Homeopathic therapy in pediatric atopic diseases: short- and long-term results

• Observational longitudinal study on 325 pediatric patients with atopic diseases.
• 75.8% atopic patients had a moderate or major improvement or back to the normal.
• 107 patients visited 1998–2006 were re-valued after a mean length period of 7.4 years.
• 75 out of 107 (70.1%) patients with long term follow-up show complete remission.
• Initial negativity of RAST/Prick test seems to be related to a favorable prognosis.

AimTo study the outcomes of atopic diseases in children treated with homeopathy at the Homeopathic Clinic of Lucca (Italy) and related long-term results after approximately an 8-year period.Materials and methodsOur data derive from an observational longitudinal study carried out on 857 pediatric patients who consecutive visited from 1998 to 2014. Children with atopic diseases were 325 (37.9%), 126 (39%) suffered from atopic dermatitis, 72 (22%) from allergic rhinitis, and 127 (39%) from asthma. Moreover, a long-term study was conducted on a subset of 107/165 patients, consecutively visited from 1998 to 2006, and with ≥5 years follow-up. The study also investigated the evolution of overall symptoms in those patients with a complex atopic symptomatology.Results75.8% of atopic children had moderate or major improvement (67.1% with asthma as the primary disease; 84.2% rhinitis; 84.2% dermatitis). At re-evaluation after 5–10 years, complete remission of atopic symptoms was obtained in 70.1% of the children: 84.2% in dermatitis; 48.1% in allergic rhinitis; 71.4% in asthma. Children with two or three atopic diseases at the first visit were completely cured in 40% of cases.ConclusionThe results seem to confirm that homeopathic medicine produces positive therapeutic response in atopic children.