Complementary Therapies in Medicine (2007) 15, 115—120

Effect of homeopathic treatment of 60 Japanese

patients with chronic skin disease
R. Itamura ∗

Department of Dermatology, Obitsu Sankei Hospital, 1-4 Namikinishi-machi,

Kawagoe-city, Saitama-ken 350-0025, Japan

Available online 29 November 2006

KEYWORDS Summary
CAM; Background: Many individuals who appear to suffer from incurable chronic skin dis-
Chronic skin disease; ease use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). Homeopathy has recently
Conventional increased in popularity among patients with skin disease. The effects of homeo-
dermatological
pathic treatment have yet to be fully investigated in patients for whom conventional
dermatological treatment is not sufficiently effective.
treatment;
Objectives: To describe patient-reported and clinically observed effects of individ-
Individualized
ualized homeopathic treatment of chronic skin disease.
homeopathic treatment; Patients and methods: The effectiveness of individualized homeopathic treatment
Homeopathy; was measured using the patients’ own assessments of seven elements (overall
Patients’ own impression, improvement of skin condition, reduction of itchiness, reduction of
assessments sleep disturbance, satisfaction in daily life, fulfillment at work and satisfaction in
human relations) using a nine-point scale similar to the Glasgow Homeopathic Hos-
pital Outcome Scale (GHHOS). Sixty patients with chronic skin disease were included
in the study: atopic dermatitis (AD) (n = 25), eczema other than AD (n = 20), severe
acne (n = 6), chronic urticaria (n = 6), psoriasis vulgaris (n = 2) and alopecia universalis
(n = 1). These patients received individualized homeopathic treatments in addition
to conventional dermatological treatments for a period of from 3 months to 2 years
7 months.
Results: Six patients reported a score of 4 (complete recovery), 23 patients a score
of 3 (75% improvement), 24 patients a score of 2 (50% improvement) and 7 patients
a score of 1 (25% improvement). A total of 88.3% of patients reported over 50%
improvement. Around one-half the patients with AD and eczema reported greater
satisfaction in daily life, greater fulfillment at work and greater satisfaction in human
relations.
Conclusions: The psychological, physical and psychosomatic symptoms and effects
of chronic skin diseases are inextricable. Individualized homeopathic treatment can
provoke a good response in patients with chronic skin disease; therefore, the holis-
tic approach used in homeopathy may be a useful strategy alongside conventional
treatment.
© 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

∗ Tel.: +81 492 35 1981; fax: +81 492 35 8063.

E-mail address: ronkoita@yk.rim.or.jp.

