A Remedy for Joint Pain and Disease ?
Although we couldn’t locate any rheumatologists who use homeopathy, several homeopathic family practitioners we spoke with said they treat patients with arthritis, and that there are remedies that ease symptoms.
Some said remedies may even slow or stop the progression of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or osteoarthritis (OA). But scientific evidence doesn’t prove that. There are acceptable studies that suggest homeopathy eases conditions such as allergies, but the research on homeopathy and arthritis is mixed, says Dr. Jonas. "Many of the studies have problems."
He analyzed a group of six studies: three for rheumatoid arthritis and one each for OA, fibromyalgia and myaglia (or muscle pain). The remedies, which varied, were better than placebo for relieving some symptoms in two of the three RA studies. But the other studies had mixed results, were of poor quality or used small numbers of patients. A more recent study published in 2004 in the journal Rheumatology showed homeopathy to be effective in the treatment of the patient with fibromyalgia
"Overall, the evidence for the benefit of homeopathy in arthritis is poor," says Dr. Jonas, and rheumatologists emphasized that people should not discontinue or delay taking effective prescription medications to experiment with an unproven therapy.
"I’d probably use other therapies first, or along with homeopathy," says Brian Berman, MD, director of the University of Maryland’s complementary medicine program, who is a family practitioner, a homeopath and an acupuncturist.
A caution : Homeopaths also believe substances such as coffee or prescription drugs can in some cases counteract the remedies. But no conscientious homeopath takes patients off prescription drugs abruptly or asks them to stop medications if they have a systemic type of arthritis such as lupus or RA.
"If I have someone with RA who needs methotrexate, I send them to a rheumatologist. But they could be trying homeopathy along with it," says Dr. Jonas, who describes himself as "a 99 percent conventional doctor" who also uses homeopathy.
"I have many people taking conventional medicine along with homeopathic remedies," says Dr. Jacobs. "If it’s the right homeopathic remedy, it won’t be nullified by any other medication the person may be taking, but they may need to take the homeopathic remedy more often."
Some people might find with homeopathy that they can gradually reduce their medication, she says, but this should be done under a doctor’s care.
What’s the bottom line ? The half-dozen rheumatologists we consulted say there’s not enough evidence homeopathy helps any arthritis symptoms.
"We need more studies," says Arthur Weinstein, MD, director of the Division of Rheumatology at George Washington University Medical Center in Washington, DC. "It is possible to conduct good studies, and alternative remedies such as homeopathy should be subject to the same scrutiny as prescription drugs."
Meanwhile, they agreed the remedies are so diluted that treatments are unlikely to do harm, and many people say they find symptomatic relief.
"We have to stay open-minded," says Nancy Lane, MD, who’s an associate professor of medicine at San Francisco General Hospital at the University of California. "These alternatives are important, because people are using them. Therefore, we must consider them important topics to study."
By Judith Horstman
