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Homoeopathy vs. conventional primary care in children during the first 24 months of life-a pragmatic randomised
Menachem Oberbaum1, Anupriya Chaudhary2, Hima Bindu Ponnam3
1Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel. menachem@oberbaums.com.
Insights
Homoeopathy care in infants significantly reduced sick days and respiratory illnesses compared to conventional care. This approach proved safe, cost-effective, and promoted better growth in children up to 24 months.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Medicine
- Homeopathy
- Public Health
Background:
- Conventional pediatric care faces challenges in managing acute childhood illnesses.
- Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) modalities, like homeopathy, offer holistic approaches.
- Pragmatic randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are proposed to assess CAM systems.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the efficacy of homeopathic versus conventional primary pediatric care.
- To evaluate treatment outcomes for acute illnesses in infants during their first 24 months of life.
- To assess the safety, cost-effectiveness, and impact on growth of homeopathic care.
Main Methods:
- A randomized controlled trial (RCT) involving 108 Indian newborns.
- Infants were assigned to either homeopathic or conventional primary care (1:1 ratio).
- Conventional treatment was added to homeopathy when medically indicated; clinicians and parents were unblinded.
Main Results:
- Homeopathic care resulted in significantly fewer sick days (RR: 0.37) and sickness episodes (RR: 0.53).
- Children in the homeopathic group experienced fewer respiratory illnesses and showed improved height growth.
- Fewer antibiotics were required, and the overall treatment cost was lower in the homeopathic group.
Conclusions:
- Homeopathy, with conventional medicine as a safety net, was more effective than conventional care for acute pediatric illnesses.
- Homeopathic primary care demonstrated safety, cost-effectiveness, and benefits in growth during the first two years of life.
- This study supports homeopathy as a viable primary care option for young children.
Abstract:
To compare the difference between primary homoeopathic and conventional paediatric care in treating acute illnesses in children in their first 24 months of life. One hundred eight Indian singleton newborns delivered at 37 to 42 weeks gestation were randomised at birth (1:1) to receive either homoeopathic or conventional primary care for any acute illness over the study period. In the homoeopathic group, conventional medical treatment was added when medically indicated. Clinicians and parents were unblinded. Children in the homoeopathic group experienced significantly fewer sick days than those in the conventional group (RR: 0.37, 95% CI: 0.24-0.58; p < 0.001), with correspondingly fewer sickness episodes (RR: 0.53, 95% CI: 0.32-0.87; p = .013), as well as fewer respiratory illnesses over the 24-month period. They were taller (F (1, 97) = 8.92, p = .004, partial eta squared = 0.84) but not heavier than their conventionally treated counterparts. They required fewer antibiotics, and their treatment cost was lower.
Conclusion:
Homoeopathy, using conventional medicine as a safety backdrop, was more effective than conventional treatment in preventing sick days, sickness episodes, and respiratory illnesses in the first 24 months of life. It necessitated fewer antibiotics and its overall cost was lower. This study supports homoeopathy, using conventional medicine as a safety backdrop, as a safe and cost-effective primary care modality during the first 2 years of life.
Trial Registration:
Clinical Trial Registry-India (2018/09/015641). https://ctri.nic.in/Clinicaltrials/login.php What is Known: • Due to their holistic nature, many Complementary and Alternative Medical (CAM) modalities are not readily amenable to assessment by head-to-head RCT for a given Indication. • We propose a pragmatic, RCT comparing homoeopathic with conventional medicine as a system.
What Is New:
• Homoeopathic was apparently superior to conventional primary care in preventing sick days, sickness episodes, and respiratory illness episodes and was significantly associated with growth in height but not weight and required fewer antibiotics in children from birth to 24 months of age.
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