CONTINUING HOMŒOPATHIC MEDICAL EDUCATION SERVICES

QUARTERLY HOMŒOPATHIC DIGEST

VOL. XXXIV - XXXVI, 2017 - 2019

Part I Current Literature Listing

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Part I of the journal lists the current literature in Homœopathy drawn from the well-known

homœopathic journals published world-over - India, England, Germany, France, Brazil,

USA, etc., - discipline-wise, with brief abstracts/extracts. Readers may refer to the original

articles for detailed study. The full names and addresses of the journals covered by this

compilation are given at the end of Part I. Part II contains selected essays/articles/extracts,

while Part III carries original articles for this journal, Book Reviews, etc.

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I. PHILOSOPHY

1. Fixed first Principles

HENRIQUES, Nichola (AH. 22/2016)

This is a very good and useful study of the

principles. It is certainly worthwhile to study this

carefully since many of us tend to err and blame the

medicine e.g. in one of his lectures H.C. ALLEN

said that if an acute condition arises in the course of

action of a chronic case (under treatment

homœopathically) do not interfere; if you do, you

will spoil the case. Again, listen to KENT “The

oftener you prescribe for different groups of

symptoms the worse it is for your patient, because it

tends to rivet the constitutional state upon the patient

and to make him incurable. Do not prescribe until

you have found the remedy that is similar to the

whole case, even though it is clear in your mind that

the one remedy may be more similar to one

particular group of symptoms and another remedy to

another group. (Kent, Philosophy Lecture 37)

The whole article has to be read carefully. [See

Part II of this QHD.]

2. The Unprejudiced Observer

DANIEL, Robin Pollock (AH. 22/2016)

Hahnemann stresses on the Physician to be

‘unprejudiced’; yet there are hardly few among us

who is really ‘unprejudiced’. Every case Report

builds up ‘prejudice’. In his Organon this word is

used in 5 places. The importance of being

‘unprejudiced’ need not be stressed any more.

3. The Wisdom of the Organon: Two cases

applying Hahnemann’s Aphorisms

SPERLING, Vatsala (AH. 22/2016)

This is an interesting article. The author

presents two cases to stress the importance of

following the Organon.

4. Halbgeister über den Wassern Eine kritische

Auseinandersetzung mit den krankheits –

theoretischen Auffassungen Hahnemanns.

(A Critical study of Hahnemann’s conception of

theory of Diseases)

ZWEMKE, Hans (ZKH. 60, 1/2016)

That since 1831, at the latest, Hahnemann’s

conception of Disease had undergone great change.

At the earliest of this was as explained in the

Organon, the view which created much opposition

was that disease – except the epidemic diseases –

was an individual happening which is due to an

immaterial agent on the one side and on the other

side, a so called Vital Force of energic-dynamic

nature – a kind of infection – and in form a kind of

disturbance of feelings which makes a disease by

way of individual symptoms which are removed by

a medicine through a kind of opposing action created

a similar feeling thus driving away the ailment. This,

a kind of spiritual healing theory. is in the second

edition; also that all chronic diseases are caused by

specific, partly spiritual-materially acting parasites.

Further on Hahnemann has said in principle of a

cause-based, as in Natural Science.

5. Die Vereinigung der Gegensätze

(The union of opposites)

WINTER, Norbert (ZKH. 61, 2/2017)

A fascinating Chapter of intellectual history is

the dialogue between the Physicist and Nobel

Laureate WOLFGANG PAULI and the Psychologist

CARL GUSTAV JUNG. The approach to a

common plane between both, a common

denominator between modern Quantum Physics and

Jungian Psychology takes up the insights of the new

Physics and allows them to pass into a consistently

new understanding of scientific thinking. The

world-view so obtained spans the range between the

‘rational’ science and the ‘intuitive experience’

between natural and spiritual sciences, Matter and

Spirit – allows the beginning of a fruitful dialogue

between the most diverse epistemological and

therapeutic curentes. And without any intention and

without any physical boundary crossing, the

understanding of science widens in such a way that

Homœopathy can be seen as an wholly-natural

aspect of an in-depth understanding of Nature. And

this with all their implications, their peculiarities,

and rare phenomenon, which sometimes astound the

Homœopathic Practitioners.

6. Quantenphysic und Wirklichkeit

(Quantum Physics and Actuality)

WINTER, Norbert (ZKH. 61, 3/2017)

Homœopathy and Science often seem to be

incompatible, the postulates of Homœopathy and the

premises of Science appear to be contradictory. But

perhaps the problems are not the basic assumptions

of Homœopathy – but wrongly accepted

assumptions of Science. This is why the most

challenging part of our current understanding of

Science, Quantum physics, is to be examined in its

essential aspects. Directly connected is the question

as to how far these phenomena are relevant to our

everyday reality – and to what extent the insight into

Quantum Physics phenomena has an impact of the

world view of the physicists involved.

7. Sakrileg – oder die Reise zu den Anfӓngen der

Wissenschaft

(Sacrilege – or the journey to the background of

Science)

WINTER, Norbert (ZKH. 61, 4/2017)

A very interesting article; the enigmas that were

unsolvable by scientific comprehension of their

times; the modern physics has not been able to solve.

This urged Wolfgang PAULI to question the

background, the roots of natural-scientific thinking.

It became clear that not only ‘rational’ insights were

the driving force of the development of Natural

Science, but it already bears intuitive and spiritual

dimensions, thus carrying within itself exactly what

it intends to deny.

[“Whenever it is in agreement with Nature, the

ruling power within us takes a flexible approach to

circumstances …. in consequence.” – The

Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, Book – 4, Penguine

Classics, 2006 = KSS].

8. Die Quaternität

(Quartenity)

WINTER, Norbert (ZKH. 62, 1/2018)

The dialogue of the physicist Wolfgang PAULI

and the Psychologist Carl Gustav JUNG, shed a light

on parallel patterns of thought, which showed up

with authors of early renaissance and on the other

hand proved necessary for the comprehension of

modern physics. These thought patterns show an

extension to those of classical physics, thus

suggesting an effectual context beyond that of

causality – tentatively called acausality. In order to

demonstrate the context of causal and acausal

structures, PAULI and JUNG designed, after long

struggling the model of Quartenity, which is able to

yield to both aspects and give a scope to both

physical and psychic processes and their interaction.

9. Homöopathie und Quartenität

(Homœopathy and Quartenity)

WINTER, Norbert (ZKH. 62, 2/2018)

Starting with the discussions between W.

PAULI and C.G. JUNG and their view on quaternity,

we have to find out, how far this model fits to the

experiences of 200 years of history of Homœopathy.

Several aspects of Homœopathy are discussed with

respect to their causal and acausal contexts. Finally

the necessity arises to understand Homœopathy as an

interrelation of causal and acausal elements and to

recognize the corresponding laws and correlations.

[A very thought-provoking-series in this regard is

Edward WHITMONT’s The Alchemy of Healing –

Psyche and Soma, 1993, North Atlantic Books,

Berkeley, California. Also ‘Quantum Questions’,

ed. by KEN WILBER, wherein we will find

contributions of the great minds, DAVID BOHM,

WERNER HEISENBERG, EINSTEIN, MAX

PLANC, WOLFGANG PAULI, EDDINGTON,

ERWIN SCHROEDINGER, et al.; another grand

work is ‘Dialogues with Scientists and Sages’, the

Search for unity by Renee WEBER containing ideas

of RUPERT SHELDRAKE, ILYA PRIAGOGINE,

STEPHEN HAWKING, KRISHNAMURTI, et al.

If one is widely read, one would understand the truth

in Homœopathy and not blindly oppose it who

having eyes refuse to see. = KSS].

10. “Das Ganze ist mehr als die Summe seiner Teil”

(The whole is more than the sum of its parts)

STEINER, Urs (ZKH. 62, 1/2018)

This is an excellent article which discusses

the theme with case reports. Von

BOENNINGHAUSEN is discussed. It would seem

that of all the great followers, it is

BOENNINGHAUSEN who understood rightly the

principle of Homœopathy particularly with regard to

practical application. For example: the true genius

of the individual remedy, the bipolar symptoms (ref.

Dr. Heiner FREI), the ‘counter symptoms’, have to

be reckoned. It was Gustav GROSS and HERING

who further on took this fact and put it in the

comparative Materia Medica [this is a very

important work which every practitioner must

possess but is now ‘out of print’ I understand! How

can we expect well-trained doctors if such works are

not taught? = KSS]. “My skill was achieved only by

following the footsteps of Boenninghausen whom no

one can excel” says GROSS. HERING said “all our

provings and cures come to this that all are due to

HAHNEMANN and his genuine followers.”

“The whole is more than the sum of its parts

(ARISTOTLE) and the Similie is more the sum of

its grade.

A case is narrated and discussed in the light of

Polarity analysis, and the result.

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II. MATERIA MEDICA

1. Die Nosoden- und Sarkodentherapie und their

(Vor)geschichte – ein heikles Erbe

Nosode and sarcode therapies and their history

– a controversial inheritance

Viktoria Vieracker, (MedGG. 33/2015)

Nosodes and Sarcodes (homœopathic remedies

gained primarily from disease products respectively

organs of human or animal origin) are groups of

drugs which were added to the homœopathic Materia

Medica in the 1830s. Most substances used in

nosode or sarcode therapy have a long medical

tradition, with some even going back to the pre-

Christian period. My contribution first describes

therapeutic practices that use these substances and

then jutaposes them with their use in the early days

of homœopathic nosode and sarcode therapy. The

investigation shows, on the one hand, that there are

aspects common to both approaches that go far

beyond the mere choice of substances. On the other

hand, it demonstrates the effect the inclusion of

human or animal body substances in the

homœopathic Materia Medica has had on

Homœopathy, as their use is no longer in line with

what is considered rational.

2. Provings: Living Homœopathy

HUENECKE Jason-Aerie (AH. 22/2016)

The basis of the Homœopathic Materia Medica

is the ‘Proving’. It is ‘proving’ (personal experience

after taking a medicinal substances) that gives you a

diagnosis.

The author recalls gratefully the pioneer

provers. Several ‘new’ remedies have been ‘proved’

which have, in the past appeared in the A.H. [Instead

of proving ‘new substance’ we already have

sufficient ones which would do. Even today our

polychrests – Calc., Lyc., Nat-m., Sep., Puls., Phos.,

and others – are the ones that render the maximum

help. Most of us are yet to master many of the old

remedies. = KSS]

4. Eine Beobachtung zu Aluminium metallicum

(An observation with regard to Aluminium

metallicum)

HOLZAPFEL Klaus (ZKH. 61, 1/2017)

The author took the medicine Aluminium

metallicum C30 in water solution; he suffered from

a pain, burning as from a wound more on the left

side, worse from empty swallowing. This symptom

has been clearly given by BOENNINGHAUSEN

(Lesser Writings). While the remedy cleared the

complaint, but next morning he again felt slight

recurrence and he took a further dose and the effect

was an aggravation. When this was left undisturbed,

completely well.

Alumina, Characteristics:

General characteristics (genius):

Sides: Dynamic/Development Region/Extension;

Cause right sided; sudden, spasmodic: upward

Region/Organ

Mucousa membranes Throat

Rectum

Skin

Nerves

Modalities:

< AFTERNOONS; (13-14h.)

< EVENING

< after mid-day meals

< POTATOES

< walking; walking in open air.

>PRESSURE, PRESSING

> Scratching

Complaints/Sensations/Findings

SHOOTING PAINS

TEARING

BURNING

ITCHING

DRYNESS

HEAVINESS, BEATEN DOWN, EXHAUSTION

WEAK, LAMENESS, LACED UP, SQUEEZING

Special characteristics

ANXIETY SEEING KNIFE

FEAR OF GOING CRAZY

TIME PASSES TOO SLOWLY

FEAR (FORWARD) OF FALLING

Hairfall head WHIMPERS

Feeling of egg white dry on face cobweb on chin.

AS IF THE UPPER EYELID IS LONGER AND

DROOPS DOWN.

Must stand to pass stool CAN PASS URINE

ONLY WHILE PASSING STOOL, cannot

urinate when and during passing of stool but

after that he can while standing.

Feeling after passage of urine of some urine is still

retained.

Sensation of A GLOWING STEEL IS PUSHED

THROUGH THE DORSAL VERTEBRAE,

through the elbow, through the knee.

SENSATION AS IF INSECTS ARE CRAWLING

ON THE SKIN.

Peculiar localized sides: Dynamic

Growth: region/extension: causation.

Left sided: mouth, Back, downwards, Legs.

Peculiar localized modalities/opposing

modalities:

< walking > walking

> Pressure, pressing < pressure

Peculiar localized

complaints/sensations/findings

Pulsation, palpitation: head

Increased salivation, waterbrash in mouth.

CONSTIPATION, HARD STOOL

INTESTINAL BLEEDING

MUCOUS IS EXPELLED WITH EFFORT:

THROAT

LEUCORRHOEA, ACRID LEUCORRHOEA

Striking single symptoms:

Heaviness of the top of head, fear it would fall if

head bent forward

Significant shortening of the lower jaw, the upper

teeth projects much over the lower

Throat pain with internally hot hands.

Feeling of cold wind in the urinary bladder after

passing urine

Clinical indications

Constipation

Skin eruptions (itchy)

Paralysis

Leucorrhoea vaginalis.

Observation (e.g. unaffected regions)

No Puls symptoms (Boenninghausen: Puls

unaltered).

5. Die Materia Medica Revisa Homœopathie

(MMRH)

(Revision of the Homœopathic Materia Medica)

THOMA, Christian (ZKH. 61, 1/2017)

C. HERING’s Drug Proving of Allium Cepa

consists only of 35% symptoms of Drug Proving,

13% are toxicological and 5% Clinical. Additional

25% are indications for employment of Onion, and

22% of the symptoms created by HERING by

dividing the origins Symptoms in Symptom

fragments. HAHNEMANN refused Clinical

Symptoms of the Old School not based on the Laws

of Healing “Similia Similibus Curentur.” In 1881

T.F. ALLEN drew the conclusion that the experience

with the drug demonstrated that in such fashion as

HERING’s work and the Encyclopaedia were

constructed a reliable Materia Medica could not be

compiled and that Allium cepa needs a thorough

revision. This article demonstrates the way in which

such revision deals with HERING’s proving.

Characteristic of Allium cepa

Main Regions: Mucous membranes of Respiratory

passage and Conjunction, Abdomen, Head and the

Urinary organs.

General modalities: Among the modalities

dominant ones are the agg. evenings as also in

warmth (warm room, warm air) and the amel.

in open air

The more often observed in provings

amelioration from cold water as also agg from coffee

and sitting have not been verified by clinical

confirmation.

Characteristics:

Peculiar: The thread-like pains, deep from the head

extending to behind the ears, as if the eye was

hanging by a string, in the sight upper jaw, with

burning or cold cutting in abdomen and with

Hyperesthesia of skin.

Likewise characteristic are neuralgic pains, which

came as proving symptom of the upper half or

right eye as well as in right upper arms and

clinically after amputations.

Sides involved:

Predominantly the Eye complaints left, the left sided

abdominal complaints and the complaints of the

left lower extremities as well as the right Ear

complaints.

Frequently the one side affections of the left upper

Extremities, and also the right as the left.

From right to left wandering complaints in head, the

teeth and in throat.

Rare are the complaints the pain left upper and right

lower at the same time and indeed the left thigh

and right foot, so also in left middle finger and

in the right big toe.

Discharges: Unusual are the copious discharges not

only from the nose and the eyes but also urine,

sweat and throat secretions.

Mind, Sensorium: Emotional plane is disconnected

from the mental plane in head.

Head: Besides the symptom of evening agg. the

modality of > in open air as also the < by

returning to the warm room, is characteristic for

Allium cepa. Peculiar symptoms pain more

often like an electric strike passing through the

head, sensation in head as if the room were too

narrow, also feeling the whole head were

enveloped by warm water.

Eyes: Confirmed peculiar are the sensations as if

the eyes were torn off, as if the Eye is hung by

loose thread and under upper lid sensation of

smokiness, mostly in right. Very often

lachrymation with sneezing, left eye is more,

watery and redder, also of left eyes sensitivity to

light.

Note: It is surprising that the often observed

clinically acrid nasal discharge, the leading All-c.

Symptom acrid nasal secretion with mild tears was

noted only once. In many coryza cases the clinically

appearing sneezing, cough, also lack of appetite.

More often the clinical confirmed Proving

Symptom watery nasal flow.

Teeth: All-c. has pressing toothache > cold water.

Throat: Many times occurring in the Proving

hawking of mucous and indeed back of the

choane, evening, in clumps also nauseating

taste.

Nausea and vomiting: Confirmed: Nausea >

belching.

Inner abdomen: Frequently came up in the Proving:

abdomen pains, particularly left as also

rumbling in abdomen. Notable are the sensation

burning or cold cutting in abdomen – a pain as

if a thin string, burning glow or freezing feeling

as lashing in, warm or cold sensation, as if a fire

inside the abdomen. The flatus is frequent,

plenty and stinking.

Rectum and Anus: unusual sensation of cold

crawling as by a cold worm in Anus.

Urinary Organs: Characteristic is the highly red

urine and burning in the urethra while urinating

as also the weak feeling in the bladder and the

ureter.

Larynx: Very characteristic are the only clinically

obtained symptoms. Feeling as if his larynx

would burst it pains him so much while

coughing and the hoarse cough would split the

larynx and tear it. T.F. ALLEN: remarks in his

1881 A critical Examination of the Materia

Medica.

Cough: Only in four clinical cases observed

aggravation of cough in cold air.

Skin: characteristic are the corrosive itching, also

only clinically observed symptom of feet with

soreness of feet from shoe rubbing. [generally

said “shoe bite” = KSS.]

Heat: Striking is fleeting heat.

In this Allium cepa monograph there are: 406

symptoms containing 271 Proving Symptoms,

28 toxicological and 107 clinical symptoms.

6. Alumina – drei Beobachtungen aus der literatur

und der versuch einer Characteristics

MINDER. Peter (ZKH. 61, 4/2017)

Three Case Reports from primary literature the

attempt to create a characteristic of Alumina, as

worked out in group work of the Materia Medica

Study Group.

7. Die characteristica von Antimonium crudum

(The characteristics of Antimonium crudum)

THOMA, Christian (ZKH. 62, 2/2018)

The Encyclopedia of Timothy field ALLEN

contained 407 symptoms. However, during course

of revision of this remedy by the Materia Medica

Revisa Project by Dr. GYPSER, a careful study of

further reliable Provings and toxicological

symptoms have been found from 11 sources; 109

clinical observations also. All these have been

systematically analysed by Dr.GYPSER and his

team. The results were published in the Monograph.

This article analyses the symptoms in the hitherto

Materia Medica as well as entries in the (Kent)

Repertories, thoroughly and points out the various

faults. The entire article has to be gone through as

well as the already published (2015) Monograph

(both in German), to obtain genuine, reliable

symptoms for prescribing Antimonium crudum.

8. Streptococcinum

SEUL, Brigitte (ZKH. 62, 1/2018)

This is a lengthy article on the Nosode:

Streptococcinum. The author presents with the aid

of Rubrics in the Repertory (Complete Repertory),

interview and talks with patients treated with

Streptococcinum. Illustrations of D.M.

FOUBISTER’s indications for treatment of acute

and chronic diseases with infectious Nosodes;

review of case presentations in the literature;

presentation of collateral remedies.

[Personally, about 25 years ago or even earlier, I

came to use this Nosode in cases of children come

with a so-called ‘Strep-throat’ who were relieved

well with a dose Streptococcus. ‘Hapco’ prepared a

‘Streptococcus rheumaticus’. Nosode which was

quite effective in relieving rheumatic pains in

persons with history of childhood recurrent

Tonsillitis and ‘Strep throats’. Now- a-days we see

much less of this throat. Please read Dr. D.M.

FOUBISTER’s Homœopathic Tutorials in children

Diseases and also Dr. O.A. JULIAN’s Materia

Medica of the Nosodes. = KSS].

9. Secale cornatum

ALLEN H.C. (With an Introduction by

HOLZAPFEL, Klaus) (ZKH. 62, 4/2018)

The proving symptoms of H.C. ALLEN’s

Fragmentary Proving of Secale cornatum are

presented in a head-to-foot arrangement.

10. Calcium sulfuricum. Fallsammlung mit

Hinweises zur Materia Medica

(Calcium sulphuricum. Collection of cases

with hints to Materia Medica)

LUCAE Christian (ZKH. 61, 2/2017)

On the basis of Case Reports the selection of the

remedy Calcium sulphuricum is illustrated. This

remedy is poorly represented in the Repertories. By

comparing the Provings published so far, supported

by clinical Case Reports suggestions for additions to

the Repertory are worked out. The remedy is

especially suited to purulent conditions.

14 cases are presented. After carefully going

through the Synthesis Repertorium and listing out

the representation of Calc. sulph. in it, following

additions to Repertory are suggested on the basis of

cured cases.

Head: Perspiration on Scalp, night,

Head: Perspiration on Scalp, Occiput

Head: Perspiration on Scalp, Occiput, sleep in, agg.

Head: Perspiration on Scalp, Occiput, in sleep

Ear, inflammation, middle ear, chronic

Nose, catarrh, followed from, Chest: Complaints of

Face, odor, bluish, eyes, around the Eyes: Rings

Larynx and Trachea, voice, nasal, Cough, barking

Back, skin eruptions, cervical region

Back, perspiration, Cervical region

Extremities, heat, Feet, uncovering the feet; with

Extremities, uncovering; desires to, Feet.

Sleep, wakes up, nights, midnight, after

Skin, skin eruptions, Molluscum contagiosum;

Molluscum

General, complaints from; persons, Furuncle, of

recurring.

Calcium sulphuricum may be considered for

following pathologies after differential diagnosis, in:

recurrent Otitis media purulenta, severe tube catarrh,

Bronchitis. Impetigo contagious, Abscesses,

Panaritium continued is a great heat with much

sweat (Hands, Feet, Head, Nape), also cold foot

sweat. In short Calcium sulphuricum may be

considered as a “hot Calcium carbonicum”.

III. THERAPEUTICS

1. Homœopathie bei akuter-Pharyngitis und

Tonsilitis

(Homœopathy in acute Pharyngitis and

Tonsilitis.)

HOLZAPFEL, Klaus (ZKH. 61, 1/2017)

Acute Pharyngitis occur frequently in the

author’s medical practice. A well established

procedure is presented in the article and explained

with the help of case histories. Confirmatory

symptoms may be in the ‘modalities’. Relevant

repertorial rubrics have been given. Nine cases have

been discussed.

2. Drei Fälle aus der homöopathischen Praxis

(Three cases from Practice)

SRINIVASAN, K.S. (ZKH. 60, 1/2016)

A case of a prolonged grief and a couple with

infertility were cured homœopathically, i.e. single

medicine selected individually, single doses, are

presented here.

Evidence of Homœopathy is its reliability in

practice.

3. Fallbericht Psychovegetatives Erschöpfungs

syndrome: Cimicifuga

(Case of Psycho-vegetative Syndrome:

Cimicifuga)

GYPSER, Klaus-Henning (ZKH. 60, 1/2016)

A case of nervous exhaustions in a female,

40 years, separated from her husband, was very

weak and exhausted. She wept and was restless.

Sleep disrupted and was unrefreshed in mornings.

She said, when further questioned that finger joints

reddened and felt her Achilles heel was short when

first stepping. Menses was early. She laughed

frequently during the consultation. She jerked

frequently during sleep and woke up due to that.

Cimicifuga XM – one dose.

Menses came on promptly and she was mentally

well. Her ailments regarding Achilles heel and sleep

quality have all become well.

4. Urologische Erkrankungen bei Männern –

Verschiedene Losungsansätze

(Urological complaints in men and different

methods of prescription)

ZAUNER, Bernhard (ZKH. 60, 2/2016)

Dr. ZAUNER has demonstrated the use of

different methodologies in solving cases: 1) the

Kentian, ii) Boenninghausen’s, iii) Symptomen-

Lexicon. The method to be used depends upon the

case analysis. For example if the case does not

present clear modalities, or lacking in ‘peculiar’

symptoms, etc. it has been said Dr. BOGER used

four different repertories – to suit the case he had. A

good knowledge of the structure of the different

repertories is essential for this.

In the present article has demonstrated how he

arrived at the right remedy in each case.

5. Erfahrungen mit der Homöopathie bei akuten

Harnweginfekter bei Frauen

(Homœopathy in urethral infection in Women)

HOLZAPFEL, Klaus (ZKH. 60, 2/2016)

Bladder inflammation often impose as one-

sided disease and thence seem difficult to treat

homœopathically. Important rubrics are shown and

some remedies with the more frequent symptoms of

the class of diseases are examined. A pool of

remedies with the most frequent symptoms is

established. Some cases are presented as examples.

13 cases are briefly given; the remedies that

came up were Cantharis, Sarsaparilla, Mercurius

solubilis, Mercurius corrosives, Zincum, Cannabis

sativa, Lycopodium, Colocynthis, Pulsatilla.

6. Homöopathie und Krebs – Kurative, palliative

und analgetische Rolle eines Heilsystems.

(Homœopathy and Cancer – Curative, palliative

and analgetic roll of a medical system)

PATEL, Ramanlal P. (ZKH. 60, 2/2016)

Cancer, from the point of view of Homœopathy,

is not a localized disease, which is cured after the

removal of the Tumor, but a miasmatic disease. The

role of Homœopathy in the different stages of the

Cancer disease is evaluated and 11 strategies of

homœopathic treatment are presented. Special

attention is aimed at the 6th edition of the Organon of

the Healing Art with its new instructions from the

production and the application of remedies.

7. Zwei Fälle aus der Klinik

(Two Cases from Clinic)

MAVBERG Philip (ZKH. 60, 2/2016)

Two urological cases are reported.

1. Chronic state after Urethral infection: 83 -year old

man from last year suffered from a collapse episodes

with Hypotonic and recurring urine retention

parameter high; anæmia. Hb. 8.5%.

Had Fever 38.8⁰ C without chill.

Repertorisation with Phatak; Sepsis, blood

poisoning, weakness, Pulse not corresponding to the

temperature.

Pyrogenium 30. Patient improved well.

Reference: Margaret TYLER, J.C. BURNETT.

2. Infection after Urological operation: A female

who had suffered during childhood urinary

complaints and has been under antibiotic. She

underwent a surgical procedure and healing was also

poor. “The otherwise gentle woman was now surly

and reacted to change of weather particularly cloudy

weather. Analyzing the case with ‘Combined

Repertory’.

The symptoms:

- General; Injuries, Operation, ill-

effects, from

- General; weather, Cloudy <

- Mind; Surly

- General; Inflammation; of wound.

The patient wanted to remain quiet

in bed.

Calendula 30.

One dry dose followed by diluted

dose.

Very rapid cure.

8. Kleines Mittel mit groBer Kraft.

Palliative Einsatz von Thlaspi bursa pastoris

beim Prostatakarzinoma.

(Small remedy with great power)

PANNEK-RADEMACHER, Von Susanne,

PANNEK, Jüngen (ZKH. 60, 2/2016)

Prostate Cancer is one of the most frequent

malignancies in men. Advanced Prostate Cancer

may lead to complications that severely impair the

quality of life of the patients, e.g. recurrent

intravesical blood clotting due to local tumor

necrosis. The successful use of the homœopathic

treatment as an efficient adjunctive with Thlaspi

bursa pastoris in two patients is reported here.

9. Bryonia

GYPSER, Klaus-Henning

(ZKH. 60, 2/2016)

For the selection of a remedy in an influenza-

like infection, the contradictory symptom “Mouth,

dryness, not ameliorated by drinking” was taken for

working out the remedy for the case. Analysis with

the help of Repertory of Rubrics Analysis. Further

repertorisation and comparison with the Materia

Medica lead to Bryonia and it cured. Then the

scientificity of Homœopathy is clear.

10. Homöopathische Allergologie

(Homœopathic Allergology)

LUCAE, Christian (ZKH.60, 3/2016)

In the first part of this article, the beginning of

allergology are shown in a historical overview.

Hahnemann suggested the possibility of an atopic

diathesis in the ‘Organon of Medicine’. The

homœopathic physician C.H. BLACKLEY

recognized pollen as the cause of Hay-Fever and

anticipated the principle of desensitization. Some

Amercian authors in the 19th and beginnings of 20th

Century, e.g. E.B. NASH, dealt more extensively

with the treatment of allergies.

In the second part, examples from the practice

give an insight into today’s homœopathic treatment

of allergies. Coherent and incoherent courses are

observed.

In this connection the author has drawn

attention to idiosyncrasies, (Org.§117) e.g. tendency

of certain persons otherwise disposed to good-health

are affected by certain things which do not affect

most persons.

11. Homöopathische Behandlung der Neurodermitis

(Homœopathic treatment of Neurodermatitis)

FREI Heiner (ZKH. 60, 3/2016)

Neurodermitis is a frequent disease in children.

Conventional medicine can only suppress its

symptoms and is not able to cure it. In consequence

the patients often develop inner allergies such as

HayFever or Asthma. Contrarily Homœopathy is

able to heal these patients. But as long as they have

only skin symptoms, the identification of the

homœopathic remedy is not easy, because the

symptoms are superficial. If the patients have

internal symptoms remedy determination becomes

much more precise and efficient. In this article

polarity is introduced, a new method for remedy

determination and explain it with two case histories

of neurodermitis patients. The first one is an infant,

who showed many possible healing obstacles, the

second an older child with concomitant internal

symptoms that led directly to the homœopathic

remedy. At the end the possible pitfalls are

discussed.

[Dr. Heiner FREI has explained the Polarity

Analysis method clearly in his books on ADHD in

children and others, in German. However, his book

in English ‘Polarity Analysis in Homœopathy’

which takes one step by step is very useful. The

book is published by Narayana Publishers in 2013.

This book is strongly recommended = KSS].

12. Heuschnupfen – Sticta pulmonaria

(Hay Fever – Sticta pulmonaria)

HOLZAPFEL, Klaus (ZKH. 60, 3/2016)

A case of Hayfever cured by Sticta pulmonaria.

A peculiar symptom in this case is Sweat on hands.

KR does not have Sticta in Sweat on hand but

KUNZLI’s has it with 1 mark. This symptom was

observed by LIPPE and reported and BOGER

mentioned it in his Synoptic Key.

As supplement Dr. HOLZAPFEL has given

proving of Sticta pulmonaria by W.A. DEWEY,

translated from French.

Preface:

The American Willis Alongo DEWEY (1858 –

1938) presented in the Congress in 1900 in Paris

Medicine Proving of Sticta pulmonaria. At the end

of his presentation he gave a summing up in

Hahemannian Scheme. In that Dewey did not

include certain important modalities. These are now

given here. The number at the end of the symptom

indicate the Prover No.7 and 8 are Female Provers:

Dewey in text: [Translaed by Klaus HOLZAPFEL,

from the French into German].

Head:

Seven provers had experienced headache whose

importance are as follows:

Pain as from weight in back of head.

Unspecific feeling of a weight on head 2, 4.

The head feels as if floating in the room.

Vertex pains as of a heavy character. 2.

Pain as from a load in vertex. 2.

Forehead Migraine, amel. By cold. 5.

(Supplement by the translator:

Prover No.5 had a Migraine of the Forehead

with slight nausea and Slight stopped feeling

in open air, after which amel. by cold.

Migraine, amel. by pressure. 7.

Slight headache as from a load, deep in, 7.8

The head appears to be empty and confused

after

each dose. 5, 7, 8.

Headache over the Orbits 10mts. After taking

the

first dose, 6.

Slight giddiness 4.

Pain in the forehead region above the right eye.

Eyes:

Three Provers had eye symptoms as follows:

The eyes pain seemed to be inflamed. 6.

Pain in the inner corner of the left eye. 2.

The right eye pains, as if there was something

in it. 6.

Ears:

The prover experienced a sharp, neuralgic pain

the mastoid apophyse, more deeply in

Nose:

Nose bleed easily. 8.

Coryza Mild. 3. (the prover had some relief

with a mild, tenacious nasal discharge which

had remained for some days.)

Watery nasal flow. 8.

Nose, stopped sensation. 8.

Sensation of flowing in head in open air. 5.8.

(Prover No.8 had loss of sleep due to stopped

nose and the entire head; the day before

sensations of stoppage in head on rising up

and thereby watery discharge from eyes and

nose which affected vision and breathing!).

Symptoms catarrh, sneezing and coryza. 2.8.

Continuous sneezing and constant watery nasal

flow, better from cold. 2.

Tenacious, yellow discharge over several days.

Face:

Pain in the cheekbones. 2.

Mouth:

One Prover reported that his gums is covered by

a well stuck white, pearly coat, which does

not come off; copious, foamy salivation. 2.

Back part of the tongue is coated thick yellow,

stripe in the median upto the tip, many red

prepillae are seen in the whole tongue. 2.

Strawberry tongue with clean tip. 4.

Throat:

Scratchy feeling in throat. 2.

Dry scratching in the Larynx. 2.

Sensation of obstruction in the throat. 4.

Stomach:

Light heartburn with sour and bitter eructations;

sleepiness after eating with little appetite

otherwise. 8.

Stool:

4 Provers had impressive symptoms.

Mucoid diarrhea, copious stool, almost

colorless. 5.

Continued ineffectual urging. 5.

Copious stool at 1 o’clock early, driving out of

bed and much pressure. 5.

Foamy stool, morning, accompanied by gas. 2.

Constipation with sharp, crampy pain in anus

lasting half an hour after stool. 5.

Urinary Organs:

Bladder appeared to have widened. 7.

Urine dark unusually and increased. 6, 7, 8.

Pain felt in the bladder.

Bladder appeared to be sensitive to pain. 7, 8.

Much increased urine. 6, 8.

Frequent urging. 6, 8.

Must wake up after at nights to urinate. 8.

Urging with only scanty quantity of urine. 8.

Male:

Pollutions on more nights, after 3 months. 4.

Pollution during the midday sleep, the mind is

disposed to sexual themes. 4.

Female:

Uneasiness in Pelvis.

Menses copious and brighter than usual. 7.

Cough:

Dry, spasmodic like cough: as much more she

coughs so much more must she cough.

2. (Prover No.2 said that only with a strong

will the cough could be halted).

Spasmodic cough, which he is unable to

suppress. 1.

Dry cough which causes a pain under the upper

part of sternum. 1.

Dry cough, spasmodic attacks. 1, 2, 8.

Heart:

Irregular Pulse every 3rd or 4th beat missing. 2.

The veins in the hands and feet are overfilled

and distended as also the superficial arms and

legs veins and legs. 2.

Back:

Pain as from a load on the 2 and 4 lumbar wakes

him up from sleep, amel. from being erect or

stoop forward. 7.

Weak feeling in back, afternoon. 8.

Fever:

Chill shivering through the whole body as also

the toes and fingers. 2.

Increase of temperature. 8.

Extremities:

Sticking pain in the knees and legs. 8.

Cold sweat of feet. 3.

Inclined to cold hands and feet. 4.

Feeling of painful spots in muscles as also lower

Prover No.3 had pains in the feet worse from

movement, as well as pain in the rt. Knee

from walking, and going up steps, arms from

motion. 3.

Glands:

The left throat glands are swollen with sensitive

throat. 5.

Pain in the right submandibular gland, < from

pressure.

Pains in the parotid gland. 1.

14. Ignatia – Anorexia nervosa

HADULLA, Michael (ZKH. 60, 3/2016)

A 13 year-old girl with Anorexia nervosa. In the

last 4 months she had lost 10Kgs. She herself was

unable to say any reason.

On the basis of striking mind symptoms,

Natrum muriaticum and Ignatia were prescribed.

This treatment was concomitant with other

medicines. The results of working with various

repertories and computer programs are discussed.

15. Eine homöopathische Monographie der

Meerzwiebel (Scilla maritima)

(A homœopathic monograph of Sea Onion –

Scilla maritima)

HAGGENMÜLLER, Georg (ZKH. 60, 3/2016)

This is a well-researched study of Scilla

maritima. Its role in irritation of mucous membranes

especially respiratory tract and also on the heart.

16. Wie kam die Atiologie in the Homöopathie?

(How aetiology come into Homœopathy)

GNAIGER-ROTHMANNER, Jutta

(ZKH. 60, 4/2016)

This is a study of aetiology concept with regard

to the origin and causation of diseases.

The contents of etiology have been clearly

defined by HAHNEMANN in §5 of the Organon.

There the difference between the beginning of a

disease and its deeper cause is pointed out precisely.

The term aetiology itself has been developing

gradually from the contributions of

BOENNINAGHAUSEN and HERING and KENT,

upto P. SCHMIDT who defined it expressively and

put aetiology at the first place in hierarchization.

DORCSI elaborated aetiology to a marked step in his

doctrine of the Viennese School. Along with these

facts the new repertories have introduced the

valuable rubrics “ailments from”.

17. Atiologie in ihre Bedeutunig heute

(Aetiology in its significance now)

GNAIGER-ROTHMANN, Jutta

(ZKH. 60, 4/2016)

Etiology or cause is divided into ‘External

Cause’ and ‘Primary or internal cause’. Can the

questions ‘since when?’, ‘Why’ give us the right

answers. The relation to the doctrine of the miasms

of HAHNEMANN and its concept of suppression on

one hand as well as the psychic trauma and the

person on the other. Is the after effects of infection

and adverse results of Psycho-trauma – considered

as Chronic Miasma? What is the role of suppression

and Hering’s Law?

18. Über die Aetiologie symptome.

(On the aetiology symptoms)

SCHMIDT, Pierre (ZKH. 60, 4/2016)

A discussion by Dr. Pierre SCHMIDT with

colleagues, in which he emphasizes the prominence

of the symptoms of etiology with indications of the

effect level of remedies. (refer. “A proposal des

symptomes etiologiques” in L’enseignement du

Dr.Pierre Schmidt, textes recuellis par le Dr. J. Baur,

Editions Similia, 1991. Bd.II, 148 – 151).

19. Die Symptomengesamtheit und anatomische

Ursachen von Krankheit – müssen wir

umdenken?

(The Symptom totality and anatomical causes of

disease – must we think about?)

PATEL, Ramanlal (ZKH. 60, 4/2016)

We should have the ‘totality’ of the case which

include the physical examination. We should have,

besides sensations; feelings, etc. the pathological

state also, obtained from clinical examination. A

case is presented by Dr. PATEL which required in

addition to Homœopathy, a pace-maker as revealed

by necessary examination.

[There is no question whether a physical

examination should be made or not. In fact the

Homœopath must do a thorough clinical

examination to the extent necessary in a case. =

KSS].

20. Cina bei Wurmbefall und die Bedeutung der

Atiologie

(Cina in worm infestation and the significance

of aetiology)

LUCAE, Christian (ZKH. 60, 4/2016)

A 10¼ yr. boy with worm infestation was cured

with Cina. The author has discussed the application

of Dr. DORCSI’s method as in his Symptomen

Verzeichnis wherein he has given 12 remedies in

‘Atiology’.

21. Kurativer effect von Bryonia alba bei

chronischer Diarrhoea mit Fruchtoseintoleranz

(Curative effect of Bryonia alba in Chronic

diarrhea with Fruchtose intolerance)

ZWEMKE, Hans (ZKH. 60, 4/2016)

Chronic Diarrhoea diagnosed as intolerance of

Fructose, in a 52 year-old female. Flatulent

abdomen with belchings. Repeated doses of Bryonia

alba cured. Different reportorial approaches – such

as Kent, General Analysis and Synoptic Key of

Boger and Analysis of Polarities according to

Boenninghausen followed by comparison with

Hahnemann’s Pure Materia Medica which

recommends the important hint to repeat Bryonia

after 24hrs, because of its interactions.

22. Die Grippe-Pandemie nach dem Ersten

Weltkrieg und die Homöopathie im

internationalen Vergleich

(The flu epidemic after World War I and

Homœopathy – an international comparison)

JAHN, Stefanie (MedGG. 32/2014)

The “Spanish Flu” began in 1918 and was the

most devastating pandemic in human history that

had ever been claiming more lives than World War

I. The flu virus had not yet been discovered, and the

usual therapy measures were merely symptomatic.

In many parts of the world the pandemic was treated

by homœopaths. At the time, homœopathic medical

practices, out-patient clinics and hospitals existed in

various countries. To this day homœopaths refer to

the successful homœopathic treatment of the

“Spanish Flu”. The following paper looks at what

this treatment consisted in and whether it was based

on a particular concept. It also examines

contemporary evaluations and figures, as well as the

question as to whether Homœopathy experienced a

rise in demand as a consequence of its success during

the pandemic.

23. Homœopathy and Cancer: Applying the

Foundations in a modern context

SPERLING, Vatsala (AH. 22/2016)

This is an Interview with Dr. A.U.

Ramakrishnan who is known around the World for

his wide ranging success in treating Cancer cases. It

may be recalled that few years ago, Catherine

Coulter co-authored with Dr. A.U. Ramakrishnan a

book on treatment of cancer.

Dr. Ramakrishnan says his approach to Cancer

Cases is based on a few factors:

 Use of organ specific remedies.

 Use of Carcinosinum or Scirrhinum

Nosodes as intercurrent remedies.

 Use of new form of dosing that he has

named the plussing method.

[Certainly this Interview is quite interesting =

KSS].

24. Nephritic Syndrome in a child with Wilms

Tumor A Homœopathic Medicine Case Report

WHITMONT, Ron (AJHM. 109/2016)

A three-year-old female child, status post-

nephrectomy, radiation and chemotherapy for stage

3 Wilms tumor developed nephritic syndrome in her

remaining kidney. She was treated with

homœopathic medicine in lieu of conventional

treatment. The case was repertorized using

principles of Predictive Homœopathy(PH) and the

homœopathic medicine Staphysagria was

administered on the basis of a singular Syphilitic

Entry Point (SEP). The patient responded rapidly to

the treatment and the condition completely resolved.

[This is puzzling. There is no doubt that the patient

got over the complaints and remained well enough.

Evidently Staphysagria was her remedy. However,

what I do not understand is the case analysis, I do not

find Staph. is a ‘cheerful’ person. Kent, Boger and

G.S. all do not mention of hilarity, cheerfulness,

happiness in respect of Staph. Only in the Allen’s

EN. we find this ‘mind’ Happiness, Cheerful, etc.

this symptom has been reported by the prover

Longhammer.

It is the curative reaction of the organism in a

man of opposite disposition – HAHNEMANN

(p:147, Vol.9, EN). We do not find hilarity,

cheerfulness, happiness in GS. Nor in the KR,

Phatak, Synthesis. Reference of Murphy’s

Repertory is given. We do not know the source from

which this entered into the Repertory. Withal the

patient is well. And it rests at that. = KSS.]

25. Case assessment and Management through

“Predictive Homœopathy”: Two Cases.

MISHRA, Dhiraj, MISHRA, Zachana Dhiraj

(AJHM. 108, 4/2015)

Predictive Homœopathy is a clinical

homœopathic method developed by Dr. Praful

Vijayakar. It emphasizes the importance of

miasmatic influences and their relationship to neural

development in homœopathic case assessment and

makes use of Hering’s “Law of Cure” in case

management. What follows are two cases

demonstrating the Predictive Homœopathy

approach. The first involves a 2 year-old female

with developmental delay and hypotonia. The

second case involves a 9 year-old male with

attention deficit disorder and mental retardation.

26. Acute Thyrotoxicosis/Graves’ Disease in a

Type 1 Diabetic

A Homœopathic Medicine Case Report

SALTZMAN, Susanne (AJHM. 109/2016)

Acute thyrotoxicosis is a systemic potentially

life threatening condition that occurs as a result of

excess production and release of the thyroid

hormones triiodothyronine(T3) and thyroxine (T4).

This results in a hypermetabolic state that is often

characterized by marked weight loss, anxiety,

restlessness, tremors, tachycardia, diarrhea, and heat

intolerance. If left untreated, death can occur from

acute heart failure and/or pulmonary edema.

Homœopathic medicine can offer an extremely

effective and safe treatment for acute thyrotoxicosis

and/or Graves’ disease without the side effects of

pharmaceutical drugs. This case report documents

the rapid resolution of the disease with a single dose

of a homœopathic remedy in a young man with type

1 diabetes.

27. Chronic Prostatitis, Urethritis, Fatigue, and

Brain Fog in a 52 year-old physician

A Homœopathic Medicine Case Report

DUSHKIN, Ronald (AJHM. 109/2016)

This is the case of a 52 year-old physician with

chronic prostatitis, urethritis, fatigue, brain fag, and

neuropathy, partly a result of adverse effects from

medications. His symptoms were so severe that he

was on medical disability from work. The

homœopathic work-up was challenging in light of

the many symptoms complicated by pharmaceutical

medications. After a number of homœopathic work-

up was challenging in light of the many symptoms

complicated by pharmaceutical medications. After a

number of homœopathic medicines failed to provide

significant improvement, the correct constitutional

medicine was found that resulted in the dramatic

alleviation of the physical as well as deep-seated

emotional problems, allowing this physician to

return to work and enjoy a new level of vitality and

health.

28. Eine kurze Falldarstellung: rezidivierende

Anginen

(A brief Case Report: recurrent Anginas)

Von ZAUNER, Bernhard, (ZKH. 61, 1/2017)

A recurrent Angina in a 60 year old woman is

cured by Phosphorus 200 worked out with the use of

the Symptomen Lexicon of UWE PLATE.

29. Auswirkungen der Symptomenzuverlässigkeit

auf die Behandlungsresultate

(The reliability of the symptoms with regard to

the working out cases with the Therapeutic

Pocket Book)

FREI, Heiner (ZKH. 61, 1/2017)

For the new Polarity Analysis software every

symptom of Bœnninghausen’s Therapeutic Pocket

Book (1846) was considered highly reliable.

Reliability or otherwise is demonstrated with a Case

Report. Then a prospective outcome is presented

with 53 acutely ill patients where we looked at the

results achieved by repertorisations using highly

reliable symptoms only. In the test group there were

66% successful first prescriptions while the control

had only 56%. The exclusive use of highly reliable

symptoms for remedy determination has a positive

effect on the success of prescriptions.

30. Augenheilkunde und Homöopathie

(Ophthalmalogy and Homœopathy)

HILDEBRANDT, Jörg (ZKH. 61, 1/2017)

The author has rightly pointed out that there

has not been new Provings for several decades. He

has carried out some proving and applied it in

practice in some cases successfully. The remedies

presented: 1. Acanthaster planci, 2. Toxopneustes

pileolus, 3. Aqua St. Leonhard. The action of these

remedies in Opthalmology is discussed briefly.

31. Kalium-Salze bei HNO – Erkrankungen

(Kali Salts in ENT diseases)

LUCAE, Christian (ZKH. 61, 1/2017)

This essay investigates the application of Kali

salts compounds in disorders of ENT; 4 salts are

considered: Kali iodatum, muriaticum, bichromicum

and sulphuricum. 4 cases reports illustrate practical

application. Their sources are then discussed.

Attention is drawn towards the application of the

‘Tissue salts.’ The application of the barely

investigated ‘Tissue Salts’ Kali muriaticum and

sulphuricum are discussed.

32. Homöopathie in der Augenheilkunde – Nutzen

und granzen

(Homœopathy in Eye diseases – Scope and

limitations)

SATHYE, Sandeep Sudhakar

(ZKH. 61, 2/2017)

Every science has got its own scope and

limitations. It is also applicable to Homœopathy

with regard to treatment of diseases in general and of

special senses in particular. Cases have been

presented to show the successful treatment of Eye

diseases with Homœopathy – acute as well as

chronic.

The author further goes on to say that the

homœopath should have a thorough knowledge of

the many diseases to which the Eyes are prone to and

also know the ‘scope and limitations’ of

Homœopathy in Eye diseases.

[While we agree that the Homœopath should

have a thorough knowledge of Eye Diseases there is

no ‘limitation’ of Homœopathy; the physician has

limit and his/her effort is to push it on further and

cross the limitations – there will always be a limit to

everything – and cure more and more. There is no

question of ‘limiting’. Surely the author would have

read ‘The Story of my Eye’, by Ellis Barker and it

would open the Eyes of homœopaths who stand

baffled by the limit; with further experiences this

limit will be got over and a new limit (of the

homœopath, not Homœopathy) will come up and

soon that too will get extended. As early as 1883

H.N. GUERNSEY has written ‘we have made the

blind to see…’ and that we should extend the borders

of ‘incurables’ further on’.

[In his Materia Medica (Characteristics) of von

BOENNINGHAUSEN, under Stramonium he has

given ‘Blindness’ in thick italics! How is that,

speaking of ‘limitations’ of Homœopathy?! = KSS.]

33. Hyoscyamus in der Paediatrics

Hyoscyamus in Paediatrics

HADULLA, Michael M. (ZKH. 61, 2/2017)

A sensory disturbance in a 4 year-old girl is

treated with Hyoscyamus.

In a Chronic cough of a boy and another case of

a 6 year-old girl who displayed somewhat shameful

acts, Hyoscyamus gave prompt relief.

34. Homœopathische Begleitung in der

Kinderpalliativmedicin

(Homöopathy in Palliative Care of Children)

GRASSER Monika (ZKH. 61, 3/2017)

Many innovative advances have been made in

recent years in paediatric palliative care. The

requirements of the WHO for the palliative care of

children are presented here as well as the current care

structures in Germany. The two most important

homœopathic remedies in the care and in the

accompaniment of dying children and adolescents

are discussed and differentiated. Subsequently the

practical homœopathic case is presented by means of

two case studies of children with severe congenital

diseases. They show how the symptoms can be

alleviated and the quality of life of the child and his

family can be improved.

The author has rightly pointed out that right

from Hahnemann classical Homœopathy has

experienced treatment of chronic and difficult,

disease states and we have a long and positive

experience in this as well as in intensive care.

Case of two children with severe congenital

diseases are presented.

35. Die Palliation bei Schmerzen und post-

operativeen Folgezastäudden

(Palliation of pains and post-operative sequala)

FRIEDRICH Uwe (ZKH. 61, 3/2017)

Palliative action is obtained by the usual

application of homœopathic remedies on the basis of

the symptoms presented. Two cases are discussed

here.

36. Homöopathie in der Onkologie: Die Wertigkeit

der “as if” – Symptome

(Homœopathy in Oncology The value of “as if”

Symptoms)

FRASS Michael (ZKH. 61, 4/207)

Side effects of Chemo and Radiotherapy are a

great burden for patients with Cancer. These side-

effects can be reduced effectively by Homœopathy.

This case presentation shows that the use of “as if”

symptoms can be an additional advantage. “As if”

symptoms are coined by patient’s spontaneous

report. Moreover, they are observed by the patient

himself and not influenced by suggestions from

without.

37. Die Homöopathie in der Klink:

Homöopathische Sprechstunde für Frauen mit

Krebserkrankurg in Hamburger Agaplasian

Diakonie klinikum

(Homœopathy in Clinic: Homœopathic

consultations for Women with Cancer in the

Diakonie Clinic in Hamburg)

A gist of the Presentations in the Dentsonen

Homœopathy Congress in Bremen, on

27.5.2016.

JAHN, Stefanie (ZKH. 61, 4/2017)

At the Bremen Homœopathic Congress in 2016

the networking of Homœopaths working in hospitals

was carried forward. The purpose was to strengthen

Homœopathy in hospitals, trainees included.

Different approaches offer’s of Homœopathy in

hospitals were presented. Many homœopaths are

working as consulting physicians. This article

shows the pragmatic and additional

homœopathic/naturopathic care in Agaplsion

Diakoniekeinikum in Hamberg for women with

gynecological Cancers.

35. “Nur” Palliativ? Therapie mit Kortison und

Sulfur bei einer atopic-psorichen patientin

(“Only” palliative? Therapy with Cortisone and

Sulphur in an atopic-psoric female patient?

GNAIGER-RATHMANNER Jutta

(ZKH. 61, 3/2017)

A patient with severe Atopia is being treated

with Cortisone and Homœopathy, partly

simultaneously, partly one after the other. It

happened out of her own initiative. All the well-

known phenomenas of a chronic disease have

occurred thereon; aspects of Psora, of suppression,

of alternating localisations, palliative and regulative

treatment and its reactions. Many questions to

modern therapy in daily practice come up along with

this case.

36. Die Homœopathie in der stationären

Psychiatrie

(Homœopathy in outpatient psychiatry)

BITTER Andrea (ZKH. 61, 4/2017)

(A Report on actual experience in the Angermünde

Hospital, Clinic for Psychiatry,

Psycho-therapy-/somatic and Addiction Medicine)

The integration of Homœopathy in a Psychiatric

out-patient department shows specific challenges

which is founded in clinical circumstances, in the

homœopathic method and in the patient. How the

integration of a homœopathic concept with

presupposition and support of the medical conduct

and the administration can be successful, is pointed

out in this retrospective experience report of 6 years

homœopathic work in the psychiatric clinic in

Angermünde.

37. Nux vomica: Schla störungen – Verdacht any

Pränatale Genese

(Nux vomica: Sleep disturbances – Suspected

prenatal origin)

HADULLA, Michael M. (ZKH. 61, 4/2017)

A 12 month old baby. Spontaneous narration.

“We have a sleep problem. NICK is not resting.

When put to bed in the evening he will wake up after

an hour and will be breast-fed-and he would sleep

off. This is repeated again 8-10-12 times in the

night. This is very, very much straining us.”

They have already consulted everyone. The

allopathic medicine Atopsil prescribed by the

paediatrician was not given. The child was clearly

alert and gets on well. The child wants warmth, and

he is comfortable with warmth. During pregnancy

the mother had a problem with the domestic helper

who for various reasons did not accept this

pregnancy and harassed the mother in every way.

Thanks to an understanding Gynaecologist refused

to prescribe.

She had through these problems during

pregnancy early pains and the child was drawn out

through vacuum extraction.

Taking into consideration all these a dose of Nux

vomica D12 given in evening.

On the next day itself the sleep problem was

gone. Now NICK woke up only once for breast feed

after that he would go back to sleep again. The child

remains well.

38. Lessons from the Organon – on Potency and

repetition of the dose

SHEPPERD, Joel (AJHM. 110/ Annual 2017)

This is a small but very important with regard to

§246 on potencies and repetition of doses. It is a

‘must read’ for all Practitioners and Teachers. (See

Part II of this QHD).

39. Homöopathische Begleitung in der

Kinderpalliativ medizin

(Homöopathy concordant in the Paediatric

palliative Medicine)

GRASSER, Monika (ZKH. 61, 3/2017)

Many advances have been made in recent years

in paediatric palliative care. The requirements of the

WHO for palliative care of children are presented

here as well as the current case structures in

Germany. The two important homœopathic

remedies in the case and accompaniment of dying

children and adolescents are discussed and

differentiated. Subsequently, the practical

homœopathic care is presented by means of two

cases studies in children with severe congenital

diseases. They show how the symptoms of the

disease can be alleviated and the quality of the life

of the child and his family can be improved. [The

remedies discussed are (i) Carbo vegetabilities; (ii)

Arsenicum album; (iii) Staphysagria. Palliative care

in terminal cases by homœopathic medicines should

be considered seriously, [since it is possible that

perhaps the ‘terminal’ may turn to be curable, who

can say, ‘No’? = KSS].

39. Bullöses Pemphigoid

BÜNDER, Martin (ZKH. 62, 2/2018)

The homœopathic treatment of a Bullöeses

Pemphigoid is presented. The remedy Phosphorus

had to be interrupted several times by intercurrent

diseases. These are due to the condition from

application of other medicines suited to the condition

may be Phosphorus itself or other remedy. The

chronic remedy comes as the acute remedy

sometimes. The treatment of the Pemphigoid is

interrupted by the self-administration of the patient

with doses of Phosphorus itself or other

homœopathic remedies and others. The appearance

of conditions in the reverse of the past symptoms, as

given by the Rules of Hering, indicated that the

treatment was on the right course.

40. Homöopathische Therapie einer ungewöhnlich

verlaufenden purpura Schönlein-Henoch

(The homœopathic treatment of a Henoch

Schonlein Purpura taking an unusual course)

LUCAE, Christian (ZKH. 62, 1/2018)

A 12 year-old boy presented several gastritis

symptoms and was hospitalized; after treatment the

boy was discharged. After 2 weeks he developed

same complaints again. In addition, small eruptions

came on the legs; he had pain abdomen and diarrhea

and had lost 8Kg weight. The eruptions on legs were

not suppressed. There were small and big Petechine.

The symptoms taken for analysis were:

Extremities – Color – legs – Purpura

haemorrhagia skin – Purpura

haemorrhagice

(Kali-c., lach., PHOS., Sec., Sul-ac., ter.)

Skin – Purpura haemorrhagice

Abdomen – pain – crampy

The boy was weepy, required lot of consolation

and had earlier well responded to Phos – for acute

infections. Phosphorus, 30 2x3 globules for 2 days,

cured. The diagnosis was difficult since the disease

took an unusual course.

41. Purpura Schönlein-Henoch – Belladonna

HOLZAPFEL, Klaus (ZKH. 62, 1/2018)

A case of Schönlein-Henoch and bronchial

Asthma treated with Belladonna and Rhus

toxicodendron, with the aid of family history and the

use of BOGER’s General Analysis.

42. Therapeutische Erfahrungen mit der Methode

der Klassischen Homöopathie am Beispiel der

Autoimmunthrombopenie

(Idiopathische thrombozytopenische Purpura

Morbus muculosers Werlhof)

(Therapeutic Experiences with the Methods of

Classical Homœopathy with an example of

Autoimmunthrombopenia. (Idiopathic

Thrombocytopenic Purpura Morbus maculosus

Werlhof)

THOMAS Christoph and SPINEDI Dario

(ZKH. 62, 2/2018)

This is a lecture delivered in the LMHI in

Vienna, 24-28 April 1993.

Three cases of acute, also chronic immune

thrombocytopaenic Purpura (ITP, WERHOF’s

Disease) are described. After unsatisfactory

orthodox allopathic treatment, classical

homœopathic therapy was applied. These cases had

been treated previously with Cortisone or

intravenous immunoglobulin (i.v. 1gC) and

therefore allowed intra-individual comparison, in

these cases, classical homœopathic treatment was

shown to be more effective. Between 4 and 12 years

of observation, confirmed complete recovery in

these three cases.

43. Ein Fall von Aplasie des Knochenmarks bei

einem 8½ Monate alten weiblichen Säuging

nach überdosierung von nicht-indizierten Silica

D6 and Mercurius cyanatus D6.

(A Case of Aplasia of Bone Marrow in a female

infant from overdosing of not-indicated Silica

D6 and Mercurius cyanatus D6)

THOMAS Christoph (ZKH.62, 3/2018)

This too is a lecture delivered in the 45th LIGA

Congress in Cologne on 8th May 1991.

Simultaneous application of non-indicated

Silicea D6 and Mercurius cyanatus D6 in a girl

infant three times a day led to distinct proving

symptoms beginning 3-4 weeks after the

commencement of medication. However, the

warning signs were not recognized and the child

received approximately 150-180 doses of each drug

in between the ages of 1½ and 7 months age.

Without any other recognizable cause or hereditary

disposition at the age of 8½ months the infant

suffered from Bone marrow Aplasia. Phosphorus

with simultaneous allopathic therapy led only to

temporary improvement. China, Acidum

sulphuricum and Lachesis did not produce a cure.

Only after ceasing any form of treatment and

returning to Phosphorus Q1 after 12 doses did

complete recovery. Observation continued for 28

years.

This case study proves that it is absolutely

necessary when using potentized remedies to strictly

observe and comply with the laws and rules of

Classical Homœopathy. The main danger is to

prescribe potentized drugs contrary to rules in

accordance with the habits of Allopathy, e.g.

according to clinical diagnoses rather than individual

symptoms dosages are too high, repeated too

frequently, doses are applied in fixed patterns

instead of being adjusted individually, without

careful observation of the course of treatment or

several drugs are prescribed simultaneously, e.g. as

compounds, instead of a strict monotherapy.

[Pharmaceutical manufacturers are churning out

complex preparations and sale of these are booming

= KSS].

44. Eine Kleine homöopathische Randbemerkung

(A small homœopathic observation)

GERKE Stephan (ZKH. 62, 3/2018)

A patient with chronic cough. Finding a remedy

with Repertory was difficult. Analysis of the case

combining symptoms using the

‘Symptomenlexicon’, by Uwe PLATE suggests

Sulphur proving as the underlying cause, Anamnesis

revealed that patient had indeed taken Sulphur over

a long time. This and the instant amelioration of

symptoms after the administration of a high potency

Sulphur can be seen as confirmation of the

assumption.

45. Tabacum und Vertigo (=Schwindelzustände)

stärkster Ausprägung (Tabacum and Vertigo –

very impressive)

HADULLA, Michael M., RICHTER Olaf

(ZKH. 62, 3/2018)

The Case Report shows the finding of the

homœopathic remedy in recurrent Vertigo of a 64-

year-old female patient. The successful prescription

of Tabacum shows that even for ailments which tend

to become chronic a small remedy could help when

there’s similarity with the presenting symptoms.

Only few cases have been reported with regard

to Tabacum which belongs to the ‘deadly

nightshade’ family – Solonaceae – to which belong

‘powerfully acting’ Hyoscyamus and Stramonium,

Belladonna and Dulcamara.

An interesting and instructive article.

46. Keuchhusten, die vergessene Krankheit

(Whooping cough, the forgotten ailment)

ABERMANN, Christoph and MÜLLER,

Susanne (ZKH. 62, 4/2018)

In the authors’ experience Whooping Cough is

often missed or overlooked in patients, as many

doctors apparently no longer expect the occurrence

of the disease. Yet the incidence of Whooping

Cough is increasing today.

Even a vaccination or an earlier whooping

cough infection is no guarantee for a long-lasting

protective effect. The aim of this article is to give an

overview of the disease, its classical diagnosis

treatment options and also to point out possible why

whooping cough is often overlooked. Based on

several cases from the authors’ practice the

homœopathic treatment of whooping cough is

described in detail.

47. Homöopathisch behandelte Akuterkrankungen

mit einem auffallend raschen Heilungs-verlauf

(Homœopathic treatment of acute diseases with

some rapid cures)

THOMAS Christoph and CZIMMEK Angelika

(ZKH. 62, 4/2018)

Cases of remarkably rapid recovery following

homœopathic treatment are described.

- Three cases of recovery within seconds in

children with Otitis Media, fever cramp and

acute abdomen (abdominal emergency)

- Acute toothache and a super-infected

wound in a five-year-old girl.

- Standstill during labour of a mare.

- Cranial bruising in 3 songbirds.

- Injury of a carotid artery with spurting

blood

- Whooping cough, in an infant.

Based on these case studies the following topics

are simultaneously introduced as Dr. Jost KÜNZLI

has taught them.

1. The collection and evaluation of

homœopathic imminent anamnesis

2. The technique of homœopathic questioning

3. The scheme of hierarchy of symptoms and

4. The importance of the striking, peculiar,

(characteristic) signs and symptoms

according to paragraph 153 “Organon”.

[In spite of clear ‘evidences’ viz., the ill

becoming well and remaining well, of hundreds of

cases which any of our colleagues with experience,

the hegemony medicine refuses to let Homœopathy

do what it can. Recently the French Govt. has

decided to refuse insurance for homœopathic

treatment. This in spite of the fact that

HAHNEMANN spent his last 8 years in Paris and

became world famous and his grave is even today

visited by people - everyday some. Is this not having

eyes refusing to see or shut the eyes? The Fraternity

of Homœopaths must write from all over the world

and put an end to the mischievous and unscientific

witch hunt. = KSS].

48. Die Integration von Homöopathie und

Psychiatrie in der Behandlung schwerer

psychischer störungen

(The integration of Homœopathy in the

treatment of difficult psychic complaints)

KOCH, Ulrich (ZKH. 62, 2/2018)

Homœopathy and modern psychiatric treatment

have many similarities in their approaches. In severe

and chronic mental illnesses often no satisfactory

result can be achieved using only a single treatment

method. Thus, the need for an integrative approach

is elaborated. A definition of healing is proposed

that focusses on the level of recovery process, rather

than primarily on getting rid of the mere

symptomatology as an expression of the disease.

[‘Integration’ meant becoming a part of the main

aspects thus Homœopathy losing its identity. I do

not know whether any psychiatrist would allow least

‘intrusion’ by Homœopathy and our effort will not

even be tolerated. Have we read of any article by the

dominant school allowing an intrusion by

Homœopathy? I have not. If they do, we welcome

it. = KSS].

49. Polaritätsanalyse und Asperger-Syndrom

Besonderheiten, Fallbeispiele, Resultate

(Polarity analysis and Asperger-Syndrom –

Characteristics Case example, Results)

FREI, Heiner (ZKH. 62, 2/2018)

Asperger-syndrome is an Autism-spectrum-

disorder characterized by a peculiar social behavior,

stereo-type habits and playing and pronounced

special interests. Basis of the syndrome are multiple

perception disorders, which is a common ground

with ADD/ADHD, that allows us to choose the same

homœopathic procedure in both disease. This article

explains the remedy determination with polarity

analysis with two case studies. In addition it presents

the results of homœopathic treatment in twenty

Asperger-patients, and shows that Homœopathy can

relieve their suffering to a considerable extent. The

results are compared with those of homœopathic

ADD/ADHD treatment.

50. Lymphocytic Colitis in a 68-year-old woman

SHEVIN, William (AJHM. 110/2017)

A Woman apparently treated successfully with

homœopathic medicine for allergies returned 17

years later with a seven month history of diarrhea

diagnosed as lymphocytic colitis. In light of the

teachings of Praful Vijayakar, MD (HOM), the case

was re-analyzed as a possible palliation and/or

suppression and treated with a different

homœopathic medicine. The subsequent positive

response illustrates and supports the utility of Dr.

Vijayakar’s Predictive Homœopathy approach to

classical homœopthic theory involving Hering’s

Law of Cure.

51. Postpartum Thyroiditis/Graves’ Disease in a 36-

Year-Old Female

SALTZMAN, Susanne (AJHM. 110/2017)

Graves’ disease occurs in 0.1-0.4% of

postpartum women as a complication of postpartum

thyroiditis. Because pharmaceutical drugs

(theonomides such as methimazole and

propylthiouracil) are only 20-30% effective in

controlling the disease, thyroid ablation with

radioactive iodine or thyroidectomy is often

necessary resulting in lifelong thyroid hormone

replacement requiring frequent doctors’ visits and

monitoring. This case documents the rapid and

complete resolution of Graves’ disease in a 36-year-

old postpartum woman with a homœopathic remedy

based on the law of similars.

52. A case of Trauma in a 37-Year-Old Female:

Using Inductive Reasoning in Homœopathic

Analysis

ROBINSON, Karl (AJHM. 110/2017)

Using pure induction, it is possible to arrive at a

homœopathic medicine that is at once surprising and

counterintuitive. In this case, a woman with injuries

suffered in a motor vehicle accident was restored to

health with Carbo vegetabilis, a medicine that is not

normally considered for the effects of trauma. The

primary repertory used was The Bönninghausen

Repertory.

53. A case of Adjustment Disorder with Anxiety

GUESS, George (AJHM. 110/2017)

An acute case of adjustment disorder with

anxiety is presented that responded to the

homœopathic prescription of Vanadium, after the

failure of Silicea. Elemental homœopathic analysis

using Jan Scholten’s method of analysis provided the

guidance to recognize Vanadium as the indicated

medicine, the operant theme being that the patient,

having committed to and having embarked upon an

imposing career as a nurse practitioner, suffered

extreme self-doubt and insecurity, questioning

whether or not she was capable of performing

adequately in that position.

54. A 56-year-Old Male with Cellulitis/Myositis

Status Post Right Hip Replacement

SALTZMAN, Sussanne (AJHM. 110/2017)

A 56-year-old male with cellulitis/myositis

status post a right hip replacement unsuccessfully

treated with several courses of antibiotics was cured

with two doses of a homœopathic medicine,

Homœopathy can be an effective treatment for this

condition without the side effects of

pharmaceuticals.

55. A case of Possible Magnesium Sulfate (Epsom

Salt) Toxicity in a 68-year-old Male

ROBINSON, Karl (AJHM. 110/2017)

A 68 year-old man with a mix of depression,

lack of motivation and auditory hallucinations,

coupled with extreme flatulence, was relieved in a

few days with Magnesium sulphurica in potency.

The prescription was based on over-exposure to

bathing in Epsom salts.

56. Vaccines: a Reappraisal

MOSKOWITZ, Richard (AJHM. 110/2017)

Part 1: The Vaccination Process

From Chapter 1: Immunity, True and False

The natural immunity acquired by coming down

with and recovering from acute febrile diseases like

the measles, resulting in expulsion of the offending

organism from the body, is the formative experience

by which a healthy immune system is developed and

maintained throughout life. This basic truth is

reinforced by a large volume of epidemiological

research that shows how contracting and recovering

from acute febrile illnesses in childhood provides

significant protection against cancer and many other

chronic diseases later in life.

Whatever good vaccines may accomplish

inevitably falls far short of these goals. Without the

acute illness, there is no priming of the immune

system as a whole, no improvement in the general

health, and no reliable mechanism for expelling the

invading organism from the blood. Indeed, where

that organism actually goes, how it causes the

immune system to continue producing antibodies

against it for years, and what price we have to pay

for the counterfeit immunity that vaccines represent,

are questions that we are not supposed to ask, and

can expect contempt or indignation when we do.

What haunts me is the probability that the

production of specific antibodies throughout life

entails the ongoing physical presence of these

vaccines, remaining deep inside the body on a

chronic basis, which seems to me a perfect recipe for

eliciting autoimmune phenomena routinely and

repeatedly in every recipient, whether or not they

actually fall ill or develop clinical signs and

symptoms at the time.

With live-virus vaccines, it is easy to imagine

such a carrier state being achieved, by simply

attaching themselves to the DNA or RNA of their

host cells. As for the others, the “non-living”

vaccines, we know that they cannot survive as

antigens for long periods without various chemical

adsorbents, fixatives, preservatives, sterilizing

agents, and “adjuvants,” almost all of them highly

toxic, and that enabling such long-term survival is

the sole reason for their use; but precisely how these

chronic phenomena are achieved has been allowed

to remain a well-guarded trade secret, if indeed it is

known at all.

It is dangerously misleading, if not the exact

opposite of the truth, to claim that vaccines protect

us from acute infection if they merely drive the

organism deeper into our bodies and cause us to

harbor them chronically instead, rendering us

incapable of responding acutely, not only to them,

but very probably to other antigens as well. In short,

my fear is, and indeed my experience has been, that

whereas acute infectious diseases produce genuine

immunity through vigorous, acute responses,

vaccine-mediated immunity is achieved by creating

the equivalent of a chronic infection in its place.

From Chapter 2: Vaccine Effectiveness.

The measles vaccine was spectacularly

successful but unnecessary, since the disease had

already evolved from a killer into a normal disease

of childhood, so that vaccinating kids deprived them

of the vital health benefits of coming down with and

recovering from the acute disease, just as the

mumps, rubella, chickenpox, and flu vaccines have

done.

The decline of serious diseases like diphtheria,

tetanus and whooping cough are also widely

attributed to vaccines, despite the consensus of most

epidemiologists that improvements in hygiene,

sanitation, and public health deserve most if not all

of the credit.

At the same time that the polio vaccine made its

debut, the CDC quietly redefined infantile paralysis

to exclude all but the severest cases, leading the

public to believe that the vaccine was solely

responsible for the sharp decline in the number of

cases that promptly resulted.

The chickenpox and rotavirus vaccines are

directed against diseases that have never been very

serious, in the developed world at least, and are

marketed largely for economic reasons, to save

working parents from the lost wages of having to

stay home and care for their sick children.

The flu vaccine targets a disease that is

sometimes if rarely fatal in the old and debilitated;

but it was destined to fail, because influenza viruses

mutate rapidly, and because so many flu-like

illnesses involve totally different viruses.

The rapid evolution of viruses and bacteria,

resulting in the development of mutant strains,

severely limits the effectiveness of many vaccines.

The Haemophilus influenza type b (Hib) and the

Pneumococcus vaccines are made from organisms

that are part of our normal flora.

In the wake of the pertussis vaccine, mutant

strains have brought the disease back in a major way

from the brink of extinction.

The chickenpox virus has roared back as

shingles in younger and younger age groups since

that vaccine was mandated.

Mutant strains of the polio virus have appeared

in even deadlier form in several countries, including

our own.

Another major problem with vaccine

effectiveness is the inaccuracy of the specific

antibody titer as a measurement of immune status,

which has led to tragic miscalculations. The CDCA

and the industry interpret the absence of antibodies

to mean that the vaccine has simply “worn off,”

leaving such individuals susceptible as before, and

that added booster shots can dependably restore their

level of immunity to the desired level.

But MMR recipients with measles titers below

supposedly immune levels have been shown to

respond only minimally to a booster shot. One

measles outbreak featured mild cases with pale rash,

no fever, and minimal fatigue, mainly in vaccinated

kids with no antibodies; the typical acute form was

found in the unvaccinated, but also in vaccine

recipients with high levels of antibody. These

paradoxical findings indicate that vaccination

involves an on-going effect invisible to routine

serological testing, and that revaccinating people

with low titers puts them at risk of more serious

reactions.

Case in point a young lab tech developed severe

chronic bronchitis after her second of three Hepatitis

B shots, but showed no antibodies four years later;

so her new employer, believing her still susceptible,

insisted on a second round. The result was chronic,

autoimmune thyroiditis and several related

complaints that left her permanently disabled; and

her claim for compensation under the Vaccine Injury

Compensation Program (VICP) program was denied

under current Federal guidelines.

From Chapter 3: Vaccination Safety.

According to the established standards of

biomedical science, the vast majority of the

industry’s safety trials are fundamentally defective

in three critical respects.

First, instead of inert placebo, their badly-

misnamed “control” groups receive either the highly

reactive adjuvant or a different vaccine entirely.

Second, the observation period for serious

adverse events is very brief, rarely longer than a few

days, such that life-threatening autoimmune

illnesses, which often take weeks, months, or even

years to develop, are automatically excluded from

consideration.

Third, the lead investigators are given blanket

authority to determine whether the reported adverse

events are vaccine-related or not, based on criteria

that are kept secret.

The result is that only a vanishingly tiny fraction

of the deaths and serious injuries reported by the

subjects themselves are even considered seriously,

let alone actually attributed to the vaccines. The

manufacturers’ unwillingness to specify the criteria

used to reject these reports lends further credence to

the suspicion that the lead investigator’s assigned

task is mainly to insure that the results conform to

the manufacturers’ prior agenda of promoting the

vaccine as ideally safe and effective, and even to

alter or fabricate the data if necessary. A former

drug-company Vice-President recently made it

unmistakably clear that this corrupt scenario is in

fact Standard Operating Procedure throughout the

industry.

57. Severe, Suicidal Depression in a 28-Year-Old

Female

FLEISHER, A. Mitchell (AJHM. 110/2017)

A 28-year-old white female with severe,

suicidal depression was cured with a constitutional

homœopathic simillimum ascertained according to

the “Sensation Method” developed by Dr. Rajan

Sankaran, et al. Her feelings of being “frustrated,”

“crushed,” “shocked,” etc., were consistent with

themes from the Loganiaceae family of plants; her

expressions of “hopeless despair” and “ugly suicidal

thoughts” were consistent with the Syphilitic miasm.

