Asthma

Asthma is a state of respiratory distress caused by acute or chronic inflammation, over-reactivity, and constriction of the airways. Various factors contribute to the appearance, characteristics, and severity of the symptoms of this disorder.

The symptoms can sometimes be severe and require emergency treatment with conventional approaches. It is a serious and increasingly common disease. There are approximately 28 million people with asthma in the U.S., and the cost of treatment and management is estimated to be over $50 billion.

While homeopathic physicians have successfully treated patients with asthma in the clinic for over 200 years, clinical research in this area is limited.  Three such studies follow.

• Researchers at the University of Glasgow in the UK found that 80% of patients who received very small, homeopathic doses of whatever substance they were most allergic to had significant relief of symptoms within the first week of treatment, compared to 38% of patients who received placebo. The researchers used conventional allergy testing to find the substances patients were most allergic to. (Reilly, Taylor MA, Beattie NGM, et al, 1994: Is Evidence of Homeopathy Reproducible?, Lancet 344: 1601-1606)
• In a prospective observational longitudinal study, the effects of individualized homeopathic medicines were assessed in 30 children with asthma as an adjunct to conventional treatment. The main outcome measures were frequency of attacks, use of medication, night awakening and spirometry at baseline and at follow-up till 6 months. The results showed clinically relevant and statistically significant changes in those measuring severity, indicating relative improvements after 3 months and absolute improvements after 6 months of treatment by homeopathic medicines. (Shafei HF, AbdelDayem SM et al. Individualized homeopathy in a group of Egyptian asthmatic children. Homeopathy, Volume 101, Issue 4, October 2012, Pages 224-230)
• In a more recent double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, parallel-arm efficacy trial, 140 adults suffering from bronchial asthma were randomized to receive either UC (usual care) + IH (homeopathy: n = 70) or UC + P (placebo: n = 70). The trial was of 3.5 years duration. Spirometric measures, blood eosinophil percentage, and serum immunoglobulin E were primary outcomes, and symptom severity and different questionnaire scores were secondary outcomes, measured at baseline and after 3 and 6 months. The two trial arms were comparable at baseline. Group differences over 3 and 6 months showed significant differences in improvement in UC + IH compared to UC + P (P < 0.01) with moderate to large effect sizes (Cohen’s d) for both primary and secondary outcome measures. (Qutubuddin, M. et al., Efficacy of individualized homeopathy in bronchial asthma in adults: Double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, clinical trial in the context of usual care. Advances in Integrative Medicine. 29 August 2018). 

The homeopathic treatment of the patient with asthma should be carried out by an experienced clinician who has the ability to provide care in an emergency. As with any other medical condition, homeopathic medicine is not used to treat diseases but to treat patients; any successful, long-term treatment requires a complete medical history, evaluation, and determination of the specific homeopathic medicine required by the patient and provided by a clinician specialized in homeopathic treatment