A 37-year-old woman, being married for 6 years, presented to the homoeopathic outpatient department, after treatment of infertility by a gynaecologist for few years. She had a past history of emergency ovarian cystectomy for endometriosis 1 year after her marriage. Her subsequent infertility workup revealed hydrosalpinx with one-sided tubal block along with the evidence of poor ovarian reserve. Her husband's semen analysis was normal and was advised for donor-ovum in vitro fertilisation. At this point, she was treated with constitutional homoeopathic medicine following the miasmatic analysis with the holistic concept of Homoeopathy over 6 months. Treatment started with Silicea and later switched to Syphilinum. She conceived normally after that and subsequently delivered a healthy baby at full term. This case shows the positive role of classical homoeopathic treatment on subfertility.

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Context: Thuja occidentalis is prescribed in Homoeopathy in treating rheumatoid arthritis. We speculated the anti-arthritic mechanism of Homoeopathic dilutions of Thuja occidentalis against the complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA)-induced arthritis in rats. Materials and Methods: Arthritis was induced (n = 28) by subplantar injection of 0.1 ml CFA in the right hind paw of rats. The oral dose of crude Thuja occidentalis was 30 mg/kg/b. i. d and that of Homoeopathic dilutions was 0.1 ml/b. i. d. Orally administered diclofenac at 5 mg/kg/day served as a standard. The treatments continued for 24 days. The severity of arthritis was determined weekly as rise in paw volume, mechanical allodynia and changes in body weight. On the 25^th day, X-ray imaging of the arthritic paws was recorded, and the biopsy samples extracted from the paws were subjected to the estimation of pro-inflammatory cytokines and histological evaluations. Results: Thuja occidentalis Homoeopathic dilutions and its crude form protected rats against the CFA-induced arthritic lesions. The mother tincture, 6cH, 30cH and 200cH dilutions of Thuja occidentalis significantly reduced the CFA-induced rise in paw volume, reduced the mechanical allodynia and also reduced the levels of interleukin (IL) IL-1, IL-6 and tumour necrosis factor alpha in paw tissue. CFA-induced articular changes, oedema, cellular infiltrations and cartilage damage were reduced by Thuja occidentalis dilutions. The radiological images indicated that Thuja occidentalis treatment reduced the CFA-induced joint swelling, bone erosion and joint space narrowing. Conclusion: Our findings substantiate the anti-arthritic effects of Thuja occidentalis Homoeopathic dilutions against CFA-induced arthritis and indicate that Homoeopathic dilutions of Thuja occidentalis, particularly 6cH dilution, exert more potent anti-arthritic effects than its crude form.

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Background: Chemoprofiling of homoeopathic drug/tincture (HT) represents a comprehensive approach for evaluation of quality, purity, safety and efficacy of HT. This paper reflects the chemoprofiling of Homoeopathic drug Holarrhena antidysentrica L. Objective: The objective of this study is to standardise Holarrhena antidysenterica mother tincture by taking the samples from four different sources: Dr D. P. Rastogi, CRI (H) Noida (A) and three from market (labelled as B, C and D). Materials and Methods: The authentic sample of bark of Holarrhena antidysenterica supplied by the Centre of Medicinal Plants Research in Homoeopathy, Emerald, Tamil Nadu, India was used to prepare the mother tincture (as per the Homoeopathic Pharmacopoeia of India). The solvents used throughout the study, namely, ethanol, high-pressure liquid chromatography water, cyclohexane, chloromethane and diethylamine, were of analytical grade purity (MERCK Ltd.). Physicochemical properties, ultraviolet (UV) spectroscopy and high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) chemoprofile of raw drug and mother tinctures were standardised and compared with market samples. Results: The present study reveals the moisture content (14.40%), total ash (4.65%), alcohol (18.0%), water extractive values (16.0%), total solids (1.47%), weight/ml (0.92 g) and alcohol content (60.6%). In UV spectroscopy, λ_maxvalues were observed at 228 and 278 nm in HT. HPTLC analysis of in-house HT (A) and three market samples (B, C, D) was performed by using cyclohexane: chloromethane: diethylamine (7:3:1, v/v/v) as mobile phase. Under UV light (254, 366 nm) and in the presence of visualising agent Dragendroff, bands of active constituent were observed in all the four samples. However, excess amount of active constituents were found in in-house HT (a) rather than the market samples (B, C and D). Conclusion: The present physicochemical and phytochemical data may be considered as pharmacopoeia standards for the homoeopathic drug Holarrhema antidysentrica L.

