Introduction: The use of homeopathic medicines has increased, once traditional medicines sometimes do not produce the desired effects and because side effects sometimes compromise the treatment. In recent years, research on homeopathy has clearly developed, both in the implementation of more consistent methodologies and in the description of the data and published methods, improvement are still required in these matters. The acknowledgment of homeopathy depends on the credibility of the groups researching this topic
Objective: list and criticize articles highlighting main effects, schedule of treatment and potencies used in different animals models.
Material and Methods: A review of articles published since 2000 in journals indexed in the PubMed/Scielo databases was performed. Keywords used were parasitosis/homeopathy and parasitosis/ultra-diluted, in English and Portuguese. Specialized journals such as Homeopathy, International Journal of High Dilution Research, and Brazilian Homeopathic Journal were also used. The contents of each issue of these journals were examined for the "Use of highly diluted medication in parasitic infections."
Results and Discussion: Thirty nine papers have been gathered. The methodology of the articles surveyed did not meet the requirements listed in the REHBaR[1]. Thirty seven reports have shown the benefits/effects of highly diluted medicine in the treatment of infectious diseases. In models where experimental conditions are carefully controlled, the conclusions follow the same pattern as those observed in the treatment of farm animals, where, even without completely controlled conditions, clinical result is positive. In fourteen reports using the same model, eight where animals were treated in a constant and prolonged way shown a better result, compared with six reports in which animals were treated for a short period of time, receiving a single daily dose. Several authors have conducted clinical trials using commercial formulas, which do not always provide their composition and/or dynamization, making it difficult to reproducing the experiment. In some of the articles, it was not mentioned if the experiments were repeated at least twice.
Conclusions: In parasitic infections, the effect of homeopathic medications is still controversial, and the experimental parameters for evaluation shoud be carefully chosen to avoid isolated analyses of data. Researchers should consider results regarding environmental and sanitary conditions of the animal as a whole. The improvement of techniques and expansion of knowledge about highly diluted medicines may lead to a viable alternative to treat parasitic infections. Precise and detailed descriptions will contribute to advances in the use of homeopathy, so that the wider community can benefit, in practice, from these findings.
Keywords: homeopathy, parasitic infections, CAM (Complementary and Alternative Medicine).
Reference
[1] Lüdtke R, Musial F, Wijk R, Witt C, Baumgartner S. Reporting experiments in homeopathic basic research (REHBaR) – A detailed guideline for authors. Homeopathy. 2009; 98:287-298.
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