The intersection of the Plant Kingdom with the

appropriate miasm pointed to Hoang-nan as the

indicated, constitutional homœopathic simillimum.

[Near heard of such a remedy or in MM.. Is this

remedy proved? No information on that = KSS].

58. A Case of Autism With a 20 Year Follow-up

SALTZMAN, Susanna (AJHM. 110/2017)

A 22-month-old autistic male responded rapidly

and permanently to a single dose of a homœopathic

medicine. Within 24 hours the “veil lifted” and his

autistic behaviors completely resolved over the next

few months as his language and development

accelerated. Patient was seen again recently at age

22 with an acute onset of anxiety. The same

homœopathic medicine was prescribed with

resolution of symptoms.

59. A 60-Year-Old Male with Lone Paroxysmal

Atrial Fibrillation

HOOVER, A., Todd (AJHM. 110/2017)

A sixty-year-old male with recurrent atrial

fibrillation exacerbated by smoking, dramatically

improved on homœopathic treatment alone. The

patient refused both surgical and conventional

medical therapy for the condition. Homœopathic

medicine was used as an alternative therapeutic

option over a “no treatment” approach. To approach

the case homœopathically, the symptom of atrial

fibrillation was evaluated within the global context

of the patient rather than isolated and treated as an

independent variable of health. Rapid response to

homœopathically prepared Spigelia anthelmia

demonstrated a high probability that the clinical

outcome was causally related to the homœopathic

therapeutic intervention.

60. Ten cases of Mumps Treated at a Primary

Health Care Center in India

WADHWANI, G. Gyandas (AJHM. 110/2017)

The Delhi Government Homœopathic

Dispensary, a primary health care center in Aali

Village, New Delhi, witnessed a sporadic surge in

cases of mumps during the months of May and June

2015. The cases were treated successfully using

different homœopathic medicines prescribed

according to the Law of Similars.

61. A case of Refractory Aspergillus Pneumonia

SAINE, André (AJHM.110/2017)

Aspergillosis is the name given to a wide variety

of diseases caused by infection by fungi of the genus

Aspergillus. Allopathic treatment involves the use

of antifungals for a prolonged period of time, due to

the increasing resistance of these organisms to drug

treatment. Homœopathic medicine offers an

effective and safe therapeutic intervention for the

complete resolution of this illness as described in

the following case of a 54-year-old male with drug

resistant pulmonary aspergillosis.

62. Five Cases of Pneumonia Cured with

Homœopathy

NOSSAMAN, Nick (AJHM.110/2017)

This article describes the treatment of five cases

of “atypical or walking pneumonia” treated with

homœopathic medicines. In each case, the patient

(or in the case of a child, the parent) expressed the

desire to have this form of treatment, with the

proviso that allopathic treatment could be instituted

in the event of a significant worsening of the

condition.

63. A case of Mycoplasma Pneumonia

SALTZMAN, Susanna (AJHM. 110/2017)

A nine-year-old male with Mycoplasma

pneumonia that spread rapidly throughout his class

was treated with homœopathic medicine that

resulted in the rapid and complete resolution of the

condition. The use of Homœopathy in lieu of

antibiotics to treat this common condition is highly

significant in light of the growing epidemic of

antimicrobial resistance.

64. A Case of Koch’s Pneumonia with Pleural

Effusion

Dr. LENDWE, Ashok (AJHM. 110/2017)

This is the case of a 45 year old male with an

acute case of Koch’s pneumonia with pleural

effusion which completely resolved with the correct

homœopathic medicine prescribed according to the

Law of Similars. Radiographic evidence is provided.

65. A 44-Year-Old Female with recurrent upper

Respiratory Infections

SALTZMAN, Susanne (AJHM. 110/2017)

A 44-year-old woman with a long history of

recurrent upper respiratory infections free of illness

for over two years now with homœopathic treatment.

The correct homœopathic medicine was found based

upon a single important clue in her case—a history

of tuberculosis in the family. This case reveals the

significant contribution of the miasmic influence of

disease in many patients that can be removed with

the correct homœopathic medicine leading to the

complete resolution of chronic symptoms.

66. An 11-year-old Child with Myopia

Dr. SATHYE, S. Sandeep (AJHM. 110/2017)

Childhood myopia is a common refractive error

that usually commences between five and thirteen

years of age and continues to progress during the

period of body growth with no major progression

after 25 years. Worldwide increase in its prevalence

and progression during the last few decades has been

attributed to excessive near vision tasks apart from

its hereditary nature. Topical use of Atropine 1%

was found effective in controlling myopia; however

its side effects and the rebound effect after stopping

the treatment discouraged its use. Homœopathy can

be an effective and safe treatment for this condition.

This case involves an eleven-year-old girl with

progressive myopia for the last five year. Systemic,

intermittent use of homœopathic Ruta graveolens 3c,

followed by individualized homœopathic treatment,

has controlled her myopia with no further

progression after two years of discontinuing

treatment.

67. Three cases of Age-Related Macular

Degeneration

KONDROT, Edward (AJHM. 110/2017)

Conventional, allopathic treatments for age-

related macular degeneration (ARMD), the most

common cause of irreversible blindness in people

over 65 years of age, are fraught with limitations and

toxic side effects. Homœopathy, by contrast, offers

a safe and effective treatment for this condition. The

following three cases exemplify the unique way that

Homœopathy treats the individual with ARMD

rather than just the condition itself, each patient

required a completely different homœopathic

medicine according to the Law of Similars.

68. Fibromyalgia Mitigation

GELLMANN, Alexandra (AH. 23/2017)

A study using dietary changes and homœopathic

remedies.

Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic pain syndrome

that impacts the immune system, endocrine

regulation, sensory nervous system and emotional

well-being. It is characterized by constant,

widespread pain that persists over a prolonged

period of time. Homœopathy has been used

clinically to alleviate symptoms of FM.

70. Parkinson’s Disease and Homœopathy

HAI, Husina (AH. 23/2017)

Some symptoms that are seen in PD patients are

as follows:

 Depression

 Loss of motivation to do things

 Dependence on family members

 Heightened fear about the future

 Feelings of insecurity

 Irritability

 Pessimism

 Memory loss

 Difficulty swallowing, choking, drooling

 Difficulty chewing

 Urinary problems

 Constipation

 Oily skin, forehead, sides of nose, scalp,

dandruff

 Dry skin

 Restless sleep

 Nightmares, emotional dreams

 Drowsiness, sudden onset of sleep

 “REM behavior disorder” where patients act out

their dreams which can cause injury to self or

their partner

 Muscle cramps, legs, toes

 Dystonia, muscle contractions that can cause

forced or twisted positions of the part

 Fatigue, loss of energy

 Akinesia, trouble initiating or carrying out

movement

 Sexual dysfunction, decreased sex drive

 Impaired balance

 Tendency to fall, backwards, forwards

 Tremors or shaking that progressively get worse

during the rest position

 Small handwriting or words crowding together

suddenly

 Loss of smell for things like bananas, dill

pickles, lico-rice that just gets worse with time

and does not get better.

 Trouble sleeping or falling out of bed or kicking

and punching in midst of sleep with sudden

movements frequently

 Trouble moving or walking around due to

stiffness in arms or legs; “feet stuck to the floor”

that lasts for a longer period of time.

 Bradykinesia – delay in initiating

movement; slow movement

 Walking problems; shuffling steps; freezing

gait (can’t move leg forward for next step)

 Ratcher-like movement

 Cog-wheel movement

 Bowel troubles leading to constipation even if

they drink enough water and long after some

medication was taken that causes constipation

 Voice goes down or gets very soft with time and

does not seem to fit itself

 Speech difficulties, slurred speech, speak

too fast, monotonous voice,

 Slowness of thought

 Can respond slowly but still in line with the

conversation

 Face appears like a mask; serious, depressed or

“mad at someone” expression; or a blank state

or infrequent blinking and occurs often and not

just as a result of a medicine taken

 Rigidity of body parts: face, arms, hands,

legs, voice

 Trouble swallowing

 Dizziness upon standing or fainting due to

low blood pressure that happens on a

continuous basis

 Poor balance

 Forward tilt or backward tilt in some cases

while standing or moving

 Stooping or hunching over and not able to stand

straight (this symptom goes beyond everyday

injuries or illness of the bone)

 Can appear malnourished

Uncommon homœopathic remedies

The following section discusses a few

uncommon remedies that we might consider proving

with PD patients to learn more about the disease and

the remedy as well. In low doses, we may be able to

touch the lowest form of the disease and help

alleviate some of the physical symptoms. Patients

who might need the remedies could even see a

change in their mental state as well.

Carboxylic acid family of remedies

These are patients who start out life as

optimistic, industrious and confident individuals.

They have an intense need for company. They desire

to be held or carried and want to be watched

constantly by those they trust. They can often be

concerned about others’ health as well as their own.

Experiencing internal fears, they may suffer panic

attacks around being shot or murdered. In order to

protect themselves they can become aggressive,

being extremely malicious, irritable, demanding,

dictatorial, and even violent. This combination of

extreme dependency and aggression is a sign that a

patient may need an acid remedy. Carbostylic acids

are part of the Typhoid miasm which has the

characteristics of being hurried and determined with

a tendency to ruthlessness. When these acids reach

a failed state, they become weak, debilitated and

even discouraged; they can have an aversion to work

and can have fixated suicidal thoughts. Patients are

usually chilly but also have hear congestion and

perspiration in the head area, and can be extremely

thirsty. Pains are sharp, piercing and gout-like.

There is stiffness and arthritic pain and joint

destruction and a tendency to inflammation and

ulcers. These clients usually have digestive issues

with burning in the stomach, sour belching, flatus

and diarrhea.

Remedies in this family (Reference Works, v

4.2.6.2 Notes):

Acet-Ac., Acon-Ac., Ami-Sal-Ac., Benz-Ac.,

Camph-Ac., Cit-Ac., For-Ac., Fum-Ac., Gall-Ac.,

Hip-Ac., Keto-Ac., Lac-Ac., Meth-Sal., Oro-Ac., Ox-

Ac., Ox-Ac., Sal-Ac., Sarcol-Ac., Succ-Ac., Tann-

Ac., Tart-Ac.

RUBRICS FOR CARBOXYLIC REMEDIES (MAC

REPERTORY, V8.3.3.2 NOTES)

Anxiety future: Ant-T., Calc-Acet., Ferr-Acet.,

Keto-Ac. Mang-Acet., Nat-Acet.

Fear/dreams of death: Acet-Ac., Acon-Ac., Ant-

T.,

Cupr-Acet., Keto-Ac., Lac-Ac.,Mang-Acet.

Ox-Ac., Plb-Acet., Sac-L., Sal-Ac.

Anxiety about health: Acet-Ac., Ant-T., Bar-Ox-

Succ., Oro-Ac., Succ-Ac.

Desire to be held: Ant-T., Benz-Ac., Plb-Acet.,

Sac-Alb.

Desire to be carried: Acet-Ac., Ant-T., Benz-Ac.,

Sac-Alb.

Desire to be watched constantly: Gall-Ac.

Dictatorial: Gall-Ac., Sac-Alb.

Dreams of murder: Acon-Ac., But-Ac., Fumar-

Ac., Merc-Acet., Nat-Ox., Oro-Ac., Plb-Acet.,

Sac-L.

Fear/dreams being shot: Acon-Ac., But-Ac.,

Mang-Acet. Plb-Acet.

Fear poverty/business: Acet-Ac., Calc-Acet.,

Cit-Ac., Mang-Acet., Zinc-Acet.

Homesickness/ fear to leave the home: Bar-

ACet., But-Ac., Cupr-Acet., Keto-Ac., Lac-

Ac., Oro-Ac., Plb-Acet., Sac-Alb., Sac-L.,

Succ-Ac.

Hurry: Ant-T., Benz-Ac., But-Ac., Keto-Ac.,

Lac-Ac., Merc-ACet., Nat-Ox., Ox-Ac., Sac-

Alb.

Industrious: Calc-Acet., Mang-Act., Nat-Ox.

Malice:Acet-Ac., Fumar-Ac. Lac-Ac., Mang-

Acet., Nat-Ox., Oro-Ac.

Striking/kicking/violent: Ant-T., Cupr-Acet.,

Gall-Ac., Lac-Ac., Plb-Acet., Sac-Alb.

Aphthae: Acet-Ac., Ant-T., Benz-Ac., Chin-Sal.,

Form-Ac., Lac-Ac., Merc-Acet., Nat-Ox., Ox-

Ac., Plb-Acet., Sac-Alb., Sal-Ac., Succ-Ac.

Arthritis deformans: Ant-T., Benz-Ac., Cit-Ac.,

Form-Ac., Lac-Ac., Lith-Sal., Mang-Acet.,

Sal-Ac.

Eructation sour/acrid: Acet-Ac., Am-Be., Ant-T.,

Bar-Ox-Succ., Benz-Ac., But-Ac., Calc-Acet.,

Chin-Sal., Cupr-Acet., Ferr-Acet., Form-Ac.,

Hip-Ac., Lac-Ac., Mang-Acet., Nat-Acet.,

Nat-Ox., Ox-Ac., Plb-Acet., Sac-Alb., Sarcol-

Ac., Tart-Ac., Zinc-Acet.

Heartburn: Acet-Ac., Ant-T., Bar-Acet., Calc-

Acet., Chin-Sal., Cit-Ac., Cupr-Acet., Ferr-

Acet., Gall-Ac., Keto-Ac., Lac-Ac., Mang-

Acet., Nat-Ox., Ox-Ac., Sac-L.

71. Alternating Symptoms in the Homœopathic

Treatment of Bipolar Disorder. Platinum

metallicum: A case Report

WHEELER, Marium; OSKIN, Jamie;

LANGLAND, Jeffry (AJHM. 108, 4/2015)

Due to the oscillating nature of the symptoms

within rapid cycling or cyclothymic bipolar disorder,

an accurate homœopathic prescription must produce

alternating symptoms within the drug’s primary

action in order to most similarly match the disease

state of the patient. By example, this case report

presents the homœopathic treatment of a patient with

diagnoses of bipolar disorder, attention deficit

disorder, and anxiety. The patient previously

underwent conventional treatment for several years,

but was dissatisfied with the outcome and sought

alternative treatment. The patient was prescribed

Platina metallicum because of its similarity to the

distinctive (characteristic) symptoms of the “case of

disease,” (Organon, §153). Within two months of

treatment, episodes of mania, depression, and

anxiety had stopped. After one year, the patient

demonstrated continued improvement without

relapses in bipolar episodes. This case presents an

important example of Platinum metallicum’s

alternating symptoms within its primary action,

which makes it a valuable remedy in the

homœopathic treatment of bipolar disorder.

--------------------------------------------------------------

IV. PHARMACOLOGY

1. Die Tinctura acris sine Kali

(The Tincture acris sine Kali)

RISSEL, Roger, BUCHHEIM-SCHMIDT,

Susann and SCHWARZBACH Ralf (ZKH. 62,

2/2018)

In the ZKH, 1/2012 Klaus Hopfel in his

Editorial raised a question Causticum Hahnemanni

– which Causticum? In this had already discussed

earlier, as published in the ZKH about the

preparation of Causticum according to

HAHNEMANN’s directions. It was found that

besides the Kali solution there was another solution

which caused the medicinal Proving of Causticum.

2. Homœopathie aus nanomedizinischer

perspective

(Homœopathy in nano medicinal perspective)

KOCH, Ulrich (ZKH. 62, 3/2018)

Contrary to hitherto assumptions, that the high

potencies in dilution beyond Avogadro’s constant,

no raw material should be traceable, the contrary

could be shown consistently in the last years in

independent trials. Beside nanoparticles in

decreasing sizes in higher potencies, even nano

particles of lactose and silicates could be traced. In

Bell’s model of nanoparticle-allostatic-cross-

adaption-sensitization it is attempted to add these

observations in a display of already existing

biological and physical insights to a hypothesis of

action of homœopathic remedies. This needs

however, in some aspects, further confirmation

through experiments.

3. Willmar Schwabe: Pharmacist and large

producer of Homœopathic medicines

FRIEDRICH, Christoph & MEYER Ulrich

(MedGG. 35/2017)

On the centenary of Wilmar Schwabe’s (1839-

1917) death the present essay examines the life and

work of this pharmacist and manufacturer of

pharmaceuticals. Archival research in Dresden,

Leipzig and Jena has yielded new insights into

Schwabe’s biography, particularly with regard to his

family, education and doctorate. We were able to

show that his father, Carl Robert Schwabe, was also

an entrepreneur and that he had come into contact

with Homœopathy in Leipzig. The evaluation of

lecture notes revealed the influence that the Leipzig

professors Christoph Heinrich Hirzel, Otto Bernherd

Kühn and Otto Linné Erdmann had on Willmar

Schwabe. The file of his doctorate shows that even

then he aspired to economic and professional

independence. His dissertation, which focused on

phytochemistry and was actually written before he

started studying, attests to considerable scientific

independence.

It was possible to analyze in depth not only

Schwabe’s education and training but also his further

professional development. The present study gives

insight into the setting up and expansion of

Schwabe’s business and his purchase of other

homœopathic pharmacies with the help of straw

men. It also examines particularly Schwabe’s

struggle for recognition of his pharmacopeia, the

“Pharmacopoea Homœopathica Polyglottica” for

which he appealed to Otto von Bismarck and fought

intensely with his opponents, mainly within the

German pharmaceutical society (»Deutscher

Apotheker-Verein«). In manufacturing

homœopathic preparations Schwabe closely

followed Hahnemann, but he also supported

innovative approaches, such as the use of tablets in

Homœopathy. Willmar Schwabe was an industrious

entrepreneur who invested his capital prudently and

looked after his business interests, but he also

showed social commitment by supporting health

insurance and setting up rehabilitation clinics.

Overall, Willmar Schwabe was a typical

entrepreneur of the »Gründerzeit«, who made an

important contribution to the industrial

manufacturing of homœopathic and other

complementary medicines (Dr Schuessler Tissue

Salts).

4. Homöopathie aus nanomedizinischer

perspective

(Homœopathy in nano medicinal perspective)

KOCH Ulrich (ZKH. 62, 3/2018)

Contrary to hitherto assumptions, that the high

potencies in dilution beyond Avogadro’s constant no

raw material should be traceable, the contrary could

be shown consistently in the last years in

independent trials. Beside nanoparticles in

decreasing sizes in higher potencies, even nano

particles of lactose and silicates could be traced. In

Bell’s model of nanoparticle-allostatic-cross-

adaption-sensitization it is attempted to add these

observations in a display of already existing

biological and physical insights to a hypothesis of

action of homœopathic remedies. This needs

however, in some aspects, further confirmation

through experiments.

--------------------------------------------------------------

V. VETERINARY

1. Bringing Homœopathy into the Light – An

interview with Paddy CANALES

HAYES Deborah(AH. 23/2017)

Paddy CANALES is a Los Angeles Homœopath

who donates her time to working with animal

shelters. She had developed protocols for

traumatized and sick animals entering shelters, and

the success of her treatments has drawn the attention

of the ASPCA, the Humane Society and rescue

centres around the country….. In her busy

professional practice, she is frequently consulted by

and works in conjunction with, MDs… She

collaborates with physicians and uses remedies for

extreme situations. For past 30 years she has been

an animal nutritionist, rescuing animals forever. The

results of treatment of animals with Homœopathy

was staggering. She works with Wings of Rescue –

an animal rescue centre – they fly rescued animals

from one state to another using volunteers’ private

planes – it’s huge. Paddy points that working with

MDs meant following Medical Etiquette; when a

doctor sends you a patient, it’s not your patient, it’s

that doctor’s patient and you have to refer to the MD

with your findings and what you are doing. There’s

a communication between both. You have to show

respect to that doctor. It’s a teamwork. They, the

MDs – keep testing the patient to see progress, if any.

….. “After the animals, it will be children that get to

give publicity about how Homœopathy can help and

to bring it into light. “I refuse for this practice of

ours to be underground and be pooh-poohed and be

limited.”

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

VI. RESEARCH

1. An Epidemiological Study of Injuries among

Women in a Town of West Bengal in India.

SOMA BASU (S&C, 82, 3-4/2016)

Modernization created hostile environment for

accidental injuries everywhere. Injury causes more

than five million deaths per year that makes around

9% of the global mortality. Information available are

only record based, which is just tip of iceberg.

Causes of injuries are multidimensional and women

are more susceptible than others. However, the

magnitude and burden of injury among women

caused by different factors have not been accounted

well, though several studies focused that injury

should be consider as a public health problem.

This paper aims to find out the prevalence of

injuries and to study the different epidemiological

factors related to the injuries for women with their

different socio-economic background.

It was a multicenter study that conducted on

1752 women in the semi-urban area of Nadia, West

Bengal. A detailed questionnaire was used to collect

demographic data and information related to injuries

of all members of each household. SPSS version 20

was used for statistical analysis and prevalence rates

were calculated.

The prevalence of minor injury in this study was

9.1%. Festival period (63%) and Rainy period

(49%) were the most risk period for injury as

maximum numbers of injury had occurred. The

study data revealed that road traffic accident is one

of the important causative factors for major injury

among women followed by fall and lifestyle

including domestic violence. Domestic violence

was one of the major causes for injury among

women. Fracture was the most frequently occurring

injury among women. Home is the commonest place

(48.7%) for minor injury followed by road (19.4%).

The prevalence of major injury was 2.1%. The

prevalence of minor injury was highest in the age

group, 0 – 9 years; as injury had occurred frequently

in this age group.

Injuries among women should be considered as

a special health problem and need a separate

attention and care from State. Promotion of safety at

work and education for protection at home and safe

driving can prevent the major economic loss to the

family and community at large.

[Homœopathy is very rich in injury remedies and

extremely rapid in action, cuts short disabilities. =

KSS].

2. Stem Cell Therapy Its Challenges, Successes,

Failures and Potential Applications: On-Going

Translational Research

DEWANJEE, K. Mrinal (S & C, 82, 9-10/2016)

Critical cells in human organs of injured

genetically diseased or aged populations degenerate

due to various reasons, mainly injury, genetic

mutations and chronic inflammation. The Stem Cell

niche in most human organs has a limited ability for

cell regeneration. In an adult human body, about a

billion cells die every day. In some organs and blood

pools, injured or lost cells and tissue sheets (e.g. skin

graft) could be replaced and in blood loss, it could be

replenished by transfusion. For cellular components

of blood, we have developed superb tools,

specifically tagging them with gamma-emitting

radionuclides, for measuring the cellular half-lives,

their survival times, turn-over rates and size of blood

pools in healthy volunteers and patients. It is

possible now to increase the platelet circulating time

in blood of splenomegaly patients by splenectomy,

thus decreasing the episodes of bleeding

complications resulting in fewer visits to blood bank

for platelet transfusions. However, these

measurements of cell-survival parameters of blood

cells are not possible for other cell types, particularly

in some retinal- and neuro-degenerative diseases,

where only one specific cell type, e.g. neurons, may

be lost. This specific cell could be derived from the

embryonic or induced pluripotent stem cells (ESC or

iPSC) by differentiation and could be delivered to

the affected organs provided the cell-loss is not

diffuse over a large area and the cells are not

migratory. iPSCs now could be derived easily from

skin fibroblasts or blood lymphocytes by

transfecting with only four genes. In spite of

significant and pioneering developments of cell

access from ESCs and iPSCs in the last decade, their

optimized differentiation methods and their large

scale production, cell therapy faces a tremendous

challenge in near future due to poor cell-integration

in host organs. At present, attention has been

diverted to drug discovery. Successes, failures and

potential applications of cell therapy in certain

diseases are discussed in this article to draw attention

of the energetic young minds, scientists and

clinicians to solve this challenging puzzle and give

hope to the stroke, heart-attack, diabetic and

demented patients for a longer and a better quality of

life.

3. A Non-Inferiority Trial of Nanoparticulate

Forms of Metallic Copper Absorbed in

Montmorillonite Clay on wound Healing

Activity in an Animal model

CHAKRABORTY, Monalisa1,2, KAR,

Subrata1,2, DAS, Sukhen1.2.3, BASU, Ruma2,4,

NANDY, Papiya2, and HOOVER, A. Todd5,6

(AJHM. 110/2017)

Nanoparticulate forms of metallic copper,

commonly used as Cuprum metallicum in

homœopathic medical practice, have shown promise

as a potential antimicrobial agent for assisting in

wound healing. Montmorillonite (MMT) clays have

excellent vehicle to increase the bioavailability of

the nanoparticles of copper.

This study compared the current standard

therapy (topical Soframycin) for superficial wounds

to Cuprum metallicum in three different attenuations

adsorbed in MMT clay for the treatment of

artificially induced wounds in mouse subjects. Field

Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy was used

to evaluate the nanoparticle absorption in MMT clay

for each of these attenuations. Outcomes were

measured for cell regeneration or degeneration on

histological examination after 28 days of treatment.

The mice treated withal three attenuations of

Cuprum metallicum in MMT and standard therapy

Soframycin demonstrated significantly better

outcomes in both measures compared to control

subjects. Treatment with the highest attenuation of

Cuprum metallicum in MMT shows promise for an

alternate, safe, inexpensive, and effective therapy for

superficial wounds.

4. Promoting Research in Homœopathy – An

Interview with Dr. Saurav ARORA

MOYER, Lorne (AH. 23/2017)

Currently, Dr. Saurav ARORA is Editor-in-chief of

the International Journal of High Dilution

Research: Journal of Case Studies in Homœopathy.

Dr. ARORA says that “the magnitude of

existing research is considered insufficient, despite

the existence of thousands of studies. Also, many

research works are either of quoted, or insufficiently

understood, or both. He has instituted the Initiative

to Promote Research in Homœopathy (IPRH) runs

on the Philosophy of liberal exchange ….sharing

knowledge, expertise and resources. The real

challenge is not research in Homœopathy but

organized research in Homœopathy.

‘The homœopathic system of medicine is

struggling with challenges and skepticism. The

more Homœopathy grows, the more is targeted ….

The research must be rigorous and insightful with a

clear methodology….’ [Right from 1796

Homœopathy has been challenged and it has not

become any lesser. The dominant school hates

Homœopathy because Homœopathy is a real threat

to Allopathy and hate is always blind, and cannot be

reasoned. Recall the inquisition and passing away of

BENVENISTE only a decade ago. The majority is

the authority. I am in Homœopathy for 60 years now

and have been following the hounding of

Homœopathy in the USA, Britain and now France.

Homœopathy will remain as long as we quietly keep

doing our work and improve it, and do not challenge

or speak ill of the big brother = KSS].

5. The Scientific Rejection of Homœopathy

MORREL, Peter (AH. 23/2017)

This is an excellent article. See Part II of this

QHD for the full article. “ ‘The scientific Rejection’

of Homœopathy is baseless, it is entirely without any

sound or rational foundation. The skeptics have not

studied the subject carefully or thoroughly enough to

warrant formulating such a conclusion. For

example, they dismiss far too lightly ..”

Homœopathy is just as scientific as an experience,

empirical observations, careful research and

countless experiments. Such is the part of any true

science. Hahnemann concluded his work with the

same careful attention to detail as other scientists.

He made observations, did the background research,

conducted experiments, double-checked his results

and drew conclusions based only on evidence. We

can point no major differences between

Hahnemann’s approach to his research and the

conclusions he came to, versus the vast majority of

scientists, both past and present.”

--------------------------------------------------------------------

VII. HISTORY

1. Bilanz von 25 Jahren Sammlungs—und

Forschungtatigkeit des Instituts für Geschichte

der Medizin der Robert Bosch Stiftung in

Stuttgart.

(25 years of Collection and Research works of

the Institute for History of Medicine of Robert

Bosch Foundation in Stuttgart.)

DINGES, Martin (ZKH. 60, 1/2016)

The article traces the Institute’s systematic

collection of archival material on the history of

Homœopathy during the last 25 years, particularly

documents on patient’s treatment and associations of

laymen and physicians and how these sources were

made accessible. Research activities help to

understand the crucial role of the patients and the

international diffusion of Homœopathy. Historical

studies also include the many generations of

physicians since Hahnemann, the hospital and the

homœopathic medication.

2. Laudatio für Prof. Hermandez Beronnes

Revolutionäre Medizin: Homœopathie und die

Regulierung des ӓrztlichen Berufes 1853-1942

in Mexiko.

(Praise of Prof. Hernandes Berinnes. Medicas

Revolutionary: Homœopathy and regulation of

medical practice 1853 – 1942 in Mexico).

FISCHER Ulrich (ZKH. 60, 1/2016)

This doctoral dissertation shows how

Homœopathy as a subaltern medical movement was

able to participate in and react to the cultural reforms

and institutional regulations that characterized,

Mexico during the profinite as well as the post-

revolutionary periods, receiving the state’s political

and economical support, professional societies,

medical schools and public health officer worked on

an interconnected structure of regulatory centres.

Here, homœopaths, regular medical practitioners,

and state authorities used their understandings of

Science, education, and class to advance their

positions in the professional arena, organize and

administer medical institution and centralize

political control.

It may be noted that Mexico, Brazil, and India

are the three countries where Homœopathy has the

same rights and responsibilities as the Conventional

Medicine.

3. Halbgeister über den Wassern: Eine Kritische

Auseinandersetzung mit den krankheits-

theoretischen Auffassung Hahnemanns

(A critical discussion of Hahnemann’s Concept

of Disease)

ZWEMKE Hans (ZKH. 60, 1/2016)

That since 1831, at the latest Hahnemann’s

conception of Disease had undergone great change.

At the earliest of his was as explained in the

Organon, the view which created much opposition

was that disease - except the epidemic diseases – was

an individual happening which is due to an

immaterial agent on the one side and on the other

side, a so-called Vital Force of energic-dynamic

nature – a kind of infection – and in form a kind of

disturbance of feelings which make to a disease by

every of individual symptoms which are removed by

a medicine through a kind of opposing action created

a similar feeling thus driving away the ailment. This

kind of spiritual healing theory is in the second

edition of theory; also that all chronic diseases are

caused by specific partly spiritual materially acting

parasites. Further on Hahnemann has said of, in

principle a cause based, as in natural science.

4. Hahnemann in Paris: Umfeld und neue Belege

zur Behandlung des Kindes Marie Legouvé

(1838-1843)

(Hahnemann in Paris: Context and new

evidence regarding the treatment of the child

Marie Legouvé 1838-1843)

STEPHAN, Heinrich Nolte (MedGG. 31/2013)

In 1835, Samuel Hahnemann moved with his

young second wife, Mélanie d’Hervilly Gohier, from

Koethen to Paris where they established a fast-

growing, fashionable homœopathic practice. In

November 1838 Hahnemann treated the nearly four-

year-old daughter of Ernest Legouvé, a well-known

man of letters. Since the treating physicians

considered the girl’s prognosis to be unfavourable,

the family decided to commission the artist Amaury

Duval, a gifted disciple of Ingres, to paint the girl on

her deathbed. The painter convinced the parents to

call for Hahnemann, who came at once, treated the

child successfully and remained the physician and

friend of the family until his death in 1843. This

story, which Ernest Legouvé wrote down in his

memoirs, was also recorded by Hahnemann in his

Paris case journal DF 9, which is kept today at the

IGM in Stuttgart. The journal covers the period of

Marie Legouvé’s treatment from November 1838 to

April 1843 and is written mainly in French, in the

handwritings of both Mélanie and Samuel. The full

transcription and German translation are reproduced

here for the first time and examined in depth. Apart

from the description of symptoms, choice of

remedies and precise instructions regarding the use

of C- and even Q-potencies or olfaction, one notices

the fast alternation of remedies and the frequent use

of placebos. Passages from the repertories of Georg

Heinrich Gottlieb Jahr and Clemens von

Bœnninghausen confirm the sources used by

Hahnemann. A portrait of Marie on her sickbed was

discovered by the author in the Legouvé’s former

country house in Seine-Port, Dépt. Seine-et-Marne.

5. David Didier Roth (1808 – 1885)

SOMMER Ilka (ZKH. 60, 2/2016)

The homœopathic physician David Didier Roth

associated, in the middle of the 18th century with the

highest society and with the artistic scene of Paris.

Among others, he treated personalities as de Roths

child, Chopin and Heine. Standing up for his

conviction in Homœopathy all his life, he yet

became one of the most ardent and tenacious critics

of Hahnemann’s. The fanatic fighter for a cleansing

of the Materia Medica also belonged to the group of

the ‘critical natural scientific’ Homœopaths; further

more he made a name for himself as an appreciated

connoiseur and collector of arts and a business-

minded inventor.

6. Health and Integration of German Expellees

from the East in Postwar Germany

GRÜNDLER, Jens (MedGG. 36/2018)

This contribution focuses on medical practices

and health-related experiences of German refugees

at the end and in the aftermath of the Second World

War. During the years 1944 to 1950 more than 12

million Germans were forced to leave their home,

either fleeing or being expelled from their homes in

the eastern and south-eastern parts of the German

Reich. Health-related topics, especially after the end

of the war and during the integration of refugees and

‘Heimatvertriebene’ have been neglected by

historians although health and illness are particularly

important during processes of arrival in societies.

Using autobiographical texts this essay tries to

explore topics that were particularly important to

refugees and ‘Heimatvertriebene’. Focusing on

experiences of hunger and nutrition/diet, on

experiences with allied measures to prevent

epidemics and everyday practices of health and

illness, the article opens up new perspectives on the

relationship of health and migration. It underlines

the fact that the integration of millions of exiled

persons posed a challenge. At the same time the

contribution demonstrates that individual

experiences were diverse, but dependent on age and

gender and, in particular, on the time of writing.

Furthermore, the contribution evaluates prospective

fields of research as well as the value of, and issues

with, autobiographical narratives of refugees and

‘Vertriebene’ for the social history of medicine.

7. Hahnemann’s patients: a medical history in

letters of the Fernsdorf bailiff and estate owner

Gottlob Friedrich Lüdicke and his family

SCHLOTT, Melanie & SCHLOTT, Thilo

(MedGG. 36/2018)

This edition of sources relates to a section of

Hahnemann’s clientele that was not an immediate

part of the Koethen court: the better-off patients who

lived a rural life in the villages around the town of

Koethen. It contains the correspondence, carried out

from 1831 and 1834, between the Fernsdorf estate

owner, Squire Gottlob Friedrich Lüdicke (1791/92-

?), and the physician and homœopath Samuel

Hahnemann. Of the sixteen documents that have

been preserved 14 were written by Lüdicke, and in

these letters he describes the symptoms and

complaints affecting himself, his wife, his children

and his mother. Two of the documents in this body

of sources, composed by Hahnemann in 1834, can

be regarded as the medical histories of the Lüdicke

family as noted down by him. These letters reveal a

broad range of illnesses with symptoms that are

discussed in the way one would expect of that time.

For further health-related interpretations of the

letters one needs to take into account that some of

the illnesses described may have resulted from the

unhealthy life and working conditions on a farming

estate around 1830.

8. ‘Heretic’ doctors: synthesis as cornerstone of

French holistic medicine in the first half of the

20th century

COSTA, Luciana, THOMAZ, Lima &

WAISSE, Silvia (MedGG. 36/2018)

In the 1920’s a group of doctors in Europe and

the USA began to turn away from the contemporary

mainstream medicine. Because of their conviction

in the understanding of the life circumstance to be

integrated and a holistic approach hypotheses. The

beginning and the development of holistic approach

grew in France has not so far been examined. In this

article this work has been undertaken. This is based

on the book “Medicine officialle et medecines

hérétiques” (Medicine official and Medicine heretic)

which appeared in 1945. The intellectual

background of the Medical milieu in France in the

early 20th century is characterized as heterogenetic

of holistic thinking in France.

9. The “quantified self” as a historical process.

Self-measurement of blood pressure since the

early twentieth century: between heteronomy

and self-positioning

WOLFF, Eberhard (MedGG. 36/2018)

The article starts by examining how, in the

course of the twentieth century, the monitoring of

blood pressure became, aside from its clinical

application, also a measure carried out routinely by

(potential) patients themselves. This was a long,

complex and gradual journey. Analysis reveals that

the “self” of self-measurement tends to be a question

of degree.

The spreading of BP self-measurement is

interpreted here as embedded in main medical

developments of the twentieth century. These

include the technologization of medicine, the

growing focus on health risks, the emergence of a

“surveillance” medicine based on “preventive self-

care”, a quantified understanding of health, the

implementation of standard values as well as a more

active role for the patient.

The concluding criticism of the currently

widespread, often pessimistic ways of interpreting

self-measurements, not least those of today’s

“quantified self”, is based on this historical

approach. These interpretations see in the self-

measurements above all aspects of heteronomy, of a

neoliberal coercion to self-monitor and self-optimize

as well as the shifting of responsibility to the

individual.

In conclusion, the article tries to expand this

rather negative and restrictive view by a more open

interpretation. This wider interpretation sees the

practice of self-monitoring as something that has

evolved with and in modern times and the modern

ideas regarding health and body. It explains the

tendency towards self-monitor in as the expression

of a more active self-observation of (potential)

patients, with the aim of facilitating the self-

positioning, self-orienting and self-regulation that

have gained much more importance in our modern

time with its pluralized life plans.

10. Kommunikation zwischen Samuel Hahnemann

und seinen patienten

(Communication between Samuel Hahnemann

and his Patient)

DINGES, Martin und HOLZAPFEL, Klaus

(ZKH. 62, 4/2018)

Hahnemann’s communication with patients was

marked by his expectations of their willingness to

co-operate, later rather their willingness to follow.

Whereas his office in Leipsic shows rather a

professional functionality of a family business in

Paris it marked the emphasized of the famous

therapist in the physician-patient relationship. The

sick were to report minutely their symptoms, earlier

treatments and the use of household remedies,

refrain from treatment by third parties and case for

the accurate use of the remedies and diet, yet without

being informed about the prescribed remedy. The

patients-expected faithful attention of their (written)

ailments, interpretation of their symptoms, a certain

care, and relief or healing.

--------------------------------------------------------------

VIII. GENERAL

1. Medizinischer Pluralisms in Europa und Indien:

Konzept, Hintergrund und Perspektives.

(Medicinal Pluralism in Europe and India:

Concept, background and Perspectives)

DINGES, Martin (ZKH. 61, 1/2017)

Dr. DINGES visited India in this connection and

met and discussed with some Homœopaths also. In

many parts of the World there are two or three (or

more) medical practices, e.g. in India we have

Homœopathy, Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani – all these

well-known. A doctor from Korea told me that they

are taught ‘Oriental Medicine’ and should try that

first; if it fails, only then ‘Western’ (Allopathy).

[We cannot deny pluralism. There cannot be

any single system. That is medical dictatorship. It

is also an insult to genuine practitioners of other

systems to brand them as ‘Fraud’ or ‘unscientific’,

etc. There will always be pluralism. Surely, the

‘driving away of Homœopathy in U.K. is not going

to improve the health care of people. But, surely

Homœopathy will endure = KSS].

2. Warum wenden sich Ärzte der Homöopathie

zu?

(Why do doctors turn to Homœopathy?)

WALTHER Daniel (ZKH. 61, 2/2017)

This article is relevant to the one above.

An overview of the individual motives of

Physicians and non-medical practitioners, which

integrated Homœopathy to their medical practice.

The basis for this examination are 26 biographical

summaries. After a short presentation of the social

structure of the narrated motives will be attached to

4 categories. Most frequently the writers turned to

Homœopathy because of their dissatisfaction with

orthodox medicine. [Infact, it can be asserted that

majority cases that the homœopaths get are all only

those that the Orthodox medicine failed, - and in

majority of cases Homœopathy succeeds. [THIS

BASED ON OUR OVER 50 YEARS PRACTICE of

HOMŒOPATHY – KSS]. Enough discussions have

taken place in the past several years, and there is

nothing new to be stated. Homœopathy will

continue for ever, notwithstanding efforts of the

dominant school to suppress, because Homœopathy

survives on ‘evidence’, not on experiments in the

laboratories, but on the experience of the people.

3. Schamanismus als medizinische Prävention?

Ein Fallbeispiel aus Ladakh (Nordwest-Indien)

Shamanism as medical prevention? A case

study from Ladakh, Northwest-India

KRESSING, Frank (MedGG 30/2011)

Relating to a research project in the trans-

Himalayan region of Ladakh, Northwest-India, the

paper examines indications that the shamanic

vocation and practice grew significantly in this

region. The author tries to link this increase to

severe psychological pressures imposed by the

heavy presence of the Indian Army, political and

administrative ties to the Indian state of Jammu and

Kashmir (with a predominantly Muslim population),

and the region’s status as a popular tourist

destination. The paper argues that shamanic rituals

performed by so-called oracles that embody deities

of the Buddhist pantheon in trance (lhamo, lhapa)

not only provide important services of healing and

divination, they contribute significantly to medical

prevention in ties of growing competition and the

deterioration of value systems. Turning from a local

(Ladakh, the Tibetan Plateau) to a global

perspective, it is further argued that the preventive

function of shamanism has often been overlooked in

previous ethnographic research and might be

neglected by increasing efforts (also fostered by

indigenous ritualists themselves) to establish and

legitimize traditional ritual practices as part of

modern health care systems which might eventually

lead to the medicalization of traditional ceremonies

– in short: “shamans do a lot more than just heal

people”.

4. Medizürischer Pluralisms in Europa and Indien:

Konzept, Hintergrund und Perspektive

(Medicinal Pluralism in Europe and India:

Concept, Background, and Perspectives)

DINGES, Martin (ZKH. 61, 1/2017)

Medical pluralism has been considered from

many points of view: legal, institutional and as a

particular phase in medicalization. Here, it starts

from discontent of patients, healers and other state

holders inside the Health-Care System to understand

the reason for growing medical pluralism in such

different countries as Germany and India. Their

respective institutional framework may be

completely different but the approach from

discontent with the given Health-Care provision

shows un-expected similarities. This is particularly

interesting as the concept of medical pluralism has

initially developed for South Asian countries.

5. Die Homöopathie und die Geschichte der

Skeptikerbewegung in den U.S.A.: Zwischen

Wissenschaftsdogmatismus und politischem

Agendasetting

(Homœopathy and the History of Sceptics

movement in the USA.: Between Scientific

dogmatism and Political Agenda Setting)

BEHNKE, Jens (ZKH. 61, 3/2017)

The global Homœopathy critique is decisively

influenced by the so-called “Sceptical Movement”.

This ideological community refers to a dogmatic

understanding of Science, in order to systematically

discredit Homœopathy in media campaigns. This

article reconstructs the historical origins of

“sceptices” in the U.S. Links to medical societies,

industrial donors and political institutions and

analysed. The methods of the grouping are given a

critical appraisal based on specific historical

examples.

6. Warum wenden sich Ärzte der Homöopathie

zu?

(Why do Physicians turn to Homœopathy)

WALTHER Daniel (ZKH. 61, 2/2017)

This article provides an overview of the

individual motives of physicians and non-medical

Practitioners, which integrated Homœopathy in their

medical practice. The basis his examination are 26

biographical summaries. After a short presentation

of the social structure the motives narrated are put in

4 categories. Most frequently the writers turned to

Homœopathy because of their dissatisfaction with

the Orthodox Medicine. Almost the same amount of

physicians/on-medical practitioners or their children

have been ill and were cured with homœopathic

remedies. Some homœopaths also were attracted by

witnessing successful homœopathic treatments.

Above all, there are several writers, who spoke of

their self-concept as a holistic doctor as the main

reason why they switched to Homœopathy.

[Those amongst us who have been practicing for

several years and have personal experience will

simply say, ‘Homœopathy work’s well.’ We have

read the famous J.C. BURNETT’s 50 reasons for

becoming a homœopath. Even the die-hard critique

cannot beat it. Those who have experienced in their

own person will rest expressing their gratitude to

HAHNEMANN for introducing such a “blessed

medicine”. I may also venture to say that most

persons who have been treated homœopathically

genuinely become ‘good’ persons. We have an

illustrious list. = KSS.]

7. Vernetzung in der medizinischen Versorgung

(Inclusion in the medical care)

DINGES, Martin (ZKH. 61, 2/2017)

While there are collective groups of

Homœopathic Physician there is no such ‘group’ of

homœopathic patients who have experienced it and

have even later worked for it. Even the few network

get scanty attention. They are, however, important

in the history of Homœopathy. This becomes more

important because Homœopathy’s development as a

successful therapeutics has been by word of mouth

and written words by those who have been blessed

by Homœopathy.

With the study and reconstruct of the lives of

BETTINE and ACHIM von Arnim. How BETTINE

used her familial and social connections to advertise

and introduce Homœopathy during the early years of

her commitment (1825 to 1830).

Fascinating indeed.

8. Protestant clergymen among Hahnemann’s

clientele. Patient histories in letters.

KREHER, Simone, SCHLOTT, Melanie und

SCHLOTT, Thilo (MedGG. 34/2016)

The correspondence between the pastors Albert

Wilhelm Gotthilf Nagel (1796-1835) and August

Carl Ludwig Georg Mühlenbein (1797-1866),

presented here in a standard edition, has been

investigated at Fulda University as part of the project

‘Homöpathisches Medicinieren zwischen

alltäglicher Lebenführung und professioneller

Praxis’ (‘Homeopathic medicine between everyday

use and professional practice’).

Of the altogether 78 transcribed documents, 53

are letters written by either of the two pastors, 16 are

patient journals by Samuel Hahnemann, 9 letters by

the pastors’ wives and Mühlenbein’s mother. The

two series of letters, originally composed between

1831 and 1833 in old German cursive script, can now

be used as sources for research into the history of

Homœopathy.

As part of the research project, developments in

the history of science and in the regional and

ecclesiastic history of the late feudal petty state of

Köthen-Anhalt have been assessed and numerous

documents of the Nagel and Mühlenbein family

histories examined that place the transcribed patient

letters of the two Protestant clergymen within the

context of the Hahnemann Archives. These findings

complement and extend previous insights into

Hahnemann’s Köthenclientele, especially when it

comes to the structure and milieu of the local clerical

elite. Inspired by the interpretive methods of

sequential textual analysis, form and content of the

letters of the two clergymen and their relatives were

also investigated as methodically structured lines of

communication. The body of sources published here

presents – embedded in the body-image (of sickness

and health) prevalent at the time – the medical

cultures of educated patients as well as the

increasingly professionalized medical practices of

Samuel Hahnemann in a flourishing urban doctor’s

surgery.

9. “The allopaths have executed me; the

hydropaths left me depleted, and now

Homœopathy is driving me insane.” Karl May

and Homœopathy: insights, views and sources.

PANNEK, Jürgen (MedGG. 36/2018)

This contribution explores what Karl May have

known of Homœopathy, where he derived his

knowledge and what his own view of Homœopathy

was.

Karl May mentioned Homœopathy early on in

his career as a writer. He probably acquired his

evidently solid knowledge of Homœopathy from

“Pierer’s Universal lexikon” and the writings of W.

Schwabe. His interest in Homœopathy may have

been prompted by his mother (a midwife) or his self-

treatment for venereal disease. May’s relationship

with Homœopathy changed over time. At the

beginning of his career he, like many other writers

of his time, referred to Homœopathy ironically as it

was widely known; his irony was aimed at the users

rather than the method, however. For a while he did

not mention it at all any more. In his late work Karl

May deepened and wrote in more detail about his

ideas of a holistic medicine, which came very close

to the homœopathic view of sickness and health.

The fact that he sought homœopathic treatment for

himself and his family during that phase

corroborates the conclusion that he had a positive

relationship with Homœopathy.

10. Finding the right medicine – Why are

physicians and alternative practitioners turning

to Homœopathy?

WALTHER, Daniel (MedGG. 36/2018)

This contribution starts by outlining the reasons

and personal motives physicians and alternative

practitioners have for choosing Homœopathy. The

study is based on 26 German and 15 British short

biographical reports. After setting out the social

structure, four categories are defined to which the

motives described in the reports are allocated. The

most frequent reason why both German and British

authors turn to Homœopathy is their dissatisfaction

with mainstream medicine. In addition to the limited

range of therapies they criticize the lack of time

available to them within the conventional setting.

The second most frequent reason mentioned is the

successful treatment of their and their children’s

illnesses with homœopathic medicines. Seeing

chronic complaints alleviated comes as a revelation,

inducing physicians as well as lay-healers to

reconsider and become seriously interested in

Homœopathy. The authors were, moreover,

attracted by the successful homœopathic treatments

they witnessed. And lastly, some homœopaths gave

their self-image as holistically thinking and

practicing physicians as the main reason for deciding

in favour of Homœopathy.

The second part of this contribution provides a

historical comparison. For this, the obituaries of 224

homœopaths were screened for individual motives

and then categorized. It turns out that most of these

homœopaths came across Homœopathy through a

third party (close relatives, colleagues, friends etc.).

Again, having witnessed cures was the second most

common reason why they reconsidered and decided

to train in and practice Homœopathy.

Dissatisfaction with conventional medicine was less

important, but the reason for this could be that many

physicians were born before its professionalization.

--------------------------------------------------------------

IX. BOOKS

1. Teut M. DAHLRJ, LUCAE, C., KOCH, U.,

Kursbuch Homöopathie, Munchen; Elsevier:

2016, 2 Aufl. 296 S., kart t. 39.90 (German) review

by Peter MINDER (ZKH. 61, 1/2017)

This is a ‘Course Book Homœopathy’. “An

excellent book for anyone desiring to learn

Homœopathy and also for those who wish to

improve further in Classical Homœopathy.”

2. SCHMIDT, J.M.: Schriften zur Geschichte

und Theorie der Homœopathy. Band 1-6.

München: bge-Verlag: 2016, 2180 S., kart, Ɛ.

148.80 (alle 6 Bänd) (Articles on History and

Theory of Homœopathy, Vol. 1-6) (German).

Review by Christian LUCAE. (ZKH. 61, 1/2017):

For those who would study Homœopathy thoroughly

and sincerely with all its facets in Theory and

Practice clearly distinguished the entire work of

Josef SCHMIDT shows his indefatigable writing,

exactness, originality and thoroughness while at the

same time appreciation of significance of

HAHNEMANN and Homœopathy together. The

presentation of all the six volumes in one complete

book is welcome.”

“The six Vols are:

1. The Philosophy of Samuel Hahnemann in

founding Homœopathy.

2. Compact knowledge of Homœopathy – Basic

Method, and History

3. The Koethen Summer Course History 1-10

(2006-2015)

4. Collected Lesser Writings, Part I (1988 - 2013)

5. Collected Lesser Writings Part II (2005 - 2015)

6. English Articles and Abstracts (1988- 2015)

7. BASCHIM, M.: Isopathic und Homöopathie,

Eine Wechselbeziehung zwischen Ablehnung

und Integration.

(Isopathic and Homœopathy. An alternating

connections between rejection and integration).

3. Quellen und Studien zur

Homöopathiegeschichte, Band 23, Essen:KVC

Verlag: 2016, 361S, 34, 90Ɛ. (German). Review by

Peter MINDER: The title is self-explanatory of the

contents.

4. MEYER, U., FRIEDRICH, C.: “Rastlos

vorwarts allezeit”. 150 Jahre Dr. Willmar

Schwabe. 1866 – 2016. (Indefatigables forward at

all times, 150 years Dr. Willmar SCHWABE 1866

– 2016). (German) Review by Christian LUCAE

(ZKH. 61, 2/2017):

For those interested in history of Homœopathy,

the first half of the very readable which begins with

the history of Willmar SCHWABE. It is noteworthy

that until now the family continues the Homœopathy

and phytotherapy medicines since more than 150

years, also in standardization and a number of

medicines introduced like Galphinia and Okoubaka.

5. MATT, I.: “Nichts drin” – Ein Homöopathie

Krime, Eschbach/Markgräflerland: Verslagan

Eschbach 2017, 363. 15, 00Ɛ (German) review by

Michael Hadulla (ZKH. 61, 3/2017): Absolutely

memorable. A homœopathic Crime of rare class

Enjoyable.”

6. KELLER, R.: Die akute Heuschnupfen-

behandlung in der Homöopathischen Praxis

(Acute Hayfever in Homœopathy Practice)

review by Peter MINDER (ZKH. 61, 3/2017):

Useful book with regarding to treatment acute Hay

Fever. Its relevance with regard to other

publications on this subject will be seen over a

period when it is used.

7. MICKLER, T., REIS, S. (Hrsg): der kleine

kwibus 2018. 356 X Homöopathie zum Abreizen.

Mülheim an der Ruhr; KWIBUS Verlag: 2017,

Kalender review by Christian LUCAE (ZKH. 61,

4/2017): The ‘Kleine Kwibus’ will be interesting to

everyone interested in Homœopathy History. It is

enjoyable to read everyday sure. One should have

two copies: one as you tear off one page another one

complete with all the pages for the bookshelf.

8. MADAUS G.: Lehrbuch der biologischen

Heilmittel, Bd.1-3. Reprint der Ausgabe 1938.

Hilderheim, der Verlag, 258.Ɛ (ZKH. 61, 4/2017)

review Peter MINDER. (German):

“An unthinkably large amount of information

carefully collected is found in this new edition

unavailable anywhere else. A ‘must’ for those

scientifically interested therapists biologically.”

9. Medikale Kultur der Homöopathischen

Laienbewegung (1870 bis 2013) vom Kurativen

zum Präventiven Selbst?

(Medical culture of homœopahic Lay movement

From Curative to Preventive self?) WALTER,

D.: MedGG-Beiheft 67. Stuttgart: Franz-Steinen

Verlag: 2017, kart. 360S. Ɛ59/- (German):

Review Christian LUCAE, ZKH. 62, 1/2018).

This is an overview of the ‘Lay Homœopaths’

(Which meant those who are not medically qualified

‘doctors’ in Germany). It covers the two world wars.

These are interesting points from historians. A well

researched work.

9. Synoptische Referenz. Homöopathische

Arzneien aus dem Tierreich (Synoptic Reference.

Homœopathic Medicines from animals).

Erstausgabe. Übersetzung von Petra

BROCKMANN, Schriftenreihe Materia Medica

– Band 1.Berlin: Homöopathie + Symbol; 2017,

geb., 1195 S., Ɛ55/-. VERMEULEN, F.:

(German). Review Christian LUCAE. (ZKH. 62,

1/2018)

The aim of his writing this series of reference

books is mentioned by VERMEULEN: “A

necessary balance between tradition and flexibility

make me to present these works which contains the

excellent works of the past and the present

innovative works and keeping mind the future.”

This aim has been reached: HAHNEMANN to

HERING, KENT, BOGER and VITHOULKAS and

other source verified valuable information have been

collected and presented. The present work is Vol.I

in the series. This work is a translation into German.

10. Homöopathie bei Demenz (Homœopathy in

Dementia), TEUT, M., DOPPLER, C.,

Pohlheim:Ahlbrecht; 2017, geb., 80 S., Ɛ25/-

(German) review by Klaus HOLZAPFEL (ZKH.

62, 1/2018).

“This is an interesting collection of cases

irregularly presented, documented also irregularly

which may be corrected in another edition.

Recommended for the experienced therapists, for the

beginner difficult to comprehend.”

11. The birth of Homœopathy out of the Spirit of

Romanticism, KUZNIAR, AA.: Toranto, Buffalo,

London: University of Toronto Press; 2017.

Paperback. P.223 S., Ɛ24.50/- (English) review by

Christian LUCAE (ZKH. 62, 3/2018):

“This book in English is about the research in

the history of Homœopathy wherein it is presented

that HAHNEMANN was not only Scientific but a

child of Enlightenment, but also important parallels

between Romanticism and Homœopathy is shown

and thus the birth of Homœopathy.”

12. PHATAK, S.R.: Meister der klassischen

Homöopathische Arzneimittellehre mit

Repertorium (Master of Classical Homœopathy.

Homœopathic Materia Medica and Repertory)

München Elsevier: 2018. 1. Auflage. Übersetzt

anhand der Quellen überprüft und bearbeitet

von: FRANKSEIB, München Elsevier: 2018. 1.

Auflage. Übersetzt, anhand der Quellen

überprüft und bearbeitet von: FRANK SEIB,

München 878, S., Ɛ89. (ZKH. 62, 4/2018).

This work, a new Edition of both Materia

Medica and Repertory in one volume is not to be

missed. The translation is solid and will be of great

help in the day-to-day practice.

13. Essentials of Homœopathic Medicine Case

Taking, Case Analysis, Case Management and

(13 Polychrest by Timothy Fior, M.D. DHt and

Francise Burke, DC 2nd Edition: (AJHM.

109/2016). “…This book is meant especially for

beginners in Homœopathy, but will be a useful

reference for students at all levels of homœopathic

mastery who are trying to perfect their case taking,

case analysis, and case management skills.

It is our wish and prayer that modern and

complete books like this will help to bring good

Homœopathy to a new generation of interested

professional students and the public at large.

14. Vaccines: A Reappraisal by Richard

MOSKOWITZ, M.D. Skyhorse Publishing, New

York, about 350 pages: publication date: Spring

or Fall, 2017. (AJHM. 109/2016).

“My book was born out of a sense of urgency.

In 2015, California passed the SB277 Law that

abolished the personal belief exemption and required

all children to be vaccinated. ….. My purpose in

writing was to authenticate the reality of vaccine

injury, beginning with my own clinical experience

and that of other physicians and supplemented by the

narratives of thousands of victims and parents

themselves, as a major epidemic that is being written

off by the bulk of medical profession, and to a large

extent by the general public and the news media as

well. …”

15. Miller’s Review of Critical Vaccine Studies

by Neil Z. Miller. Santa Fe: New Atlantean Press,

2016. 336 pages. Paperback. $11.95 US. ISBN-

10: 188121740X. ISBN-13: 978-1881217404.

Reviewed by Karl ROBINSON, MD. (AJHM.

110/2017): “Those of us who question the safety of

Vaccines and/or their efficacy often find ourselves

on the defensive against a medical establishment that

unrelentingly promotes both their safety and efficacy

and brooks no opposition. Any fact that suggest

vaccines are less than a universal panacca are usually

ignored or dismissed often with contempt. …Miller

has spent over 25 years studying and writing about

vaccines and exposing their flaws and dangers. …

What distinguishes his latest book is the wealth of

data detailing just how compromising various

vaccines are to long-term health…. For this

reviewer, Miller’s book contains revelation after

revelation about Vaccine liabilities…..

The section “Aluminium” especially interested

this reviewer as I have been using homœopahic

Alumina (oxide of aluminium in potency) often to

dramatic effect in adults with a history of using

deodorants/antiperspirants containing aluminium. I

have maintained for years that wide swaths of the

population suffer from aluminium toxicity, an

epidemic that, because it is off the public health

radar, is virtually invisible and therefore

unrecognized. It causes significant cognitive decline

and noticeable incoordination. Miller addresses

aluminium’s role as an adjuvant; that is a substance

that enhances the body’s immune response to an

antigen. It is uncontested that aluminium is a

neurotoxin and has absolutely no biological role in

humans. Nonetheless, it is used in vaccines for

tetanus, pertussis (DTaP), Haemophilus influenzae

type b (Hib), hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and

pneumococcus.

As a neurotoxin, aluminium can destroy

neurons necessary for cognitive and motor functions.

Unlike aluminium that is ingested (99.5% of which

is eliminated in the stool and most of the rest via the

kidneys) injected aluminium is 100% absorbed and

is known to travel to organs throughout the body

where it can remain for years.

The following are summaries of all the studies

on aluminium toxicity appearing in Miller’s book.

 Aluminium in vaccines can cause autoimmune

and neurological damage

 Aluminium in vaccines may cause severe health

problems in children and adults

 Aluminium in vaccines may be linked to

autismspectrum disorder

 Autism may be related to genetic factors and

aluminium-containing pediatric vaccines

 Aluminium in vaccines can provoke permanent

mal-functions of the brain and immune system

 Aluminium in vaccines can cause chronic

fatigue, sleep disturbances, multiple sclerosis-

like demyelinating disorders, and memory

problems

 Chronic fatigue, chronic pain, and cognitive

disorders have all been linked to aluminium in

vaccines

 Aluminium in vaccines can cause macrophagic

myofasciitis, chronic fatigue and muscle

weakness

 Aluminium in vaccines can cause central

nervous system disorders and multiple

sclerosis-like symptoms

 Aluminium in vaccines can travel to distant

organs, like the spleen and brain, and become

“insidiously unsafe”

 Aluminium adjuvants added to vaccines are

“insidiously unsafe” and may cause long-term

cognitive deficits

 Aluminium in vaccines can cause neuron death

plus motor and memory deficits similar to Gulf

War Syndrome

 Aluminium in vaccines can cause cognitive

dysfunction, chronic fatigue, autoimmunity, and

Gulf War Syndrome

 Aluminium-adjuvant vaccines can damage the

nervous system and cause autoimmune

disorders

 Aluminium adjuvants vacccines can be

dangerous, causing autoimmunity and ASIA

syndrome in some people

 Vaccine adjuvants such as aluminium and oil-

in-water emulsions may cause autoimmune

diseases

 Mercury and aluminium in vaccines can cause

auto-immunity and neurological disorders.

The foregoing is only a smattering of the

information in Miller’s new book. It is a must read

for the entire medical profession and especially for

those of us practicing alternative/integrative

medicine. Miller has formatted the book so that each

study summarized is contained on one page. The

studies are easy to read and understand and the

reference to the original studies are cited.

16. Fighting Fire with Fire – Homeopathic Detox

Therapy by Ton JANSEN, 2016. Hardcover

319 pages $45.72. Publisher Anhira Ltd.,

Sofia, Bulgaria. www.anhira.com Reviewed

by Laura SHOLTZ (AH. 2017).

“Here is a succinct summary of what can be

expected in ‘Fighting Fire with Fire’ from one of

Ton JANSEN’s colleague Frans van ROOIJEN,

classical homœopath and editor of the Dutch

Homœopathy Publication Dynamis….”

Homœopathic Detox Therapy: an answer to the

devastating chemical destruction of mankind” (page

9). … Too many people are over-vaccinated, take

antibiotics and prescription medicines at the drop of

a hat, and eat processed and artificial fillers instead

of real food. Often they are subjected to Wi-Fi and

other EMFs, and live in artificial light 24 hours of

each day. Much of the Western World no longer

respects what our bodies require to be healthy, so

chronic disease and early death have become the

norm. but Ton JANSEN’s HDT finds ways to “…

erase pathological influences and unblock the

suppressed Vital Force …(page 7) by using a

combination of homœopathic detox therapy and

Homœopathy.”

16. Materia Medica Clinica, Milk Remedies by

Massimo MANGIALAVORI, 2016,

paperback, 452pages, $52; ISBN:

1530243459. Create space ependent

Publishing Platform. South Carolina.

Reviewed by Laura SHOLTZ, Ph.D. (AH.

23/2017):

“In this exceptional and exhaustively researched

book are fourteen Lac remedies in impeccable detail

as only Massimo MANGIALAVORI is able to do.

In the Preface he writes, “All remedies, and the

substances they are made from, have a special

magic—animals no less than Plants, Minerals, Fungi

and the others…..”

Lac delphinium, Lac humanum, Lac loxodonta

Africana are some of the 14 ‘Milk Remedies’.

“This is a wonderful book as Misha NORLAND

writes in the Foreword – “…… undoubtedly a

master work…”

[Personally, I feel that we are already burdened

with thousands of ‘new remedies in the new

Repertory; we, including the well experienced ones

generally rarely go beyond the wellknown (for

nearly centuries) remedies the Polychrest. We rarely

come across cases of Viola odorata, Viola tricolor,

Xanthoxyllum, Magnesia carbonicum/muriaticum,

etc. etc. It would be more useful to master atleast

50% of the wellknown remedies. Most of our cases

atleast 90% of them will be covered well. This is

more useful in practice than less than 50%

‘knowing’ many remedies = KSS].

17. Touching Base with Trauma – Reaching

across the generations: A three-dimensional

homœopathic perspective by Elizabeth

ADALIAN 2017: Paperback. 225 pages $ 19.50.

ISBN 978-099557 48-1-6. Writersworld,

England. www.writersworld.co.uk review by

Laura SHOLZ, Ph.D. (AH. 23/2017):

The title of the book explains the contents. “This

book stretches our thinking to include not only our

current troubling times, but also traumas from past

generations, both individual and collective traumatic

events are extraordinary…. Because they

overwhelm the ordinary adaptations to life. … the

impressionable years of infancy where susceptibility

is so deeply rooted …. Vicarious effects of trauma

can percolate through at least three generations. …

In the section on Epigenetics we find powerful

information. Epigenetics “implies that the effects of

traumas are passed on through generations at a

cellular level and become attached to the DNA of the

patient…. The most startling aspect of Epigenetics is

that less than 2% of the population is born with a

genetic condition. The rest of the population

succumbs to illness due to life style and behavior. …

just by making changes on these levels, it is possible

to control genes which govern the majority of

disease manifestations. Therefore, through own

actions and daily choices, we are able to create

sickness or health within ourselves. The chapter on

Alzheimer’s disease is illuminating as well.

“Exploring the history of previous family members

could be the main key to prevent the onset. … we

may not understand why transgenerational traumas

can be so impactful, but as homœopaths we need to

include that in our consideration when taking the

case. Also isolation plays the greatest role in

Alzheimer’s ….”. …This is a wonderful book,

teaching us about the very far reaches of trauma even

generations not yet born….”

18. Essence of Homœopathic Snake Remedies,

by Dr. Konstantinos PISIOS, 2014, paperback,

183 pages. $36.84 ISBN: 978-960-93-6162-0.

Publisher: Dr. Pisios Homœopathy, Athens,

Greece (AH. 24/2018) review by Laura SHOLTZ,

Ph.D.: “This little book, beautifully written covers

many more topics than a few well-known, and also

unknown, snake remedies…. Focuses on four

families, Lachesis muta, Vipera aspis, Bungarus

fasciatus, and Bothrops lanceolatus. …..It is

enjoyable that Dr. PISIOS includes history in a book

on snake remedies ….. Part I continues on with the

“Symbolism of Snakes in the History of Mankind …

This is wonderful reading, travelling from ancient

times to the inclusion of snake myth from many

countries and the world religions. Subsequent

sections include information on the biology and

behavior of snakes, their classification, a listing of

sixty-one homœopathic snake remedies. …Except

for the lack of reasoning for giving specific remedies

in cases section, I enjoyed reading this book …”

19. Homœopathic Cancer Drugs – Oncology

Materia Medica, Volumes I and II, by

Manfred MÜLLER, 2017, hard cover, 1046

and 1073 pages, $129 ISBN: 978-0-9991851-

0-0. THE Other Medicine Publications,

Barnardsville, North Carolina, reviewed by

Laura SHOLTZ, Ph.D.(AH. 24/2018):

“Manfred MÜLLER’s long awaited boon on the

homœopathic treatment of Cancer finally arrived

late last year. Two massive tomes, chock-full of

helpful information covering a total of six hundred

remedies “homœopathic Cancer drugs.” These

books are a Materia Medica of the highest order….

This indeed a master work compiled from more than

three hundred homœopathic books, journals and

computerized data bases, and many sources from

outside of our homœopathic literature. This is the

greatest compilation of clinical Materia Medica for

Cancer remedies ever written…”

--------------------------------------------------------------

X. BIOGRAPHY

1. Geboren in Sachsen, aufgewachsen in

PreuBen, Geborben in den USA – zu

Etternhaus und Jugend von Prof. Dr. med.

Adolph LIPPE (Born in Saxony, grew in

Prussia, expired in the USA – early Life of

Adolph LIPPE) HAMER, Heyo, E. (ZKH.

60, 3/2016)

Adolph, the eldest son of Ludwig Graf zur

Lippe-WeiBesifeld at Niesky in Saxonia,

successfully attended the Herrnhuter Pädogogium at

Niesky. He changed to Berlin to study Laws. When

his father learnt that Adolph did not follow his

studies, he refused further payment of maintenance,

followed by years of battle and son’s supported by

the Herrnhuters, the son managed to emigrate to

America where as a co-founder of American

Homœopathy, he at last became a successful

physician and a famous M.D.

XI. NEWS & NOTES

I. Mice, fruit flies have emotions: neurobiologist

David Anderson (‘Behaviours wrongly considered

to be hardwired’) (The Hindu, Jan. 16, 2018).

Special Correspondent (New Delhi): To a

standing- room-only audience that consisted of

several research students and veteran life-science

researchers, neurobiologist David J. Anderson, of

the California Institute of Technology, drove home

evidence from several experiments to argue that

many behaviours - including aggression and the

ability to tell males and females apart - were wrongly

considered to be hardwired.

Moreover, he emphasized, it also wasn’t true

that humans were the only life forms privileged with

experiencing emotion. Mr. Anderson, who spent

decades deciphering the neurons responsible for

governing emotion, was the keynote speaker at the

8th Annual Cell Press-TNQ India Distinguished

Lectureship Series.

Specific neurons in the brain region, called the

ventromedial frontal cortex, in fruit flies, rats and

mice were activated when these animals were

coaxed into hostile situations or ones where they had

the opportunity to court members of the opposite

sex. The response of certain neurons was so

predictable that Mr. Anderson and his colleagues

were able to “read the minds of mice” merely by

looking at the computer-generated brain images of

the rodents.

“Given that such activity [aggression, sexual

behavior] is registered in the hypothalamus [a region

of the brain connected with the regulation of

hormones] of mice and they too are mammals like

humans, these findings may have some relevance to

behavior,” he said in response to a question from the

audience on whether the emotions of people could

be manipulated.

Building on this, he noted, it could be possible

to repurpose a drug – now commonly employed in

the course of breast cancer therapy – to treat the

anger and irritability that accompanies patients of

post-traumatic depression. “Such a drug could likely

be developed out of India or China because

American companies have no incentive to work on

testing these drugs as they are off patent and may not

bring in profit,” he added.

As part of the series, Mr. Anderson – on his first

professional visit to India – will be also be giving

lectures in Bengaluru and Mumbai. He would be

visiting scientific institutions in each city and meet

with students and faculty to learn about the work

going on in their labs.

“The Annual Lectureship series is aimed at

bringing the highest caliber of global scientists to

interact and exchange knowledge with the Indian

scientific community,” said a press statement from

TNQ.

II. The ‘Kent’ of Emil Schlegels by E. REHM

(KH. 2/1968)

Dr. OSWALD SCHLEGAL presented me in

1956 the Repertory of KENT, which his father

owned. It has a respectable place in my Library as it

came from a dedicated person not only with regard

to Understanding, Reasoning and knowledge of the

scientific working of the Main School but was also

open to the power of Supranational. For him, it was

not only the rationalization Phenomenon of the

‘Scientific’ school; he knew that the range of

scientifically impossible is much larger than the

scientifically provable, and particularly he had entry

into these sources.

On this ground it is worthwhile to note what

Emil SCHLEGEL inserted into his ‘Kent’ (2

Edition) in his own hand with Goosequill – he did

not use the metal nib pen!

Under ‘Mind’ following entries:

Bachelors who don’t want to marry: Lach., Natr-

mur., Lyc., Puls., Sulf. (last three: “for religious

reasons”,) Am-c., Dioscorea, Bapt., Pic-ac.

Mind divided and doubles: Bapt.

Thinks to be in severe illness: Iod., Arn.

Delusions, snakes in and around her: Cond., (black)

Ign., (White), Lachn., Viol-o., Gels.

Delusions, everything seems unreal: Cocc.

Desires, for constant changes of scenes: Tab.

Fear heart before sleep: Grin.

Destructiveness of play things in children: Staph.

Feeble minded children: Bufo.

Gliding in the air: Calc-ar.

Hands, looks always on his: Carbon sulf.

Hold, must be held firm for prevent shaking: Gels.,

Lach. (Must be held firmly so that he doesn’t shake

so much: from Dr. KÜNZLI V. FIMELSBERG UND DR.

V. KELLER UNDER CHILL)

Heavy as lead: Phos.

Imitation, insane tricks, Mimicr: Cupr.

Impatience, things he likes to have, about: Lil-t.

III. Pollution may up Autism risk in kids: Study

says PM 2.5 Makes them 78% More Prone to

ASD. (The Times of India, Nov. 8, 2018):

Beijing: Exposure to sources of outdoor pollution

such as vehicle exhausts and industrial emissions can

increase a child’s risk of developing autism spectrum

disorder (ASD) by up to 78%, a study has warned.

“The developing brains of young children are

more vulnerable to toxic exposures in the

environment and several studies have suggested this

could impact brain function and the immune

system,” Guo said. “These effects could explain the

strong link we found between exposure to air

pollutants and ASD, but further research is needed to

explore the associations between air pollution and

mental health more broadly,” he said.

[In our experience it is mostly the Urban people

exposed to vehicle exhaust emissions which is

certainly many times more than the villages which

are rich in greenery and vehicles are far few, ASD is

rare. We have also strong reasons that saturating the

natural immunity of children with several

‘immunizations protocol’ could also be a reason. =

KSS].

IV. NDL Project – Divident Payout of Digital

Technology – Editorial (S & C, 62, 1-2/2016)

Initiated by the Ministry of Human Resource

Development (MHRD), Govt. of India under its

National Mission on Education through Internet and

Communication Technology NMEICT Programme.

IIT Kharaqpur has been entrusted with the

responsibility to set up this National Digital Library

towards building a natural asset. The idea is to

integrate all existing digitalized and digital contents

of educational institutes of India and bring them

under a single umbrella. [This is a very important

development. However, we do not know how far has

the work proceeded. Similarly there was a scheme

afoot to link all the Libraries as in the West. We

don’t know where this stands now = KSS].

V. A setback for public health? Ramanan

Laxmi-narayan & Jyoti Joshi (The Hindu,

Chennai, 16 July 2017)

A recent judgement in a vaccine compensation

case in Europe has set alarm bells ringing globally.

The case involved a French national, known as

“J.W.” in court documents, who had developed

multiple sclerosis(MS) a year after he had been

vaccinated with the Hepatitis B in 1998.

J.W. had been vaccinated with the Hepatitis B

vaccine between the end of 1998 and mid-1999.

According to the court documents, in August 1999,

J.W. developed symptoms of MS, an autoimmune

disorder in which the body’s immune system attacks

its own tissues. In 2006, he sued pharmaceutical

company Sanofi Pasteur, which had made the

vaccine, claiming that it had caused the illness. He

died in 2011.

Given a lack of scientific consensus over the

safety profile of the vaccine, the European Union

(EU) court has allowed circumstantial evidence to

determine the cause. The judgment has got the

global public health community worried as it may set

a precedent for similar cases.

Why vaccines are crucial

Vaccines are among the most effective public

health interventions that save an estimated 2.5

million lives each year. However, they can have side

effects, including serious ones, in a small proportion

of people. Most of these are minor, from mild fever,

headache or soreness which resolve quickly. The

benefits far outweigh the risks.

The use of the Hepatitis B vaccine for example,

highlighted in the EU case, has led to a significant

decrease in disease levels in many countries. Within

10 years of its introduction, the U.S. reported an 80%

fall in the incidence of all acute Hepatitis B

infections; Taiwan recorded a 50% drop in liver

cancers among children. Several studies have also

investigated the link between the vaccine and

multiple sclerosis. While some experts are skeptical,

a majority believe the vaccine to be safe. The lack

of consensus does not indicate a lack of safety. All

reported side effects of vaccines need to be evaluated

scientifically.

