Homeopathic aggravation with Quinquagintamillesimal potencies.

INTRODUCTION: Homeopathic aggravation is the exacerbation of some symptoms or the whole pathological situation, followed by improvement of the patient's conditions. AIM: To evaluate the typology, intensity and frequency of homeopathic aggravation, especially with Quinquagintamillesimal (Q, LM) potencies and its prognostic value. METHODS: The homeopathic prescription strategy evaluated consists in the administration of a single homeopathic medicine in Q dilutions, starting with 6Q, then a progressive scale of Q potencies. Patients whose symptoms could be attributed to a wrong and inappropriate prescription, according to the criteria previously described, were excluded. RESULTS: Data was collected on 1108 patients consecutively visited from 3rd October 2002 to 31st December 2007, and 441 cases followed for at least 2 months (40% of total cases). 63 of these cases (14%) reported homeopathic aggravation: 7% reported 'slight', 5% 'medium', 2% 'intense' and 0.4% 'very intense' aggravation. Homeopathic aggravation was present in 21% of paediatric patients (≤ 14 years). About 50% of the cases manifested homeopathic aggravation 1 or 2 days after the prescription and for 67% of patients the symptoms lasted 1 week or less. Patients with aggravation of the original disease had significantly greater improvement than those patients showing the aggravation of other, new or different, symptoms or conditions, or no aggravation. CONCLUSIONS: These data show that homeopathic aggravation with Q potencies is quite frequent in homeopathic clinical practice and seems to be associated with better treatment outcome.

Homeopathy in paediatric atopic diseases: long-term results in children with atopic dermatitis.

AIM: To study the socio-demographic features, the prescribed remedies and the outcome of atopic diseases in children treated with homeopathy at the Homeopathic Clinic of Lucca (Italy), and the long-term outcome of children suffering from atopic dermatitis (AD) after an approximate 8-year period (range 5-10 years). METHODS: Our data derive from an observational longitudinal study carried out on 213 children (38.6%) with atopic diseases out of 551 children consecutively examined from September 1998 to December 2008. We used the Glasgow Homeopathic Hospital Outcome Score to evaluate the results that were classified on the basis of a Likert scale. RESULTS: Eighty-three (39%) children were affected by asthma, 51 (24%) by allergic rhinoconjunctivitis, 76 (36%) by AD and 3 (1%) by food intolerance. Follow-up patients were 104 (48.8%), and 65 (62.5%) of them reported a major improvement or resolution. The parents of paediatric patients suffering from AD, who had started homeopathic treatment at <4.9 years of age were invited to follow-up assessment 8 years later and 40 children (mean age 12.9) were examined; 28/40 (70%) had a complete disappearance of AD, 12/40 children (30.0%) were still affected by AD; 8/40 (20%) had asthma and 8/40 patients had, or developed, allergic rhinitis. CONCLUSION: These preliminary results seem to confirm a positive therapeutic effect of homeopathy in atopic children. Furthermore, according to the data from the literature paediatric patients treated with homeopathy seem to show a reduced tendency to maintain AD and develop asthma (and allergic rhinitis) in adult age.

Homeopathy in the public health system: a seven-year observational study at Lucca Hospital (Italy).

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the response to homeopathic treatment in a public homeopathic clinic of all patients attending between September 1998 until December 2005, and to analyze homeopathic practice. METHODS AND SETTING: Longitudinal observational study in a homeopathic clinic based in a public hospital in Lucca, Italy. Data relating to patient details, clinical diagnosis, remedy prescribed, potency of dosage, prescription strategy and identification of the case as acute-chronic-recurrent were analyzed. Clinical response was assessed by the Glasgow Homeopathic Hospital Outcome Score. RESULTS: Overall 74% of patients reported at least moderate improvement. Outcomes were better with longer treatment duration and younger age of patients. Respiratory, followed by dermatological and gastrointestinal pathologies responded best, psychological problems relatively poorly. CONCLUSIONS: Homeopathic therapy is associated with improvement in a range of chronic and recurring pathologies. Certain characteristics of patient and pathology influence the outcome.

[Domestic accidents: a study on children attending the emergency department of the city of Padua]. / Infortuni domestici: uno studio sui bambini presentatisi nel pronto soccorso di Padova.

OBJECTIVE: This study analyzes the causes of domestic accidents in children (age <15) living in the Local Social Sanitary Unit of Padua (Ulss). ME Italy, with regard to the circumstances of the accident and the socioeconomic level of the family. METHOD: the subjects were recruited in the Emergency Department of the local hospital between January 15 and March 15, 2004 following an accident at home (n=392). Each case was contacted on that occasion, and a telephone interview was made to one of the parents at a later stage. The latter was accepted by 74% cases. RESULTS: The bimonthly incidence of domestic accidents in the Ulss of Padua was 7.74% per hundred. The incidence was higher in males than in females and in pre-school than in school age. Only 5% children required hospitalisation. Falls are the most frequent type of accident (65%), one third of the events occurred in the living room, half of them occurred during free games. CONCLUSION: The incidence of the Ulss of Padua is higher than the national incidence: the gap is limited to pre-school age for which the incidence of Padua, age-standardized on Italian population and extrapolated for three months, is 18.8% per hundred while tri-monthly national incidence is 11.7% per hundred. No differences in rates were noticed in school age (6.5% per hundred for Padua vs. 6.4% per hundred for Italy). Findings regarding the circumstances of injuries are consistent with other surveys carried out in Italy and elsewhere. No particular causing factor of accidents emerged. However, the avoidability of accidents attributable to the adult's behaviour is to be noticed.

[Compensated cases for asbestosis. A geographical analysis by Italian provinces]. / Casi indennizzati di asbestosi. Un'analisi geografica per le province italiane.

During 1995-1999 among cases compensated by Italian National Institute for Insurance of Occupational Accidents (INAIL), asbestosis was classified as the second occupational disease after hypoacusia with the 7% of total cases. The present study describes the geographical distribution of 1.483 cases in men, notified to INAIL (and subsequently confirmed) during 1984-1992. Age-standardised incidence rates were calculated for the 93 Italian provinces. In addition, standardised incidence ratio (SIR) were computed, comparing the number of observed cases to the number of expected cases on the basis of age specific rates in the large geographical Italian areas (Northeast, Northwest, Centre and South and islands). Empirical Bayes estimates applying the Poisson-Gamma model were also estimated. The geographical distribution of standardised incidence ratios revealed a high excess risk for the province of Gorizia, Livorno, Massa Carrara, La Spezia, Trieste, Alessandria, Caltanissetta and a lower, but still significant, excess risk for the province of Siracusa, Ancona, Napoli, Genova, Reggio Emilia, Brindisi, Bergamo, Arezzo, Taranto, Pavia, Messina, Lecco and Varese. This study suggests the possibility to use the insurance files on asbestosis in order to estimate risks in Italy and to compare geographical clusters. Identification of provinces with significant excess number of compensated cases for asbestosis underscore the need for more detailed surveys aimed to detect conditions correlated with asbestos exposure and identifying persisting environmental pollution. Detailed enquiries are needed in particular in those provinces where excesses cannot be explained by current knowledge on circumstances of the presence of asbestos in the workplace.