OBJECTIVES:

The practice of homeopathy rests on symptoms, which have been produced by medicinal substances in healthy volunteers, often applied at ultramolecular dilutions. It is unknown whether these symptom patterns are due to specific effects or chance fluctuation.

METHODS:

We tested the hypothesis that a homeopathic substance can bring about symptoms different from observation and placebo in a double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover design with baseline observation.

RESULTS:

87 out of 118 healthy volunteers took both placebo and homeopathic belladonna 30CH in random sequence, after a 2-week observation period, and finished the 8-week trial. Apart from an insignificant tendency for subjects to report more symptoms with belladonna (mean number: 27.34), as compared to observation (24.26) or placebo (24.17), there was no indication that subjects reacted differently to homeopathy than to placebo or during baseline.

CONCLUSION:

There is no indication that belladonna 30CH produces symptoms different from placebo or from no intervention. Symptoms of a homeopathic pathogenetic trial (HPT) are most likely chance fluctuations.