Besides, the onset of disease after vaccination is

not sufficient to attribute the cause. Most countries

have now established effective vaccine

pharmacovigilance programmes. India’s adverse

events following immunization (AEFI) surveillance

programme, for example, has recorded a nearly 90%

success rate in assessing AEFI cases using global

protocols set by the World Health Organisation

(WHO). It has helped India to win similar legal

battles against pentavalent vaccine use in 2013,

following AEFIs.

Rapid investigations were carried out and the

vaccine got a clean chit from the country’s highest

scientific body, the National Technical Advisory

Group on Immunization (NTAGI), which was

accepted by the Indian Court. This helped the

country to continue using the life-saving vaccine,

protecting children against childhood killers such as

bacterial meningitis and pneumonia.

For the larger good

Public health interventions must be guided by

such scientific panels, weighing the pros and cons

for the larger public good. Therefore, the EU court

verdict is worrying. Although it may not be

generalized, it may still sow the seeds of doubt about

proven vaccines and potentially put millions of lives

at risk. Hesitancy over vaccine use could cause a rise

in vaccine-preventable diseases and lead to

outbreaks of deadly infections such as diphtheria and

whooping cough. Measles out-breaks have been

reported recently in Europe and previously in the

U.K. following rumours of a vaccine-autism link.

The need of the hour is to ensure effective

surveillance, compensation for those affected and to

promote public confidence in vaccines, without

which we would be foregoing the most remarkable

health advances so far.

(Prof. Ramanan Laxminarayan is an epidemiologist

and directs the Center for Disease Dynamics,

Economics & Policy (CDDEP). Dr. Jyoti Joshi is an

infectious diseases expert and is Head-South Asia at

CDDEP. The views expressed are personal.)

VI. Ascending to New Heights: 11th Annual JAHC

(Sperling VATSALA, AH. 22/2016): The 11th

Annual Joint American Homœopathy Conference,

from April 8-10, 2016 was held in Denver,

Colorado.: Joe KELLERSTEIN discussed on Life,

Disease and Science. In a case-centred approach to

bowel disorders in Homœopathy JOE showed how

to read the Materia Medica and go back to the

original literature.

Alastair GRAY spoke on integration of

technology into Homœopathy.

Robin MURPHY: To be to look deeper into

what is the meaning of Homœopathy; to develop

skill to perceive, address and provide first-aid and

help wherever necessary as it is quite possible to do

so using Homœopathy. He also advised about living

well.

Timothy DOOLE spoke on the place of whole

food in healthy, how Homœopathy helps and how

sensible and wholesome foods help.

Ronald WHITMONT on the iatrogenie

epidermic of chronic diseases, with examples from

his practice.

Nicholas NOSSAMAN on Predictive

Homœopathy.

Linda JOHNSON and VERMEULEN offered

‘intriguing insights into the grouping of plant

remedies. Frans VERMEULEN said not to get away

with the word ‘Proving’, proving does not imply that

it represents truth. Instead of ‘proving’ to use the

word ‘probing’. (I consider this advice as

‘blasphemous’. Hundreds of Homœopaths scholars

have used the word ‘Proving’ and it has stood the

time and this idea of ‘unproving’ or ‘correcting’

Hahnemann is absurd. How does it matter? I have

Frans VERMEULEN Materia Medica on my table

which I consult often with my H.C. ALLEN,

PHATAK and others. VERMEULEN cannot be

one-up over the Master. = KSS.]

Amy ROTHENBURG, a survivor of Breast

Cancer who used Homœopathy, Naturopathy and

Nutrition alongside the conventional approach, and

got cured presented herself before the participants.

Lamen HUBELE spoke on using Polarity

Analysis in Chronic Disease. Other presents

included Dr. A.U. RAMAKRISHNAN.

There was also Video presentations of George

VITHOULKAS, Jeremy SHERR, Rajan

SANKARAN, Iris BELL and Alexander

TOURNIER.

VII.The Future of Homœopathic Education – a

conversation and Alastair GRAY, by Deborah

HAYES for AH.(AH. 22/2016). Students especially

adults, learn differently; education is about

inspiration and lighting a fire, not dumping

information, as if the person is a bucket to be filled

up. Since Homœopathy draws who do not conform,

they do not band together; hence the infighting

among homœopaths.

VIII. Homœogenomics: alteration of Gene

Expression through Homœopathy. It is not well-

known to most of us in Homœopathy that there is

since 20 years or more of genuine research in regard

to Homœopathic remedies in influencing the human

gene. The results so far obtained prove that

homœopathic remedies do alter the gene. Much of

the main work in this regard is by Prof. Khuda-

Buksh of Kalyani University and KAY PH. The

details are in the journal “Homœopathy in Practice”

published by the Alliance of Regd. Homœopaths,

Great Britain. (http://www.a-r-h.org) (ZKH. 61,

1/2017).

IX. World’s Poorest Being Left Behind –

Reduction in poverty benefited them the least, says

global study. This situation has not changed.

Politicians irrespective of the Party they belong to

seek votes throwing up promises of alleviating the

poor, catch them into the net of doles, but when they

come into power, all these are ignored. Their feet do

not touch the ground. A substantial number of the

world’s poor are left behind. They constitute more

than 160 million worldover – the “ultra poor” – are

just surviving. “If these poor are concentrated in a

simple nation, they would constitute the world’s

seventh most populous country.” Three main causes

of the poor who are unable to rise and many in that

process get caught in traps from which they cannot

release themselves are: (i) their education; more and

more high-end schools are established in the

Corporate Sector which the poor can never access;

their children are mostly mal-nourished and cannot

make it in a competitive world where the privileged

trample over the poor; (ii) their inability to access the

govt.’s facilities; in the 100 days Mahatma Gandhi’s

work, many have been left behind and their dues are

swindled by those who are to implement the

Scheme; (iii) the poor cannot, due to malnutrition

and ignorance are poor in productivity. (The Hindu,

Chennai, 11 Nov. 2007).

[Over 100 years ago Mahatma Gandhi mind

was influenced by RUSKIN’s book of ‘Unto this

Last’. The ‘Last’ remains last even today. Does

anyone care? = KSS]

X. ‘The Changing Brain – Alzheimer’s Disease

and advances in Neuro Science’ by Ira B.

BLACK, M.D. is a ‘must read’ for every

homœopath. Much knowledge useful in the day-to-

day Practice can be gained from this excellent book.

It tells of the pre-monitary symptoms, to recognize a

developing Alzheimer, of the change occurring in

the Brain. The book ends as in its last Chapter says

“In fact, it had been recognized for millinia that the

brain does not recover after illness and injury. The

inability of the nerves to regrow was a tragic central

fact of brain science. Yet, miraculously, in the latter

twentieth century, revolutionary discoveries in the

United States, Sweden, and Canada indicated that

brain nerves can regenerate after all. These dramatic

insights led to the experimental transplantation of

nerve cells to the brain, and a radical reformulation

of possibilities for treatment of brain and mind.”

[KSS].

XI. European Congress for Homœopathy

(ECH): Homœopathy Individualised Medicine

for all ages (ZKH. 61, 1/2017): The European

Committee for Homœopathy celebrated its 25th year.

ECH President Dr. Thomas PEINBAUER presided

the 17 – 19 Nov. 2016 the Congress in Vienna. The

speciality was that 3 great societies took part namely

ECH, EHPA (European Federation of Homœopathic

patients; Association) and IAVH (International

Association for Veterinary Homœopathy) – all

together made a large formidable number of 400

participants from entire Europe and also from India,

Australia and South America attended. Each day

was dedicated for a life-time stage. First day

Paediatrics and young animals, second day

Adulthood and adult animals and third day

consequently Old age humans and animals. Each

day at 4 parallel lectures were held in different lialls.

The opening presentation was by Prof. Dr.

Robert G.HAHN (Sweden), theme Homœopathy

from a scientific and Sceptic point of view.

Dr. Alexander TOURNIER, London spoke on

Research Fundamentals in varied research fields. He

pointed out intensive research of Water Structure by

the Californian Prof. V. ELIA and Dr. Y. LO.

Dr. R.K. MANCHANDA, India, presented the

work by the CCRH, New Delhi; there are 283840

registered Homœopathy doctors and 8117 work

centres. He highlighted the various activities carried

out so far.

Dr. Paolo BELLAVITE (Italy) presented

‘Requiem for Avogadro’.

Prof. Dr. Anisur R. KHUDA BUKSH(India)

presented two lectures: 20 years work in basic

research particularly the altered Genexpressions

models through homœopathic preparations.

Dr. Jütta GNAIGER-ROTHMANNER

(Austria) spoke on the treatment of ADHS and

pointed out the roll of Traumatherapy,

particularly the aetiology, was illustrated by 3

cases (Stramonium, Staphysagria, Carcinosinum)

delineating the causative roll of aetiology in

Homœopathy.

Dr. Klaus von AMMON (Switzerland) on 10

year follow-up of Study of ADHS. 58 children

treated with 17 different medicines. Follow-up

study after 5 years they were all stable.

Dr. Heiner FREI (Switzerland) on Polarity

analysis on ADHS. He has worked for more than

six months with Bœnninghausen’s Therapeutic

Pocket book online. The details have been published

as an article in this issue itself.

On the next day a discussion on oncology

among Dr. FISHER, Dr. Jens (Orselina)

WURSTER, Dr. Sigrid KRUSE, and Prof. Dr.

Michael FRASS. It was extensive, an important

question in this is whether homœopathic medicine

have direct effect on the Tumors or the protective

action of the Immune System.

Dr. Jens WURSTER (Switzerland) presented

some cases from the clinica St. Croce in Orselina,

with long term observation more than 10 years with

spectacular results in some parts.

Dr. Elio G. ROSSI (Italy) presented case from

the Tuscan Tumor Institute, on the network

Oncology in Lucca, Pisa, Florence and Grosseto,

among others. Complementary Medicine and

Homœopathy were involved.

Dr. Lex RUTTEN (Netherland) presented his

researches on homœopathic treatment of cough. He

wanted to develop an Algorithm which would be of

help to select a remedy for cough rapidly curing.

In the ECH-Plenum discussion Dr. Peter

FISHER raised the question as to which research

would in future be useful to Homœopathy. The

WHO has reported of the Antibiotic-resistence and

that as a result increasing number of more than 10

million persons die and wondered whether there was

a strategy in Homœopathy to work along? E.

ROSSI responded that the only way was consequent

homœopathic treatment, also the prescription of

antibiotics reduced.

On the third day Prof. Dr. Robert JUTTE,

Stuttgart took up the theme of pluralism in Medicine

gave as very well-researched view of such

prescription over the years in different epochs with

different Medical Systems.

Prof. Dr. Martin DINGES, Stuttgart spoke on

Medical Pluralism in Europe and India and presented

an interesting picture.

Dr. Francesco E. NEGRO, Italy, spoke of a

historical summary of Homœopathy in Italy. In the

Plaza Navona in Rome he has built a Homœopathic

Museum and he invited all to visit it.

Nena ZIDOV, Slovenia spoke of history of

Homœopathy in Slovenia. There was a tradition

there from the 19th Century a history of

Homœopathy. After the World War II,

Homœopathy was lost completely and only from

2011 the Pharmacies began to sell Homœopathic

Medicines.

Dr. Bruno LABORIER, Switzerland spoke of

Hahnemann’s Chronic Diseases theory and its part

may be found in the Case Registers D16, D22 and

D34 and the relevance in practice with reference to

Syphilis and Sycosis.

Prof. Dr. Jurgen PANNEK, Switzerland

presented Karl MAYS an Ignatia case Karl MAYS

lived in 1865 in the house of Dr. Willmar

SCHWABE in Leipsic and came into contact with

Homœopathy literature.

There were several other presentations in the

Congress. The Abstracts can all be sen in

www.homeopathycongress.in

XII. Cooperation between the Central Council for

Research in Homœopathy, India and the Institute

for History of Medicine Robert Bosch

Foundation, Stuttgart. (ZKH. 61, 3/2017)

Aprops the Congress of Liga Medicorum

Homeopathica Internationalis in Leipsic, on 15

June 2017 a Memorandum of Understanding

between the Central Council for Research in

Homœopathy, Ministry of Ayush, Govt. of the

Republic of India (CCRH) and the Institute for

History of Medicine of the Robert Bosch

Foundation, was ratified.

XIII. The Current Measles Craze: This refers

to 2015 when it was proposed (in the USA) to make

Measles Vaccination mandatory. (AJHM. 109/2016)

Dr. Richard MOSKOWITZ who has already

written books/articles clearly about unnecessary

vaccinations. He writes “all that we are talking about

in a few hundred cases of a disease that I like almost

all my contemporaries – caught and recovered from

as a child. …. As a matter of Public Health, in the

developed world at least, it had evolved into a

“normal disease of childhood” (it is so in India too

more or less).

XIV. Iatrogenesis (AJHM. 109/2016):

“Although antibiotics are invaluable for acute life-

threatening bacterial infections, their widespread

overuse and misuse for numerous conditions that

would have been self-limiting or easily treated with

Homœopathy and other forms of alternative

medicine have caused disasters global

consequences. Studies estimate that antibiotic

resistant infections may kill up to 10 million an year

– and cost the world’s economics some $100 trillion

annually by the year 2090 (drug resistance has

caused an estimated 700,000 deaths globally in 2014

alone) ………… may be approaching a time “when

things as common as a strep throat on a child’s

scratched knee could once again kill….”

XV. The Editorial of AJHM has spoken on

Iatrogenesis and the Drug Industry. (AJHM.

109/2016. Annual issue) “I spoke about the studies

revealing over 200 toxins in the toxic excipients in

vaccines, including aluminium, formaldehyde and

glutaraldehyde; and mentioned the fact that children

were receiving high doses of mercury in several

vaccines (DTaP, Hepatitis B, and Hib) until

thimerosal was finally removed from most vaccines

in 2002. I reminded them of the immunization

schedule that mandates 6-9 vaccines at once in

infants [is it not cruelty? = KSS], followed by a slide

of the exponential growth in autism over the last few

decades as well as the epidemic of pediatric

inflammatory diseases (emphasizing how

aluminium in vaccines, for example, can trigger

autoimmune and inflammatory effects). I then

talked about how the toxins in our environment may

be driving much of the obesity and diabetes

epidemic by interfering with cell signaling involved

in glucose metabolism.

I spoke about the importance of the gut

microbiome and how just one antibiotic given in the

first few months of life increases the risk of

infections, allergies, asthma and type 1 diabetes later

in life. I explained how the mismanagement of acute

disease has contributed to the explosion of chronic

disease in our society today and how homœopathic

medicine has always had outstanding success during

the epidemics of cholera, puerperal fever, typhoid,

diphtheria, influenza, and pneumonia in the 19th

century. I said, I saw a 4 year old girl last month

with C. difficile from just one course of amoxicillin

for an ear infection, something that could have been

easily cured with Homœopathy.”

I spoke about how concerned I was by the

overuse of statin medications and reminded them of

how crucial cholesterol is for the brain, neuronal

function, cellular function, and as the first step in the

synthesis of all our steroid hormones. Study after

study shows that the higher the cholesterol, the lower

the risk for brain disease and all-cause mortality

(especially from infections since LDL particles bind

endotoxin and inactivate it).

The talk was very well received and many said

that I helped “open their eyes” to many things. The

information about Dr. Angell’s revelations was very

powerful and many of the doctors present were

surprised to learn about the toxic excipients in

vaccines.

XVI. Speaking of the struggles Homœopathy

faced in the book ‘Copeland’s Cure’ (Life and

Times of Dr. Royal Samuel Copeland, MD (1871 –

1938), explain the critical period in 19 – 20th century

(it is still ‘critical’): “….. In Michigan (which had

become a state of Union in 1837), a dominant

medical school was not organized until 1847. “… a

bill was introduced into the state Legislature making

it a prison offence to practice Homœopathy this in a

State where the doctrine was particularly

widespread, and written about in the Press. Indeed

the many friends of Homœopathy managed to

convince the Law makers to defeat the bill … in

1851 at the height of Homœopathy’s success in the

United States the Michigan State Legislature

received an unusual petition from influential

homœopaths: a request to abolish the dominant

medical school unless Homœopathy was taught

there “The struggle included even a few well-placed

punches. One spring day in 1867, a professor of

Homœopathy, angry about the way its students were

being ignored in the dominant medical classes, was

strolling on the apple-blossom-strewn campus of the

medical school in Ann Arbor. He saw a colleague,

the dominant professor of surgery, coming his way.

There was to be no handshake that day. Instead, the

professor of Homœopathy hauled off and hit his

fellow professor on the chin. There were no words

left to say. The professor of surgery punched his

colleague right back, and soon they were engaged in

a nasty fistfight on the campus path. They had

literally come to blows over the place of

Homœopathy in American medical life.”

XVII. Do we, as homœopaths irrespective of

whether as an ‘Qualified’ or ‘non-qualified’,

work together? (AH. 23/2017). No. We have

numberless infighting. We should not forget that we

cannot expect fair treatment by the general Medical

Environment unless we are well together and present

a good front instead ….bickerings. Homœopathy is

widely appreciated by the public and to many

Homœopathy is the Medicine of choice. It was by

promoting ‘Domestic Medicine’ at every hold that it

took roots. Let us homœopaths hold together and

forge ahead.

XVIII. “Defending our position” (Ronald

WHITMONT, President of the American Institute of

Homœopathy) says (AJHM, Annual 110/2017):

“All of us have limited time and resources available

to fight propaganda attacks. … There is already

sufficient evidence, provided by the homœopathic

scientific community to rationally counter most

claims made against Homœopathy in letters, articles,

newspaper columns and blogs, but our efforts have

not been nearly enough. Attacks against

Homœopathy are so well orchestrated that they

appear to be part of mass campaign, astroturfed to

protect the identity of the industries footing the

bill… As Homœopathy has grown, so have the

attacks, suggesting that this is part of an organized

effort. Modern medicine has always been a risky

endeavor. . Rates of chronic illness have nearly

reached 50% (across all age groups, races and socio-

economic classes) and chronic disease is the number

one killer in the U.S. today. Used according to the

“standard of care” allopathic medicine is the fifth

leading cause of death in the U.S. while medical

error is the third leading cause of death. Samuel

Hahnemann observations nearly two centuries ago

are even more prescient today. … Homœopathy

clearly works by a different mechanism that does not

predispose to the development of chronic disease.

Indeed, multiple studies have shown that people are

healthier, happier and living with less inflammation

after long-term homœopathic treatment…

XIX. The Editor of the AJHM, Susanne

SALTZMAN, writes (AJHM. Annual 110/2017):

Aphorism 108, of the Organon says that the “only

possible way of knowing correctly of the

characteristic action of a medicine on human health

– no single surer, more natural way – than

administering individual medicines experimentally

to healthy people in moderate doses in order to

ascertain what changes, symptoms, and effects each

in particular brings about in the body and the psyche;

i.e. which disease elements it can produce and tends

to produce. As pointed out before (para. 24 to para

27), all the healing virtues of medicines lie

exclusively in this, their power to change human

health, and this power to cure is revealed by the

observations of these effects.” (Aphorism 108,

Organon of Medicine).

Homœopathy is rightly defined as a

phenomenogical Science, the medicinal properties

of any substance in nature can be discovered by its

effects on healthy people.

Paul HERSCU states that every prescription we

give is in essence a proving. Every homœo-

practitioner would have experienced a miracle cure,

because the remedy was homœopathic simillimum.

In practice if the wrong remedy is prescribed

[which is more often the case = KSS] and if the

patient has no sensitivity to it, usually no change will

occur. But in the majority of cases where the

incorrect prescription is given, some symptoms will

improve, some old symptoms will change, and some

new ones will emerge; but all of these reactions,

when carefully recorded and analyzed, will often

help point to the simillimum that is needed by the

patient. …..

In the light of the teething tablet controversy, we

must ask ourselves whether manufacturing issues are

involved; could a certain subset of children who

were particularly sensitive to some of the

homœopathic preparations such as Belladonna, for

example, regardless of the dose, have experienced

primary and secondary reactions to the substance,

especially in cases where it is repeated by parents. If

a medicine – especially a combination – is given not

on individualized manner (which is what

Homœopathy is) all sorts of outcomes could be

possible….[In fact in a personal discussion with Late

Dr. S.P. KOPPIKAR every case presents several

research chances and we need not do research as the

others do. Our mission to cure the sick and to that

effect we must know our medicines well and

thorough. = KSS].

XX. Listening Key to Freedom from Fishbowl

Web as us locked in; MAIRA, Arun (Deccan

Chronicle, 23 August 2019): Transforming

Systems: Why the World Needs a New Ethical

Toolkit advocates active listening and aims to

equip young people with the mindset of becoming

lifelong learners so as to be able to cope with the

leadership challenges of an increasingly complex

world.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama says, “Listening is

the first of the three wisdom tools in Buddhist

tradition, the other two being contemplating and

meditating; it is the gateway to improving oneself,

both mentally and physically. Listening without

preconceived notion and with respect and full

attention is the way to understand each other. This

is the way to communicate on issues without

distortion.”

Listening is the discipline necessary for

achieving right mindfulness and right view, the first

two of the eight pathways in the Noble Eightfold

Path of Buddhism. Our personal histories provide

us with lenses through which we see the world and

with which we evaluate others. The members of the

Aspire Forum in the master class on systems

thinking had realized that listening to other

viewpoints is necessary to understand systems fully.

For example, an economist and a sociologist

surveying a bazaar will notice different things. The

economist will note the buzz of transactions and

circulation of money, and the haggling over prices.

The sociologist may pay more attention to

differences between what men and women do in the

market and also the ways in which owners of shops

and their employees relate to each other. The

economist and the sociologist may be of the same

race, the same religion and the same age too.

However, their different academic disciplines

provide them with different lenses to see reality.

Listening deeply to another is necessary to

understand others’ viewpoints and their ethical

principles, as David realized when he was with his

parents at Thanksgiving. It is not easy though.

“Preconceived notions”, as the Dalai Lama

points out, come in the way. To listen deeply to

another person, we must go behind the hard veneer

of stereotypes, which we paint over them, preventing

us from seeing the real persons behind our mental

stereotypes.

Why is listening difficult? There are four

reasons:

 We confuse ‘listening’ with’ hearing.

 We are taught in schools and colleges to excel

in speaking rather than listening.

 Our minds have coping mechanisms to manage

an example an excess of information beyond

what our minds can process at one time.

 The ubiquity of information with which we are

being bombarded with the Internet and social

media is making it much harder to listen deeply.

Nobel Laureate poet Robindranath Tagore

makes a prayer, in his poem Gitanjali for a world of

freedom in which, “the clear stream of reason has not

lost its way in the dreary desert sand of dead habits”.

Just as an AI programme develops algorithms to

improve its efficiency in processing information, our

minds developmental habits, i.e. mental algorithms

to process information very fast. Our minds need

this capacity so that they can take quick decisions

when they must. For example, should one ‘fight or

flee’ when faced with an unfamiliar situation. The

minds of all animals, including human beings, have

this capability. What enables the mind to think fast

is its store of stereotypes and categories. When it

sees something new, it quickly compares what it sees

with the stereotypes in its mental store and judges

into what category it falls. Is this a dangerous animal

or a harmless one? The judgement must be made

quickly – to fight or to flee – because it could be a

matter of life or death.

In addition to the capacity to ‘think fast’, human

minds also have a capacity, greater than other

animals, to ‘think slow’, in the words of Daniel

Kahneman, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for his

work on the psychology of judgement and decision-

making. It is the capacity to think slowly and to

reflect that enables human minds to develop a deeper

understanding of the world.

If some muscles in the body are used more

often, they become stronger, and others, which are

lesser used, remain weaker. A rower has very strong

arms and shoulders, whereas a cyclist has very

strong legs. Similarly, if the parts of the brain that

are used for thinking fast are used much more, they

become much stronger, while the reflective parts of

the brain are neglected and weaken. This is the

pernicious effect on the human mind of the ubiquity

of information provided by the Internet and social

media.

The Internet, social media and mobile phones

bombard us with millions of bits of information,

messages and tweets. It is difficult for anyone to

keep in touch with everyone and everything. If we

are connected, we suffer from an ‘attention

deficit disorder’. The resulting coping strategies

are to remain online all the time, pay shallow

attention to many things and choose the many we

wish to follow from the millions we can. All these

strategies make a deeper understanding of others

impossible.

Being online all the time with shallow

attention reduces the depth at which we are with

others. When people meet to have coffee together,

everyone is looking at their smart phones, and not at

each other. People at a business meeting keep one

eye on their smartphone or iPad on the table, and the

other to dip in and out of what is happening in the

room. The Internet and social media provide vast

‘reach’ to people everywhere. However, staying

connected all the time, so that we do not miss out on

chatting with people, reduces the ‘richness’ of the

conversations among people. Platforms on the

Internet have made information abundantly available

and for free. It has become an ocean of ‘water,

water everywhere, but not enough good water to

drink’. A lot of noise, but what is the signal?

To cope with the floods of information, we

choose websites, tweeters and Facebook friends,

which makes us stay in touch with people we like

because they are like us. We easily understand

what they say. We are locked within our own

‘conceptually gated communities’. Thus, the

“world is broken up into fragments by narrow

domestic walls” – another line in Tagore’s Gitanjali.

David, the AI scientist, realized that he was not

listening to his father. He had come to the

conclusion in his mind, albeit with some evidence,

that his father did not have the same views about

politics as he had. Therefore, in the very divisive

political atmosphere in the US, David had placed

his father permanently on ‘the other side’. When he

had, for once, inspired by the essay Jenny had given

him, removed the screen between the ‘thinking fast’

and deep listening parts of his mind, he had learned

something new. He had learned something about the

structures of US institutions that he had never

thought about. He had also learned to respect his

father more.

David noted that there are three levels of depth

in listening. Shallow listening is only hearing what

is being said. It receives the data that the speaker is

providing. For the next deeper level of listening, the

listener turns on his reflective mind. He wonders

why the speaker is saying what he is saying. What

are the reasons in the speaker’s mind? Great

listeners have even deeper curiosity. They wonder

how the speaker has developed his beliefs. What is

the speaker’s history? Deep listeners are really

curious about who the other person is.

[Excerpted with permission from the publishers,

Rupa Publications]

[Listening is one of the most important part of

Caretakers’. = KSS].

XXI. Growing Homœopathy: It’s all about

partnerships(AH.23/2017) “Teach/Treat/Together”:

‘Homœopaths Without Borders’(HWB) says it all:

Since 1996, dedicated homœopaths have worked

with the HWB to bring Homœopathy to underserved

areas throughout the Central America and the

Caribean (Cuba, Guatemala, Jamaica, EI Salvador,

Dominican Republic and Haiti) through partnerships

with local groups. Haiti’s big earthquake in 2010

expanded HWB’s focus: the first teams of American

and Canadian Homœopaths together brought relief,

but they also learned first-hand about the pressing

need for any kind of health-care, especially in rural

areas. Since then, HWB has become a steady

presence in Haiti. Many Haiticus who saw or

experienced healing with Homœopathy asked to be

taught this system of medicine, and therein lies the

first big lesson: they asked to be taught. … HWB

homœopaths taught Haitian health-care

professionals and lay people using instructional

materials….. ensuring everything was thoroughly

understood. When they complete their studies and

exams, Haitian students become ‘Homéopathes

Communities,’ with online HWB. They show us

repeatedly that they can handle acute health issues

and even any new epidemics that may arise…. After

Hurricane Mathew hit Haiti hard in October 2016,

Haitian partners felt comfortable in reaching out to

us… the HWB team co-ordinated with Government

officials…where we could help, not hinder recovery

effort: The following month brought a new phase of

work for HWB: totally integrated team of

homœopathic and conventional practitioners

working side-by-side to bring help to the injured and

“shell-shocked’ in Southwest Haiti …. Dr. Joseph

Prosper, Medical Director of the Polyclinic Turgan,

was so impressed by the results in treating injuries

and epidemics that he brought this information to his

colleagues at the Haitian Medical Association. The

HMA helped to recruit health care professionals for

the new HWB course and provided class room space.

… HWB is expanding its outreach in the United

States, working with the Florida Chapter of the

Haitian American Nurses Association. ….

XXII. Working together towards a Manifest (AH.

23/2017): Homœoapthy is facing the work crisis in

its history in North America. Homœopathy has

become enough of a threat according to

pharmaceutical industry sources. It is time

Homœopathy practitioner should write. The various

differences among the practitioners and the methods

etc. are all discussed; also the various researches.

[Homœopathy has been badly down-graded in the

U.K., France too has decided to do so. However, it

is flourishing in India. And so we in India must keep

it quite alive, avoid internal bickerings, change our

attitude to Allopathy, discipline ourselves, etc. =

KSS]

XXIII. Connecting Minds, creating Community,

Inspiring Practice -JAHC 2017 (AH. 23/2017):

This is a Report by Vatsala SPERLING: The JAHC

annual meeting. The 2017 Meeting was held in

Atlanta.

Divya CHABRA showed how to use her simple

Case-taking method to access the client’s sub-

conscious, describing their inner state as they

experience it via the five senses; she described it as

a “leap to the simillimum”. Jamie Oskin’s made sure

that homœopaths felt less intimidated by

HAHNEMANN’s Materia Medica Pura and Chronic

Diseases. These are gold standard and can be used

successfully for understanding rubrics and selecting

remedy.

Stephen MESSER reminded that no matter what

tools we use to get to the Simillimum we are firmly

rooted in the Vitalist Principle, a holist method of

healing.

Rosie MOONEN pointed out the dramatic rise

in autoimmune diseases in recent decades and its

effects on people whose lives become devastated due

to the diseases. Alastair GRAY and Denise

STRAIGES how we as Homœopaths have a 200

years old solution to this modern epidemic of

autoimmune diseases. They demonstrated how

integrating they treat auto-immune diseases by the

Organon and the classical selection of homœopathic

remedies with life-style, diet and the judicious use of

complimentary modalities.

Mark JANIKULA: on treating mental health

issues using timely and accurate homœopathic

interventions based on his deep and classical grasp

of Materia Medica.

Michelle DOSSETT explained how to apply

Homœopathy to solve acute and chronic public

health issues.

Kathleen SLONAGER presented use of

Homœopathic remedies at home for common

ailments of daily life for self-help and family and

neighbors. [In fact, Homœopathy flourished and

became a household record only by the use of the

remedies at home. Many homes – in the 1940s –

1980s had a small Homœopathic Medicine Kit. This

is based on my personal knowledge of experience for

5–6 decades in various parts of the country in all the

4 corners. Apart from saving so-called

‘emergencies’ especially in case of babies – when a

baby is sick the whole members of the household

feel very concerned and the baby gets well with one

or two doses of easy – to – administer the

homœopathic doses, there is a feeling of health and

smile on the faces of all, including the neighbors. I

have experienced this personally in the 1960s –

1980s before the corporate business came in with

chain of hospitals well supported by the Rulers and

Diabetes, Cancers and Sterilities and so-called ‘life-

style’ diseases proliferated. This is my experience

= KSS].

Pierre FONTAINE did a presentation on

reversing Autism using classical Homœopathy.

[There were no handouts or even Powerpoint

presentation on the screen. He said that hand outs

are thrown out after some years. = Quite True. In

fact they don’t even read or communicate with the

author or among themselves, is my own experience.

Those genuinely interested will take down notes

=KSS].

Alex BEKKER made sure that we should not

lose touch with reality. He referred to KENT’s

Philosophy and influence in reminding us about how

to perceive what is to be cured and how to.

XXIV. International connection on World

Homœopathy Day (AH. 23/2017): The

Homœopathic Medical Association of Canada

joined the Ontario Homœopathic Association, the

North American Society of Homœopaths, the

Syndicate Professional des Homeopaths de Quebec,

and the LIGA, with the goal of sharing developments

in the integration of Homœopathy and the

mainstream medicine throughout the World.

Various models for the potential integration of

Homœopathy into the Primary Health Case System

were shared. The conference also provided

information about the recent “Memorandam of

understanding” between India’s Central Council for

Research in Homœopathy and in College of

Homœopaths of Ontario. Panel members included

the following from India: Dr. Raj MANCHANDA,

Dr. Kumar M. DHAWALE. Dr. MANCHANDA

spoke on the state of Medicine in general and

‘traditional medicine’ and how India has integrated

the different philosophies and the ‘Delivery of

Health Care Systems’ such as Ayurveda, Yoga,

Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homœopathy

(which has been in India since 1835).

XXV. The unravelling of a Kidney Racket (The

Hindu, Chennai, May 17, 2019): A well researched

lengthy report on kidney racket. The racket thrives

in the nation’s capital New Delhi. There are mafias

in this racket. There is nexus between the doctors

and police. As in most cases of transplants of any

Organ and hysterectomies, it is the poor or the very

poor (whose numbers never seem to go down, are the

losers. They not only lose an organ but are cheated

by the Mafia regarding money. The demands for

Kidneys are high but the availability is too low;

enough for enticing the poor with money which they

never get as promised but only a part of it; if they

rebel they are threatened by the Mafia. “Indian

organs are being sold thanks to advertising by word

of mouth. We are dealing with an underground

Mafia of organ treatment. In this case, the gang

managed to manipulate medical tests and

documents, says a senior official from the Uttar

Pradesh police who is involved in inter-state

investigations. Those in the business had created a

large database of those who are ready to donate their

kidneys and livers. These people were then recruited

into the business to find more sellers…. A witness

admits that he is only 18-20 years old. “According

to my official papers I am much older though I

decided to sell my organ to help my family which

was on the verge of starving to death. But today,

even after selling my Kidney my life is no better.

Policemen and Laws don’t understand that we sell

our organs, just to ensure that we are able to stay

alive…” The middle men cheat the poor donor and

the Doctors, Policemen all connived. [The

‘Medical’ should educate people so that Kidneys do

not become dead and to prevent it. Similarly the

number of diabetics have increased so much so that

every other person says ‘proudly’ ‘I have sugar’.

Surgery has ‘advanced’ so that ‘replacements are

easy, and the Nation ensures that there will ‘always

be the poor available to sell any organ. Is this really

an advance’ of Medicine? With the compulsory

introduction of Iodine in salt we see ‘Thyroid’

dysfunction common and tablets are available and

purchased like pain relieving tablets. “I have sugar”.

“I have ‘Thyroid’” are heard in everyday practices.

And the pharma industries helped by doctors are

making the best of it all. = KSS.]

XXVI. Train your Brain: How to keep young

(Article by Camilla Cavendish, Deccan Chronicle,

15 May 2019): It is not true that older people can’t

learn as well as younger ones. Until recently we

thought that the brain cells one born with were a life-

term quota and that brains became fixed in

adulthood. It is now revealed that human brains

remain plastic throughout life. One in four Brits is

now ‘unretiring’ and going back to work. Brand-

new neurons were found even in the brains of 70

year-old with terminal Cancer; growing evidence

suggests our brains need exercise, rather like our

muscles.

Humans generate new neurons. Human brains

benefit from aerobic exercises too.

Slumping into a comfortable middle-age may be

tempting. But once you appreciate the enormous

potential of our brains it is clear that we should avoid

the ruts and get into activity, there is no retiring

whatever your age.

[In a new book titled The Changing Brain –

Alzheimer’s Disease and Advances in

Neuroscience, Ira B. Black, M.D. Oxford

University Press, 2001 which I am now reading

rather slowly because it is all about Neurology, it is

clearly given about NGC – Neuron Growth Factor.

Lot of experiments have proved this. I myself, as I

write this, is past 90 yrs and am as well as few years

ago in so far as ‘mind’ and ‘brain’, ‘memory’ is

concerned. Of course physical capabilities have

dwindled. Speed is less but sure. In all these years

of life one thing is clear that ‘Life is an enigma’. In

spite of several experiments many happenings in life

are unexplainable ever. If we accept life as it

happen, of course leading a regulated life and a ‘clear

conscience’ – as Hahnemann said in 1842 – it is all

as should be. Every journey would begin

somewhere and end somewhere. There is no

struggle = KSS].

XXVII. “Science can change our outlook” (The

Hindu, Chennai, April 3, 2017): Dr. Roberto

TROTTA, a theoretical Cosmologist at Imperial

College London, studies Dark matter, Dark energy

and the Big Bang. He is also Director of the Centre

for Languages, Culture and Communication and

author of Jargon-busting book, The Edge of the

Sky. Science is largely funded by public bodies and

hence it is important that scientist share their work

with the public. Also, fundamental sciences such as

Cosmology and Particle Physics exert a fascination

for the public as they address questions about the

fundamental nature and origin of our Universe. Tiny

bits of matter around us we study but what about

those that we cannot see, the Dark matter. To

understand this, scientists should be understood.

The Edge of the sky is a short book that about the

universe without ever using the word ‘universe’! the

entire book is written using only the most common

1,000 words in English. Avoiding the Jargon, core

of the ideas are explained. That meant re-thinking

and understanding the concepts.

XXVIII. Arsenic poisoning: ‘Bangladesh aquifers

have high Arsenic levels’ says a Newspaper, two

years ago. “Contaminated ground water has affected

millions of people. Wells that have been dug into

relatively shallow aquifers produce drinking water

with levels of Arsenic far above those considered

safe. .. During the dry season some of it discharge

into major rivers and now a study in the Proceedings

of the National Academy of Sciences shows that

river sediments have become contaminated with

Arsenic, with potential to contaminate ground water

even further…..”

[Homœopathy Practitioners know well that Samuel

HAHNEMANN had published his famous book on

Arsenic poisoning (Arsenic Vergiftung). We

(Homœopaths) would do well to carefully read again

the Arsenicum Provings and the Clinical Data so far

available to ensure that we do not over-look them in

our regular practice. = KSS].

HAHNEMANN has in his pre-homœopathy

days, wrote of the antidotes to Arsenic poisoning,

published in 1786 (Richard HAEHL, in his famous

book ‘Samuel Hahnemann, His Life and Work’) (‘on

poisoning by Arsenic: its treatment and Forensic

Detection, Leipsic, Lebrecht Crusins, 276 pages)

given directions on the test to find out the poisoning

Prof. Henke wrote in 1817 ‘Samuel Hahnemann’s

publication on Arsenic, which at that time was

classical, has introduced the best arsenic tests into

forensic medicine.’ HAEHL writes: ‘He classified

the large number of recommended remedies for

poisoning by arsenic; he grouped together the best

remedies resulting from his personal physiological

experiments on dogs, and gave accurate directions

for their use. Medical antidotes which be might have

discovered himself, he did not cite. Yet he was able

to enumerate no less than 382 different authors and

works, covering several languages and several

centuries, and in 861 passages quoted exactly the

page and volume – a further proof of his marvelous

book-lore.’

[It is very strange that no one is interested to read this

scientific work of HAHNEMANN. No college

anywhere spoke of it. May be the tests are

outmoded, nevertheless may not be irrelevant. =

KSS].

XXIX. ‘Endosulfan Victim send notice to Kerala’

(The Hindu, Sept. 23, 2019): Years ago it came to

light that ‘Endosulphan’ used as pesticide in the

Cashew fields of Kerala caused birth of children

with several physical disabilities. It took years to get

some compensation. And even after Supreme Court

ordered payment of compensation within a specified

time the Govt. is delaying payment! The deadline is

over. [What can poor people with maimed-for-life

children do? What can be done to prevent, in future,

such chemicals from being promoted? Shouldn’t

manufacturers of such chemicals be punished as

criminals? = KSS].

XXX. Here is another drug which many people

consume in a routine manner. ‘Zantac’ is the trade

name; the ‘medicine’ is prescribed (and available

without prescription too, it is said) for ‘heartburn’.

This drug is suspected to contain ‘human carcinogen

called NDMA.

Another remedy that is routinely used for

heartburn, acidity, - known as ‘Ranitidine’ which is

said to contain this NDMA! = KSS.

XXXI. It is commonly believed that elephants

react to emotion like care – fraternal as well as

familial. ‘Asian elephants perceive distress and

respond to it, say researchers’ (The Hindu, Sept. 23,

2019). ‘Free rangers were soon to inspect and

support dying calves in the Wild’. This report refers

to a study published in a reputed scientific journal

(Springer group). Some years ago there was the

report of a mother elephant which ransacked an

airport when its calf was taken away. There is also

a picture (YouTube) of a calf trying up to climb up

from canal but was slipping down from the marshy

and slushy bank of the canal and the mother who was

searching for the calf came there and entered the

canal and pushes the calf from behind and the calf

totters up safely after which the mother and calf

together happily. We cannot take any animal or for

that any creature for granted. All are as much

emotional and sensitive to pain and pleasure, family

as we humans consider ourselves to be.

XXXII. Years ago when someone spoke of the

Intensive Care Unit – the ‘ICU’ which every

common also knows as ‘critical’ stage, I asked why

only some are ‘intensively’ cared, and what about

the others? Are they cared less? Should not every

ill person be ‘well-treated’? There are several

instances in fact it seems to happen every day in big

Corporate Hospitals where the ICU rooms are never

left unoccupied, that someone who has been

receiving treatment in the same hospital since some

days, has been shifted to the ICU; this is a warning

bell to the patient if he is conscious, and relatives, of

approaching the end stage of life of the patient. I

used to wonder why every patient who came in for

treatment is not cared for with ‘intensivity’ all

through. Was he ‘indifferently’ healed and as a

result now reached the ICU stage? Now there is a

‘Neonatal ICU’!

In so far as Homœopathy is concerned we have

been admonished that his/her ONLY Mission is to

restore the ill to well; every sick person. There are

no ‘specialist’ in Homœopathy. Every Homœopath

must be thorough. Hahnemann repeated during his

life in Paris that if a homœopath is not thorough in

his knowledge, better he takes to some other

profession. He must be conscientious of his ‘calling’

(not ‘profession’).[KSS].

XXXIII. Homeo Sapiens Jug Suraiya (Times of

India – 23.10.2009) jug.suraiya@timesgroup.com

http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/juggleban

dhi/

The world is deeply divided. Never mind those

who feel that Barack Obama does deserve the Nobel

Peace Prize and those who feel he doesn’t. Forget

those who are convinced that climate change will

destroy us all, and those equally convinced that it’s

a figment of RK Pachauri’s imagination. Ignore

those who claim Anil is in the right and those who

root for Mukesh. All these are mere ripples on the

surface of controversy. The real rift that divides

civilization, the unbridgeable Grand Canyon of all

schisms is that which separates those who believe in

the curative powers of Homœopathy and those who

don’t.

According to the pro-Homœopathy can cure,

and indeed has cured, anything and everything from

premature baldness to the Big C, from the common

cold to the most uncommon of pathologies. Give

Homœopathy half a chance, say homœopaths, and

it’ll cure all the world’s ills, from AIDS to global

recession, from international terror to Raj and Bal

Thackerayism. According to the anti-homœopaths,

Homœopathy is pseudo-medical mumbo-jumbo,

pharmacological voodoo involving toxic substances

like arnica 30, nux vomica 60, deadly nightshade

100, and tarantulas’ testicles ad infinitum. To anti-

homœopaths, homœopaths are, at worst, dangerous

quacks, and, at best, harmless weirdos who also

believe in UFOs, greet each other by secret signs

known only to initiates, and dance naked under the

fullmoon.

Neither believers nor disbelievers, Bunny and I

are agnostics when it comes to Homœopathy.

Neither for nor against, we sit on the fence of

ambivalence. So when a friend recommended a

homœopathic course of treatment for the sciatica that

has been plaguing Bunny for the past six months, we

decided to go with it. May be it won’t work. But

what the heck. It can’t hurt, can it? And who

knows? May be it will work. Stranger things have

been known to happen. As I can testify. Years ago

in Calcutta I suffered from what the series of

allopathic doctors I consulted called a ‘strep throat’.

With unfailing regularity my throat would get sore

and inflamed and horribly painful, as though I were

swallowing broken glass. The inflammation would

be accompanied by fever, sometimes as high as 102

degrees. To try and prevent the infection, I’d rub

Vicks on my throat and wrap it up tight with a scarf,

right through Calcutta’s hot and sweaty summer.

Didn’t help. Month on month, the strep throat would

strike, and I’d pop antibiotics by the fistful in vain

attempts to combat it.

Finally someone suggested I see a homœopath.

I don’t believe in Homœopathy, I replied. You’re

not required to, it’s not a religion, said the other, and

gave me a name and address. So off I went to see

my first homœopath, who turned out to be a small,

chubby, cheerful chap who looked at me brightly.

Sore throat, I croaked, pointing to my wrapped-up

neck. The chap shook his head. That’s just the

symptom, he said. What you’re suffering from is

something else, he added, and gave me a phialful of

small white globules, of which I was to swallow six

and not eat or drink anything for half an hour before

or after.

I went home, had the globules. And didn’t sleep

a wink that night, having to rush to the loo half a

dozen times. I woke Bunny at 6 in the morning. ring

up that damn fellow and tell him he’s killed me, I

groaned. Bunny rang him and gave him the dire

news. Wonderful! The chap responded. I’ve purged

his body of all the toxins that were poisoning him;

tell him he’ll never get a bad throat again, he said.

And I haven’t, not once, in the intervening 20-odd

years.

So do Bunny and I believe in Homœopathy?

We don’t know. All we know is that something

cured me of a strep throat all the allopaths I went to

had given up on Here’s hoping that the same, of a

similar, something will work the magic for Bunny’s

sciatica. For all anyone knows, may be the

homœopath to health is paved with good

prescriptions. Fingers crossed. Toes, too.

------------------------------------------------------------------

List of Journals:

Full addresses of the Journals covered by this Quarterly

Homœopathic Digest are given below:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. AH: The Journal of the North American Society of

Homeopaths, 1122 East Pike Street, #1122, Seattle, WA

98122, USA.

2. AJHM: American Journal of Homeopathic Medicine,

formerly Journal of the American Institute of Homœopathy

(JAIH). 101 South Whiting Street, Suite 16, Alexandria,

VA 22304. USA.

3. Deccan Chronicle: Newspaper, Chennai–600 002.

4. HOMŒOPATHY: Formerly British Homeopathic Journal

(BHJ), Homœopathy, Faculty of Homœopathy, 29 Park

Street West, Luton, Bedfordshire, LU13BE, UK.

5. MedGG: Medizin, Gesellschaft und Geschichte, Institut für

Geschichte der Medizin Robert Bosch F. Haug Verlag,

Hüthig GmbH, Im Weiher 10, D-69121 HEIDELBERG,

GERMANY.

6. S & C: Science and Culture, Indian Science News

Association, 92, Acharya Prafulla Chandra Road,

KOLKATA – 700 009.

7. The Hindu: Newspaper, Chennai–600 002.

8. Times of India: Newspaper, Chennai–600 002.

9. ZKH: Zeitschrift für Klassische Homöopathie, Karl

Stiftung, Straussweg 17, 70184 STUTTGART,

GERMANY.

====================================================

[The number of Homœopathy Journal have dwindled to less than

half of what was about 10 – 15 years back, through the

number of Homœopathy Physicians has increased as well as

the Pharma. = KSS]

PART II

(This section contains abstracts/extracts from selected articles; even the entire article in some cases)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. THE BABY

B W. A. Yingling

(Homœopathic Recorder, 36/1921)

Affectionate, extremely, manifested by kissing,

Puls.

Anger of mother or wet nurse, injury from, Acon..

Opi.

Angry and has spells of rage, Acon.

Apathetic condition, lies in and, now and then

sighing, and reaching with trembling hands to its

head, Hell.

Awakens, cries of discomfort with, or soon after,

Acon.

Awakens, fear with, in brain disease, Zinc.

Awakens, frightened, looks around bewildered, then

drops to sleep again; after short time repeats the

same, Lyc.

Awakens, frightened and in confusion, Æscul.hip,

Awakens, kicks off the covering and behaves in an

angry manner, Kali-c., Lyc.

Awakens night, and remains unusually bright and

playful, and evinces no desire to sleep again,

Cyprip.

Awakens, piercing cries and trembling all over, with

Ign.

Awakens, screaming and holding on to the sides of

the cradle without apparent cause; very sudden,

Borax.

Awakens, screaming and imagines someone is going

to hurt her, Kali-brom.

Awakens, suffocation and anguish, with; able to

inhale but not to exhale, Samb.

Awakens two hours after going to bed at night in a

tantrum, kicking, crying and refusing to answer a

question; strikes at the attendant and even says,

“no” when asked if she wants to urinate, but when

put on the vessel will then go to sleep readily,

Thuya.

Awakens unamiable, very, Lach., Lyc.

Awakens, weeps and tosses about, Bell.

Bite on something hard, desire to, Phyto.

Biting and grinding its teeth (in meningitis), Bell.

Breathing ceases when crying without being angry,

Cupr.

Breathing difficult, suffocative attacks after being

lifted from the cradle, after nursing or after crying,

Calc-ph.

Carried about and held upright, seems better when,

Ant-tr.

Carried, cries all the time, but ceases when carried

quietly; cries when nurse stops and becomes

angry, Cham.

Carried, cries piteously when, Cina.

Carried continually, wants to be, Ant-tr., Cham.,

China, Kali-c., Stann.

Carried crying ceases when, Cham.

Carried, dizzy when, siezes hold of nurse, fearing to

fall, Gels.

Carried, mother and no one else, wants to be by its,

will scream if any other person approaches or

touches it, Ant-tr.

Carried, point of nurse's shoulder on, and will be

quiet in no other position, Stann.

Carried quietly, cries unless ; cries when nurse stops,

and becomes angry, but can be comforted by rapid

rocking, Cina.

Carried quicker and quicker, wants to be, Bell.

Carried quickly and even to be shaken, wants

to be, Verat-a.

Carried quickly, and says, "run run" in croup,

Brom.

Carried rapidly, wants to be, Ars., Brom.

Carried slowly, wants to be, Puls.

Cerebral disorders, incipient, when child is

sleepless, laughs and plays at night, Cyprip.

Choking from drinking fluids; can swallow solids

easily, Kali-brom.

Chews and swallows in sleep, frequently, Bry.,

Calc-c.

Colic, with constipation, Sil.

Colic, crying from; relief obtained by carrying it

with belly on point of nurse's shoulder or pressing

firmly

against it, Stann.

Colic, eat, at every attempt to; cries when nursing,

Calc-ph.

Colic, eating, immediately after, Graph.

Colic, full of wind, Senna.

Colic, Motion relieves, continuous, Gels.

Colic, night, during the; rests all day, Jalap.

Colic, noise like animal croaking in abdomen,

Thuya.

Colic, pressure, relief from, or carrying on the

shoulder point, Stann.

Colic, urinating, while, Cham.

Colic, worse by uncovering an arm or leg, Rheum.

Colic 5 p. m., may be well all day, but comes on at;

walls of abdomen retracted and hard, Kali-brom.

Constipation, straining to pass even a soft stool,

Alum.

Constipation, painful stool, with, Verat-a.

Convulsions, laughing and playing after excessive,

Coff.

Convulsions, nursing at 11 a. m., immediately after,

Calend.

Convulsions, ten days, every, Lach.

Coughing spells come on when getting angry, Ant-

tr.

Coughing and gaping consecutively, Ant-tr.

Coughs, cries every time it, as though it dreaded it,

or even before coughing, Arn.

Cries. Compare Anger, Shrieking, Screaming.

Cries all day and all night, Psor.

Cries all day and sleeps all night, Lyc.

Cries all night and sleeps all day, Jalap.

Cries all day, especially from 4 to 8 or 9 p. m. ,

draws up knees to abdomen; sleeps well at

night; stool straining, hard, seldom. Colocyn.

Cries all night, goes to sleep about daylight and

sleeps all forenoon, Calc-c. (Luesinum).

Cries, soon after, birth, much Luesinum, Medor.

Cries, cause, without any discernible; only pacified

by rubbing or taken into cool air, Sulph.

Cries, colic, as from, Æthusa.

Cries, colic, as from, and calls for water frequently,

Cina.

Cries, colic, or common bellyache, Cupr.

Cries, flatus, seems full of incarcerated; turns blue

all over, Senna.

Cries, frightened from seeing hideous objects, as if,

Stram.

Cries, pushing hands to back of head, and boring

head into pillow, Bry.

Cries, if taken by the hand to lead it terribly, Cina.

Cries, least thing, from, Caust.

Cries, moved, if, in fever, Bry.

Cries, nursing, cries and squirms for an hour after,

Nux-v.

Cries, nursing, while, Calc-ph.

Cries, put it down into cradle, on attempting to, takes

hold of things near, as if afraid of falling, Borax.

Cries, refused the least thing, pitifully when, Cham.

Cries, spoken to kindly, when; obstinate, Sil.

Cries suddenly and ceases suddenly, appearing as if

nothing had been the matter, Bell.

Cries, whines, and seems afraid to breathe, Bell.

Delirium, calls for mamma and papa, though present

and consoling, Stram.

Delirium, fever all night, with very hot, Bell.

Delirium, jerks, twitching moaning, with, Bell.

Delirium, merry (in brain disease), Stram.

Delirium, scarlet fever, with, Ailanth.

Delirium, tossing and anguish (meningitis), Ars.

Delirium, visions of dogs and cats, Æthusa.

Delirium, wild, strange look, red face, muttering,

picking at bed clothes (brain disease), Hyosc.

Demands various things with vehemence and

weeping, Rheum.

Development insufficient; late learning to walk; big-

headed babies who do not get teeth, are pot-

bellied, Calc-c., Calc-iod.

Dirty, with glutinous moisture behind ears, tendency

to same sticky, eczema in groins, Graph.

Disobedient without being in bad humor, Lyc.

Dizzy when carried, seizes hold of nurse, fearing to

fall, Gels.

Dreams, fear of sleeping on account of frightful,

Nux-v.

Drinking, biting glass or spoon, when, Cupr.

Drinking hastily and eagerly, Bry.

Ears, bores fingers into, Chin-sulf.

Eyes sore with sinuous discharge, Kali-sulf.

Flatulency, rumbling in abdomen, in nervous

Children, Passiflora.

Flatus, soils diaper every time it passes, Oleand.

Face, aged expression, Abrot., Æthusa, Hydr. ac.

Face, anxious expression, Æthusa, Bell., Cupr.

Face, bewildered expression, Plumb., Stram., Zinc.

Forehead wrinkled, screaming spells, Hell.

Fretful and anxious until he eats, which relieves for

the time being; grows thin in spite of food eaten,

Iod.

Fretful, nervous, when teething or from heat, even of

feverish, and when, Acon. and Coff. fail,

Hydrobromic acid.

Fretful, peevish, stupid, fretful, Calc-ph.

Fretful, peevish, does not wish to be looked at or

touched, Ant-cr.

Fretful, peevish, does not wish to be touched, Cina.

Fright, after a, weeps and moves arms and hands

about, Samb.

Gas in abdomen, full of, Senna.

Genitals, rash about the, with hard dry stools,

Medor.

Genitals smells of fish brine, even after washing,

Sanic.

Gnaws at its fists; stool hard and difficult, Acon.

Grunts frequently during restless sleep, Lyc.

Grunting noise as in stooling, but only passes wind,

Calend.

Hairs, pulls at its, during cerebral trouble, Bell., Dig.

Head drops on left shoulder, Sulph.

Head hard and compact when born, with no sign of

sutures or posterior fontanelles, Sanic.

Hernia, cries much and will not be quieted except

by pressing on left inguinal ring, or flexing left

thigh, Thuya,

Hernia, umbilical or inguinal, Nux-v.

Hiccough, jerking, after nursing; empty belching,

Marum-v.

Hides in corners, feels hurt and takes everything

amiss, Camph.

Ill humor, cries for things which are petulantly

thrown away, Staph.

Indigestion associated with sharp pains, sudden

screaming out and bending backward, Bell.

Indifference to everything; all the senses except

hearing seem dull, Calc-c.

Inactive, loses its accustomed brightness, becomes

quiet, Lyc.

Irritable, amounting almost to mania, Marum-v.

Irritable, desires all sorts of things and throws them

away, Kreo., Staph.

Irritable and fretful when spoken to, Ars., Cham.,

Gels., Iod., Natr-m., Natr-s., Nux-v., Rhus-tox.

Irritable, nervous, hard to please, Apis.

Lap, wants to lie on the, will not remain in bed, Cupr.

Laugh, does not, is not inclined to play or amuse

itself, Hepar.

Laughs and plays at unwonted hours; is wakeful, and

laughs. even in sleep; morbid irritation of brain,

Cypripidium.

Laughs one moment and cries the next, Coff.

Let alone, wants to be strictly, irritable, Ant-c., Ars.,

Cham., Cina.

Lime water, when digestion has been spoiled by,

Calc-c.

Listless, very; wants nothing and cares for nothing,

Phos-ac.

Looked at, will howl and cry if; very irritable on

awaking, Ant-tr.

Looked, spoken to or touched, does not want to be,

Ant-c., Cham., Cina.

Lumps and excrescences on scalp, uneven, Calc-

fluor.

Marasmus, above downward, emaciation spreads

from, Cenchris.

Marasmus, aphthous sore mouth in, yellow spots,

Sulph-ac.

Marasmus, below upward, from, Abrot.

Marasmus, depression or sinking of the occiput,

Magn-c.

Marasmus, diarrhea, after suddenly suppressed,

Abrot.

Marasmus, emaciation of little children, Marum-v.

Marasmus, emaciation great, skin hangs in folds,

face of an old person, shriveled, large belly, mushy

stools; herpes, apthæ, Sars.

Marasmus, glands enlarge, body dwindles while the,

Iod.

Marasmus, loses flesh while living well, Iod., Natr-

Marasmus, neck, especially, muscles of the, Calc-

ph., Natr-m., Sanic.

Marasmus, neck and thighs, wasting more marked

in, following diarrhea, Sanic.

Milk, intolerance of in nursing children, Sil.

Moans a great deal as though it gave partial relief

from suffering, with drowsiness, Bell.

Moans in sleep with half closed eyes, rolling the

head, Podo.

Moans at 3 a. m., Kali-c.

Moans in latter part of night, Rhus-tox.

Motion, carried about and kept almost constant,

wants to be, (brain disease), CINA (Rhus-tox.).

Motion day and night, wants to be in constant, Sanic.

(Rhus-tox.)

Motion, downward, afraid of, Borax.

Motion, sideways, cannot bear, Coff.

Motion, wants to be kept in almost constant, to be

rocked, carried about (brain disease),

CINA (Rhus-tox.)

Mouth, blue-white about the, Cina, Saba.

Mouth, nursing sore, Varonica.

Navel, oozing of watery, bloody fluid at, Abrot.,

Calc-ph.

Nervous, excessively, so that the slightest noise, the

mere rattling of paper, or distant heavy noise, will

arouse and frighten, Borax.

Night terrors, Kali-brom.

Night, awakens from sound sleep screaming with

fright, Kali brom., Kali-ph.

Nipple, suddenly lets go the, and cries as if out of

breath; seems better when held upright and carried

about, Ant-tr.

Nose, bloody mucus discharge from (acute), Calc-c.,

Sulph.; (chronic), Sil.

Nose and eyes, rubs the, on awaking, Sanic.

Nose stopped up, cannot nurse, Kali-bi., Nux-v.

Nose stuffed up, breathes through mouth or a

peculiar rattle in nose, LYC.

Nurse all the time, wants to, yet loses flesh, Sanic.

Nurses, cries during and after, Ars.

Nurse immediately after child cries for water, which

is at once thrown up, Arn.

Nurse, refuses to, or makes a great fuss about it, but

as soon as its mouth is moistened it nurses

energetically, Bry.

Odor, sour smell even after washing, Hepar, Magn-

Odor, like bad cheese about child, persistent, Sanic.

Old look, dirty, greasy and brownish, emaciated,

Sanic.

Pot bellied, Sanic, Sil.

Penis, pulls and elongates the, Merc.-v.

Quieted, will not be; the more friendly persuasion

and petting the worse it gets, Cina.

Restless from 6 p. m. to 6 a. m.; by rubbing, patting,

tossing, only a few short naps are obtained, Kreo.

Restless sleepless, averse to heat and covering,

involuntary stools, Secale.

Restless tossing to and fro, and very weak, worse

after midnight, Ars.

Restless, tosses about all night; drinks little and

often, Sanic.

Rheumatism, infantile, Phos.

Scratches its head on awaking, Calc-c.

Screams, Compare Anger, Crying, Shrieking.

Screams, aggravation by persuasion to be quiet,

Calc-ph.

Screams day and night (whooping cough), Stram.

Screams, earache, from, Aur.

Screams, grasping with the hands and, Calc-ph.

Screams hour after hour without known cause, Bell.

Screams, kind words, worse from, when refused the

least thing, Bell.

Screams, nurse, at the, Aur.

Screams, sleep, during, and awakes clinging to nurse

as if frightened by a dream, Borax.

Screams, spells every day at 5 p. m., very hard,

Calc-c.

Screams, sudden, Anacard., Carbo-v., Hyosc.

Screams, urinating, before, Borax.

Satisfies for a moment, nothing, Cina.

Seize hold of nurse from fear of being separated,

Cupr.

Shrieks, piercing, Cupr.

Shrieks, sleep, during, Cina.

Shrieks, spells, in violent, at longer or shorter

intervals, Apis.

Skin on abdomen and thighs hard in places on,

quickly increasing and gets harder, in new born;

at times with redness spreading all over; tetanic

spasms, bending backward, Camph.

Sleep, awakens from, with ill-humor, Ars., Kali-c.,

Lach., Lyc.

Sleep, cries out during, after being cross and

irritable, and if awakened expressions of fear,

Zinc.

Sleep, cries, starts, jumps, during; rolls head from

side to side, Zinc.

Sleep, chews and swallows in, frequently, Calc-c.

(Bry.)

Sleep day or night, will not, but worry, fret and cry,

Psor.

Sleep, piercing cries, screams out suddenly and

sharply, during, more at night; when asked what

hurts it the reply is ''nothing," Apis.

Sleep, rocking, will not without rocking, Cina.

Sleep, shrieks out during, Cina.

Sleep, starts and jumps in, with muttering,

lamenting, whining, Sulph.

Sleep, tosses about and weeps in, Kali-c.

Sleeps for 20 to 30 seconds, then awakes with start,

and screams, Ipecac.

Sleepless, day and night, Psor.

Sleepless, frets and worries, not cross, Coff.

Sleepless, restless, then sleep, Coff.

Sleepless sleep, then restless, Opi.

Sleepless, twitches in sleep, cries out and trembles

and awakes frightened, then, Hyosc.

Spasms, cries or laughs with, Ign.

Spasms, moon, which returns at change of, Sil.

Spasms, screams before or during, Opi.

Spasms, teething, from, or from disordered bowels,

Scutellaria.

Strikes its head or face with its fist for relief, Ars.

Strikes its head against the wall or floor,

Rhus-tox.

Stupor, brain affections, with, Cupr.

Stupor, ceases to make its wants known except by

motion, Stram.

Stupor, delirium, restless tossing, turning and

twitching, Cupr.

Stupor, eyes fixed, Opi.

Stupor, motion of one arm and leg, constant

involuntary, Apocy-can.

Stupor, vacant, staring, drowsy, answers no

questions, Hyosc.

Stupor, when questioned loudly, opens eyes, gazes

stupidly and steadily, answers slowly, Phos-ac.

Talk, slow in learning to, Natr-m.

Tears, absence of, in four months old infants usually

denotes fatal disease.

Teeth, biting or grinding its, Bell.

Tongue and mouth very sore, high color or skin and

many red dots or papules on face, Eupat-aromat.

Touched, cannot bear to be, cries when, Ant-c.,

Cham., Cina.

Touched, starts suddenly as if in alarm when, but

does not scream, Kali-c.

Trembling all over with screaming and weeping,

Ign.

Tumor, blood, on parietal bones of head, Calc-fluor.

Umbilicus, oozing from, Calc-ph., Sacch-lac.

Umbilicus protrudes and grows red and sore; Cries

much Thuya.

Urination, cries before always; frequent, hot and

pungent odor, Borax.

Urination, fright before, feels a kind of, Alum.

Urination, inability even with full bladder; from

nursing after mother had a fit of anger, Opi.

Urination, retained or difficult, Acon., Apis.

Urination, screams and cries before; relief after, Lyc.

Urination, screams before and after, Borax, Lach.,

Sars.

Urination, spasmodic, least excitement will cause it

to pass urine in little jets, Stram.

Vomits all food in a gush, shortly after nursing and

drops off into a stupid sleep, Sanic.

Vomits, eating or drinking, after, and then will

neither eat nor drink, but sleeps well, Ars.

Vomits liquid, within ten minutes after taking any;

otherwise is well, Phos.

Wakes suddenly at night, terrified and trembling

with cold, clammy sweat, Actea-race.

Walk, slow in learning to, Calc-c., Sil.

Walk and talk, slow learning to, Agaric.

Walk and talk, unable to (aged 2, cured by), Nux-

mos.

Washed, aversion to, utter, screams and fights, on

account of eruption on head, Hepar.

Washed, aversion to cold water, but little objection

to warm, Ant-c.

Washed, dislikes to be, Am-c., Ant-tr., Sulph.

Weak and broken down as a result of syphilitic or

sycotic inheritance (Farrington), Staph.

Weeps when spoken to, Medor., Natr-m., Sil.,

Tuberc.

Wind, full of, Senna.

Worms in pot-bellied infants, with colic, Staph.

Yawn all the time, spasmodically, yet is not cross;

awakes screaming and trembling, Ign.

====================================

2. INSIDE OUT*

Elizabeth HUBBARD-WRIGHT

(HG.XLVI, 3/1979)

You know, I never have the time to write a

paper. The steno-typist saves my life.

The title of this is just two words, ‘inside out.’ You

remember from embryology that the skin and the

nervous system develop from the same layer,

therefore my cases are going to be those of the skin

and those of the mind—five skin and one mind.

Also, because I like the number seven, I am going to

give you one more case at the end, which is neither

skin nor mind, but, to put it mildly (for Dr.

Grimmer’s sake), a tumor. I personally think it was

a Sarcoma, but as it wasn’t operated upon, nobody

can be sure. In that case the ‘inside out’ still applies

because, as you will see when we come to it, the

mental symptoms disappeared first and the physical

later.

To start, then, with the first of the skin cases, that

bane of the regular physician, eczema:

Case No.1 – Mrs. H.O., thirty-four, never heard of

Homœopathy. She had such terrible eczema of the

hands that she was incapacitated from earning her

living as a pianist. It is interesting how fate brings

forward the one aspect that you need and use. She

was dressed to a ‘T’. She was exquisite—platinum

silver hair, grey eyes, alabaster skin, immaculate-

rather frightened, coming to a strange kind of doctor.

A very cosmopolitan lady, who had toured Europe to

* presented extemporaneously before the Bureau of

Clinical Medicine, I.H.A., June 30, 1953.

play. She was singularly symptomless except for

these poor hands, which were bound up. I unrolled

the gauze and looked at them. They were a mess—

cracks, bleeding,—just horrible hands.

The one interesting thing in her history was that

twenty years ago, when she was a girl, she had had

violent eczema of the hands and had been

hospitalized. They had given her every known salve.

Nothing happened. Nature was too strong for them.

Finally, they gave her x-ray treatments. She smiled

- “and that cured me.” Through the years she was a

pianist and had no trouble with her hands until two

years before I saw her. Then the whole thing came

back again, worse than ever. She had tried

everything up and down Park Avenue, and up and

down wherever the street is in Chicago where they

have doctors. No ‘soap!’ She still couldn’t play and

was practically in a decline as a real artist is when

thwarted.

There was no family history, or none that would

help me, no history of tuberculosis, very few

symptoms. I looked at her. Her hair was mousy

under the dye, her skin was too lovely, her

temperament was too excessive under restraint, and

I thought for once I was going to follow instinct, so

I gave her Tuberculinum 10M, one dose. I have seen

her only twice since then, but every two weeks she

writes from wherever she is, or calls up if she is near

enough, and says, “I don’t need to come in. my

hands are wonderful. I am playing. I am so grateful

but you had better send me some more of those little

pills because I don’t have enough. Last night I only

took three, instead of four, and I didn’t do quite as

well.

Case No.2 – Something apparently quite trivial - a

girl of fourteen, whose father brought her in. She

was shy and she was flippant when papa corrected

her, as he did. She was weepy when we talked about

her symptoms. She had eczema of the face, poor

child, bleeding, cracked—what a mess! She had

lovely blond hair, and a pretty frock, but her face was

just a battlefield.

She had a history of first menses a year ago,

pinkish, three days, no symptoms, and none since.

Basal metabolism was normal. What to do? Cracks,

fatness, flippancy, weeping! I found out she was

moderately constipated in spite of a beautiful diet—

Graphites 10M, one dose.

Two weeks later a very pretty girl walked into my

office, without papa, with a smile, with a face all

clear except a couple of little tiny places on the

cheeks, and her first remark was, “I had a period two

days after I saw you.”

That case is fairly recent, so we shall see.

Case No. 3---Master D.G., poor child, had had

all the conventional allergy tests, some eighty of

them. He is seven. The only thing they found him

allergic to was wheat. If he passes by a bakery, he

begins to scratch; so mama cut out all the wheat. Try

to feed a nice, healthy exuberant seven-year old and

let him go play in other people’s houses without

wheat. If he had wheat, he busted out all over, like

June, face, elbows, knees, back, everywhere but his

“tummy.”

He was a cute kid, blond, intelligent, happy,

cheery, chilly, however. I said to the mother,

“Doesn’t he have anything but this allergy to

wheat?”

I said, “Oh, he has hayfever.”

“Oh, no. They say it is not hayfever because he

does it twelve months of the year.”

“Does he cough?”

“No.”

“Does he have headaches?”

“No.”

Sniffle, eczema, wheat—nothing else. I

thought—well, what do we do with this one? So I

gave him my favourite potency in the entire Materia

Medica, Psorinum 15C. Why I hang my hat on 15C.

I don’t know, but it does so much better for me than

for anybody else, and so much better than anything

else. Psorinum—I love that bottle!

His mother called me up. She is very ignorant

of Homœopathy. She is quite a social lady and she

cannot tell you a symptom. I don’t know how the

child has grown up. She said, “You know, it is a

funny thing. David still has his eczema, but he

doesn’t sniffle.”

I said, “That is something. Why don’t you feed

him some wheat?”

She said, “Feed him wheat?”

I said, “Yes, feed him a little wheat and see what

happens.”

She said, “If you say so.”

I said, “Call me up after the weekend,” so she

called me up and said David had had a couple of

pieces of bread each day and nothing happened. The

eczema didn’t get any worse, and he didn’t sniffle.

So we let him ride, and in the course of two or

three months the eczema was gone, and David didn’t

sniffle, and David was eating all the crackers and all

the bread and cookies he wanted. I forbade her to

give him chocolate, to what he was not allergic,

because in my experience chocolate and eczema just

absolutely do not gibe. If you have eczema, you

can’t have chocolate, I don’t know who agrees with

me. Case No. 4—Here is an older person who called

me up and said, “I have been to three doctors, all of

whom you know personally—none of them are

homœopaths-and I think I had better leave them.”

“Well,” I said, “they are nice, honest doctors.

What ails you, madam?

“Eczema.”

I grinned into the telephone and said, All right,

come along.”

She is a typical frustrated spinster of fifty-six,

long, lean and efficient, somebody’s crack secretary.

She only has her eczema in one place, on the vulva

on the right labium major, which is swollen and there

is a great patch like red shoe leather, and it itches so

she nearly loses her mind. When I first looked at it,

I thought, “My heavens, this is a skin cancer!””

I said, “What have they been doing to you for

this?”

She said, “Oh, yes,” and went into everything,

starting with lotions and ending with x-ray. When I

heard about the X-ray, I knew why it looked that

way.

I said, “Do me one favour. Put nothing on it

unless it be lanolin, calendula cream, or fuller’s

earth—ever heard of it? It feels cool and

comfortable and absorbs any sweat. Now let me hear

the story of your life.”

The chief motif of her life was resentment. She

supports her mother, who is dying of cancer, and has

lived with her all her life. She began by saying how

wonderful her mother was and, before she left the

office, she said, “I wish she would die. I wish I could

kill her.”

Then she said, “Oh, I never have said that in my

life. I don’t mean it.”.”

I said, “Oh, yes you do, dear. Oh, yes you do,

and your cure has begun.”

Afraid of being alone—she had thought of

parking mother somewhere and supporting her, but

couldn’t bear to live alone. Wants somebody always

there. So exhausted—these other doctors she had

been to told her she was exhausted—so exhausted

she ought to take a vacation for six months but she

can’t. She has to have the money. No reason for the

exhaustion—negative chest x-ray, negative urine,

negative blood. They all said the exhaustion was

psychogenic. She was very chilly; she walked the

floor while she interviewed me, up and down, up and

down, like the animals at the zoo.

Finally, she amused me enormously by bringing

a bag to the second interview, a big bag entirely full

of other people’s medicines, which she put out in

rows on the desk: “These are the medicines from

1946. These are the medicines from 1947,” and so

on up, most of the bottles empty, and I said, “Why

did you bring these?”

I said, “You came to me. I am going to give you

one little dose.”

She looked at me. You know one of my

complaints (and I haven’t too many) about Kent’s

Repertory is that when you look up “resentment,”

what does it tell you? “See malicious.” That is not

right. Resentment is not malicious, but that is where

you have to look for it. So I took that as Symptom I:

I finally got out of her that her itching was worse at

two in the morning, woke her up every night at two

in the morning. I happen to know the ‘gal’ socially,

and the one thing, I have ever observed about her you

couldn’t miss, which is that she owns more

expensive and fantastic hats than anyone else I ever

knew. If you saw her every week, she would have a

different hat on, and I know there isn’t one of them

that cost under $30, yet she lives’ way uptown in a

small apartment and saves money madly. She can’t

afford to do this or that. You would almost say she

is miserly except for the hats.

There are two mentals, avaricious and vain.

Take resentment, avarice, vanity, exhaustion,

prostration out of all degree, and restlessness,

waking at two in the morning, eczema and what have

you? Arsenicum 200. (because she is fairly old), one

dose.

She likes us. She is going to stay with us. She

is telling the other doctors that we have helped her.

Case No.5—Oh, the bane of my life, an eight-

months-old baby from a horribly psoric family. Papa

is a minister. I don’t know why it is, but ministers’

children (I am one!) have tough lives. The baby was

born excellently, everything under homœopathic

care, everything very fine, and suddenly Miss R.B.

bloomed out with an eczema. She is a fat baby,

weighs a ton when you pick her up—these little

Calcarea babies! Her mother tells me that even at

three and four months, if any paper was nearby, her

fist was at it and she put it in her mouth, or she would

chew the sheet—she would get anything she

shouldn’t eat.

Her face was just a bloody mask, though they

kept her nails cut and filed. She was shocking.

When they brought her in to me, I said I had never

seen anything so pathetic as this poor child. She was

a great milk guzzler, a bottle baby. We stopped the

milk and tried goats’ milk, and skim milk, and

canned milk, and dry milk, and none of it made any

difference. It wasn’t the milk.

I gave her, just sort of desperately, a dose of

Calcarea carb. 10M. It did something, but it didn’t

do much. After two or three weeks, the mother said,

“This isn’t doing it.” The mother knows about

Homœopathy.

I said, “Tell me more—tell me more.”

She said, “Her diapers are frightful. It is as

though I spilled the household ammonia on them.”

“Does she take lots of water?”

“Oh, she is an elegant guzzler. She drinks

water; she drinks milk.”

“What else?”

“Well, she seems to like everything fatty, that is

one thing. And her poor little tail!”

“Has she eczema around it?”

“No, but it is all little cracks and hurts so awfully

when I try to dry her.”

