Evidence map›Paper›PMID 20673648›Full record

ArticleSleep medicine2011

Effects of homeopathic medicines on polysomnographic sleep of young adults with histories of coffee-related insomnia.

Iris R Bell, Amy Howerter, Nicholas Jackson, Mikel Aickin, Carol M Baldwin, Richard R Bootzin

Abstract readControlled Clinical Trial
In one paragraph

Article in Sleep medicine, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
10citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
2.3field-weighted citation impact, top 13% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 39 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Trial
  3. Trial
  4. Review
  5. Review
  6. Whole Systems Research Methods in Health Care: A Scoping Review.Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.) · 2019
    Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Iris R BellDepartment of Family and Community Medicine, The University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA. ibell@email.arizona.edu
Amy Howerter
Nicholas Jackson
Mikel Aickin
Carol M Baldwin
Richard R Bootzin
University of Arizona · USArizona State University · US

Funding

MIDCAREER INVESTIGATOR AWARD-PATIENT-ORIENTED RESEARCHK24AT000057 · NCCIH · UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA · PI BELL, IRIS ROBERTA · 2000 to 2009
$1.4M
Polysomnography in Homeopathic Remedy EffectsR21AT000388 · NCCIH · UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA · PI BELL, IRIS ROBERTA · 2005 to 2007
$584k
NCCIH NIH HHS K24 AT000057NCCIH NIH HHS K24AT000057NCCIH NIH HHS R21 AT000388
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundHomeopathy, a common form of alternative medicine worldwide, relies on subjective patient reports for diagnosis and treatment. Polysomnography offers a modern methodology for evaluating the objective effects of taking homeopathic remedies that clinicians claim exert effects on sleep quality in susceptible individuals. Animal studies have previously shown changes in non rapid eye movement sleep with certain homeopathic remedies.

methodsYoung adults of both sexes (ages 18-31) with above-average scores on standardized personality scales for either cynical hostility or anxiety sensitivity (but not both) and a history of coffee-induced insomnia participated in the month-long study. At-home polysomnographic recordings were obtained on successive pairs of nights once per week for a total of eight recordings (nights 1, 2, 8, 9, 15, 16, 22, 23). Subjects (N=54) received placebo pellets on night 8 (single-blind) and verum pellets on night 22 (double-blind) in 30c doses of one of two homeopathic remedies, Nux Vomica or Coffea Cruda. Subjects completed daily morning sleep diaries and weekly Pittsburgh sleep quality index scales, as well as profile of mood states scales at bedtime on polysomnography nights.

resultsVerum remedies significantly increased PSG total sleep time and NREM, as well as awakenings and stage changes. Changes in actigraphic and self-rated scale effects were not significant.

conclusionsThe study demonstrated the feasibility of using in-home, all-night sleep recordings to study homeopathic remedy effects. Findings are similar though not identical to those reported in animals with the same remedies. Possible mechanisms include initial disruption of the nonlinear dynamics of sleep patterns by the verum remedies.

Indexed as

HomeopathyStrychnos nux-vomicaAdolescentAdultCoffeeFemaleHumansMaleMateria MedicaPlacebosPolysomnographySleepSleep Initiation and Maintenance DisordersTreatment OutcomeYoung AdultCoffeeMateria MedicaPlacebos

Identifiers

PMID20673648
PMCPMC2972403
OpenAlexW2108616654

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.