title: Hay fever & homeopathy: a case series evaluation.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Seasonal allergic rhinitis (hay fever) is common and can considerably reduce the quality of life of sufferers. Despite the wide everyday application and promising results with homeopathy, scientific evidence of its effectiveness for most ailments is scarce.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The assessment of the clinical effectiveness of homeopathic remedies in the alleviation of hay fever symptoms in a typical clinical setting.
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed a clinical observational study of eight patients in the treatment of hay fever symptoms over a two-year period (2012 and 2013) using Measure Yourself Medical Outcome Profile (MYMOP) self-evaluation questionnaires at baseline and again after two weeks and four weeks of homeopathic treatment. The individualized prescription - either a single remedy or multiple remedies - was based on the totality of each patient's symptoms.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The average MYMOP scores for the eyes, nose, activity and wellbeing had improved significantly after two and four weeks of homeopathic treatment. The overall average MYMOP profile score at baseline was 3.83 (standard deviation, SD, 0.78). After 14 and 28 days of treatment the average score had fallen to 1.14 (SD, 0.36; P<0.001) and 1.06 (SD, 0.25; P<0.001) respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Individualized homeopathic treatment was associated with significant alleviation of hay fever symptoms, enabling the reduction in use of conventional treatment. The results presented in this study can be considered as a step towards a pilot pragmatic study that would use more robust outcome measures and include a larger number of patients prescribed a single or a multiple homeopathic prescription on an individualized basis.
authors.affiliation: Health Zone Clinic, 30 Wimbledon Hill Road, Wimbledon, London SW19 7PA, UK. Electronic address: vinitapandey@hotmail.co.uk.
authors.forename: Vinita
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Pandey
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006705:Homeopathy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D006255:Rhinitis, Allergic, Seasonal / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Hay fever; Homeopathy; MYMOP questionnaires