I said to myself, “Cracks on the tail, cracks on

the face, ammonia urine a baby eight months old.

Come up, Nitric acid bottle.”

So I gave her a dose of Nitric acid. You would

think that was a remedy for more mature people, but

I had a child in my own family, of five, with frightful

whooping cough and hemorrhages, and Nitric acid,

and the mother called up in the next ten days and

said, “It was wonderful! She is fine.”

I though, “Aha, for a while,” so the next week

she called up and said, “I must bring the baby in.” It

was a Sunday. “She has glands as big as a house.”

I said, “Bring her in.”

She brought her in, and at first I thought she had

the mumps. Her poor little carotids and cervicals

were swollen and stony hard, not tender, not red, no

sore throat. She could take lemon juice which, as

you know, people with mumps cannot take. The

glands in the groin were as big as a Pullet’s egg and

so were the glands under the arm; blood count

normal, no fever. Where do we go from here? I went

to the Kent’s Repertory and I sweat blood, and I

finally found I just had to give the child a dose of

Conium 10M, one dose. The glands went steadily

down. The child felt steadily better, and the eczema

cleared up, and God knows why! I don’t.

The end is not yet. That child is deeply psoric

and will need to be doctored, as I told the mother, for

at least another three or four years, but it is

interesting. I learned from that that you must have

given the indicated remedy even if it does not have

one of the chief complaints. I think that may help

you.

Case No. 6—There are the five cases and you are

done with the skin, and now I will give you one case

of the mind. I have a dear friend who loathes

Homœopathy and gave a building to a regular

medical school. She had a child and when I looked

at him some twenty years ago, I thought, “If I could

only give that baby a dose of Calcarea carb.” I

talked to her as a friend and I said, “Let me give that

child a dose of his constitutional remedy.”

“Homœopathy! I should say not!”

I have watched that child socially. He has

always been backward, sub-normal, in and out of

mental hospitals. He is the cross of the father and

the mother, who love him dearly, and who try,

according to their lights, to do their stuff. Finally she

called me up professionally, last year, and she said,

“You know, nearly twenty years ago, you told me

Homœopathy would help that child, and I didn’t

believe you. I have tried everything else, and the

mental hospitals tell me he is schizophrenic and I

might as well institutionalize him, that there is no

hope for him. Will you take him as a patient?”

I said, “God is often late. Yes, bring him in.”

So he came in. He is a beautiful, blond, pink-

skinned lad, with strawberry-gold hair, glacial blue

eyes, handsome, slender, cultivated, neatly

dressed—looks like his mother. He was so nervous

and fidgety he couldn’t sit in a chair. He had me

jittery just watching him, and yet at that phase there

was nothing violent. He had had rather manic

outbreaks in which they had to paraldehyde him and

send him to a mental hospital; but now he was slow-

phased, and if you asked him a question, he would

look to his mother.

I said to her, “Please don’t answer. I want his

answer or nobody’s answer.”

He sort of looked at me and slowly the interview

progressed and he began to answer almost

monosyllabically. His symptoms, as you can

imagine, were hard to get. He wanted people. He

didn’t want to be left alone. He had studied a little—

the A, B, C’s, which was all they felt he could do,

writing and spelling, and saying 6 and 7 are 13, if the

mother sat and watched him. If she went into the

other room—nothing.

He stayed in the bathroom, I found out, for

hours, with the door locked, and yet when I asked his

mother if he masturbated or had any sexual

difficulty, “Oh, no!” and I could hear her say, “In a

minister’s family!” (Laughter)

He had been having paraldehyde every night, 2

ounces, to sleep; otherwise they couldn’t keep him at

home, he would be prowling all night. “His father

has to work. I have to work.” So I didn’t say, “Stop

the paraldehyde.” I thought, “Well, thank God, it is

nothing else.” Paraldehyde is so disgusting, no one

would take it if they didn’t have to.

He was totally dependent but obviously vain,

and neat. I know he was very jealous of his normal,

younger twin brothers, though he assured me he was

very sweet to them and had never been the least bit

jealous of them.

We gave this child, in July, 1952, Arsenicum

200, one dose. Gradually they were able to cut off

the paraldehyde. She changed to bromides for him

without asking me. I didn’t fuss. Gradually the child

got better and I said, “Let’s have no more bromides

unless he has a very bad night.” He went on from

July of 1952 until April, 1953. His mother was

nervous. She was afraid he might slide back, so I

gave him one dose of Saccharum Lactis through the

interval, once every four months.

He is home all the time. She felt he was

beginning to get restless again, so just before Easter

she brought him in and I could see he didn’t look

quite as well as the last time, and I said, “Well, what

is new, boy?”

He said, “I want salt. I want salt.”

I looked at him, and he said, “I want to go see

girls.”

Something new! The nervous blond wants salt

and wants to go see girls. May be something comes

up, so I thought a little and I gave him a dose of

Phosphorus 10M—so help me! --one dose, and I

said to his mother, “If anything goes wrong in the

next three or four days, don’t send him to any mental

hospital. You telephone me.”

Sure enough, four days later she called me up in

the middle of the night and said, “He is off. He is

gone. He is crazy.”

I said, “You mean he has gone out of the

house?”

“Oh, no, he is right here. I had to give him some

paraldehyde.”

I said, “Think nothing of it. I gave him a remedy

which has an aggravation at four days. Tomorrow or

the day after tomorrow he is going to be better.”

So help me, I made an act of faith.

She said, “Do you really think so? You have

helped me and I will believe you, but we can’t hold

out, through more than a day or two like this.”

I said, “if you can’t hold out, I will get you a

nurse, but don’t send that child anywhere.”

Next day she called up and said, “How do you

do? I know. You told me on the fourth day he would

raise Cain, and you told me by today he would be all

right, and he hasn’t been so well in twenty years.”

I said, “All right, I don’t want to hear from you

until he is beginning to be worse. No Saccharum

Lactis this time.”

She brought him in the other day, two months

later. He came in and said, “Mother, do you mind

going out of the room?” He talked to me and said he

was so well nowadays that daddy and mother were

going to send him to a boarding school. I found out

it was a school for rather difficult and abnormal

boys, quite a wonderful place.

I said, “Are you happy to go?”

He said, “I am looking forward to it. May be I

can begin to live.”

So, we shall see—even twenty years late.

Case No.7—Now I will give you just one brief

one, which is neither ‘outside’ nor ‘inside.’ A kid

was brought to us who had had a sore throat,

temperature of 104⁰. He was seven years old, I

guessed, and his father had had rheumatic fever. I

didn’t like it. He had symptoms, vaguely. His right

leg, behind the knee, bothered him a little, so I gave

him a dose of Rhus tox 200 and we did his blood

count, and it didn’t show much—it didn’t show what

it ought to have shown.

His urine was all right, and I said, “Bring him

back in two or three days.”

His mother brought him back and said, “This

child has a lump which I discovered when I bathed

him. It is behind his knee, a little on the outside.” I

felt a lump and I thought, “Oh-Oh!” It was as big as

a pullet’s egg. It was as hard as a stone. It had a

ridge in it like serrated rock. If I ever felt a really

cancerous growth, that was it. He had a couple of

little almond glands in the groin, none elsewhere,

and he had seen a surgeon who told the mother he

should go instantly to the hospital and have the lump

out; that it was a sarcoma of the bone. I thought it

might be that, too.

She was very homœopathic and she said, “I

want you to try with the remedy.”

I said, “If you promise me I will see this child

regularly and often, if the family is willing, I will

take a chance, but I warn you, I don’t know.”

She said, “He has the following mentals: he is

the devil temperamentally. He is cross. He is

ornery, and thrashes around. I can’t do anything

with him. He weeps. He has a big, square, Calcarea-

looking brow.”

I looked up in the repertory for lumps in that

position, stony hardness—Calcarea fluorica—and I

gave him, sort of pathologically, Calcarea fluorica

10M, one dose. That was last November (1952). He

has never had another dose of medicine, and when

he was seen this May, neither my associate nor I

could find any lump whatsoever. His mentals

cleared first, and the lump stopped growing but did

not decrease. We have seen him every two weeks

through the winter and the lump has gone steadily

and slowly down. In April I could find it only if I

knew I was looking for it. In May it was gone.

I wish someone would tell me whether it a

sarcoma.

-The Layman Speaks, August 1977.

=====================================

3. A Case of Menstrual Hemorrhaging

JULEK Meissner (SIM. XXI/2008)

A 39-year-old woman consulted with me in

March 2003, for what she called “life threatening

menstrual hemorrhaging,” that flooded her tampons

and stained her clothes and furniture by running

down her legs. Bleeding was also characterized by

large bright red clots the size of mice. Once her

period began, she had to sit still, as the bleeding was

a lot worse if she moved. If she had a quiet day at

the onset of flow but then gets busy the next day,

hemorrhaging returns. Periods were painful, a

stabbing pain, better with painkillers, which she took

every month.

Periodate was irregular, from 22-30 days apart.

Her periods started suddenly and ended just as

suddenly, lasting five days, bright one day, gone the

following.

She felt tired during her menses and her face

looked pale. Blood work showed borderline anemia.

An ultrasound showed no signs of fibroids.

PMS

Intolerant and irritable for a week before onset

with breast soreness, during which time she felt tired

and hungry. One to two days before onset of flow

she had an energy burst, cleaned a lot and got all

kinds of domestic chores accomplished.

Onset

Hemorrhaging began three years ago after a

tubal ligation with D & C. she gained 15 lbs since

her tubal ligation, despite a good lifestyle that

included plenty of exercise and a good diet, avoiding

sweets and alcohol.

She was treated with hormonal supplements,

which helped normalize her menses and eliminated

the hemorrhaging. However, she developed severe

headaches at the end of her period, behind her eyes

and through the top of her head, worse motion, with

waves of nausea. They woke her and were

accompanied by vomiting, and were frighteningly

intense. After a few of these, she discontinued the

hormonal supplements, the headaches ceased, and

the monthly hemorrhaging resumed.

She has benefited from Homœopathy before:

her severe morning sickness improving quickly after

Sepia. Since the onset of her menstrual problem

three years ago, she tried Sepia several times

without success.

Personality, lifestyle and family of origin:

She is currently self-employed, having been a

media consultant among others, the Financial Post.

She sees herself as self-made, having gotten into

sales when young, and as “a one-man show.”

“It’s all up to me. If I don’t pick up the phone

to call potential customers money comes in. I work

out of my home, and often many other thing to do,

avoiding calling people. I’m easily distracted, by the

dishes, the laundry, house cleaning chores, doing the

chores rather than getting to work.

“I’m a mommy to the whole family, which

means everyone is always taken care of first, my

needs last. No time for myself, as I’m attending to

everyone else’s needs. I don’t mean to sound bitter,

but I wish they’d fend for themselves sometimes.”

Stress increases her menstrual bleeding.

“Activity gets me fired up, resulting in more and

bigger clots. After Christmas, I had one clot after

another, from all the commotion. I do all the

Christmas baking and decorating. It all falls on my

shoulders, and I’m fed up with it. If I don’t get it

done, it won’t get done. I’m kinetic, organize, and

get things done. It’s almost self-abusive as I can do

everything. Half-seriously, I’ve told the kids I’ll run

away one day.

Anger before and during menses. “No

tolerance. I just stew, internalizing it, as I hate to

yell. I hate disharmony. I come from a family of

yellers. Both my parents were yellers, as was my

mother’s father. I can’t handle yelling, I walk away

when someone’s yelling.

“I never knew my father. Six months into being

pregnant with me, mother moved back home to live

with her parents. I was with my grandparents and

my mother till at least age three, when mom and

step-dad and I became a unit.

“Stepfather worked in the air force. He wasn’t

big part of my life. He’d give me lunch, and then I’d

nap… no afternoons together no going to the park,

no playing, and minimal involvement. He used to be

so opinionated though, calling me names, yelling at

me when I’d ask him for help in math Relations with

him were awful. I could never please him; he had a

short fuse. He’d put a fist through the wall; any little

thing would set him off, I’d lie in bed, hear them

fighting, frightened a lot as a little kid. I tried being

invisible, staying out of his way. I kept to myself,

made myself busy, and went anywhere but home.

“Stepfather made me strong. I became too

independent. What doesn’t kill you makes you

stronger. ‘No thank you,’ is what I’m often saying.

I feel I can’t count on anyone but myself. Mom

wanted that second marriage to work, so her kids just

became baggage. It had an effect on me. I dismissed

my stepfather when I felt old enough to do that. I

transferred my love to my grandparents. Didn’t like

my parents, so I chose my grandparents, spending a

lot of time with them. They were my confidants, my

friends. I did nothing to displease them. It was great,

though it made my parents miserable, that I had

chosen my grandparents over them.

“Mother and I have a good relation now, though

it wasn’t always so. Being my stepfather’s protector,

she used to deny knowing what I was talking about.

All my life she took his side, never mine, wanting

her marriage no matter what, not having any time for

my brother and me.

“Saying ‘no’ to family demands is tough for me.

I take on too much; mothers do in general. I don’t

want to come across as being selfish. I want to do

stuff for my children, for and with my husband. If I

didn’t take out the garbage, would my husband? I’ve

never talked about it, with him or any of them.

“My husband’s going through tough times at

work. He’s notoriously unhappy with his job,

drowning it out by watching TV. I protect everyone

from his upset, trying to keep peace, putting the kids

to sleep, doing all the chores, etc. Guilt is what I

often feel. At least I’m in a beautiful house all day,

while he’s unhappy at his work.

“My husband is into depression. He’s just

spoiled, a child. I haven’t the time for it, or for

nervous breakdowns, neither mine nor my

husband’s. Things happen, life goes on. What

shows a person’s character is how they deal with

what’s thrown at them, a spiritual test. God didn’t

throw anything at me that I wasn’t able to handle.

Everyone has problems. I had mine. I got over them;

my husband can get over his, too.”

This is her second marriage. “My first husband

had affair shortly after our first child. I helped him

pack.” She met current husband while on blind date

set up by mutual friend.

“I didn’t want to seem rude, so I went. He was

very nice; we talked well. He was kind to my

daughter. He had two kids of his own and was kind

to them.

“My kids are on me all the time. They crowd

me, make me feel claustrophobic, smothered. I’m

very independent. I want my children to be

independent; they have to learn to walk on their own.

I can’t always be there for them. At times they need

to fall to know their limits. Yet, I’m so physically

available for them; I sleep with my son nightly as he

asks me to come sleep with him. It’s my duty as a

mother. I’m there whenever my kids ask me to be

there for them. We laugh, dance, do all kinds of

things together, play well.

“My husband’s kids are a sore area for me, an

area we don’t go to often. His relationship with his

kids is purely guilt-related. If he doesn’t do what

they want/say, he’s afraid they won’t come and see

him. They’re not accountable for any of their

actions. My husband never makes them responsible

for their misbehavior. His daughter and some of her

friends came over and organized a party. When they

left, two of my pillows were missing. When I

confronted her, she became defensive and angry and

offended that I was accusing her friends. Now, my

husband’s upset that we’re upset with each other

over some pillows. It makes me feel he’s siding with

his daughter.

“I’m doing with my husband what my mom did

with my stepdad; not stnding up to him. Despised

that about my mother, yet am doing it myself now. I

have made his children welcome, as I love my

husband. I go out of my way, then they throw it back

in our faces each time with no consequences from

their father. They threw a party at our cottage

without us knowing, left a mess, and my husband

didn’t confront them.

“When making love, I never orgasm. My

husband does everything in his power to try to assist

me. I can by myself, masturbating, but when making

love, I don’t want to. It’s a control thing. I don’t

want to give in completely.”

DREAM

Of husband. “He had cut his hand and was

bleeding all over the place. His eldest daughter

wasn’t doing anything. She kept trying to grab his

arm for attention. I pushed her away. I’m trained in

first aid, so I went to grab his hand, to raise it above

his heart. I felt angry.”

Knees sore. Sciatica, history of, left leg, worse

now.

Knees extremely sore on rising from stooping,

since daughter’s birth. Must straighten knees out

slowly.

Family medical history:

Mother’s mother developed lung cancer in her

80s. She never smoked. Her husband did when he

was young. Treatment with Essiac tea, spontaneous

remission.

Analysis:

When I first began working on this case I

considered many remedies, including Carc, Erig,

Ferr, Phos, Sab, Sec, Erig, Ust, Sep, and Nux-v.

From repertorisation of the menstrual hemorrhaging

alone, Ipecac, Secale, Sabina, Ustilago, and Ferrum

all came up, though Ipec was the strongest.

Particularly useful was the tiny rubric MENSES

copious from shocks where only Arnica and Ipec

are listed. Her dream of blood merely duplicated

what she was already going through. Although not

listed under DREAMS, blood, Ipec, which in any

case is poorly represented in the dream section,

continued to intrigue. Although nausea was missing

in her current, by recalling her history of severe

morning sickness resolved with Sepia (a remedy she

had tried again more recently but without benefit)

that keynote made me consider Ipec all the more

strongly.

Repertorisation with Radar:

FEMALE GENITALIA/SEX – MENSES –

shocks, from

FEMALE GENITALIA/SEX – MENSES –

motion – agg.

FEMALE GENITALIA/SEX – MENSES –

clotted – large clots

FEMALE GENITALIA/SEX –

METRORRHAGIA – bright red – clots, with

MIND - AILMENTS FROM – anger –

suppressed

MIND – AILMENTS FROM – anger –

indignation;with

MIND – AILMENTS FROM – scored; being

MIND – FORSAKEN feeling

MIND – INDUSTRIOUS – menses – before

STOMACH – NAUSEA – pregnancy – during

Prescription: Ipec 30 once a day for three days

discontinuing dosage after the first day should there

be a change for either better or worse. (Despite the

evidence, a lack of certainty made me choose this

potency.)

One month follow-up

“I can’t believe it!” Menses were normal for the

first time in three years. They came late, which had

been a sign of a difficult period coming. She was

going to be out of town, and so she prepared herself

for the worst, packing an arsenal of tampons and

pads. To her surprise, she brought them all back

home. Menses were painless too, with no need for

drugs. No clots, and instead of hemorrhaging bright

red blood, it was brown and scanty, like it used to

prior to the tubal ligation.

Other changes from remedy:

Knee sores improved.

Facial hair, hair around nipples, without this

month.

PMS was improved, too.

Breast tenderness before menses was less

intense, not as long lasting.

Irritability before menses was milder, not as

long lasting.

Family dynamis improved too. “I had a pep

rally with my family. Told them that we’re all

responsible for house chores, that it’s not fair that

everything falls on my shoulders alone. I used the

garbage as an example, that they go right past it, as

they know I’ll do it. Things get left default to me

then everyone wonders why I’m irritable. I asked

that they be at least responsible for themselves. It

was good for me. I can’t keep internalizing,

otherwise I’ll end up getting sick again. Menses may

be the tip of the iceberg. I’m thinking of ways of

reclaiming what’s mine, instead of me always being

expendable. We mothers fall into that role too

easily, wanting to care/provide, over-caring, at our

own expense.

“Stronger is how I feel, able to ask for what I

need, to say no when I need to. Since I started on the

remedy, have more will power to say no, sticking to

it, being firm, that I’m the children’s parent, not just

their friend. They’re going to bed on their own now

with my husband pitching in. My husband put the

kids to bed last night while I went out with friends!!

I felt rejuvenated, being out with other adults. I need

to be out of the house more. No longer arm I willing

to be run into the ground. The kids brought me

breakfast in bed. It was nice, touching, to see them

so happy to be able to do that for me. My husband

picked up the rake this weekend, raked the laws. He

never does any gardening. He worked up a sweat. I

found it enticing. I told him how manly and sexy he

looked. I like this change. I don’t normally find him

sexy. He’s always in a suit at his desk. He hires

others to do his gardening. Talking with him has

been so appealing, like an aphrodisiac.

“Part of this independence thing is that I’m not

needing anything. I’m the giver, I don’t like to take,

which gives me control, but for a price. I’m realizing

I must ask my husband to take more initiative, to be

more demonstrative, less lazy. I need him to be in

control sometimes, instead of me always initiating,

orchestrating the whole thing. He rarely gets off his

seat. It’s my own fault. People respond to you the

way you train them. I’ve trained him into receiving,

not giving. He’s just obliging. I must undo this

habit. He’ll like it; he’s accommodating to me.”

Insight into the orgasm issue: “It’s connected to

my upbringing, trying to keep peace at home,

becoming independent so as not to bother anyone,

never asking for help. ‘I can do it myself’ was my

way of not bothering my dad.” Trust in men is what

she ended up lacking. “Orgasms never happened, as

I didn’t think I could ever get that emotionally close.

When I tried to open up, be vulnerable, I kept getting

hurt. My wall got to be too high.”

Weight didn’t change.

Plan: Wait.

August 20, 2003 (five months after remedy)

Menses have become regular, 25-27 days apart,

lasting five days. Only one mildly heavy day, and

even that is totally manageable. First day is light;

last day light.

“It’s like night and day, the way my periods are

now, compared to before the homœopathic remedy.

My periods used to dictate the way my life would be

for days. I felt I was bleeding to death; the bleeding

was so heavy, so upsetting. I couldn’t help but

wonder what’s wrong, do I have cancer, is my uterus

falling apart, with all these clots coming out of me!

It was tough on me psychologically. You have no

idea… to have this rush of blood on standing up out

of chair. I was always checking chairs.”

Her menses are normal and healthy to this day, and

she has required no further homœopathic treatment.

Conclusion:

In an earlier article (Summer/Fall 06 issue of

Simillimum), I wrote about Ipec’s respiratory sphere

of influence. To add to my growing respect for this

family relative of Coffea and China, this article

contributes insight into its sphere of influence in the

hormonal/menstrual hemorrhage arena.

In retrospect, given the nature of this case and

the one in my previous article, according to

Sankaran’s miasmatic schema, I recognize the acute-

like typhoid nature of this remedy. The clinical

problem comes on suddenly and intensely, recurring

monthly with no end in sight. While the

predisposition in this case was there, it lay latent

until woken by surgical intervention, the “shock” to

the system.

We never did discuss further the dynamics

between herself and her stepchildren. Of interest is

her own step history, with parallels between her

childhood resentments toward her stepfather’s scorn

and the disrespect she gets as an adult from her

stepchildren, her childhood lack of support from her

mother, and the current lack of support from her

husband when it comes to his children.

Intriguing from a comparative Materia Medica

point of view are the similarities between Ipec. and

Sepia, particularly the tendency to domestic angst,

the feeling of having to do things in the family scene

that they don’t want to do, then holding resentment

toward the family. Other parallels between the two

remedies are the PMS edginess, the industriousness

preceding menses. (Unlike Sep., Ipec. is not listed

under fastidiousness.) While the victim-mother

theme is well known in Sep. and while MIND,

Ailments from suppressed anger is shared by both

remedies, Sep. is missing under MIND, Suppressed

anger with indignation. Interesting too is that

Coffea (another well known member of the Rubiacea

family) is one of only three remedies listed under

MIND, ailments from anger with vexation.

Hormonally, Sepia is indicated for HEAD

PAIN from suppressed menses. Perhaps Ipec

might be valuable here too, though more cases of the

sort are needed to confirm this. Another hormonal

Sepia indicator (in the Complete Repertory) is

facial growth: FACE, HAIRY, lip, upper, in

women. Again, Ipec is not listed here, either

because it’s an exception to this particular case or

because our Materia Medica overlooks it.

=====================================

4. CHILHOOD EAR INFECTIONS: A

Homœopathic Model for Diagnosis, Treatment,

and Research

MOSKOWITZ, Richard (SIM. XXI, 2/2008)

Otitis media has become the most common

pediatric diagnosis made by physicians who care for

children in the United States,1 with an annual budget

already topping $2 billion in 1982,2 and still no relief

in sight. After decades of punishing warfare against

the nasopharyngeal bacteria, several medical journal

articles have recently begun to question the safety

and effectiveness of antibiotics and tympanostomy

and the wisdom of continuing the purely military

strategy based on them.3, 4, 5

The present impasse creates the opportunity

and the obligation for anyone with a better idea to

share it with the medical community and the general

public. Nobody need take my word for it that

homœopathic remedies are inexpensive, nontoxic,

and effective even in advanced cases, or that parents,

children, and their caregivers deeply appreciate the

non-invasive philosophy governing their use. I will

feel amply rewarded if more laypeople and

professionals will simply try them and see for

themselves.

The following cases are intended to show how

the homœopathic viewpoint can assist both

clinically, in the diagnosis and treatment of these all-

too-common ailments, and in the design of

experimental research into the causal factors that

promote and influence them.

1. The cases that I have chosen are noteworthy

not for any particular skill in choosing the

correct medicine, but in precisely the opposite

sense, that excellent results are regularly

attainable with common remedies and case-

taking methods already well known to the

serious student. Indeed, the exemplary

success of homœopathic remedies in treating

such children is itself an important clue to the

mystery of pediatric otitis media in our time.

C.Z., a girl of three, had had recurrent ear

infections since the age of five or six months,

typically associated with colds and the

production of thick, green mucus, and

requiring antibiotics more or less continuously

for several months at a time. With no fever

and at most a slight earache, she often became

irritable and cranky as the cold ended, and the

pediatrician often made the diagnosis by

otoscope alone. Apart from mild eczema, the

child was seldom ill otherwise, and rarely had

the fevers or acute illnesses to be expected at

her age. Weighing 8 lb. at birth, she fell short

of 16 lb. at one year and thereafter remained

small for her age. Teething was late, painful,

and difficult. She had had all the usual

vaccines with no acute reactions to any of

them.

I chose Calcarea sulph.200c, and two months

later her mother reported the best winter ever,

with no ear infections and two light colds that

were quickly aborted with Calc. sulph. 12C. I

next saw her a year later, a few weeks after an

acute episode of wheezing in the middle of a cold,

for which Pulsatilla 30x prescribed over the

phone had worked well. But though she had been

free of ear infections in all that time, she had had

a fever or two and was still plagued by large

quantities of thick, greenish-yellow phlegm in her

nose and throat. After one dose of Sulphur 200,

she never came back. When I called recently,

over five years later, in preparation for this talk,

her mother told me that she had had no more ear

infections, and therefore saw no need to bring her

back, since her general health had been excellent,

and the usual first-aid remedies had been very

effective for the usual colds, fevers, and upper

respiratory infections (URIs) that had developed

along the way.

I want to add a few comments about this by

no means unusual case. First, as I reread it now, I

doubt that either Calcarea sulph. or Sulphur was

the best remedy for this patient, since she was on

the chilly side, and continued even after treatment

to produce the same thick, green mucus and be

prone to frequent colds. I can’t really defend or

explain either prescription at this point. Yet her

mother was more than satisfied. The ear

infections disappeared and never came back, the

long-term or constitutional issues stayed in the

background, and the remedies she herself came up

with continued to help without further assistance.

Notwithstanding the small remedies and

“cured” cases that we like to parade at our

conferences, I feel obliged to confess that my

reputation is largely based on stories as generic

and unspectacular as this one. I feel deeply

grateful to a method that adds feathers to my cap

even when I bumble or fall short. Indeed, my

experience confirms numerous reports in the

European literature that most kids eventually

outgrow their ear infections anyway, if simply

allowed to do so without further allopathic

interference.6

K.S., a boy of 16 months, had already had

five ear infections and five rounds of

antibiotics when I first saw him. Only the

first episode at six months was associated

with fever (102.8⁰F) and acute earache,

which subsided promptly once the eardrum

had perforated and discharged the pus that

had accumulated behind it. Although

weighing seven pounds and appearing

normal and healthy at birth, he was slow to

nurse, fell behind in gross motor

development, had considerable discomfort

with teething, and weighed only 20 lb. by

the time I first saw him. His only other

complaint was a chronic diarrhea that had

begun on antibiotic treatment and had never

gone away. Despite intense, prolonged

crying after the first and second DPT’s, the

third one was uneventful, as was the MMR.

One month after Sulphur 10M, his mother

reported that the diarrhea had worsened, becoming

acute the first week after the remedy, but that, ever

since a fever of 103⁰F. on the third day, his highest

so far, he had had no symptoms of a cold or ear

infection at all. Mainly because of the diarrhea, I

gave him Calcarea carb 10M, and by the next visit,

two months later, he was well, and had made good

progress developmentally, with no ear infections,

one brief cold for which Calcarea sulph 12c worked

well, and no more diarrhea.

I did not see him again for more than a year.

At that time, he had had an episode of acute otitis

four months before, with no earache but a fever

of 103⁰F. that had lasted a full week on

antibiotics. Apart from a few colds and the

reappearance of diarrhea at these times, he had

had no more ear infections and was continuing to

grow and develop normally. Repeating to call

recently, more than five years later, and learned

that he had been healthy, had had no ear

infections, and needed no antibiotics through all

that time. After buying a remedy kit and

studying on her own, the mother had found

Belladonna to be highly effective for his various

acute illnesses, and no longer needed my help.

Once again, not for any elegant prescribing

on my part, much less from any notion that the

child was “cured,” I treasure cases like this one,

because our work together helped the mother to

take charge of her son’s health and perform

competently in that role. When my own learned

prescriptions fail, as they not infrequently do, I

have good reason to feel proud when the parents

themselves find the remedies that work best for

their children. Perhaps the most precious gift

that homœopaths can offer is our relationships

with our patients, which can continue to grow

and flourish even when the search for the ideal

remedy proves elusive.

J.L., a girl of six, had had frequent ear

infections since the age of five months,

especially when exposed to other kids is

crowded day care or classroom settings. With

little fever and no earache, the acute episodes

were typically mild, with red cheeks, loss of

appetite, and grumpy or irritable behavior.

Also vulnerable to staying up late and to

sudden changes of weather, she seldom ran

fevers of any extent, the highest being 102⁰

with a “Strep throat,” but she had already taken

antibiotics over two dozen times. Although

vaccinated at the usual times without any

obvious reaction, she developed an ear

infection soon after her last DPT shot that

lasted for four months despite continuous

antibiotics, and had subsided only after

chiropractic treatment.

Soon after Sulphur 10M, she developed a

generalized rash that lasted several days, followed

by a buoyant mood and more lively energy than she

had shown in a long time. At her first follow-up, she

had a cold, with the usual red cheeks, runny eyes,

temporary hearing loss, and the dreaded positive

Strep culture. It required a considerable leap of faith

for her mother to let even this tiny cold run its course

without antibiotics, using only Pulsatilla 30x as

needed, and later buying a kit of remedies and a

book to show her how to use them. Two months

later, her pediatrician was happy to report and even

take credit for the fact that her ears were uninfected

for the first time that anyone could remember.

The following winter she returned with mild

symptoms, a low fever, and a weakly positive Strep

culture. As the illness subsided, I repeated Sulphur

10M, and by her next visit two months later the

picture had changed to recurrent sore throats, foul

breath, enlarged tonsils, dark circles under the eyes,

and a loose, productive cough. This time I gave her

Mercurius 1M, followed by the 10M a month later,

with excellent results until her next cold many

months later, when she developed the same swollen

tonsils and loose cough as before. After the third

dose of Sulphur 10M, I lost track of her for a few

years, but the mother eventually called to report that

she had been well the whole time, with no major

colds, no ear infections, and a perfect attendance

record at school for the year just finished. A few

months ago, I called to check up and learned that she

was doing splendidly in high school, with no more

ear infections in the nine years since she had begun

using remedies.

Again leaving aside my rather crude prescribing

in this case, I want to point out a few of the

methodological issues it poses, issues so obvious

and fundamental as to be easily overlooked. First,

equating fluid behind the eardrum with an ear

infection requiring antibiotic treatment ignores what

every pediatrician knows, that many colds or URIs

with swelling of the tonsils or adenoids produce

secondary congestion of the middle ear and

temporary hearing loss as a result. The girl in this

case was prone mainly to tonsillitis, and could be

said to have ear infections only to the extent that

pneumatic otoscopes can detect even minute

amounts of fluid, and that years of deadly warfare

against the nasopharyngeal bacteria have

culminated in a Vietnam-like strategy of killing

every living thing in the vicinity.

Second, her most sustained period of ear

involvement followed a DPT shot, a connection that

I have often verified in practice but which is rarely

suspected by pediatricians because vaccines are

regarded as sacrosanct and almost risk-free, except

for rare acute reactions developing within the first

hours or days.

Third, like most of my chronic otitis patients,

this child seldom ran fevers during the time she

received conventional treatment, and began to do so

only as her general condition improved. Useful both

for reassuring the family and for making a simple

prognosis, this humble fact carries a profound

implication for the natural history of the disease and

its recent evolution.

L.P. , a girl of ten months, had already

had four acute ear infections and received

antibiotics for each one. The first began at

two months, when her mother weaned her to

go back to work, and the child developed a

rash and unusually cranky behavior on a

milk-based formula. These symptoms were

also intensified for the week after her first

DPT shot. After a few more weeks, the ear

infections began suddenly, with a high fever

and violent earache, like all the others that

followed. With the help of Calcarea

carb.,1M initially and Chamomilla 30x as

needed acutely, she did quite well, with fewer

colds and no acute episodes, but mild

symptoms persisted and were aggravated by

teething, when the remedies had to be

repeated. She relapsed the following spring,

six months later, with three acute ear

infections and three rounds of antibiotics in

the three months since her father had insisted

on her long-overdue MMR shot.

At this point I gave Lycopodium 10M, then

Sulphur 10M a month later, and almost a third

remedy after that, until I heard that the parents had

separated and were vying angrily over the child.

From then on, she did very well on infrequent doses

of Sulphur, despite a violent gastroenteritis

following a DT and oral polio booster, and a

tendency to relapse whenever she stayed with her

father, who let her eat her fill of dairy products and

took her to the doctor for her full quota of vaccines

and antibiotics. I have continued to see this child at

long intervals for more than nine years, and

although she outgrew her ear infections long ago,

her basic health issues have not changed very much.

Since the acute, vigorous responses of her infancy,

her basically strong constitution and immune

system have enabled her to bounce back more

quickly when she does fall ill. While very fond of

milk and cheese and somewhat allergic to them as

well, she continues to grow and develop normally

in the face of her conflicted heritage that she can.

In short, this is a child of strong vitality,

representing the opposite side of the same issues

already discussed: 1) an innate ability to respond

acutely and vigorously, and rebound quickly from

illness; 2) a tendency to relapse following

vaccination, and to having a milk allergy, which is

often associated with it; and 3) the classic signs and

symptoms of acute otitis media that were the rule in

the pre-vaccine era.

2. With these representative cases in mind, I will

try to summarize my experience with middle-ear

infection in children, emphasizing the main issues

of diagnosis, treatment, prognosis, and long-term

case management. As it is with my allopathic

colleagues, otitis media is among the commonest

presenting complaints of children in my practice. In

an average week I may triage several acute episodes

over the phone, and see at least one new and two or

three established patients with chronic or recurrent

otitis that has been diagnosed and treated on a long-

term basis or repeatedly with antibiotics or

tympanostomy or both.

What most of these patients have in common is

the absence or relative paucity of strong symptoms

like high fever or violent earache that would

indicate an acute, vigorous response to their illness.

With a few notable exceptions, like the last case I

presented, their symptoms even during acute

flareups are typically vague or nondescript in

character: fussy or cranky behavior, whining or

picking at the ear, congestive hearing loss, poor

appetite, and the like. In quite a few cases, there are

no symptoms whatsoever, and the child behaves

and functions normally, but at the well-baby visit

the pediatrician detects fluid in the ear, signs it off

as an “ear infection,” and begins or continues the

cycle of antibiotics that often proves so difficult to

break.

Similarly, although the symptoms often recede

during treatment, relapse is common, and even

when the child appears clinically well, the presence

of fluid is regularly interpreted as continuing

infection and cited as a mandate for further

treatment. In this way, a child who may never have

been that sick never gets entirely well, and

continues to relapse until the doctor recommends

antibiotics for months at a time and later

myringotomy and surgical insertion of tubes for

drainage if the condition persists, as indeed it often

does. In short, the most striking and disturbing

feature of these cases is precisely their chronicity,

their tendency to develop smoldering, long-term

responses to the illness and to relapse more and

more easily, resulting in a failure to heal or resolve

them in a clear cut or timely fashion.

Breaking this cycle usually proves quite simple

if parents are willing to suspend the conventional

wisdom that reduces the art of diagnosis to the

detection of abnormalities and the goal of treatment

to the killing of the resident bacteria. At least as

much as finding the correct remedy, a critical

requirement for success in treating these kids is to

re-educate the parents and develop an alternative

model that works and makes sense to everyone.

First, it is necessary to redefine the illness and

how best to detect it, beginning with basic anatomy

and the clinical and pathological features of a URI

with ear involvement – congestion, earache, etc. –

in contrast with classic acute otitis media. In my

own practice I look for the signs and symptoms that

parents themselves are aware of, i.e., how each child

feels and functions in his or her own special world,

which is exactly what homœopaths call the “totality

of symptoms.” If they are able to trust me this far,

I’ll propose that we not look in the ear unless the

illness is acute and intense, or hasn’t resolved after

giving remedies, or either of us just feels that we

must. Since any URI can produce detectable fluid

or congestion behind the drum, and the homœopath

does not need or even want to treat illness all the

way to the end, the totality of symptoms is what best

defines the illness, and the otoscope is useful

primarily to confirm or qualify what the alert

observer already knows.

With significant ear involvement, it is helpful

to remind parents that antibiotic treatment is no

more effective than placebo,8, 9, 10 and that it

produces relapses much more often than giving

symptomatic treatment or doing nothing and

allowing the children to recover on their own.11 At

this point it makes sense to offer homœopathic

remedies, both as needed for relief of the acute

episodes and preventively to minimize their number

and severity over the long term.

Finally, it is imperative to take a careful

vaccine history and to look for familial influences

or other factors that may aggravate a pre-existing

chronic state, such as traumatic birth, food allergy,

emotional upset, and the like. Often the first

episode can be traced to the few weeks following a

DPT, MMR, or other vaccine, even though no

obvious acute reaction was noted at the time.12

Similarly, an old pattern of chronic or recurrent

otitis is frequently reactivated by a booster after a

long period of remission.13 Such apparently

speculative connections have also been verified by

the successful use of homœopathic “nosodes”

prepared from the vaccines themselves in resolving

difficult cases.14 Drawing on these experiences, I

have learned to ask parents routinely not to

vaccinate their children until they are cured, and to

refer them to my writings on the subject for further

study. Although I have also seen chronic otitis in

unvaccinated kids, the crucial importance of

vaccines lies in the fact that they are injections of

foreign proteins that are mandatory or highly

recommended for all children and regarded as so

uniformly safe and beneficial that the possibility of

chronic, long-term problems from them is seldom

investigated or taken seriously.15

In conjunction with this educational work, I

then proceed with homœopathic remedies. Both the

procedure I follow and the remedies I use are much

the same as would be found in any homœopathic

practice involving children, and I see no need to

elaborate on them here. If the child is not acutely ill

at the time of the first visit, I begin with one dose

per week of the indicated constitutional remedy, for

up to three weeks if necessary. I also suggest one

or more remedies to have on hand for acute flare-

ups, and make myself available to coach the parents

through them, and of course to see the child and

perhaps change the remedy when indicated. Often

these acute remedies will be complementary to the

original one.

With or without remedies, once parents and

child traverse this critical phase of the illness

without the need of antibiotics, the rest of the

treatment usually proceeds quite smoothly. But if

the child has never responded so acutely or

intensely before, it is important to prepare the

parents for this possibility as the basic condition

improves. Similarly, relapses many months or even

years later are much easier to treat, and by no means

cause for discouragement, since after a long period

of good health the precipitating factors are usually

much more obvious, and remedies that worked well

before will most likely do so again, with the

children often asking for it themselves. Indeed, this

progressive clarification and reordering of cases

over time is a major and predictable benefit of a

successful treatment, and the awe and wonder it

inspires in doctor and patient alike rank with our

finest rewards.

3. Ear infections in children, then, are less

mysterious and problematic in their treatment,

which is not especially difficult and involves many

of the same remedies as for other chronic ailments,

than in the fact of their chronicity, as I’ve indicated.

As a medical student in the early 1960’s, I knew

otitis media well, but mainly as an acute disease,

often presenting in the ER with high fever and

screams of pain, and subsiding dramatically once

the eardrum burst and discharged its foul contents.

While certainly not a pleasant experience for doctor

or patient, it didn’t last long, indeed had often taken

care of itself before we had a chance to do anything

about it, and was unlikely to come back for a long

time to come. In every way it closely resembles the

kind of flare-up which, when I see it in a patient

today, I have learned to recognize as a favorable

sign.

After 1982, when I moved to Boston, stopped

attending births, and limited my practice to

Homœopathy, I began to see large numbers of the

chronic patients whose very different cases I

described earlier. Why the sporadic acute infections

I knew in medical school had mushroomed into a

chronic disease of colossal proportions was also

precisely the question with which I began this

article. Both my clinical experience and the

research I have conducted to try to make sense of it

have strongly corroborated my “gut” feeling that the

modern epidemic of chronic ear disease must be

attributed in large part to two public health blunders

that exemplify the same basic philosophy:

1) The war on the nasopharyngeal

bacteria, fought with antibiotics,

tympanostomy tubes, and the systematic

cultivation of fear; and

2) The vaccination of entire

populations against a growing list of

diseases, with no end in sight, and no

strategy or even an inclination to

consider the long-term consequences.

Based on Koch’s postulates and their immense

predictive power, the war on bacteria is nevertheless

clearly not winnable, even in thought. As the most

basic life form on the planet, bacteria reproduce

themselves in about six hours, and rapidly become

resistant to even the most lethal antibiotics through

natural selection. In clinical medicine, some

notable recent examples include hospital-borne

epidemics of resistant Staphylococci and E-coli,

and the emergence of infections with L-forms,

Mycoplasma, and PPLO organisms, all of which

lack cell walls, a neat adaptation to penicillin-rich

environments. In a recent Newsweek cover story,

the spread of resistant strains made U.S. hospitals

look like centers of germ warfare from which many

types of virulent organisms are disseminated into a

general population more or less helpless to stop

them.16

In the case of childhood ear infections, resistant

strains have similarly been implicated in the weak

primary immune responses and high relapse rates

commonly associated with antibiotic treatment.17

Other frequent complications include super-

infection with yeast and other common fungi, as

well as the food and environmental allergies that

often accompany them.

Numerous studies have shown that the

supposedly causative organisms isolated from

children with chronic ear infections are simply the

common pathogens of the tonsils and naso-pharynx,

such as Streptococcus pneumoniae (the

“pneumococcus”), the Group A β-hemolytic

Streptococcus, Hemophilus influenzae type B, and

Staphylococcus aureus, all of which are also

regularly found in healthy throats.18 Moreover, in

25% of children with acute otitis, and in 80% of

those with the most prevalent chronic serous

variety, the middle-ear discharges and cultures are

sterile and contain no organisms whatsoever.19, 20

Once the resident bacteria are destroyed, the end

result could easily have been foreseen by plain

common sense: chronic serous otitis, or “glue ear,”

an important cause of chronic and in some cases

permanent deafness. Thus even more destructive

than these antibacterial weapons themselves is the

fanatical strategy of attacking and killing

everything in sight that makes such imagery seem

useful and necessary.

Another application of the same idea has been

the invention of the pneumatic otoscope, its tight

seal permitting the detection of even minute

amounts of fluid and thus facilitating both early

diagnosis and more minute surveillance. Yet

diagnosing more infection has only unleashed more

of the same firepower and hence more of the same

counterproductive results just described. Indeed,

with tympanostomy the war against chronic otitis

media has reached its final dead end, since it looks

like an obvious mechanical solution to the problem,

yet has itself been found to be a major cause of

otosclerosis and permanent hearing loss, i.e.,

precisely the same threat used to browbeat reluctant

parents into accepting it in the first place.21 Still

more ironic is the fact that it simply makes

permanent and structural the natural perforation and

drainage that acutely infected ears heal so well by

themselves with so few complications.

In any case, it makes little sense to search out

and destroy the “friendly” bacteria that already live

with us peacefully and effectively police our bodies

most of the time, or to imagine that making war on

them could ever produce anything but more

devastation, more war, and in the end more resistant

and unfriendly bacteria.

Although I have previously written about

vaccinations in some detail, relatively little of my

experience with vaccine-related illness is of the

kind that Harris Coulter and Barbara Fisher write

about in A Shot in the Dark22, or what might be

termed the specific effects of particular vaccines.

While these reactions are apt to be the most severe,

most of the complications I have seen in my practice

consist of subtler reactions that I would describe as

non-specific in character. By that I mean that they

resemble exacerbations of the pre-existing chronic

state, looking more or less the same in a given

individual, regardless of which vaccine is given,

and are benefited by the same group of remedies

that are used to treat chronic illness in the general

population, vaccinated or not. Although such

reactions are more difficult to recognize and verify,

they are also much more common, and in the

aggregate much more important as well.

Thus two of the four cases presented suffered

severe and prolonged relapses of their chronic state

after a vaccination, one patient suffered almost

identical relapses after two different vaccines, and

all four first developed their chief complaint during

their initial three-dose vaccine series. In no case

were their responses acute or obvious enough to be

identified as a repeatable symptom of the vaccine.

Indeed, all that was repeatable in all cases and with

all the vaccines was simply the chronicity of the

responses, the fact that they occurred more

frequently, persisted for longer periods of time, and

were less likely to resolve spontaneously.

It is just this congruence between the

vaccine-related responses and the original illness

that suggests how vaccines act nonspecifically on

the immune system as a whole, and thereby

implicates vaccination in the basic riddle of

chronicity itself. As new biotechnology

companies produce new genetically-engineered

vaccines as fast as possible, the unrestricted war

against identifiable acute diseases has already

added to the pre-existing chronic disease burden a

considerable array of DNA and RNA fragments

looking for chromosomes to recombine with and

certain to engender new diseases of which as yet

we know nothing. In short, I am afraid that

doctors, like politicians, are here to stay.

Biographic Information

Dr. Moskowitz has been practicing family

medicine since 1967, and classical Homœopathy

since 1974. A student of Vithoulkas and Sankaran,

he has served on the NCH and AIH Boards, and has

taught homœopathic philosophy since 1980. He has

written two books, Homœopathic Medicines for

Pregnancy and Childbirth, and Resonance: the

Homœopathic Point of View, and many articles,

including “Homœopathic Reasoning,” “The Case

Against Immunizations,” “Some Thoughts on the

Malpractice Crisis,” “Vaccination: a Sacrament of

Modern Medicine,” “Why I Became a

Homœopath,” “The Fundamentalist Controversy,”

and “Hidden in Plain Sight: the Role of Vaccines in

Chronic Disease.” He lives and practices in the

Boston area.

NOTES.

1. Koch, H., Office Visits to Pediatricians,

National Center for Health Statistics, Washington,

1974.

2. Bluestone, C., “Otitis Media in Children,”

New England Journal of Medicine 306: 1399, June

10, 1982.

3. Cantekin, E., et al., “Antimicrobial Therapy

for Otitis Media with Effusion,” Journal of the

AMA 266: 3309, December 18, 1991.

4. Frenkel, M., “Acute Otitis Media: Does

Therapy Alter Its Course?” Postgraduate Medicine

82-83, October 1987.

5. Family Practice News, December 15, 1990, p.

6. Van Buchem, F., et al., “Therapy of Acute

Otitis Media,” Lancet 2:883, 1981.

7. Moskowitz, R., “The Case Against

Immunizations,” Journal of the American Institute

of Homeopathy 76:7, March 1983.

8. Cantekin, op. cit.

9. Van Buchen, op. cit.

10. Townsend, E., “Otitis Media in Pediatric

Practice,”New York State Journal of Medicine

64:1591, June 1964.

11. Cantekin, op. cit.

12. Moskowitz, R., “Vaccination: A Sacrament of

Modern Medicine,” Journal of the American

Institute of Homeopathy 84:96, Dec. 1991.

13. Ibid.

14. Ibid.

15. Ibid.

16. “The End of Antibiotics,” Newsweek, March

28, 1994, p. 47.

17. Cantekin, op. cit.

18. Bluestone, op. cit.

19. Ibid.

20. Cantekin, op. cit.

21. Family Practice News, op.cit.

22. Coulter and Fisher, DPT: A Shot in the Dark,

Avery, New York, 1991.

====================================

5. Atopic Dermatitis in a Young Boy

TESSLER, Neil (SIM. XXI, 2008)

Eczema is a common condition that we are

called upon to consider very often in clinical

practice. Several recent experiences have proven

yet again that Homœopathy is all about the patient

and not so much about the story they bring of a

condition or disease. Over the years I’ve used

remedies such as Petroleum with reasonable

palliative effects. When a condition is basically

superficial, due to diet or other factors, superficial

means suffice. However, when the condition has

deep roots, no amount of palliative Homœopathy or

naturopathic diet or remedies will help. True and

dramatic amelioration of chronic illness requires

recognition that true disease is deeply rooted and

requires constitutional care.

In one recent case, a young Indo-Canadian man

came with eczema of the face and body that is

unremitting. It gets a little better and somewhat

worse, but has not materially improved since his

childhood. I had seen this fellow on and off since

his early teens but he had only had very mild relief

from his symptoms. He came two months ago after

having been away from my practice for several

years. This young man seems to me to have a mild

retardation that I would place in the autism

spectrum, though he has gone undiagnosed. He

makes mistakes in his speech, it is hard for him to

find words and his speech is indistinct. A number

of times a day suddenly his eyes roll up and he

freezes for a slight moment in time.

He periodically is overtaken with a fear of his

brothers with the belief that they are going to beat

him up. This fear can be so striking that he will run

from the house. Yet, on inquiry we learn that there

is no basis for this fear. He is not being beaten or

threatened by his brothers, who are, by the way,

younger. With this wonderfully irrational symptom

in mind, and the following repertorization, he was

prescribed Kali bromatum 1M, which led to a rapid

and dramatic amelioration of his eczema, that has

been stable since his visit several months ago.

MIND: DULLNESS, sluggishness, difficulty of

thinking and comprehending (K37, SRI-416, G29)

Harm in the same sentence as family: androc., arg-

n., bry., coc-c., Crot-c., crot-h., kali-br., plat.,

sabad., xan.

AUTISM: aeth., agra., anh., aspart., bani-c., cact.,

carc., dpt, Heli., hell., kali-br., lyc., oryz-s., pavo-

c., plac., sin-a., staph., stram., thuj., tub.

SKIN: ERUPTIONS; eczema (K1312, G1082)

SLEEP: RESTLESS (K 1247, SRIII-68, G1029)

SLEEP: PROLONGED; general (K1247, SRIII-

67, G1029)

MIND: MISTAKES, makes; talking (K66, SRI-

746, G53)

PETITE MAL: absin., acetaz., aml-n., Art-v.,

aspart., bar-p., bell., bufo., calc., calc-sil., caust.,

lach., mag-sil., mang-sil., merc., nat-m., nat-s., nat-

sil., nit-ac., nitro-o., nux-m., oena., op., ozone.,

phos., prot., puls., sil., sil-met., stram., verbe-h.,

visc., zinc., zinc-cy.

On the other hand, I had another case of severe

eczema in an Indo-Canadian boy that two years of

treatment failed to significantly improve. He

followed a strict Indian style vegetarian diet since

birth. Physically he was small for his age. He is

also clearly very intelligent yet under-performing in

school. When I put him on a single liquid nutritional

product containing essential fatty acids, whey

protein isolate and other nutrients, his eczema

literally disappeared within a week. After four

weeks, his family reported marked improvement in

his school performance and stamina. That product

has now been incorporated into both children’s diet

and has been used regularly for several years. His

eczema has not returned, both children suffer far less

from colds, and their growth and school

performance improvements have been considerable.

In this case, the inadequacies of their diet were a

primary factor in his health issues.

The following case has had over two years of

follow-up:

When John was originally seen, on June 15,

2006 he was ten months old and presented with very

striking eczema as well as mild asthma. The eczema

was marked on his face, with an excoriated

appearance, as can be seen in the photos. This same

intensity was, in fact, all over his limbs and to a

somewhat lesser extent on his trunk. The sores can

weep and sometimes the rash becomes infected. His

lower limbs were severe.

Mother had an excellent birth and pregnancy

and the dermatitis began to appear within two

months on his cheeks. Father had a history of slight

asthma and recurrent bronchitis as a child. He also

had many food allergies. Even now, dairy gave him

bloating and gas. Father’s mother had eczema. John

had been given Sulphur and Graphites elsewhere

with no success. Sulphur, as many readers will

know, typically aggravates such cases without

generally acting curatively. He did have severe

itching at night in bed, which may be considered a

more or less common symptom with this condition.

Mom comments that he fights going to bed,

whether in the evening or at nap time. He also had

respiratory issues this winter, including wheezing

with colds and he’s had two bouts of bronchitis.

He’s very particular about things, very detailed,

structured orderly. He is also very careful in play.

He’s irritable on waking. He loves cheerios and eats

thee bowls day. He drools in his sleep. John is

extremely reactive to dairy foods and fish. The

nutritional drink that worked so well for the other

boy completely aggravated John’s skin.

To my observation his disposition alternated

between sweet and somewhat cranky with

discomfort.

With little to go on, I prescribed Rhus tox 12

daily for three days. Mom reported that his skin was

“much less inflamed” with his abdominal rash

clearing to some extent. However, the face was still

bad. Further trials with Rhus tox led nowhere.

The next year was spent managing various

upper respiratory problems, coughs and mild

asthma, while seeing no change in eczema with

about ten different remedies.

On June 22/07, both parents came in to discuss

John’s health. At this time, I decided, due to his age

and the fact that he was still only modestly verbal,

to take the opportunity to have a discussion with

each of the parents – both sitting with me in the

room.

Mother’s main concern was her frustration in

managing his health. She herself suffered fairly

frequent yeast and bladder infections. John had

been breastfed for a year. She felt that nothing she

was doing was good enough. She felt judged by

others in the family. She felt lost and stuck, afraid

to try something new and busy just trying to keep

him comfortable. Just giving him a bath was so

difficult, because he screams. She feels alone in

this.

She also mentions on this occasion that if John

doesn’t get what he wants he’ll throw a very severe

tantrum. He can be stubborn and has a nasty, fiery

temper.

He is very picky with his food, preferring

bananas, cookies and chips.

The first point about John’s father is his

extreme love of sugar. When this comes up and his

wife laughs, his face takes on an Alfred E. Neuman

like mask, though with a guilty edge. It’s an

expression that I’ve seen before in severe sugar

addiction. He also has a bad temper.

I felt that this was potentially critical to the case.

We already knew that John’s physical mirrored that

of his father. Dad’s father was also very highly

tempered, both physically and emotionally abusive.

I glanced at the Materia Medica and prescribed

Sacchrum album 200, one dose, without hesitation,

based particularly on dad's intense craving for sugar,

as well as John’s capricious appetite and the high

temper in the male line. Brilliant Homœopathy? By

no means! Nevertheless, the result was spectacular.

Over the next several months, the eczema, which

had essentially covered his face and body since two

months of age, dwindled down to about five percent

of its original form. For the very first time I was

able to see his face free of the rash. Mother reported

that his behavior was good. He still retained some

eczema in the areas typically affected – the bends of

the knees and the inguinal folds. However, even this

is far less inflamed then in the past. He has

continued to suffer periodic bouts of coughing, a

mild allergic asthma, and has had the remedy twice

(1M potency), over the last year and very recently a

10M. He has not had any substantial reoccurrence

of the eczema in that time.

The real lesson was the importance of the

parent’s health in properly apprehending a young

child’s case. Repertory? Forget about it. It would

be impossible to have found this remedy with any

degree of certainty, through repertorial analysis.

The pictures speak a thousand words.

Sacchrum album is chemically a carbon

remedy. White sugar increases susceptibility to

infections, both bacterial and fungal, calcium

demineralization and blood sugar disorders. It is

also associated with poor behavior, hyperactivity,

aggression, moodiness, etc. it can create surges of

energy and thus appear to be a stimulant, yet it is

also known for the crash that follows. The basic

story of white sugar is that it metabolizes rapidly,

causing a quick rise in blood sugar followed by an

equally speedy fall, as the body reacts to remove the

sugar from the blood stream as quickly as possible.

The normal rhythm of blood sugar, which is

normally characterized by a gentle upswing and a

gentle downswing, within well-defined parameters,

is broken. This can profoundly influence mood,

appetite and energy.

In 1867, a fairly large number of symptoms

were presented by Lippe, based on Boenninghausen,

Bute and several clinical cures, as well as the

observations of Swan regarding the peculiar

reaction to sugar of an acquaintance.

An invaluable presentation by Tinus Smits MD,

including an eczema case in a three-year old boy, is

found in the IFH transaction from 1994. This

presentation is also the first to recognize certain

common psychological patterns, specifically a

profound need for affection and fondling based on a

feeling of not getting enough, a feeling

forsakenness.

“A lot of childhood feelings coming back,

feelings of isolation, of a rejection, of mistrust, of

being forsaken.” “Ailments from lack of affection;

lack of physical contact in early childhood –

especially babies who didn’t get breast-feeding –

combined with a lack of contact with the mother;

lack of attention; lack of love; behavior rewarded by

sweets. There is a desperate search for love and

affection because of a fundamental frustration in

affection in the past, mostly in early childhood.

Great need to cuddle, to be caressed and touched, or

difficulty in admitting this need and refusing every

contact.” – Smits.

Mangialiavori cites ailments from death of the

parents and disappointed love, the delusion that he

is despised, feeling unfortunate. This could, by

extension, be a remedy for orphans or children

apprehended from difficult circumstances.

Of course, the feeling separation, of

forsakenness is a very fundamental and generally

unconscious aspect of the psychic structure of all

human beings. It is the driving force of virtually

every social form that exists. So the rubric,

“forsaken”, is by no means a small one. Morrison

points but that it is a common sentiment to the

organic compounds. Psorinum is another remedy

struggling to get the love they want and feeling an

anguished separation. Lac Maternum, Lac

Humanum, Magnesia carbonica are all remedies

where a lack of early maternal love stands at the

centre of their inner motives. Of course,

Hyoscyamus is one of our most important remedies

for a jealous sibling.

When the child doesn’t get the affection,

attention, touch that they demand, they become

cross, whining, insolent, which, in itself, can appear

like Cina.

Sunil Anand speaks of hoarding based on a

feeling that there is never enough. Feeling it could

all be taken away, so enjoy it while you can. Not

feeling loved. Adopted children where there has

been want and then plenty (alternation in the

environment).

Mangialiavori and Sunil Anand of the Mumbai

group associated with Rajan, have also added notes

confirming and expanding on the remedy. Sunil

Anand emphasizes the contradictory and alternating

states, metaphorically mirroring the swings that

white sugar initiates physiologically. They may be

curious and active at school, while a terror at home.

Good behavior and bad behavior alternating;

hyperactivity alternating with low energy. They

avoid substantial, nourishing food, preferring to

snack. They can be compulsive with food, a need to

eat frequently; while on the other hand there may be

anorexia.

On the physical side, there may be wounds that

don’t heal well (Crotalus hor.) White coating on the

tongue. Ear infection with discharge of pus. Ulcers

in the throat. Impaired digestion with acidity.

Congested and painful hemorrhoids. Itching of the

anus.

Emaciation of chest, hands, thighs, generally.

Certainly, there are other symptoms in the

schemata, however, this gives a few of the salient

points.

In our over-sugared age, this is surely a remedy

that must be remembered and is likely to have been

under prescribed.

====================================

6. The Science of Homœopathy: Part I

WHITMONT, D. Ronald

(AJHM. 102, 4/2009)

A: Introduction

The Conventional Crisis

Conventional allopathic medicine is in a state of

crisis. The cost of doing “business as usual” has

become prohibitively expensive for both health care

provider and health care consumer. Our nation

spends over two trillion dollars annually on health

care, more per capita than any other nation on earth,

yet the net result is dissatisfaction from both

physician and patient.(1) The U.S. has one of the

most technologically advanced systems of health

care in the world, yet more money is currently spent

“out of pocket” for complementary and alternative

medicine (CAM) than for conventional medicine.(2)

This schism in health care reflects a huge amount of

discontent between conventional medical

physicians and their patients. It suggests that the

conventional medical system is mired in its own

problems and may be failing to address the needs of

its practitioners or its patients.(3)

At least twenty-five percent of patients feel that

their doctors aren’t looking out for their best

interests. They express concerns that their

physicians expose them to “unnecessary” risks, act

like they “know everything,” fail in communication

with them, are increasingly isolated, have differing

treatment goals – physicians are interested in

making diagnoses, while patients are interested in

being tended to, listened to, cared for, and being

well. (4)

Physicians are also at odds. The president of

the Medical Society of the State of New York

(MSSNY) recently remarked: “As we struggle to

adjust to an increasingly hostile practice

environment, it is the medical profession itself that

is in need of a doctor.” (5)

Physicians cite many frustrations in their

business including gargantuan medical liability

costs (6), struggles with managed care

administrations, declining revenues and increasing

overhead. (7) State medical societies and

government agencies are concerned that physician

attrition will outpace medical need even as federal

and local governments struggle to predict that nearly

half of the nation’s primary care physicians plan to

stop practicing or reduce patient load in the next

three years. (8) Among primary care physicians, a

14% nationwide shortfall is expected by 2030.(9)

Some experts even argue that primary care

physicians are an unnecessary commodity since the

sum of allopathic medical expertise can be reduced

to a series of practice protocols that can easily be

delivered by trained para-professionals(10).

The elimination of primary care physicians

might actually lead to an improvement in U.S.

health care since the system is currently an

inefficient albatross of expensive and damaging

practices driven by a defensive litigious culture.

The current system promotes ill health through

unhealthy prescription practices and over-

aggressive diagnostic testing. This approach is

directly responsible for the increase in chronic

illness as the overall health of our nation

deteriorates. Nearly fifty percent of the U.S.

population currently suffers from some form of

chronic degenerative illness(11). The allopathic

system of medicine is built upon an entirely

fallacious premise about the nature of health, that

not only makes it impossible to be healthy, but it

actually escalates health problems by prescribing

unhealthy tests and unhealthy treatments. The

system has finally imploded on itself through a

regimen of waste and harmful practices. The public

recognizes this and is beginning to turn its back on

the failing system. The answer to our health care

crisis is not just a matter of getting more people

insured while ensuring that more physicians are

happier and burdened less by debt. The healthcare

system itself is sick and needs healing.

The conventional medical system is not only

financially bankrupt, but it is ideologically

impoverished as well. It was built upon erroneous

and archaic concepts formulated centuries ago, but

never revised. This system continues along a failing

course despite mounting evidence demanding

revision of its principles and philosophy. The

current system recognizes that the body as nothing

more than a physical-chemical machine. All

problems are reduced to physical causes and only

physical treatments are promulgated. The entire

range of emotional, spiritual, psychic and energetic

experiences explored by scientific investigation are

either dismissed as “epiphenomenon” of physical

chemistry and physiology or they are ignored and

repudiated. In this way, science and medicine have

stubbornly continued to deny the existence of

energetic causes and solutions to health issues. This

is an example of closed-minded rational thinking

more akin to dogma, not science.

Conventional medicine’s failure to recognize

energetic phenomena outside physical explanation

necessitates an overemphasis on a diagnostic

framework based solely on pathology. The use of

this focus justifies health care as a struggle, or a

physical war (“us against them” – against cancer,

against bacteria, against Alzheimer’s, etc). This

framework objectifies illness, thereby treating it as

“something else,” something outside of our bodies

invading us. This objectification justifies the schism

between a “good and bad” and “us and them”

approach.

By painting the body white and the disease

black, conventional medicine has utterly divorced

the two. The failure to see the body as an integral

part of illness and a predisposing receptive field

limits the ability of medicine to treat illness and to

maintain health.

Conventional medicine has been resistant to

embracing any concept of an integrated ecology of

the body/mind and the environment. The entire

system of conventional therapeutics is built upon

Cartesian principles of the separate and distinct

functioning of different parts of the body and the

environment. This system fails to recognize

wholeness of “holism” since its methodology relies

upon the reduction of the body into its unit parts for

study. The body/mind is treated as if it were made

up of separate and noncontiguous parts. The

isolation and treatment of one part with minimal

regard for all the others is glorified as a scientific

achievement, rather than understood as the folly it

represented. Allopathic medicine chooses to ignore

the interconnectedness of the body and the

environment, mainly because doing so would

concede an error in the course of medicine for the

last 200 years.

The current medical system does not promote

health; it fuels an ever-worsening spiral of more

chronic illness and a more damaged and unhealthy

environment. The history of medicine has been

entirely clear and consisted on this point. Modern

allopathic medical practices may offer targeted

goals and objectives, but long-term results

consistently fail to deliver these promises. What is

generated are huge profits for large organizations,

insurance companies, attorneys and pharmaceutical

corporations. Allopathic medicine has become a

vehicle for a health care industry. Advances have

refined the practice, by making it appear more

elegant and sophisticated, but these changes are

superficial, masking the cataclysmic failure to

actually deliver better health. Conventional medical

care is palliative; like antidepressants, they make us

feel better, even though nothing has changed except

our perception. Health measures in our society

continue to demonstrate a consistent decline despite

the most costly medical therapeutics on the planet.

The current system of medicine pays no more

than “lip service” to illness prevention. It utterly

fails to take responsibility for its own iatrogenic

role. Rather than looking objectively at the long-

term effects, this system of therapeutics blatantly

ignores evidence suggesting its own culpability and

causation. (12)

Allopathic medicine has exceeded its own

bounds. It has become a behemoth without internal

balances or constraints, without culpability and

without responsibility for the damage it generates.

Physicians are pawns in this system, themselves the

object of indoctrination, which begins early in

medical school.(13) Physicians have unwittingly

played a role in the process of their own

obsolescence. They are now replaceable cogs in a

physical system.

The current crisis of medicine is really about a

return to health care and the repudiation of an

industry that is bent on its own self-promulgation.

This job necessitates that we return to what is

scientifically known in medicine, not what has been

filter and controlled by an industry bent upon profit

and control. The new paradigm of medical thinking

must actually incorporate the breadth of knowledge

that already waits for integration. The new system

will be truly health promoting, self-sustaining, and

environmentally and ecologically viable if it follows

truly scientific investigation wherever it leads. The

new system of medicine will address more than just

the physical aspects of illness, but also the deeply

psychological, emotional and spiritual causes and

effects. It will empower individuals in the

promotion of health rather than just react, too late,

to the final stages of illness.

A New Paradigm

Homœopathy is an individualized,

psychosomatic system of medicine based on more

than two centuries of clinical observation and

carefully conducted trials. It relies on an extensive

data-base of clinical treatment, evidence built on

successfully treated patients, clinical and

toxicological research. It diverges from

conventional allopathic medicine in several key

areas:

Homœopathy postulates a psychosomatic body

mind connection not described by the allopathic

medical model.

Homœopathic treatment provokes an innate

healing response in the body that is disputed by

conventional medical theories.

Homœopathy adjusts its approach and

individualizes treatments to individual patients.

Homœopathy utilizes natural medicines, many of

which have been in continual use for over two

hundred years.

Homœopathy recognizes that even non-material

factors and non-material dilutions of medicines

provoke profound healing effects in the body.

Homœopathy is based upon direct clinical

research that incorporates both objective and

subjective viewpoints.

Evidence of clinical effectiveness in

Homœopathy arises, not from the laboratory, but

from an unusual source: the patient. Fundamentals

of homœopathic proof arose directly out of a series

of clinical experiments and trials that were verified

by cured cases. Samuel Christian Hahnemann, MD,

the founder of Homœopathy, was one of the first

physicians in modern times to demand verified

results in clinical cases before allowing any of this

therapeutic system to be taught or disseminated.

Homœopathy was one of the first medical

disciplines to utilize analytical statistics in the

evaluation of therapeutic efficacy.(14)

A study conducted by the Swiss government

over seven years demonstrates many benefits of

homœopathic medical care. Their study showed

that measures of quality of life and satisfaction with

care were both significantly higher when

homœopathic versus allopathic treatments were

utilized. At the same time, health related costs were

lower by a factor of 50% with the use of

Homœopathy.(15)

The United Kingdom performed a six-year

study of 6,544 patients receiving homœopathic

treatment in the National Health Service (NHS) and

arrived at similar results. Outcome data showed that

homœopathic intervention was beneficial in a

substantial proportion of patients with a wide range

of chronic diseases. The authors concluded that:

“Additional observational research, including

studies using different designs, is necessary for

further research development in Homœopathy.”(16)

A study at the Royal London Homœopathic

Hospital found that the clinical improvement rate of

patients treated homœopathically was 81% with a

satisfaction rate of 90%.(17)

Homœopathic evidence is gathered through

direct clinical observation, reflection and retesting

of therapeutic hypotheses until all doubt is removed.

It is these same principles that continue to guide

homœopathic practitioners today. It is precisely this

issue which is at the heart of the dispute between

conventional allopathic medicine and Homœopathy.

B: Evidence-Based Medicine

“Legitimate standards of medical practice are

rooted in competent and reliable scientific evidence

and experience. However, these standards are

subject to continual change and improvement as

advances are made in scientific investigation

and analysis.”(18)

Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) refers to a

process of “integrating individual clinical

experience with the best available external clinical

evidence from systematic research.” (19)

Homœopathy has been criticized for what appears to

be a lack of scientific evidence base. (20) The

problem is actually much greater since conventional

allopathic therapies also seem to be lacking in this

base. A group of information specialists and

statisticians at the British journal BMJ Clinical

Evidence, (21) who reviewed over 2,500

conventional allopathic treatments in 24 categories

of illness, found that:

Only 13% of conventional treatments were

“beneficial” when the clinical evidence supporting

their use was investigated,

23% were “likely to be beneficial”, but evidence

was inconclusive,

8% were “a trade off between benefits and harm,”

6% were clearly “unlikely to be beneficial,”

4% were “likely to be ineffective or harmful,” and

46% were rated as being of “unknown

effectiveness.” The clinical data supporting their

use was simply nonexistent.

The BMJ authors concluded that most

conventional medical treatments (87%) do not rest

on principles of EBM, but on the “individual

preferences of clinicians,” unsupported by science.

This finding shows that the label of “scientific

medicine” is improperly applied when it is used in

conjunction with conventional allopathic practices.

Only a small percentage of these treatments (13%)

in the allopathic armamentarium are backed by

scientific evidence demonstrating beneficial results.

In 2001 researchers looking at data previously

cited in favor of many conventional medical

practices uncovered additional problems. Re-

analyzing 160 conventional studies initially

performed by the prestigious Cochrane Institute the

authors concluded that the scientific evidence

initially interpreted in support of many practices was

far less robust than the initial reviewers had claimed.

The authors determined that the Cochrane

interpretations tended to be “highly subjective” in

their analyses. (22) In other words, many of the

studies that were originally cited as scientific

justification for particular conventional practices did

not actually support, or only weakly supported, the

treatments in question, but the original reviewers

had adopted unjustifiably favorable positions on a

large number of these studies. They found that in

these instances the conclusions drawn from the

Cochrane reviews were fundamentally flawed,

prejudicial and not scientifically grounded. This

data shows that the claims to an evidentiary and

scientific basis for allopathic medicine may be

grossly exaggerated.

Numerous reports in the literature have shown

that scientific data interpretation is frequently

flawed. Some research results have been fabricated

(23) and falsified by researchers. (24) In other

instances unfavorable information was simply

withheld from publication. (25) Pharmaceutical

companies routinely “bury” negative results, (26)

disguise negative studies inside more positive ones,

and continually “blur the lines between science and

marketing.” (27) Studies performed by researchers

financially linked to pharmaceutical companies

have been shown to have consistently more positive

results that those published by independently funded

researchers. (28) Conflict of interest, even in the

hallowed halls of science, corrupts objective studies

and contaminates the results.

An expert at the Johns Hopkins School of

Public Health recently analyzed the research and

publication strategies of the Pfizer pharmaceutical

company, finding that:

 “Pfizer’s tactics included delaying the

publication of studies that had found no

evidence the drug worked for some other

disorders, “spinning” negative data to place it in

a more positive light, and bundling negative

findings with positive studies to neutralize the

results…” (29)

 More than half of the clinical trials

conducted for drugs approved by the FDA were

never published and 2000 had published trial

results. This means that data on more than half

the pharmaceuticals on the market today isn’t

even available to independent reviewers. This

data may be tainted and incomplete, but we

have no way of knowing. The FDA has been

cited for its role in failing to ensure that drug

trials are conducted properly. (30) At least 33%

of physicians overseeing drug trials have a

conflict of interest and receive support from the

pharmaceutical company conducting these

trials. These conflicts of interest may lead to a

distortion of scientific objectivism, may favor

of the economy of the pharmaceutical industry

and may jeopardize public health and

safety.(31)

 Other evidence in the tangled relationship

between science and marketing strategies

include:

 The drug manufacturer Wyeth admitted

paying ghostwriters to produce medical journal

articles favorable to its products. (32)

 The manufacturer Merck “downplayed”

dangers of its drugs, concealed the true

authorship of articles and hired ghostwriters

without revealing their financial ties to the

industry. (33)

 GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals paid

over $1.3 million to an influential psychiatrist

hosting a National Public Radio (NPR) health

program. The support was not divulged

publicly and the psychiatrist neglected to report

the income to his university affiliate. The

psychiatrist recommended pharmaceutical

treatments on his show. (34)

 A congressional investigation revealed that

several drug manufacturers, including Johnson

& Johnson, paid large sums of money to world-

renowned physicians for public advocacy of

their products on a large scale. (35)

 Forest Laboratories was charged with

Fraud by the U.S. Department of Justice for

failing to report negative studies of the drugs

Celexa and Lexapro in children. (36)

 The pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca

“buried” unfavorable studies of its $4.4 billion

drug Seroquel in an attempt to hide side-effects,

including weight gain and diabetes. (37)

Reviewers of these cases agreed that these

events could not have taken place without the

collusion of “researchers, authors, journal editors,

peer reviewers and the FDA.” They concluded that:

“Public trust in clinical research is in great

jeopardy.” (38)

These actions represent a type of covert

lobbying that clearly violates the public trust. These

activities should raise serious questions regarding of

the safety of the entire conventional medical

formulary. These revelations are extremely serious

and they weaken the argument that the conventional

medical system is scientific or even efficacious.

Certainly the EB of conventional medicine requires

extensive review and reanalysis.

Classical Homœopathy, in sharp contrast, is not

subject to the same degree of industry-based bias.

Homœopathic medications are natural products that

are produced at a fraction of the cost of conventional

medicines. These products are usually given as

single medicines and repeated infrequently. Several

months’ supply of homœopathic medicine costs less

than even a day’s supply of allopathic drugs. Since

homœopathic medicines do not involve significant

alterations of natural substances, their use cannot be

licensed or patented, which further reduces the

profit motive which drives most research and

development in the field of medicine. In fact, it is

precisely because of this lack of profitability that

Homœopathy has suffered in our capitalistic system.

Very few investors are attracted to homœopathic

ventures since the chance of profit is so unlikely.

Homœopathic treatment must be, by definition,

individually prescribed and matched to each specific

individual. This simple fact reduces the profit

motive and even more dramatically lowers the risk

that conflicts of interest and desire for profit will

motivate researchers to falsify test results.

