Homeopathy and Asthma

[BillyJoe]

A UK study of almost 100 children aged 5-15 years with mild to moderate asthma found that homeopathic remedies used as an adjunct to conventional treatment had no impact on well-being during daily activities such as playing, running and swimming. The rememdies did not substantially affect peak flow rates, inhaler use, days off school, asthma events or global improvement.
Some improvement was noted in indicators of severity such as rates of wheezing, coughing and nocturnal awakening, but the differences were not clinically significant.
Homeopaths were free to practise in their usual way, combining homeopathic prescriptions with lifestyle suggestions and other advice.

Ian Howden, lecturer in homeopathy, responded as follows........

Homeopathy treats the person not the disease, and given that even this study provides evidence that some individuals were found to have benefited from its administration, I can see no reason why those interested should not give it a try.

Should I laugh or cry?

 

[reprise]

As the mother of an asthmatic child I'd suggest that screaming might be the most appropriate reaction.

My daughter uses preventative medication, reliever medication, and - when appropriate - oral steroids to control her asthma. I have found that the Buteyko breathing method is a very useful tool for us to use in situations where her reliever isn't working and we're waiting for an ambulance to take her to hospital, but I'd never use it as more than one tool among many.

My concern about Howden's comments is that it may encourage parents of children whose asthma is "mild to moderate" to bypass a proper asthma management plan based on the assumption that "if this doesn't work, we can always try drugs". I've seen my daughter's asthma go from mild to life-threatening in a matter of hours, and I'd hate to think that any parent of an asthmatic child is not aware that mismanagement of asthma costs lives every single year.

How many homeopaths are going to measure peak flow and saturated oxygen levels, let alone order X-rays before deciding that the child before them has a "mild" case of asthma? What are they going to advise parents to do in the case of the child's peak flow dropping (assuming the parents are even measuring this)? How long are they going to advise parents to wait for a response to the "remedy" before calling an ambulance?

The potential for lives to be lost as a result of this study scares me.

Edited to ask the OP for a link to the study so that this can be refuted on other messagebaords.

 

[BillyJoe]

http://thorax.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/58/4/317?ijkey=MsdaIIyDSyQHI

 

[reprise]

FWIW, you can find information on Ian Howden's credentials here and here

 

[RichardR]

Do you have a source for that Ian Howden quote? I didn't see it in the write up of the trial.

 

[BillyJoe]

Do you have a source for that Ian Howden quote? I didn't see it in the write up of the trial.

Ian Howden's quote was contained in a short magazine article that briefly discussed the results of the trial. This article referenced Thorax 2003; 58:317-21. Putting this into google bought up the above link to the original article in the BMJ.