Abstract Background: Anemia affects one-fourth of the world’s population, and iron deficiency is the predominant cause. Despite the promising potential of homeopathic treatment in iron deficiency anemia (IDA), it has remained anecdotal rather than evidence-based. Aim and Objective: To explore the feasibility of a definitive, larger trial of Lecithinum 6CH against a placebo in IDA and to identify the preliminary indications of treatment effect by detecting group differences in serum ferritin level, complete hemogram, and fatigue severity scale (FSS) after 3 months of intervention. Subjects and Methods: A 3-month, double-blind, randomized (1:1), placebo-controlled trial of Lecithinum 6CH was carried out on 60 reproductive women with IDA. Group differences were calculated on an intention-to-treat approach. Results: Screening, exclusion, retention, and attrition rates were 84.5%, 15.5%, 90%, and 10%, respectively. After 3 months, the mean differences were similar between groups in serum ferritin (mean difference −8.5, 95% confidence interval CI −18.9–1.9, P = 0.108), hemoglobin % (mean difference −0.4, 95% CI −1.0–0.2, P = 0.189), iron (mean difference −9.8, 95% CI −21.3–1.6, P = 0.089), and other blood parameters, but a higher reduction was observed in the FSS in the Lecithinum 6CH group than placebo (mean difference 0.9, 95% CI 0.5–1.3, P < 0.001). Per protocol analysis also revealed similar trends. No adverse events were reported throughout. Conclusion: The results suggest that Lecithinum 6CH might help with fatigue symptoms in IDA, but does not appear to produce any substantial impact on other parameters. Trial Registration: CTRI/2021/12/038880.
Sarkar et al. (Tue,) studied this question.