The evidence base of Homœopathy is derived

from data gleaned directly from clinical practice in

cured cases, clinical provings, and industry-based

toxicity reports. (39) Homeopathic evidence is

gathered from real patients treated by real

physicians in real life situations. Additional data

which comes from clinical provings explores the

activity of each homœopathic medicine when it is

administered to healthy volunteers. Data from

toxicity reports and poisonings also add vital

information relating to the potential of each drug to

address more serious pathology.

Homœopathy is built upon a centuries-old

collection of evidence that integrates the subjective

clinical experience of the patient along with the

objective clinical observations of the physician. (40)

The practice of Homœopathy involves

administering individually selected homœopathic

medicines that most closely match the totality of

symptoms of the sick patient in a highly dilute

(“potentized”) formulation. Homœopathic drug

information (and homœopathic prescribing) is based

on the empiric science of clinical observation. This

data has been repeatedly confirmed and

substantiated over more than two centuries. It

demonstrates internal consistency unbiased by

internal individual or external market forces.

Allopathic medical science is allegedly based

upon unbiased, objective clinical observation, but

this report suggest that it has been heavily corrupted

by “conflict of interest” and a pharmaceutical

industry with deep ties to physicians, researchers

and an “academic industrial complex” (41)

representing world-wide financial interests in the

trillions of dollars. (42) The ethics, science and

objectivity of these industries are riddled with

examples of flagrant betrayal of science and abuse

of the public trust. (43)

Homœopathic and allopathic routes diverged

more than two centuries ago. Allopathic practices

have slowly evolved and reflected the newest

technological advances, while Homœopathy has

barely changed at all except to add more clinical

verification and proof to its growing storehouse of

information. At its root, Homœopathy still

maintains the same philosophy, core of medicines

and method of practice, while allopathic practices

appear to continually shift by adding new and

discarding older methods. This “failure” of

Homœopathy to change is evidence that the system

is extremely successful, safe and effective. The

continual changes in the allopathic field reflect the

unstable ground on which the profession is built.

The success of allopathic medicine dominating

the market economy in the U.S. and Europe is also

a measure of how poorly homœopaths have

promulgated their own field. The answer to how and

why this has happened is addressed elsewhere, but

some explanation for the failure of Homœopathy to

prove itself in a world forum must be reviewed.

C:Impediments to Research in Homœopathy

Ideological Problems

Homœopathic research is not accepted by

mainstream medical institutions today mainly

because of ideological conflicts, misunderstanding

and prejudice, not lack of clinical effectiveness.

Because Homœopathy lacks a clear explanation for

how it might work, it has been repeatedly derided

and ridiculed by proponents of the allopathic

medical model. The problems endured by

homœopaths trying to prove the effectiveness of

their practice to allopathic colleagues stem mostly

from prejudicial and ideological bias, not lack of

clinical proof. Allopaths simply do not believe that

Homœopathy could work:

“The problem with Homœopathy is that the

infinite dilutions’ of agents used cannot possibly

produce any effect. A randomized trial of ‘solvent

only’ versus ‘infinite dilutions’ is a game of chance

between two placebos.” (44)

Allopathic “scientists” frequently refuse to

even look at, let alone accept, what the science of

their own studies on Homœopathy demonstrates.

They refuse to look at the data because they have

already pre-judged and made up their minds that

Homœopathy is “simply not possible.” This attitude

does not represent scientific inquiry, but dogmatic

rigidity.

Despite many reasonably good studies

performed on Homœopathy, and a tremendous

amount of observational data from patients, the

allopathic community continues to stubbornly insist

that Homœopathy cannot possibly work. Hard data

showing Homœopathy’s effectiveness is met with

mockery, dismissal and outright refusal to consider

the implications.

One investigator remarked:

“Either the studies show what they seem to

show – that Homœopathy is working – or they

demonstrate the Random Controlled Trial’s capacity

for predictable, reproducible, significant false

positives – a conclusion that may be even more

challenging in its implications for today’s medicine

than the conclusion that Homœopathy works.”(45)

Conventional allopathic medical researchers

are simply too prejudiced against homœopathic

practice and research to accept its validity.

Allopaths have continually refused to seriously

consider the scientific data. Their reasoning that

further research would be futile is justified by the

argument that Homœopathy is simply implausible:

“…the scientist must question whether the

diversion of significant resources to support these

trials [of Homœopathy] can be justified when a

rational basis for choice of Homœopathy, or any

particular modality of it, is lacking.”(46)

As a result of this prejudice, financial support

for homœopathic research and academic

appointments has suffered. Medical history in the

United States has been unequivocal on this subject:

The American Medical Association was founded, in

part, to fight an ideological and financial “turf war”

against Homœopathy.(47) Until medical scientists

are able to suspend ideological prejudice and look

objectively at the results of all medical trials, there

will be continued corruption in medical thinking and

no greater acceptance of effective scientific

disciplines like Homœopathy in the future.

Practical Problem

Apart from the huge ideological gap separating

homœopathic from allopathic medical thinking

there are still many practical obstacles facing the

study of Homœopathy:

1. Lack of Funding. A double-bind exists here

since funding is usually limited to therapies that

already have a proven track record of

effectiveness. Obtaining funding for

Homœopathy is more difficult due to the

existing bias againstHomœopathy. Gaining

access to the necessary financing to prove itself

is twice as difficult when access to insurance

coverage and research funds are limited. In the

UK only 0.08% of the NHS research budget is

devoted to CAM. In the U.S. 0.4% of the total

operational budget of the NIH is devoted to the

National Center for Complementary and

Alternative Medicine (NCCAM). (Only two

departments of the NIH receive lower funding

than NCCAM, one of them being “Building and

Grounds.”) The NCCAM budget is further

divided between a diversity of CAM

modalities, including Homœopathy.

2. Lack of Profit. Homœopathic research

suffers from a lack of profitability precisely

because these medicines are inexpensive to

produce and test. The homœopathic

pharmacopoeia has changed very little since its

inception, unlike the allopathic

armamentarium, which requires constant

annual revision. The single-ingredient

homœopathic medicines, derived primarily

from natural sources, can be produced, tested,

developed and manufactured relatively

inexpensively. Profit margins are extremely

small in Homœopathy. As a result, profit does

not drive homœopathic research nor attract

large investments, as it does in the allopathic

pharmaceutical industry. The main incentive to

support Homœopathy arises from its health

benefit not its investment return. Consequently,

limited philanthropic support has dominated

homœopathic funding.

3. Lack of Research Skills. Most homœopathic

schools and training programs lack consistent

standards or academic rigor, and most fail to

offer electives or training in research. In the

U.S. there is no centrally designated authority

governing the academic program in these

schools. The Council on Homœopathic

Education (CHE)has attempted to unify and

improve these standards, but there is still a long

way to go.(48)

4. Lack of an Academic Infrastructure.

Homœopathic training programs lack

connection with university training programs or

medical schools. This limits funding, support

and visibility in the academic community. The

American Medical College of Homœopathy

(AMCH) in Phoenix, Arizona is an example of

an attempt to correct this situation, but it

remains under-funded and unaccredited.(49)

Only six universities in the United Kingdom

(and none in the U.S.) currently offer Bachelor

of Science degrees in Homœopathy. (50).

Homœopathic medical schools imparting the

M.D. degree still exist only in India. Only

naturopathic schools formally offer accredited

training in Homœopathy in the U.S. and only at

introductory levels.

5. Lack of Patients. According to recent studies

between 1-3% of the U.S. population has

utilized Homœopathy. This number is growing

steadily, but the public is still largely unaware

of the benefits of homœopathic treatment. This

is in stark contrast to the situation in the late 19th

century, when Homœopathy enjoyed wide

public support, a broad political backing, and an

academic infrastructure with homœopathic

medical schools, hospitals and clinics across the

U.S.

6. Lack of Practitioners. Medical practitioners

typically provide direct patient care, but also

form the pool of researchers who generate

clinical data. Research performed by

homœopathic clinicians who have chosen to

investigate some aspect of homœopathic

treatment in their private practices is extremely

limited. Existing practitioners who elect to

perform such research find themselves spread

extremely thin since the number of

homœopathic physicians in the U.S. is very

low. The American Institute of

Homeopathy(AIH), the flagship professional

homœopathic organization, currently boasts

less than two hundred physician members

nationwide.

Methodological Problems

Besides the ideological and practical problems

that prevent Homœopathy from gaining greater

acceptance and recognition, methodological

problems in medical research add to the difficulty of

objective validation of Homœopathy.

The “gold standard” of homœopathic medicine

is direct clinical experience, initially through the

clinical proving, and subsequently by attending to

clinical outcomes – the resolution of disease states

following individualized homœopathic treatment.

Allopathic medicine considers the Randomized

Controlled Trial (RCT) to be the “gold standard” of

medical research. However, since this is based on

massing large amounts of data on the basis of

diagnostic categories of diseases, it has limited

applicability when applied to Homœopathy, which

is based on individualized treatment and does not

treat patients based on disease diagnosis categories.

Homœopathy is not focused on whether a

particular medication statistically impacts a disease

category. It is interested in finding the right remedy

for the individual person. However, each person is

unique, as is their affliction, obviating the value of

research based on categories of disease. Holding the

RCT as the “gold standard” in such a circumstance

automatically discredits Homœopathy from the

outset and is the root problem blocking the objective

validation of Homœopathy in medical research.(51)

Homœopathy cannot be studied through

randomization unless homœopathic principles are

violated. It is difficult to apply the RCT to

Homœopathy because homœopathic treatment is

(by definition) individualized to the person, not the

diagnosis or the condition. Finding the cure for

individual illness is based on the explicit position

that they are unique and do not fall into groups.

Patients in homœopathic treatment cannot be

compared or randomized into

treatment/nontreatment settings the same way as

patients in groups representing disease categories

can be. Homœopathy is not applied on the basis of

a diagnostic category in practice; so studies of

homœopathic treatment based upon analysis of

results with disease categories is meaningless.

Homœopathy requires a separate in-depth interview

and psychosomatic analysis of each individual case

to determine the correct individual prescription.

The basic premise of the RCT approach is in conflict

with the basic premise of Homœopathy.

According to the Liga Medicorum

Homeopathica Internationalis: “any work that aims

to demonstrate the evidence of Homœopathy based

on clinical trials designed to prove efficacy of a

particular homœopathic medicine exclusively over a

specific disease will fail… because it ignores the

intrinsic homœopathic principles.”(52)

The RCT is not sensitive to individuals. These

studies typically test a single medicine on a large

number of patients with a single diagnosis. This

approach ignores the way that Homœopathy is

practiced, which is by individualizing medicine

choice to the unique and total clinical pattern of each

patient. The RCT is an example of linear

reductionism which eliminates the differences

between patients, but homœopathic treatment is

actually based upon accentuation of those very

differences! The RCT therefore cannot be an

adequate test of the effectiveness of the

homœopathic approach as it deliberately eliminates

the complexity and individualization inherent to the

homœopathic prescription. (53)

The RCT tests simplified objective event and

filters out detailed information about how

individuals fare from treatment. Homœopathic

treatment makes a difference in precisely those

criteria that are not measured in the RCT: quality of

life, long term measures of improvement, energy

and vitality. The endpoints of homœopathic and

allopathic treatment are different. Observational

studies of homœopathic clinical outcomes are what

is needed to evaluate the efficacy of Homœopathy,

not RCT’s.(54)

The RCT is not based on real life experience,

real-life conditions or practical considerations of

patient’s daily lives. Conditions investigated in

clinical trials are rarely representative of those

treated in actual practices. Researchers typically

select conditions that are relatively easy to

investigate and recruit large numbers of patients.

Researchers select simple cases that have one or two

easily measurable short-term outcomes. This is

frequently not representative of the populations

treated in clinical practice where cases are always

more complex and varied, inappropriate and

inadequate measure of Homœopath’s true potential.

Statistical trends can be measured by the RCT, but

not a system of medicine based upon the

complexities of the individual.

D:Conclusion

Conventional medicine is in a state of crisis.

Costs of medical care are skyrocketing and indices

of chronic disease are rising. Physicians and

patients are dissatisfied with the practice and results

of this system. The evidence base of conventional

medicine is not based on scientific evidence and it is

riddled with potential conflicts of interest. Not only

is public safety in jeopardy, but so is public finance

of this cancerous system.

Homœopathy is a unique medical system that

offers an opportunity to return to a truer definition

of scientifically-based health care. Homœopathy is

evidence-based, by definition, and has a well-

established history of use worldwide. Many

problems have thwarted formal academic research

into Homœopathy, but they can be overcome if truly

objective action is achieved. Part II of this

investigation takes up the question of therapeutic

efficacy with data from controlled studies and

reviews the safety of Homœopathy.

This paper was first presented at the Systems

and Symbiosis Conference hosted by New York

Medical College, The American Institute of

Homeopathy (55) and The Homeopathic Medical

Society of the State of New York (56) in Tarrytown,

New York on October 23, 2008.

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==================================== 
 
7.  The Science of Homeopathy, Part II 
  WHITMONT, D. Ronald (AJHM.103, 1/2010) 
Introduction: 
  Part I of this series reviewed the state of crisis 
existing  in  conventional  medicine  today.    The 
current  predicament  in  allopathic  health  care  is 
multi-factorial.    It  is  partly  the  result  of  an 
unbalanced focus on the mechanistic components of 
disease.    Allopathic  medical  science  more  than 
adequately applies the techniques of reductionism 
and compartmentalization to the study of the body 
in  its  many  component  parts.  This  focus  on  the 
mechanical  details  of  health  excludes  any 
understanding of the whole person and its complex 
interaction with the environment. 
 “The  default  position  [of  conventional 
medicine]  is  to  treat  complicated  patients  as 
collections of malfunctioning body parts rather than 
as whole human beings….There is nobody looking 
at the big picture or recognizing that what is best for 
the disease may not be best for the patient”(1) 
 Homœopathy is one form of alternative medical 
care  that  promotes  a  broad,  holistic  approach  to 
promote a return of health to the entire individual in 
the  context  of  his  or  her  environment.  
Homœopathic  medicines  are  FDA  regulated 
substances that seem to act energetically, rather than 
chemically, in the body. 
  The  evidential  basis  of  both  conventional 
allopathic and homœopathic medicine was explored 
and contrasted in Part I.  Recently, disturbing reports 
have  strongly  suggested  that  market  forces  and 
conflicts of interest have continued to erode both the 
scientific  foundation  of  objectivism  and  the 
knowledge  base  of  conventional  allopathic 
medicine.    Homœopathy,  as  an  individualized, 
empiric,  evidence-based  system  of  therapeutics, 
relies  on  more  than  two  centuries  of  pooled, 
accumulated  clinical  data.    The  homœopathic 
database  is  more  safely  rooted  in  a  tradition  of 
scientific objectivism and is therefore less likely to 
suffer from the biases and influences of individual 
researchers  or  the  shifting  tides  of  a  market 
economy. 
  Another  result  of  market  forces  and  their 
economic trends on medical research is the effect of 
bypassing  homœopathic  clinical  investigation  in 
favor  of  more  financially rewarding  ventures.    A 
perceived  lack of profit, not  lack of efficacy,  has 
driven research dollars away from Homœopathy and 
into  allopathic  institutions.    Objective  scientific 
studies  of  Homœopathy  that  rigorously  follow 
scientific protocol do exist, but they are relatively 
scarce  in  contrast  to  the  sheer  number  of 
investigations  taking  place  in  conventional 
medicine.  Homœopathic research has been largely 
neglected  and has lagged  far  behind  conventional 

medicine. Many of the reasons for this imbalance

were cited in Part I.

Opponents of Homœopathy routinely assert

that there is little or no proof that Homœopathy is

effective. These claims are based, not in scientific

objectivism, but on a failure to objectively scrutinize

the data that this specialty has generated. The

sampling of data, listed below, belies that opposition

and cites studies demonstrating that Homœopathy is

an important, viable, and cost effective modality.

This review provides a cross section of evidence in

support of Homœopathy and strongly suggests that

this alternative medical specialty warrants further

study and dedication of resources. The current

allopathic system of medicine appears on the verge

of internal collapse, making this information even

more time appropriate.

Evidence from Randomized Controlled Trials

The clinical database in support of

Homœopathy has been slowly growing as a result of

many factors both intrinsic and extrinsic to the field.

Nevertheless, homœopathic research has moved

forward thanks to the stalwart efforts of a few

dedicated investigators. Despite thoroughly

unequal academic footing, inadequate industry

financing and many other obstacles, data has

emerged from clinical trials clearly indicating a

consistent benefit of Homœopathy in a wide range

of conditions above and beyond the placebo effect.

Testing Homœopathy using the tools and

methods of conventional allopathic medicine is a

particularly challenging task. When studying the

validity of Homœopathy, testing protocols must be

applied and studied according to the principles and

laws of homœopathic prescribing. Studies that test

Homœopathy based upon allopathic prescribing

methods are inadequate since they often fail to

utilize Homœopathy in a way that it works. This is

like trying to test the efficacy of a hammer to drive

a screw. Failure to observe basic homœopathic

principles while purportedly studying Homœopathy

is using the “wrong tool for the wrong job.” It will

render meaningless outcomes. Randomly applying

the standards of allopathic science to the study of

Homœopathy clearly violates homœopathic

standards and invalidates the results.

“The methods for obtaining knowledge in a

healing art must be coherent with that art’s

underlying understanding and theory of illness.

Thus, the method of EBM (Evidence Based

Medicine) and the knowledge gained from

population-based studies may not be the best way to

assess certain CAM practices, which view illness

and healing within the context of a particular

individual only.”(2)

Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) are the

gold standard of conventional allopathic medicine,

but they have extremely limited applicability to the

study of Homœopathy. RCTs tend to be limited in

scope, focus on narrow outcomes, and have only

short-term endpoints. These studies are usually

organized to test specific interventions on specific

diagnoses. Classical Homœopathy does not utilize

the same diagnostic or treatment criteria as

conventional allopathic medicine. Homœopathy is

a holistic system that treats on the basis of the

individual whole person and all of his or her

symptoms, not on a predetermined diagnostic

category.

“The physician must remember that he [the

homœopath] is treating a patient who has some

disorder; he is not prescribing for a disease

entity.”(3)

One of the outstanding benefits of classical

Homœopathy lies in long-term healing results on the

whole person, not just the “quick fix” of symptom

alleviation. Study designs that evaluate allopathic

medical therapeutics are ill-adapted to study long

term effects or system wide changes. Homœopathy

routinely incorporates this information as the main

measure of treatment success. The breadth and

depth of classical homœopathic prescribing, which

is based upon the whole person, isn’t even

incorporated into the limited assessment parameters

and typically brief study duration in RCTs.

To evaluate Homœopathy objectively, it is

necessary to adhere to homœopathic principles of

prescribing within the context of a study. This rule

is only rarely observed in RCTs. When

Homœopathy is tested in the context of a study.

This rule is only rarely observed in RCTs. When

Homœopathy is tested in the context of

homœopathic indications and outcomes, and given

adequate time, it produces meaningful results. The

RCT is an inadequate framework to utilize for this

purpose. It is better suited to the task of testing non-

individualized prescriptions in large populations. A

better measure of homeotherapeutics is derived

from individual case study or outcome studies that

evaluate the use of Homœopathy within the clinical

setting. Observational studies of Homœopathy

consistently demonstrate strong, persistent

therapeutic outcomes and sustained satisfaction in

both patients and physicians.(4)

Scientific understanding is based upon

observation of events and testing of hypotheses in

the natural world. The testing of any phenomena,

including Homœopathy, requires the use of an

unbiased framework of objective clinical

observation without (allopathic) prejudice.

Disregard for these parameters does not constitute

objective scientific study, it only demonstrates

dogmatism, ignorance, and bias.

A broad range of homœopathic interventions

have, nevertheless, been studied using the RCT

protocol, but the majority of these studies either

demonstrate significant design flaws or

methodological weaknesses due to the investigator’s

attempts to remain true to homœopathic prescribing

principles. These are attempts to worship two gods

at the same altar, but the results compromise both

sets of standards and leave neither satisfied. As

more studies are performed, some of these

shortcomings are being addressed, but this process

is fundamentally a trade-off between two positions

that are often diametrically opposed.(5) The

following summaries offer a cross section of recent

RCTs:

Asthma (6)

Twenty-eight patients with allergic asthma

were randomly assigned to receive oral

homœopathic immunotherapy to their principal

allergen or placebo. Patients were assessed after

four weeks of treatment. Homœopathically treated

patients showed significant improvements on a

visual analogue score in respiratory function and

bronchial reactivity. These benefits persisted at

eight weeks follow-up.

Eczema (7)

The hundred and eighteen children were

randomized to receive either homœopathic (n=54)

or conventional (n=64) treatment of eczema for

twelve months. Disease-related quality of life

improved similarly in both groups.

Childhood Diarrhoea (8)

Eighty-one children with diarrhea were

randomized to receive either an individually chosen

homœopathic medicine or placebo. The

homœopathically treated group had an earlier,

statistically significant reduction in duration of

diarrhea compared with matched controls.

Acute Otitis Media (9)

Two hundred and thirty children with AOM

received an individualized homœopathic medicine

in the pediatric office. Pain control was achieved in

39% of the patients after six hours, and in an

additional 33% after twelve hours. This resolution

rate was 2.4 times faster than in those receiving

placebo controls. There were no complications

observed in the study group, and compared to

conventional treatment the approach was 14%

cheaper.

Hay Fever and Allergic Rhinitis (10)

Fifty-one patients with perennial allergic

rhinitis were treated with either a homœopathic

preparation of the principal allergen or placebo.

After four weeks the homœopathic group had 21%

improvement in symptoms compared with 2%

improvement in the placebo group. The

homœopathic group reported initial aggravation in

symptoms more often than the control group. The

authors noted: “Compared with placebo,

Homœopathy provoked a clear, significant, and

relevant improvement in nasal inspiratory peak

flow, similar to that found with topical steroids.”

Influenza (11)

Four hundred seventy-eight patients with the flu

were given either Oscillococcinum or placebo. The

proportion of homœopathically treated patients who

recovered within 48 hours was significantly greater

than those receiving placebo.

Muscle Soreness (12)

Eighty-two runners were given either Arnica or

placebo daily beginning the day before running a

marathon. Muscle soreness was significantly lower

in the Arnica group when compared with the

placebo group immediately after the marathon.

Back Pain (13)

Forty-three patients suffering from chronic low

back pain were randomized to receive either

Homœopathy or standardized physiotherapy (PT).

The homœopathically treated group demonstrated a

significant decrease of the pain after treatment

compared with the PT treated group. The authors

concluded that: “Nothing can be said against

attempting treatment of chronic low back pain by

means of Homœopathy.”

Radiotherapy Side Effects (14)

Sixty-six patients received either homœopathic

medicine or placebo during radiation therapy

following breast cancer surgery. The homœopathic

group showed statistically significant improvement

in breast skin color, warmth, swelling and

pigmentation over ten weeks compared with the

control group.

Rheumatoid Arthritis (15)

Twenty-three patients with rheumatoid arthritis

were treated with either a complex homœopathic

preparation or placebo. After twelve weeks the

homœopathically treated group showed a significant

improvement in pain, movement, inflammatory

signs, morning stiffness, and fatigue compared with

the placebo group.

Tissue Trauma (16)

Sixty patients with mild traumatic pain injury

received either an individually assigned

homœopathic medicine or placebo. The

homœopathically treated patients demonstrated a

significant improvement compared with placebo

treated patients. The authors found that

homœopathic treatment was “the only significant or

near-significant predictor of improvement” and

“Homœopathy may have a role in treating persistent

Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (MTBI).”

Respiratory Infections (17)

Four hundred and fifty-six patients with upper

respiratory tract infections (URI), lower respiratory

tract infections and ear complaints were treated by

conventionally-trained physicians. Of these,175

were treated conventionally: 71% received

antibiotics and 33% were given cough/cold

preparations. The remaining 281 were treated

homœopathically, receiving a variety of remedies.

Cure or major improvement was achieved in 82.6%

of the homœopathically-treated patients after 14 das

versus 68% of those conventionally treated.

Adverse events were 7.8% in the Homœopathy

group versus 22.3% in the conventional group.

Patient satisfaction was 79% in the Homœopathy

group versus 65% in the conventional group. The

authors concluded that: “Homœopathy appeared to

be at least as effective as conventional medical care

in the treatment of patients with the three conditions

studied.”

Evidence from these studies, although flawed in

many regards, suggests that Homœopathy:

Appears to be superior to placebo in a broad range

of conditions.

Appears to be as effective as conventional therapy

in some conditions.

May be more cost effective than many

conventional treatments.

Is worthy of significantly more clinical, academic

and industry attention and investigation.

Observational Studies

Information from observational studies is

extremely important in regard to research in

Homœopathy since these studies may reflect an

application of Homœopathy more in line with

homœopathic principles of prescribing. A large

number of observational studies are extremely

suggestive of the benefits and efficacy of

homœopathic treatment.

Diabetic Polyneuropathy (18)

Homœopathy was utilized in a group of 45

patients with Type II Diabetes Mellitus with

polyneuropathy over twelve months in parallel with

a group of matched patients undergoing

conventional therapy. The homœopathically treated

group demonstrated statistically significant

improvement in quality of living scores while

costing less.

Health Status Changes (19)

A prospective, multicenter cohort study of 103

homœopathic primary care practices in Germany

and Switzerland over eight years evaluated health

status changes in 3,709 patients. Disease severity

decreased significantly (p < 0.001), while physical

and mental quality of life scores showed

considerable improvement. Younger age, female

gender and more severe disease at baseline were

factors predictive of better therapeutic success.

Patient Satisfaction (20)

A nationwide study funded by the Swiss

Federal Office of Public Health to evaluate

complementary therapies compared Homœopathy

with conventional care in primary care settings.

Forty-six percent of over 6,000 patients responded

to the inquiry. Data suggests that the

homœopathically-treated patients suffered from

more severe and chronic disease at inception,

reported fewer side effects from treatment, and were

significantly more satisfied with treatment than the

conventionally-treated group.

Injuries

Sixty-nine homœopathically-treated patients

were compared with 65 conventionally-treated

patients for musculoskeletal injuries and trauma in

this multicenter, prospective, comparative

observational cohort study. Complete resolution of

the principal symptom at the end of therapy occurred

in n=41 (59.4%) patients in the Homœopathy group

versus n=37 (57.8%) patients in the conventional

group. No adverse events were reported in the

Homœopathy group compared to six adverse events

(6.3%) in the conventional group. Physician-

assessed tolerability was significantly better in the

Homœopathy group.

Menopause (22)

Ninety-nine physicians in eight countries took

part in this study treating 438 menopausal women

with hot flushes. This observational study revealed

a significant reduction (p <0.001) in the frequency

of hot flushes and a significant reduction in

measures of daily discomfort. Ninety percent of the

women reported disappearance or lessening of their

symptom; these changes took place mostly within

fifteen days of starting homœopathic treatment.

Idiopathic Trigeminal Neuralgia (23)

Fifteen patients with physician-confirmed

trigeminal neuralgia were treated with classical

homœopathic prescriptions individualized to their

symptoms. All 15 patients completed treatment of

four months and noted a reduction of pain intensity

and attack frequency that were statistically

significant. Pain was reduced in intensity by more

than 60% using homœopathic treatment.

Acute Febrile Infections in Children (24)

Thirty-eight Belgian centers practicing

Homœopathy and conventional medicine performed

an observational study of children with symptoms of

fever, cramps, distress, disturbed sleep, crying, and

difficulties with eating or drinking. There were no

statistically significant differences between the

homœopathically treated and the acetaminophen

groups in either time to symptomatic improvement

or change in symptoms.

The Common Cold (25)

A nonrandomized, observational study

comparing Homœopathy with conventional care at

85 general and homœopathic practices in Germany

included 397 patients with the common cold. Both

treatment groups experienced significant

symptomatic relief, without adverse events.

Significantly more patients improved faster in the

homœopathically treated group.

Chronic Disease (26)

An observational study of 6,544 consecutive

follow-up patients during a six-year period in the

National Health Service (NHS) Teaching Trust in

the United Kingdom found that 70% reported

positive health changes, and 50% reported positive

health changes, and 50% reported improvement in

symptoms using homœopathic treatment.

Homeopathic Care (27, 28)

A prospective uncontrolled observational

multi-center outcome study including 80

homœopaths all over Norway from 1996 to 1998

studied 654 patients. In this study, seven out of ten

patients visiting a Norwegian homœopath reported

a meaningful improvement in their main complaint

six months after the initial consultation.

Eighty general medical practices in Belgium,

where physicians were members of the Unio

Homœopathica Belgica, evaluated care provided to

782 patients. Patients’ satisfaction with their

homœopathic treatment was very high (95% fairly

or very satisfied). The great majority (89%) said

that Homœopathy had improved their physical

condition; 8.5% said that it had made no difference,

2.4% said that Homœopathy had worsened their

condition. Physicians’ ratings of improvement were

similar. Previous conventional treatment had

improved 13% of patients, made no difference to

32%, and had worsened the condition of over half

(55%).

Evidence from Meta-analyses

The meta-analysis is a tool that enables the

combined statistical analysis of a large number of

different studies to assess a set of related research

hypotheses. This analytical method allows data

from large and small studies to be integrated in a

format that allows properly weighted interpretation.

(29) the following is a summary of the most recent

data from meta-analyses of homœopathic treatment.

British Medical Journal 1991 (30)

These researchers looked at 107 trials of

Homœopathy. Of these only 105 were suitable for

analysis. Eighty-one studies had positive outcomes

and the authors were able to determine that

Homœopathy was superior to placebo 68% of the

time. The authors concluded that: “The evidence

presented in this review would probably be

sufficient for establishing Homœopathy as a regular

treatment for certain indications… Based on this

evidence we would be ready to accept that

Homœopathy can be efficacious, if only the

mechanism of action were more plausible.”

European Commission Report 1996(31)

These researchers looked at 377 trials of

Homœopathy. Of these only 21 were deemed

suitable for analysis. They concluded that: “There

is an activity of homœopathic remedies higher than

the placebo…these conclusions confirm entirely the

result of prior audits. Homœopathy is therefore

worthy of research.”

Lancet 1997(32)

These researchers looked at a total of 89 RCTs.

They found that 73% of trials demonstrated that

Homœopathy was more effective than placebo. The

results showed an odds ratio in favor of

Homœopathy of 2.45 with a 95% confidence

interval. (The odds of improving from

homœopathic treatment were 2.5 times greater than

with placebo.) This difference was statistically

significant. The authors concluded that the: “results

are not compatiable with the hypothesis that the

clinical effects of Homœopathy are completely due

to placebo.”

Journal of Complementary and Alternative

Medicine 1998 (33)

A total of thirty-two trials involving 1,778

patients were reviewed. In 19 of the placebo-

controlled trials individualized Homœopathy was

significantly more effective than placebo (pooled

rate ratio 1.62, 95% confidence interval). The

authors concluded that: “The results of the available

randomized trials suggest that individualized

Homœopathy has an effect over placebo. The

evidence, however, is not convincing because of

methodological shortcomings and inconsistencies.”

European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology 2000

(34)

These authors analyzed sixteen RCTs of

Homœopathy and concluded that: “It is likely that

among the tested homœopathic approaches some

had an added effect over nothing or placebo,” and

that: “At least one [of the tested homœopathic

treatments] shows an added effect relative to

placebo.” The group recommended that

Homœopathy be studied further using the same

methods used to study conventional medicine.

Annals of Internal Medicine 2003(35)

The authors reviewed a number of meta-

analyses and other systematic reviews and

concluded that “there is positive evidence for overall

effect, but the limited number and size of trials

provided insufficient data to draw conclusive

evidence on the effectiveness of Homœopathy for

most conditions.”

Cochrane Review 2004 (36)

Six randomized placebo-controlled trials

covering 556 people with stable chronic asthma

were included. None of the trials reported

significant differences on validated symptom scales.

The authors concluded: “There is not enough

evidence to reliably assess the possible role of

Homœopathy in asthma.”

Lancet 2005 (37)

These researchers looked at one hundred and

ten trials of Homœopathy. Of these only 8 were

found suitable for analysis. Of the original 110

studies, Homœopathy was found to be more

effective than placebo in 66%, equally effective as

placebo in 25%, and less effective than placebo in

10%. These authors chose to focus on the 8 studies

where Homœopathy was less effective than placebo,

concluding in their meta-analysis, that: “there was

weak evidence for a specific effect of homœopathic

remedies…This finding is compatible with the

notion that the clinical effects of Homœopathy are

placebo effects.” This analysis was found to be

exceptionally biased and the conclusions

significantly flawed.

Cochrane Review 2006 (38)

The authors evaluated seven studies of a

homœopathic flu medicine used in the treatment (4

studies, n=1, 194) and prevention (3 studies,

n=2,265) of influenza. Treatment studies revealed a

reduction of symptom duration by 0.28 days (95%

CI). The authors concluded that: “Though

promising, the data were not strong enough to make

a general recommendation to use Oscillococcinum

for first-line treatment of influenza and influenza-

like syndromes. Further research is warranted, but

the required sample sizes are large.”

Journal of the Faculty of Homeopathy 2006 (39)

These authors reviewed eight RCTs using

Homœopathy to treat anxiety and anxiety disorders.

Several uncontrolled observational studies reported

positive results including high levels of patient

satisfaction. Because of the lack of control groups,

it was difficult to assess the extent to which any

response was due to Homœopathy. The authors

concluded that: “On the basis of this review it is not

possible to draw firm conclusions on the efficacy or

effectiveness of Homœopathy for anxiety.

However, surveys suggest that Homœopathy is quite

frequently used by people suffering from anxiety. If

shown to be effective, it is possible that

Homœopathy may have benefits in terms of adverse

effects and acceptability to patients…further

investigation is indicated.”

Mayo Clinic Proceedings 2007 (40)

The authors looked at 326 studies and

determined that only 16 were appropriate for

analysis. The results for ADHD and Childhood

Diarrhea were mixed, while the remainder of the

studies did not yield convincing evidence to support

the use of Homœopathy. The authors concluded:

“The evidence from rigorous clinical trials of any

type of therapeutic or preventive intervention testing

Homœopathy for childhood and adolescence

ailments is not convincing enough for

recommendations in any condition.”

A substantial number of meta-analyses (but not

all) incorporating data from a large number of

clinical studies indicate that Homœopathy does

demonstrate a range of effectiveness that is superior

to placebo and is indeed worthy of further study and

investigation.

The Safety of Homœopathy

Americans fill an estimated 3.7 billion

prescriptions annually as well as purchase a

multitude of over-the-counter (OTC)_preparations

and herbal supplements. In 2004, 82% of the U.S.

population reported taking at least one prescription

drug, OTC preparation or dietary supplement on a

regular basis. Thirty percent reported the use of five

or more of these on a regular basis.

In the elderly population 75% of those over age

65 took four or more prescription medications per

day. The average 75 year-old took eight prescription

medications daily.

Individuals over age 65 were more than twice

as likely to be treated in the emergency room for

adverse drug effects than younger subjects and

nearly seven times as likely to require

hospitalization for these events.

Studies from the federal Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention (CDCP), the Food and Drug

Administration (FDA) and the US Consumer

Product Safety Commission (USCPSC) indicate that

an average of 10% of all hospital admissions in the

U.S. are attributable to drug-induced disorders and

side effects. (41) Approximately two million

hospitalized patients are injured from drugs each

year and more than 180,000 die as a result of these

injuries.(42, 43)

The AMA considers conventional allopathic

medicines to be a “major” cause of serious illness,

even when used according to accepted guidelines.

These injuries are “dose dependent and predictable,”

and many are the result of drug-drug, drug-disease

and drug-food interactions.(44)

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) reports that the

cost of allopathic medication errors in the U.S. alone

tops $3.5 billion per year. Adverse drug reactions

(ADRs) appear to be between the fourth and sixth

leading cause of death in the U.S. today. (45, 46).

The majority of these deaths take place when

patients are taking medications “correctly” as

prescribed by their physicians. (47)

The safety profile of allopathic medicines is

generally poor. Even a cursory review of routine

prescribing information voluntarily provided by the

pharmaceutical industry suggests that these agents

are frequently the cause serious problems. The FDA

is the sole U.S. regulatory agency responsible for

ensuring the safety of these agents. This

organization is underfunded and overwhelmed. It is

unable to perform its duties properly without

conflict of interest and graft.

At least 20% of scientists and physicians

working for the FDA admit that they have been

“pressured” into approving medications

prematurely. (48) The office of the Inspector

General (OIG) even commented that: “The

workload pressures increasingly challenge the

effectiveness of the [drug] review process.”

A former commissioner of the FDA even

pleaded guilty to charges of lying and conflict-of

interest in connection with stock ownership in

pharmaceutical companies that he regulated while

heading the FDA. (49)

Homœopathy approaches the prescription

problem from an altogether different perspective.

Homœopathic medications, even when utilized in

combination protocols (as opposed to Classical

prescriptions which utilize only one homœopathic

medicine at a time) are extremely safe because they

are not chemically-based formulations, nor are they

drugs or herbs.

Investigations into the safety of homœopathic

medicines performed by organizations including the

U.S. FDA indicate an extremely low incidence of

adverse events associated with their use. Reports

filed with poison control centers and regulatory

agencies demonstrate that homœopathic remedies

are only “infrequently” involved in adverse

reactions. (50) Many of these reports actually

overestimate the role of Homœopathic side effects

because herbal and nutritional supplements are

frequently misclassified as homœopathic.

A review performed by the Royal London

Homœopathic Hospital (51) surveying all published

works between 1970 and 1995, including a

comprehensive worldwide literature search and

inquiries into regulatory agencies and manufacturers

of homœopathic products revealed that the adverse

effects from homœopathic treatment were

consistently “mild and transient.” The most

common symptoms reported in complaints were

headache, fatigue, rash, vertigo, and diarrhea. These

adverse effects occurred at about the same

frequency as side effects from placebo. A recent

prospective observational tracking study of more

than one thousand acute prescriptions at the

Glasgow Homœopathic Hospital recorded adverse

events or associations at less than 2%. (52)

Classical Homœopathy, unlike allopathic

treatment, does not advocate mixing different

medicines for different symptoms or coexisting

conditions. Classical homœopaths prescribe one

single medicine at a time encompassing the “totality

of symptoms” and addressing the myriad of

connected complaints of individual patients. When

homœopathic medicines are prescribed according to

Classical guidelines and the Law of Similars, they

simply lack the potential for serious or life-

threatening side effects.

Some patients receiving homœopathic

treatment do report feeling worse for a brief period

of time after starting homœopathic remedies.

Homœopaths call this as an “initial aggravation” and

interpret it positively as a sign that the remedy is

beginning to stimulate the self-healing properties of

the body. The healing reaction provoked by

Homœopathy can also lead to a temporary

recurrence of old (and forgotten) symptoms from

earlier conditions. This provocation usually

resolves itself after a brief period of time.

Unscrupulous individuals or groups who

produce and market products falsely labeled as

“homœopathic” may also add to the confusion and

thereby distort the actual number of side effects

from veritable homœopathic products. Some

practitioners claiming to be “homœopaths” may

even recommend improper use and non-

homœopathic use of reputable homœopathic

products thereby raising the number of ADRs.

All medicines are capable of producing ADRs,

even homœopathic medicines is that these events are

extremely rare and almost never life-threatening,

even in cases of gross negligence. Strictly adhering

to a Classical homœopathic protocol for treatment

provided by a licensed health care provider, trained

in Homœopathy, is one way of assuring the greatest

possible benefits and the least possible side effects

and complications from homœopathic treatment.

Homœopathic medicines do not appear to

interfere with conventional allopathic drugs. Since

homœopathic medicines do not appear to act by

chemical, herbal, or pharmaceutical mechanisms,

they do not interact by these means either. They are

not responsible for drug-drug interactions. They do

not appear to interact with foods or beverages.

There is no doubt that the safety profile of

homœopathic medicines is superior to that of

allopathic drugs.

Conclusion

Part I of this series addressed problems inherent

in the current health care crisis and some of the

barriers that have prevented truly objective

scientific investigations into Homœopathy. Part II

continued this investigation by reviewing examples

of research in Homœopathy as well as data on its

safety profile.

Many existing studies on Homœopathy do

show that it provides therapeutic advantages not

only when compared with placebo, but against

conventional allopathic therapies as well. When

Homœopathy is utilized according to homœopathic

guidelines, not just applied randomly in blinded

trials, it has the potential to improve symptoms and

effectively manage both acute and chronic

conditions.

So far, the studies in this field have been limited

both by a lack of funding and by a lack of

understanding and public awareness of the

advantages of Homœopathy. There are serious

problems with Randomized Controlled Studies

when they are applied to Homœopathy, but

observational studies appear to offer a more realistic

appraisal of homœopathic care. The quality of

meta-analyses seems to depend upon some of the

selection criteria that are utilized when studies are

included and excluded from the analysis.

Overall, studies from a variety of sources

suggest that Homœopathy not only has a respectable

track record of treatment, but also has an excellent

safety profile. The evidence presented in this paper

suggests that a much greater investment of public

funds should be made in Homœopathy. This

investment is not only warranted by objective proof,

but also by repeated analyses throughout the

available literature.

The implementation of more complementary

and alternative medical (CAM) therapies such as

Homœopathy will be necessary if the current health

care crisis in the U.S. today is today is to be

effectively resolved. Strong efforts should be made

to increase both the academic and clinical support of

research into this and other related fields as soon as

possible. The integration of homœopathic

principles and homœopathic medicine should be

encouraged at all levels of our society. (53)

“What then should be our attitude toward

Homœopathy? Rather than stressing its

implausibility and the notion that its practice fits the

definition of quackery or represents a cult, we might

prefer to opt for a more constructive approach…

Until such evidence is available, we ought to keep

an open mind and remember that a treatment might

work even if we fail to understand why.” (54)

This paper was first presented at the “Systems

and symbiosis” Conference hosted by New York

Medical College. The American Institute of

Homœopathy (55) and The Homeopathic Medical

Society of the State of New York (56) in Tarrytown,

New York on October 23, 2008.

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=======================================

8. The Concept of Health – in the History of

Medicine and in the Writings of Hahnemann*

SCHMIDT*, Josef M. (HOM. 99, 3/2010)

Introduction

Considering the precarious condition of human

existence, vulnerable, dependent on, and

susceptible to, a many and variable influences, the

desire for and appreciation of an undisturbed and

steady state of good health seems to be quite natural

and an anthropological constant. In fact, throughout

the ages people have strived to secure, protect, and

restore – or even to enhance and prolong – the

precious moments of well being that they may have

experienced from time to time amidst their ordinary

troubled lives. Accordingly, medicine was invented

and developed to prevent, relieve, and cure diseases,

to reduce or eliminate, as far as possible, any

impairment or injury to health.

In modern times, the demands of patients and

claims of doctors towards the optimum state of

health, have increased considerably. People are no

longer content with being or becoming relatively

healthy after medical treatment, but instead want to

become healthier or attain the healthiest state

possible. After all, who would refrain from having

a bigger house, a faster car, or a higher salary – if he

could choose? Yet, contrary to measurable things

that can be compared quantitatively, for health there

is no uniform scale for assessing what is to be

considered good, better, or best health. on the

contrary, everything depends on the conceptual

framework which underlies this notion. That is why

people do not necessarily mean the same thing when

they talk about health.

History of medicine

In the history of medicine, we can find very

different approaches as to how people of different

cultures and periods tried to conceptualize what

they envisaged as a healthy state of being.

Interestingly, the number of concepts to be found in

all sources is not infinite, but relatively limited, if

examined systematically. There are just a couple of

principles humans use to delineate in theoretical

terms what they have in mind when they think of

health. Analyzed thus, relevant statements from

medical doctrines (including Hahnemann’s

Homœopathy) consist only of specific

combinations of these recurring paradigms.

*Revised version of a paper presented at the 64th Congress of the

Liga Medicorum Homœopathica Internationalis in Warsaw,

Poland, on 27 August 2009.

1. One of the oldest and still current paradigms is

the concept of health as a state of harmony – in

the broadest sense. This basic pattern of

thinking may be applied to a variety of

relations, depending on the underlying

ontology. Referring for instance to one’s

relationship to Gods or ancestors (as in

prehistoric and ancient cultures), healthy living

would mean a life pleasing to God or to be on

good terms with the deceased.1 The same

paradigm of harmony, however, can be used

with reference to the individual’s relationship

to society, her/his family, or partner (as in

modern bio-psycho-social models of health),2

to the environment (as in ecological models) or

to the cosmos as a whole (as in medieval

models of correspondence between microcosm

and macrocosm). Or the focus of the paradigm

is on the relationship between body and soul (as

in psychosomatics), different parts of the body

(like the Hippocratic humours, the four

classical qualities, or the modern atoms and

molecules), or functions of the body (like

incitability and excitement, as in Brownianism;

spasm and atony, as in the doctrine of William

Cullen; or the distribution of a nervous

fluidum, as in Mesmerism).3 Ultimately, even

the modern concept of ‘steady state’ is based on

the idea of a harmony between incoming and

outgoing fluxes. In all these variations of the

concept of health as harmony, therapy comes

down to an impulse to achieve harmonization,

balance, or compensation.

2. Opposed to this way of thinking, health can

also be imagined as the result of struggle.

Again, depending on the underlying ontology,

the fundamental struggle can be assumed to

take place between Gods and demons (as

between Ahura Mazda and Ahriman, as in the

ancient Persian religion of Zoroastrianism),4 or

between psychic, religious, or political

influences (as in the guarding against foreign

infiltration, as in concepts of national health in

the nineteenth and twentieth century). The

same paradigm is also the basic thought of all

versions of germ theory, whether concerning

worms and parasites or bacteria, viruses, etc.

The therapeutic strategy in all these cases is the

attempt to overcome, defeat, or eliminate the

corresponding adversary. Health is the final

victory over the threatening agent.

* Correspondence: Josef M Schmidt, Department of the History

of Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich (LMU),

Lessingstr. 2, 80336 Munich, Germany.

3. Unlike these opposite paradigms, health can

also be seen as a dialectical process; without

knowing of disease we could not even think

about health. visualizing a continuous scale

with the two extreme points health and disease,

the most common state would evidently be a

mixture of both, i.e. neither being totally

healthy nor totally ill. The first to propose this

concept were the Alexandrian physicians

Herόphilos and Erasίstratos (third century

BCE). Other great thinkers emphasized a

positive, relative, or pedagogical value of

illness, for instance for the perfection of the art

of living or the development of heart and soul

(such as Goethe and Novalis).5 The German

mystic Eckhart called disease the golden path

(via aurea) to real health, i.e. health in God.

Among the Bohemians of the nineteenth and

twentieth century disease was even, in a sense,

glorified since it was believed to be a

precondition for artistic creativity. Similarly,

in esoteric circles, inspired by the New Age

movement, illness is not seen as a useless

disaster, but rather as a chance and a help for

future spiritual growth.

4. Another vision of health is the concept of a

hierarchical order. For example an advocate of

ancient Greek democracy, Alkmaion of

Croton, defined health as a state of isonomy,

i.e. equal rule by all constituents of the

organism, while monarchia, i.e. the

predominance of one single party, he

considered to be a disease. For Plato, however,

health was the supremacy of the soul over the

body, and, within the three parts of the soul,

supremacy of the rational part over the desirous

one. Hegel’s notion of health implied the

subordination of the anorganic under the

organic, and Hufeland’s concept of life force

again meant its mastery over the physical

organism. Strictly speaking, theories of

proportion, symmetry, or beauty are all based

on the idea of a graduated hierarchy of relevant

parts. The same applies to the ancient Egyptian

term ‘ma’ at’, which implied justice in the

political sphere as well as health in the sphere

of medicine.6

5. Health as potentiality is a concept derived from

the life-world of craftsmen in the Greek polis.

For Aristotle motion was the actualization of a

potentiality or capability. Thus, health can be

seen as the presupposition of one’s ability to

move or to accomplish something. The

healthier one is, the more possibilities and

options one has. In this sense, Hildegard of

Bingen for instance called health a ‘greenness’

(viriditas)7 In German Idealism health means

fit to fight, and in the labour market to be fit for

work. For Nietzsche health was the potential

for augmentation, enhancement, and

transgression. In general, being healthy in the

sense of disposing of high potentially should be

recognizable for instance in longevity,

optimism, and cheerfulness.

6. The heading health as transcendence comprises

all religious, spiritual, mystic, or ascetic

concepts of health. for the Greek philosopher

Diogenes for instance the healthiest life and

behavior consisted of asceticism. For the

Stoics a kind of dispassion (apatheίa) and for

Epicurus calmness of the mind (ataraxίa) was

the healthiest state of the soul. Marcus

Aurelius aspired to tranquility of the soul

(tranquillitas animi) through self-control. In

the early Christian movement of ‘Christus

medicus’ health was perceived as nearness to

God and people tried to achieve this state

through imitation of Christ. The famous

Persian physician and philosopher Avicenna

declared that healing of the soul is only

possible through understanding. In the

Rennaissance a so-called ‘body of grace’ was

sought through mystic intensification, and

some women mystics exulted in pain,

suffering, and bleeding, because these were

venerated as ‘darts of Christ’ in their own body,

through which they would get closer to him and

become spiritually healthy.8

7. Health as autonomy indicates that health can

also be interpreted as the result of conscious

action, taking responsibility for oneself. This

approach can be traced back to antiquity when

health was conceptualized as a virtue by writers

such as Aristotle, Cicero, or Seneca: a direct

result of one’s own self-control and

temperance. According to Renaissance

educational literature, health was the result of

wisdom and education of the paterfamilias.

Alternatively health was comprehended as a

result of complying with special dietary

regimes (as in early Islamic culture), a solitary

and contemplative life (vita solitaria et

contemplative, as with Petrarch),9 or the appeal

to a moral life (as with Ulrich von Hutten).

8. The paradigm differing most from the ones

mentioned so far, is that of causality. From

time immemorial humans had thought and

conducted research in terms of causality,

including medicine. Galen for example

distinguished between healthy, unhealthy and

neutral causes (causae salubres, insalubres,

neutrae). Also Renaissance magical techniques

implied a good deal of causal thinking. This

paradigm however developed an entirely new

form with the scientific revolution of the

seventeenth century, when causal-mechanical

and quantitative reasoning became the basic

paradigm of science par excellence.10 In

medicine, this kind of reductionistic rationality

did not breakthrough until nineteenth century,

but since then has thrust all other approaches

into the background. It limits itself to the

investigation of the interplay of material

structures of the body. On these premises,

health is something like the most efficient and

economical course of physical and chemical

actions.

9. Influenced by the paradigms causality and

autonomy governments took measures to

improve the health of the citizens. In the

eighteenth century the public health movement

started, with health legislation, organization,

and ‘health police’. Health education was

promoted, and health catechisms were printed.

Kant proclaimed health as a duty because it

promotes morality.11 The political background

of the new governmental efforts towards

health, however, was utilitarianism and

mercantilism. In the same spirit new sciences

were introduced, for instance sociology as

‘social physics’ (by Auguste Comte) and

hygiene as ‘doctrine of science of health’ (by

Max von Pettenkofer). In Germany the

medical curriculum was reformed by

legislation; from 1861 the philosophical exam

was dropped and substituted by an intermediate

test in natural sciences (tentamen physicum).12

10. At all times, beside the mainstream there were

tributary streams as well. This is especially

true for post-modernity in which a multitude

of currents co-exist simultaneously. In the

medical market for instance a plurality or

broad variety of alternative concepts of health

are offered.13 But each includes a combination

of the basic paradigms mentioned above.

They may be inspired by insights of quantum

physics, systems theory, chaos research,

theory of self-organisation, autopoiesis, etc.

and recombined among each other. The

existence and attraction of such theories to a

considerable part of the population indicate

that simple causal-mechanical thinking, as

predominating in modern medicine, does not

sufficiently explain phenomena of the life-

world of patients including their conceptions

of health. Hence, in the 21st century there is

still a need to refer to the other, seemingly

outdated, paradigms as well.

The writings of Hahnemann

Samuel Hahnemann (1755 – 1843) lived before

the triumphant advance of the scientific method

within medicine in the nineteenth century had

reduced the art of healing to a paradigmatic

monoculture. In his day it was still possible for

protagonists of medicine to avail themselves of

a very broad spectrum of concepts. In fact, the

professional discussions of that period

(German Idealism and German Romanticism)

are full of reminiscences of all the paradigms

mentioned here.14 Also Hahnemann was open

to and familiar with all of them.

1. As to the concept of health as harmony for

instance it is obvious to refer to Hahnemann’s

well-known definition of disease as a

derangement of the life force,15 which has its

parallel in the conception of health as a state of

harmonious tuning of the life force. Indeed, the

very idea of tuning does not make sense

without a basic concept of harmony.

Correspondingly, at various places in the

‘harmonious course of life’ or ‘harmonious

play of life’.16

2. Health as a result of struggle, on the other hand,

is another constant idea pervading

Hahnemann’s writings from the beginning. He

describes many pathogenetic influences,

against which the organism has to protect and

defend itself. The spectrum ranges from

physical, climatic, and geographical to mental,

emotional, and imaginary influences up to the

pathogens of acute and chronic infectious

diseases. Since in Hahnemann’s day bacteria,

viruses, and most protozoa were unknown, he

used less sharply defined terms, such as

contagion, miasm, or just ‘tinder of

infection’.17 In any case, according to the

concept, the mission of medicine is to help

patients to overcome and defeat the hostile

intruders, as for instance in cholera.

3. Interestingly, Hahnemann’s vision of the

interaction between organism and pathogenetic

agents (or medicinal substances) was not

confined to a simple alternative, such as victory

or defeat, but also implied dialectical elements.

His concept of aggravation for example rests on

the presupposition that a (temporal)

deterioration of symptoms need not necessarily

mean a worsening of the state of health. On the

contrary, an addition of complaints and

ailments under therapy can be a sign of a

restitution process and finally lead to a better

state of health than before.18 The same applies

to drug proving which according to

Hahnemann, has a roborant effect on the

prover.19

4. Despite emancipatory movements, such as the

French Revolution, hierarchical thinking was

still very common in Hahnemann’s day.

Hence, to medical thinkers it appeared more

than plausible that the relationship between the

spirit-like life principle and the physical body

has to be construed as a hierarchical order – in

analogy to feudalism, royalism, or

monotheism. Indeed, Hahnemann envisioned

the life force as supplying life and order,

enabling perception and self-preservation,

exercising teleological instinct, etc. In short, as

the autocratic ruler over the indigent,

completely dependent organism. Accordingly,

health is defined as the absolute domination of

the life force over the material body.20

5. Hahnemann’s writings do not confine

themselves in medical topics in a narrow sense.

His books and articles usually contain

philosophical, anthropological, and ethical

reflections as well.21 Like his contemporaries,

Hahnemann believed in a high vocation of Man

in the sense of being called to aspire to one’s

practical, cognitive, and spiritual perfection.22

To that purpose good health serves as a tool,23

health is seen as a potentiality for moral and

intellectual growth.

6. Closely related to health as potentiality is the

concept of health as transcendence. Although

Hahnemann was neither a confessional

dogmatic nor an active church-goer, he was

religious in a freethinking, rational sense. In

compliance with what was called ‘natural

religion’ as well as with Freemasonry (to which

he adhered as a member). Hahnemann saw for

instance the practice of medicine as a holy

service at the altar of truth and the medical

worshipper ‘directly attaching oneself to the

creator of the world’. While mental and moral

imperfections, such as indolence, laziness, and

stubbornness, prevent from achieving this

goal,24 transcending and perfecting health from

layer to layer in an ascending direction are the

keys.

7. As a child of Enlightenment, Hahnemann was

well disposed towards the idea of autonomy.

Hence, apart from his professional books on

therapeutics, he wrote many pamphlets and

articles directed to a lay public trying to inform,

educate, and enlighten the people on matters of

hygiene, dietetics, and life style.25, 26

Obviously, health is envisaged here as the

result of rational and self-governing behaviour.

8. Living at the interface of two historic eras in

terms of medical theory. Hahnemann’s

thinking was, in some respects, still bounded

by traditional concepts, while in others, already

reached out at the new scientific paradigm of

causal-mechanical explanations.27 In his early

medical writings he already spoke of ‘animal

machines’, ‘mainsprings’ of ‘clockworks’, etc.

Up to the last editions of his magnum opus, The

Organon, he explained the mechanism of

healing by the principle of similar with the

supposition of a deterministic interaction

between an alleged life force and medicinal

agents. In the later editions, he relativized his

phenomenological approach in homœopathic

case taking in favour of his doctrine of miasms

as the true causes of chronic diseases.28

Clearly, causal thinking also appealed to

Hahnemann.

9. Public health plays an important role in

Hahnemann’s writings as well, especially in his

early years. His advice and expertise on

epidemiologic, forensic, and administrative

issues show him as being inspired and driven

by the thought that health indeed is an outcome

of social-economic conditions and therefore

also a matter for political decisions.29

10. From a systematic perspective, there is no

single concept that stands out in Hahnemann’s

writings at the expense of the others. While in

the early history of medicine paradigms were

often advocated in an uncompromising,

exclusive fashion, in Hahnemann’s era it was

already common to combine principles and

methods of different theoretical approaches in

more or less eclectic systems of medical

practice. Also Hahnemann, being primarily a

practitioner rather than a theorist, did not mind

availing himself of a plurality of concepts

including harmony, struggle, dialectics,

hierarchy, potentiality, transcendence,

autonomy, causality, and politics – as long as

they proved to be useful tools in practice.

Theory of medicine

All the paradigms mentioned above can be

traced in contemporary Homœopathy as well,

although mixed up in different schools and trends.

Rather than teasing them out individually, some

general remarks on the theory of medicine may

suffice at this point.

Some authors deplore the splitting of post-

modern Homœopathy int a plurality of new

schools.30 This indicates, however, that

homœopathic doctors and health care professionals

are still (or more than ever) struggling for a general

theory of Homœopathy that would: 1. Guide them in

their practice, 2. Explain to them what they are

doing, and 3. Satisfy their intellectual, moral, and

spiritual needs. Since practitioners are human

beings, they usually want to be satisfied on all three

levels.

In my new German edition of the Organon,31

therefore, three levels of content are extracted and

distinguished: 1. Practical directions and maxims,

2. Theoretical explanations and hypotheses, and

3. Metaphysical foundations and premises, - thus

providing a solid basis for further research.32

The first level should be the easiest to settle.

Judging of practical advice and guidelines should be

empirical, based on clinical studies, and qualified

evaluations. If anywhere, there it should be possible

to reach a consensus, to demonstrate statistical

evidence, or even to talk of something like practical

truth or objectivity.

The third plane, the level of metaphysics,

concerns the religious, philosophical, and ideologic

fundamentals and individual idiosyncrasy. As

experience shows, it is difficult if not impossible to

persuade or convince anybody to modify or abandon

his subjective world view. Not even (alleged) facts

or scientific arguments seem to have a chance

against personal conviction.

Between these extremes lies the second plane,

the level of explanation or actual theory of medicine.

This is the battleground of reformers, theorists, and

systematists in the history of medicine. In this realm,

between empirical findings and metaphysical

beliefs, however, neither absolute objectivity nor

total subjectivity, neither general determinism nor

entire arbitrariness, neither plain uniformity nor

complete relativity is expected. It is the vast field of

the life sciences, of philosophy, of theory of science,

etc. And it is the level, on which physicians,

primarily have to reflect on the way they see

themselves.

Depending on their inclinations and

preferences, individual therapists may limit their

interests to applying practical rules according to

given laws that they have learned. Others may

indulge in lofty speculations, thus becoming liable to

disregard the empirical reality of their patients. Best

balanced and most appropriate to academic doctors,

however, would be the intermediate position. This,

however, implies the readiness to accept the

challenge of dispensing with the claim of absolute

truth and, instead, adopt critical thinking. Thus, by

theorizing, different paradigms of health can be

reflected, combined, and elaborated.

Such an attempt, however, requires great self-

criticism and self-reflection. Instead of naively

believing in the possibility of ever standing on firm

ground or of simply proceeding from unprejudiced

observation to reliable knowledge, the theorist of

medicine has to be aware that he is always starting

from presuppositions that cannot be demonstrated in

an absolute sense, that any system will always be

incomplete, and that nobody will ever know what is

beyond our models and theories.

Hahnemann took a similar view when he

continually emphasized that the human cognitive

faculty is limited. Leaning on Kant who

epistemologically had defined the limits of pure,

practical, and teleological reason, 33-35 Hahnemann

tried, as far as he could, to avoid notions without

possible experience as well as para-empiricism

without underlying principles.36 his main mission

was the establishment of a method of healing rather

than a universal theory of medicine. This explains

why he considered a consistent theory without

contradiction less important than its practical utility.

Hahnemann was, after all, not a philosopher.

Conclusion

All this has to be taken into account by those

who try to develop, advocate, and promote

Homœopathy in the 21st century. Claiming for

instance that Homœopathy directs patients towards

better health rather than suppressing symptoms is

certainly a promising approach, as it evokes positive

associations and can connect to popular and trendy

ideas, such as self-responsibility, holism, and

salutogenesis.37 All the more so, as it relates to

modern scientific paradigms, such as systems

theory, cybernetics, and semiology, rather than on

Cartesian linear-deterministic and causal-

mechanical thinking. Nevertheless, one has to keep

in mind that such endeavours are on the level of

theory, mainly designed to facilitate social and

political acceptance of Homœopathy rather than to

help or guide the practitioner, let alone to revitalize

Hahnemann’s practical instructions of how to cure

the sick.

Certainly, in order to make his theory of disease

and healing comprehensible to his colleagues.

Hahnemann adopted contemporary concepts, such

as life force, miasms, dynamic causes of diseases,

dynamic action of remedies, signs and symptoms,

etc. The need to use, as a tool, the ‘scientific’

language of one’s time, however, does not allow the

conclusion that, whenever a new discovery is made,

the terms and conceptions that, whenever a new

discovery is made, the terms and conceptions

prevailing at that time will necessarily be best suited

to explain it. Hence, scientists of today should feel

free to abandon nineteenth century terminology and

try to conceptualize Homœopathy in terms of

psycho-neuro-endocrino-immunology, epigenetics,

complexity, non-linearity, phenomenology, etc.

The same may apply to theoretical efforts to

grasp with modern concepts what we today regard to

be good health. as is shown by the arguments above,

apart from differences in language and emphasis, the

options in principle of how to think ‘health’ are

limited in number. Thus, the challenge is rather to

consider and balance the existing approaches in a

useful way than to entirely create new ones. From

this perspective, Hahnemann may serve less as an

example of coining new terms, advocating

temporary theories, and confronting conventional

dogmas but rather of representing a relatively

balanced view of all the dimensions concerning the

issue of health, as well as disease and healing.

The fact that Hahnemann’s therapeutic system

has been practiced all over the world for nearly 200

years, strongly suggests that, although today some of

his theoretical terms and concepts may be

controversial or outdated he found something

practically relevant and beneficial. Distinguishing

the levels of practice, theory and metaphysics opens

up a vast horizon of theoretical reflections and at the

same time guards against objections to Homœopathy

based solely on theoretical considerations.

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13. Jütte R. Geschichte der Alternativen Medizin.

München: Beck, 1996.

14. Schmidt JM. Die Entstehung, Verbreitung und

Entwicklung von Heilsystemen als Gegenstand

der Medizingeschichte – am Beispiel der

Homöopathie. [The origin, diffusiong and

development of healing doctrines in medical

history – exemplified by Homœopathy].

Sudhoffs Arch 2007; 91: 38 – 72.

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JM (ed). Neuausgabe 1999. Stuttgart: Haug,

2002, p.23, §§11, 29.

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Decker S (Transl.), O’Reilly WB (ed).

Redmond, Washington: Birdcage Books, 1996,

§§9, 16.

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(1805). In: Hahnemann S, Schmidt JM, Kaiser

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23. Hahnemann S. Organon of the medical art. §9.

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am Main: Suhrkamp, 1974, pp 103 – 302.

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Gesundheit. Tübingen; dgvt-Verlag, 1997.

=====================================

9. Homœopathic Treatment of the Multiple

Sclerosis patient

SAINE, André

(The Homeopath, Vol.10, 1/1990)

[The following repertory additions and case are part

of a longer article and one of three cases. It has been

abbreviated from the Transaction of the

Homœopathic Academy of Naturopathic

Physicians 1987 by Ian Watson. A review appears

later in this issue.]

Remedies that have been reported to have

benefited patients with MS are reported in our

repertories. In the Synthetic Repertory of Barthel the

following twenty-seven remedies are listed in

Generalities under Sclerosis, multiple: alum., arg-n.,

aur., aur-m., bar-c., bell., calc., canni-i., carb-s.,

caust., con., gels., hyosin., irid., lath., nux-v., phos.,

phys., pic-ac., plb., sil., sulph., tarent., thuj., wildb.,

xan.

Twenty-six remedies can be added from reports

of various authors: ars., agar., atrop., cham., chel.,

coloc., crot-h., cup-ar., ign., kali-p., lach., lyc., mag-

c., mag-p., med., merc., nat-m., oxac., petr., psor.,

rhus-t., sep., stram., stry-p., tub., variol., zinc., zinc-

val.

To these two lists I would add: puls., and rhod.

And elevate the grade of the following remedies:

alum., arg-n., caust., lach., NAT-M., PHOS., sep.,

SULPH.

The accumulated rubric would then be: alum.,

agar., arg-n., ars., atrop., aur., aurm., bar-c., bell.,

calc., cann-i., carb-s., caust., cham., chel., coloc.,

con., crot-h., cup-ar., gels., hyosin., ign., irid., kali-

p., lach., lath., lyc., mag-c., mag-p., med., merc.,

NAT-M., nux-v., ox-ac., petr., PHOS., phys., pic-

ac., plb., psor., puls., rhod., rhus-t., sep., sil., stram.,

stry-p., SULPH., tarent., thuj., tub., variol., wildb.,

xan., zinc-val.

Case example: D.W., 29 year-old female,

experienced the first symptom of MS in April 1983

within days of extractions of her wisdom teeth.

Ascending paresthesia and paralysis.

Great weakness. All symptoms worsened after

a car accident in June 1984. In December 1984, she

experienced a severe exacerbation during a flu. In a

wheelchair since January 1985. Now in the

progressive state. On August 28th, 1985, she

complained of burning feet and legs (3), severe

clonus of the lower extremities(3), spastic reflexes,

urinary incontinence, constipation. All symptoms of

MS are markedly worse before a storm(3) and during

lightning(3). Desires bread and farinaceous(3), and

ice-cold drinks(3). Mentions that sometimes she

would rather have several glasses of ice-cold water

than to have dinner. Chews on the ice. Worse from

spicy foods and milk.

Aversion to salt and sweet. Warm blooded but

used to be very chilly before the onset of MS.

Sensitive to extremes of temperature. Has only a

five-degree range of intolerance, but much worse

from the heat. Faintness in warm room. Aching in

shoulder joints since age 18, worse cold wet weather.

Redness of joints since age 10 worse cold wet

weather. Menses normal. Extreme fear of

thunderstorm and lightning (3), fear of being alone

(3), dark(3), high places, spiders and of being for-

saken. Anxiety about health(3). Hypersensitive to

odors (3), Impatient(3), Irritable (3), Laughs over

serious matter (3). Weeps easily (3), weeps telling

her symptoms (2). Tall and thin. Severe clonus.

Babinski bilateral. Hyper-reflexia(3). Intention

tremors. (3).

Assessment: clear case of Phosphorus. Very

good prognosis. Plan: Phosphorus 6c qid. As this

patient was referred to me by another homœopath far

away I recommended he prescribes Phosphorus in

increasing potencies and to contact me only in the

occurrence of complication.

October 26: everything is worse. Took

Phosphorus 6c qid, then 12 tid and lastly 30c with

no response. She is referred back to me. As she is

living in the mid-west and since the fall storms have

been coming through all her symptoms are much

worse. Before a storm her “body gets straight like a

bar” and experienced total body clonus. Severe

vertigo since one month, worse lying and turning in

bed(3). Paresthesia worse. Strychnicum phos 30x

bid.

October 28: no change. Very impatient(3).

Impulsive(3). In a hurry(3). Irritated easily(2).

Plan: Rhododendron 12x qid.

November 16: all symptoms were 10% worse

during the first week. Now energy 50% better.

Clonus and paresthesia 50% less. Starting to relapse.

Plan: Rhododendron 30x bid. January 6, 1986:

remission for 3 weeks. Then relapse. Took

Rhododendron 200c qid for 5 weeks. Clonus 80%

better. Now can hold up the urine 6 hours during the

day and 7 hours at night. Before had urgency is less

than 2 hours. Plan: Rhododendron 200c qid until

relapse. Then Rhododendron 1M qid.

February 3: she experiences clonus only if she

stops taking Rhododendron for more than 2 days.

Now very irritable and impatient before a storm.

Yells, curses and throws things. Can feel sensation

of hot and cold in the feet (first time in more than 6

months). Has more energy and needs less sleep.

Now desires(3) and has been experiencing pain in

the areas of the wisdom teeth, Plan: same.

February 11: she has developed the flu. Chills

extending from the tips of fingers, worse from

motion. Stiffness and back pain during chills.

Vertigo worse slight motion. Fever. Headache. Dry

mouth and thirst for cold drinks. Plan: Bryonia 12x

q½-2h.

February 13: flu is much better but relapse of

MS. Plan: Rhododendron 10M 1dose followed by

Bryonia if needed.

February 25: MS very good but has severe spells

of coughing since 1 week. Plan: Phosphorus 12x

q2h.

March 10: relapse of MS. Plan: Rhododendron

10M as needed.

March 31: felt good. Could start to move the toe

and sensation was returning up to the waist.

Trembling of the hands has decreased considerably.

She can now put her socks on by herself and drops

things less frequently. But now she has relapsed and

has stopped responding to Rhododendron. Now

worse from the wind; not so sensitive to a storm.

Irritability, impatience and MS all worse from the

wind. Plan: Chamomilla 200x bid.

May 2: 50% better. Relapse since the week after

exposure to toxic chemicals. Plan: Chamomilla 1M

bid.

May 18: no more irritability and not so sensitive

to the wind, but sensitive to storms again. Plan:

Rhododendron 50M one dose, repeat only if needed.

June 2: better. Now sensitive to slight change in

weather and temperature, and to the wind again. No

change with Rhododendron 50M. plan: Natrum

carbonicum 30x tid.

July 25: energy, moods and MS all better. Now

can tolerate the heat. Used to be exhausted after 10

minutes in the sun; now can last 2 hours with no

problem. Stool q2d. plan: Natrum carbonicum 1M

as needed.

August 17: relapse: Now worse again before a

storm. Plan: Rhododendron 50M as needed.

November 5: all is better. She has been able to

walk for the first time since December 1984. She

has been experiencing vertigo. Worse turning the

head quickly, turning in bed and raising the head too

fast. Better lying with the head elevated. Plan:

Conium 200x as needed.

November 24: could not get the Conium for

1week. She tried Bryonia 12c. No change. After

Conium the vertigo disappeared right away. Plan:

same.

December 17: relapse of the vertigo. Plan:

Conium CM one dose.

January 30, 1987: vertigo disappeared right

away after Conium. Now financial problems with

the farm; worries a lot. Relapse of MS and also of

an old peptic ulcer. Burning in stomach like fire,

worse touch(3), warm drinks(3), flatulent foods(3).

Plan: Phosphorus 30c qid until relief of pain, then as

needed.

April 29: all is better. Needs to take Phosphorus

30c q4 5d.

Postscript: June 2nd: feelings are returning in

the feet and hands. Clonus and intention tremors are

minimal. Not sensitive to storms anymore. Can

walk up to two blocks. Moods and energy are very

good.

Comments: this is a very difficult case of MS in

the progressive stage. We have observed definite

response to the remedy and a partial reversal of the

condition. It is interesting to note that she didn’t

react to the Phosphorus at first when it was so well

indicated. But only after a series of remedies did the

patient respond well to the same Phosphorus that

was left from the last use in September 1985. This

is a good example of the zigzag method as described

by Hahnemann in paragraphs 162-164 and 180-184

of the Organon. The placebo effect was not of great

help in this case. Lastly this case teaches both the

physician and the patient and her relatives to be

patient and not to lose hope even in the most difficult

situations.

10. DAY-TO-DAY MANAGEMENT OF

ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION

DAVID S. SPENCE, (BHJ. Vol. 79, 1/1990)

This is not a regurgitation of the textbooks. I

think you will find that when you use homœopathic

medicines your need for standard anti-depressants

and anxiolytics will steadily decline; this is certainly

something which I have found. Here, when you

think about it, are two groups of conventional

medicines, the anxiolytics and anti-depressants,

which really have been woefully over prescribed

during the last couple of decades in general practice.

As a result we now have hundreds of thousands of

what one might call psychotropic addicts in our land

and this because there has been a tremendous over-

prescription of these ordinary drugs. I think this is a

field where one can very quickly see some of the

very simple advantages of homœopathic medicines.

These are all pretty well known to you:

- Freedom from side-effects, such a

big problem with the phychotropic group of

drugs, and then this particular factor.

- Safety from the possibility of

overdosage.

This is very useful area when using

homœopathic therapeutics in the acute situation in

general practice because, obviously, there is always

a problem, or at any rate a potential problem, of

patients taking an overdose of their tablets. This has

happened to me on a number of occasions where one

has prescribed remedies for a patient and later the

same day relatives have rang up and said:

‘HORRORS, VERONICA has taken the whole

bottle’. It is very nice to just be able to say: ‘Well,

that’s fine and not to worry about it at all,’ because

you are not going to do any damage. So that is really

quite an important point in being able to use

homœopathic therapeutics in this particular field:

and then, of course, there is an important point:

- That homœopathic medicines are

free from problems of drug abuse or

addiction.

I am going to review a number of medicines

some of which are very major medicines, but I only

want to highlight that part of their Materia Medica

which is pertinent to the field of anxiety and

depression as encountered in general practice, and I

want to indicate some of the clinical situations in

which I find these medicines useful. Very largely

speaking I will be talking about what I might call the

neurotic or emotional rather than the psychotic end

of the scale. I think treating true psychoses using

homœopathic therapeutics is extremely difficult and

probably not something for you to try getting

involved in too quickly. I think it is also fair to say

that true psychotic patients are relatively uncommon

in the average practice. When you think around all

the patients you have in your practice who might fall

into this group of patients, where anxiety and

depression might be the diagnosis, you will probably

think to yourself that there is only a very small

number of them who are truly psychotic.

So we are going to be looking at medicines

which would be useful for the vast majority of these

patients you see in the average practice. I think it

goes without saying that the nearer you get to the

totality of the symptoms of your patient the better

suited the medicine is going to be and the better

result you are going to get: but that is not always

possible in an NHS general practice; we cannot set

about long histories in the middle of the morning

surgery. You may however recall me saying on the

Introductory Course that if you’ve been in a practice

for a while, you probably know your patient, so that

you are going to be able to fill in some of the picture

from your previous knowledge.

Take advantage of that and, secondly, be as

observant as you possibly can be, because there are

many things that you can observe and which will

help you to enlarge the picture and get as close as

possible to the totality. As we run through some of

the medicines I do not intend to go through massive

amounts of Materia Medica. You can look them up

for yourselves. This is not an exercise in spoon-

feeding. What I am trying to do is to jog your

memories or give you some ideas of medicines that

may be helpful and I shall rely on you to go away

and look the medicines up: look up the repertory and

see which medicines you might feel are going to be

appropriate for you to use.

