Melatonin 6x
Homeopathic Pathogenetic Trial
Trial conducted by the Aurum Project for Australian homeopathic medical research, on behalf of Keysun Laboratories, November, 2008.
Kylie Poole, Penny Barron, Linlee Jordan, Alistair Gray.
Thank you to the provers.
The full copy of this report is available to members of the Aurum Project.
The membership fee is AUS $25 please contact:
The Aurum Project
110/20 Dale St
Brookvale 2100
02 99059415
info@aurumproject.org.au
www.aurumproject.org.au
Executive Summary
This Homeopathic Pathogenetic Trial (HPT) (‘proving’) was conducted on the behalf of Keysun Laboratories by The Aurum Project which is an independently run non-profit organization. Primarily, the methodology of Jeremy Sherr was followed.
There were 8 provers, 7 female, 1 male, with 2 provers reporting no symptoms.
Symptoms reported in the provers notes included:
Anger and suppressed anger
Dyslexia, mistakes in spelling and writing
Ecchymosis, eye
Forgetful of words while speaking (word hunting)
Headaches
Impatience and irritability
Itching skin
Prostration of mind
Waking at 2am
Weakness of memory
Two of the provers who were post-menopausal had a recurrence of a menstrual period following the proving or during the time of taking notes.
The number of rubrics from symptoms in the provers notes included: Mental 67, Head 9, Eye 6, Ear 1, Nose 1, Mouth 1, Stomach 6, Abdomen 3, Stool 1, Female 7, Chest 5, Back 1, Extremities 7, Sleep 3, Dreams 7, Skin 2, Generals 4.
The original substance, Melatonin, chemically, is an indole, N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine, a derivative of serotonin, which in turn is derived from tryptophan. Melatonin is synthesized and secreted mainly but not exclusively by the pineal gland of all vertebrates and is described as a neuroendocrine transducer/ tranquillising hormone. This production of melatonin occurs in a rhythmic way and is stimulated by darkness and inhibited by light.
Page 1 Introductory notes
Page 2 Executive summary
Page 4 Homeopathic Pathogenetic Trial (HPT) Information
Summary of HPT methodology
Page 5 Themes from symptoms reported in participants/ provers notes
Page 7 Notes on the substance Melatonin
Introduction, Sleep problems, Jet lag, Cancer, Fertility and menopause, Depression Antioxidant use, Alzeimer’s disease, Gastrointestinal disease, Toxicology and potential for harm
Page 13 Provers notes and rubrics
Page 36 Combined rubrics from all provers
Page 41 Chronology
Page 43 References
Homeopathic Pathogenetic Trial Information
The function of the HPT is to create information as a source for materia medica. The validity and reliability of the information gathered from HPT’s are therefore fundamental for the success of homeopathic practice and clinical research. HPT’s are unique to homeopathy. Their purpose is to test a substance, in this instance Melatonin 6x, at a non-toxic level, on healthy volunteers. This is done to determine the symptoms it provokes and the type of person who may be sensitive to it and which, according to the Similarity Principle, it may be used to treat.
HPT’s have certain things in similar to Phase 1 trials for new pharmaceutical products: they are conducted on healthy volunteers but also there are important differences. The homeopathic doses used (in this case 6x) are too small to risk serious adverse effects and the data collected is mostly qualitative. Phase 1 trials intend, predominantly, to gather data about pharmacological data.
The HPT is not designed to ‘prove’ that homeopathy works; but more to identify the effects of substances. They need to be replicated and then submitted to the rigorous process of systematic clinical verification, as suggested by Hering more than 100 years ago.
The remedies which are the subject of the HPT’s have historically been taken on a voluntary basis. This is crucial for Homeopathy, as it ensures unprejudiced results. The HPT can often take a great deal of time and can be a tremendous amount of work and there are many associated costs. Therefore, it is important that this proving has been supported by Keysun Laboratories and the Aurum Project. This financial and organizational support has therefore come from homeopathic sources: a homeopathic pharmacy and a homeopathic charity.
Summary of HPT methodology
The methodology of Hanemann’s provings has been followed in this HPT, as outlined by the contemporary homeopaths Paul Herscu, Bernd Schuster but mainly the work of Jeremy Sherr.
There were eight provers, seven female, one male, and two provers reported no symptoms noticed. Each prover was given the same homeopathic medicine Melatonin 6x and instructed to take it 3 times / day for 5 days or until symptoms appear. The remedy was stopped as soon as symptoms appear.
Themes from the symptoms reported in the participants/ provers notes noticed after the completion of the HPT.
There was a definite swing between words and actions that described either dirty or clean. Our provers described the need for cleaning things up and throwing things out and also used many descriptive words including garbage, rubbish bins, rubbish tips, messy, junk, yuck, throwing, revolution and ‘scrimmage’.
Another of the major themes was that although all provers had been given both a hard copy and an emailed copy of a proving diary, most provers ended up writing their symptoms on scraps of paper/ old paper and loose pieces of paper. The proving notes contained many spelling mistakes (for example: writing dairy instead of diary), swearing and disorganized thought processes which have been left intact in this report. Dyslexia came up in one of the dreams and all incorrect or unusual spellings have been left intact and are marked by [sic].
There was a strong feeling of industriousness and the feeling of “too much to do and not enough time to do it” leading to overwhelm, chaos, anger, irritability, despair, sensitivity to noise and hysteria. In this overwhelm there were chaotic mental states with many mistakes in speaking, spelling, writing, memory. This sometimes alternated with or was followed by calm and an ability to be more organised.
Two of the provers who were post-menopausal had a recurrence of a menstrual period following the proving or during the time of taking notes.
Major life changes occurred. One prover “threw her husband out” during the proving and discovered much suppressed anger.
Sleep issues were mentioned: “waking at 2am and can’t get back to sleep”, or slept through till 5am which was new, feeling refreshed in the morning and waking early described as “waking clear and clean” and many dreams were mentioned.
A full copy of the HPT report of Melatonin, with references, is available to members. A membership fee is AUS$25. A membership may be purchased and the report may be ordered by contacting The Aurum Project for homeopathic medicine research.
(02) 99059415
110/20 Dale St Brookvale 2100 Sydney Australia
info@aurumproject.org.au
www.aurumproject.org.au
