effective in alleviating the symptoms of PMS in comparison to placebo. The use of symptom clusters in this trial may offer a novel approach that will facilitate clinical trials in homeopathy. Further research is in progress.