Anxiety

There are 37 medicines in bold type in the

‘anxiety’ rubric in KENT’s Repertory and there are

a further 87 medicines in italic type, let alone the

number that there are in ordinary type. So there are

a large number of medicines involved. Now if we

stick with the repertory and look at depression, we

do not actually find depression as such in the

repertory. It comes under ‘sadness’. You will find

that the main rubric is sadness, and then in

parentheses after that it says ‘mental depression’. In

that rubric we have got 47 remedies which are in

bold type and a further 91 which are in italics. If we

super impose these two rubrics in the repertory you

can see that these are the medicines many of them

you would expect to see which actually come

through.

Aconite you might expect; Arsenicum;

Lycopodium. These are the ones which come

through in bold type. Now there are obviously some

in bold type in the sadness rubric which are not in

both. Aurum is there, of course. All the other

remedies that are in the anxiety rubric are in the

depression rubric as well; all of these are in fact in

italics, with the exception of Bismuth which does not

appear at all in the depression rubric, and Secale

which only appears in ordinary type. That covers the

two main rubrics in the repertory.

Do look at the repertory—look at these

particular rubrics—look at the medicines which

come through strongly and consider how useful they

might be to you in clinical practice. When we break

it down a bit, staying with the repertory again, if you

qualify anxiety, you find that the medicine lists

become very much smaller.

This means that under anxiety we then start

looking at situations in which the patient is anxious,

e.g. during thunderstorms = Phosphorus. There are

only bold type remedies. So you have only got one

medicine coming through in bold type there, and one

can, in fact, narrow it down very well. Anxiety

anticipating an engagement: Argentum nitricum is

the only bold type remedy. Notice the medicines that

come through on a number of occasions—

Arsenicum for instance comes through as a bold type

remedy in quite a number of places. This

immediately gives you the impression of the anxious

nature of the Arsenicum patient. The repertory is

really quite helpful and informative if one looks

through it in this way to see which medicines come

out strongly in bold type in any particular group of

rubrics. So do look at it and see how it will be

helpful in directing you to medicines you should

consider.

Let us move on now to practical clinical

situations, keeping with anxiety to begin with. How

do you think I felt this morning at the prospect of

having to give this lecture? Terribly anxious—so

you might be thinking of some medicines that are

apprehensive and anxious. If we look at this

rubric—‘anxiety, anticipating an engagement’ we

have got Argentum nit. down there in bold type;

Gelsemium and Medorrhinum are the other two

remedies that are in that rubric. ‘Anxiety, if a time

is set’ is another rubric which would be appropriate

to me this morning. Argentum nit. in italics and

again Gelsemium and Medorrhinum. There is a

rubric under ‘Fear; church or opera when ready to

go’; Argentum nit. again in bold type and Gelsemium

in italics. Then of course, there is the rubric for

anticipation, where you get these medicines coming

through and again. You have got those three we

have been talking about; Argentum nit., Gelsemium,

Medorrhinum, together with the other three:

Arsenicum, Lycopodium, Silica.

Argentum nit., and Gelsemium, I suggest are the

two most useful ones in every-day general practice;

what one might call specifics or semi specifies for

this type of problem—for the chap who is coming up

to London to give a lecture and is really very nervous

and apprehensive about it. People who are worried

about flying, about taking their driving tests, about

forthcoming exams, all these sorts of common

everyday situations that we meet in general practice.

So those one might think of very much as the more

‘local’ medicines, as one may call them.

Arsenicum and Lycopodium are rather deeper-

acting medicines that I tend to think of much more

in a constitutional way and they are obviously very

useful in the patient who you feel is close to that

particular constitution. So many people ring up in

general practice—the mums ring up and say:

‘Georgina’s got her A-levels in a fortnight and she’s

in a terrible state about it; or she’s taking Grade VI

piano or whatever, can the doctor give her

anything?” There would I suggest that Argentum nit.

and Gelsemium are the two medicines that you

would consider top of the list.

Those two may be considered in more detail.

The Materia Medica of Argentum nit.: fearful,

anxious, apprehensive—those are the strong

features. Anxiety causes diarrhea. The patient may

well tell you that they have a terribly loose tummy

just prior to doing something. It is very much the

patient who is a little on the neurotic side. That is a

frontline thing to think about. You have been

through all the other general features of Argentum

nit. already this morning, so we will skate across

them.

Gelsemium has effects of fright, fear,

excitement/trembling. This is a very strong feature

of the patient who needs Gelsemium, so watch out

for it and ask for it if necessary. For stage fright,

exam nerves, all the sort of situations that I have

mentioned to you just now, Gelsemium may be

extremely useful. Particularly the trembling; the

patient who tells you that they get into a terrible state

of the trembles with something that they have got to

do—very useful for people who are taking things

like piano exams—it is very difficult to play the

piano when you are trembling! This, then, is the

remedy to think of for the patient who is anxious

before exams or anything they have got to do, where

trembling is a particular feature.

Going back to our ‘anticipation’ rubric, we will

mention in passing out old friend Lycopodium:

sensitive, anxious, apprehensive—those are very

much the mental features of Lycopodium.

Intellectual people very often have an anticipatory

fear of failure. Consider, therefore, whether the

patient is a Lycopodium type, at any rate in a

situation like this. You might use Lycopodium for

this particular situation of apprehension about a

forthcoming ordeal.

Staying with anxiety, it is obvious that the closer

we get to the totality of the symptoms the better we

are going to be able to help the patient. We therefore

need to look for very much more detail if we are

going to do something which is in the long term more

helpful. We are going to do better to use one of the

more major medicines or polychrests. If you are

using Argentum nit. or Gelsemium as a specific I tend

to use it in the 6th potency, but you could equally well

use it in the 30th potency and give it twice or three

times a day. Either potency would be perfectly

adequate and if you are beginning I would perhaps

stick with the 30th potency. It saves you having other

things to consider.

Thinking of constitutional remedies: some of

these medicines are particularly anxious. Arsenicum

is a very anxious medicine; Lycopodium is also a

very anxious medicine; Phosphorous tends to be

rather anxious and I think one would say Silica was

also rather anxious. A number of the others also

have anxiety as part of their mental picture. If we

were to consider three major anxiety medicines—we

have already looked at Argentum nit. this morning—

the other two would be Arsenicum and Lycopodium.

Arsenicum: think of anxious, restless, fearful,

fastidious—these are the four main mental

symptoms of the Arsenicum patient. The

aggravation time is particularly important and they

tend to be very chilly patients. You may well able to

cast your mind round some people in the practice and

actually think of patients who are like this; rather

restless, anxious people who are frightfully

pernickety, fussy and tidy and have to have

everything done just so. That type of patient would

be very well suited by Arsenicum and if you can use

it on a constitutional basis you will do much more

long term good for the patient.

Now let us come back to Lycopodium. This is

an extremely useful medicine, one which was

originally proved by Hahnemann and a substance

which, of course, had previously been thought to be

totally inert. It is made from the spores of the club

moss and had been used for all sorts of things—

wrapping pills, etc. – in the past because it was

thought to be inert. It was not until HAHNEMANN

prepared it by trituration that it was realized that the

spores had medicinal properties. It is an oily

substance in the spores which has medicinal

properties and you need to fracture the spores in

order to release it.

When we look at HAHNEMANN’s provings

we get the impression of a severely dyspeptic

patient. Indigestion discolours the whole of his life;

anxious and irritable, muddle and confused. Most of

his troubles follow the consumption of food; the

heartburn, the waterbrash, the flatulence, the

rumblings, the fullness and distension, the

discomfort in the rectum occur over and over again

in the provings. Other mucous membranes are also

affected; the nose, the conjunctivae, the pharynx and

urinary tract. But with all the provings of

Lycopodium none is more clearly determined than

the profound effect on the digestion and the

excessive production of wind. So these are the

things that come through very strongly in the

provings and in fact it is in many of the later Materia

Medicas that one gets the mental side coming out

rather more strongly. These patients tend to look

older than their years. Now do not be too misled by

appearance; it can be helpful, but it can also be

misleading if you put too much exphasis on it; but

with Lycopodium that can be quite a large feature.

Worried frown, the anxiety—tends to be visible in

the Lycopodium patients. They are frequently

intellectual people; frequently professional people,

teachers, accountants, doctors, people like that; but

do not debar people from being Lycopodium if you

just think they are not very intellectual or intelligent.

It is however frequently useful in people who have a

strong intellect.

They are very sensitive patients, sensitive in a

very large variety of ways. Sensitive to all sorts of

impulses that they get and as a result they can be

rather sort of crabby and irritable. They are often

very irritable with their children—especially small

children; it is almost as though they are a bit above

that, and they really cannot quite cope with the sort

of endless nagging of little children. So they are

emotional people although they do not really like to

show their emotions; a little bit like Natrum mur.

here. But they do tend to be emotional people and

they will do strange, things like burst into tears when

somebody is thanking them for something, and so

the emotions do come out sometimes. Then they

have the anxiety that I have already mentioned,

apprehension about forthcoming things—a very

strong feature. There is another very important

feature with the Lycopodium patient: when they

actually come to do what they have got to do they do

it quite well-probably much above their own

expectations. There are other medicines that also

have apprehension but do not perform terribly well

when they actually come to do what they have got to

do. These two things grouped together—the

apprehension, and yet dealing with the problem well

when it arrives—very much fit the Lycopodium

picture.

They have this strange almost contradictory

thing of fearing to be alone yet are not keen on

company. It sounds contradictory on paper but it is

not really. They are not terribly keen on company

and socializing in that way. They fear being alone

particularly when they are unwell. The books say of

Lycopodium that they fear being alone: they do not

want anybody in the room with them but they would

like to know somebody’s in the house so that they

can call them if they need to. So they have a very

fear of being alone, particularly when unwell.

You may also pick this up: making mistakes in

speech and writing. Some patients will complain of

that, professional people especially, you may find

them actually telling you about that particular

problem. Fitting it in together with this mental

picture of Lycopodium you will get the whole

picture quite well.

The time aggravation can be very useful; you

may not find it but it is a very strong feature

sometimes is Lycopodium patients. It can be

morning or evening. Much more commonly we

think of it as a 4-8p.m. time aggravation, or perhaps

4-6 p.m. dragging on till 8 p.m. and then better again

that. But you do see some Lycopodium patients who

suffer a lot from waking up in the early morning and

worrying. They are the sort of patients who are

awake at 4 and 5 O’clock in the morning and worry

about all the things that are going to happen in the

day that lies ahead. He often go to sleep again and

have great difficulty waking up when it is time to

actually get up. So you see this time aggravation in

the early morning.

You may well find that your Lycopodium patient

has the main strong dyspeptic symptoms of the

Lycopodium Materia Medica. You may have to dig

for it, but it is always worth asking in passing. One

quick question: ‘What is your digestion like?’ will

often reveal quite a lot and might just help to cement

the picture for you and make you realize that this is

the right medicine to use.

This is Lycopodium used much more in a

constitutional way. You may give the same patient,

off the cuff. Argentum nit. or Gelsemium for a

particular event, but if you are going to actually help

them to be a good deal better, to raise their base line

as it were and therefore, their resistance to the

anxiety problem, you need to treat the Lycopodium

constitution.

DEPRESSION

I think it is worth looking at some types of

emotion and thinking about the medicines that might

be appropriate, because very often your depressed

patient has in fact got some emotional disturbance

and it may well be that the remedy that is applicable

to that emotional disturbance will be the one that is

best indicated.

ANGRY MEDICINE: These are the medicines to

think about in a patient whose depression is really

very much bound up with anger over a particular

situation. Somebody asked Dr. LEARY earlier on

about using other forms of treatment: whether we

would use psychotherapy or whatever. Obviously it

is of paramount importance dealing with this group

of conditions, that one goes behind the presenting

symptoms and tries to find out what is at the root of

it all, because putting that right is going to be

probably the most important thing. Think about

Colocynthis, Nux vomica, Chamomilla. Those are

three particularly angry medicines and may be very

appropriate.

RESENTMENT. This is a very very potent

cause of reactive depression in general practice.

Staphysagria has resentment as an extremely strong

feature; they tend to be very irascible patients; very

angry and irritable but they have got this terrific

underlying resentment about something that has

happened or is happening. This may be some

problem at work which they are extremely resentful

about—somebody’s got promotion over them when

they feel they should have got it. Staphysagria may

well be the key to unlock that depression and

improve the situation. Natrum mur. is another

medicine which has resentment very strongly in its

Materia Medica. These patients are much less

forthcoming of course—we will come back to them.

THE WEEPY PATIENT. Think of Pulsatilla

as the first thing you might consider, although a

number of other medicines may present as being

weepy: Ignatia,which we will come back to, comes

under this heading; Sepia can also be quite weepy.

Pulsatilla has the very mild type of temperament

which is very weepy as well. Ignatia is very much

more the hysterical type of picture—the hysterical

type of temperament which is also weepy.

THE INDIFFERENT PATIENT. Sepia, very

indifferent; indifferent particularly to family and

loved ones; as opposed to Phosphorus which is

really rather what I would call ‘apathetic when ill’.

Phosphorus does not tend to be indifferent at all

when well. They are very effervescent and vivacious

people when they are well, but they tend to get rather

100

apathetic when they are unwell. This can

particularly be seen in the depressed Phosphorus

patient, who can have a very acute, deep, black

depression and be very apathetic indeed. It may of

course be very useful for you to find out from the

family what they are normally like if you do not

know them. But in the general practice situation you

probably do know them and you may know that they

are now very different to how they usually are.

SYMPATHETIC PEOPLE. Phosphorus and

Causticum particularly have that as a strong feature;

not terribly relevant to depression.

FRIGHT AND SHOCK are relevant. Aconite is

one of the medicines on our programme and is a

medicine very useful in the situation of fright or

shock.

SUICIDAL. We have talked about Aurum met.

JEALOUSY AND SUSPICION—with

Lachesis and Hyoscyamus also. We have skated

over all those already.

Let us consider some of these medicines in more

detail.

Aconite is purely an acute medicine. Look for

this mental picture in the patient who needs Aconite

in the acute situation, fear and terror, intense anxiety,

very restless, very panic stricken. Aconite will be

your medicine of choice there. Repeated frequently

this very short acting medicine would be very useful

in that particular situation.

Ignatia is particularly useful under the heading

of grief. I use it in what I call the situation of acute

grief as opposed to the sub-acute or chronic, which

is very much more Natrum mur.. Ignatia covers the

effects of shock and grief and disappointment—you

will nearly always find the hysterical element in the

patient who needs Ignatia. Very emotional people;

a lot of sighing and sobbing, and can be really quite

melancholy and depressed. An interesting symptom

is a sensation of a lump in the throat—‘globus

hystericus’. Ignatia is very useful for that and,

heaven knows, it is not easy to treat using ordinary

therapeutics; that is something for which Ignatia can

be extremely useful. Ignatia is very useful for that

sort of situation; later on the same day she takes the

whole bottle and you are quite safe. That has

happened to me several times. Ignatia is therefore

very useful in that particular acute situation:

hysterical weeping, effects of shock, grief,

disappointment, etc.

Natrum mur. is a much more deep-acting

medicine for use in the depression that may follow

grief or bereavement. These patients are not easy to

get details out of. They can be weepy patients but

they will only weep when they are alone; they do not

like to show their emotions; they are very much

people who bottle everything up; they cannot

express their emotions; they do not like to anyway,

because they do not like to be seen; and of course,

there is one strong feature; they cannot bear to be

consoled or anybody to make a fuss or bother over

them. Think of this in bereavement situations for the

sub-acute or chronic situation; ill effects of grief;

depressed patients can be a little bit on the irritable

side; they have this lovely phrase applied to them in

some of the books: ‘nice to know but awful to live

with’, and I think there is quite a bit of truth about

that. They are very poor at mixing with other people;

they like a lot of their own company and they are not

good at mixing with others.

There are lot of other features; obviously, it is a

very large medicine indeed, with strong general

features. They often have a salt modality. I have not

put down ‘desires salt’, which it says in most of the

books; you do occasionally meet a patient who

actually does not like salt but who really is a Natrum

mur. patient. But they often or nearly always will

have a salt modality. Similarly they frequently have

a seaside modality and they are nearly always worse

at the seaside, but occasionally one can get the

opposite. They are chilly patients—this is another of

these apparently rather contradictory statements.

They tend to be chilly patients, but they are definitely

worse for heat, for humid muggy heat and therefore

worse in stuffy rooms. These are very strong

adjuvant factors, general modalities, and yet the

patients may tell you that they tend to be rather

chilly. So that you see (you get that a little bit with

Pulsatilla as well) they can be chilly patients but

very much made worse for a fug and for humid heat.

Think of Natrum mur. as a more deep-acting

remedy in your depressed patient who has suffered

very much from the ill effects of grief and who has

this particular mental picture. Now if we go back to

the depression of sadness/mental depression rubric

in the repertory, all these medicines are in fact in that

rubric. So you can see how markedly emotional

disturbances come through to use, or be a very potent

factor in, any of the depressive states that we see in

every day general practice, and these are some of the

medicines which I think you will find extremely

useful.

====================================

11. MYALGIC ENCEPHALO-MYELITIS:

WHAT HOMŒOPATHY HAS TO

OFFER

Julie ALLEN, ‘Health & Homœopathy,’ Vol.4,

1/1992)

Among the most common symptoms are:

Headaches, Insomnia, Mental tiredness (Brain fag),

Depression, Poor Memory, Loss of Concentration,

101

Writing and Speech errors, Physical Exhaustion and

Tiredness, Abdominal Pains, Digestive Problem,

Cold Extremities, Fevers, Numbness, Tremors.

In addition, candida and allergies are very

common in ME sufferers.

The condition known as myalgia encephalo-

myelitis or post-viral syndrome has been much in the

news in recent years, and sufferers frequently find it

difficult if not impossible to get effective treatment.

It is thought that viruses alter our immune systems,

causing our bodies to react to stress, bacteria, toxins,

chemicals and the like.

The ME virus enters the body through the

Digestive system and affects the brain, nerves and

muscles of the sufferer. Therefore, ME begins like a

normal viral illness and then becomes severely

debilitating, to the extent that normal life generally

becomes quite impossible for the patient.

I have treated a number of patients with ME

very successfully, with remedies such as Phosphoric

acid, Picric acid, Ipecacuanha, Colocinthus and Nux

vom.

Personally, however, I have found the remedies

Kali phos., Merc sol., and Zincum met. To give the

best results, as in the three case histories we have

featured in this special report.

Case History:1

Mr. K.R. a 46-year old Managing Director, was

first seen by me four years ago after the onset of his

illness. He had previously been in excellent health

until he suddenly began to develop aches in his body

and feel generally tired. The condition was

diagnosed as Rheumatism and exercise was

recommended but a week later, Mr. R collapsed

whilst working in his garage, and again in his garden.

He was told he had low Blood Pressure and again

told to exercise, but collapsed once more, this time

while playing tennis. Blood tests now showed that

he was suffering from glandular fever.

Three years later, he was still very ill, and

unable to return to work, although he did manage to

do a couple of hours a day at home. He had an earthy

pallor, puffiness around the eyes and was overweight

due to feeling constantly hungry. He was also

suffering from fluctuating mood swings, poor

concentration, intellectual impairment and felt

morose, timid and anxious. In addition, he

experienced constant bouts of colds caused by the

slightest uncovering of his body. Other symptoms

included: thirst for cold drinks, preferably beer;

exhaustion and fatigue; headaches; proneness to

inflammation of the mucous membrane: constant

boils and ulcers in the mouth; frequency of urination;

worse for cold weather and movement; better for

eating and seeing friends.

Remedy: Merc sol.30 three times a day for 10

days.

The ulcers and boils in the mouth went after five

days. No signs of recurrent fluent coryza; tiredness

and weakness much better. Five weeks later he said

he was maintaining his progress, but that he felt

much better if he avoided wheat in his diet. An

allergy test for wheat intolerance proved positive, so

he was told to avoid it in future.

Four weeks later, he was much stronger and

sleeping well. He’d taken up swimming and was

now able to work for two days a week without

fatigue, but was again complaining of a sore mouth.

Repeated Merc sol. 30 three times a day for a

week.

Three months later, the patient reported that he

felt fine and was now able to work normally, but as

he had to travel a lot; he was advised to be careful

not to overdo things. He also lost a stone in weight

and no longer had such an insatiable appetite. He

said he was missing eating sandwiches because of

having to avoid wheat, so we desensitized him with

wheat 30 three times a day for 10 days.

I saw him again three months later, when he told

me he was feeling marvelous – and he looked it too!

For him the use of Merc sol. Proved to be a complete

cure.

Case History: 2

Miss A.L., a 26-year-old police detective, had

previously enjoyed very good health, having only

had double vision as a child. Her problems started

three years ago with a cold which persisted for six

months. She was off work five months, and could

only cope with light duties for another five. She too

was diagnosed as having glandular fever. Although

back at work, she found she was having to spend as

much time at home as at work. Her job also entailed

working shifts, and she complained of terrible body

aches and numbness in her right arm from wrist to

elbow, left cheek and eye. Additional symptoms

included; inability to concentrate; acute neck and

shoulder pain: aches and stiffness in all muscles;

constant headaches; perspiration; insomnia;

moodiness; irritability and depression. Her

symptoms were worse at night and with changes in

the weather.

Remedy: Kali phos 200c. in one dose per day.

The patient was allergy tested and found to be

sensitive to preservatives. The demands of her job

and her tiredness meant she was eating lots of ready-

made meals, so she was advised to eat fresh,

wholesome food, and to do only light desk duties

with no shift work.

Four weeks later, she was feeling fine and able

to play golf. Her eye had been badly bruised the day

before after being punched. Her Blood Pressure was

102

150/100. She was still suffering a slight numbness

in her left arm in an area of around 1 cm.

Given Arnica 200c, one dose.

Two weeks later, her Blood Pressure was

normal, and she was feeling great with no symptoms

apart from a slight numbness in her left arm.

Repeated Kali phos. 30c three times a day for

two weeks.

Six weeks later, the numbness had completely

disappeared. She was feeling great, and said that

she regretted that she had suffered for such a long

time before being treated homœopathically.

Case History: 3

Mr. R, aged 43, had had ME for two years when

I first saw him, but until then he had suffered only

Chicken Pox at the age of seven and Eczema of the

scalp when he was 12. He was of very wasted

appearance, with sunken eyes. He complained of

nausea and occasional vomiting with abdominal

colic. Other symptoms included: Muscular aches,

especially in the legs; unsteady gait; complete

exhaustion – unable to work at all; anxiety, fear and

stress; cold when out of doors; palpitations;

Insomnia and Tremors. The patient also complained

that he was unable to eat citrus fruit or bread as they

gave him abdominal colic.

Remedy: Zincum met. 200c undivided dose.

Mr. R., was advised not to eat wheat or citrus

fruit.

Six weeks later, the patient was much better,

with the lethargy and weakness much improved.

The nausea and vomiting had stopped and he was

now looking for work.

He was asked to recall six weeks later, when it

was suggested that he reintroduce oranges to his diet.

A week later, he rang to say the vomiting had started

again, so he was allergy tested. This showed a

positive result for citrus fruit, so he was desensitized.

Three months later, Mr. R., was keeping well,

apart from slight fatigue, and had started a part-time

job.

Repeated Zincum met. 200c, one dose.

Six months later, the patient reported that he was

feeling fine and was now working full-time.

===================================

12. A Case of Diabetes Mellitus*

Dr. AEGIDI

(Homœopathic Recorder, Vol.IV, May, 1889)

*Translated from the “Allgem. Hom. Zeit., Bd. 67,

No.20,” by Messrs. F. Pritchard and Albert Pick.

The patient, whose disease I here describe, is a

landowner, 43 years of age, married, and the father

of two healthy children. His disease began in April,

1861 (after taking cold in consequence of getting his

body thoroughly wet), with a rheumatic fever; after

which, two months later, the first signs of the present

chronic disease appeared, which since then has

gradually become worse. He was seven months

under the care of four allopathic physicians, treated

with various remedial mixtures, and by a

homœopathic physician with Sulph., Calc., Ac.

Phos., Merc. oxid. rubr., Phos., Ars., Silic., Magnes.

mur., etc., in low potencies in repeated doses,

without the least result.

In February 1862, the patient came under my

treatment, when the following condition was noted:

the patient was of medium size, normally built, hair

of blonde color, and gray eyed. He was terribly

emaciated, his face was fallen in, breast flat, ribs

distinctly prominent, muscles of the extremities

relaxed and withered, nearly skin and bones.

The tongue and gums were very red, the latter

relaxed and receding from the teeth. The

epigastrium was distended and very sensitive, the

liver hypertrophied, the bowels obstructed and the

stools of a gray color.

The skin was withered and covered on the chest

with an erythema. Dull pain in the region of the right

kidney on pressure. The urinary secretion was

excessively increased, the amount of urine passed in

the last days amounted to about 16-18 pounds daily.

The urine was pale, almost like water, and yet

somewhat whey-like, viscid, foaming after passing,

of an acid reaction, specific gravity 1.103,† amount

of sugar about 5½per cent. The appetite and thirst

were enormous; sleep was disturbed by frequent

urination, spirits depressed, very despondent and

anxious, mind dull and thoughts confused. The

patient felt very exhausted and without strength;

walking and all bodily movements difficult. Pains in

the ankle joints and heaviness of the feet. In the

morning after sleeping, tired feeling and debility.

All the symptoms are made worse by rest. Thirst

most violent the whole forenoon with feeling of

internal chilliness, confusion of the head, pressive

pain in the forehead, especially after meals, roaring

in the ears, sometimes vertigo with following nausea

and difficulty in swallowing.

As regards the history of the case, it may be

mentioned that the patient up to his twenty-sixth year

enjoyed good health and was strong; he denies ever

having the itch, but confesses having contracted in

his nineteenth year a Gonorrhea, which in spite of

† This high specific gravity seems rather peculiar. –

Translators.

103

remedies and injections lasted nearly a year. Upon

careful examination the following was obtained:

Long after disappearance of the Gonorrhœa for

quite a while he noticed a troublesome itching on the

hairy pars of the genitals, which was especially

increased by the warmth of the bed. After violently

scratching the itching part to obtain relief he noticed

at this place a humid eruption, which after a few days

became covered with a blackish scurf, leading him

to fear that he had pediculi (pubis). Later, after this

troublesome eruption had disappeared of itself, he

noticed a multitude of small indurations of a

yellowish white color, in the form of small, round

bodies of the size of a grain of barley on his scrotum.

These gave him no trouble, but disappeared

gradually, leaving no trace. Not long, however, there

appeared on the inner side of the lips and on the

edges of the tongue sore spots of the size of the head

of a nail to that of a cent, which were covered with a

hard membrane resembling mother of pearl and

which caused mastication of food difficult. He used

Borax with rose-honey for the trouble, which gave

him momentary relief, but however did not prevent

the recurrence of this painful local trouble. Finally

it entirely disappeared and his health for two years

was in every respect satisfactory.

After a violent cold, taken after dancing through

a winter night, he contracted such a terrible

rheumatism that for six weeks he was confined to his

bed. The disease yielded to the remedies employed,

but left him with a painless weakness of the leg; even

to-day does he feel a sort of paralysis in it. He also

has a swelling of the bone in the joint of the right

clavicle, which from time to time gives him pain, and

even now troubles him some. Up to the beginning

of his present disease he could not complain of other

affections.

After learning all these circumstances, there

could be no doubt but that the patient was suffering

in a high degree from constitutional Gonorrhœa,

which was connected with the diabetes.

For these reasons and because the patient was of

the hydrogenoid constitution, I did not hesitate to

prescribe him, according to the totality of the

symptoms, Natr. Sulph. and Thuja.

My friend, Dr. Wolf, having repeatedly warned

me to always give Thuja in one dose and never to

repeat it, made me fearful, and I gave, therefore, this

patient two pellets of Thuja 30, and had him take

eight days after the 3d centesimal of Natr. sulph.,

five drops four times daily in a cup of hot water.* I

will not describe the course of the disease with its

change of condition, and I will only say that the

* I have observed that Glauber’s salt taken in hot

water acts excellently, as also the degree of

result of this treatment was astonishingly favorable.

After the patient had uninterruptedly taken Natr.

sulph. for four months as indicated above, he

completely recovered from his apparently hopeless

and dangerous disease. More than a year has passed

and one would now not recognize the man then given

up to die; he feels strong, healthy and able to work,

is cheerful, his muscles are strong, he has increased

in circumference, his face expresses well-being and

even his lame leg troubles him less.

The reader of this case will surely not suppose

that I recommend Thuja, and especially Glauber’s

salt as a specific in Diabetes Mellitus. Not at all!

Every case has its own peculiar characteristic

symptoms, and indicates a special remedy.

===================================

13. POTHOS (Skunk Cabbage)

Symplocarpus fœtida, Salisb.; Pothos fœtida,

Michx (Hom. Recorder, Vol. IV, May, 1889)

THIS perennial, odorous member of the natural

order Araceæ is one of our most common meadow

and bog plants. From its very realistic, skunk-like

odor when cut or bruised, and its resemblance in

shape of leaf and mode of growth to the cabbage, it

has been commonly well known as the skunk

cabbage.

Belonging to the same family as the Calla lily

and Indian turnip, the shape of its flower becomes at

once familiar to anyone who observes it. Among the

first plants to flower in spring is this species, and by

closely observing the surface of any boggy meadow

in the latter part of March or early April one will find

irrupting the earth like a mushroom the points of

many beautiful spathes gaping open to extend

invitations to the earliest slugs and carrion beetles of

the season. These are the flowers of Pothos

appearing some time before the leaves, and when

divested of the mud that clings to them, and polished

with a damp cloth, as the apple-woman serves her

pippins, they shine out in beautiful mottled purple,

orange, and deep red, and, being very fleshy, will

keep up appearances many days if cut deep and

placed in hyacinth jars.

The root is large, thick, and cylindrical, giving

off its lower end numerous long, cylindrical

branches; the leaves which appear on the fertilization

of the ovary are large, smooth, entire, and deeply

plaited into rounded folds. On opening the pointed

spathe or floral envelope, a club-like mass will be

noted arising from its base. This is the spadix

temperature in the Karlsbad warm baths essentially

modifies its action.

104

bearing the naked flowers, which are perfect,

consisting of the enlarged, fleshy spadix and

changed perianths, and enclosing several large

bullet-like seeds.

The roots are easily gathered, one alone being

sufficient to make a year’s stock of tincture for the

most lavish practitioner.

THE TINCTURE

Take the fresh root stalks and rootlets, gathered

in spring on the first appearance of the flowers, and

chop and pound them to a pulp, and weight. Then

taking two parts, by weight, of alcohol, mix the pulp

with one-sixth part of it, add the balance, and, after

stirring the hole well, pour it into a well-stoppered

bottle and let it stand for eight days in a dark, cool

place. After straining and filtering, the resulting

tincture should be of a light brown color and have a

slightly acrid taste and a neutral reaction.

CHEMISTRY

The active principle of this plant is doubtless

volatile, as the dried root presents none of the

acridity of the fresh, and is odorless as well. Dr. J.M.

Turner* determined in the root a volatile fatty body,

a volatile oil, a fixed oil, and a specific resin.

------

POTHOS FŒTIDA

A Thank-offering to the memory of one who was an

honest man and an earnest physician.

S.A. JONES, (Vol.IV, Hom. Recorder)

ON the 16th of December, 1887, there came into

my hands a case that the family physician (a

Homœopath) had pronounced epilepsy and declared

incurable. Upon being consulted, his diagnosis had

been confirmed and his prognosis corroborated by

the late Prof.E.S. Dunster, of the University of

Michigan.

Up-to-date, that identical patient has had neither

a “fit” nor any approximation thereto, and that fact is

an occasion of this paper. One who already discerns

the first gray shadows of that night which comes to

all, does not now write at the urging, or the itching,

of the Ego. He disclaims any merit, having evinced

only a monkey-like imitativeness. He had from the

Infinite, the gift of a good memory, and an old book,

picked up one happy day at a street stall, flashed into

recollection some twelve years later, and enabled

him then to imitate the much earlier doing to its

worthy author—

“Only the actions of the just

Smell sweet and blossom in the dust.”

* Am. Jour. Phar., vol.ii., p.1.

* As my researches are confined to my own library,

I do not profess to be exhaustive. I have not given

all the references at my command, but have aimed to

This dead worthy,--he that was James Thacher,

M.D.,--more than any other, made known the virtues

of Pothos fœtida, and gratitude for what his book had

taught me to do, made me feel that to write up this

forgotten remedy were the fittest return that I could

make for his well doing.

A second incentive, ample enough, is found in

the fact that the first homœopathic paper on Pothos

fœt. Has never had a faithful translation into our

language, and has not been critically reproduced in

any other. A study of the Homœopathic

Bibliography, as given in this paper, will teach an

impressive lesson not only to the real student of

Materia Medica, but also to those who assume the

responsibilities of editorship.

A third inducement, and perhaps a pardonable,

is the singular fact that much search in our literature

has not enabled me to find any instance of the

clinical application of Pothos fœt. by a homœopathic

practitioner. If any reader knows of any such, he will

greatly gratify the writer by making it known.

An Empirical Bibliography*

1785. REV. DR. M. CUTLER.-Memoirs of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Boston.

1787. D.J.D. SCHOEPF, M.D.—Materia Medica

Americana potissimum Regni Vegetabilis.

Erlangen. (Not in my possession. Quoted from

Barton.)

1813. JAMES THACHER, M.D.—The American

New Dispensatory. Boston. (This is the second

edition wherein Pothos is mentioned for the firt

time. Our citations are from the fourth edition.

Boston, 1821.)

1817. JAMES THACHER, M.D.—American

Modern Practice, etc. Boston.

1818. JACOB BIGELOW, M.D. –American Medical

Botany, etc. Vol.2, Boston.

1820. WM. M. HAND.—The House-Surgeon and

Physician. Second edition. New Haven.

1822. JACOB BIGELOW, M.D. – Materia Medica

and Therapeutics. Philadelphia. (The citations are

from the fourth edition. Philadelphi, 1836.)

1825. ANSEL W. IVES, M.D. – Paris’s

Pharmacologia. Third American edition. New

York.

1830. ELISHA SMITH. – The Botanic Physician,

etc.New York. (The title page proclaims him

“president of the New York Association of

Botanic Physicians.”)

include such writers as have made positive

contributions to our knowledge of this drug. Of my

list, only Rafinesque is a mere (but a useful)

compiler.

105

1838. C.S. RAFINESQUE. – Medical Flora, etc.

Philadelphia.

It was admitted into the catalogus secundarius

of the second edition of The Pharmacopœia of the

United States of America, and dropped into the

dust-heap when the men who knew how to use it

had passed away.

II. Empirical Applications.

IN dealing with authors who have gone to their

reward, it has always seemed to me a duty to give

their own words as far as possible. It brings them

face to face with the reader, and is as if one brushed

the moss from their gravestones, or perhaps, like Old

Mortality, carved afresh a half-obliterated name.

It is not the briefest way, but it has the merit of

showing from whence the bricks came of which the

edifice is built. I shall, then, cite the authorities in

chronological order, and copiously enough to

include essentials.

Outler.-The roots dried and powdered are an

excellent medicine in asthmatic cases, and often give

relief when other means are ineffectual. It may be

given with safety to children as well as to adults; to

the former, in doses of four, five or six grains, and to

the latter in doses of twenty grains and upwards. It

is given in the fit, and repeated as the case may

require. This knowledge is said to have been

obtained from the Indians, who, it is likewise said,

repeat the dose, after the paroxysm (sic) is gone off,

several mornings, then miss as many, and repeat it

again; thus continuing the medicine until the patient

is perfectly recovered. It appears to be

antispasmodic, and bids fair to be useful in many

other disorders.—Op.cit., 1,409.

Schoepf.-I am obliged to cite at second hand, as

I have never been able to find a copy of his opus.

One may judge of its rarity, when a foreign

advertisement by a German bookseller some years

since failed to obtain it for me.

Prof. W.P.C. Barton, op.cit., gives the gist of the

Hessian surgeon’s contribution in a style and manner

as prim and orderly as that of Surgeon Schoepf

himself on a dress parade.

“Pharm. Dracontii Radix.

Qual. Acris, alliacea, nauseosa.

Vis. Incidens, califaciens, expectorans.

Usus: fol contrite ad vulnera recentia et ulcera.

Tussis consumptive. Scorbutus et alii morbi

radix Ari officin. utilis.”

“Incidens”: Young reader, you must go back

more than a century to understand the “pathology”

that is wrapped up in that word like a mummy in its

cerements. Don’t laugh at that “pathology,” for

some graceless graduate will laugh at yours in 1989.

Note, however, in passing, that Schoepf says

nothing, save tussis, that suggests the vis

antispasmodica of Cutler.

Thacher.—The roots and seeds, when fresh, impart

to the mouth a sensation of pungency and acrimony

similar to arum.

It may be ranked high as an antispasmodic,

experience having evinced that it is not inferior to the

most esteemed remedies of that class. In classes of

asthmatic affections, it alleviates the most

distressing symptoms, and shortens the duration of

the paroxysms. … Rev. Dr. Cutler experienced in

his own particular case very considerable relief from

this medicine, after others had disappointed his

expectations. … The seeds of this plant are said by

some to afford more relief n asthmatic cases than the

root.

In obstinate hysteric affections this medicine

has surpassed in efficacy all those antispasmodics

which have generally been employed, and in several

instances it has displayed its powers like a charm. In

one of the most violent hysteric cases I ever met

with, says a correspondent, where the usual

antispasmodics, and even musk had failed, two

teaspoonful of the powdered root procured

immediate relief; and on repeating the trials with the

same patient, it afforded more lasting benefit than

any other medicine. In those spasmodic affections

of the abdominal muscles during parturition, or after

delivery, this root has proved an effectual remedy.

In chronic rheumatism, and erratic pains of a

spasmodic nature, it often performs a cure, or affords

essential relief.

It has in some cases of epilepsy suspended the

fits, and greatly alleviated the symptoms.

In whooping cough, and other pulmonic

affections, it proves beneficial in the form of syrup.

During every stage of nervous and hysteric

complaints, and in cramps and spasms, this medicine

is strongly recommended as a valuable substitute for

the various antispasmodic remedies commonly

employed. It is free from the heating and

constipating qualities of opium. [Yet Schoepf

endowed it with the vis califaciers.]

Having in a few instances tested its virtues in

subsultus tendinum, attending typhus fever, its

pleasing effects will encourage the future

employment of it in similar cases.

Two instances have been related in which this

medicine has been supposed to be remarkably

efficacious in the cure of dropsy.

The roots should be taken up in the autumn or

spring, before the leaves appear, and carefully dried

for use. Its strength is impaired by long keeping,

106

especially in a powered state. – Mat. Med., 4th ed.,

p.249.

A young woman, about eighteen years of age,

was harassed by severe convulsive and hysteric

paroxysms, almost incessantly, insomuch that her

friends estimated the number at seven hundred in the

course of a few weeks; her abdomen was remarkably

tumefied and tense, and there was a singular

bloatedness of the whole surface of her body, and the

slightest touch would occasion intolerable pain. At

length her extremities became rigid and immovable

(sic), and her jaw was so completely locked that she

was unable to articulate, and liquids could only be

treated with a variety of antispasmodic and other

medicines, by an experienced physician, without

relief. Having prepared a strong infusion of the dried

root of skunk cabbage, I directed half a tea-cupful to

be given every few hours, without any other

medicine; the favorable effects of which were soon

observable, and by persisting in the use of it about

ten days the muscular contractions were removed,

the jaw was relaxed, and her faculty of speech and

swallowing, with the use of all her limbs, were

completely effected.

Another young woman had been exercised with

the most distressing paroxysms of hysteria for

several days, without obtaining relief by the

medicines prescribed; when the skunk cabbage

infusion was so successfully directed that her fits

were immediately arrested, and in a few days a cure

was completely effected.

The brother of this patient was seized with

violent convulsions of the whole body, in

consequence of a cut on his foot; the skunk cabbage

was administered, and he was speedily restored to

perfect health.

A woman was affected with violent spasmodic

pains, twenty-four hours after parturition; six doses

of skunk cabbage entirely removed her complaints.

– American Modern Practice, p.530.

Barton. – The smell from the spathe and flowers

is pungent and very subtle. Experience leads me to

believe they possess a great share of acridity; having

been seized with a very violent inflammation of my

eyes (for the first time in my life), which deprived

me of the use of them for a month, by making the

original drawings of these plates. The pungency of

the plant was probably concentrated by the closeness

of the room, in which many specimens were at the

time shut up. – Veg. Mat. Med., 1, 128. [The italics

are not in the original text.]

The seeds are said to afford more relief in

asthmatic cases than the root; and this I believe very

probable, for they are remarkably active, pungent,

and as has before been mentioned, exhale the odor of

asafœtida. – Op. cit., p.131.

The bruised leaves are frequently applied to

ulcers and recent wounds, and, it is said, with good

effect. They are also used as an external application

in cutaneous affections; and I have heard of the

expressed juice being successfully applied to

different species of herpes. The leaves are also used

in the country to dress blisters, with the view of

promoting their discharge. … For this purpose I can

recommend them where it is desirable to promote a

large and speedy discharge, and no stimulating

ointment is at hand.

Colden recommends the skunk cabbage in

scurvy.—Op. cit., p.132.

Bigelow.—The odor of the Ictodes resides in a

principle which is extremely volatile. I have not

been able to separate it by distillation from any part

of the plant, the decoction and the distilled water

being in my experiments but slightly impregnated

with its sensible character. Alcohol, digested on the

plant, retains its odor for a time, but this is soon

dissipated by exposure to the air.

An acrid principle resides in the root, even when

perfectly dry, producing an effect like that of the

Arum and the Ranunculi. When chewed in the

mouth, the root is slow in manifesting its peculiar

taste; but after some moments, a pricking sensation

is felt, which soon amounts to a disagreeable

smarting and continues for some time. This

acrimony is readily dissipated by heat. The

decoction retains none of it. The distilled water is

impregnated with it, if the process be carefully

conducted, but loses it on standing a short time.—

Amer. Med. Bot., 2, 45.

To insure a tolerably uniform activity of this

medicine, the root should be kept in dried slices, and

not reduced to powder until it is wanted for use.—

Op. cit., p.49.

A number of cases have fallen under my own

observation of the catarrhal affections of old people,

in which a syrup prepared from the root in substance

has alleviated and removed the complaint.—Op. cit.,

p.48.

In delicate stomachs I have found it frequently

to occasion vomiting even in a small quantity. In

several cases of gastrodynia, where it was given with

a view to its antispasmodic effect, it was ejected

from the stomach more speedily than common

cathartic medicines. I have known it in a dose of

thirty grains to bring on not only vomiting, but

headache [sic], vertigo and temporary blindness.-Op

cit., pp.48-49.

Hand.- The root is a pungent antispasmodic in

colics and gripping of the bowels.

Leaves bruised relieve painful swellings

whitlows, etc.—House Surg. And Phys., p. 250.

107

Eberle.—In chronic cough attended with a cold,

phlegmatic habit of body, I have employed the

powdered root of this plant with the most decided

benefit. In an old man who had been for many years

afflicted with a very troublesome cough and

difficulty of breathing, I found nothing to give so

much relief as this substance.

In cases of chronic catarrhal and asthmatic

affections, and very generally with evident

advantage.—Mat. Med. and Thur., 2, 154.

Ives.—The root loses its pungent taste, and

appears to be nearly inert in a few weeks after it is

gathered. I prepared, however, an alcoholic extract

some years ago, by digesting the fresh roots and

evaporating the tincture in the sun, which possessed

and retained all the acrimony of the recent root. The

fresh leaves are actively rubefacient.—

Pharmacologia, p.147.

Smith.—Skunk cabbage is not only a good

antispasmodic in all cases where such are indicated,

but it is also a powerful emmensagogue,

anthelmintic, and a valuable remedy in dropsy, in

spasms, rheumatism, palpitations, etc. it is

frequently used in childbed to promote the birth…

For expelling worms, the pulverized root should be

administered in molasses for a sufficient length of

time, following it up with a purge.—Op. cit., p.511.

Rafinesque.—Powerful antispasmodic,

expectorant, incisive, vermifuge, menagogue,

sudorific, etc. Used with success in spasmodic

asthmas and coughs, hysterics, pertussis, epilepsy,

dropsy, scurvy, chronic rheumatism, erradic and

spasmodic pains, parturition, amenorrhoea, worms,

etc.—Op.cit., 2, 230.

III.

THE HOMŒOPATHIC BIBLIOGRAPHY.

1837. Correspondenzblatt der Hom. Aerzte,

January 18th, 2nd part, No.1, p.6. Allentown, Pa.

HERING, HUMPHREYS, AND LINGEN.

1843. Symptomus Kodex, vol. 2, p. 392. JAHR.

[Taken from the Correspondenzblatt, and not

correctly.] Handbuch der Hom.

Arzneimittellehre, vol.3, p.613. NOACK AND

TRINKS. [Taken from the Correspondenzblatt,

and incompletely.]

1847. Manual of Hom. Mat. Med.—Jahr.

Translated by CURIE, 2nd ed., vol. 1, p.462.

London. [This is the first appearance of the

Allentown “abstract of symptoms” in English.

Curie credits his data to some “United States’

 The definite article is used because it is believed to be complete,

thanks to the scholarship and courtesy of Dr. Henry M. Smith, of

New York. To him, also, am I indebted for the original text of

Pothos. fœt. From the Correspondenzblatt.

Journal,” probably meaning the

Correspondenzblatt. His translation is

erroneous, and yet, upto date, it is the fullest

source of information for him who reads English

only.]

1848. New Manual or Symptomen Codex.—

Jahr. Translated by HEMPEL, vol.2, p.573.

[This is a singularly incomplete translation from

the German Kodex, with no reference to any

source. A literal copy of this translation is all

there is of Pothos fœt. in the Encyclopædia. It

omits the only symptom in the

Correspondenzblatt abstract that made my

application of this remedy not purely empirical.]

1851. Jahr’s New Manual. Edited by HULL, 3d

ed., vol.1, p.797.

1851. Characteristik der Hom. Arzneien.

POSSART, part 2, p.506.

1860. “Hull’s Jahr.” A New Manual of Hom.

Practice. Edited by SNELLING, 4th ed., vol. 1, p.

977.

1866. Text-Book of Mat. Med. LIPPE, p.545.

1878. Encyclopædia of Pure Materia Medica.

ALLEN, vol.9, p.155.

1884. American Medicinal Plants.

MILLSPAUGH, vol.1, p.169.

POTHOS FŒTIDA SYMPTOMATOLOGY.

Translated from the Correspondenzblatt by T.C.

Fanning, M.D., Tarrytown, N.Y.

Because the odor is quite like Mephitis it is

considered a so-called antispasmodic.

Abstract of symptoms from Hering, Humphreys,

Lingen.

So absent-minded and thoughtless that he enters

the sick rooms without knocking; pays no attention

to those speaking to him. Irritable, inclined to

contradict; violent.

Headache of brief duration, in single spots, now

here, now there, with confusion. Pressure in both

temples, harder on one side than on the other

alternately, with violent pulsation of the temporal

arteries.

Drawing in the forehead in two lines from the

frontal eminences to the glabella, where there is a

strong outward drawing as if by a magnet.

Red swelling, like a saddle, across the bridge of

the nose, painful to the touch, especially on the left

side near the forehead, while the cartilaginous

portion is cold and bloodless; with red spots on the

 Literalness rather than elegance has been sought in the

translating.

108

cheek, on the left little pimples; swelling of the

cervical and sub-maxillary glands.

Unpleasant numb sensation in the tongue;

cannot project it against the teeth; papillæ elevated;

tongue redder, with sore pain at point and edge.

Burning sensation from the fauces down

through the chest. With the desire to smoke, tobacco

tastes badly.

Pain in the scrobiculus cordis as if something

broke loose, on stepping hard.

Inflation and tension in the abdomen; bellyache

here and there in single spots; on walking, feeling as

if the bowels shook, without pain.

Stool earlier (in the morning), frequent, softer.

Urging to urinate; very dark urine.

Painful voluptuous ticking in the whole of the

glans

Violent sneezing, causing pain in the roof of

the mouth, the fauces and œsophagus all the way to

the stomach, followed by long continued pains

painful, voluptuous tickling in the whole of the glans

penis.

Violent sneezing, causing pain in the roof of the

mouth, the fauces and œsophagus all the way to the

stomach, followed by long continued pains at the

cardiac orifice.

Pain in chest and mediastinum posticum, less in

the anticum, with pain under the shoulders, which

seems to be in connection with burning in the

œsophagus. Pressing pain on the sternum.

Sudden feeling of anxiety, with difficult [or

oppressed] respiration and sweat, followed by stool

and the subsidence of these and other pains.

Inclination to take deep inspirations with hollow

feeling in the chest, later with contraction in the

fauces and chest.

The difficulty of breathing is better in the open

air.

Pain in the crest of the right tibia.

Rheumatic troubles increased.

Sleepy early in the evening.

All troubles disappear in the open air.

In attempting to analyze this “abstract of

symptoms,” to see if the internal evidence tends to

show that the recorded effects are genuine results of

the drug, it is well to remember that these provings—

for we infer that three observers participated

therein—were made in the light of the empirical

history of Pothos. fœt. the said history was on record

before the date of these provings, and it cannot have

escaped Hering’s eye; he was too wide a reader for

that. He was, beyond doubt, aware of the

pathogenetic effects observed by Bigelow—

headache, vertigo, temporary blindness, vomiting,

even from small quantities. Having, then, this clue

to its physiological action, these symptoms should

reappear in his proving if his imagination furnished

his symptoms. As only a mild headache is noted in

the Correspondenzblatt, it is evident that these

provers did not work from a pattern. It is also

evident that the usus in morbis did not suggest the

Allentown symptomatology, for the anti-asthmatic

virtue of Pothos fœt. is one feature on which the

greatest stress had been laid, and yet the only

pathogenetic suggestion of its applicability in

asthma is: “Sudden feeling of anxiety with difficult

[or oppressed] respiration and sweat, followed by

stool and the subsidence of these and other pains.”

Who ever heard of an asthma relieved by stool?

Who could have invented such an odd modality? As

it stands it is an unicum and by every rule of criticism

this single symptom-group gives the stamp of verity

to the Allentown “abstract of symptoms.” But there

is other and singularly convincing evidence of the

genuineness of this abstract. As the reader is aware,

Thacher had emphasized the efficiency of Pothos

fœt. as an antispasmodic in hysteria, although the

“key-note” that indicates it in hysteria had wholly

escaped his discernment.

Now this very “key-note” appears in the

Allentown pathogenesis but so unobtrusively as to

show most conclusively that the prover who

furnished it did not recognize its singular import and

value. Such testimony is absolutely unimpugnable

by honest and intelligent criticism.

It is also apparent that some of the less

pronounced of its empirical virtues are reflected in

the proving. For instance, Thacher found it

efficacious in “erratic pains of a spasmodic nature.”

Is not this “erratic” feature reproduced in such

conditions as:

“Headache, of brief duration, in single spots,

now here, now there?”

“Pressure in both temples alternately, harder on

one side than on the other?”

Bellyache, here and there, in single spots?”

Brevity of duration and recurrence “in single

spots, now here, now there,” are phenomena at once

spasmodic and erratic. It must be admitted that the

trend of its pathogenetic action and the lines of its

therapeutical application are parallel, and therefore

that the latter are confirmatory of the former.

With such an anti-hysterical reputation as the

empirical use had given to Pothos fœt., it might fairly

be anticipated that its pathogenesis would be

distinguished by a paucity of objective data, for only

a tyro in pharmacodynamics, or a “Regular,” would

expect to find a full-lined picture of hysteria in any

“proving.” And so we have in the “abstract” a flux

of subjective symptoms, “erratic” enough for

hysterical elements, and still further characterized by

an apparent evanescence, as if its phenomena of

109

sensory disturbance were as fleeting and

unsubstantial as those of an hysterical storm.

The will-o’-the-wisp-like character of its

subjective symptoms, and its physometric property

(hinted at in the pathogenesis and emphasized in

Thatcher’s case), are the features that will chiefly

impress one in studying this distinctively American

remedy.

That the “abstract of symptoms” evinces a

cautious trial of this drug, and that more heroic

experiments will add to our knowledge of its

pathogenetic properties, are plain deductions from

the absence in the “abstract” of such pronounced

effects as Bigelow observed and also from the

evidence of the usus in morbis. The remedy needs

an efficient proving, especially in the female

organism.

AN APPLICATION OF POTHOS FŒT.

Miss B--, æt. 20; a tall, spare brunette, and a

good specimen of Fothergill’s Arab type, brainy and

vivacious. General health has been good, but she

was never robust; could not go to school regularly.

Between her thirteenth and fifteenth years grew

rapidly in stature, and then she was easily wearied

on walking; knees tired and limbs ached. Had good

digestion through the growing period, but

subsequently became subject to “bloat of wind” in

abdomen. These meteoristic attacks came when

lying down. A “weight rises from the abdomen up

to the heart.” She must at once spring up. This

condition is relieved by eructating, by liquor, and by

drinking hot water. The night attacks of meteorism

are by far the worse. She is now subject to them.

[Her grandmother had such “spells of bloating;”

would spring out of bed at night, lose consciousness,

and “bloat up suddenly.” If she had such an attack

dressed, they had often been obliged to cut open her

clothes.]

Patient has found that apples, tomatoes,

cabbage and onions disagree with her; no other food.

She is constipated— “wants to and can’t.”

Her hair is unusually dry; scalp full of dandruff;

skin, generally, soft and flexible.

She has frequent epistaxis; has had four and five

attacks a day Blood bright red, “runs a perfect

stream,” does not clot at the nostrils. Has previously

a “heavy feeling” in the head, which the bleeding

relieves.

In appearance she is “the picture of health;”

good complexion, fairly ruddy cheeks, sparkling

eyes—in a word, she is an incarnated protest against

“single blessedness.”

In the latter part of July, 1886, had her first “fit.”

She had arisen with a headache, which kept on

increasing in severity. Just after a light meal had the

attack; said “Oh, dear! Oh, dear!” and fell

insensible. Stiffened at first, then had clonic spasms.

Neither bit the tongue nor frothed at the mouth. No

micturition or defecation. On coming to, did not

remember that she had fallen, but recollected being

borne up stairs. Had a “dreadful nosebleed” after the

attack. Left her very weak; could hardly lift her feet

from the floor. Before the “fit” the headache had

become unbearably severe.

Had her second “fit” on August 7th, 1887.

Headache came on and kept growing worse; was in

temples, beating and throbbing, and in eyes, “light

hurt” – also on vertex, “pressing-down” pain. At 4

P.M.suddenly fell down insensible. No cry. Tongue

bitten. Slight frothing at the mouth. First “stiff all

over,” then clonic spasms. After the “fit” knew that

something had happened to her. Was prostrated for

nearly a month, but not so much as after first attack.

December 10th, 1887, third “fit.” On the night

of the 9th her mother had been very ill, and she

herself was very uneasy and alarmed. Had the attack

before breakfast. Blurred vision, headache, fall; no

biting of tongue, nor frothing. First rigid, then clonic

spasms; after attack, nose bled profusely, head ached

all day, face flushed and dark. Prostrated as usual.

In none of the attacks was there any involuntary

micturition or defecation, nor was it ever necessary

to use any force to hold her on the bed.

One other fact I gathered from her brother,

namely: during her “fits” her abdomen bloated so

rapidly and to such a degree that the family had

learned to remove her clothing as soon as possible

after she fell.

Of course, Thatcher’s case, wherein the

“abdomen was remarkably tumefied and tense,”

came into memory at once. The old volume was

taken down, and that case re-read. Then followed

the Encyclopædia, and then the English Symptomen

Codex. No pathogenetic light or corroboration

there. Then Curie’s “Jahr.” Ah! “Inflation and

tension in the abdomen.” Only a straw, but a

patahogenetic, and I grasped it thankfully. I found

also, “aching in the temples with violent arterial

pulsation.”

It was an open winter; my son dug some skunk

cabbage roots in a swamp; a tincture was made; ten-

drop doses, four times daily, were taken until six

ounces had been consumed. No “fit” up to date; no

epistaxis; only once a slight headache.

I never made a diagnosis in this case; have not

reached one yet, nor am I grieving over that

omission. I did rashly declare that it was not

epilepsy, because Sauvages tympanites intestinalis

is a feature of hysteria, but not of epilepsy. But not

a word of this was said to the patient. It was not a

“mind cure,” for I have no “mind” to spare; nor was

110

it “Christian science,” for I am not up to that I had

an amnesis in which grand-mother and grand-

daughter participated. Nature had put the “key-

note” in italics, not only in the patient but also in the

drug. Thacher stumbled upon it empirically; Hering

found it pathogenetically, and that led to its

application under the guidance of the only

approximation to a law in therapeutics that has yet

been discovered by any of woman born: similia

similibus curantur!

ANN ARBOR, February 15th, 1889.

14. Psychosomatic and Temperamental

Interpretation of Comparative symptoms of

Actaea Racemosa and Pulsatilla

Dr. ZISSU Roland

(HG. Vol.XXXIII, 5/1966)

MR. PRESIDENT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,

I feel very much honoured that you have asked

me to read my paper at this Congress where

outstanding medical subjects of our time are dealt

with. Emphasis must be laid upon the fact that long

before the coming of psychosomatic medicine

Homœopathy has understood the interrelationship

between mentality and disorders of the soma.

Whilst orthodox medicine seeks vainly after a

synthetic doctrine capable of co-ordinating the

impressive progress made in modern medical

researches, Homœopathy has for a long time

resolved the problem of the individualization of

diseases. For it deals with the morbid soil rather than

with the aggressive agent, with deep ætiologies

rather than with the aggressive agent, with deep

ætiologies rather than with apparent causes, in short,

with the personality of the patient rather than with

the nosology of the disease.

Faced with the present-day medical discoveries,

it is of paramount importance that homœopaths, in

those countries where groups arrange a pooling of

clinical experience and research, demonstrate from

traditional empirical bases that Homœopathy holds

an important place in the art of healing. More and

more numerous are those of us in France who try and

give a rational explanation to homœopathic data,

whilst works developing the conceptions and

practical applications of a homœopathic biotypology

multiply.

The expansion of Homœopathy in our days

seems obvious enough. Yet attempts are being made

in our country to slow it down. Attacks on the

liberty of prescription are unfortunately carried out

in France, where certain remedies are prohibited,

such as the nosodes “Marmoreck” and “Denys”,

where Korsakoff’s dilutions accused of secret

preparations have disappeared, and infinitesimality

is combated, dilutions above 9 CH being supplied as

magistral formula only.

We apologize for mentioning these facts. We

should like ourselves to be informed of your

difficulties, for all homœopaths tend to the same

aim; defence of sound conceptions and efficient

solutions to the problem of diseases and patients.

And now let us turn to our subject and give you

the fruits of our researches into a limited sector of

psychosomatics. Our demonstration rests on the

idea that a rational explanation is capable of bringing

forward a link between the psychic symptoms of our

remedies on the one hand, and the morpho-

physiopathological complex arising out of the

elements of the morbid soil, along strictly individual

lines, on the other hand. We shall give an example

of a striking relationship between the “mentality” of

our remedies and the temperamental factors. The

latter bring into play the great metabolic functions

which regulate the vital phenomena of the organism,

namely, the protoplasmic metabolism. It may be

thought a presumption on our part to discover a link

involving a minimum of morpho-physio-

pathological general characteristics between the

cellular element, wherein anabolic, katabolic and

excretory processes of a merely nutritive nature take

place, and mentality, synthetic expression of a

multitude of differentiated mechanisms on the level

of the most specialized apparatus of the organism.

Yet the Hippocratic temperaments provide, in a

suggestive over-simplified classification, simple and

on the whole verified connections. Lymphatic (or

phlegmatic), sanguine, choleric, melancholic mean

both a mass of physical predispositions and a mental

behavior whose apparent simplicity finds a rational

and accurate explanation in the multiple biological

mechanism lying between the prime cellular element

and the supreme edifice of the superior nervous

centres.

We shall try to explain the comparative

mentality of Actaea racemose and Pulsatilla from

an essentially synthetic viewpoint, according to the

temperamental and physio-pathological notions

provided by the rational study of these two remedies.

Actaea racemose is a lympho-nervous,

Pulsatilla a lympho-sanguine. Both result from an

abnormal extension of anabolism. Both have a

fundamental basis: primary vagotonicity, revealing

their lymphatic origin. But while Actaea reacts

against it by means of sympathicotonic crises which

try to open a way out, most often genital, Pulsatilla

takes advantage of an important way out, through the

large cutaneous and mucous areas. The lymphatism

of Actaea leads rapidly to a nervous disturbance

through sympathetic irritation, which appears to be

111

the only means whereby an elimination is brought

about, for Actaea has no direct action on the skin and

mucous membranes.

In Pulsatilla, the lymphatism is slowly

overcome, owing to the excellent cutaneous and

mucous elimination of this remedy. Nervous

elimination in Actaea, lympho-nervous remedy,

mucous elimination in Pulsatilla, lympho-sanguine

remedy.

This explanation is in accordance with the

physio-pathological action of these two remedies:

nervous diphasic action of Actaea; a short action of

excitation accounting for the sympathetic spasm, a

long action of depression accounting for the

vagotonic basis, the whole centered upon the genital

apparatus and accompanied by a central muscular

and peripheric nervous reaction. Cutaneous,

mucous and venous action in Pulsatilla, with a

swing between the two mucous and venous poles,

thus inhibiting the transmission of action onto the

nervous system, the latter being affected secondary

to the mucous eliminations or venous congestion.

Let us carry on with the temperamental

parallelism which will permit us to explain the

comparative mentally of the two remedies: in both

cases, the lymphatism, fundamental basis, originates

a slowing of the metabolic functions favourable to

the elimination of toxins and waste products, and the

organism reacts by means of the nervous system in

Actaea, by the mucous eliminations in Pulsatilla.

According to the localization of the sympathetic

crisis in Actaea, the genital system, the neuro-

muscular apparatus, or the mental sphere will be the

seat of the paroxysmal manifestations, localization

in a given part bringing about an improvement in the

other parts. In Pulsatilla, elimination on a definite

level brings about an improvement on the other

levels. This explains the morbid alternations of the

two remedies: alternation of mental and physical

disorders in Actaea, due to the nervous demand;

variability of the physical and mental symptoms in

Pulsatilla, due to the balancing between the large

mucous areas of elimination and the pendent areas

of venous congestion.

These diverging paths from a common ground,

leading to different morbid manifestations, show us

the synthetic triad of:

1. Actaea: fundamental vagotonicity

(lymphatic element), sympathetic

superstructure consisting of reflex

disorders, and metastatic manifestations

(nervous element).

2. Pulsatilla: initial vagotonicity

manifested by changes in the lymph nodes

and venous contestion (lymphatic

element), the sympathicotonic paroxysms

are replaced by the mucous eliminations

(sanguine element). Morbid metastasis due

to the variability of the cutaneous and

mucous eliminations, and the balancing

between venous congestion and cutaneous

and mucous eliminations.

This leads us to the following explanation of

their different psychism:

Actaea, diphasic, has vagotonic disorders

accounting for the sadness, depression,

discouragement of the patient, with a sensation of a

cloud enveloping her and an impression of lead on

her head. She is overwhelmed by her sorrow, and in

a further stage she is dominated by uncontrolled

fears; she realizes that she is losing her mental

control and is very much afraid of going mad. This

state of hypochondria and cerebral torpidity

associated with signs of physical slowing and

depression, is followed by and alternates with

sympathetic reflex disorders of cerebral excitation at

the time of the sympathetic crises of elimination,

especially the menses: the patient is very talkative,

speaks with a great flow of words, and moves

continually. She speaks at random, passing rapidly

from one subject to another, and does not stick to

any. This incoherence of language is the

psychomotor manifestation of her nervous

disequilibrium. This alternation of excitation and

depression accounts for the instability of Actaea, for

her changeable temper, whereupon a state of mental

confusion with excitation and delirium can

supervene: strange visions of rats, of devils, and a

sensation of mice running on her.

All this psychism of Actaea takes place in a

psychosomatic context and we have explained why

the psychic disorders alternate with metastatic

manifestations. This allows for an understanding of

the two apparently opposite indications: aggravation

towards excitation of the mental state during the

menses, improvement by a derivative flow: diarrhœa

or rheumatic attack, the first one being a reflex

action and the second a metastatic transfer.

Basic vagotonicity is reflected in the psychism

of Pulsatilla: gentle, submissive character, shy and

melancholy, prone to discouragement and tears. In

a further stage, an impulsion to suicide is met with,

with a preference for drowning (water playing an

important part in lymphatism). The irritation of the

cutaneous and mucous membranes accounts on the

mental level for the nervousness, the agitation,

leading to religious exaltation and fanaticism. The

variability of symptoms resulting from the venous

and mucous morbid balancing manifests itself in the

changeable temper, the alternation of smiles and

tears, the least trouble giving rise to tears, a word of

112

comfort bringing out a smile over the tears, like a

sunbeam spreading over the morning dew.

This demonstration has been attempted in order

to give a rational explanation to a problem of

comparative pathogenesy from the psychosomatic

angle. The latter is valid in so far as a strict fidelity

to the laws of our medicine is maintained.

In the country of Descartes, this demonstration

can help those open to the logic of facts to reach an

understanding of Homœopathy, and in your country

do justice through scientific interpretation to an

apparently obsolete empiricism and pathogenetic

signs which at first sight seem disparate,

paradoxical, or contradictory.

We thank you for your attention and apologize

for our English. We thank your President, Dr.

Twentyman, and Dr. Harling, for her kind assistance

which enabled us to talk to you on a most exciting

subject:

“Rational Understanding of Homœopathy.”

OPENING OF THE DISCUSSION

DR.T.D. ROSS

May I first express on behalf of British

homœopathic doctors our warm welcome to Dr.

Zissu and our thanks to him for braving the rigours

of an English June to give us this most interesting

paper.

While I have the honour to open the discussion,

I must make it clear that I am no authority on Dr.

Zissu’s theme in so far as it relates to modern

versions of the ancient temperaments. I have a fair

knowledge of the remedies Actaea and Pulsatilla,

but very little of the terms lympho-nervous, lympho-

sanguine, and abnormal extensions of anabolism, for

instance. This ignorance is in part at least, bliss, for

the opener of a discussion. I am sure that many of

you will hasten to enlighten me, and if your

knowledge while better than mine is still

incomplete—why, that will make an even better

discussion, for accurate information destroys

conversation!

Much of my contribution then will be to ask

questions. Before we touch on the main theme—

what are the nosodes Marmoreck and Denys? What

do our French colleagues understand as Korsakoff’s

dilutions? We know that Korsakoff was a Russion

nobleman who in 1831 developed the high potency

beyond Hahnemann’s 30c, but I always thought that

the objection to Korsakoff’s method was that fresh

vials were not used at every step and that succession

was neglected. Perhaps Dr. Zissu will correct me if

I am wrong.

The attempts to suppress high potencies in

France are most significant. They seem to point to

what is still our greatest difficulty in arousing

interest among doctors, even in these days when so

much scientific evidence in favour of high potencies

is becoming available. The time is ripe for an

informed review of this subject, including clinical

cases cured.

I would like to congratulate our French

colleagues on having aroused official opposition and

at the same time having made so many converts.

Their success in attracting doctors to Homœopathy

is sadly lacking in Britain today. Perhaps Dr. Zissu

would tell us how to do it. And now I must introduce

a note of controversy. I have the greatest respect for

the sound knowledge of Homœopathy shown by

French doctors, but I simply can’t understand their

obsession with typology. They have been busy

formulating typologies for the last 50 years. Why?

We are indebted to Dr. Zissu for a brilliant

review elaborating the numerous classification in the

BRITISH HOMŒOPATHIC JOURNAL for January, 1961.

This gives an enormous amount of information, but

I am not competent to discuss it. The complexities

appeal me, and as a simple Scot accustomed to stick

to facts I don’t find much use for these speculations.

Dr. Harling makes a brave attempt, in the April issue

(1961) of the BRITISH HOMŒOPATHIC JOURNAL, to

summarize the typology of Vannier, but she asks

two significant questions:

Is it true? and, Will it be useful?

Personally I feel that we run some risk of

incurring the old gibe: making nonsense difficult,

but perhaps my ignorance is leading me to too harsh

a judgement.

Homœopathy is first a practical art of cure and

Hahnemann’s injunctions in the Organon and

Chronic Diseases go further with me than any

modern typology. His appreciation that the

individual peculiarities in each case should be

grasped by a study of all the symptoms, selecting for

emphasis those reflecting the patient’s reaction, and

his matching each sick personality with that of a

drug as revealed in provings and by clinical use (not

signatures or other theoretical notions)—that is the

grandest of his gifts to us. Even now it is beyond the

grasp of many doctors who would scoff at the idea

of medicines having personalities. And Hahnemann

was not formulating a typology when he described

the three miasms. His basic idea was to classify

latent infections—before bacteriology existed—in

order to help doctors cure chronic diseases. Tyler

developed this idea with her use of Morbillinum,

Diphtherinum, etc.

Admittedly Hahnemann’s brilliant concept not

only did justice to the varieties of infection then

known but to the importance of predispositions and

constitutional susceptibility to diseases and remedy

action. But are not the types as numerous as our

remedies? Should we not individualize them all?

113

This is really what the makers of our drug pictures

do.

A little sketch of Bryonia by Dr.Gutman

(BRITISH HOMŒOPATHIC JOURNAL, April 1961)

brilliantly summarizes the essence of this drug: “Of

choleric temperament, full of sharp pains, worried

about his security, he holds on to his back, he holds

on to his abdomen, he holds on to his pocket book.”

Gibson Miller had the same idea about drug

personalities when he wrote (The Value of

Symptoms):

“But there is one other general—the greatest of

them all—which I must not omit, for it is created by

the blending of all the generals and particulars into

one harmonious whole. For lack of a better word we

speak of, let us say, the Sepia constitution, meaning

thereby that special diseased condition of mind and

body for which that remedy has so often proved

itself curative, that we come to look upon it almost

as an entity. At times it is plainly discernible by all,

and capable of being described in words, such as the

leuco-phlegmatic condition of Calc., the tall, thin,

narrow chested one of Phosphorus, or “the lean,

stooping, ragged philosopher” as Hering called the

Sulphur patient; but far oftener is it something much

more subtle, such as that of Arg.nit., with its fears

and anxieties and hidden, irrational motives for all it

does. To very few of us is it given to penetrate into

these secrets and to understand that almost indefinite

something which often lies behind the mere

symptoms, modifying and characterizing them all,

and so becoming the governing element in the whole

case. The masters in our art are those who have had

the power to understand this great general, and we

stand amazed at their skill in penetrating right into

the heart of the most complex cases and evolving

order and consequent cure out of seeming chaos.”

Is not this sort of typology, that points to a

curative remedy, enough for us?

What homœopathic doctor cannot picture

instantly a person in the round, when told he is an

Arsenic or a Phosphorus, or a Kali carb., or a Nux

vomica type. If in doubt whether Sepia is the best

remedy, try contradicting the lady; the reaction is

revealing if positive; or try delaying or interrupting

a Nux vomica patient, or sympathizing with Natrum

mur. The Natrum mur. people reveal their repressed

sad nature in gesture and mien. They will expose

only the minimum of body and mind. I prescribed it

with good effect recently in a little boy who always

looked as if he were going to weep when noticed,

but who indignantly denied such weakness. How

different are the open co-operative Phosphorus

types willing to denude themselves physically and

mentally. Again, contrast the weeping of Pulsatilla,

easy and open and noticed soon after she enters

one’s room, with the weeping of Sepia later under

cross-examination, and with Medorrhinum’s which

comes because of a confused forgetfulness and

inability to marshal her facts.

Dr. Zissu’s own little sketches of the two

remedies Actaea and Pulsatilla give them life, and

usefulness to cure, more than efforts to fit them into

a theory.

Both Pulsatilla and Actaea share changeability,

variability and menstrual troubles, but they soon part

company in the chilliness (except the head

congestion), and the choreic jerkings and loquacity

of Actaea. In the last respect Actaea touches

Lachesis and also in its relief from discharges. But

these are only points of contact. Each drug in regular

use has a well marked individuality.

Is modern typology not reminiscent of Hughes’

attempt 100 years ago to interpret Materia Medica in

the pathology of his day—“homœopathic milk for

allopathic babes” was the gibe. But Hughes had far

better success in attracting allopaths than we in

Britain have today, even though he is not read now,

and the theories of Dr. Zissu and his colleagues are

obviously an effect to formulate rational

explanations for the multiple symptoms of our

remedies, and may satisfy strangers to

Homœopathy, but I fear may make the subject even

more difficult in the end. The temperaments as

interpreted by Dr. Glas, and Jung’s conception of

types help us to understand and treat people’s

mind—that is another story too long to deal with

here. Reply by DR.ZISSU

1. The interest shown by French homœopaths in

biotypology is not an obsession. Biotypology,

starting from classically recognized scientific bases,

permits of a synthetic interpretation of Homœopathy

without disturbing its Hahnemannian conception.

The notion of constitutions, constantly revised in the

light of modern scientific facts, has, without

departing from basic homœopathic doctrines,

resulted in a great flowering of Homœopathy in

France, where more than 2,000 doctors are

practicing it. There is no question of neglecting

these basic doctrines; together with them,

biotypology has enabled many amongst us to gain a

better understanding of the Materia Medica, and to

adapt it more closely to the patient. Far from

rejecting the similimum, we are helped in our search

for it; and this, it must be emphasized, is the primary,

necessary, and sufficient aim of all homœopaths, to

whatever school they belong.

2. To quote Hahnemann in order to show that

biotypology is not mentioned in his work is certainly

strong evidence; but why not consider the time at

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which he lived, and think rather that we are under an

obligation to profit from the progress in medicine

which has taken place since his day. We are of the

opinion that Hahnemann, himself well ahead of his

time, would, if he had foreseen the future, been the

first to publish his discoveries. We give all credit to

Hahnemann and it is no betrayal to go further in the

direction he has indicated, by using those

discoveries which were made after his time.

3. The nosodes of Marmoreck and Denys are: the

former anti-tuberculous horse serum, and the latter a

filtrate of bouillon containing tuberculous exotoxins

and endotoxins. Their applications are: Marmoreck

for tuberculinic subjects of low resistance, whose

organs of excretion function badly; Denys for

tuberculinic subjects who are florid and fat, but yet

resist disease badly and suffer from sudden

eliminatory crises.

4. There are two methods of preparing

homœopathic dilutions (potencies), in both of which

succession is essential. In the Hahnemannian

method separate phials are used for each dilution; in

the Korsakovian method one phial is used, and in

each successive dilution the last drop is retained to

become the basis of the next dilution. It is the latter

method of preparation which is at present prohibited

in France.

(British Homœopathic Journal, Oct., ’61)

15. Disease As Metamorphosis

Dr. TWENTYMAN, L.R.

(HG. XXXIV, 6/1967)

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Various phenomena of disease in which a

metamorphosis of symptoms occurs are very well

known to us. It is only necessary to mention at the

beginning, as examples, the metamorphosis of

Eczema in children into Asthma, the Arthritic and

Carditic manifestations of Rheumatic Fever, and

development of the periodic syndrome in children

into Migraine. Also well known in the field of

medicine to all of us are certain cases in which there

is an alternation between mental symptoms and

physical symptoms. The field of Homœopathy

shows many instances of the metamorphosis of one

series of symptoms into another under suppressive

treatments. Hahnemann’s whole notion of Psora in

particular is full of the protean manifestation in

different forms of one and the same miasm.

