An open-label randomized clinical study for the comparative effectiveness of constitutional homoeopathic medicine with Dysentery Compound in cases of Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is the most common gastrointestinal disorder worldwide characterized by recurrent abdominal pain, bloating, altered bowel function (constipation, diarrhoea, or both), and a myriad of gastrointestinal symptoms. Its prevalence ranges between 10-15% in Western countries, 6.5-10.1% in Asian countries, and around 4% in North India, where it poses a significant burden on the rural adults and reduces the quality of life. Severe IBS can significantly reduce quality of life, disrupt activities of daily life, and result in exorbitant healthcare costs. In the absence of a reliable biologic marker of IBS, it has been challenging to develop well-targeted, effective IBS drugs and optimal endpoints for clinical trials. Due to unsatisfactory results from conventional treatment of IBS, Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) modalities are increasingly becoming popular treatment alternatives. Unfortunately, most of the CAM clinical trials, including that of homoeopathy, have been of poor quality, and the efficacy of these therapies have not been adequately elucidated. In this project, we intend to evaluate the comparative efficacy of individualized homoeopathic treatment and treatment with a specific medicine Dysentery Compound in 60 patients suffering from IBS using IBS quality of life questionnaire over 3 months at the National Institute of Homoeopathy, Kolkata, West Bengal, India from May 2017 onward. It is an open, prospective, randomized, parallel arm trial. The generated results will undergo statistical analysis and will be published in scientific journal.