The use of homeopathic combination remedy for dengue fever symptoms: a pilot RCT in Honduras.

A double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized trial of a homeopathic combination medication for dengue fever was carried out in municipal health clinics in Honduras. Sixty patients who met the case definition of dengue (fever plus two ancillary symptoms) were randomized to receive the homeopathic medication or placebo for 1 week, along with standard conventional analgesic treatment for dengue. The results showed no difference in outcomes between the two groups, including the number of days of fever and pain as well as analgesic use and complication rates. Only three subjects had laboratory confirmed dengue. An interesting sinusoidal curve in reported pain scores was seen in the verum group that might suggest a homeopathic aggravation or a proving. The small sample size makes conclusions difficult, but the results of this study do not suggest that this combination homeopathic remedy is effective for the symptoms that are characteristic of dengue fever.

Homeopathic treatment of acute otitis media in children: a preliminary randomized placebo-controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: The use of antibiotics in the initial treatment of acute otitis media is currently being questioned. Homeopathy has been used historically to treat this illness, but there have been no methodologically rigorous trials to determine whether there is a positive treatment effect. METHODS: A randomized double blind placebo control pilot study was conducted in a private pediatric practice in Seattle, WA. Seventy-five children ages 18 months to 6 years with middle ear effusion and ear pain and/or fever for no more than 36 h were entered into the study. Children received either an individualized homeopathic medicine or a placebo administered orally three times daily for 5 days, or until symptoms subsided, whichever occurred first. Outcome measures included the number of treatment failures after 5 days, 2 weeks and 6 weeks. Diary symptom scores during the first 3 days and middle ear effusion at 2 and 6 weeks after treatment were also evaluated. RESULTS: There were fewer treatment failures in the group receiving homeopathy after 5 days, 2 weeks and 6 weeks, with differences of 11.4, 18.4 and 19.9%, respectively, but these differences were not statistically significant. Diary scores showed a significant decrease in symptoms at 24 and 64 h after treatment in favor of homeopathy (P < 0.05). Sample size calculations indicate that 243 children in each of 2 groups would be needed for significant results, based on 5-day failure rates. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that a positive treatment effect of homeopathy when compared with placebo in acute otitis media cannot be excluded and that a larger study is justified.

Homeopathic treatment of acute childhood diarrhea: results from a clinical trial in Nepal.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether the finding in a previous study that homeopathic medicines decrease the duration of acute diarrhea in children could be replicated in a different study population. DESIGN: Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. SETTING: Private, charitable health clinic in Kathmandu, Nepal. SUBJECTS: A consecutive sample of 126 children, 6 months to 5 years of age, who presented during April through June, 1994, with more than three unformed stools in the previous 24 hours. INTERVENTION: Children received either an individualized homeopathic medicine or placebo, to be taken one dose after each unformed stool for 5 days. Parents recorded daily stools on diary cards, and health workers made home visits daily to monitor children. OUTCOME MEASURES: Predefined measures were based on the previous study: (1) duration of diarrhea, defined as the time until there were fewer than three unformed stools per day, for two consecutive days, and (2) Average number of stools per day for each group. RESULTS: Of the 126 children initially enrolled, 116 completed treatment. The mean number of stools per day over the entire 5-day treatment period was 3.2 for the treatment group and 4.5 for the placebo group (P = 0.023). A Kaplan-Meier survival analysis of the duration of diarrhea, which included data from all patient visits, showed an 18.4% greater probability that a child would be free of diarrhea by day 5 under homeopathic treatment (P = 0.036). CONCLUSIONS: These results are consistent with the finding from the previous study that individualized homeopathic treatment decreases the duration of diarrhea and number of stools in children with acute childhood diarrhea.

Patient characteristics and practice patterns of physicians using homeopathy.

BACKGROUND: The use of homeopathy is growing in the United States, but little is known about practice patterns of physicians using homeopathy and the patients who seek homeopathic care. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data for consecutive patient visits to 27 doctors of medicine and doctors of osteopathy using homeopathy in 1992 were collected and compared with the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey of 1990. RESULTS: Patients seen by the homeopathic physicians were younger, more affluent, and more likely to present with long-term complaints. Physicians using homeopathic medicine surveyed spent more time with their patients, ordered fewer tests, and prescribed fewer pharmaceutical medications than physicians practicing conventional medicine. CONCLUSIONS: While definite conclusions cannot be made based on this survey, we have documented that the use of diagnostic testing and conventional medications by physicians who use homeopathy to treat common chronic conditions is well below that of conventional primary care physicians. These findings, if associated with comparable clinical outcomes, suggest a potential for substantial cost savings. Further studies documenting outcomes, cost benefits, physician decision-making, and patient satisfaction will be required to further explore this subject.

Determinants of RNA hairpin loop-loop complex stability.

