TY - JOUR
T1 - EEG alpha sensitization in individualized homeopathic treatment of fibromyalgia
AU - Bell, Iris R.
AU - Lewis, Daniel A.
AU - Lewis, Sabrina E.
AU - Schwartz, Gary E.
AU - Brooks, Audrey J.
AU - Scott, Anne
AU - Baldwin, Carol M.
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was supported by NIH grants R21 AT00315 (IRB), K24 AT000S7 (IRB), P20 AT00774 (GES), P50 AT00008 from the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) and NIH HL53938-07S1 (CMB). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of NCCAM or NIH. This article is dedicated to the memory of Kathryn L. Grant, PharmD, who participated in the design of the laboratory component of the study and developed the procedures for preparation of the sniff bottles.
PY - 2004/9
Y1 - 2004/9
N2 - Fibromyalgia (FM) patients show evidence of sensitizability in pain pathways and electroencephalographic (EEG) alterations. One proposed mechanism for the claimed effects of homeopathy, a form of complementary medicine used for FM, is time-dependent sensitization (TDS, progressive amplification) of host responses. This study examined possible sensitization-related changes in EEG relative alpha magnitude during a clinical trial of homeopathy in FM. A 4-month randomized, placebo-controlled double-blind trial of daily orally administered individualized homeopathy in physician-confirmed FM, with an additional 2-month optional crossover phase, included three laboratory sessions, at baseline, 3 and 6 months (N = 48, age 49.2 ±9.8 years, 94% women). Nineteen leads of EEC relative alpha magnitude at rest and during olfactory administration of treatment and control solutions were evaluated in each session. After 3 months, the active treatment group significantly increased, while the placebo group decreased, in global alpha-1 and alpha-2 during bottle sniffs over sessions. At 6 months, the subset of active patients who stayed on active continued to increase, while the active-switch sub-group reversed direction in alpha magnitude. Groups did not differ in resting alpha. Consistent with the TDS hypothesis, sniff alpha-1 and alpha-2 increases at 6 months versus baseline correlated with total amount of time on active remedy over all subjects (r = 0.45, p = .003), not with dose changes or clinical outcomes in the active group. The findings suggest initiation of TDS in relative EEC alpha magnitude by daily oral administration of active homeopathic medicines versus placebo, with laboratory elicitation by temporolimbic olfactory stimulation or sniffing.
AB - Fibromyalgia (FM) patients show evidence of sensitizability in pain pathways and electroencephalographic (EEG) alterations. One proposed mechanism for the claimed effects of homeopathy, a form of complementary medicine used for FM, is time-dependent sensitization (TDS, progressive amplification) of host responses. This study examined possible sensitization-related changes in EEG relative alpha magnitude during a clinical trial of homeopathy in FM. A 4-month randomized, placebo-controlled double-blind trial of daily orally administered individualized homeopathy in physician-confirmed FM, with an additional 2-month optional crossover phase, included three laboratory sessions, at baseline, 3 and 6 months (N = 48, age 49.2 ±9.8 years, 94% women). Nineteen leads of EEC relative alpha magnitude at rest and during olfactory administration of treatment and control solutions were evaluated in each session. After 3 months, the active treatment group significantly increased, while the placebo group decreased, in global alpha-1 and alpha-2 during bottle sniffs over sessions. At 6 months, the subset of active patients who stayed on active continued to increase, while the active-switch sub-group reversed direction in alpha magnitude. Groups did not differ in resting alpha. Consistent with the TDS hypothesis, sniff alpha-1 and alpha-2 increases at 6 months versus baseline correlated with total amount of time on active remedy over all subjects (r = 0.45, p = .003), not with dose changes or clinical outcomes in the active group. The findings suggest initiation of TDS in relative EEC alpha magnitude by daily oral administration of active homeopathic medicines versus placebo, with laboratory elicitation by temporolimbic olfactory stimulation or sniffing.
KW - EEG alpha
KW - Fibromyalgia
KW - Homeopathy
KW - Olfactory administration
KW - Oscillation
KW - Time-dependent sensitization
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U2 - 10.1080/00207450490475724
DO - 10.1080/00207450490475724
M3 - Article
C2 - 15370183
AN - SCOPUS:4544359928
SN - 0020-7454
VL - 114
SP - 1195
EP - 1220
JO - International Journal of Neuroscience
JF - International Journal of Neuroscience
IS - 9
ER -