0965-2299/$ — see front matter © 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ctim.2006.04.005
116
Introduction
Many factors may contribute to the onset, cause
and course of chronic skin disease, including hered-
ity, local factors (e.g. external irritants, allergies,
trauma and infection) and psychological factors.
Emotional stress, stressful life events or daily
harassments have long been postulated to have a
possible causal influence on the course of various
skin diseases.1 Effective management of treat-
ment for at least one-third of dermatology patients
involves consideration of the associated emotional
factors.2
The primary function of the skin is tactile recep-
tivity and it reacts directly to emotional stimuli;
therefore, dermatological practice also involves
many psychosomatic aspects. Some skin complaints
are not cured by conventional dermatological treat-
ments, resulting in both cosmetic disfiguration and
psychological pressure. Patients for whom conven-
tional dermatological treatments are ineffective,
are likely to consider complementary and alterna-
tive medicine (CAM).3 The authors have treated
patients with skin disease with traditional Chi-
nese medicine (TCM) and/or several psychological
approaches in addition to conventional derma-
tological treatment. Several patients who had a
long history of severe disease, however, showed
no significant improvement with these treatment
approaches.
Homeopathy is still not well-known in Japan;
however, it is increasing in popularity. The authors
have been using individualized homeopathic treat-
ment in addition to conventional dermatological
treatment in consenting patients with chronic skin
disease since 1999. The primary aim of individ-
ualized homeopathic treatment is to treat the
patient as a whole, rather than treat a collection of
symptoms. The current paper reports the observed
clinical effect of individualized homeopathic treat-
ment in addition to conventional dermatological
treatment in 60 patients who were followed-up for
3 months to 2 years 7 months.
Table 1 Characteristics of included patients
Diagnosis Number (M:F)
Atopic dermatitis (AD) 25 (7:18)
Eczema 20 (6:14)
Acne 6 (0:6)
Chronic urticaria 6 (1:5)
Psoriasis vulgaris 2 (1:1)
Alopecia unversalis 1 (0:1)
Overall 60 (15:45)
R. Itamura
Patients and methods
Sixty patients with chronic skin disease (15 men
and 45 women aged 14—77 years) followed indi-
vidualized homeopathic treatments for over 3
months between February 2000 and September
2002. Twenty-five of the patients had atopic der-
matitis (AD), 20 patients had eczema other than
atopic dermatitis, 6 had severe acne, 6 had chronic
urticaria, 2 had psoriasis vulgaris and 1 had alope-
cia universalis (the latter patient had particularly
severe disease and had suffered for over 7 years).
All patients had been treated previously with
conventional medicine, TCM or various psycholog-
ical therapies, but had only partial responses to
these treatments. The duration of chronic skin
disease in the patients ranged from 2 to 41
years. The mean duration of AD was 12 years,
that of eczema was 4.6 years, acne 10.1 years,
chronic urticaria 4.6 years and psoriasis 20 years
(Table 1).
There are two important aims of individual-
ized homeopathic treatment: one is to understand
the patient and their illness through homeopathic
consultation in addition to conventional medical
practices; the second is repertorisation before
prescribing homeopathic medicines. During a home-
opathic consultation, the patient is asked about
their personality, temperament and family history
of disease.
Table 2 shows the list of first-choice homeopathic
medicines for the patients in the study. Several
patients changed homeopathic medicine during
treatment. Homeopathic medicines were prepared
by Freeman Homeopathic Pharmacy (18—20 Main
Street, Busby, Glasgow G76 8DU, Scotland), which is
licensed by the Medicines and Health Care products
Regulatory Agency (MHRA). Medicines were used at
potencies of 6c, 12c, 30c, 200c and 1M, diluted and
succussed according to the German homeopathic
pharmacopoeia.
The effectiveness of the homeopathic treat-
ments was measured using the patients’ own
Age (mean) Duration of disease (mean) (years)
14—75 (31.8) 3—41 (12)
25—77 (46.5) 2—17 (4.6)
23—38 (29.7) 4—23 (10.1)
26—73 (41.8) 2—10 (4.6)
63—66 (64.5) 10—30 (20)
20 (20) 7 (7)
14—77 (39) 2—41 (9)
Effect of homeopathic treatment of 60 Japanese patients with chronic skin disease 117

Table 2 First-choice homeopathic medicines used

AD Eczema Acne Cronic Psoraiasis Alopecia Total
urticaria vulgaris unversalis
Medicines
Pulsatilla 6 2 2 10
Sulphur 2 3 1 2 8
Lycopodium 3 1 1 5
Sepia 1 1 1 1 4
Nat-m 1 1 2 4
Arsenicum 1 2 3
Calc-c 1 2 3
Mercurius 1 1 1 3
Mezereum 1 1 2
Bryonia 1 1 2
Causticum 1 1 2
Phosphorus 1 1 2
Staphisagria 1 1 2
Alumina 1 1
Apis 1 1
Carbo-v 1 1
Carcinosinum 1 1
Kali-c 1 1
Lachesis 1 1
Nat-c 1 1
Nux-v 1 1
Psorinum 1 1
Silica 1 1
25 20 6 6 2 1 60

