HOMŒOPATHY THE PREVENTIVE MEDICINE

 

Preventive medicine as generally understood, is ‘prevention of infectious diseases’ particularly of children.  Whenever epidemics are feared the preventives or prophylaxis are given to those exposed to infection and not affected yet.  These medicines are standarised vaccines (orthodox school) given to immunize children against the common childhood infectious diseases.  In Homœopathy also we have ‘preventive medicines’.  In fact, HAHNEMANN stands foremost in the ranks of physicians who not only spoke of preventive medicines for epidemic diseases but also actually prescribed them.  His famous essays on the prevention of Cholera and advice as to the use of the homœopathic remedies Camphor, Cuprum and Veratrum  for the different stages of that dreaded disease and his prophylaxis for Scarlet fever are but two examples.   His small essay about preventive medicine for rabies is also relevant.  Unfortunately no one seems to have taken the pains, over the decades (upto the present day!), to collect from world-over cases of rabies treated by Homœopathy and the results and thus to arrive at a possible prophylaxis.

 

It is very unfortunate that the government is not giving due place to Homœopathy in its various immunization programmes.  The Homœopathy practitioners also, especially the ‘leaders’ do not come together to exert enough pressure upon the authorities in this regard. (They are skeptical about their own Science by which they earn their bread = KSS).  HAHNEMANN held doctors as responsible for not containing epidemics.

 

Now: what is proposed to be discussed here under ‘preventive’ diseases is different from the above epidemics.  This is about diseases with serious pathology developed as a result of improperly treated acute illnesses or what at first appear to be trivial illnesses.

 

We know that frequent sore throats in childhood damages the heart.  “Rheumatic fever tends to recur, presenting as fleeting poly-arthritis of the larger joints, pyrexia and carditis within three weeks of a streptococcal infections. Carditis may be severe and result in permanent cardiac damage.”  The LANCET says that in global terms rheumatic heart disease is today the commonest forms of acquired heart disease in children and young adults and one of the most common cardio-vascular disorders in adults.  In India, tropical and sub-tropical Africa, the Philippines, Central America, Indonesia and Middle East prevalence rates of rheumatic heart disease increases.  Homœopathy has demonstrated – and it is verifiable by anyone who has an open mind – that it not only ‘cures’ the sore throat and its attendant ailments like poly-arthritis, fever, weakness etc., but also steadily builds up the natural immunity against recurrence.  Homœopathy thus prevents damage to the heart.  It is rightly claimed that Homœopathy is the preventive medicine for damage of the heart due to rheumatic fever.

 

Discussing about Phosphorus  in ‘Neurasthenia of the lumbo-sacral region’, Dr.E.A. FARRINGTON, has said: “Dr. HAMMOND has observed involuntary urination as a precursor of locomotor ataxia, manifesting the disease long before the appearance of any of the ataxic symptoms.  It behoves us to remember this clinical fact, and to strive to cure all sphincter relaxations with the hope that we may be warding off incurable organic lesions (italics mine).  By curing with homœopathic medicines these involuntary urination, dribbling after micturition, weakness of urinary and anal sphincters, we will be preventing locomotor ataxia at later age, a crippling condition.

 

Let us recall what Dr. KENT has said while speaking about Kali carbonicum:  “Weakness of heart, cardiac dyspnoea; the breath is short and the patient cannot walk or must move very slowly.  It is the coming on of a fatty heart.”  A nice timely warning of an impending danger.  “It” (Kali carb.) has “dropsies all over the body.  The feet bloats and the fingers puff; the back of the hands pit upon pressure, the face looks puffy and waxy.  The heart is weak.  I can look back upon quite a number of cases of fatty degeneration of the heart in which I could have prevented all the trouble with Kali carb., if I had known the case better in the beginning.”  So, here again is homœopathic remedy for prevention of fatty degeneration of the heart.

 

Coming events cast their shadows before.  Emotional disturbances, life strains and the inability to get over or surmount emotional disturbances have their influences on the psyche.  The unsurmounted problems which lie suppressed get physicalised in due course and heart diseases, joint rheumatisms, cancer develop.  If we recognize the large quantities of consumption of tranquilizers, hypotensive etc. and the increasing number of Cancer, Heart diseases, Rheumatism etc. we cannot ignore this aetiology.  The use of psychic drugs point to the mental state of the users who are unable to surmount their emotional conflicts and life-situation problems.  Let us look in the Repertory rubrics like, for example, Anxiety, Fear, Delusions, Despair, Sadness.  Anxiety, fear for what?  Tactful interrogations along those will help prescribe suitable homœopathic remedy to help the patient get-over the problems and make life adjustments.

 

While writing about Breast Cancer one has stated “she was like many other Breast Cancer patients—weary of her life situation, difficulties and discords at home, the family is a burden etc.”  Let us listen to HAHNEMANN: “Emotional upsets particularly early upsets bring out the latent Psora and cause weaknesses and many more, so that the sick person cannot recover by his own power.  If the patient does not have that much philosophy, religion and mastery over self to bear his fate with patience and calmness, even masterly medical management cannot have success with a chronic patient subjected to such continuous assaults of sorrow and vexation.  External influences, strains, privations do not cause outbreak of Psora which lies concealed and lurking in the background to break forth into significant chronic diseases or aggravate a chronic disease any more than living certain months with complete physical comforts in an unhappy marriage with a gnawing conscience.”

 

Loathing of life, weariness of life, despairing, depressions, vexations, anxieties, all if allowed to take hold of the person, and if the person is not able to get over these kinds of emotional conditions, the internal Psora interacts and physicalises; further interactions with the Sycosis and Syphilis Miasms all bring about pathological changes in due course.

 

Dr. von Ungern-Sternberg cites a number of cases to prove that emotional disturbances may produce heart diseases and carcinomatous diseases, if the  emotional disturbances are not got over.  Hence the importance of the ‘mental’ rubrics in our Repertory.  Appropriate homœopathic remedy would help these persons and prevent serious pathology later.  The three great modern problems, viz., Cancer, chronic joint Rheumatism and heart circulatory diseases are preventable provided genuine Homœopathy is applied.  Towards that end let us strive and be worthy of Hahnemann’s legacy.

 

References:

 

1.      HAHNEMANN, S.: Lesser Writings.

2.      The Lancet, Jan.16, 1982.

3.      FARRINGTON, E.A.:  Lesser Writings.

4.      KENT, J.T.: Repertory; Lectures on Materia Medica.

5.      HAHNEMANN, S.: Chronic Diseases.

6.      Von UNGERN-STERNBERG:  Ignatia’ Zeitschrift für Klassische Homöopathie, 

      Band 17—Heft 1, 1973.  (See English translation in QHD,  Dec. 1984).