Myth about pig health: Homeopathy fails in MMA prevention

Myth about pig health: Homeopathy fails in MMA prevention

mastitis-metritis-agalactia (MMA) syndrome is a disease in sows that occurs in the first days after birth and, above all, leads to a lack of nutritional lack of piglets. In order to prevent this disease, the effectiveness of homeopathic remedies was examined in a scientific study published in May 2024. Two homeopathic remedies were given preventively on sows and their effects were compared with a control group that received a placebo solution.

The study was randomized and was broken, which means that the sows were allegedly allocated to the groups and that neither the researchers nor the farmers knew which treatment every sow received. A total of 60 sows were examined, one group receiving the homeopathic remedies and the other one placebo.

The results showed that treatment with the homeopathic means had no significant effect on preventing MMA syndrome. The health of the sows, measured by clinical signs such as vaginal discharge, increased rectal temperature, milk deficiency and behavioral changes, also showed no significant improvements from the treatment. Interestingly, however, a statistically significant effect was found in the average increase in weight in the piglets of the treatment group.

The conclusion of the study is that the preventive application of the examined homeopathic remedies neither showed an improvement in the prevention of MMA syndrome nor in the health parameters or behavioral features of the sows in this specific herd.

Important basic terms explained:

• mastitis : inflammation of the mammary gland, which is often caused by infections.
• metritis : an inflammation of the uterus that usually occurs after birth.
• agalactia : a deficiency or the lack of milk production after birth.
• homeopathy : An alternative medicine that is based on the idea that a substance that causes certain symptoms in healthy people can heal these symptoms in sick people.
• randomized study : A study in which participants randomly assign one of two or more treatment groups to measure the effect of treatment.
• study : A study in which the participants (and often also the researchers) do not know which treatment (whether active ingredient or placebo) you get to avoid subjective distortions.
• placebo : an inactive substance or treatment that is psychologically similar to a drug, but has no pharmacological effect.

No significant effect of homeopathic means on MMA syndrome in Sauen

In the study examined, the effectiveness of prophylactically administered homeopathic means for the prevention of mastitis-metritis approval (MMA) syndrome in pigs was assessed. The MMA syndrome occurs in the first few days after birth and can lead to losses of piglets mainly through malnutrition. Research aimed at examining an alternative preventive treatment method for the conventional use of antibiotics or other pharmaceutical products.

methodology

In the randomized and blinded study, 60 sows were examined, which were randomly divided into two groups: the experimental group (CL/LL) received prophylactic administration of the complex homeopathic remedies and, while the placebogroup received a sodium chloride (NACL) solution according to the same injection scheme. The clinical signs of MMA, changes in behavior and production parameters were recorded from the day of the fifth day after birth.

results

The treatment group showed no significant effect on the appearance of MMA in the sows (CL/LL: 56.67 % MMA-positive sows; NACL: 53.53 % MMA-positive sows). There were also no significant effects on health parameters (vaginal discharge, increased rectal temperature, milk deficiency) or behavior parameters (impaired feeding behavior and general condition). In the production parameter of the average weight increase, statistically significant effects were found in the treatment group.

conclusions

Prophylaxis with the homeopathic means and showed neither an improvement in MMA prevention nor an improvement in health parameters or behavioral features in the present herd of Sauen. This indicates that the use of these specific homeopathic remedies is not an effective preventive measure against MMA syndrome under the conditions of this study.

The complete results and methodology details of the study can be read at the following link: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37652040 .