Sd sinuforce 5/03 e

Schweizerische Zeitschrift für
GanzheitsMedizin
Komplementärmedizin ■ Ernährungsmedizin ■ Gesundheitsprävention Andy Suter
Silvia Bommer
Acute and chronic sinusitis:
treatment with a homeopathic
sinus spray
Results of a clinical study on the efficacy and tolerability
of the homeopathic “Sinuforce Spray”
Reprint from Schweiz. Zschr. GanzheitsMedizin 2003;15(5):233–238 Original Articles
Schweiz. Zschr. GanzheitsMedizin 15, 233–238 (2003). Verlag für GanzheitsMedizin, Basel. www.ganzheitsmedizin.ch Andy Suter
Acute and chronic sinusitis:
Silvia Bommer
treatment with a homeopathic
sinus spray
Results of a clinical study on the efficacy and tolerability of
the homeopathic “Sinuforce Spray”
Sinusitis is a widespread disease Treatment with the homeopathic “Sinuforce Spray” significantly reduced both the
score for individual sinusitis symptoms and the total score for symptoms in patients at some time in their life [1]. Thus about with acute or chronic sinusitis. The higher initial score of patients with acute sinusitis was reduced to a greater extent than the score in patients with chronic sinusitis. Side- effects consisted of one case each of dry nose and epistaxis. The vast majority of thephysicians and the patients considered the “Sinuforce Spray” in acute or chronic sinusitis to have very good or good efficacy and judged the tolerability to be very good tions shows a tendency to increase [2].
Chronic sinusitis alone affects about5% of the Central European population Key words: Acute and chronic sinusitis, homeopathic nasal spray, tolerability, relief of recent years [4]. Acute sinusitis is oneof the most frequent infections in the Akute und chronische Sinusitis:
Therapie mit einem homöopathischen Stirnhöhlenspray
Resultate einer klinischen Studie zur Wirksamkeit und Verträglichkeit des Eine Therapie mit dem homöopathischen ‘Sinuforce Spray’ verringerte sowohl den Score der einzelnen Sinusitis-Symptome als auch den Gesamtscore der Symptome bei Patien- ten mit einer akuten oder chronischen Sinusitis signifikant. Bei höherem anfänglichem Gesamtscore verzeichneten die Patienten mit einer akuten Sinusitis unter Behandlung mit ‘Sinuforce Spray’ eine wesentlich stärkere Reduktion des Symptomscores als die Patienten mit einer chronischen Sinusitis. Als Nebenwirkungen traten nur je ein Fall von stark ausgetrockneter Nase und Epistaxis auf. Die überwiegende Mehrheit der behan- delnden Ärzte sowie der Patienten schrieb der Therapie mit ‘Sinuforce Spray’ bei aku- ter und chronischer Sinusitis eine sehr gute oder gute Wirksamkeit zu und bewertete die Verträglichkeit als sehr gut oder gut .
Schlüsselwörter: Akute und chronische Sinusitis, homöopathischer Stirnhöhlenspray, Verträglichkeit, Symptomlinderung, ‘Sinuforce Spray’ current estimates for the USA, theprevalence of acute bacterial sinusitisin adults with symptoms of sinusitis inGeneral Practices is up to 38%, where- Schweiz. Zschr. GanzheitsMedizin
Original Articles
sis was carried out as an ‘intention-to- treat analysis’ in all patients who had were equivalent to ‘not perceptible’, ‘slightly perceptible’, ‘perceptible’ and ‘severe’, at the start of the study and results of a clinical surveillance study, Demographic data
quantified as ‘poor’, ‘satisfactory’, drug consisting of Hydrastis canaden- ‘good’ and ‘very good’ by the physician sis D6, Lemna minor D4, Luffa opercu- lata D6, Cinnabaris D8 and Kalium any gender (Table 1). Fifty-three of the
with very good tolerability of the treat- patients as ‘poor’, ‘satisfactory’, ‘good’ duration of the illness of 2.56 years.
or ‘very good’. In addition, the patient's Patients and methods
each nostril. The “Sinuforce Spray” is out interruption. Altogether, 50 patients In this open, multicentre clinical trial, densis D6, Lemna minor D4, Luffa operculata D6, plus Cinnabaris/Hy- study protocol. As no significant differ- drargyrum sulfuratum rubrum D8 and Schweiz. Zschr. GanzheitsMedizin
Original Articles
Table 1: Characteristics of the study participants
only 28% of the patients attributed the
treatment only satisfactory or even
poor efficacy (Fig. 2).
