Treating Allergic Patients Using Homeopathy

Ferreri et al. (2016) conducted a research in which the examined the issue of improved quality of life and decrease of conventional medicine in homeopathy treatment of allergic patients. The research was carried out on the premise that complementary medicine is not sanctioned by conventional medicine in several Western countries such as Italy. This is despite the increased recognition of the significance of complementary medicine in the modern healthcare setting to address the ever-changing needs of patients. The research was conducted in the Centre for Integrated Medicine in Pitigliano, Tuscany after the Italian Regional Government granted permission for the facility to provide integrated healthcare to in-patients and out-patients. The facility provides a wide range of integrated care approaches such as acupuncture, homeopathy, traditional Chinese medicine, and conventional clinical care.

To achieve the goals of the study, these researchers conducted a 4-year evaluation of healthcare services provided to the hospital's patients. During the observation period between 2011 and 2014, the researchers examined 430 allergic patients who were treated with homeopathy. While most of the patients were referred to the hospital through word of mouth, only 28% of them knew that homeopathy was a complementary medical discipline. These patients were from different age groups i.e. between 3 and 78 years and other varying demographics. During the observation, the researchers collected four kinds of data that were crucial towards achieving the study's objectives. First, the researchers examined compliance with treatment through several follow-up appointments within a 2-year period. Secondly, the researchers examined the patients' allergic system through the use of Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale. The third kind of data was quality of life, which was assessed using a quality of life questionnaire (SF-12). The final kind of data was changes or improvements in traditional medicine usage to address allergic symptoms (Ferreri et al., 2016).

Based on the observations, patients demonstrated very high clinical compliance with treatment since 89% of patients returned regularly whereas 11% dropped out. The major reason for drop out was significant improvement while other patients dropped out because of adverse side effects and challenges in geographical location. Secondly, most of the patients experienced improvements in their allergic symptoms within the 2-year follow-up period. Third, patients reported improvements in quality of life from the first follow-up to the entire 2-year period of follow-up. Finally, the study showed a significant reduction in the usage of conventional drugs among patients by between 85% and 100%. The researchers concluded that an integrated homeopathy treatment approach is effective in treatment of allergic patients. Given these findings, the researchers demonstrated that patients experience significant clinical benefits from homeopathy and value the treatment. While these study provides significant findings with regards to the use of integrated healthcare approaches in improving quality of care and reducing conventional drugs usage, the researchers did not provide any recommendations based on their findings. The researchers only affirmed the benefit and value of treating allergic patients using homeopathy as complementary medicine, which helps improve quality of life and reduces the use of conventional medicine.

One of the most important aspect of conducting a research is stating the research question, which guides the research process and help determine research objectives. In this study, the researcher did not state the research question but simply highlighted the purpose of the study. The researchers' failure to state the research question can be attributable to the use of observation as the premise for conducting the research. In this case, the researchers did not seek to test any hypothesis and/or conduct an exploratory research, but make observations relating to the specific issues under investigation. The observations were adequate to provide insights on the issues under investigation, which demonstrates the lack of a research question in the study.

High-quality researches usually entail citing relevant evidence, experiences and/or information that is essential to the issue or phenomenon under investigation. Consequently, in most studies, researchers include a literature review section and/or cite sources that help in understanding the specific issue. The inclusion of literature review section provides a background for understanding the research issue/topic based on existing evidence or prior studies that have been carried out about it. The citing of relevant evidence, experiences and/or information is also crucial towards understanding the researcher's reasoning when conducting the study and arriving at his/her conclusions.

This study does not include a literature review section through the authors highlight relevant statements regarding the recognition of complementary medicine in several Western countries in the introduction section. Despite the lack of a literature review section, the researchers cite two sources that provide essential background information regarding the issue under investigation. First, the researchers cite a study on the integration of conventional medicine, acupuncture, and homeopathy. This source provides relevant information to the study because it demonstrates how homeopathy is utilized as a complementary treatment approach as part of integrated medicine. Secondly, the researchers cite a study on Edmonton Symptom Assessment System, which was one of the tools utilized to collect data relating to allergic symptoms of patients. This helps in understanding the processes utilized in data collection and contribute towards generating reliable findings and conclusions.

When conducting a study, researchers tend to make several assumptions during the research process and generating credible research findings. According to Simon (2011) research assumptions are some of the basic elements that must be present in order for a research problem to exist. Given the significance of assumptions, it is not only important for a researcher to state his/her assumptions but also provide justifications for the assumptions. The justifications of assumptions made when conducting a research helps in enhancing the reader's understanding of the issues raised in the research and its conclusions. Therefore, justification of assumptions is crucial, especially when those assumptions might be reasonably questioned by readers.

Even though the researchers make some assumptions, the study does not clearly state these assumptions and fails to provide the justifications for the assumptions. In this regard, the researchers have failed to show sensitivity to their assumptions or things they have taken for granted when conducting their study. The researchers could have enhanced the reader's understanding of the research and its findings through stating and justifying their assumptions. However, the seemingly assume that readers have prior knowledge of critical components of the study and would easily understand the research process and its results. The failure to demonstrate sensitivity to these assumptions affects readers understanding of the study, especially if the reader has no prior knowledge or experience in the healthcare field.