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Background: Stroke, the third leading cause for neurological morbidity and mortality has a global annual incidence of 0.2–2.5/1000 population. The clinical sequelae of stroke are often devastating with hemiparesis, depression, walking difficulties and aphasia. It is essential to take measures halting the progression of stroke. Homoeopathic literature mentions many medicines for stroke. Till a pilot study was undertaken to study the usefulness of Homoeopathy as an adjuvant therapy to standard conventional care in stroke patients. Materials and Methods: An open-label pilot study was conducted at Princess Durru Shehvar Children's and General Hospital, Hyderabad, in coordination with Extension Clinical Research Unit of Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy. Fifty patients presenting with episodes of cerebral stroke of the different period were assessed by the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) Score, prior homoeopathic treatment and after 6 months of treatment. Results: Of 50 patients, 10 patients had stroke more than 1 year and suffering with sequelae, 27 patients had stroke episode between 1 month and 1 year and 13 patients had a stroke episode within 4 weeks. The reduction in NIHSS score after 6 months of treatment was statistically significant in all three groups. The useful medicines found were Causticum (n = 11), Arnica montana (n = 7), Nux vomica (n = 6), Lycopodium (n = 6) and Lachesis (n = 3). Neither patient had worsening signs nor any new infarcts during the study. Conclusion: This pilot study showed encouraging results. Further randomised control trials are suggested to evaluate the efficacy of homoeopathic medicines in stroke.

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Introduction: The first-of-its-kind World Integrated Medicine Forum (WIMF) on the regulation of homoeopathic medicinal products (HMPs) which was attended by various stakeholders from 23 countries witnessed rigorous discussions to strengthen existing regulatory framework of homoeopathic medicines in the world, as well as to bring harmony within the Homoeopathy market for drug manufacture standards including pharmacopoeial convergence. Materials and Methods: A feedback questionnaire was shared with the participants through SurveyMonkey online platform to seek their opinion about the Forum, obtain their country-specific views about regulations of HMPs, to evaluate the extent to which the Forum could meet its objectives and also to identify areas of improvements which may be taken note for organising a future WIMF. Results: Sixty-one percent participants from 18 countries returned the survey. Analysis of the responses revealed a group consensus about the remarkable organisation of the Forum, its usefulness from a national perspective, etc. The questions could also fetch insight about country-specific reforms that are required in the availability and regulations of HMPs. All the respondents who took the survey recommended a next Forum on the same lines, out of which 92% said they would recommend it to other colleagues. Conclusion: Homoeopathy is a widely recognised and accepted system worldwide. Based on its increasing demand, a harmonised regulatory system for homeopathic medicines must be developed to ensure good quality of HMPs, and this can be achieved through cooperative interactions among various stakeholders, both nationally and globally. A Forum such as this, at least once every 2 years, can provide the right push on this front.

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The advancement of medical knowledge is quintessentially based on the authentic and reliable scientific research and publications. This is in addition to the recently mandated requirement of original research publications in indexed journals to ensure career progression in academic/medical institutions; thus, the need for ‘publications’ in scientific medical scholarly journals has increased substantially. On the other hand, this has given an unparalleled rise in the number of standalone journals and publishers ‘predatory’ is the term, who are ready to process the manuscripts on priority with almost guaranteed publication, at a cost, but having no credibility to the research being published. To foster awareness creation among students at the post-graduate level and for faculty of medical colleges and research institutions, it has become very important to avoid these predatory journals. It is high time that the thinking among researchers of ‘publish or perish’ be changed to ‘Publish and Flourish’ by adopting stringent measures which have evolved over time to curtail this birch of predatory publishing. Researchers should now take the road less travelled. This review article aims to highlight all the relevant and important points about the threats posed by predatory journals and also suggests possible ways to overcome them. Republished with permission from: Jain NC, Khan GS. Predatory Journals: A Downside on Research and Hampering the Impact and Relevance of Scientific Outcome. RUHS J Health Sci 2018;3:99-105.

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Dr. Upma Bagai left for her heavenly abode on 8 September 2018. At the time of her untimely demise, she was serving as Professor and Chairperson, Department of Zoology, Panjab University, Chandigarh.

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