Safety of homoeopathy
Serious unexpected adverse effects of homoeopathic medicines are rare. “Aggravation reactions,” when symptoms become acutely and transiently worse after starting homoeopathic treatment, have been described and are said by homoeopaths to be a good prognostic factor. They may cause concern, especially if patients and doctors are not adequately forewarned.
A potentially more serious issue is the belief of some practitioners that conventional drugs reduce the efficacy of homoeopathy.
Serious adverse events have resulted from patients failing to comply with essential conventional treatments while using homoeopathy.
Some, mainly non-medical, homoeopaths are also strongly against vaccination, although the official policy of the Society of Homoeopaths is to give patients information and choice and not to pressurize against immunization.
Homoeopaths may offer alternatives to vaccination. These have not been subjected to clinical trials and cannot therefore be recommended as an effective substitute.
Therapeutic scope
Most of a typical homeopath’s caseload consists of chronic or recurrent conditions such as eczema, rheumatoid arthritis, fatigue disorders, asthma, migraine, dysmenorrhoea, irritable bowel syndrome, recurrent upper respiratory or urinary tract infections, and mood disorders.
Homoeopaths also treat a substantial number of patients with ill-defined illness that has not been given a conventional diagnosis. Children are much more commonly treated by homoeopaths than by other types of complementary practitioner.
Some homoeopaths say that few conditions are truly outside their remit, and the homoeopathic case literature includes treatment of complaints as diverse as tuberous sclerosis, infertility, myasthenia gravis, fear of flying, and cystic fibrosis.
Opinions about what can be effectively treated by homoeopathy differ widely, even among homoeopaths, with medically trained practitioners generally being more conservative than non-medical ones.
It is also used, often by self prescription, to treat various acute conditions such as the common cold, bruising, hay fever, and joint sprains.