Intention-to-treat-
Per-protocol-
population
population
Tolerability
One patient each suffered from tinni-tus, pain on chewing, extremely dry nose and epistaxis as side-effects; these Mean duration ofchronic sinusitis (years) with the treatment. The majority of
physicians assessed treatment with
“Sinuforce Spray” to be tolerated very
well or well and only 2% of the doctors
classified the tolerability of the treat-
ment as only satisfactory (Fig. 3). The
patients also found the treatment withthe “Sinuforce Spray” to be well orvery well tolerated and only two patients ascribed the spray only satis-factory or even poor tolerability. The great majority, 88.9%, of the patientsanswered the question whether theywould use the spray again positively.
Subgroup analysis:
chronic versus acute sinusitis
In a subgroup analysis, the initial val-
ues for the individual symptoms of
sinusitis in the patients with an acuteattack of sinusitis were higher than those in patients who suffered fromchronic sinusitis. The severity of the reduced to a greater extent by treat-ment with the “Sinuforce Spray” in thepatients with acute sinusitis than in Fig. 1. Means and standard deviation of the total sinusitis symptom score at the start and at the
end of the treatment and the difference (n = 81), ***p<0.001.
reductions achieved, however, were
statistically significant in both sub-
groups, with the exception of the value
for ‘other symptoms’ (Table 2). The
Efficacy
Spray” from an initial score of 11.2 ± with a score of 2.3 ± 0.8 points, where- 0.001) (Fig. 1). In accordance with the
ment with “Sinuforce Spray” the patients cians classified the efficacy of “Sinu- force Spray” at the end of treatment as even insufficient efficacy. At the end of more, the total score for the 9 sinusitis tion of the total score was 4.6 points.
Schweiz. Zschr. GanzheitsMedizin
Original Articles
Discussion
cacy and tolerability of the homeo-pathic “Sinuforce Spray” in the treat- ment of acute and chronic sinusitis.
The majority of the physicians and good or good efficacy and tolerabilityfor the spray. Thus there was a cant reduction of the total score for the days in the majority of the patients.
These results are in agreement with Fig. 2. Assessment of the efficacy of the homeopathic “Sinuforce Spray” by the doctors and
of the efficacy and tolerability of anoral form with the same active ingre-dients (Hydrastis canadensis D6, Lem-na minor D4, Luffa operculata D6,Cinnabaris D8 and Kalium bichromi- Patients
cum D6) as in the “Sinuforce Spray”[4]. In this previous open multicentre study, 83 patients with acute or chron-ic sinusitis participated. The patients tablets of “Sinuforce Tablets” daily andthose with chronic disease 2 tabletst.i.d. After a study period of ten days,62.5% of the physicians and 59.5% ofthe patients assigned the oral homeo-pathic preparation very good or goodefficacy in the treatment of acute sinusitis, while 63.5% of the doctorsand 59.5% of the patients assigned thepreparation very good or good efficacyin the treatment of chronic sinusitis. In Fig. 3. Assessment of the tolerability of the homeopathic “Sinuforce Spray” by the doctors and
patients.
addition, the tolerability of the tablets Table 2: Means of the individual sinusitis symptoms in patients with acute and chronic sinusitis
Acute sinusitis (n=53)
Chronic sinusitis (n=27)
Symptoms
Significance
Significance
Schweiz. Zschr. GanzheitsMedizin
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References
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Cinnabaris D3 as well as for the prepa- 9. Benninger MS, Sedory Holzer SE, Lau J: acute bacterial rhinosinusitis: Summary of Luffa operculata. In addition, an open in a total of 7% of the patients [6].
the Agency for Health Care Policy andResearch evidence-based report. Otolaryngol Finally, the “Sinuforce Spray” showed 10. Dolor RJ, Witsell DL, Hellkamp AS, Williams JW Jr, Califf RM, Simel DL: Comparison ofcefuroxime with or without intranasal flutica- sone for the treatment of rhinosinusitis.
achieved with a combination of Loba- ria pulmonaria D2, Luffa operculata treatment of approximately one week.
chronic sinusitis. As the nasal spray is, Furthermore, there are only a fewplacebo-controlled studies availablefor the efficacy of antibiotic treatment Authors' address:
of acute bacterial sinusitis. The curerates obtained in these studies vary Andy Suter, dipl. phil. IISilvia Bommer, med. pract.
Schweiz. Zschr. GanzheitsMedizin

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