PMID- 23642951
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20131021
LR  - 20220408
IS  - 1873-6963 (Electronic)
IS  - 0965-2299 (Linking)
VI  - 21
IP  - 3
DP  - 2013 Jun
TI  - A randomised double-blind comparability study of a placebo for Individualised 
      Western Herbal Medicine.
PG  - 195-9
LID - S0965-2299(13)00061-7 [pii]
LID - 10.1016/j.ctim.2013.03.006 [doi]
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the non-inferiority of placebo Individualised Western 
      Herbal Medicine (IWHM) tinctures compared with true IWHM tinctures. DESIGN: 
      Randomised double blind comparability study. SETTING: Pharmacy department of an 
      NHS integrated medicine hospital. INTERVENTIONS: The IWHM intervention consisted 
      of mixed tinctures of five herbs from a list of eleven herbs for which chronic 
      knee pain is an established indication. Placebo IWHM tinctures contained food and 
      colouring extracts, designed to mimic as closely as possible the taste, smell and 
      appearance of true IWHM. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome of the study 
      was the proportion of patients who indicated that they believed they were taking 
      true IWHM. Secondary outcomes included the palatability of the true and placebo 
      tinctures. RESULTS: 64% of the placebo group indicated that they believed they 
      had consumed true IWHM, compared with 60% of the true IWHM group. The 
      palatability of the placebo IWHM was also acceptable to participants, and similar 
      to the palatability of true IWHM. CONCLUSIONS: The findings from the present 
      study indicate that the placebo tinctures were non-inferior to the true IWHM 
      tinctures in terms of participants' ability to correctly identify them as herbal 
      tinctures by their taste, smell and appearance. The placebo tinctures could be 
      utilised in future double blind, placebo controlled randomised trials of IWHM.
CI  - Copyright (c) 2013. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
FAU - Berkovitz, S
AU  - Berkovitz S
AD  - Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine, UCLH NHS Trust, United Kingdom. 
      saul.berkovitz@uclh.nhs.uk
FAU - Bassett, P
AU  - Bassett P
FAU - Hughes, J G
AU  - Hughes JG
LA  - eng
PT  - Comparative Study
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Randomized Controlled Trial
DEP - 20130411
PL  - Scotland
TA  - Complement Ther Med
JT  - Complementary therapies in medicine
JID - 9308777
RN  - 0 (Placebos)
RN  - 0 (Plant Extracts)
SB  - IM
MH  - Adolescent
MH  - Adult
MH  - Aged
MH  - Aged, 80 and over
MH  - Double-Blind Method
MH  - Female
MH  - Herbal Medicine/*methods
MH  - Humans
MH  - Male
MH  - Middle Aged
MH  - Odorants
MH  - Phytotherapy
MH  - Placebos/*standards
MH  - *Plant Extracts
MH  - *Plants, Medicinal
MH  - Precision Medicine
MH  - *Recognition, Psychology
MH  - *Research Design
MH  - *Taste
MH  - Young Adult
EDAT- 2013/05/07 06:00
MHDA- 2013/10/22 06:00
CRDT- 2013/05/07 06:00
PHST- 2012/04/16 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2013/02/08 00:00 [revised]
PHST- 2013/03/11 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2013/05/07 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2013/05/07 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2013/10/22 06:00 [medline]
AID - S0965-2299(13)00061-7 [pii]
AID - 10.1016/j.ctim.2013.03.006 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Complement Ther Med. 2013 Jun;21(3):195-9. doi: 10.1016/j.ctim.2013.03.006. Epub 
      2013 Apr 11.