Alternative and complementary therapies for the menopause: a homeopathic approach

The menopause is seen as a highly variable adjustment phase where for some women difficult symptoms can significantly impact on quality of life and in breast cancer that adjustment phase can be intensified and prolonged by anti-oestrogen medication. Homeopathy, defined as one of the many complementary and alternative medicines which women use to manage this transition, has been delivered within the National Health Service since its inception and has been used to alleviate menopausal symptoms both in the climacteric and more recently in breast cancer survivors. Individualized treatment by a homeopath, regarded as the gold standard of homeopathic care, is a complex intervention where the homeopathic medicine is matched to a woman presenting with a range of symptoms such as hot flushes, sleep and mood disturbance, joint pains and fatigue. These symptoms are thought to represent a whole system disturbance and the homeopathic medicine chosen reflects this disturbance. This article describes the delivery of homeopathic care within the UK, as part of an integrated approach to difficult symptoms, basic science that might offer a potential model of action, and reviews available data from observational studies and randomised trials in this clinical setting.