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Aim: To study the outcomes of atopic diseases in children treated with homeopathy at the Homeopathic Clinic of Lucca (Italy) and related long-term results after approximately an 8-year period. Materials and methods: Our data derive from an observational longitudinal study carried out on 857 pediatric patients who consecutive visited from 1998 to 2014. Children with atopic diseases were 325 (37.9%), 126 (39%) suffered from atopic dermatitis, 72 (22%) from allergic rhinitis, and 127 (39%) from asthma. Moreover, a long-term study was conducted on a subset of 107/165 patients, consecutively visited from 1998 to 2006, and with ≥5 years follow-up. The study also investigated the evolution of overall symptoms in those patients with a complex atopic symptomatology. Results: 75.8% of atopic children had moderate or major improvement (67.1% with asthma as the primary disease; 84.2% rhinitis; 84.2% dermatitis). At re-evaluation after 5–10 years, complete remission of atopic symptoms was obtained in 70.1% of the children: 84.2% in dermatitis; 48.1% in allergic rhinitis; 71.4% in asthma. Children with two or three atopic diseases at the first visit were completely cured in 40% of cases. Conclusion: The results seem to confirm that homeopathic medicine produces positive therapeutic response in atopic children.

Introduction In 2003, the Homeopathic Clinic for Women at Campo di Marte Hospital (now Cittadella della salute) was opened in Lucca, Italy. Over an 11-year period women mostly with gynaecological diseases were followed up. This paper explores the socio-demographic caracteristics, main complaints, most commonly used integrative therapies, and the clinical results of women presenting over this period. Methods An observational, longitudinal study was conducted on 1388 women consecutively examined from 2003 to 2013. The ORIDL (Outcome in Relation to Impact on Daily Living) was used to assess outcome. All patients were treated with individualized homeopathic treatment (single remedy), without excluding other integrative treatments when necessary. Results Patients mean age was 42 years, most were office workers (23.9%); 33.4% had already used conventional therapies and 38% homeopathic remedies. The most frequently observed gynaecological diseases for 750 of the cases (54%) were: menopausal disorders (21.6%) and menstrual irregularities (11.9%), and among non gynaecological diseases, psychological disorders (12.9%). A homeopathic prescription was followed by herbal therapy for 42.2% of the patients with menopausal disturbances; 402 (53.6%) women with gynaecological problems, received follow-up and 38.1% were women with menopausal disorders. An improvement was obtained in 298 (74.1%) patients; major improvement or resolution (ORIDL = +2, +3, +4) was seen in 246 (61.2%) women, 89 (66.9%) of these with menopausal disorders. Conclusion Homeopathic treatment was sometimes integrated with diet, botanicals, and psychological counselling and support in psychopathological conditions and demonstrated positive therapeutic effects, particularly for women with menopausal disorders.

This paper explores some key topics in the semiotics of law − and the paradoxes related to legality, legitimacy, and interpretation − through a chapter in the history of British radicalism that unfolds around the Treason Trials of 1794. These trials, I argue, staged a wholesale battle around the very nature of the sign. The peculiarities of British treason law and the prosecution’s “constructive” readings made treason wholly into a crime of the sign, framing all of radical culture as criminal and conspiratorial. I argue this by showing how legal meaning, along with guilt and innocence, was negotiated in relation to (1) context, and particularly the French Revolution; (2) the performativity of signs, and most crucially, their capacity for disrupting the status quo; and (3) the dynamic nature of semiosis, whereby historical process and political change cannot be halted or controlled. In the Treason Trials, these concepts are alternately invoked and denied as frames for viewing “factual” evidence and establishing its meanings along partisan lines. Finally, this paper would like to suggest that the legal narratives produced in 1794 can generate insights into discursive strategies still used today to create “facts” and “truths,” shape popular opinion, and justify government interventions.

