Title : The role of homeopathy in the treatment of multimorbid patients: A prospective outcome study

Introduction: Multimorbidity is defined as the concurrent presence of three or more diseases or conditions. Elderly patients are often multimorbid and receive a multitude of medicines, with interactions that are difficult to assess. The objective of the MMP-Study was to assess if homeopathy can make a significant contribution to the treatment of multimorbidity.  The following questions should be answered: What are the most frequent diagnoses, how many patients reach an improvement of 80% or more within 12 months, what are reasons for unsuccessful treatments, and how does the cost of homeopathy compare to the estimated cost of conventional treatment? 

Method: 50 multimorbid patients were prospectively treated with individualized homeopathy and followed monthly over one year. At every follow-up they reported for each complaint whether it had improved, was still the same or even worse. In addition, patients rated their global improvement in percent. Conventional treatments were phased out according to the improvements made under homeopathy.

Results: 43 of 50 patients (86%) completed the study, achieving an average improvement of 91% in their initial symptoms. Six patients dropped out, and one achieved an improvement of only 50% and was therefore counted as a treatment failure. The cost of homeopathic treatment was 59% lower than the estimated cost of an equivalent conventional treatment.

Conclusions: Homeopathy can considerably contribute to the treatment of multimorbidity, and causes lower costs than conventional medicine. Further studies are encouraged to gain more insights into this field. 

Dr. Heiner Frei is paediatrician and teaching physician of the University of Berne, Switzerland. His research activities focus on the evidence base of homeopathy in acute disease, ADHD and ASD as well as in multimorbid adult patients. Dr. Frei teaches homeopathy in Europe, India and the United States, and has published several books about polarity analysis, a new, precise and reproducable method of homeopathic remedy determinantion. For his scientific activities he received several research awards. Currently he leads a paediatric practice for postgraduate education of young physicians in Laupen, Switzerland