A study published in April 2010 in The Journal of Complementary and Alternative Medicine concludes that homeopathy significantly improves migraines.  Migraine sufferers reported reductions in symptoms and improved quality of life.  They also reduced their use of conventional and other therapies, a good objective measure of improvement.

The study included 212 patients treated by 67 different homeopathic physicians.  Positive results continued for the full 24 months of the study, despite the fact that most patients received treatment for only twelve months or less.  As I often point out to my patients, this is the only true indication of a curative system of medicine: when the symptoms go away and the need for treatment goes away, then the disease has truly been cured.

The authors conceded that the design of the study does not eliminate other factors as influences on patient health.  Influences such as placebo effect and the effect of a positive doctor-patient relationship have been documented in previous studies of alternative therapies for migraines.  I have two things to say about this.  First, if the placebo effect cures migraines, great!  It's better than a drug not curing them.  Second, the way I have seen the placebo effect work out in reality is that it is short-lived.  Patients continuing to thrive for a full year beyond the treatment period indicates true healing.

Read the abstract at this link http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20423206

or the full article at http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/pdfplus/10.1089/acm.2009.0376