Homoeopathic remedies are no better than placebo in the treatment of asthmatic patients who are allergic to house dust mite. In their double blind randomised controlled trial of 242 people with asthma (positive for skin prick test for house dust mite) in primary care, Lewith and colleagues (p 520) also found different patterns of change between the two groups. At three weeks there was a significant deterioration in mood and the visual analogue scale for asthma in the homoeopathic immunotherapy group compared with the placebo group, which the authors cannot explain.
K H KJELDSEN/SPL