assessments and assessments made by the consult- Results

ing physicians (using a Visual Analogue Scale [VAS])
of the improvement or deterioration of the skin
condition. Three indicators were used on the VAS:
‘extreme deterioration’, ‘no change’ and ‘cured’.
Data from this scale were rendered into ordinal
data by measuring the position of the mark on the
scale and calculating a score according to a nine-
point scale similar to the GHHOS.4 Increments of
25% improvement were assigned to the scale as
below:
+4: cured/back to normal (100% improvement).
+3: significant improvement (up by about 75%).
+2: moderate improvement (up by about 50%).
+1: slight improvement (up by about 25%).
0: no change/unsure.
−1: slight deterioration (down by about 25%).
−2: moderate deterioration (down by about 50%).
−3: significant deterioration (down by about 75%).
−4: extreme deterioration (down by about 100%).
Both the patients and the physicians used this
scale. The patients assessed seven characteristics
at baseline and every 3 months thereafter.
Table 3 shows the last results (whether the con-
dition was cured or ongoing) of the patients’ own
assessment of overall impression. The percentage
of patients who scored 2, 3 or 4 (over 50% improve-
ment) was 88% among AD patients and 95% among
eczema patients. A total of 88.3% of patients con-
sidered they had over 50% improvement in their
skin condition after individualized homeopathic
treatments. There were no significant signs of dete-
rioration or severe homeopathic aggravation. Some
patients were in a stable condition, or showed a
little improvement. The results for the improve-
ment of the skin conditions (Table 4) were similar to
those for overall impression. The objective assess-
ments of improvement of the skin were correlated
with the patients’ own assessments. A total of 88.3%
of patients reported over 50% improvement after
individualized homeopathic treatment.
Most of the patients who suffered from chronic
skin disease complained of severe itching, unpre-
dictable relapse and cosmetic damage, which
affected physical and psychological aspects in
everyday life. A total of 79.2% of patients who
118 R. Itamura

Table 3 Results of the patients’ own assessments of ‘‘overall impression’’

Diagnosis Number of Score Percentage of
patients scoring 2, 3, 4
4 3 2 1
AD 25 2 11 9 3 88
Eczema 20 1 9 9 1 95
Acne 6 1 2 1 2 66.6
Chronic urticaria 6 1 0 4 1 83.3
Psoriasis vulgaris 2 1 0 1 0 50
Alopecia unversalis 1 0 1 0 0 100
Total 60 6 23 24 7 88.3

Table 4 Results of the patients’ own assessments of ‘‘change on the skin condition’’
Diagnosis Number of Score Percentage of
patients scoring 2, 3, 4
4 3 2 1 0 −1
AD 25 1 8 13 2 0 1 88
Eczema 20 1 8 10 1 0 95
Acne 6 1 1 2 2 0 66.6
Chronic urticaria 6 0 1 4 0 1 83.3
Psoriasis vulgaris 2 1 0 1 0 0 100
Alopecia unversalis 1 0 1 0 0 0 100
Total 60 4 19 30 5 1 1 88.3

complained of itching reported a greater than 50% Discussion

reduction of itchiness after individualized homeo-
pathic treatments (Table 5).
Furthermore, most AD and eczema patients
also complained of sleep disturbance because of
severe itchiness, habitual scratching behavior and
other mental stress. Over one-half these patients
reported improvement in sleep disturbance after
individualized homeopathic treatment (data not
shown).
The patients with AD and eczema were asked
three questions to assess the improvement in social
aspects of their lives; these covered satisfaction
in daily life, fulfillment at work and satisfaction
in human relations. Around 50% of AD and eczema
patients reported over 50% improvement in all
three social aspects (Table 6).
Most patients with chronic skin conditions in this
study reported improvements in overall impression
and skin condition with individualized homeopathic
treatments, given alone or in conjunction with con-
ventional dermatological treatment. Six patients
reported a complete recovery, and a total of 88.3%
of patients reported over 50% improvement. Most
patients who complained of itching reported a sub-
stantial reduction in itchiness and associated sleep
disturbance.
This study was necessary for several reasons.
For example, homeopathy is often used in skin
conditions, but there are few reports on the ther-
apeutic effects of homeopathy.5,6 Moreover, the
effectiveness of homeopathy has not been clearly

Table 5 Results of the patients’ own assessments of ‘‘change in sleep disturbance’’

Diagnosis Number of Score Percentage of
patients scoring 2, 3, 4
4 3 2 1 −1 −2
AD 25 1 10 9 4 0 1 80
Eczema 20 2 11 2 4 1 70
Chronic urticaria 6 1 0 4 1 83.3
Psoriasis vulgaris 2 1 0 1 0 100
Total 53 5 21 16 9 1 1 79.2
Effect of homeopathic treatment of 60 Japanese patients with chronic skin disease
Table 6 Results of the patients’ own assessments of ‘‘change in social conditions’’
Diagnosis Number of Score
patients
4 3
Satisfaction of daily life
AD 25 2 7
Eczema 16 2 4
Fulfillment at work
AD 22 2 5
Eczema 17 3 3
Satisfaction in human relations
AD 25 3 7
Eczema 16 2 3
defined despite its wide acceptance by patients.
The clinical effectiveness of emerging therapies is
difficult to measure, particularly in chronic skin
disease because of the close connection between
environmental factors (including stressors) and the
development and nature of disease. Furthermore,
most patients with chronic skin conditions feel they
cannot stop conventional dermatological treatment
and require trained dermatologists for their level
of pathology. The authors aimed to investigate the
effects of homeopathy in conjunction with a trained
dermatological specialist.
Another common problem in the management of
chronic dermatological conditions is the difficulty in
assessing improvement objectively. By using both a
VAS and an ordinal scale, the authors hoped to rep-
resent the results more effectively, both in terms
of patients’ understanding and clinical extrapola-
tion; however, it is impossible to fully quantify such
subjective data.
Skin conditions are inextricably linked to psy-
chological state; therefore, it is very difficult to
isolate variables. However, as the results of this
study indicate, a whole-body-and-mind approach
to treatment may yield better results than single-
symptom treatments.
Although this study is valid, it uses only a
small selection of patients, which makes it very
difficult to apply the results to the general popu-
lation. This could be a problem for research in the
future. Public-funded hospitals and private hospi-
tals in countries where homeopathic treatment is
not available on national insurance schemes, rarely
have the resources to conduct such studies.
A standardized assessment and recording proce-
dure is required within hospitals to ensure valuable
data does not get lost and has a chance of becoming
useful clinical evidence. There is still a distinct lack
of clinical trials of homeopathy in the treatment of
specific skin complaints.
119
Percentage of
scoring 2, 3, 4
2 1 0 −1
5 3 8 56
2 0 8 50
4 0 9 2 47.8
2 2 7 47
3 6 5 1 54.1
3 2 6 50
The results of the current study are consis-
tent with those of a previous study in which 17
intractable AD patients showed greater improve-
ment with a combination of homeopathic and
conventional treatments compared with conven-
tional treatment alone.7
The lack of any satisfactory improvement whilst
using conventional dermatological treatment is
the most decisive factor in predicting the use of
CAM.8,9 Although homeopathy is becoming increas-
ingly popular, there are still few clinical reports on
its effects.6 Many CAM methods, including home-
opathy, have yet to be formally recognized and
legitimized by governments.
The results of this small scale study indicate that
individualized homeopathic treatment can provoke
a good response in patients with chronic skin dis-
ease; therefore, the holistic approach used in
homeopathy may be a useful strategy in addi-
tion to, or instead of, conventional dermatological
treatment of chronic skin disease. Further con-
trolled studies on a larger scale are required to
determine the effects of individualized homeo-
pathic treatments in patients with chronic skin
conditions.
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