As previously indicated, this research provides significant findings on improved quality of life and reduced conventional drugs usage when treating allergic patients with homeopathy. Based on the findings, the researchers provide significant insights that can be utilized to promote adoption of complementary medicine in the modern healthcare setting and practice. The researchers developed a definite line of reasoning that informed their research process and contributed to the study's conclusions.

With regards to the line of reasoning, the researchers recognized the current state of adoption of complementary medicine in the healthcare setting. They stated that even though healthcare professionals recognize the significance of this approach to treatment, its not sanctioned by traditional medicine across several developed countries. This was followed by identifying a healthcare facility that utilizes an integrated healthcare approach that involves the use of complementary and conventional medicine when treating patients. After identifying the healthcare facility, the researchers identified a specific type of complementary medicine (i.e. homeopathy) and specific condition (i.e. allergy) to examine. The researchers then proceeded to examine the different ways with which the hospital utilizes this complementary medicine to treat the condition. During this process, the researchers did not rely on reports by the healthcare professionals but instead focused on observing allergic patients who were receiving the complementary medicine for their condition. The researchers collected data from these patients based on their experiences, symptoms and conditions. These observations, which were carried out over a relatively long period of time, helped in arriving at the conclusions. This process demonstrates a definite line of reasoning that the researchers utilized to conduct the study and generate conclusions.

Additionally, there were other measures through which the researchers arrive at the conclusions. First, the researchers identified four major outcome measures that related to the purpose of the study. These outcome measures were utilized as the premise for the data collection process and observations. They helped in narrowing the focus of the research in order to ensure that its findings were directly related to the purpose of the study and the phenomenon under investigation. Secondly, the researcher conducted the study based on the specified outcome measures. In this case, the observations were made and interpretations made based on each of the four outcome measures, which helped in arriving at the conclusions that related to the purpose of the research.

The findings of this study demonstrate the effectiveness of integrated homeopathic treatment approach for allergic patients through significant decrease in allergic symptoms (Ferreri et al., 2016). These findings or results can be applied in real life through promoting the use of an integrated approach in treatment of patients. The combination of complementary medicine with conventional medicine enhances the effectiveness of healthcare approaches utilized by healthcare professionals. Therefore, healthcare practitioners should not ignore complementary medicine but look for suitable ways for adopting it in the healthcare setting.

As demonstrated in the study, respiratory allergic conditions can be effectively addressed through using integrated approach. In this regard, I would consider treatment of allergic patients through the use of integrated treatment approaches. However, the approach would not be limited to the use of homeopathy, but would entail identifying other effective complementary treatment approaches. When administering treatment, patients would be encouraged to utilize complementary medicine while decreasing their use of conventional drugs since complementary medicine has proven effective in treatment of respiratory allergic conditions. While patients are encouraged to reduce conventional drug usage, they should not replace the drugs with complementary medicine. As the name suggests, complementary medicine should be utilized in combination with conventional medicine for enhanced safety and effectiveness of treatment approaches. Complementary medicine should be utilized in treatment of respiratory conditions where they have been found to be most effective.

Following review of the article, my opinion is that it provides important findings regarding the use of complementary medicine in treating respiratory conditions though this treatment approach is not officially sanctioned in conventional medicine in several countries. The researchers conducted a high-quality study on whether complementary medicine contribute to improved quality of life and decreased usage of conventional drugs among patients with allergic conditions or symptoms. The findings of this study are credible because the researchers primarily focused on examining patient outcomes over a relatively long period of time. Therefore, this is a thoroughly conducted study that provides insights on patients' experiences and outcomes following the use of complementary medicine in treatment of their respiratory allergic conditions.

The use of patients' experiences and outcomes as the premise for determining the effectiveness of complementary medicine enhances the reliability of these findings. Therefore, the study's findings can be relied upon as a foundation for promoting the use of complementary medicine like homeopathy in treatment of respiratory conditions. The significance of these findings is also attributable to the fact that the research was carried out over a long period of time. This 4-year period gave the researchers an opportunity to effectively examine patients' conditions and outcomes over time. This is an important aspect of determining the effectiveness of a treatment approach given that patients sometimes experience improvements in their conditions immediately after treatment and later become worse. Therefore, a protracted evaluation and observation of patients' conditions implies that the researchers' findings are credible. However, this research is characterized by some limitations including the fact that it was carried out on patients in a specific region and healthcare facility. In this regard, the impact of cultural factors and conditions in the healthcare environment on the effectiveness of integrated treatment approaches remains unknown. This essentially means that there is need to examine whether conditions in the healthcare environment and cultural factors affect the effectiveness of integrated treatment measures.

In conclusion, Ferreri et al. (2016) conducted a research whose main objective was to evaluate the role and impact of complementary medicine in treatment of patients with allergic conditions. The comprehensive research, which relied on observation of patients' conditions and outcomes over a 4-year period, demonstrates that integrated treatment approaches are suitable for patients with respiratory allergic conditions. The findings of this study can be applied to develop treatment approaches for allergic patients and as the framework for conducting further studies on the effectiveness of complementary medicine in today's healthcare setting.