Clinical Effect of Reflexology and Homeopathy Added to Conventional Asthma Management

Summary

There is a lack of scientific evidence that homeopathy and reflexology is effective treatment of asthma. Systematic reviews have found that many clinical trials testing homeopathy and reflexology have major flaws, such as small number of participants, lack of control groups or inadequate allocation concealment.

The aim of the present study was to assess the effect of reflexology and individualised homeopathy as an adjuvant treatment in asthma. In order to address this issue, the investigators conducted an investigator-blinded, randomized, controlled parallel group study.

Conditions

• Asthma

Interventions

OTHER

Reflexology plus conventional treatment

Patients in the reflexology group received reflexology treatment in addition to usual care of asthma.Patients received treatments weekly for four to six weeks, followed by two treatments for one month. Treatments were then given monthly until the end of the study.

OTHER

Homeopathy plus conventional treatment

Patients in the homeopathy group received homeopathic treatment in addition to usual care of asthma.Homeopathic treatment was decided on an individual basis by the homeopath and prescribed as an oral treatment. Patients received homeopathic product with potency between C30 (dilution by a factor 10030 =1060) and M10 (dilution by a factor 100010 =1030). The number of homeopathy sessions attended was six to twelve during one year.

OTHER

Conventional treatment

Patients in the conventional treatment group received usual care of asthma. This treatment was monitored and adjusted as usual by the patient's general practitioner.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• GCP-unit at Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark

  collaborator OTHER

• Danish Classical Homeopathy Society

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Danish Reflexologist Association

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Aarhus

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Ronald Dahl, MD · Department of Respiratory Diseases, University Hospital of Aarhus, DK-8000 Aarhus C

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2006-05-31

Primary Completion

2009-10-31

Completion

2009-10-31

Countries

• Denmark

Study Locations