BMJ  2007;335:743 (13 October), doi:10.1136/bmj.39360.499097.DB

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Review shows no evidence that individualised herbal treatments are effective

London

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

No good evidence exists that individually tailored prescriptions of a mixture of herbs are effective, concludes a systematic review published last week.

The study reviewed all available studies of individualised herbal medicine for any indication (Postgraduate Medical Journal 2007;83:633-7). The researchers, from the Universities of Exeter and Plymouth, found only three randomised controlled trials out of 1300 studies they identified that they considered were of sufficient quality to draw meaningful conclusions. These three trials showed no convincing evidence of benefit.

One trial, involving patients with osteoarthritis of the knee, showed a non-significant trend favouring active treatment over placebo. However, the researchers said that this trend probably resulted from large differences at baseline and regression to the mean.

In a trial of patients with irritable bowel syndrome, individualised herbal treatment was better than placebo in four of the five outcomes tested but was inferior to a standardised herbal treatment (a . . . [Full text of this article]

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A startling inadequacy in the links between the review evidence and the authors’ conclusions.

Ally Broughton MNIMH
bmj.com, 14 Oct 2007 [Full text]

CAM is tested unfairly against placebo – CAM is offering highly efficient placebo cures that should be tested with respect for its nature

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bmj.com, 14 Oct 2007 [Full text]