The relative effectiveness of isotherapy compared to isotherapy and simillimum in managing tobacco smoking addiction

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of isotherapy together with the homoeopathic simillimum whilst comparing it with isotherapy combined with placebo in helping people to stop smoking, in terms of a daily smoking log, and the participants attitude to their tobacco smoking addiction. Thirty participants completed this double-blind randornised trial which took place in the northern suburbs of Gauteng. Participants responded to advertisements and were selected according to certain criteria: participants were to be over the age of 18 years of age, and were to have smoked 15 or more cigarettes a day for more than a year. Group 1 received isotherapy and homoeopathic simillimum and group 2 isotherapy and placebo. Each participant received 5 treatments over a period of 3 months. Cigarette consumption was recorded daily by each participant and questionnaires were completed in the presence of the researcher at each consultation. The daily smoking logs and the questionnaire scores were totalled and statistically analysed. Comparison with respect to cigarette consumption between the two groups were analysed using the two-sample unpaired t-test. The Mann-Whitney U-tests were used for inter-group comparisons and the Wilcoxon's signed rank tests for intra-group comparisons with respect to the questionnaires. Data was presented in tables and bar graphs. In each case a was set at 0.05.