Open AccessHomeopathic potencies of Opium in alcohol dependence: exploratory open-label study
Author(s) -
Ubiratan Cardinalli Adler,
Ana Elisa Madureira Padula,
Amarilys de Toledo César,
Maristela Schiabel Adler,
José Carlos Fernandes GaldurÃÂÂz
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
international journal of high dilution research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1982-6206
DOI - 10.51910/ijhdr.v11i38.548
Subject(s) - tolerability , medicine , adverse effect , homeopathy , opium , randomized controlled trial , alcohol , alcohol dependence , confidence interval , traditional medicine , alternative medicine , biochemistry , chemistry , pathology , political science , law
Background: The conventional pharmacological options for the treatment of alcoholism are limited, which led to the search for solutions in alternative or complementary medicine (CAM). Homeopathy is a CAM modality recognized as medical specialty in Brazil. According to the clinical experience of the early homeopaths, Opium was used to treat patients with alcohol dependence. Aim: to perform a preliminary assessment of the effectiveness and tolerability of fifty-millesimal potencies of Opium in the treatment of alcohol-dependent patients. Methods: exploratory, prospective, open-label trial, with pre-treatment measures as control. Confidence intervals were used to estimate the magnitude of the clinical differences. Results: a total of 14 patients were included, from which 12 were evaluated (intention to treat analysis - ITT). There was a significant reduction in the average daily alcohol consumption (-29.37 units of alcohol/day; 95% CI=10.63; 48.11) and in the severity of alcohol dependence, measured by the mean score of the Short Alcohol Dependence Data questionnaire (-10.17; 95% CI= 4.12; 16.22). No serious adverse events were reported. Randomized controlled studies with larger samples are needed.