Herbal remedy or placebo effect?
from herbal or homeopathic treatment in comparison to that gained
by other factors involved in the consultation with a practitioner.
More than 7 million adults in the UK - 15 per cent of the population - have long-term health problems due to arthritis and related conditions, according to the Arthritis Research Campaign, and 550,000 have moderate to severe osteoarthritis in their knees.
And across Europe the number of arthritis sufferers will continue to escalate as the population ages and other major risk factors, such as obesity, also increase.
But conventional medicine has failed to provide a cure for this condition forcing sufferers to turn to herbal or other dietary supplements to ease the symptoms, said Dr Sara Brien, a senior research fellow at the University of Southampton, who has received government funding worth £330,000 for the study.
"There are a number of reasons for the use of herbal medicine. People often think these products are safer and more gentle on the body," she told NutraIngredients.com.
This is compared to the drugs offered by conventional medicine that often result in serious side effects among patients.
But she added: "It's possible that the effectiveness of treatment is affected by a variety of factors other than the specific type of treatment given, be that the herbal or homeopathic remedy. For example, the consultation process and how the practitioner might empathise with the patient may well be important."
"Indeed data from interviews of patients attending their GPs suggest that talking about psychological or social issues is important to them. This used to be called 'the placebo effect', but we call it the 'contextual' or 'non-specific effect'," she explained.
In an initial study on approximately 100 volunteers the researchers will investigate the improvement in joint pain and swelling, as well as patients' quality of life and use of painkillers after taking herbal remedies compared with benefit gained from the consultation process.
"It's the first time this is being done," noted Dr Brien.
Brien is also involved in an upcoming trial on the herbal devil's claw. This and other supplements such as glucosamine and chondroitin will be assessed in the study, which could have relevance for the herbals sector as well as complementary medicine practitioners.
Patients and practitioners will also be interviewed about their experiences of a complementary medicine consultation.
The results will be available in late 2006.
