Focus on Alternative and Complementary Therapies
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Focus Alternat Complement Ther©2005 Pharmaceutical Press
Focus Altern Complement Ther 2005; 10: 47
The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of the homoeopathic remedies Arnica montana and Bellis perennis on postpartum hemorrhage.
A total of 40 parturient women were randomised to receive either a combination of A. montana and B. perennis (taken within a few minutes of each other), both at a dilution of either 10−6 (group A) or 10−60 (group B) of the stem solution, or a placebo preparation of both remedies (group C). Treatment was initiated for all patients following delivery, and continued for 48 h, when the Arnica preparation was stopped and the B. perennis preparation (at either concentration or placebo) continued until cessation of lochia. Serum hemoglobin levels were measured prior to delivery, as well as at 48 and 72 h postpartum.
In both true homoeopathy groups (A and B), pre-birth hemoglobin levels (12.7 g/dl) did not decrease significantly at 48 or 72 h postpartum (12.5 and 12.4 g/dl, respectively), while in the placebo group (C) hemoglobin levels decreased to 11.4 and 11.6 g/dl respectively (P < 0.05). No side-effects occurred in any of the treatment groups.
Treatment with the homoeopathic remedies A. montana and B. perennis may be effective in reducing postpartum hemorrhage. No difference was found between the two true-treatment groups, as would be expected according to the homoeopathic ‘principle of dilution’, in which higher dilutions increase effectiveness. However, true treatment was significantly more effective than placebo, warranting further large randomised studies.