Complexes formed by RNA hairpin loops with complementary loop sequences derived from Escherichia coli RNA I and RNA II, which are involved in the control of DNA replication of plasmid ColE1, have been analyzed to determine the sequence and structural elements required to achieve full affinity. Of particular interest is the origin of the enhanced stability of the complex formed by hairpin loops whose loop sequences have been inverted 5' to 3' with respect to wild-type sequences. Full complementarity of the two interacting loops is required to achieve full or enhanced affinity, while the stems of the two hairpins can differ. The major determinant of enhanced affinity lies in the base-pairs formed at positions 1 and 7 of the loops, together with the two base-pairs of each stem which are closest to the loop. Sequence variation in the middle of the loops, or further down the stem away from the loops, exerts only a modest influence on complex stability. We incorporate these results into a model for the loop-loop interaction which accounts for the importance of positions one and seven and the first two nucleotides of the stem, while providing potentially unique structures for recognition by the RNA one modulator protein.

Vicarious traumatization in the work with survivors of childhood trauma.

1. Persons working with victims of childhood trauma may experience traumatic countertransference and vicarious traumatization. After hearing a patient's trauma story, which is a necessary part of childhood trauma therapy, staff may experience post-traumatic stress disorder, imagery associated with the patient's story and the same disruptions in relationships as the patient. 2. During the first 6 months of working with survivors of childhood trauma, common behaviors of staff members were identified, including a lack of attention, poor work performance, medication errors, sick calls, treatment errors, irreverence, hypervigilance, and somatic complaints. 3. Staff working with victims of childhood trauma can obtain the necessary staff support through team support, in traumatic events, and in a leadership role.

Sequential correlation of anomeric ribose protons and intervening phosphorus in RNA oligonucleotides by a 1H, 13C, 31P triple resonance experiment: HCP-CCH-TOCSY.

A three-dimensional 1H, 13C, 31P triple resonance experiment, HCP-CCH-TOCSY, is presented which provides unambiguous through-bond correlation of all 1H ribose protons on the 5' and 3' sides of the intervening phosphorus along the backbone bonding network in 13C-labeled RNA oligonucleotides. The correlation of the complete ribose spin system to the intervening phosphorus is obtained by adding a C,C-TOCSY coherence transfer step to the triple resonance HCP experiment. The C,C-TOCSY transfer step, which utilizes the large and relatively uniform 1J(C,C) coupling constant (approximately 40 Hz for ribose carbons), efficiently correlates the phosphorus-coupled carbons observed in the HCP correlation experiment (i.e., C4' and C5' in the 5' direction and C4' and C3' in the 3' direction) to all other carbons in the ribose spin system. Of the additional correlations observed in the HCP-CCH-TOCSY, that to the relatively well-resolved anomeric H1',C1' resonance pairs provides the greatest gain in terms of facilitating assignment. The gain in spectral resolution afforded by chemical shift labeling with the anomeric resonances should provide a more robust pathway for sequential assignment over the intervening phosphorus in larger RNA oligonucleotides. The HCP-CCH-TOCSY experiment is demonstrated on a uniformly 13C, 15N-labeled 19-nucleotide RNA stem-loop, derived from the antisense RNA I molecule found in the ColE1 plasmid replication control system.

Treatment of acute childhood diarrhea with homeopathic medicine: a randomized clinical trial in Nicaragua.

OBJECTIVE: Acute diarrhea is the leading cause of pediatric morbidity and mortality worldwide. Oral rehydration treatment can prevent death from dehydration, but does not reduce the duration of individual episodes. Homeopathic treatment for acute diarrhea is used in many parts of the world. This study was performed to determine whether homeopathy is useful in the treatment of acute childhood diarrhea. METHODOLOGY: A randomized double-blind clinical trial comparing homeopathic medicine with placebo in the treatment of acute childhood diarrhea was conducted in León, Nicaragua, in July 1991. Eighty-one children aged 6 months to 5 years of age were included in the study. An individualized homeopathic medicine was prescribed for each child and daily follow-up was performed for 5 days. Standard treatment with oral rehydration treatment was also given. RESULTS: The treatment group had a statistically significant (P < .05) decrease in duration of diarrhea, defined as the number of days until there were less than three unformed stools daily for 2 consecutive days. There was also a significant difference (P < .05) in the number of stools per day between the two groups after 72 hours of treatment. CONCLUSIONS: The statistically significant decrease in the duration of diarrhea in the treatment group suggests that homeopathic treatment might be useful in acute childhood diarrhea. Further study of this treatment deserves consideration.

DNA bending by the bulge defect.

Comparative gel electrophoresis measurements were used to characterize DNA bending in molecules containing an extra adenosine on one strand, the so-called bulge defect. We used oligomers containing A6 tracts separated from the bulged base by varying numbers of nucleotides to determine the direction and magnitude of the bulge bend. Helix unwinding by the bulge was determined from the electrophoretic anomaly as a function of the size of the repeated monomers. We conclude that the bulge bend is 21 degrees +/- 3 degrees, primarily in the direction of tilt away from the bulged base. The total helical advance of the DNA at the bulge site is smaller than would be the case if the complementary T were present, corresponding to an unwinding by 25 degrees +/- 6 degrees. These values are in good agreement with the results of NMR and energy minimization studies of the bulged base in double-helical deoxyoligonucleotides [Woodson, S. A., & Crothers, D.M. (1988) Biochemistry 27, 3130-3141]