To address the side effects of anticancer treatments, the Clinic for Complementary Medicine and Diet in Oncology was opened, in collaboration with the oncology department, at the Hospital of Lucca (Italy) in 2013.To present the results of complementary medicine treatment targeted toward reducing the adverse effects of anticancer therapy and cancer symptoms, and improving patient quality of life. Dietary advice was aimed at the reduction of foods that promote inflammation in favor of those with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.This is a retrospective observational study on 357 patients consecutively visited from September 2013 to December 2017. The intensity of symptoms was evaluated according to a grading system from G0 (absent) to G1 (slight), G2 (moderate), and G3 (strong). The severity of radiodermatitis was evaluated with the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) scale. Almost all the patients (91.6%) were receiving or had just finished some form of conventional anticancer therapy.The main types of cancer were breast (57.1%), colon (7.3%), lung (5.0%), ovary (3.9%), stomach (2.5%), prostate (2.2%), and uterus (2.5%). Comparison of clinical conditions before and after treatment showed a significant amelioration of nausea, insomnia, depression, anxiety, fatigue, mucositis, hot flashes, joint pain, dysgeusia, neuropathy, and all symptoms. Moreover, in a subgroup of 17 patients in radiotherapy undergoing integrative treatment, the level of toxicities and the severity of radiodermatitis were much lower than in the 13 patients without integrative treatment. Twenty-one cancer patients (6.2%) either refused (18) or discontinued (3) conventional anticancer treatment against the recommendation of their oncologist; after the integrative oncology (IO) visit, 7 (41.2%) out of 17 patients with follow-up decided to accept standard oncologic treatments.An IO clinic may contribute to reducing the adverse effects of anticancer therapy and improving the quality of life of cancer patients.

Introduction The healthcare programs of the Region of Tuscany (Italy) have started the process of integration of some types of complementary medicine (CM), including homeopathy, which began in 1996. The Homeopathic Clinic of Lucca was opened in 1998, followed by the Homeopathic Clinic for Women in 2003, and the Clinic for CM and Diet in Oncology in 2013. Methods Observational longitudinal studies conducted on 5,877 patients (3,937 in the general clinic, 1,606 in the women's clinic and 334 in oncology) were consecutively examined from 2003 to 2016. The Outcome in Relation to Impact on Daily Living (ORIDL) was generally used to assess outcomes. Results Comparing the clinical conditions before and after homeopathic treatment, improvement was observed in 88.8% of general medicine patients with follow-up (45.1%); in particular, 68.1% of the patients had a major improvement in or resolution (ORIDL +2, +3, +4) of their condition. In women, an improvement was obtained in 74.1% cases and a major improvement in 61.2%. In cancer patients with homeopathic and integrative treatment, a significant improvement was observed for all the symptoms during anti-cancer therapy, particularly for hot flashes, nausea, depression, asthenia, and anxiety. Conclusions These results suggest that homeopathy can effectively be integrated with allopathic medicine and that the Tuscan experience could provide a useful reference for developing national and European regulations on the use of CM and homeopathy in public healthcare.

Background. To face adverse-effects of anti-cancer treatment, the Homeopathic Clinic of Lucca, in collaboration with the Oncology Department, has set up an Integrative Oncology Outpatient Unit in the Public Hospital Campo di Marte, Aim. To present the results of complementary medicine (CM) treatment targeted towards reducing the adverse effects of anti-cancer therapy and cancer symptoms and improving the quality of life of breast cancer patients. Methods. This is a retrospective observational study conducted on 204 breast cancer patients (all females except 1 male) were consecutively visited from September 2013 to December 2017, mean age 54.8 (35-88) years. Almost all patients were referred by their medical oncologists. The intensity of symptoms was evaluated according to a grading system from G0 (absence of symptoms) to G1 (slight), G2 (moderate), and G3 (strong), as evaluated by the patient in conjunction with the doctor during the course of the visits. The severity of radiodermatitis was evaluated with the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) scale. Homeopathy was the main prescribed therapy, either exclusive (47.5%) or integrated with other complementary medicines (41.7%), mainly botanicals and acupuncture. The Banerji protocol was applied in 3.4% of patients. Results. The most frequently treated symptoms were the adverse-effects of anti-cancer therapies (84.3%): endocrine therapy (36.3%), chemotherapy (33.3%), radiotherapy (9.8%) and surgery (4.9%). The symptoms caused by cancer disease were 25.5%, and comorbidity 21.6%. Comparison of the clinical conditions before and after treatment allowed to observe a significant amelioration of the following symptoms: hot flashes (p < 0.01); nausea (p < 0.01); fatigue (p < 0.01); anxiety (p < 0.05); depression (p < 0.01); insomnia (p < 0.01); mucositis (p < 0.01); joint pain (p < 0.01) . Conclusions. A clinic of integrative oncology is an opportunity to reduce adverse-effects of anti-cancer therapy and to ameliorate cancer patients’ quality of life.