Non-communicable diseases

Non-communicable diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, and diabetes, are the leading cause of mortality in the EU, representing major causes of disability, ill-health, health-related retirement, and premature death, resulting in considerable social and economic costs.

The case load of a homeopathic practitioner tends to be more heavily weighted towards chronic diseases, particularly those where conventional medicine has failed or has limited options. Such complementary therapies offer a therapeutic option which can be implemented in addition to usual care, where there is significant clinical need.

One study[1] demonstrates marked and sustained improvements to disease severity and quality of life following homeopathic treatment in patients who had been chronically sick for a long time before study entry and in most cases treated conventionally before.
There is a promising body of evidence for homeopathy in chronic diseases such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)[2], fibromyalgia[3] and osteoarthritis[4].

Further information

European Commission policy on chronic disease

_{[1]Witt et al: How healthy are chronically ill patients after eight years of homeopathic treatment? Results from a long term observational study. BMC Public Health 2008; 8:413}

[2]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24931748; http://cochranelibrary-wiley.com/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD009710.pub2/full

[3]https://academic.oup.com/rheumatology/article/43/5/577/1788410; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19358959

[4] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11212088