Healthy
Conditions
Keywords
Assessment of biologic activity of a homeopathic remedy
Brief summary
A randomized double-blind placebo controlled homeopathic pathogenetic trial (HPT) will be carried out on 30 healthy adult volunteers. The remedy used for the proving will be administered in a potency of 30C. The remedy being used is a common homeopathic remedy commercially available in the US, but the exact remedy is not disclosed to participants.The purpose of the proving is twofold: 1) to determine if there is a difference in symptoms between those receiving an active versus placebo medicine, and 2) to see if there is a difference in gene expression between those who receive the homeopathic remedy or placebo. It is hypothesized that participants receiving the active medication will have more symptoms characteristic of the remedy and have specific patterns of gene expression in whole blood that are different from those in placebo recipients. Participants will record symptoms in a diary for 3 days prior to administration of study medications, during 3 day of its administration and for 3 days following completion of the study medication. Blood will be drawn for gene expression studies on the day that the study medication is started and again after taking the study medication for approximately 48 hours. An additional, optional blood draw for possible future analysis of gene expression will be done at the end of the study period.
Interventions
OTHERhomeopathic remedy in 30C potency
OTHERPlacebo
Sponsors
University of Washington
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
DOUBLE (Subject, Investigator)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 65 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Read and Speak English
Exclusion criteria
* Acute illness in last 7 days * Chronic illness requiring daily medication * Use of homeopathic remedy within 4 weeks * Use of homeopathic remedy of 200C potency in past 2 months * Women who are pregnant or breastfeeding an infant
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Characteristic symptoms | 6 days | Symptoms that occur in participants that are characteristic of the homeopathic remedy being used in the study |
| gene expression | 2 days | Changes in whole blood gene expression from just prior to beginning study medication until 48 hours after beginning study medication |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| gene expression in sensitive provers | 2 days | gene expression in participants receiving active study medication and who are classified as sensitive provers based on review of their symptoms will be compared to gene expression in placebo recipients. |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed