Homeopathy for Fibromyalgia by Margaret Easter, RN, NP, CCH A report in the Jan. 2004 issue of Rheumatology confirms the efficacy of homeopathy for treating fibromyalgia.  Compared with placebo, patients receiving individually prescribed homeopathic remedies had less tender point pain and improved quality of life.  The study was a double-blind, randomized, parallel-group, placebo-controlled trial.  Fifty-three participants received either a homeopathic remedy or a placebo for a period of three months.  At the beginning and end of the trial their tender point count and tender point pain were evaluated by a clinician, and their quality of life, pain, mood and depression were self-rated by the subjects. Compared with those receiving placebo, those who received individually prescribed homeopathic remedies reported less pain, improved mood, and overall well-being. The study is significant not only for demonstrating that those with fibromyalgia can find relief through homeopathic remedies, but also because homeopathic practitioners are frequently criticized for failure to conduct randomized clinical trials. On the one hand, homeopathy does not lend itself well to comparing patients in randomized trials, since homeopathic treatment focuses on each person's unique combination of symptoms much more than allopathic medicine does. Yet in this study the American authors were able to find patients with unique symptoms that could be treated individually drawing upon a broad selection of remedies, and compare them with a similar group treated with placebo. This report published by the British Society for Rheumatology documents the research design itself and also the finding of improved clinical status in the homeopathically treated patients.