Now it seems to me that from time to time it is

worthwhile to examine some of these fundamental

issue and to try and clarify our ideas about them, not

in any speculative manner, but with a view to seeing

more clearly and more deeply into the extreme

complexity of the phenomena of disease. What we

need are ideas with which to deepen our insight, and

not ideas with which merely to speculate and play.

I have recently had a case which displays some

of these strange phenomena from perhaps a slightly

different point of view. It is the case of a woman

who for many years has suffered from hayfever and

who usually round about the middle of the year has

a change of her symptoms from hayfever to those of

Asthma. Although to some extent the two run

together, more often, and more characteristically

with her, the symptoms of hayfever are replaced by

those of asthma. She is able to give one a very

valuable account of the inner experience which she

undergoes with these symptoms. She describes

quite clearly how in the phase of hayfever she feels

out of herself, she feels somehow as though she had

gone out of her head and out of herself and was

somewhere living rather vaguely in the

circumambient atmosphere. When she passes into

the phase of asthma, she describes her inner

experience as being imprisoned within herself, too

deeply within herself, and unable to come out into

the outer world at all. If one regards for a moment

the phenomenology of these two conditions, I think

you will see that her description is a very adequate

one. In the case of hayfever, the fluid organization,

the streams of fluid within the organism, flow too

strongly into the nasal mucosa and into the head

region, they continue where normally they are held

back. Whereas in the case of asthma one sees that

the air organization is held imprisoned in the chest

and is unable to escape.

This leads us into some most significant

phenomena, with which human health and human

disease present us—the opposition between the

psyche and the life processes. I think the majority

of people take it that consciousness and the inward

life of the soul arise in organic nature by a

continuation – a continuation, as it were, in a straight

line - of the phenomena of life. That life intensified,

as it were, gives birth to consciousness. Whereas I

think you will agree that an unprejudiced

observation of the phenomena of nature will reveal

something else: that it is rather in an inhibition of the

life processes that the soul manifests.

Now, first of all to clarify this point, I should

like to draw your attention to some phenomena of

organic nature, and to contrast the form of life which

manifests within the vegetable kingdom with that

within the animal kingdom. Dr. Jaworski—some of

whose work, not easy perhaps to understand at first

sight or hearing, we have published during the last

two years in the JOURNAL—described life as

processes of interiorization and of exteriorization

proceeding continuously and rhythmically and

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simultaneously. He pointed out that in the vegetable

kingdom it is the process of exteriorization and

growth in space. And in certain complex forms of

blossom we do find forms resembling the

invaginating, interiorizing forms and gestures of the

animal world.

Let us turn to the animal, and I think the

intuition of the human race concurs in regarding the

animal as ensouled with feeling, whereas the plant is

the manifestation of life. We see that the animal

form develops throughout its growth by progressive

interiorizations. The higher the animal is in the

animal kingdom, the greater the degree of

interiorization which it manifests in its development,

the more evidence there is in its behavior and in its

physiognomy of inner existence, an inner life of soul

and feeling. So that I think it should be evident that

this life of inner feeling is developed by a holding-

back of the outward-growing, extending life forms.

The nervous system, which is so evidently bound up

with the life of the senses, is developed by an

interiorization of the skin. The lungs which are

necessary for the development of a proper voice,

with which the inner experiences of pain and

pleasure of the creature can be given expression, are

developed by a further interiorization. One also

knows that in the animal kingdom the predominant

anabolic chemical reactions of the plant kingdom,

the predominant building up, is replaced by the

appearance and increasing domination of the

katabolic, down-breaking processes. This finds

expression, of course, in the well-known fact that the

animal kingdom as a whole is dependent for its

nutrition on the vegetable kingdom. It cannot,

moreover, be just the molecules and the chemicals

of the vegetable kingdom that it needs, but a certain

what the Physicist Schrœdinger calls “negative

entropy”, that is to say, an orderedness, built up by

anabolic forces on which it can expend its katabolic

and destructive forces.

This should surely give us to consider that the

conscious faculties, even the primitive conscious

faculties of animals, arise and are dependent on

katabolic, destructive processes, and on interiorizing

gestures and forms as against the purely progressive

forms of mere life.

You will therefore, I think, be coming into a

better position to agree with my patient when she

says that during the state of hayfever, in which the

life processes embodied in the fluid of the body are

out of control, she describes her soul as being

outside her body and no longer able to grip and

inhibit this over-vital expression of life which

manifests in hayfever. Therefore in hayfever the

senses are no longer clear and it is very difficult to

think clearly and to be wide awake. On the other

hand, the state of increased consciousness which we

know in the condition of Asthma, that heightened

state of the sensory organization which expresses

itself in the fear and anxiety of the Asthma patient,

shows also that the soul has come too deeply into the

body.

The human being is, of course, related to the

kingdoms of nature and it would seem to me to be a

matter of the utmost importance how one conceives

this relationship, and whether or not one takes it that

man is just a part of nature. I think it can be fairly

stated that the whole of modern science take it that

man is a part of nature, whereas in earlier times it

was taken that man was a microcosm, was not a part,

but was the whole of nature in miniature.

Now, can we reach any insight into this second

point which I want to raise—the relationship of Man

and Nature? If we compare the form and

development of animals with that of the human, we

are struck at once with the fact that the human has

remained nearer to the embryo, and has resisted the

flight into full manifestation and specialization

which is exhibited by the animals. If you have ever

had occasion to see a baby chimpanzee, and

observed the development of this creature over the

next three or four years of its life, you will have been

able to see how the baby chimpanzee, still almost

human in its form, with a domed skull and drawn-in

face, over a matter of a few years allows the whole

head to sink into the jowl of its mouth and nose. The

human, on the other hand, retains much more the

embryonic balance. Professor Wood Jones was able

to demonstrate clearly how the human arm and hand,

so far from being the most specialized and

developed of forelimbs, is in fact that which has

remained nearest to the primitive, archetypal form.

Man is not specialized, man has remained

undeveloped. And all the animals, without

exception, have fallen at great speed into certain

specialities. They have all developed some organ,

or some system of organs, at the expense of others.

If we take the archetypal animals, as a first

example, those which appear in the ancient Sphynx

of Ezekiel, the Eagle, the Lion, the Bull, it is clear,

of course, that the eagle represents the development

of the forces of the heart, and that the bull represents

the development of the deep, profound forces of the

belly. We can see, even in a few moments, a little

deeper into these connections. The bull is so

overwhelmed by its metabolism that in chewing the

cud it turns even its head into an extra stomach, in

addition to the four which it already contains in its

belly. It is a creature which shows itself dominated

through and through by the forces of gravity. Heavy

and massive, lying upon the grass, chewing the cud,

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we can behold this great power of metabolism,

image of the irresistible power of the will.

And then let us fly in the air with the eagle, able

to gaze from the heights upon the world below, able

to gaze, if myth and legend are true, straight into the

sun itself, able to soar upon the wings of thought.

Here we see, in the image of the eagle, the image of

the human head, tearing its food from the world

below, soaring with it, as the head steals the blood

up through the carotid and vertebral arteries, to its

eyrie in the skull. And now observe the lion, which

throughout ages has given rise to the thought of the

lion-hearted—it is characterized, as are all the feline

species, by its rhythmic movements, springing and

leaping, and exhibiting even into its canine teeth the

fact that it is the middle realm of the organism which

is here dominant. Have you ever seen a lion and

watched it, and seen how absurd are its hind

quarters? Have you seen how massive and great is

its chest, and how really the rhythms of its body

dominate its whole existence?

These three creatures, therefore, characterize

and, as it were, exhibit for us outside, the three great

realms of our own organism. These three types, the

eagle type, the lion and bull type, we of course also

see again in the types of human beings. You all

know people who are like birds. You all know great

massive bulls. And there are people of strong, great

lion-heartedness and courage. I suspect, for

instance, that the two basic types of Kretschmer, his

schizoid asthenic type, and his pyknic, manic-

depressive type, correspond basically to the polarity

between the eagle and the bull. Animals represent

definite psychosomatic tendencies or types.

Now what is characteristic of the human is that

it holds all these in a certain balance. The human,

whilst comprising all that is displayed within the

animal kingdom in its specialized forms, holds them

in a balance and never allows any one particular

form to come to domination. It was a great work of

Jaworski to exhibit in detail some of the animal

forms and their correspondences within the human.

We have therefore not only the inhibition of the life

processes, the vegetable processes, which occurs in

the animal, but we have a yet further inhibition of

development in the human; an inhibition of the

animal progress, of that progress which so quickly

takes an animal through the stages of its

development to maturity and to its imprisonment

within that particular organ which dominates its

species. With this inhibition, of course, comes about

that precious self-consciousness which is the

prerogative of the human species.

I think that to most people educated in modern

scientific medicine Hahnemann’s description of the

morbid derangements of the vital force or dynamis

as being brought about by certain spiritual or ideal

influences must be a difficult thought to come to

terms with, and I think that one can perhaps get an

approach to it out of what I have been saying. If one

can envisage, as an example, that the spiritual

quality of cunning so acts upon the complex vital

force that it produces the fox as its expression, one

has a concrete image of the way in which a spiritual

quality can work upon the life force to produce a

visual physiognomy. The most immediate

experience of what Hahnemann means by a spiritual

force acting on the Dynamis is, I think, in the action

of our own being upon our own organisms. Our

decisions, our feelings, our thoughts, all produce

their direct impress upon the organism, but these are

so complex and subtle that we need to approach the

problem through steps and stages in nature if we are

to hope to grapple with it with any success.

Now you may well be asking at this stage what

all I have been saying has got to do with disease, or

what it has got to do with metamorphosis. I hope

that before I have finished you will be a little clearer

as to why I have brought these matters forward.

Metamorphosis is a word which has been used, so

far as I know, from the time of Ovid and before. But

as a scientific concept it first reached a full

expression in the works of the great poet-scientist

Goethe, the contemporary of Hahnemann, in his

work on plant morphology. It is perhaps worth

remembering that it was Goethe who in fact invented

the science of morphology. I think it would be fair

to introduce the fundamental notions of Goethe in

respect of metamorphosis by emphasizing that as

against the static notion of gestalt, of fixed forms in

nature, he emphasized that the forms were in

continuous transformation, that the phenomena of

nature were never still, but forms were changing,

continuously interplaying and transforming

themselves. The realm in which he studied this with

greatest intensity and over the longest time was the

realm of plants, and it would be beyond my time and

capacity tonight to do more than mention briefly the

fundamental attitude of Goethe to this subject.

What is the problem with which he grappled?

In his time, as to a great extent in ours, science

busied itself with the differentiation of the

phenomena into as many distinctive compartments

as possible. The great Linnæus classified the plant

kingdom into distinguishable species. This

discipline, a necessary and great one in human

development, the discipline of analysis, was not the

one with which Goethe was primarily concerned.

He was concerned with the unity which underlies

these manifold forms, with what it is that enables us

at once to recognize a certain form as a plant. He

aimed to discover what is the “plantness”, and to

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grasp this idea, this concept of the plant in such a

vital and imaginative way that he could really behold

it, not as a verbal abstraction, but as a living,

dynamic, creative archetype which by its innate

transformations creates the world of plants around

us. It was Goethe’s proud claim that he had by years

of imaginative discipline grasped this archetypal

plant so vividly that within his inner eye he could

behold it transforming itself and creating plant forms

as he could behold it with his outer eye in the world

around. He was able to describe how this same

archetypal plant progresses and expands from the

creation of the cotyledons to the leaves, contracts to

the sepals, expands to the petals, contracts again to

the sex organs of the plant, expanding in the fruit and

finally contracting into that most contracted form,

the seed. Throughout many years of study of the

strange forms that occur in the plant kingdom, the

perfoliate rose, the tulips whose petals so often come

off as half leaves down the stems, and the multitude

of other strange abnormalities of plants, he was able

to show how the whole plant lives within each single

organ, and how, under the necessary conditions, any

part of the plant can give birth again to the whole

plant. This he understood and interpreted as

meaning that the very idea of the plant itself, not as

an abstract, but as a living idea, was present in each

organ of the plant.

With such a view, it is obvious that nothing can

manifest within a certain realm but the potentiality

which is already present in it. That therefore in the

realm of he human, in which the archetype is, of

course, enormously more complex than that of the

plant, as our previous discussion has shown, nothing

can manifest which is not already inherent within the

archetype. From this we must at once see that

disease can only be the expression of some force,

some quality, which is already present. It is not

something foreign, but it is something arising out of

the very innate nature of the being itself.

You all, I am quite sure, remember how

Hahnemann describes local diseases and mental

diseases. You recall how he describes local diseases

as those in which the general symptoms are largely

reduced into insignificance and the whole

manifestation of disease appears almost entirely in

the so-called local phenomena. And you remember

how he attempts to describe mental diseases as in a

sense local diseases in which all the manifestations

are mental and psychological and the physical and

local symptoms have almost vanished. I would put

forward as a suggestion that from a certain point of

view cancer is almost the most typical of local

diseases. I feel sure that you will all have discovered

in practice what I have also experienced, that the

difficulty in treating cancer is that the general

symptoms are so difficult and rare to find. On the

whole, the carcinoma patient, apart from a general

state of depression and debility, is unable to give

very much in the way of a symptom picture. The

disease itself manifests so strictly as a local disease

that the whole medical profession has for some

generations now been studying it and treating it on

the basis that it was, in its origin and in its

manifestation, a local disease. You also, I am sure,

are aware of the fact that although innumerable

researches are today being conducted into the

biochemical disturbances at the basis of

schizophrenic and other mental diseases, up to now

the complexity of disturbances is so irregular, is so

without any general law, that for the most part little

is achieved.

A certain polarity, therefore, would seem to

manifest between these two extreme types of

disease. Both of them are disease conditions which

have gone beyond a certain point of no return. In the

case of carcinoma, the cells, once they have become

frankly malignant, manifest insanity in their growth

which has gone beyond the normal range of the

organism’s control. It is as though something had

fallen out of the restraint of the whole organism and

was going its own, independent way. In the true

psychotic, as distinct from the neurotic, something

of the same feeling is a common experience of

anyone who has to deal with such cases.

Hahnemann himself makes an interesting distinction

between those mental cases in whom talk,

persuasion, encouragement are sufficient to change

their mood and bring about a return to health, as

against the true mental cases, the true psychotic

condition as we should say today, which is beyond

the reach of such efforts.

I would suggest that one can begin to look at all

the manifestations of human disease as somehow

swinging between these poles and types of illness,

between the danger on the one hand of going beyond

the limit of the swing of the pendulum into

psychosis, or beyond the opposite limit of the swing

of the pendulum into malignancy. Between these

two extreme poles of human disease lie the great

realm of dynamic changes which fortunately make

up the most of our medical experience and practice.

The case which I introduced at the beginning of

this paper, of the alternation between hayfever and

asthma, instances, on a level which is still within the

realm of functional disturbances, this same interplay

between the two tendencies. If I am right in

suggesting that an approach to Hahnemann’s

conception of disease can be reached in the direction

I have been sketching, a contribution to the whole

understanding of disease, of the nature of disease, is,

I believe, open. It has perhaps not been enough

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realized that within a purely natural scientific

thinking the problem of disease escapes definition.

Disease and health, disease processes and healthy

processes, are equally, according to the scientific

view, phenomena of nature. There is nothing to

distinguish the one from the other. They are studied

by the same techniques, they manifest in the same

ways, and the nature of disease remains for ever

elusive. But if one is able to build up a concrete

archetype of the human, a differentiated

understanding of the elements which go towards the

making of the human, then one can understand

disease as the manifestation of some process out of

its proper order in time and space. One can, for

instance, as I have attempted to indicate on other

occasions, understand the cancer processes as the

development within the metabolic realms of a

sensory process, and the inflammatory processes as

the manifestation outside the metabolic realm of a

digestive process.

The mental diseases could then in this way be

considered as really inflammatory diseases in which

the physical manifestations of inflammation are not

observed. When one remembers the psychotic

phenomena of acute febrile diseases, the picture, for

instance, of Belladonna, I think that it is reasonable

to attempt to understand mental diseases, the

schizophrenias and manic depressive psychoses,

with their hallucinatory phenomena, as really arising

out of the same inflammatory tendencies. They

therefore are fundamentally to be understood out of

disturbances within the metabolic functions of the

organism.

Let us return for a moment to the world of

botany. The fascinating abnormalities in flowering

plants give us a clear picture of the sort of way in

which disease develops. If one thinks for a moment

about the various forms of double flowers which

have been produced by the horticultural breeders,

and notices the way in which in these the stamens

have been converted into further petals, if one

closely observes such forms, one will find many

transitional stages between the stamens and the

petals. Very often, in flowers which have been so

cultivated that this retrograde metamorphosis takes

place, other abnormalities are observed further down

the stem of the same plant. One can detect in

harmony with this instability within the

inflorescence other instabilities in other parts of the

plant.

In the same way that one has seen here, in the

simplicity of the plant, the form characteristic and

proper to one region of the plant developing in

another region, so I am suggesting that one can

approach the problem of human disease, enormously

more complicated as it is, in the same way. In order

to focus attention on the significance of such a view,

to bring it, as it were, into a certain exaggerated

statement, one could say that whenever in the human

organism a natural process takes place, a process of

outer nature, that is a disease process. The human

represents the supreme meta-morphosis of nature,

and if a process from the lower realms of nature

takes place within the human it is in a certain way

comparable to the retrograde metamorphosis which

we just mentioned in the case of flowers.

Natural scientific methods of investigation can

therefore to some extent study the processes of

disease within the human, but they can in no way at

all study the processes of healing, or we might say

the processes humanizing. Whatever is examined

with the methods of natural science can only belong

to the level of nature. Yet it is exactly in the

overcoming of these natural processes, in the

inhibition of their full development, in the

maintaining and weaving of a balance and synthesis

of all of them, and in carrying them up onto a higher

level of metamorphosis, that the human activity and

the real, essential, inward healing of the human

activity takes place.

Hahnemann’s emphasis therefore on healing as

being the strict province of the physician becomes of

even greater significance than it first appeared. With

it, he has properly understood that the human

function is healing and making whole.

And now, before I conclude this sketch of an

approach towards an understanding of

Homœopathy, disease, and particularly the whole

psychosomatic problem. I would like to discuss for

a moment the word “toxin”. This was very nicely

brought forward recently in the British Medical

Journal. As I expect some of you may have seen,

the word toxin is derived from the Greek word for

an arrow. The significance of this seems to me very

great indeed. The arrow poison is the archetype of

poison, and it is the nature of an arrow to penetrate

the skin. The penetrating of a skin, of any skin,

signifies the carrying through it of a process from

one realm into another. With the arrow poison a

process of outer nature is carried forcibly inside the

organism. When one recalls that in fact it was the

god Apollo who used to shoot the arrows of disease,

one can see that it is not only the forces of nature

which can penetrate the organism, but the archetypes

of the psychic world as well. In the Bible story it is

the Snake which is the archetype of poison and here,

too, the idea of piercing the skin is clear.

We know, of course, that even such wholesome

foods as milk when introduced by means of a needle

into the organism manifest as poisons. This should

give us a clear understanding that one of the

purposes of the digestive system is to de-nature the

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substances which are taken in through the

alimentary canal.

If we can achieve some first understanding of

poisons, toxins, as being forces of nature which have

broken through from one realm, illicitly as it were,

into another, and if we have begun to get the possible

conception of disease processes as also the

manifestation of forces and powers proper to one

realm within another, then the correspondence, if not

identity, between disease processes and poisoning

processes is becoming clearer to our perception.

You see, in all the other major phenomena of

metamorphosis with which you are familiar,

whether it be the transformation of the tadpole into

the frog, whether it be the profound metamorphosis

of young people at puberty—there is always a

radical opening up of life on a different level from

that which went before. The tadpole transformation

is involved in the development from the level of

water to the level of air. The changes in the case of

the human being reaching sexual maturity at

adolence are involved with the development of

intellectual power at that age.

In all metamorphosis one is forced to realize

that nature is not homogenous, that reality consists

of divergent elements and polar opposites, of

different levels and discrete degrees. We cannot

understand these phenomena within a unitary

conception of the world. Natural science today is

still characterized almost entirely by this unitary

conception, in which there are no differences of

value and no differences of degree, in which any fact

is, in statistical analyses, given equal weight with

any other fact. As against this, the phenomena of

disease and the phenomena of metamorphosis

compel us to a recognition of a world of discrete

degrees, of a world of discrete degrees, of a world of

matter and nature set over against a world of spirit,

and meanings, and values, a world of manifestation

set over against a world of potentiality and being,

and were it not so, no phenomena of disease could

take place.

Mr. President, I apologize for bringing forward

such an inchoate series of perspectives. My only

justification can be that I believe that within

Hahnemann’s conception of disease and not only in

his practice there is a jewel of great worth, that the

many different views of disease which perplex and

dominate the modern mind, the mechanical, the

attempt at a psychosomatic statement, those views

still existent which regard disease as itself the

attempt to purge the organism of some toxin, the

bacterial and toxic views of diseases—that these and

all the rest of them can be understood from the

homœopathic conception. But I do not think that

this can be achieved without winning for ourselves

today a new insight and a new experience of

Hahnemann’s thought. I certainly do not imagine

that what I have said tonight achieves this. At the

most I hope that it will act as a provocation to others,

to take up the task and to infuse new life and new

insight into this great legacy and treasure house, of

which we are for the time the custodians.

(The Brit. Homœo. Jourl., Jan., ’61)

===================================

16. Hahnemann’s Theory of Chronic Diseases:

Psora and Sycosis

FARRINGTON, Harvey

(HG. XLVIII, 5/1981)

While Hahnemann’s theory of chronic disease

is not above criticism, while some of his assertions

may be erroneous and, as noted by Leeser,

“incompletely formulated,” nevertheless it can be

shown that his essential ideas are sound and, in time,

will receive general acceptance among scientists and

physicians of all schools. As shown by numerous

contributions to the current homœopathic literature

of the past few years, the trend of medical thought

has already begun to move in this direction. Thus,

through improved methods of research and a more

accurate and intimate knowledge of the reactions of

the human organism to disease many of the

conclusions which Hahnemann arrived at by keen

observation and inductive reasoning have been

confirmed by modern investigators. At present,

however, these are more or less of a general nature

and have little or no bearing on the question of

therapeutic methods. For instance, Hahnemann’s

theory of the chronic miasms and their transmission

to posterity come very close to the modern ideas

concerning dyscrasias and hereditary taints. Boyd’s

exhaustive articles, which appeared in the Journal a

few years ago, though evidently not written for the

purpose, furnish ample proof of the chronic and

inveterate effects of Psora, Syphilis and Sycosis.

But the fact remains that Hahnemann’s

interpretations of the phenomena of chronic diseases

are not accepted, even by many of those who want

to be called homœopaths. To some the term ‘Psora’

is a stumbling block because it means the itch; others

reject Hahnemann’s theories because they do not

coincide with modern views on the subject and are

therefore ‘unscientific. But the exact terms used by

him are unessential, and, if he were living at this day,

he would willingly substitute for them any other

nomenclature if it seemed more appropriate; for he

writes in the Chronic Diseases, “I call it psora to

give it a general name.” Under some other “general

name” the fundamental concept would be the

same—a dyscrasia, a ‘strain,’ which accounts for the

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inveterateness and transmissibility of chronic states.

As Bœricke writing on the subject of Hahnemann’s

conception of the chronic diseases says: “He might

just as well have classified them as A, B, and C.”

The reality of these subtle, insious miasms or

stigmata which are the underlying factors in chronic

disease could be positively established only by a

series of exhaustive and painstaking clinical

experiments, conducted by trained and unprejudiced

observers. Yet, there are several considerations

which should appeal to every open-minded

physician. Among them are, first, the evidence of

Hahnemann’s twelve years of investigation before

he published the work on the chronic diseases.

Second, the testimony of several hundred

conscientious homœopaths who not only applied his

teachings in their practice, but added to them. Third,

the innumerable cures made by these men, from

Boenninghausen down to the present time. Fourth,

the definite morphologic temperamental and

symptomatic characteristics which they had

observed as belonging to persons affected by one or

more of the several miasms. And fifth, the long lists

of remedies worked out by Hahnemann and his

followers, as especially suitable for psora, for

sycosis and for syphilis. Moreover, these theories

served as a good working hypothesis for psora,

sycosis and for syphilis. Thus, on the basis of

Hahnemann’s ideas, the homœopathic Materia

Medica was enriched and its application broadened.

This sentiment is expressed, in his usual quaint

manner, by the late Oliver S. Haines. In discussing

Dr. Bœricke’s paper, referred to above, he says:

“Hahnemann was never a complacent doctor. He

was great for finding out the ‘whys’ of his medical

problems. Whether or not his explanation of the

underlying cause of his failure to cure chronic

diseases, because they were due to psora, syphilis or

sycosis, was correct, I do not know. This I do know,

however, his studies along this line resulted in a

magnificient Materia Medica of the antipsorics

which is a lasting monument to his genius and

industry.”

The best and most complete exposition of

Hahnemann’s theory of chronic disease will be

found in Roberts’ work on The Principles and Art of

Cure by Homœopathy, and an article by him in the

Homœopathic Recorder. Space will permit only a

very brief outline here, which will be taken chiefly

from that work.

Roberts objects to the term ‘miasm’ which, he

says, conveyed Hahnemann’s meaning perfectly in

the German text, but not in English. There is some

truth in this. Miasm is considered as obsolete, at

least in its original meaning, for it conveyed the

idea of noxious effluvia or exhalations, or

emanations from a swamp which were supposed to

be the cause of Malaria. In place of Hahnemann’s

term, Roberts proposes ‘stigma,’ defined by

Stedman and others as a spot or blemish on the skin;

a mark of degeneracy. But by modern scientific

writers it is used in the sense of an anomaly

indicative of some underlying constitutional

abnormal condition. For the present I shall adhere

to Hahnemann’s term, which, like psora, dynamis

and others, has received a technical meaning in his

philosophy.

“The natural seat for the manifestation of psora

is upon the skin; here it is peculiarly susceptible to

suppressive treatment. On the surface this taint will

do comparatively little harm, but when it is

suppressed it may affect almost every part of the

body. While psora in itself does not produce many

pathologic changes, pure psora does produce many

functional disturbances and practically all the

subjective symptoms are traceable to this underlying

cause.” He is therefore the greatest sufferer, not

because his are the most serious ailments, but

because he has so many distressing symptoms.

The psoric patient is alert in mind and body,

quick in action, and a hard worker, but he tires

easily. He is beset with anxiety and fears. He fears

that he will be unable to carry out what he attempts

to do; he fears disease, and if a child, he fears the

dark or that he will fail in school. Concentration is

difficult and mental effort or irritation are apt to

bring on hot flushes. A warm room oppresses him.

Yet the psoric patient is generally cold. He has

periodic headaches that rise and fall in intensity with

the course of the sun. He has many functional heart

symptoms, and with every attack feels certain that

the end has come. Yet he may live to be eighty years

of age. He is always hungry, for his assimilation is

faulty. He feels empty and ‘gone’ in the middle of

the forenoon; he has inordinate cravings for sweets

or meat, often preceding a bilious attack or a sick

headache. Psoric eruptions are many and various

and invariably itch. The skin is rough and dry,

scurfy, and has an unclean appearance. Yet it does

not suppurate or perspire.

“When you find a bright, intelligent patient,

tiring quickly, sensitive to impressions, with many

symptoms, you may classify this case as psoric.”

Sycosis, the term used by Hahnemann for the

chronic effects of the gonorrheal virus, should not be

confused with the same term used in modern

dermatology to denote barber’s itch or tinia barbae.

The root meaning of the word, borrowed, from the

Greek, is a fig. It was adopted by Hahnemann

because, after careful investigation, he arrived at the

conclusion that condylomata which resembled a fig

in shape were due to gonorrheal infection. In this he

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was many years ahead of his time, for all this

contemporaries, including the great John Hunter,

believed that gonorrhea, chancroid and syphilis were

merely different manifestations of the same disease.

Hahnemann says that psora is the oldest and

most widely spread miasm; but he was evidently

unaware that ‘injections’ and ‘burning discharges’

were mentioned in the oldest medical writing

known. Eber’s papyrus. Proksch says that there is

a fairly accurate account of gonorrhea in a Japanese

manuscript dating back to 900 B.C. Roman writers

frequently mention the disease and Arabian

physicians of the middle ages wrote extensively

about it and their elaborate methods for its treatment.

Paracelsus taught the contagiousness of gonorrhea

but considered it a complication of syphilis. This

was the accepted theory for many decades.

However, Richard, Ellis and others began to doubt

this. The famous John Hunter was confirmed in the

opinion of the earlier writers by an unfortunate

experiment. In 1767, he inoculated a prepuce and

glans penis (some say his own), with gonorrheal pus;

and subsequently found a perfect chancre on the site

of his inoculation. His error was corrected by Ricord

in 1850, and later by others who confirmed Ricord’s

findings. Thus it will be seen that Hahnemann,

despite the dicta of so-called authorities, gathered

his own data and drew his own conclusion, which

was that gonorrhea was a separate and distinct

disease.

Hahnemann did not develop his ideas

concerning the venereal miasms as completely as he

did those concerning psora. While over 100 pages

of the work on chronic diseases are devoted to the

latter miasm, only eight and a half pages treat of

syphilis and less than two and a half of sycosis.

Moreover, some 1500 pages are devoted to the

indications for the antipsoric remedies and

practically no space at all is allotted to those most

useful in the venereal taints. For this reason, an

adequate conception of what Hahnemann meant by

the terms syphilis and sycosis can be gained only by

examining the chapters in the Chronic Diseases on

these miasms in the light of the fundamental

principles of his philosophy as laid down in the

Organon and Lesser Writings.

The term sycosis was in use in Hahnemann’s

time as denoting an anomalous venereal disease

which included in its manifestations the fig-shaped

warts or condylomata, occasionally a urethral flux

and some conditions which were nonvenereal in

origin. As stated in last month’s editorial, syphilis

and gonorrhea were supposed to be only different

phases of one and the same disease until Ricord’s

experiments in 1850 proved otherwise. Hahnemann

published his Chronic Diseases in 1828. Therein he

shows that Syphilis and gonorrhea are in reality two

separate and distinct diseases. “His researches in the

general subject of syphilis and gonorrhea, conducted

by the inductive method of science, resulted in

throwing a flood of light upon a previously obscure

subject, more clearly defining and greatly

broadening not only the sphere of the venereal

diseases, but the scope of all subsequent research.

He was thus the precursor by more than fifty years

of Noeggerath, who called attention anew to the

importance of gonorrhea as a constitutional

disease.”

As with ‘psora’, ‘dynamis’ and other terms in

common use at that day. Hahnemann borrowed the

generic term ‘sycosis’ and applied it to his newly

discovered pathologic condition, but attached to it a

technical meaning in his philosophy. And, as with

psora, suppression assumes a vital role in the

establishment of the sycotic miasm in the patient.

He says, “This fig-wart disease which in later times,

especially during the French war, in the years 1809-

1814 was so widely spread but which has since

showed itself more and more rarely, was treated

always….internally by mercury because it was

considered homogeneous with the venereal chancre-

disease,….by allopathic physicians, always in the

most violent, external way by cauterizing, burning

and cutting, or by ligatures….The natural proximate

effect is, that they will usually come forth again,

usually to be subjected again, in vain, to a similar,

painful, cruel treatment. But even if they could be

rooted out in this way, it would merely have the

consequence that the fig-wart disease, after having

been deprived of the local symptom which acts

vicariously for the internal ailment, would appear in

other and much worse ways, in secondary ailments;

for the fig-wart miasm, which rules in the whole

organism has been in no way diminished, either by

the external destruction of the above-mentioned

excrescences or by the mercury which has been used

internally and which is in no way appropriate to

sycosis.”

Keith feels positive that Hahnemann considered

the primary manifestation of sycosis to be the fig-

wart and quotes as his authority a portion of the

above paragraph which I have omitted: “These

excrescences usually first manifest themselves on

the genitals, and appear usually but not always,

attended with a sort of gonorrhea from the urethra.”

And Keith thinks the word “attended” (or

“accompanied” in the translation he used), as

significant. It is scarcely possible that Hahnemann

intended to convey the idea that sycosis, with its

warts and excrescences, was not gonorrheal in its

origin or that it had nothing to do with the previous

urethral discharge. But he is treating of his newly

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discovered miasm, represented by the long train of

symptoms and conditions arising from the insult

sustained by the human organism, when its efforts to

resist the intruding infection were thwarted by the

closing of the only exit through which it could cast

HITMONT its enemy. That he did not ignore the

part played by the discharge is shown by a note to

this paragraph, which reads: “Usually in gonorhoea

of this kind, the discharge (referring to “attended

gonorrhea”) is from the beginning, thickish, like

pus; micturition is less difficult but the body of the

penis is swollen, somewhat hard.” Also a further

note stating that “the miasm of the other common

gonorrhoeas seems not to penetrate the whole

organism, but to locally stimulate the urinary

organs.” Thus again is Hahnemann far in advance

of his time, for here he clearly distinguishes between

a virulent, specific infection which creates havoc

when suppressed, and a relatively benign condition

which is now known to be caused by injury, various

forms of constitutional disease, and pyogenic or

other nonspecific bacteria.

The reason why I have dwelt upon this phase of

the subject is, that some of Hahnemann’s admirers,

while sharing his view that there is a benign and a

genuinely ‘sycotic’ form of urethritis, seem to have

failed to appreciate the scientific distinction he

makes. It should be noted that he mentions but two

forms. Kent endeavors to explain Hahnemann’s

doctrine as follows: “It is not generally known that

there are two kinds of gonorrhea, one that is

essentially chronic, having no disposition to

recovery, but continuing on indefinitely and

involving the whole constitution in varying forms of

symptoms, and one that is acute having a tendency

to recover after a few weeks or months. Both are

contagious. There are also simple inflammations of

the urethra attended with discharges which are not

contagious, and thus we have simple inflammations

of the urethra and specific inflammations of the

urethra; and of the specific we have the two kinds I

have mentioned, the chronic and the acute. The

books will treat of them as one disease….. The

majority of gonorrhoeas are acute, i.e., there is a

period of prodrome, a period of progress and a

period of decline, being thus in accordance with the

acute miasms…… If the suppressive treatment be

resorted to in the acute, the system is sufficiently

vigorous in most cases to throw off the after effects.

The suppression cannot bring on the constitutional

symptoms called sycosis, …..In both the acute and

the chronic the prodromal period is about the same,

from eight to twelve days, and there is no essential

difference between the discharge of the acute and the

chronic.” He also thinks that one attack of the

sycotic infection causes permanent immunity from

subsequent attacks, although the patient may have a

urethritis any number of times. But “the sycotic

constitution cannot be taken a second time.” We

shall discuss these points later.

Close treats the subject of the chronic miasms

very briefly, and leads the reader to infer that sycosis

is nothing more than the sequelae of suppressed

gonorrheal infection. He argues that Hahnemann

deserves the credit of being the first to teach the

germ theory of disease causation, and especially as

to syphilis and gonorrhea basing his claim on the

statement in the Chronic Diseases that all chronic

diseases “must have for their origin and foundation

constant chronic miasms, whereby their parasitical

existence in the organism is enabled to continually

rise and grow.” And he adds, “Only living beings

grow.” True, Hahnemann knew that the acarus

scabeie was the cause of itch. But he was ignorant

of the reality of the gonococcus or the germ of

tuberculosis. The fact that the itch-mite is not even

mentioned in the Organon or any of his writings of

later date would seem to indicate that he considered

the real contagious morbific agents as subtle toxins,

or as he called them, miasms.

John Henry Allen furnishes us with a volume on

sycosis of 417 pages, including a rather lengthy list

of antisycotic remedies and their indications. But

the text is poorly arranged and, at times somewhat

obscure. “Sycosis,” he says, “is not a new name for

gonorrhea, neither is it gonorrhea in any sense of the

word. The well-known specific urethritis presents

only in its initial stage, similar phenomena to those

of sycosis, and the history of the two diseases differs

widely in their constitutional developments and

progress. Gonorrhea simplex is not a basic miasm,

while sycosis comprises one of the chronic miasms

of Hahnemann, and, next to psora it is the most

persistent of the great triune of the subversive forces,

syphilis, sycosis and psora.” Sycosis “is not an

infection from a supposed gonorrheal catarrh, for

gonorrhea simplex does not affect the organism as

does gonorrheal sycosis.” Then he proceeds to

describe the well-known symptoms of an attack of

Neisserian infection, the vesical irritation, the

painful urination, chordee, etc. “As a rule, in sycosis

very little pain is present—sometimes, not always, a

decided tenderness is felt along the anterior surface

of the organ.” The discharge has a characteristic

fishy odour.

Allen claims that sycosis has a primary, a

secondary and a tertiary stage, corresponding to the

three classic stages of syphilis. Roberts and some

other homœopathic writers seem to agree with him.

Hahnemann mentions only secondary ailments.

According to Allen, the primary stage is marked by

the symptoms of his so-called sycotic gonorrhea, as

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given above. The secondary stage follows the

suppression of the discharge by ill-advised treatment

in from three months to two years. Almost every

disease in this stage is of an inflammatory nature,

such as ovaritis, salpingitis, arthritis, excoriating

discharges, prostatitis, orchitis, etc. Warty growths

are a common feature of this stage. Also, and this is

interesting, mucous cysts on the vaginal mucosa or

the cervix. The tertiary stage is produced by the

repercussion or removal of secondary

manifestations, principally warts and excrescences,

curettements, by topical treatment of cervicitis,

leucorrhoea, gleet, orchitis, acute rheumatism or

catarrhal discharges of the secondary stage; also by

the removal of the uterus or any of its adnexa. The

use of injections or douches of permanganate of

potash, silver nitrate or sulphate of zinc, are so

profoundly suppressive that the case may pass on to

the tertiary stage without any intervening secondary

symptoms,; but, since the third period develops

more slowly than the preceding stages, tertiary

sycotic symptoms may not appear sooner than from

one to two years. This stage may even remain

dormant until the fortieth year of the patient’s life,

and then appear in the form of cancer. “Usually the

first tertiary lesions to manifest themselves are skin

symptoms, and thus is “in agreement with

Hahnemann’s theory of disease, ‘that disease is

evolved from above downwards and from within

outwards.’ ” They are the verruca filiformis, and

the acuminate form and condylomata, which,

however, he believes to issue from a mixture of the

sycotic and syphilitic miasms. “When tertiary

symptoms do not come out as skin lesions,

malignancies are almost certain to follow” or the

internal organs are attacked. Farther on he says: “I

believe that it may be said with some certainty that,

when a tertiary eruption makes its appearance… a

suppressed gonorrheal discharge cannot be

reproduced, so that the sycosis becomes a slow and

difficult thing to cure.” The author cites many

clinical cases cured by the homœopathic remedy.

Roberts’ definition of sycosis seems to me to be

more nearly in accord with Hahnemann’s own

conception of this miasm. It is contained in the

following paragraph:

“Sycosis is generally understood to be

gonorrheal poison. We should make the distinction

clear between gonorrhea and sycosis. Gonorrhea is

the acute infection of the gonococci which takes

place in from five to ten days to develop an urethritis

after an exposure. During this incubation period it

is purely an infection; then the local manifestations

are thrown outward by nature at the point of attack

as a resentment of the vital energy to the infection.

If the gonorrhea is thoroughly and completely cured,

practically no sycosis ever develops. Sycosis is

established after a suppressed gonorrhea, when the

acute infection is driven in upon the vital energy by

external methods of suppression, and it then

becomes a systemic stigma, permeating every living

cell of the organism and transmitting its deadly

destructive forces to the offspring.”

In his brief account of the nature and

manifestations of sycosis, Hahnemann mentions

only the figwarts, the occasional urethral discharge

and Secondary ailments’ resulting from their

removal by external treatment. But Hahnemann’s

meagre description has been added to and the

symptoms of sycosis greatly augmented by

Boenninghausen, Wolf, Wesselhoeft, Wells and

others of the old guard. By innumerable clinical

observations, they have bequeathed to us a fairly

complete picture of this insidious, internal malady,

and the remedies capable of its eradication.

Probably the most accurate and comprehensive

treatment of the subject is to be found in Roberts’

work referred to earlier. I shall endeavor to present

her only the more characteristic features of this

miasm. He says:

“The suppressed gonorrheal infection is very

apt to first show itself in attacking the blood and

producing an anaemic condition and a general

catarrhal condition is set up. Often-times an

inflammatory rheumatism develops; inflammation

follows in soft tissues and changes in the fibre of the

muscles. In fact, the whole organism becomes

involved. Sometimes a stasis develops in the

lymphatics; there is a swelling in the groin following

the suppression, and inflammation in the prostate.”

“The sycotic patient is exceedingly suspicious,

jealous, irritable” and subject to fits of anger. His

mind does not function clearly; he has difficulty in

finding the right word in speaking and writing and

suspects others of misunderstanding his meaning.

He is absent-minded; he is forgetful, especially of

recent events. “The sycotic taint develops the worst

forms of degeneracy because of the basic suspicion

and jealousy and they will resort to any and all

means of vindicating themselves in their own light.

This is the most markedly degenerate of the stigmata

in its suspicion, its quarrelsomeness, its tendency to

harm others and to harm animals.” It produces the

worst forms of cruelty, cunning and deceit, “and the

worst forms of mania. It bears the mark of self-

condemnation which is the moral reaction to the

inception of the disease…..Here too we find fixed

ideas.”

The headaches of the sycotic occur most often

in the vertex and are worse while lying down, worse

at night, especially after midnight and better from

motion. “The hair falls out in circular spots, the hair

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of the beard falls.” The scalp perspires. There is

vertigo which is felt principally in the occiput. The

nose is apt to be red, the face pale, or bluish from

venous, congestion. This patient suffers from moist

snuffles but without ulceration or crusts. The sense

of smell is diminished or lost. Catarrhal discharges

are scanty, purulent or greenish, with the

characteristic fish-brine odour. Pains about the heart

and dyspnea, if present, are relieved by gentle

motion except when the cardiac condition is

rheumatic. Then motion aggravates. If anasarca

develops, it never becomes very extensive, for these

patients are apt to die suddenly; “they snuff out life

a candle.”

The sycotic is worse from eating, especially of

meat. His stomach pains are ameliorated by lying

on the face and from pressure. He frequently has

gushing stools expelled with great force. They are

always preceded and accompanied by griping colic

and the colic always makes him irritable. “All bowel

and intestinal troubles of sycotic origin have the

constant symptom of colic, whether it be in the

diarrhea, the haemorrhoids or any other digestive

manifestation, and there is always the marked

irritability.”

“In the urinary tract there are many

symptoms….. The most frequent location of sycotic

manifestations in women is in the pelvis.”

Inflammation of the ovaries and of the Fallopian

tubes; peritonitis, general pelvic cellulitis. In the

more chronic types, cystic types, cystic degeneration

of the ovaries, uterus and Fallopian tubes is

produced by this taint. “Appendicitis is directly

tradeable to sycotic influences.” The distinguishing

features of sycotic manifestations in the abdomen

are: spasmodic, colicky often paroxysmal pains,

acrid ischarges smelling like fish-brine, and a

mottled appearance of the mucous membranes.

Sycotic rheumatism is characterized by

stiffness, soreness and tearing pains which are worse

during rest in cold, wet weather, and better from

stretching, moving and in dry weather. Arthritic

nodes on the fingers and elsewhere, arthritis

deformans and the gouty diatheses have a sycotic

basis.

The nails are ridged, thick and heavy.

Moles, warts, wine-coloured patches and other

manifestations of proliferation are characteristic.

Exfoliating eczemas and other eruptions in the

sycotic patient appear in circumscribed spots.

Herpes zoster is included by Roberts in this

category. Barber’s itch “rarely develops unless there

is a sycotic taint.” “Malignancies of the skin are

more violent and intractable in proportion as the

sycotic taint is increased…. Stitch abscesses never

gives a true ulcer; the sycotic manifestations are

more overgrowth than destructive of tissue.”

All discharges are a source of relief to the

sycotic patient. The return of a catarrhal discharge,

a leucorrhoea, the menstrual flow, the breaking out

of warts or fibrous growths, and especially the

reinstatement of a urethral discharge in the male, are

followed by amelioration, even of the mental state.

Allen, who was an experienced dermatologist,

is more explicit in his description of sycotic skin

lesions. In addition to warts and other excrescences

he claims that certain forms of acne are sycotic in

origin, and especially is the “red mole,” which, he

says, is a positive diagnostic sign of hereditary or

acquired sycosis. It is a “tertiary symptom which

appears more frequently upon the chest or anterior

portion of the body although it may occur anywhere,

varying in size from that of a pin-head to that of a

pea. There is no other eruption like it. It is smooth,

round, shiny, often red as blood and of the

appearance of a polka dot on the skin.” He disagrees

with Boenninghausen and others in their belief that

variola and varicella are purely sycotic.

Allen, Kent, Roberts and other Hahnemannian

writers coincide in the belief that all three of the

chronic miasms are transmitted in the stage existing

in the infecting person at the time of sexual contact.

They draw a picture of the young wife who has had

the misfortune to have married a sycotic husband.

Quoting Roberts: “We know how frequently we see

cases where, soon after marriage, a perfectly

healthy, robust girl begins to droop and becomes ill.

This is because the secondary symptoms have been

transmitted to the extensive mucous surfaces of the

female organs. Oftentimes it is a single organ that is

involved, like the ovary with its cystic

manifestations, or a Fallopian tube manifests

inflammation; again they may show a very anaemic

state of the blood, and when the anaemic condition

arises it affects every part of her organism, coming

on gradually until her whole system is permeated.

She becomes pallid, drawn, puffy; there is no

stamina to the muscles……This may be a forerunner

of carcinomatous conditions of the breast or uterus,

diabetes, Bright’s disease or numerous other

diseases of this type, largely dependent upon

previously existing taints in her system.” All of

these writers stress the diagnostic importance of

sycotic anaemia. Kent says: “Here is a common

instance. A sycotic patient has been cured as far as

the discharge is concerned, and now he marries, for

he is told that no harm can come hereafter. But

shortly afterwards his wife comes down with illness,

whereas she had always been a healthy woman

before… You take a man who has gone ten to fifteen

years with sycotic trouble. He is waxy, is subject to

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various kinds of fig-warts, his lips are pale and his

ears almost transparent; he is going into a decline;

he has various kinds of manifestations and these

manifestations appear in numerous particulars that

we call symptoms….. On the other hand the trouble

may have manifested itself in other mucous

membranes of the body, and thus saved the man

from his waxiness.” These catarrhal conditions may

be of the eyes, or more often the nose or the posterior

nares and, in spite of local treatment, refuse to heal.

The indicated homœopathic remedy, however, cures

the catarrh and the old gonorrheal discharge returns.

Both Kent and Roberts fail to mention the

sterility of both male and female, so often the result

of gonorrheal infection. Allen says: “It causes

sterility, even to a greater degree than syphilis. Not

infrequently sterility follows after the first birth, but

if a mild or latent form of the disease be present, it

may not follow until the birth of the second

child…..The cause of sterility lies more frequently,

I think, with husbands who have had repeated

attacks of gonorrhea previous to marriage, than with

the wives.”

Syphilis: The greater part of Hahnemann’s

chapter on syphilis is concerned with the results of

its suppression by the extirpation of the chancre

with knife or cautery, and the curing of these results

with the homœopathic remedy. He says: “The

second chronic miasma, which is more widely

spread than the fig-wart disease, and which, for three

and a half (now four) centuries has been the source

of many other chronic ailments, is the miasm of the

venereal disease proper, the chancre-disease

(syphilis). This disease causes difficulties in its

cure, only if it is entangled (complicated) with a

psora that has been already far developed—with

sycosis it is complicated but rarely, but then usually

at the same time with psora…..I have never, in my

practice of more than fifty years, seen any trace of

the venereal disease break out, so long as the chancre

remained untouched and in its place, even if there

were a space of several years (for it never passes

away of itself), and even when it had largely

increased in its place, as is natural in time with the

internal augmentation of the venereal disorder,

which increase takes place in time in every chronic

miasm.” And he goes on to say that in this state, and

especially when uncomplicated with psora. “there

is on earth no chronic miasma, no chronic disease

springing from a miasma, which is more curable and

more easily curable than this.” [The italics are

Hahnemann’s]

Roberts begins is chapter on the miasm of

syphilis in similar vein. After describing the usual

period of incubation and the formation of the

chancre, he says: “In other words, the vital energy is

attempting to push out the enemy and so long as this

chancre remains on the surface as an expression of

the inward turmoil, no constitutional symptoms

appear…..The patient who is suffering from syphilis

in a latent state or who manifests the inherited

stigma, presents a picture that is very easy to

recognize; and this is probably the easiest of the

miasms or stigmata to treat. The patient who has

inherited or latent syphilis is mentally dull, heavy,

stupid and especially stubborn, sullen, morose and

usually suspicious.” They develop fixed ideas.

They become melancholy but keep their troubles to

themselves and sulk over them. They want to be

alone; they forget what they were about to say or

what they have just read. They are beset with a

restlessness at night which drives them out of bed.

All their complaints are worse as soon as the sun

goes down. But, with the recurrence of a catarrhal

discharge or a leucorrhoea or the opening of an old

ulcer on the leg, they become more normal mentally

and physically. Degenerates, criminals and the

criminally insane are either sycotic or syphilitic and

would probably benefit from the administration of

homœopathic remedies for these miasms.

Syphilitic headaches are persistently occipital

or occur on one side of the head. They are worse

from sunset till dawn, from motion of any kind and

from exertion, either mental or physical; worse from

heat, while lying down, after sleep, and better from

cold applications and nosebleed. These modalities,

it will be noted, are practically the opposite of those

in the psoric type.

These patients frequently have high blood

pressure, due to atheroma or nephritic obstruction.

Their hair is moist, greasy, offensive and falls out in

bunches, first on the vertex. Hair on other parts falls.

The hair of the beard is often ingrowing; the

eyelashes break off and turn inward, especially in

elderly patients. The scalp continually perspires,

and may be covered with a scabby, oozing eruption.

“Ulceration is the mark of the syphilitic. You

will find in these patients ulcerations of the cornea;

ulcerations of the lids.” The eyes are apt to be

astigmatic, and especially are they intolerant of

artificial light. Ptosis, neuralgias of the eyes and

head and greenish or greenish yellow discharges are

of common occurrence.

In many of these patients there is a fetid

otorrhoea and, as long as it continues, the general

health may be fairly good. “However, if the

discharge is suppressed, the patient’s health suffers

greatly….This is the only stigma in which the bones

of the nose are destroyed.” Dark greenish, brownish

or black crusts form in the nose. Nasal discharges

or ‘snuffles’ may or may not be offensive.

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Psora alone never develops ulcers, but the

syphilitic taint produces ulcers, in the mouth as well

as elsewhere. Saliva is apt to be increased and there

is a metallic taste in the mouth.

The syphilitic patient suffers from structural

tissue changes, yet the emotional sphere is not

seriously affected. For this reason he exhibits but

few subjective symptoms, is not very sensitive and

has few cravings in the way of food. He is averse to

meat.

“There are a great many skin manifestations in

the syphilitic miasm.” The eruptions occur

especially about the joints or in the flexures of the

body. They are of a coppery or brownish colour and

are prone to assume a crescentic form. They usually

become scaly and crusty. Dry gangrene and

gangrene of the skin are of syphilitic origin. The

most striking feature of syphilitic eruptions is that

they are not sensitive and do not itch.

To summarize: Psora itches and appears

unwashed, and its effects are purely functional.

Syphilis ulcerates and attacks the bones. Sycosis

infiltrates and is corroded by its discharges. “When

suppressed, the syphilitic stigma spends itself on the

meninges of the brain and affects the larynx and the

throat in general, the eyes, the bones and the

periosteum. Psora spends its action very largely

upon the nervous system and the nerve centres,

which are relieved by surface manifestations.

Sycosis attacks the internal organs, especially the

pelvic and sexual organs. In this stigma we find the

worst forms of inflammation, infiltration of the

tissues causing abscesses, hypertrophies, cystic

degeneration.”

Roberts has a great deal to say about the

tubercular diathesis, and he treats it as though it were

a separate ‘miasm,’ but evidently he accepts the idea

which prevails among Hahnemannians, that it is

essentially psoric. Thus he says that the early

morning diarrhea so often observed in tubercular

subjects, and the sensitiveness to cold, show their

psoric parentage. Ravenous hunger or hunger even

after a full meal; cravings for meat, potatoes, or

indigestible things and inability to digest starch are

tuberculo-psoric. A hoarse cough from every

exposure, greenish yellow, salty or sweetish

expectoration; constant tired feeling and inclination

to lie down; persistent headaches, lasting for years,

and certain hysterical and nervous symptoms are all

characteristic of the pre-tubercular state. The latter

improve when the tuberculosis becomes active. Pre-

tubercular manifestations are psoric, but the

predisposing factor is the syphilitic taint. Strictures,

fissures and sinuses of the rectum are tubercular in

origin. “Haemorrhages from the rectum are

signposts of tuberculosis, although there is bleeding

from haemorrhoids in sycosis.” Corns and

callouses, according to Roberts, are tubercular.

Involvement of the lymphatic glands of the abdomen

and hernias belong to the tubercular group; as also

rectal symptoms alternating with heart or lung

troubles, especially in those suffering with asthma.

Headaches that recur every Sunday, or when the

patient is resting from his usual vocation, felons,

acne indurate of the nose, nocturnal enuresis,

affections of the prostate, impetigo, the slow healing

of small wounds, and scrofula are due to a

combination of psora and syphilis. Prostatitis and

psoriasis belong to the same category, but may also

rest on a mixture of all three of the miasms. Moles

are either sycotic or syphilitic.

Erysipelas is due to a double infection of sycosis

and psora.

Carcinoma, lupus, epithelioma, Bright’s

disease, hay fever and psoriasis are among those

ailments which are expressions of a mixture of all

three of the chronic miasms.

(THE HAHNEMANNIAN GLEANINGS, June, July

1939.)

===================================

17. Psycho Physiological Reflections on Lachesis

Dr. WHITMONT, Edward C.

(XXIXth International Congress, 1974)

I have been away from these meetings for 15 to

20 years at least, and it feels like coming into a new

world again. Let me also say that I am going to

confront you with an entirely different approach to

the remedy from any you have been hearing this

morning. It comes not from the physiologic angle

but from that of depth psychology; I might almost

say from a spiritual angle.

To begin, I would like to say, that in thinking in

holistic terms, Hahnemann was ahead of his as well

as our times with his anticipation of an overall

pattern which encompasses not only substance but

also what we now call energy. This was his most

revolutionary discovery, a oneness that underlies

illness and cure as one and the same. Both have

begun to be repostulated in our time by modern

physics, biology and depth psychology.

We no longer hold what is called the billiard

ball theory of matter, namely the pushing around of

inert particles of matter by what is called energy.

We now acknowledge that matter and energy are

actually one, neither having an independent reality

but dependent on each other as transitory

manifestations of what is called processes of ‘form’,

nothing but form. Form is the underlying unit of

existence. This is not form of something, but form

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per se, prior to any ‘thing’; form creating that which

we call matter. This sounds like an abstruse notion,

yet I would remind you that we change all the atoms

and molecules of our body within approximately

seven years, still the person seems the same one.

How do we recognize this sameness? By virtue of

the determining in form principle, the elements of

form that create or precede our material existence.

Similarly, biology thinks in terms of what

Portmann has called ‘themes’; themes expressing

themselves in the creation of forms. This idea

overrides the Darwinistic idea of chance selection by

survival value. He describes for instance the descent

of the testicles as having no survival value. They are

more exposed to danger than before and certainly do

not serve survival. Likewise many animal forms

such as the shape of a horn or thickened skin folds

of a bull in no way serve as life preserving or

biological functions, but rather they express creative

plays of existence, Nature is an artist creating and

shaping forms for its own ends. As Goethe said:

“The phenomena are their own explanation. They

need no further explanation.”

Similarly in depth psychology, particularly in

terms of Jung’s concepts, complex and archetype are

seen as form elements: both the origin as well as the

healer of a disorder, depending upon whether they

operate independently as disturbing factors.

All of these concepts add up to the idea of form

or Gestalt, elements that are more than the sum of

their parts, the parts being integrated in an overall

pattern by the law of the form. This is the angle that

Hahnemann intuited in creating what he called the

Arzneimittel-Bilder, namely the pictures or images

of remedies as though they were personalities, Miss

Pulsatilla, Mr. Sulphur or Mrs. Sepia.

You may say that in the realm of creative forms

they do exist. This is what is meant with the genius

of the remedy, namely an underlying core of

meaning, a form significance that shapes something

that we treat as if it were an image, a person or a part

of a personality.

What I want to draw to your attention is that this

is not a playful fantasy but a working hypothesis

tested in clinical use by depth psychology. Our

psychic system actually perceives and operates in

terms of such form patterns. The form elements are

world creating forces, entities, the power of God or

whatever you want to call them.

Our remedy pictures then constitute what is

called in German, ‘Sinnbilder.’ Translated, Sinnbild

means image of meaning or symbol. Through the

symbol we grasp the way cosmic and biological

energy forces operate meaningfully. The symbolic

model is used now in nuclear physics, in depth

psychology and to a certain extent in modern

biology but has not as yet, by and large, reached the

science of medicine. But it is unconsciously

inherent in Hahnemann’s approach. I now propose

to use the symbolic approach for the sake of

understanding more fully the dynamic force of the

serpent, the snake remedies, foremost of which is

Lachesis.

Let me diverge for a moment and say that a

good deal of clinical pathology can be understood in

terms of body symbolism. It is for instance true that

when you analyse the psychosomatic background of

cardiac disorder, you will early always find very

central feeling problems that have been repressed.

This is in keeping with old tradition, old intuitive

insight of the heart symbolizing the functions of

feeling. In gastric or duodenal ulcers, you might ask

yourself the question, ‘What is eating this person’?

emotionally. This is an organism that devours itself.

The typical rheumatic state is somehow indicating a

rigidifying tendency in the personality as well as the

body.

Also in psychiatric understanding of the

unconscious psyche we proceed by relating its

dynamics of dream and phantasy images to

mythological and symbolic motives (themes) which

are the language of the unconscious psyche.

Mythological symbolism offers most ancient as well

as the most modern, hence timeless, comprehension

of man’s relationship to action of cesmic forces.

Now let us look at the image pattern, the Gestalt

or form, the symbol of the serpent as though it were

a dream of nature in which a particular state of man,

a particular potential state of pathology is

represented. The serpent is one of our most ancient

and most grandiose mythological motives. May I

remind you that the staff of Aesculapius features the

serpent wound around a central staff. The serpent is

the image of primordial, autonomous, impersonal

life energy underlying and creating existence and

consciousness. It is the image of the instinctual life

will, of desirousness, hunger for life, (Latin libido),

the urge to taste life, to learn and grow through

tasting life. In Eastern tradition it represents what is

called Maya, namely the illusion of existence, and

the manifestation of primordial energy, Prakriti. It

is the urge to teste from the free of knowledge out of

life. Hahnemann referred to it when he prefaced his

organon with “Aude Sapere”: “Dare to taste and

understand.” Sapere means both taste and

understand. Hence the snake force involves us in

life and living, not theoretically but by deeply

emptying the cup. It is a force which is wrapped

around the tree of life and knowledge in the story of

paradise leading to the fall from paradise but also to

life’s healing forces in the staff of Aesculapius.

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You also find the serpent on the cross

substituted for Christ in the Christian Gnostic

tradition. It is that which involves the fall of man

and again leads him out from it. The serpent is to be

elevated, to be brought to higher level. It is the force

which leads to life and into life and is being

developed into consciousness, but, and here is the

great paradox, in this development of consciousness

life has turned against itself.

Therefore the image of the snake which eats its

own on tail, the uroboros, is the symbol of the

infinity of life. In the development toward

consciousness, toward an ego, life of necessity turns

against itself. Ego development rests upon at least

partial repression instinctual urges. If we are not

willing to live like animals, we must take a stand

against our spontaneous emotional and instinctual

drives; and this is the split within the life forces of

the serpent itself. It is a de-integration, a

fragmentation which rends the harmonious

wholeness. Where logos opposes bios, spirit stands

against life and you encounter the pathology of the

serpent. The serpent pathology is the unintegrated

life impulse, the unintegrated libido, the

unintegrated instinct split off and split in itself. It is

the rebeillion or paralysis of the life urge or libido;

you can say Lachesis is the penalty of unlived life.

Thus you have the egocentricity of Lachesis and on

the other hand, the motif that appeared in the dream

in Dr. Stubler’s paper of which the depth

psychological symbolism is quite evident. In a

woman’s dream the motif of cutting up one’s own

husband, means cutting one’s own unconscious

maleness. Cutting up the ‘totally other’ namely the

unconscious side, amounts to the destruction of the

unconscious libido. [Let me say in parenthesis that

the rubric on dreams in Kent ought to be taken with

a grain or several grains of salt. They often fit but

owing to the lack of psychodynamic understanding

and dream symbolism one can easily be led astray.]

This is a dream which I would say is indeed typical

of Lachesis in as much as the woman is severing

herself psychologically from all the life impulses,

but it need not refer only to Lachesis.

The main heading of serpent pathology is the

repression and cutting off of vital forces as a price to

be paid for personal and personality development.

This covers all that which Hahnemann intuited

under the heading of Psora, the universal sickness of

man. Consequently we have Kent’s remark that the

basic snake nature is that which we all have. in a

way, I would consider the snake venom a most

violent antipsoric medicine.

Now, I would say Lachesis is a particular,

special version of this, as all snakes have their own

personalities and diversions of pathology. Lachesis

represents what I would call a jungle variety of this

libido aspect. It is the emotionally and sexually

charged picture which reminds me somewhat of a

chronic Gelsemium with its sultry sensuousness. It

is something like a thick smell of repressed

emotionality and sensuality which makes me think

of Lachesis.

Now, having this model in view, how does it

establish a sense of order among the chaos of clinical

and proving symptoms? How does it apply to the

Materia Medica? Let us take the guiding symptoms

one by one. First: The left sidedness or left to right;

here you have an extension, an invasion as it were,

of pathology from the left side is the sinistra side, the

sinister side because left has always been equated

with unconscious functioning. It is the heart side,

the relatively receptive, not to say passive side.

Therefore it is the feeling and emotional side. You

will find that the left side is always overburdened

emotionally and programmed toward the

unconscious; with all this we also think of Sepia and

Phosphorus. Also these are predominantly

unconscious-determined, over-sensitive, even

clairvoyant medicines. Lachesis also has this as well

as Sepia, a heavily repressed emotional type. You

have here the classical, typical invasion of repressed

energy from this unconscious, emotional

personality.

The next key note is constrictiveness,

constriction anywhere but particularly of the throat.

I find this as a psychiatric syndrome quite frequently

when the capacity to ascertain oneself as a

personality is threatened. The Globus hystericus for

instance is a typical response from the throat when

the ego has a difficult time holding its own against

the invasion of emotional and especially sexual

forces. The constrictiveness is a response to unseen

yet powerfully experienced forces.

Next is the breakdown of the blood life and the

autonomous nerve control. You may remember that

the Nazi slogan was “Blood and Soil.” With all its

viciousness in the political circumstances this was a

psychologically, profoundly moving symbolic

image. It would not have been so vicious, had it not

been so valid. Blood is indeed the deepest, most

basic expression of life and living. When life is

repressed, it is cut off. The constriction of blood, of

life force constricts physiologically corresponding

to the psychological image of cut off emotion.

Think of the anemic Victorian young ladies whose

goodness did not allow them to live a red blooded

life.

Finally, the epitome of unlived life is to be

found in the tendency for carcinoma. To me cancer

is number one on the list of psychosomatic disorders

arising from unlived life which concretizes as

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autonomously unintegrated growth which then

exceeds the total organism and does not fit into the

whole. In cancer pathology you will always find a

sense of hopelessness, disappointment, bitterness,

grimness, resentment against existence, whether

events precipitate these feelings or not. Even in the

Rorschach pattern these personality traits have been

confirmed, namely the constrictive, overcontrolled

personality that has come to a breakdown of these

controls. It is not merely the ‘repressed’ personality,

since everyone nowadays is found to be repressed in

one way or another, but specifically the personality

repressed with respect to the life supporting qualities

of aggression, emotion and sexuality. It is a

repression of the emotional intensity: violent

intensity underlying a controlled surface. Hence this

personality is suspicious to the degree of paranoia,

tense and depressed. I do not believe too much in

the vaunted jealousy as a leading or helpful

symptom because, as in the case of repression,

everyone has it. Rather the condition is similar to

that of a snake lying quiescent ready at the slightest

provocation to strike, to bite. With a susceptibility

to hallucinatory and ecstatic states the slightest

cause triggers the crack that may lead to explosion.

From this standpoint the intense aggressive urge

is also more comprehensible. The Lachesis

personality is very uptight and the underlying

tendency to close off hides a vicious hate, meaness

and even cruelty: the revenge for a life not lived.

There is restraint, a seeming shyness overlaying a

bitter tongue. We also find states that are the result

of grief, fright, suppressed love, encountered danger

or sorrow which could not be integrated into the

overall feeling life of the personality. The life flow

is stopped, blocked on both the physical as well as

the psychological level. Body juices, menstrual or

other are blocked in their flow. So it is

understandable that a keynote of Lachesis is

improvement from the opening of discharges.

Lastly the climactic point, the last chance at the

change of life for the juices to flow. The change of

life represents a critical point for the Lachesis

symptomology. In this last chance situation the life

force and the emotions produce something akin to

the eruption of a volcano.

There is also aggravation from sleep. In sleep

all of our conscious controls are relaxed. The same,

by the way, applies to the affects of alcohol, also a

keynote of aggravation. The consciously controlled

activities are relaxed and the unconscious can take

over, and it takes its compensating revenge. When

we wake up, what do we find? We find ourselves

over-whelmed by all the forces and impulses we

cannot consciously accept and permit. We ty to pull

down the lid again, and conflict and aggravation

ensue from the rebound toward repression.

Aggravation from touch. You know when you

are pressed or hit psychologically, you bound back,

but when the soft approach is used, you are

‘touched’. Your feeling over rules your defenses

and comes forth. This is what the Lachesis person’s

repressed life emotions cannot afford. Touch evokes

the feeling, evokes the emotion and thus evokes the

aggravation of the repressed tendencies. But on the

other hand, hard pressure improves because we can

respond with a tightening and shaping up to the

pressure. However, there is an oversensitivity to

anything constricting, because the constrictive

tendency is a threat to vital functioning. This is a

poignant example of how body functioning taken

symbolically reflects the working of the archetype.

Finally we have aggravation in the autumn but

foremost in the spring. These seasons of transition,

of budding love and life lower the conscious

defenses and are times of Lachesis aggravation.

Conversely, motion, cold, fresh air, wakeful activity

stimulate conscious control and close the lid

effectively on the intense unconscious upsurge.

Let us now consider the development of organ

pathology, head, throat, heart, ovary and veins, and

blood decomposition.

The head is the center of ego consciousness.

When pathology is no longer held in check, the

superior most controlled organ breaks down first.

When a revolt succeeds, it first topples the ruling

chiefs. Take for instance migraine headaches:

migraine expressing the psychological state of

forcing one’s head through a wall. The wall doesn’t

suffer but the head does.

The throat area we have already characterized

as the area of conflict between maintenance of

control of the sense of identity and the onrush of

unconscious emotions.

The heart is the center and the seat of the

validating of life qualities and life feelings.

The ovaries and sexual organs evidently are the

center of repressed libido, sexual and biological

urges.

The veins are the channels where the life flow

becomes relatively turgid. Remember again the

image of the sultry jungle world of Lachesis. As the

life flow slows, stagnation sets in already stilled

waters. Whatever the organ, whenever the lower

half of the body is reached by the repressive effects,

the vital functions are most centrally threatened.

I have attempted to give you a sense of the

personality traits of Lachesis, the Gestalt underlying

isolated Key-note symptoms that you may recognize

this picture of repressed intense life urge pushing

back in the pathological state of Lachesis.

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Let me close with the remark of Fritsche, “that

whoever attempts to speak plausibly of

Homœopathy, regresses to the time of the powdered

wig” the ‘Zopfzeit’.

I hope I have talked plausibly but not rationally

in the sense of our medical conferrers particularistic

tradition. I believe that the readiness to perceive

those holistic, psychosomatic, indeed personality

patterns which is now, albeit slowly, making its

advent into some branches of modern psychology

may be able to bring us a step nearer to the profound

mystery of Homœopathy. The contradictions in

Homœopathy may eventually open a way toward

comprehension of it.

Yet this mystery of life and of its paradox of the

hidden unity of suffering and healing, the mystery of

the snake, and the mystery of how Homœopathy.

The contradictions in Homœopathy may eventually

open a way toward comprehension of it.

Yet this mystery of life and of its paradox of the

hidden unity of suffering and healing, the mystery of

the snake, and the mystery of how Homœopathy

heals.

I thank you for patiently listening.

Edward C. Whitmont M.D.

Reply of Dr. L.R. Twentyman, London

I should really express how glad I am that after

some 20 years when I met Dr. Whitmont in London

I hear him again in person today. Ever since I read

his paper on Sepia I have pondered on this

inspiration.

I would like to tell you how much I like his way

of approach and how grateful I am that these two

particular remedies Sepia and Lachesis were chosen

for our consideration. In some way the two were

extra-ordinarily fruitful and I in no way feel that I

entirely have gotten yet what is involved in them.

Let me add some thoughts to the pictures which

may put something on the bottom. Sepia, the

cuttlefish we were considering yesterday is a

creature which is entirely without segmentation.

The snake is perhaps the most segmented creature in

the whole of nature. It consists of one period of

vertebræ after another. This is an extreme polarity

of organization. Now, one or two other things which

strike me equally to draw out conclusions.

The eye of the cuttlefish is big open, it cannot

shut it. The eye of the snake is permanently closed.

Its eyelid has become transparent, but the snake

cannot open this eye. Inasmuch I think of this it

seems to me that there are contained immense

significances. But let me mention another thing. Dr.

Whitmont spoke of the serpent around the staff of

Aesculepius and the healing symbol of the snake.

Some years ago I was instrumental in inspiring a

book to be written … it is much nicer to inspire

books than to write one—on the dog and the

mythology of the dog. The extraordinary and

fascinating thing is that in the mythology of ancient

time and not so ancient times, dogs and snakes are

interchangeable symbols. Aesculepius himself, the

Greek God of healing, sometimes appeared with

snakes, sometimes with dogs. And there is in

England at the Roman city of Bath, down in the

museum by the Roman bath, an altar to the God

Aesculepius and on one side is a dog and on one side

are snakes. And these dogs in the mythology of the

Middle East are all associated with doorways, with

crossings, with the change between one sphere and

another sphere. And that we have heard so movingly

put today by Dr. Whitmont.

This immense problem of the unconscious and

the conscious is our mutual conflict. And you see,

this throat, this gorge region which in a sense is

already almost occupied by the swallowing, the

swallowing of the snake, that’s what snakes do,

swallow. And here in this place where we swallow,

where the conscious and the unconscious meet

where we say we swallow it down, it is quite

important that something is coming up.

This place in the symptomatology of Lachesis

is important but the symptomatology of Lac

caninum also is playing equally a vital part in the

throat.

And then if you look in the Materia Medica of

Lac caninum, the dog milk, you find it is

characterized by dreams of snakes. And at this

point, everyone is impressed by the way in which

nature works in this magical mythological symbol.

And suddenly one finds it again in our Materia

Medica. It is something which leaves up as I say

practically speechless in face of the mysteries of

falling ill and healing, which Dr. Whitmont I must

say I feel has brought amongst us in quite a magical

way.

Dr.Whitmont’s Final Word

I also would show you perhaps these astounding

connections which Dr. Twentyman mentioned in the

very fact that it was brought up that Lachesis is one

of the Parze and the one who sustains life. And in

the naming of this drug has the intuitive other

dimensional absolute knowledge broke through and

hit the point.

Lachesis is really a snake and a dog, both are

also indeed the animals of the great mother, the

divine mother, so the name “Lachesis”. I don’t

know if this was given by Hering or by the zoologist

131

who worked on it, was just another intervention

from up high and we stand even more speechless.

Thank you,

Response by Dr. Barbancey, Bordeaux

You cannot imagine how great my joy is to have

heard such a piece of work. How much, nevertheless

can we free us from our Materia Medica to go

beyond in a cautious manner, to go beyond mere

symptomatology in order to seek a conclusion and

understand, a more global understanding of the

personality of our medical mind. This is only

allowed if we keep contact with our biological

reality, with the clinical reality, with the teaching

drawn from the Homœopathy in more general, more

global manner, a manner which is more likely to

open the road to our hon. Homœopathic medical

colleges perspective which are more general and

more admissible than only to a homœopath.

18. Lachesis

Dr. Newport (XXIXth International Congress,

1974)

The special application of this great remedy

which I have the honour to present to you are in

depression and in menopausal conditions. These can

conveniently be considered together as depression is

one of the chief complaints incident to the

climacteric, often being overlaid by symptoms of

anxiety, irritability or restlessness.

Definitions

Since the terms menopause, climacteric,

climaxis and change of life are used synonymously

let us precisions their usage.

The term menopause was first used in 1872 and

signifies the total cessation of menstruation. The

term climacteric has been in use since 1601 but not

specifically for the present medical concept until

1813. It represents a critical time and is derived

from the original idea of climacters of seven or nine

years each during which the body undergoes

changes and the 63rd year, the product of 7 and 9, is

“the great climacter,” a critical age for man. Climax

is the Greek for ladder, from an earlier word

meaning “to lean” and the anglicized word climacter

is “a rung or round of the ladder of life,” though

where the concept of leaning is applied to the female

climacteric is conjectural.

The menopause is due to ovarian decline,

pituitary stimulation by lack of oestrogen, and the

resulting gonadotrophin excess is supposed to

produce the symptoms of the climacteric both vaso-

motor and psychogenic.

The menopause in a state of health is free from

morbid symptoms and may occur as late as the

sixties. The latest menopause in my experience was

a fifty-nine year old spinster school-teacher whose

menstruation had always been regular and trouble

free and just stopped, with no menopausal symptoms

whatever. She had homœopathic treatment all her

life for whatever ailments came her way and had

sensible diet and a harmonious, full life. Another

lady of 6ft. 4ins. (193cms) height had never

menstruated and so would have no menopause as her

level of sexuality was zero. This concept of level of

sexuality is useful in predicting when menopause is

likely to occur, as the earlier the menarche the higher

the level of sexuality and hormonal activity, which

is likely to continue longer, whereas the girl with

menarche at 16-17 usually has her menopause very

early; and girls who do not menstruate naturally

before complete physical maturity are unlikely ever

to do so. As a rough guide, if we subtract twice the

age of menarche from 74 we have the age by which

menstruation will cease naturally, but this, if early,

may be modified by fecundity having increased the

level of sexuality above that suggested by the

menarchal age. Textbooks of a century ago state a

menarchal age two years later than the present

average and a menopausal age of 45 which is about

four years earlier than at present. Perhaps this

accounts for the so-called “Sexual Revolution” and

the former for Victorian Property.

