Efficacy of a Homeopathic Medicine of Capsicum frutescens L. (Solanaceae) in the Treatment of Hot Flashes in Menopausal Women: A Phase-2 Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: Hot flashes are common in women during menopause, and are an important cause of discomfort, increasing the number of medical appointments. Hormone replacement therapy is an effective treatment, but it can bring undesirable consequences. Alternative treatments exist but they are not universally accepted or effective. The ingestion of malagueta peppers (popular name for fruits of Capsicum frutescens L., Solanaceae) causes sensations similar to those experienced by women during hot flashes. Using the homeopathic law of similars (let like be cured by like), we hypothesized that a homeopathic remedy made of malagueta peppers can be effective in alleviating menopausal hot flashes. We named this remedy Malagueta. METHODS: This randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, phase-2 clinical trial was designed to test the hypothesis that, in menopausal women, the homeopathic medicine Malagueta (30 CH), compared with placebo, will significantly reduce the intensity of hot flashes, after 4 weeks of treatment. The primary outcome was the intensity of hot flashes, measured by the Measure Yourself Medical Outcome Profile (MYMOP) instrument. A total of 40 women were enrolled in the study, 20 in each group. RESULTS: The effect of Malagueta on the primary outcome, the intensity of hot flashes, assessed by MYMOP, was superior to that of placebo over the 4 weeks of treatment, with worsening in both groups after treatment was interrupted (after week 4, p < 0.001 in ordinal logistic regression). The odds ratio for treatment response (reduction of at least three MYMOP categories) was 2.78 (95% confidence interval, 0.77 to 10.05). Treatment with Malagueta, compared with placebo, also reduced the intensity of the secondary symptoms (p = 0.001) and improved level of activity (p = 0.025) and well-being (p = 0.008). CONCLUSION: The homeopathic medicine of Capsicum frutescens (Malagueta) was superior to placebo in reducing the intensity of hot flashes in menopausal women after 4 weeks of treatment.

Contribuicao ao estudo da anatomia patologica do megaesofago chagasico / Pathological anatomy of chagasic megaesophagus

Estudo anatomopatologico sistematizado foi feito em 56 esofagos de chagasicos cronicos (17 com e 39 sem mega) e em 26 de nao chagasicos com as seguintes finalidades: 1) avaliar as variacoes de calibre e espessura da parede do orgao; 2) analisar qualitativa e quantitativamente o plexo mienterico, na tentativa de avaliar a eventual relacao entre suas lesoes e o aparecimento de megaesofago (ME); 3) estudar as lesoes das musculares procurando verificar sua contribuicao na genese da visceromegalia; 4) pesquisar formas amastigotas do T. cruzi e sua possivel relacao com o processo inflamatorio; 5) identificar as principais alteracoes da mucosa. Confirmou-se que as lesoes mais intensas localizavam-se na muscular propria e no plexo de Auerbach. Na primeira, as principais alteracoes foram miosite e fibrose e nos ganglios mientericos observou-se inflamacao e despopulacao neuronal, maior nos esofagos dos chagasicos com dilatacao em relacao aos sem dilatacao e destes em relacao aos aos controles. Entretanto, foram vistos esofagos de calibre normal, com intensa denervacao. Conclui-se que parecem ser multiplos os fatores que desencadeiam a esofagopatia, especialmente, o ME. A pesquisa de parasitas em oito esofagos com mega e em oito sem ME foi positiva somente em quatro casos, do primeiro grupo. As lesoes da mucosa e...