Updates from China: clinical and research experience of homeopathy in the pandemic

Abstract

Background: Hong Kong is one of the regions which is most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in China. In homeopathy, common pathognomonic symptoms are less informative, while homeopathic symptoms are always more helpful for homeopathic prescriptions. Aims: The first case series from Hong Kong was presented and the homeopathic repertorization symptoms observed in the 18 confirmed/suspected cases of COVID-19 in Hong Kong in early 2020 was reported. Methodology: A standard questionnaire on common homeopathic symptoms was filled in by all diagnosed/suspected COVID-19 patients, with or without the help of a consulting-room assistant, before the consultation. Repertorization symptoms from the case series were reported from 18 consecutive patients who used homeopathy as an adjunctive measure, in addition to the conventional or traditional chinese medicine, for symptomatic relief from COVID-19. Anonymized clinical information for research and academic purposes was used and approved by patients. The authors focused mainly on the homeopathic symptoms, i.e. the more individualised and characteristic symptoms which were available in the homeopathic repertories. In the presentation, the demographics, prevelance of homeopathic medicines, common repertorization symptoms in each of the top-ranked remedies, and differentiating symptoms for each top-ranked remedy were presented. Differentiating features were defined as homeopathic symptoms that were present in at least 50% of cases for the top-ranked remedy and in no more than 2 cases for other top-ranked remedies. The data collection project was further extended under the Clificol COVID-19 Support Project, a multinational, combined retrospective, and prospective longitudinal study. Results and discussion: Homeopathic symptoms of 18 cases were presented. All of the cases were categorized as mild. Eighteen common symptoms screened out of 79 selected repertorization symptoms constituted two sets of homeopathic symptom pictures: Bryonia alba (n = 4) and Gelsemium sempervirens (n = 12). Eight and seven differentiating features, respectively, were identified for Bryonia alba and Gelsemium sempervirens. Most updated data from the ongoing COVID-19 Support project was also presented. Conclusion: The common symptoms of 18 mild COVID-19 cases constituted two sets of homeopathic symptom pictures, indicating Bryonia alba or Gelsemium sempervirens; they were indicated in 4 and 12 cases, respectively, out of the 18 in total.