HOMEOPATHY AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO

ANTIBIOTICS

Professor Dr. Michael FRASS Medical University of Vienna, Department Medicine I

Doctor´s Asscociation for Classical Homeopathy www.aekh.at

President, Umbrella Organization of Austrian Doctors for Holistic Medicine

www.ganzheitsmed.at 1.  Chairman of Scientific Society for Homeopathy

www.wisshom.de

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PROBLEMS WITH ANTIBIOTICS

•  Resistance against antibiotics (AB) increasing •  Upper airway infections caused by viruses in 90% •  AB do not help against viral infections •  75% of AB prescribed for upper airway infections

PROBLEMS WITH ANTIBIOTICS

•  Diarrhea (up to 47.8% rate in children treated for definite otitis media) •  Diaper dermatitis •  Anaphylaxis and other allergic reactions

PHARMACOECONOMIC COMPARISON BETWEEN HOMEOPATHIC AND ANTIBIOTIC TREATMENT STRATEGIES IN RECURRENT ACUTE RHINOPHARYNGITIS IN CHILDREN TRICHARD M, CHAUFFERIN G, NICOLOYANNIS N HOMEOPATHY 2005;94:3-9

OBJECTIVES

Pharmacoeconomic study comparing: • medical effectiveness • quality of life • costs of 'homeopathic strategy' vs 'antibiotic strategy‘ in routine medical practice by allopathic and homeopathic GPs in treatment of recurrent acute rhinopharyngitis in 18-month to 4-year-old children.

METHODS

499 patients, 6-month prospective, pragmatic study Patients regrouped according to type of drug prescribed Medical effectiveness assessed: •  episodes of acute rhinopharyngitis •  complications •  adverse effects •  Quality of life: Parents-ENT-Qol

scale

RESULTS

Homeopathic strategy: significantly better results than antibiotic strategy: •  medical effectiveness (number of episodes of rhinopharyngitis: 2.71 vs 3.97, P<0.001 •  number of complications: 1.25 vs 1.95, P<0.001 •  quality of life, global score: 21.38 vs 30.43, P<0.001

RESULTS

Homeopathic strategy: •  lower direct medical costs covered by Social Security (88 vs 99 Euros, P<0.05) •  significantly less sick-leave (9.5% vs 31.6% of parents, P<0.001)

CONCLUSION

Homeopathy may be a cost-effective alternative to antibiotics in the treatment of recurrent infantile rhinopharyngitis.

CASE REPORT: CHILD 5 Y

• Mother desperate on weekend: little daughter fever up to 38°C together with pain in region of umbilicus. • Pain extends transversely across abdomen to right side, no extension to scapulae

CASE REPORT: CHILD 5 Y

•  Repertorization: Abdomen pain

umbilicus, abdomen pain region of umbilicus transversely across.

•  Therapy: Chelidonium C30

•  10 min later: no more pain •  1 h later: no more fever •  No antibiotic needed

FISTULA LEFT EAR: CHILD 16Y

Innate. Surgery unsuccessful. Ear swells, red, hot, painful: Belladonna C30

FISTULA LEFT EAR: CHILD 16Y

Spontaneous opening of fistula with suppuration. Discharge stops without further antibiotic treatment.

Septic fever caused by submandibular abscess cured without antibiotics. Opening of abscess with discharge of putride liquid without surgical intervention (Day 5) („Take it easy“)

METAANALYSIS INFECTIOUS DISEASES: 17 STUDIES WITH BINARY ENDPOINT

METAANALYSIS INFECTIOUS DISEASES: 10 STUDIES WITH CONTINUOUS ENDPOINT

RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED PILOT STUDY TO COMPARE HOMEOPATHY AND CONVENTIONAL THERAPY IN ACUTE OTITIS MEDIA. Sinha MN, Siddiqui VA, Nayak C, et al. Homeopathy 2012;101:5-12

ACUTE OTITIS MEDIA

•  Doubleblind placebo-controlled trial of homeopathy vs conventional

treatment in AOM (n = 81) •  Both groups: equivalent recovery

rates by end of study •  Homeopathy group: - more rapid onset of symptom improvements - much lower rates of antibiotic prescriptions (0%) than conventional group (97.5%)

ADJUNCTIVE HOMEOPATHIC TREATMENT IN PATIENTS WITH SEVERE SEPSIS: A RANDOMIZED, DOUBLE-BLIND, PLACEBO-CONTROLLED TRIAL IN AN INTENSIVE CARE UNIT M Frass, M Linkesch, S Banyai, et al. Homeopathy 2005; 94: 75-80

Background: Mortality in patients with severe sepsis high despite several therapeutic strategies Aim of this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial: to evaluate whether homeopathy is able to influence long-term outcome in critically ill sepsis patients

ADJUNCTIVE HOMEOPATHIC TREATMENT IN PATIENTS WITH SEVERE SEPSIS: A RANDOMIZED, DOUBLE-BLIND, PLACEBO-CONTROLLED TRIAL IN AN INTENSIVE CARE UNIT

Methods: Ò  70 patients with severe sepsis received homeopathic treatment (n = 35) or placebo (n = 35) Ò  Five globules in a potency of 200c given at 12 h interval during stay at ICU Ò  Survival after a 30 + 180 days recorded

SURVIVAL IN SEPSIS

Significant better survival with additive homeopathy

ADVANTAGE OF HOMEOPATHY

•  Homeopathic medicines are generic and low-cost in comparison with antibiotics

•  No side effects •  Metabolism of patient not affected •  If number of conventional drugs

(especially in elderly) patients can be reduced, the number of potential interactions between conventional drugs can be reduced

HOMEOPATHY ALTERNATIVE

•  Homeopathy can be an alternative to AB

•  Existing literature supports evidence