Almost any mental state may accompany or

follow the menopause. Most of them passing away

but many deepening into involutional menlancholia.

Curren and Guttmann in their handbook of

psychological medicine describe the state thus:

“The patients are tense, anxious and fearful

rather than sad. in severe cases, extreme restlessness

and agitation, with much sobbing, wringing of

hands, and incessant complaint and lamentation may

be observed. Owing to their lack of retardation,

these patients can be dangerously suicidal.

The characteristic involutional features are

hypochondriacal ideas, often of a bizarre character,

a preoccupation with the theme of mortality or death,

an increased concern over money that may go on to

delusions of poverty, and various paranoid reactions

and paranoid delusional ideas. Other depressive

symptoms or depressive delusions (e.g. self-

reproach) may be present as well. Auditory

hallucinations are not infrequent.

The picture seen may, however, be lacking in

drama and is not infrequently that of a chronic and

somewhat petulant misery with indecision, inertia

and hypochondriacal self-concern.”

132

Here we have a picture of the mental symptoms

in the more serious cases. The brilliant of insight of

Hering expresses the Lachesis type as “particularly

suitable to melancholic dispositions (provers with

such dispositions showed the greatest number of

symptoms), next to choleric individuals. Phlegmatic

and lymphatic persons are likewise suitable subjects

for the action of Lachesis, but principally when their

dispositions border on the melancholic, with dark

coloured eyes, and tendency to laziness and sadness.

As regards persons with sanguine temperaments, a

high colour, fine delicate skins, and impressionable

nature, Lachesis does not suit such individuals,

unless should have imparted to their dispositions a

choleric and melancholy tinge. Lachesis is

particularly suitable to choleric females, even to

such as have red hair and are covered with freckles.”

But we all know Lachesis mentals or should do

so. It’s introspection, loquacity, suspicion, jealousy

(usually causeless), restlessness, irritability, absent

mindedness, sadness on waking. Speech may be

hasty or slow, wandering incoherent. There is loss

of memory especially for things she has read and

symptoms are often worse when thinking about

them. Along with its relatives Crotalus cascavella

and Lac caninum it has one of the richest mental

pictures in the books.

An elaboration of the characteristic type in the

brilliant study by Dr. D.M. Gibson in the British

Homœopathic Journal of January 1964, which I

would commend to expert and novice alike as a

Complement to Tylers beautiful drug picture and

Kent’s lecture which after thirteen pages ends thus:

“The study of Lachesis is only a commentary on

some if its important points”.

The relationships of Lachesis are interesting

and often most important in prescribing. Lachesis is

one of the remedies which follows Thuja well and

appears to complete the eradication of injected

poison as well as other poisons, as do Mercurius and

Sulphur the other chief followers of Thuja. Perhaps

women needing Lachesis excrete some toxins by

way of the menstrual flow, toxins which are not

eliminated by the skin (unless ulcerated) or the

kidney due to inadequate fluid intake.

The complements of Lachesis are Lycopodium

(the chief one) Hepar sulph., Kali bich., Kali iod.,

and Dodium. Iodium? I would like to add Lac

canium which has such a wealth of mental

symptoms. Nitric acid is also a complement and

follows well, yet Clarke’s Clinical Repertory lists it

as both compatible and incompatible, as well as

antidoting Lachesis. This may be paradoxical at

First sight, but the totality of the symptoms is the

guide in each case. Its incompatibility with Acetic

acid; Carbolic acid, Psorinum and Sepia is noted, its

relationship to Sepia bearing a special study from

any keen Homœopathist. Its relationship to its

Bowel Nosode, Morgan Gaertner is shown

particularly in its depression which is often suicidal,

introspective, anxious about her health, irritable,

avoids company yet is often anxious when alone.

The congestive aspect of Morgan G is seen in the

headache at menstrual onset, often with ovarian pain

and flushed face, worse in a warm atmosphere,

thundery weather, excitement, travel by omnibus or

train. Vertigo from elevated blood pressure.

Congestion everywhere, even to constipation,

haemorrhoids and varicose veins. There is also a

bilious headache relieved by vomiting, especially of

large quantities of bile stained mucus in menopausal

women. The congested itching shin is worse? from

warmth and Morgan also includes Erthrocyanosis

Crurum Puellarum and chilblains.

Apart from the depression the other menopausal

symptoms are the characteristic hot flushes usually

followed by a chill, with or without shivering and

sometimes going on to perspiration. These flushes

are sometimes present only when there is a septic

focus or intestinal cause co-existing. They may be

generalized but more typically extend upwards from

all parts of the body concentrating in the head as a

congestion and unpleasant sensation of heat. They

are aggravated by warmth in any form and

frequently waken from sleep. The Lachesis flush

typically wakens in a “hot Sweat,” several times in

the night, but can occur frequently during the day.

The climacteric headaches of Lachesis are varied:

violent congestion with vomiting and loss of sight.

Throbbing bursting pains, as if all the blood had

gone to the head. Pressure on the vertex, relieved by

pressure (yet often can’t bear the touch of a comb).

Burning on the vertex. Boring into the vertex.

Pressing pain on the left side of the head. Heaviness

in occiput. Pain in the temples on waking. All these

are worse from any form of heat.

There is a tendency to faint with the flushes and

often independently, especially after breakfast and

in a warm room with a sense of suffocation, nausea

and vertigo, she feels she must uncover the neck and

loosen the waist or any other tight clothing with

failure of sight at times.

There is sometimes an increased libido, which

can be embarrassing (Lachesis is in black type) for

nymphomania and lasciviousness, and circulatory

disturbances of the extremities, typically “puffy,

purple and hot,” and more frequently on the extensor

surfaces in women with pituitary deficiency and

infective foci.

The Lachesis climacteric picture, in addition to

the above includes many general and local

symptoms. There is great desire to lie down,

133

particularly after eating; great weakness with

stomach pains; weakness before breakfast; after

eating, an unpleasant sensation from pressure of the

clothes and fullness of the abdomen; palpitation and

dropping of the arms from the least exertion; feeling

of weakness, unquenchable thirst, dry mouth and

pale face; or fainting feeling with cramp-like

yawning; or frequent attacks of fainting every day,

with nausea, dysphoea palpitation and moist skin,

with cold perspiration and trembling of the whole

body. (Just a reminder that, with Arsenic and

Gelsemium, Lachesis is one of our greatest

“trembling” medicines.)

After the menopause we have women who are

never well again until they have Lachesis.

Menopausal difficulties are increases if the ovaries

have been removed surgically but the worst type of

menopause follows radiation, as it affects nerves and

vessels around the ovaries with scarring involving

nerve endings and producing many neuralgias. Here

Radium sulphate is useful as an assistant to

Lachesis.

In his little book on “The Change of Life,”

Burnett makes great play with nosodes, especially

Syphilinum and Medorrhinum as well as Bacillinum

and others. This bears out my contention that

Lachesis is detoxicating the body and can do its

constitutional work better when a nosode has cleared

out the poisons present before the climacteric, which

made the latter abnormal.

I wish especially to stress this – the menopause

is symptomless in a healthy woman – but she must

be made clean of her miasms before the onset of the

change, or the miasms are complicated by the

climacteric and mild psychological symptoms

become deepened into psychoses and involutional

melancholia, arthritis, diabetes; or cardiac diseases

supervene and we have a chronic invalid.

The most important factor in health is our

attitude to it and the next is our fluid intake – and

even Lachesis cannot clear out the accumulated

poisons without a high fluid intake. The third factor

in health is weight and the pre-menopausal woman

must be put on a low carbohydrate, low fat diet, with

the usual precautions about artificial and refined

foods and particularly coffee which is the basis of

tension and insomnia in so many people also salt

which I regard as the root cause of most depressions

allergies and hyper-tension.

Some illustrative cases:

Mrs.F.B. 50 years old, iron deficiency anaemia

from chronic menorrhagia due to fibroids, had

hysterectomy on 17.8.72. she had formerly received

Lycopodium 200 occasionally which relieved her

abdominal distension; Mercurius vivus had rendered

painless an erupting lower left wisdom tooth on

8.3.71, and Arsenicum 200 settled gastroenteritis in

this fastidious lady on 11.9.71 on 6.11.73, she

attended with hot flushes which occurred only

during the night, waking in a hot perspiration. Each

morning she awoke with bitemporal headache and

occasionally they came on going to bed. She was

given 3 doses of Lachesis 10M at 4 hour intervals.

Nine weeks latter she returned for another of these

“wonderful powders” which had cleared all her

symptoms.

Mrs. R.P.W., 53 years old mother of nine, small,

thin, worn out, hypertensive but whose blood

pressure was 144/84 when exhausted, lacking sleep,

chilly, apathetic, tremulous and perspiring from the

axillae for which she was given Sepia 10m on

21.12.73. the picture had changed since she was

given Lachesis on 13.11.73 when she had not flushes

which woke her with perspiration all over, fainting

attacks, and occipital headaches. Seen on 20.2.74

she had no symptoms except mild frontal headaches

and her B.P. was now 186/104 despite Amiloride,

Debrisoquine 10mgm b.d. and Amitriptyline

instituted by a locum tenens on 16.1.74.

Mrs. F.C., born 4-6-29, redhead, fair with

freekles, mother of 4. Long history of reactive

depression with suicide attempt mid 1968. Seen

13.11.68 was depressed 8 Kgs overweight. Averse

all heat, stuffiness, summer. Puts feet out to cool

often whilst in bed. Given Puls 10m III. Seen again

27.11.68 “as good as gold” for 9 days when her

husband had his arm crushed and she had been off

work two days with depression. Puls 10m III given.

Seen 16.6.69, hands and feet felt as if skin tight.

Tingling forearms and hands. Oedema pedis a.m.

and p.m. better from motion. Puls. 10M III given.

Seen 30.8.69. Feeling as if everything will fall out

at the time of ovulation. Tension headache. Low

backache. Given Sepia 10M IV. Seen with minor

complaints then called to her place of employment

where she had what seed to be a narcolepsy and

described a cataplectic state 3 days earlier.

Symptoms were tiredness, constipation, averse hot

sun, averse stuffy rooms, feet put out of bed to cool.

Eats all fat. Salt plus. Tingling face and extends all

over. Drinks cooled off. Eats onions. Averse

coffee. Irritable with children, averse heights,

doesn’t laugh to tears. Fingers of right hand go

mottled blue. Can’t wear anything tight. Given

Lachesis 10M III. Next seen 11 months later and

given Lach 200. Seen 4 months later complaining

of irritability for which she was given Nux vom 10m

and Sepia 10m two weeks later, 10 weeks later her

narcoleptic state was imminent so she was given

Lach 10m III. As she had mumps at 15 which “went

inward” she was given Parotidinum 200 followed by

134

Morbil 30. A month later she was covalescent from

pleurisy and given Lach 10m I. her next and last dose

was 3 months later on 7.11.73 when she had right

earache and pains in her neck “as if her neck was too

heavy to turn over.” During the past year her

husband has several big operations her daughter has

been in trouble and her eldest son has been a

renegade with broken marriage. She continues to

work full time and keeps very well though not yet

menopausal. Mrs. E.P., born 28.10.24. 5 children.

“Cyst” removed from uterus 20 years ago.

Vaccinated at 13 years. Duodenal ulcer. Not been

well for 10 years. Complaining of nausea and

blackouts for 1.1.½ years. Her menses were heavy

for several years until a year ago. Hot flushes at

times. Pain in her left neck “paralyses” her. Voice

hoarse when tried. Cannot bear anything round her

neck. First seen on 30.10.73 and given Thuja 30 I to

be followed one week later by Lach 200 I. attended

for cervical smear on 12.11.73 as she had irregular

bleeding, found to be from polyp protruding from

the external os. The polyp was twisted off and she

has remained well.

Mrs. L.H. Born 1-5-33. Had radiation

menopause for carcinoma breast in 1967 i.e. at 34

years. Complained of frequent pharyngitis since,

not before. She had always had antibiotics and is not

as communicative as the usual Lachesis patient.

Given Lachesis 10m III on 21.10.73 and again on

7.1.74 when she described a sensation of lump in her

throat, painful on swallowing, while lying and hot

flushes. I have not seen her since and may one day

extract enough symptoms for a full analysis. She

was a redhead when young and has a tendency to

freckles. Pharyngitis must be a rare complication of

radiation menopause!

Mrs. G.M. Born 23.5.40. 4 children. Seen

30.10.73. C/o nocturnal palpitations for which her

previous physician gave phenobarbitone and the

week-end locum gave Diazepam injection which

slowed it down. She had a bruised sensation left

chest, numbness left arm. Scanty menses past three

months. Pyrexial convulsion as a child. Bitten by a

centipede at 8 years. Smoked for one year, 15 years

ago. Given Lach 200 and referred to the cardiologist

who could find nothing wrong, and she has had no

attacks since.

Now a few tips on using Lachesis – from a

Lachesis type - even to weeping when reading

poetry!

Acute Lachesis has nausea and increased

choking from warm drinks; Chronic Lachesis has

nausea from a cold drink.

* Presented at the International Homœopathic Liga

convention in 1974.

Lachesis is usually constipated while Pulsatilla

rarely is so. Lachesis will sometimes put her feet out

of bed to cool.

If the menopausal flushes look like Lachesis but

don’t respond, think of sting ray or a nosode.

If the patient is on deeper therapy which must

not be interrupted, think of Boric Acid 3x or

Glonoine 4x.

Perhaps sea snakes and venomous fishes such

as the puffer fish will yield useful climacteric

remedies. There are certainly many useful venoms

as yet unproved, but I doubt if another could match

our tried and trusted Lachesis.

==================================

19. Lachesis Mental Symptoms: A study*

SCHMIDT, Roger A.

(XXIXth International Congress 1974)

Lachesis, the Disposer of lots, who determines

the length of human life, is one of the three

goddesses and Fates. The others are Clotho, the

Spinner; and Atropos, the Inflexible, who cuts the

thread of life. It is a challenging question of

semantics to determine how Lachesis came to be the

name attributed to the most deadly and ferocious

snake of South America.

In order to understand the deep meaning of the

effects of the venom of Lachesis on the psyche, one

has to emphasize the importance and necessity of the

“symbol.”

From time immemorial the snake has been an

object of spontaneous and instinctive revulsion,

horror, and fear—yet paradoxically it provokes an

attitude of awe, reverence as an expression of the

protective reaction of the conscious mind. The

snake has even an attribute of creativity, sex, rebirth,

eternal life, and wisdom, the antithesis of its power

of destruction and death.

The caduceus with its dual snakes, supported by

the staff of the God, is a typical expression of the

basic law of the manifestation: the dual law, or law

of opposites and complementaries. Studying the

Materia Medica, one finds invariably the expression

of this dual law in contradictory, opposite symptoms

in varying degrees in the same drug proving, both in

the physical and mental aspects, such as constipation

and diarrhea in Opium, or deep depression and

marked elation in Lachesis.

It is vital for men to integrate into their lives the

symbols of psychic content, or instinct. In itself an

animal is neither good nor evil—it is a product of

135

nature. It cannot desire anything that is not its

nature—it obeys its instinct. These instincts seem

often mysterious to us although they have their

parallel in human life: the foundation of human

nature is also instinct. However, in man the “animal

being,” which lives in him as his instinctual psyche,

may become dangerous if not recognized and

integrated into life. Man is the only creature with the

power to control instincts by his own will, but he is

also able to suppress or distort them. An animal – to

speak metaphorically—is never so wild and

dangerous as when it is wounded. Suppressed

instincts can sometimes gain control over man and

even destroy him.

Symbolically, the snake is the personification of

evil. The old story of Eve being tempted by the

snake is typical, and the consequences of the original

sin are still active and conspicuous today.

Lachesis affects and magnifies the negative side

of the self. If we consider the self as the reflection

of God incarnated, as the Spirit animating matter, it

is subject to the dual law mentioned above with the

positive attributes of love, goodness,

unselfishness—and the negative, or opposite,

attributes of hate, jealously, self-conceit,

resentment, revenge, mistrust, envy, cruelty—and

Lachesis expresses these features to a much greater

degree than any other venoms. Kent states rightly

its effects as “an improper love of self, a moral

insensibility.” Together with Hyoscyamus Lachesis

is the most JEALOUS drug in the Materia Medica,

“as foolish, as it is irresistible.” Jealousy, being the

opposite of love, is the closest to the center of Being,

together with all expressions of FFECTIVITY. The

polarity of love is CENTRIFUGAL, radiating as the

sun; that of jealousy and selfishness, centripetal.

Lachesis is full of suspicions and unwarranted

jealousy. If people are whispering in conversation,

the Lachesis patient is persuaded that they are

talking about him or her and to his or her detriment;

contriving to injure or damage her and also those

who live with her. Lachesis the Snake is so jealous

of its territorial domain that it will attack fiercely any

intruder, which is not the case with the other snakes.

Next in hierarchical importance of mental

symptoms come the instincts, fears, aversions,

desires, and dreams. Lachesis is full of FEARS: fear

of death, of robbers, of water, of going to sleep, of

people walking behind her: This results in an

aversion to turn the back towards anyone and a

preference for a back seat in the theater or public

transportation.

Another peculiar feature of Lachesis the Snake

is the aura of overwhelming fear paralysis of its

victim and similarly the proclivity of the Lachesis

patient to thrive and stay in this vicious, dreadful

atmosphere.

The Lachesis patient is apprehensive of the

future, thinking that he is going to have a heart attack

or is going insane. The persecution complex affect

especially the female patient, although the male is by

no means immune. She thinks that people are

contriving to put her in an insane asylum, to poison

her, so she refuses to eat. She thinks she is dead or

dying, that she is somebody else or under

SUPERHUMAN control. May shed tears, but they

will be those of self-pity, not of sympathy with

others.

Given to fault-finding and reproach and

quarrelling; yes, Lachesis is the type of perfect

egocentricity.

Hallucinations, delirium; hears voices,

commands to murder, to steal, or to confess things

she never did. Beligious insanity.

A marked characteristic of Lachesis is relief

through discharge or flow. The anxieties and pent-

up emotions find expression in the “spate-like flow

of speech” (Gibson). LOGORRHEA is an

important, symbolic feature of Lachesis, reminding

one of the snake darting its tongue in and out with

amazing rapidity. The Lachesis patient has

taciturnity also.

He “Takes speeches in select phrases,” but

jumps off to the most heterogeneous subjects.

Can hear the flies walking on the walls.

Disturbance of the time sense, unusual

confusion as to time, makes mistakes in writing

(Lycopodium).

Terrifying dreams.

Extreme irritability, quarrelsome, violent rages

about trifles—or persistent indifference—aversion

to work, disinclined to do his own prover work,

dilatory.

Lachesis is one of the richest drugs with

symptoms of psychosomatic origin—ailments from

fright, disappointed love, jealousy—always one of

the major features in the selection of the remedy.

Although a most deadly snake poison—or

maybe because of it—the venom of Lachesis,

properly diluted, succussed, and prescribed

according to the homeo-discipline, has proven itself

an invaluable, fast-acting, powerful remedy of

exceptional and far-ranging potential.

===================================

20. Homeopathic pathogenetic trial of Plumbum

metallicum: the complete 2000 trial with a

synthesis of the original 1828 trial

Andrea Maria Signorini, Christa Pichler

FIAMO, Scientific Department, Italy.

(IJHDR. 2011; 10(34))

136

ABSTRACT

Background: in a previous paper we reported the

statistical analysis and other distribution data of a

homeopathic pathogenetic trial (HPT) of Plumbum

metallicum 30cH carried out by our group.

However, at that time we did not report the resulting

pure materia medica, i.e., the totality of symptoms

elicited by the tested medicine on healthy

volunteers. Aim: to communicate to the

homeopathic community the full record of

symptoms collected in our HPT of Plb. Methods:

methods to collect and select symptoms have been

reported in the previous paper. In synthesis were

excluded all previous common symptoms of

volunteers, even with slight differences, and selected

only those that were really unknown, never seen,

unusual or very strange for the prover. In this paper

special emphasis was given to new symptoms as

well as unusual or repeated dreams, while in the

previous paper special emphasis was given to

repeated and crossed symptoms. Results: symptoms

are reported in their chronological order of

appearance in each volunteer. 37 new symptoms

were found, useful to update Homeopathic

Repertories. It is also included a synthesis of the

original HPT of Plb carried out in 1828 in order to

make available the full experimental materia medica

currently existing. Conclusions: the new HPT,

besides widening the pathogenetic picture of Plb

(skin and mucosae symptoms), also allowed us to

give new and deeper meanings to some of the

symptoms reported in the original trial, such as

Anxiety, Activity, Depression, Slowness, Gastro-

oesophageal problems, Colitis. The dreams

complete the remedy image, mainly in work,

religion and sexual themes. Up to the present time

there is no peer-reviewed publication devoted to

HPTs. For this reason, researchers are compelled to

publish HPTs as private editions. This results in poor

control of the quality of publications and a lack of

standards on how to present the results of HPTs.

Introduction

The homeopathic pathogenetic trial (HPT) of

Plumbum metallicum 30cH carried out by our group

in 2000 was the first double-blind, placebo-

controlled trial to apply the 3-arm design to HPTs,

also known as provings. This involves 2 different

verum groups, in this case Piper methysticum and

Plb, and 1 placebo group. In this study, volunteers

took the medicines frequently until the appearance

of perceivable symptoms, as indicated by

Hahnemann in his guidelines for the performance of

HPTs [Organon, see §105-140). Moreover, for this

study we chose previously tested substances

(retrial), one with good-quality (Plb) and another

with poor-quality (Pip-m) trials. This allowed us to

compare the symptoms obtained in our study with

the previous ones, especially as to establish

repeatability, which was one of the goals of our

HPT.

Our study was carried out in 2000 in 7

homeopathic schools associated with FIAMO

(Federazione Italiana delle Associazioni e dei

Medici Omeopati) and a part of the results was

reported in 2005 [1]. There we only described the

―repeated‖ and ―crossed‖ symptoms, namely, the

symptoms repeating in a single volunteer at least 3

times in at least 2 different days, and the symptoms

appearing in at least 2 different volunteers,

respectively. Other distribution data were also

reported: 1) symptoms agreeing with the ones

reported in the original HPT of Plb, published in

1828 by German homeopaths Hartlaub and Trinks

[2]; 2) distribution of symptoms in Kent’s

homeopathic repertory (K) and/or repertory

Synthesis 9.1 (S) [3,4]; 3) statistical analysis of the

data reported by the 2 verum and the 1 placebo

groups (we reported statistical differences between

Plumbum and placebo groups, but not between Piper

group and placebo). It is worth to mention that, at

that time, Synthesis 8.0 was the latest edition of that

work [5].

When analyzing the written records of the

volunteers, we observed that they had filled in the

trial diaries in 2 different ways: 1) what we called

―synthetic journals‖, i.e. exclusive report of the

unusual, strange and/or peculiar symptoms; and 2)

―descriptive journals‖, which besides the unusual

symptoms, also reported in detail the volunteer’s day

of life including their thoughts.

We describe below the symptoms exhibited by

the 7 volunteers who took Plb and completed the

trial. Each volunteer is identified by a code number,

which is followed by the day on which each

symptom appeared (p). Thus, e.g., ―6-5p‖ means a

symptom reported by volunteer number 6 on the 5th

day of the trial.

The symptoms obtained in our trial (IT) are

compared, here as in the previous trial, with 2

previously existent sources: 1) the original 1828

HPT (GT), the corresponding (concordant)

symptoms appear written in bold in the results of our

trial. The English translation of GT symptoms

appears at the end of each IT journal, signalled with

the number attributed by the original authors (e.g.,

GT334 is symptom 334 in GT); 2) homeopathic

repertories K and S, indicating the corresponding

page in each one (e.g., K59a means Kent’s repertory,

page 59, first column of the 2-column edition).

Reported events lasting 2 or more days were

counted, correspondingly, as 2 or more events.

137

Symbol (!) represents a new symptom or a new

modality. At the end of each diary, doubtful

symptoms are reported when they were present.

Table 1 describes the characteristics of the 2000 trial

(IT); Table 2, the new symptoms reported in the

2000 trial (IT); Table 3, the key-symptoms of Plb in

both the 1828 (GT) and 2000 (IT) trials. The

Appendix presents a synthesis of the GT symptoms,

noted with the number attributed by its original

authors.

Abbreviations: IT= 2000 trial, the number after

IT represents the volunteer’s code; GT= 1828 trial;

p= trial day; K= Kent's Repertory, S= Synthesis 8.0

- the number after K or S is the page number in

which the symptom is found; PN= volunteer’s note;

SN= supervisor's note. Abbreviations of German

observers in GT: Ng= Nenning, Hg= Hering, Ts=

Trinks, Hb= Hartlaub, Bthm= Bethmann; (!)= new

symptom or new modality.

Table 1: Characteristics of the 2000 HPT

______________________________________________________________________________________

Country: Italy

Year of trial: 2000

Dilution: 30cH, liquid

Scheme of use: 5 drops, 4 times daily

Number of participating homeopathic schools: 7

Method: classical, 3-arms, double-blinding, placebo-controlled

Statistics: Kruskal-Wallis test for non-parametric data

First general publication (without the pure Materia Medica): Homeopathy (2005) 94, 164–174

Groups and size: 7 Plb. 11 placebo, 13 Pip-m., total 31.

Principal Investigator: Andrea Signorini, via Molinara 14, 37135 Verona; tel +39.045.581141, cell:

+39.335.1707251;

e-mail: asignorini@tiscali.it.

Principal Supervisors: A Lubrano, G Manuele, G Fagone, C Vittorini, P Vianello, A Rebuffi, T Frongia,

Manufacturer and sponsor of the trial (excluding publications): CE.M.O.N. Homeopathic Laboratory, via E.

Fermi 4, 80028, Grumo Nevano (Naples) - Italy. Tel +39.081.2482376; www.cemon.eu; e-mail:

info@cemon.eu. Pharmaceutical Director: Dr. Luca Martirani, l.martirani@cemon.eu.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Experimental pure materia medica

Prover 6 – IT6 3 events, 6 symptoms, 2 concordant symptoms - descriptive diary.

PN: I noticed that sleep was better than usual and was enriched by dreams that normally I do not remember

(see Dreams). SN: during the next week (after the intake) sleep was not continuous, he awakened during the

night as it was usual before.

6-1p: In the evening, after dinner (cheese and beans) I have a slight headache, as if somebody was pressing

my forehead (K192b), I wrinkle my forehead (K396b, face; new modalization: Forehead) (!).

6-5p: At midnight (before going to sleep), I ate a sandwich: I was very hungry (!) (2 new modalities: during

the night and association with sleepiness, see Table 2); I was not able to speak anymore (K 420a) and I was

sleepy.

6-6p: Evening, great craving for ice-cream, therefore I go out to buy an ice-cream with cream (it is a strange

desire, unusual) (!).

1. GT 60: Pressure in the forehead, more externally (the second evening). (Ng).

2.GT 255: Feeling of hunger and nausea, evening before going to sleep (6th d.) (Ts.)

138

Doubtful Symptoms

6-1p: Night, my face is swollen (K392b)

6-7p: Evening, I’m studying; I’m able to learn and to memorize what I read (symptom selected by supervisor,

but excluded because it is an amelioration).

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Prover 21 – IT21

16 events, 37 symptoms, 4 concordant, 2 repeated symptoms – synthetic diary

21-2p: In the morning, a small ulcer appeared (!) (lasted for 1 day), not discharging, on the root of the glans,

2 mm diameter, not painful, red on the bottom and with excoriations at the margins (S1087b).

21-2p: Night, appearance of itching exanthematic eruptions (K1314a, itching) (S1859b, redness), in the

region of both calves, more on the left, ameliorating by scratching (K1328b). Started 1/2 h. after 4th intake,

lasting for 6 days. On the 5th and 6th day appearance of a green-bluish halo (K 982b).

21-3:4p: Night, disturbed sleep, (K1235a) waking every 2 hours. Night perspiration (K1294b) on the nape

and neck.

21-4p: In the morning, appearance of an itching excoriation on the right side of the scrotum (S1087b),

ameliorated by scratching (K1328b) and cold water (!) (for 4 days), it then becomes an itching desquamation

(K1311a). Indented tongue (K406a), slightly white-coloured (K402a), with a crack at the center (K399b).

Dryness of the conjunctiva (K238a).

21-4:5p: Sleep interrupted by repeated awakenings after 4.00 a.m. (K1255a).

21-5p: In the morning, sudden gastric pain (K511a) with massive nausea (K504b), that disappears

spontaneously after 5 min. (3½ h. after 1st intake).

21-6p: At 5 a.m., sudden drawing pain (K182a), in the left parietal region of the head (K167a), which

disappeared after a few seconds.

21-6p: Night, before sleeping, reappearance of a sudden drawing pain (K182a) in the left parietal region of

the head (K167a), also this time for a few seconds. 1. GT 585: After perspiration, excoriation of the skin of

the scrotum and thigh when they come in contact. (Hg).

2. GT 973: He awakens at 4.00 in the morning (with troubles in the limbs)(3th d.) (Ng).

3. GT 271: Nausea and feeling like vomiting (after 2 h.), (passing)-fleeting sensation (Ng).

4. GT 49: Slight headache, in the anterior part of the left parietal bone (a. 1 h.) (Ng).

____________________________________________________________________________________

Prover 24 -IT24

31 events, 47 symptoms, 9 concordant, 9 repeated – descriptive diary

24-1p: In the morning, I feel that the substance is active, because I feel an emotional reaction, not

disagreeable, as if the heart would be more charged (during the first hours).

24-1p: In the morning, I make mistakes in writing, misplacing letters. Example: “Teh” instead of ―The,

“inscead” in place of “instead” (noticed for 9 hours) (!).

24-1p: In the afternoon, I feel a little tense (NS: the volunteer describes this sensation as a desire for

activity) (K4a, S3b).

24-1p: In the afternoon, I cannot relax very well in bed (K1235a), as if I couldn’t release some tension; this

usually does not happen (K4a, K1406b, K1407a: Anxiety, Tension, internally and Tension, muscles).

24-1p: In the afternoon, I feel myself full (K1350b) in the upper part (K110a), that is, in the superior part of

the body. A slight sensation of dilatation (K828b) and bursting in the heart (!) and the head (K110a).

24-1p: Evening, I feel that the remedy sharpens my tendency to be in step with my patients’ problems. I feel

a great desire to help them and protect them (NP: it was different from sympathy).

24-1p: Night, general tension (K5a, Anxiety, night), not disagreeable, but usually I’m more relaxed inside

myself.

139

24-2p: Morning, I have good “internalized” energies that are growing from inside me, in particular from my

heart; I feel the drive of the substance that seems to be active. I feel a certain positive tension in the region

of the heart (K824a Apprehension, Heart, region of). I only worry that if this emotional tension remains

active it might exhaust my heart or me too much (S121a, Fear, heart, disease of the).

24-2p: Morning, writing mistake! (NS: “tesnion” in place of ―tension‖) 24-2p: Afternoon, beyond troubles

and moroseness (K68a), I feel driven by strength to go on without wasting my time in frills (K56a).

24-3p: Afternoon, weakness in my legs (K1228a, K1231a) and extremities (K1224b, K1226a, K1228a).

24-3p: Evening, feeling of slight congestion in the occiput and the nape (K110a, K127a).

24-3p: Night, I feel tense inside, even when being tired (K5a).

24-3p: Writing mistakes (“insite” instead of “inside”).

24-3p: Until 1 a.m. the sensation of weakness in my legs (K1231a) continues and reminds me of a similar

one I had when I was a teenager.

24-4p: Morning, disposition to help, sensibility to understand and to support (NP: but it is not sympathy); as

if a solar male force was taking place, able to think in terms of clarity, distinction, plans, autonomy,

dynamism (S189b).

24-4p: Morning, upon waking up, I don’t feel very fit, I take a lot of time to fire on all cylinders and to reach

merely tepid spirits (K1414b) (to have sufficient good disposition).

24-4p: Morning, I would like to rest some more, but I have a certain drive towards action, to feel engaged

(K56a). It is a calm drive.

24-4p: Morning, I feel myself a little full (K1350b) in the chest and the head (K110a). Energy seems driven

upwards (pushed towards the higher area of mind and soul), sexuality does not live on desire (K711b,

S1102a, S1155a). It is as if I have an energetic axis in my backbone, especially at the lumbar level, which

supports, controls and drives (NP: it is as if I have a wire which sustains and holds me upright, a sensation

of verticality, of going upwards) (!). But there is some weakness in the extremities (K1228a) and the

backbone drive sometimes is felt as tension.

24-4p: Morning, immediately after taking the remedy: increase of the tension in the head (K112a) clearer

than in the previous days, especially in the anterior part of the head (K113a) with a sense of slight tension

in the jaws (K379a).

24-4p: Morning, the tension in the head (K112a) comes with a very slight sensation of nausea (K504b); the

eyes moisten up, with a slight feeling of congestion (K110a), which grips the head, mainly in the cortical

(or meningeal) area of the cerebral mass; in short, in the more external areas (K128a, Inflammation -

meninges).

24-4P:Evening, immediately after taking the remedy, I feel a sensation of weakness in the extremities as if

a difficulty to move (K1224b, K1228b-after walking, K1231b-walking, while, K1417a-slight exertion,

K1418a-motion).

24-5p: Morning, immediately after taking the remedy, I feel sensitive to a draft of air (NS: more clearly than

usual). The time passes and I do not realize it, as if I was slower to do everything (S220a). Less speed...

24-5p: Morning, it seems that the dimension of this proving would be one of interiorizing (S153a) …

24-5p: Morning, I am surprised by a certain calm, I feel a slight sensation that looks like sadness (K75b)…

but it is only potential, because a positive drive to engage stays on (K56a).

140

24-5p: Evening, I avoid going out. I feel I have a flu, some cough, some catarrh. I feel cold even if it is not

cold at all (K1367a). I put on a very heavy sweater and I start sweating inside. Perspiration is oilier than

usual! (S1835b). I also close the windows to avoid draughts (!) (New, Air- draft). Then I feel that heat

improves. [Onset and duration of the symptom (K1259b, CHILL-Coldness-morning continuing … until

evening)].

24-6p: Morning, again the sensation and ability to stay with my patient (see 24-1p and 4p).

24-6p: Morning, I do not take the remedy, because I’m afraid not to be able to work. Weariness is strong

(K1421a). But the sweating and the heat I love have helped me.

24-6p: Sensitivity to draught of air.

24-7p: Morning. Bad day. Great exhaustion. I do not have energy (diphase action: notice good energy in

days 1p-5p and prostration in days 5p-7p). No will to take the remedy and to write the journal, I do not know

if it is placebo or active substance, but the journal is one more task [to accomplish].

24-7p: After the remedy I feel again very slight symptoms of flu. Sensitivity to draught of air. Weariness

(K1421a) but sensation of tension (K4a).

1. GT 688: Worry, anxious for the heart. (after ½ h.) (Ng)

2. GT 37: Extremely active, absorbed in work (knitting), thoughtful. In the afternoon (Ng).

3. GT 831: Weakness in the legs in the afternoon. (Ng). GT 832. Loss of strength in the muscular mass of

the legs, while walking ( 1th d.) (Hb).

4. GT 55: Feeling of heaviness in the occiput, as if it was increased in weight (Ts).

5. GT 58: Feeling of pressure beneath the skull as from blood rushing to the head. (Ts).

6. GT 833: Fatigue in the knees ascending stairs (1th d.) (Hg). GT 835 Morning upon rising from bed,

weariness in hands and legs is so much that he could hardly walk. GT 838: Unusually tired and weak after

motion. (Hg). GT 840 Easy weariness after walking.

7. GT 991: Very cold from morning till afternoon (Hg).GT 993. Feeling of cold, walking in the room (Ng).

8. GT 150: The skin of the face is oily, shiny and greasy, when touching it (Hg).

9..GT 858: Weariness, weakness, drowsiness and pains truly oppose the state of well-being perceived during

the first days, which was exceptionally pleasant. During the first phase, the weather was wet and cold, while

during the second one it was a very pleasant spring weather (Hg).

Doubtful Symptoms

24-1p: About 3 p.m. blood pressure (S1971a) arose to 150/110 upon first measurement and to 130/95 upon

the second. I feel some digestive problems, sour regurgitations (K496b), rumbling and abdominal distension

(they were previously present except sour regurgitation)

24-2p: Emissions of a lot of flatus, offensive, but not too much (fermentation more than putrefaction). Flatus

is hot (K618a).

24-2p: I feel supported by a good energy, even if last night I did not sleep very well.

24-2p: I notice I urinate a little more frequently, urine with a stronger smell, not burning, not abundant (just

happened). A little burning on the tongue after taking the remedy (I do not know if important?).

24-3p: Blood pressure is: 130/100!

141

24-4p: I wake up in the night after sleeping 3 hours, but weariness does not cease. Blood pressure is 130/90.

24-4p: My abdomen is distended and digestion is a little blocked (S790a). I had to write the journal but I do

not like to do it (other 3 times).

24-5p: I notice that in other periods, weakness and weariness could have generated some irritability,

impatience with the traffic or at the phone, but I have a certain calm (K89a).

24-7p: Blood pressure seems high: 140/100, then, after a nap 130/90.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Prover 39 - IT39

9 events, 21 symptoms, 3 concordant, 2 repeated – synthetic diary

39-2p: I woke up early at 6.30 a.m. (S1743b) a little nervous (similar: K58a). Slight vertigo (K96a) [ndP:

when he woke up, for 2-3 sec without other symptoms (immediately after intake)]

4p: Increase of intake from 4 to 6 doses per day.

39-4p: Morning at 6.00, I have slept badly (K1235a), I woke up early, about 4.30-5.00 (K1255a) with a

sensation of tension (K1406b, K56a: Industrious, see below) (New modality: on walking) (!).

[NP: this tension felt as if I had to think: ―ready to go‖. It was not a slow awakening, but I felt immediately

ready for work. It was a constructive tension, but it was enervating. I felt more active than usual (S3b,

K56a), hyperactive. My wife instead found me less irritable, calmer and less reactive (K89a).]

39-4p: Morning, abdominal rumbling (K600b), distension (K544b), pain agg. touch.

39-4p: Evening, I feel like pin-pricks (NP: itching, not redness, scratching ameliorates) (K1328b, K1329a,

stinging) (New:Prickling) (!) all over the body, they disappear then reappear in other areas (!); they are not

painful but troublesome like itching. I experienced this some years ago when I ate many eggs for 5 days.

39-5p: Morning at 6.00, I slept badly (K1235a); I woke up early (S1743b), I feel myself more excited

(S107b) in my deeper levels (R: he woke up early, unrefreshed and nervous, see note 4p).

39-5p: Strong desire for ice-cream (!); very thirsty (K527b, K529a) - only today. z39-6p: Morning, I slept,

but I woke up early (S1743b) with sensation of tension (K4a) (see note 4p).

39-6p: Evening, reappearance of sensation of diffuse pin-pricks (S1329a).

39-7p: Morning at 5.00. Woke up early (S1743b) with sensation of tension (K4a) (see note 4p).

1. GT 973: He awakes in the morning at 4 (Ng).

2. GT 37: Extremely active, absorbed in work (knitting), thoughtful. In the afternoon (Ng).

3. GT 149: Slight pin-pricks, here and there, in the skin of the face (Hb).

______________________________________________________________________________________

142

Prover 42 - IT42

9 events, 11 symptoms, 2 concordant – synthetic

diary

42-1p: Afternoon, right after the second remedy

intake, a slight bothersome feeling in the mucous

membrane of the lower lip (K383b) (at the edge

with the outer lip), almost completely to the left,

with a sour metallic taste (K424b) (S700a)

(immediately after the remedy).

42-1p: Evening, the bothersome feeling in the

mucous membrane of the lower lip (K383b)

persists on the left and the right sides with an area

of intact mucous membrane between them. The area

corresponds to the fangs and lateral incisors. It

looks like a little strip of shrivelled mucous

membrane (S688a), as if it was chapped with

colour irregularities.

42-1p: Constipation (K606b).

42-2p: Brushing my teeth, more bleeding (K398a).

42-3p: Occasionally, itching on the left nipple

(K837a) (!).

42-4p: Evening, slight and fleeting sensation of

giddiness (K96a) during dinner upon rising up from

the chair (!), leaning forwards in the direction of my

son, with instant recovery without consequences.

42-5p: Night, in the dark (!), with closed eyes, after

having urinated and gone back to bed, sensation as

if seeing a light bright spot before my eyes (K275a,

Colors before the eyes, yellow, spots).

42-5p: Tendency to constipation (K606b).

42-6p: Morning, sensation of a bright spot before

my eyes for some minutes (K275a).

1. GT 214: Sour and sulphurous taste deeply in the

throat – after a quarter of an hour and after 2 hours

and a half (Ng).

2. GT 164: The lips peel daily, without pain, and

without perceivable dryness (Hg).

Doubtful Symptoms

42-3p: Tendency to constipation (1).

42-4p: Constipation (1).

42-4p: Writing the journal, very slight sensation,

almost imperceptible, of vertigo, sitting on my bed.

42-5p: Decrease of the ever present itch and eczema

on the right foot and right hand (ameliorated).

42-5p: More tendency to depression and irritability

(aggravated, not selected).

42-6p: Tendency to constipation (1).

42-7p: Tendency to constipation (stool not

abundant and harder) (1).

_________________________________________

Prover 45 - IT45

33 events, 48 symptoms, 5 concordant, 7

repeated – descriptive diary

45-1p: Noon, I feel some cramps in the stomach

(K517b). I crave for dry things, a sandwich, a

biscuit, also to absorb the abundant salivation

(K484a, 485b, and 486b). I feel the tongue like

thickened (!).

45-1p: Afternoon, I feel a thick coating on the

tongue (S670b).

45-1p: Evening, the cramping stomach pain

persists. It is like a hand pressing and griping,

strongly (K 517b).

45-2p: Morning, I feel slight spasms in the stomach

(K517b).

45-2p: Noon, riding the car I felt first formication in

the left foot and then numbness (K1040b, K1042b),

I did not feel it from the ankle downward, I had not

sensibility for the accelerator pedal so I had to stop

the car, I had to massage it and then I drove without

difficulty. Never happened before.

45-2p: Afternoon, after the remedy, I am bathed in

sweat (S1836a), especially on the face (S635b) and

neck (!), it is strange because usually I sweat in the

axilla (armpit).

45-2p: Evening, I feel the tongue rough (!), rasping

when it touches the palate.

45-3p: Morning at 6.00, I woke up spontaneously

(S1743b), sleep was not as usual, as if I had slept all

night like semi-conscious (!), nevertheless I feel

myself restored.

45-3p: Noon, it bothers me to feel the tongue so

rasping (!) when touching the palate.

45-4p: Morning at 6.00 (S1743b), I didn’t sleep, in

the sense that I was always semi-conscious (!).

143

45-4p: Night, omission of words (!) (―news of the

death .. my friend‖, over the line: ―of the wife of‖)

45-5p: Morning at 6.00, this morning I woke up

spontaneously and early (S1743b). Sleep is not

deep, always in a state of semi-consciousness (!): as

if I was conscious and awake while sleeping.

45-5p: Noon, I feel cramps in the stomach (K517b)

as if a hand would open and then grip the stomach.

45-5p: Afternoon, I am very annoyed because I

notice mistakes in writing, in the sense that I omit

(!) or I am wrong when writing words, and in

addition to the irritation due to this, I am worried.

Never happened before! (NS: it was as if ideas were

quicker than writing, so it was difficult to fit them

together) (!).

45-5p: Evening, I feel the tongue as if scraping (!)

the palate.

45-6p: Even tonight sleep is semi-conscious (!). I

woke up really early: at 6.00 (S1743b).

45-6p: I feel a kind of impatience in my legs, I

cannot stay in my seat, it is as if a subtle but

troublesome trembling went all along the limb,

proceeding from the hip and increasing from the

knee downwards (K1213b, K1214a).

45-7p: Morning, I woke up early, even this night

(S1743b) sleep was semi-conscious (!). I woke up

really early at 6.00 (S1743). At 3 am. I had to

urinate, and then sleeping again was difficult.

45-7p: Morning, even if I did not sleep very well I

do not suffer from the lack of rest, but it is as if I

would feel in alert, alarm, as if something could

suddenly happen to me (S120b).

45-7p: Morning, I have pain in the stomach, I have

cramps (this makes sadness worse) (K517b).

45-7p: Morning, I notice that I make some mistakes

and cross out while writing and I worry again (NS:

she writes ―di‖ in place of ―mi‖).

45-7p: Morning, I feel as if the tongue was double

(!).

45-8p: Morning, I slept like semi-conscious (!).

Only at 7.00 in the morning a good sleep arrived,

but I had to rise up.

45-8p: The tongue is always thick (!), double

(maybe symbol of S45b, Mind, duality), rasping

when it rubs the palate. I have noticed that the

middle line is deeper and larger in the anterior half

(K399b), on the contrary, in the posterior part it is

totally absent.

45-8p: Night before sleep, I suddenly had diarrhoea

(K609b), at first like rice water and then patently

watery (K643a).

45-9p: Morning, also last night sleep was semi-

conscious (!).

45-9p: Morning, another diarrhoea attack. This time

it was burning as if I evacuated fire (K626a); this

burning pain remains till now, I feel it stronger on

the left side. I feel pain even in the abdomen

(K560b).

45-9p: Night before going to bed, the bad temper

persists, aggravated by a sense of impatience,

speaking better, there is a subtle trembling from the

knee downward (K1214a), this does not allow me

to stay sitting on the sofa (K1213ab, K1401a), but

it stops when I lie down (K1371b).

45-10p: This morning, I woke up spontaneously at

6.00 (S1743b).

45-10p: Morning, writing mistakes, misplacing

letters (!).

45-10p: Morning, I have stomach pain, as if a hand

would open and grip the stomach (K517b). Never

happened before.

45-10p: Morning, the tongue is thick (!).

45-10p: Morning, diarrhoea (K609b) with burning

stool (K626a), anal burning (K625a) and a burning

sore in left perineum remained (K626b).

1. GT 257: All the time a great craving for bread,

biscuit, soon after meals, late evening and early

morning. (Hg).

2. GT 320: Pressure in the stomach after dinner

(Hg). GT 326. Feeling of contraction in the stomach

(after 6 h.) (Ng).

3. GT 904: Motions like trembling in the leg (after

2 ½ h.)(Ng). GT 903: Shivering with cramps in the

right thigh over the knee) (Ng).

4. GT 527: Urging to stool, with watery stool (Ng).

5. GT 545: Anal burning pain during stool (Ng). GT

483: Discharge of hot flatulence that burns like fire

(Ng).

144

Doubtful symptoms

45-1p: It is as if a hand would grip my calf (K975a).

I cannot press or massage the part, because pressure

increases the pain.

45-2p: I feel the sole hot (K1013a) or rather, as if it

would irradiate heat from within outward. I am very

tired and annoyed to sit down to write because of a

sensation of swelling behind the sternum (K455a-

Oesophagus). I feel that something wants to rise up

to the throat (K455a-rising sensation), but in vain.

45-3p: At noon I ate a mon-chéry [a chocolate with

a cherry], I felt its taste when it arrived to the throat

and not in the tongue (K78a).

45-4p: Now I am in the office, the lucidity, the

power I had to help my friend now is going away.

45-5p: I woke up at 4 a.m. (K1255a), because of the

image of my friend who has died.

45-6p: It is the first time I feel apparently calm,

speaking better, I am without energy to face the

anger of my daughter. I do not feel inside any

interest (K54b) neither towards myself, nor the

house, nor (beloved or not) people.

45-7p: I ate an ice-cream, but I could not finish it

because of vomiting.

45-7p: I was going to type and felt dizziness.

45-8p: I feel the lips dry, so I have to moisten them,

but I have no thirst because I have a lot of salivation.

45-9p: Very bad humour. My daughters are around

me, but I would like to be alone (K12a), I do not

want to do, say (K86a) or listen to anything.

45-10p: I am in the office, the secretary does not

arrive, well, I can finally be alone. Very bad

humour, I feel angry with the entire world (K62b),

I feel empty, without enthusiasm and good humour,

all seems unbearable, enormous, tiresome. This

apathy is impregnating me so much... that it does

not allow me to undertake anything.

Prover 48 - IT48

17 events, 29 symptoms, 7 concordant, 5

repeated – synthetic diary

48-1p: Afternoon, slight sensation of constriction

in the chest (K828a).

48-2p: Morning, slight sensation of constriction in

the chest (region of the heart) (K828a) with

stitching pain on the front (K863b) and between the

left shoulder-blade and the spine (K938b).

Feeling of burning pain in the left arm (K1092a,

1093a), from the wrist (K1093a) to the bend of the

elbow (pulse frequency: 66/min.). This sensation

came also again later, inconstantly.

48-2p: Evening, sharp stitching pains appear in

abdomen at regular intervals (K591b). Sensation of

constriction in the head (K112a).

48-3P: Morning at 5.30, anxious waking from a

dream (K1236a) (NS: dream of cutting the penis of

a young patient of mine – she is a pediatrician).

48-3p: Morning, feeling of constriction (left side)

starting from the nape of the neck and extending to

the left vertex, eye and zygoma (K197a, forward).

This sensation comes and goes at regular intervals

for 2 h.

48-5p: Morning, stitching pains appear: feeling as if

the uterus would be pierced by a pointed tool (until

4 p.m.) (!). Sensation of constriction in the head

(until 8 p.m.) (K112a).

48-5p: Afternoon, the stitching pains in the uterus

(!) still continue, always at irregular intervals and a

feeling appeared of burning pain in the left arm

(K1093a).

48-6p: Morning, the burning pain appears in the left

arm (K1093a), stitching pains in the uterus at

irregular intervals and constriction of the head (left

half) (K112a), these sensations continue the whole

day.

48-7p: Morning, sensation of burning pain in the

left arm (K1093a) and stitching pains in the uterus

(!) at irregular intervals which persist the whole day.

48-8p: Morning, feeling of heaviness in the head

(K124b) and state of anxiety (K4a) with heat and

trembling in the whole body (!) (these symptoms

lasted all day until 9.00 p.m.).

48-8p: Afternoon, slight sensation of burning pain

in the left arm (K1093a).

48-9p: Morning, anxiety and trembling (!) with

sensation as if something should happen (S120b).

Slight headache (heaviness) (K124b).

145

48-10p: Sensation of burning pain in the left arm

(K1093a) the whole day.

48-11p: Diarrhoeic stool (K609b) and rumbling

(K600b). 48-12p: Diarrhoeic stool with gas (!).

48-12p: Afternoon, diarrhoeic stool with gas (!).

Distended abdomen (K544b) and rumbling the

whole day (K600b).

48-13p: Diarrhoeic stool with gas (!). Distended

abdomen (K544b).

1. GT 686: Twitching in the region of the heart

(after ½ h.) (Ng)

2. GT 663: Stitching pains in the left pectoral

muscle, extending to the shoulder blade (Ng). GT

668: Several strong stabbing pains under the right

breast extending to the shoulder blade (after 1 ½ h.)

(Ng).

3. GT 740: In the inner side of the right wrist, an

area of itching and burning, especially after

rubbing (Hg).

4. GT 437: Stitching like a needle under the navel,

deeply inside (after 2 h.) (Ng).

5. GT 59: Pressure from the occiput forwards to the

front, with feeling as if the eyes were closing, with

heaviness (after 1 h.), ameliorates standing up (Ng).

6. GT 687: A sharp pain in the region of the heart,

then anxiety with heat and perspiration on the face,

that goes away quickly (Ng). GT 999: Rising of heat

and anxiety with sweat, in the afternoon. (Ng).

7. GT 528: Diarrhoea with rumbling in the belly,

without pain (after 2 h.) (Bthm).

Doubtful symptoms

48-2p: I noticed that on lying down for a nap, I

could not sleep, I had the sensation of be rested

enough.

Some dreams in our HPT

IT 6-1:2p-night: I remember the dream: I was at the

cottage by the sea, with me there were only two cats

(mine and my neighbour’s) hunting birds. Since I

was alone, I thought it was better to close the

windows and doors for fear of robbers. This dream

did not disturb me at all (new dream).

IT 6-4:5p-night: I dreamed of going to the hospital

to meet the patients for my qualification exam;

unfortunately they were very numerous (508). Then

a professor suggested me a book to prepare better

for this exam, but its price was very high: 850.000

lire (about 430 Euro), so I did not buy it. On waking

up, I smiled due to the absurdity of the dream, at the

same time I was very anxious.

IT 24-2p, night: Very intense and meaningful

dream: ―I am organizing a homeopathic meeting

(NS: he is a teacher) in the large room of my parish,

but the microphone does not work. People start to

complain. I look for the priest, I enter in a simple

house. In the bedroom, I suddenly see a tall man,

about 60, with a very wide and broad forehead,

serious expression, but lively eyes, with great

attention to his own moral being. His tallness

rendered him authoritative, but he was bent, round-

shouldered. Saturn was his planet. I was afraid of

disturbing his privacy, at the moment he was

retiring to bed, but he had no doubts to go back

working again for our meeting. Duty towards his

neighbour was his fundamental precept. We come

down together, as from a sanctuary on a hill. Going

down the hill, a wooden stick rises up from the

ground and hits him on the perineal area. I hold him

up and we walk down slowly towards a little town.

We pass through a little supermarket where the

glances between the bystanders at the cashier evoke

proposals for sexual encounters. Finally we arrive

to the room where the man tries to adjust the

microphone. In the dream, I was fascinated by the

man’s high moral and spiritual stature. The old man

anyway risked falling down the hill and to damage

precisely the genital parts with the sticks on the

slope. I see the difficulty to integrate the voice of

the low instincts with the high ideals of the will and

the numerous ambivalences to face.

IT 24-4p-03.30:09.30: Sleep is deep (K,1234) with

high dreaming activity (half an hour after intake)

(K,1241). I remember the dreams with more

clearness and I understand some deep meanings just

during the dream, that is, I dream and interpret

myself during the dream itself (NR: during the first

3 nights he describes 3 different and very articulated

dreams).

(GT 975,976,977: Many pleasant dreams at night;

He dreams a lot; Many dreams during a good sleep)

IT 48-3p, night: I woke up with a feeling of anguish.

I dreamt of visiting a child (I am a pediatrician) in

his home because of a high fever for some days (40

degrees), resistant to anti-inflammatory drugs and

antibiotics, the child suffers from a purulent ulcer of

146

the glans. The mother suggests me cutting his penis

because she does not want to see her child suffer.

And so I did. The penis was in state of erection and

was joined to the pubis by a piece of skin. The

moment I cut it off, a state of anguish rises inside ...

I search immediately for a phone to find a surgeon

and to try to repair the damage I caused. All the

telephones were busy and I could not speak with

anyone.

IT 24-5-night: dream to take lesson of Tai-Chi-

Chuan from a capable teacher of martial arts, who

moved with armony and power.

IT 45: dream to see a cemetery and to pass through

a tomb and reach the underground of a school

(through some passages she arrives into the

bathroom). In the same school and the same

moment the Bishop comes to visit the school and

the schoolchildren. She goes up to see the Bishop.

New symptoms

Roughly 2/3 of the total symptoms obtained

(n=199) were already present in repertories, K or S,

whereas about 1/3 of the symptoms were new (NS),

i.e., symptoms not listed in K or S before this HPT

was carried out. As a rule, they appeared only

once/twice in one single volunteer, but sometimes

they were reported by 2 volunteers (crossed-

symptoms) or appeared as repeated symptoms, (3

times or more in 1 volunteer in at least 2 different

days).

We chose to count the symptoms extracted from the

sentences in the volunteer's journal in a more

restricted, synthetic, however more qualified

manner than the usual custom to get many

symptoms from a single sensation. For example,

from a complex expression, such as stitching

headache, aggravated by motion, one can extract 1

to 4 symptoms (head-pain, head-pain-stitching,

head-pain-stitching-motion-agg, head-pain motion-

agg), if all the specifications of the symptom are

considered. However, we preferred to count only a

symptom from a single sensation even if described

with modalities. Perhaps this decision was too rigid

and the broadening of symptoms through the

modalities described by the volunteers could be

reliable criteria to distinguish between verum and

placebo symptoms. However, there are no studies

on this regard and to be overly cautious, as we were,

is a better way to avoid bias.

Table 2: New symptoms in the 2000 trial. Between

brackets the code number of volunteers. R=repeated

symptom.

_______________________________________

1. Mind, Comprehension, easy (IT24)

2. Mind, Delusions, tongue, double (IT45)

3. Mind, Delusions, upright (IT24)

4. Mind, Fear, heart, diseases of the heart– Mind,

Anxiety, heart, about his (IT24)

5. Mind, Industrious, morning, on waking (IT39R)

6. Mind, Mistakes, writing (IT24R, P45R)

7. Mind, Mistakes, writing, omitting, words (IT45)

8. Mind, Mistakes, writing, thoughts, from fast

(IT45)

9. Mind, Mistakes, writing transposing letters

(IT24)

10. Vertigo, Rising, agg. (IT42)

11. Head, Congestion, Meninges (IT24)

12. Head, Congestion, Occiput (IT24)

13. Vision, Colours, bright, spots (in the dark)

(IT42)

14. Mouth, Bleeding, Gums, cleaning them, when

(IT42) 15. Mouth, Crawling, Lips, around (IT42)

16. Mouth, Roughness, tongue (IT45R)

17. Mouth, Thick, sensation as if, tongue was

(IT45R)

18. Face, Chapped, lips (IT42)

19. Face, Wrinkled, Forehead (IT6)

20. Neck, Perspiration (IT21, IT45)

21. Stomach, Appetite increased, night (IT6);

22.Stomach, Appetite increased, accompanied by

sleepiness (IT6).

23. Rectum, flatus, diarrhoea, during (IT48R)

24. Chest, Itching, Mammae, Nipples (IT42)

25. Chest, Congestion, Heart (IT24)

147

26. Male, Ulcer, Glans (IT21).

27. Female, Pain, Uterus, stitching (IT48R)

28. Skin, Itching, wandering (IT39)

29. Skin, Itching, ameliorated by cold water (IT21)

30. Skin, Prickling (IT39)

31. Sleep, Semi-conscious (IT45R)

32. Dreams, Penis, cut off (IT48)

33. Dreams, Teacher, of spiritual (IT24, IT45)

34. Generalities, Air, draft, agg. (IT24R)

35. Generalities, Food, desire for ice-cream (IT6,

IT39).

36. Generalities, Heat, anxiety, during (IT48)

37. Generalities, Trembling, externally, anxiety,

with (IT48)

Key symptoms in both trials.

The comparison between the symptoms in Hartlaub

& Trinks’ first and our second trial allows

confirming the clinical indications arising from the

former, whereas the new symptoms permit

completing the picture of the remedy (Table 3).

Some symptoms of the first trial were not found in

ours, possibly because the number of volunteers

was larger in the former. Notably, our trial failed to

report symptoms corresponding to pain in the lower

limbs. Conversely, in our study dreams were more

interesting and painted a colourful picture of the

symbols associated with the saturnine remedy

Plumbum metallicum.

Table 3: Key-symptoms in both HPTs

_________________________________________

Key symptoms

Anxiety with fear for the heart and tendency to

hypertension, with increased perspiration

(especially on the face and the neck), heat and

trembling, dryness of the mouth and the palate with

thick saliva and pallor on the face.

Hyperactivity or alternation of hyperactivity with

laziness, with a sensation of alertness, ― “as if

something could happen”. Mistakes in writing

because ideas are quicker than writing.

Sensation of dilatation, congestion and bursting:

head, meninges, heart.

Stitching pains in the chest, stomach, back and

uterus.

Sour metallic taste in the mouth.

Sensation of swelling or foreign body in the throat,

that moves up and down on swallowing.

Sour regurgitation and stitching pains in the chest

and between the shoulder-blades (gastroesophageal

reflux?).

Appetite increased in the evening/night before

sleeping, with desire to eat dry things (biscuits,

bread) and ice-cream.

Contractions everywhere, especially in the stomach

as from a gripping hand, in the head, heart,

spermatic cord, abdomen and extremities.

Motions and intestinal noises, flatulence.

Diarrhoea, watery, with fermentation and rumbling

in the abdomen, anal burning during stool or flatus.

Sensation of pin-pricks in the skin.

Ulcers and excoriation of the penis and scrotum.

Weakness in the lower limbs and feet with difficulty

to exercise, formication and numbness from the

knees to the feet, tearing or stitching pains in the

knee, cramps in the soles of the feet.

Sleep disturbed, semiconscious, awaking at 4.00,

early waking at 6.00, with high dreaming activity.

Skin and hair oily; burning, itching and stinging in

the skin, ameliorated by scratching.

Sensitiveness to cold air and drafts of air.

Appendix: synthesis of the 1828 HPT

(between brackets the number of the original

reference, in bold important symptoms in the trial)

1. Anxiety (6), anguish with sighing (8),

anxiety with epigastric pains (335), with

difficult respiration (628), with heart pains and

148

heat on the face (687, 688), fear with heat and

perspiration (999), frightful dreams (978, 980)

2. Ennui, taciturn, morose (14-18)

3. Laziness, aversion to work (19-21)

4. Cheerful, good humour (35, 36)

5. Extremely active in his work (37)

6. Occipital and frontal heaviness or pressure

(54-60)

7. Congestion beneath the skull (meninges)

(58)

8. Tearing pains in the head (62-68)

9. Heat in the head, rising from the belly, with

redness on the face (67,78,79)

10. Stitching pains in the parietal, temporal and

frontal bones (69-77)

11. Oily hair (80)

12. Falling of hair from the brows and

moustache (81,82)

13. Tearing, stitching and burning pains in the

eyes (96-98)

14. Twitching in the lids and eyes (87,104)

15. Flushes of blood in the eyes (99)

16. Foggy vision (109-111)

17. Heat and redness of the face, with

perspiration on the upper part of the body (147)

18. Frequent itching on the face, eyes, ears and

nose, scratching ameliorates (83-

84,121,148,603)

19. Stitching in the face (149)

20. Paleness of the face and gums (157,167)

21. Greasy skin in the face (150)

22. Burning in the mouth and tongue

(176,180,182)

23. Difficult swallowing in the throat and

oesophagus, as from a strain, stretch or

strangling, constriction (189,192,203)

24. Sensation of swelling or foreign body in

the throat, that moves up and down on

swallowing with pain in the right shoulder-

blade (191,192,195-199)

25. Dry mouth and throat (207,211)

26. Taste like sulphur and sour taste in the

mouth (214)

27. Abundant mucous in the mouth in the

morning (216,218)

28. Viscid saliva with sweetish taste and

dryness of the posterior part of the fauces

(221,225)

29. Empty and incomplete eructation (231,237)

30. Strong appetite after eating and before

going to sleep (253-256)

31. Strong desire for bread and biscuits (257)

32. Intense thirst (259,262-4)

33. Intense nausea passing soon (271)

34. Retching (274)

35. Sour eructation and regurgitation (281,282)

36. Grip or contraction of the stomach (320,

326)

37. Grip in the stomach with heaviness in the

occiput (323)

38. Burning in the stomach (332)

39. Stitching and pressing pains rising upwards

with anxiety (334-337)

40. Pains in the right or left hypochondria, in

the liver and spleen (339-349)

41. Pains and pinches in the abdomen and the

region of the navel (352,424,426-429)

42. Pains in the inguinal region (376)

43. Sensation of contraction and obstructed

flatulence in the lower abdomen (378,384)

44. Stitching pains in the abdomen (437-440)

45. Parestesia, as if sitting in cold water up to

the belly and then heat in the abdomen (444)

46. Stitches and stretches in the flanks,

contractions (458-461,553)

47. Movements and intestinal noises, flatulence

(464-472, 476,479)

48. Flatus burning as from fire (484)

49. Constipation (487,488,503,508,515)

50. Diarrhoea with rumbling, thin liquid stool

(524-528) Ineffectual urging to stool (537-541)

52. Burning pain in the rectum during stool

(545)

53. Drawing pain in the anus, upwards (552)

54. Retention of urine and burning pain in the

urethra (559)

55. Twitching in the spermatic cords (578)

56. Excoriation of the scrotum and thighs (585)

57. Pollutions during sleep, without erections

(590,592)

58. Erections painful (592)

59. Pressing pains in the chest and the lower

part of the sternum, as if in a vise

(643,653,654,656)

60. Pressing pain in the left side of the chest

fore and behind that comes and goes (657,658)

61. Chest pain in front and between the

scapulae, aggravated from breathing, laughing

and lying, extending to the left arm (659)

62. Stitches in the chest extending to the

scapulae (663,668)

63. Stitching pains in the left and right side of

the chest, or near the sternum, aggravated from

inspiration, ameliorated from massage

(661,662,664-667,669-674,676,678)

64. Stitches in and under the breast

(679,680,682-684)

65. Twitching in the region of the heart (686)

66. Stitches in the region of the heart (687)

67. Palpitations (693)

68. Drawing and constricting pains in the nape

and shoulder-blades (698-703)

149

69. Stitches and burning pains in and between

the shoulder-blades (704-708)

70. Stitches in the back, standing or sitting,

ameliorated from massage (709-711)

71. Pressing pain between sacrum and pubis

(712)

72. Stitches in the right axilla (717-720)

73. Painful strains, contractions or tears in the

arm, elbow, hand or fingers (724-731,734,736-

738,741-743,748,749)

74. Itching and burning in the internal part of

the wrist (740) 75. Itching between the fingers

of the hand (745-747

76. Paralysing pains in the lower limb on

ascending stairs (752)

77. Numbness from the knee to the foot, on the

foot and toes (754,775,776,783)

78. Jerking and fine contractions in the thigh

(755-758)

79. Dull pains and intense stitches in the knee

(760,762-764)

80. Tears or contractions in the leg, tibia, heel

and toes (766,768,771,780-782)

81. Painful sensation as from a sprain in the

ankle (772)

82. Cramps in the sole of the feet (774)

83. Skin sensitive to the air (803)

84. Itching in the region of the eruptions, that

ameliorates by scratching (813,603,713)

85. Itching eruptions in the fingers and the wrist

(818)

86. Heaviness and weakness of legs and feet

(827-831)

87. Weakness of lower limbs and knees on

ascending stairs or after motion (832, 833, 835,

838, 840)

88. Great exhaustion with pulsation of the

arteries of the body (856-858)

89. Muscle jerking of the thigh and leg with

trembling (903,904)

90. Yawning and sleepiness, early in the

evening (955-963)

91. Nostalgic thoughts in the evening or during

dreams (965,981)

92. Difficult falling asleep (966)

93. Many dreams (975-977)

94. Fearful dreams (978,980)

95. Dreams of stealing fruit in the garden (979)

96. Dreams of falling (980)

97. Voluptuous dreams (982)

98. Talking during sleep (983-984)

99. Coldness aggravated in open air (991,993-

994)

100. Flushes of heat all over the body with

perspiration and fear and muscular weakness

(997,999-1000,1003-1004)

101. Pulsation in the arteries (1023

References

[1] Signorini A, Lubrano A, Manuele G,

Fagone G, Vittorini C, Boso F, Vianello P,

Rebuffi A, Frongia T, Rocco V, Pichler C.

Classical and new proving methodology:

Provings of Plumbum metallicum and Piper

methysticum and comparison with a classical

proving of Plumbum metallicum. Homeopathy.

2005; 94: 164- 174.

[2] Hartlaub CGC and Trinks CF. Reine

Arzneimittellehre, Erster Band. F.A.

Brockhaus, Leipzig: Documentation &

Library, DHU— Deutsche Homöopathie—

Union GmbH & Co KG, Ottostr. 24, 76227

Karlsrhue, Germany. Available at

http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S14

75491605000202

[3] Kent JT. Repertory of the Homeopathic

Materia Medica (reprint edition of sixth

american edition). New Delhi(India): B. Jain

Publishers Pvt. Ltd., 1990.

[4] Schroyens F. Synthesis Repertorium

Homeopathicum Syntheticum, Edition 9.1.

Assesse (Belgium), Homeopathic Book

Publisher, 2004

[5] Schroyens F. Synthesis Repertorium

Homeopathicum Syntheticum, Edition 8.

Assesse (Belgium), Homeopathic Book

Publisher, 2001.

===================================

21. Pathogenetic trial of Boric acid in bean and

tomato plants

Solange Monteiro de Toledo Piza Gomes

Carneiro1, Euclides Davidson Bueno

Romano1, et al.

(IJHDR 2011; 10(34))

ABSTRACT

Background: Homeopathy is held in organic

agriculture as a means to control disease and

plagues. However, different from doctors, who have

works on materia medica and repertories available to

choose the most suitable homeopathic medicine for

each patient, agronomists do not yet have an

equivalent Homeopathic Materia Medica of Plants

(HMMP) describing symptoms observed in plants.

Aim: the aim of this study was to carry out a

homeopathic pathogenetic trial (HPT) in plants

comparing the effects elicited by boric acid in

ponderable dose and dilution 6cH in two different

plant species, namely bean and tomato cultivars.

150

Methods: 4 tests were carried out, 2 on tomato and 2

on bean plants, which received 1 to 6 applications of

treatments. Results: there were differences between

both species regarding their sensitiveness to boric

acid. None of the tomato plants that received Boron

6cH showed symptoms, differently from bean

plants. On the other hand, in tests of ponderable

doses of boric acid, tomato plants exhibited 3

symptoms more than bean plants. A higher number

of bean plants exhibited symptoms with boric acid in

ponderable dose than in dilution 6cH). Nos ensaios

com feijoeiro, um maior número de plantas

apresentou sintomas após o tratamento com ácido

bórico na dose ponderal do que com ácido bórico

6cH. Conclusions: these results suggest that the

elaboration of a HMMP must take into account the

species in which symptoms were obtained.

Moreover, HPTs in plants must be carried out with

both ponderable doses and high dilutions in order for

differences in sensitiveness among species be better

identified.

Introduction

Since the publication in 1999 of Normative

Instruction No 7 by Brazilian Ministry of

Agriculture [1], homeopathy is rated a practice

suitable for the control of disease and plagues in

organic agriculture. However, different from the

case of doctors, who have works on Materia Medica

and repertories available for the choice of the most

suitable homeopathic medicine for each patient,

agronomists do not have an equivalent Homeopathic

Materia Medica of Plants (HMMP) describing

symptoms obtained in plants. For this reason, as a

rule, the choice of homeopathic remedies for plants

has been grounded on analogies with the medical

Materia Medica [2]. If on the one hand, this allowed

for a quick application of homeopathy in agriculture,

on the other it does not take into account the typical

symptoms exhibited by plants and that naturally are

remarkably different from the ones of human beings.

The guidelines laid out in Organon of medicine [3]

regarding homeopathic pathogenetic trials (HPTs)

make explicit the need to learn the true pathogenetic

power of drugs (“pure effects of medicines”) through

tests on individuals in which they will be used (“to

constitute an artificial disease as similar as possible

to the totality of the main symptoms of the natural

disease to be healed”). To illustrate, §105 establishes

that “the second point of the business of a true

physician related to acquiring a knowledge of the

instruments intended for the cure of the natural

diseases, investigating the pathogenetic power of the

medicines, in order, when called on to cure, to be

able to select from among them one, from the list of

whose symptoms an artificial disease may be

constructed, as similar as possible to the totality of

the principal symptoms of the natural disease sought

to be cured”. In §106 it is stated: “The whole

pathogenetic effect of the several medicines must be

known; that is to say, all the morbid symptoms and

alterations in the health that each of them is specially

capable of developing in the healthy individual must

first have been observed as far as possible, before we

can hope to be able to find among them, and to

select, suitable Homœopathic remedies for most of

the natural disease”[3].

In this way HPTs in plants can be a significant

contribution to the development of homeopathy in

agriculture [4,5], since it will allow applying the

principle of similitude on the grounds of the

characteristic symptoms of plants.

Plants with agricultural interest belong to different

botanic genera and species, and such diversity might

lead to different pathogenetic symptoms. The

homeopathic Pure Materia Medica reports the doses

used in HPTs, the frequency of intake of drugs and

when available, also data stemming from

intoxications. Moreover, it is recorded the name of

volunteers and the symptoms exhibited by each one

of them [6]. Making a parallel with plants, the

structure of a HMMP ought to take into account the

symptoms exhibited by different families and

species of plants after taking some drug in, as well

as (ponderable and high-diluted) the corresponding

doses and frequency of application. Many plant

species and cultivars show differences in their

sensitiveness to the toxicity of mineral elements [7-

10] a fact that can be advantageously used in the

elaboration of a HMMP.

Boron (B) is a micronutrient essential for the growth

of plants. It regulates the activity of the cell

membrane, the rate of cell development, cell

division, the synthesis of proteins and the

transportation of carbohydrates from the leaves to

other organs [7,11]. Since it is a substance used in

agriculture, it is important to assess the relative

sensitiveness of different species of plants subjected

to HPTs of boron in ponderable and high-diluted

doses.

In this way, the aim of this study was to carry out a

HPT on plants by comparing the symptoms

exhibited by bean and tomato cultivars after the

administration of boric acid in ponderable dose and

dilution 6cH.

151

Materials and Methods

Four tests were carried out, 2 in tomato and 2 in bean

plants.

HPT in tomato plants: tests were carried out in a

greenhouse, with one plant per vase. Variety chosen

was Santa Clara Miss Brasil. The application of the

treatments started when plants had shown the fourth

leaf. The experimental design was entirely

randomized, with 7 treatments and 4 repetitions (1

plant per repetition) in tests with ponderable dose

and 10 repetitions in tests with high dilution.

Treatments consisted in a number of spray

applications of boric acid every 4 to 6 days. Plants

subjected to treatment 1 received only one

application, treatment 2, 2 applications and so on up

to 6 applications. Plants receiving control treatment

were treated only with purified water in spray

application in 6 different days similarly to treatment

6. Equipment for application was a 500 ml hand-

operated sprayer, and each treatment had your own

device. Spraying in all treatments continued until

running down. In order to avoid contamination

during spraying, treatments were carried out

separately in a different room of the greenhouse.

Assessment was accomplished through the

description of the observed symptoms according to

Honey’s classification [12]. Solutions were prepared

with boric acid in concentration 74.16mg/100 ml

purified water. In the first test, plants were applied

boric acid in ponderable dose and in the second test

diluted and agitated boric acid. In the latter, the

solution of boric acid 74.16mg/100ml was prepared

following the Hahnemannian centesimal scale [13]

in purified water. Dilution 6cH was used in this study

and it was prepared on the same day it was applied,

after being agitated further 30 times in the

greenhouse before application.

HPT in bean plants: the design of both tests in bean

plants was the same as in tomato plants. Cultivar

used was “Carioca”, which has undetermined growth

habit, matted light chestnut hued seeds and havana

hued streaks. It was sowed 1 plant per vase. The test

began when the third trifoliate leave was fully

developed.

Results

Plants that received control treatment (purified

water) in all tests showed no symptoms. Symptoms

observed occurred in the leaves of plants treated with

boric acid (Table 1), whereas in test “tomato-6cH”

no plant exhibited any symptom whatsoever.

Table 1: description and occurrence of symptoms in plants per treatment

Percentage of plants in each treatment exhibiting symptoms

Tomato plants – ponderable dose

Bean plants – ponderable dose

Bean plants- 6cH

Leaf

Symptom

• Irregular

necrotic

lesion-

cream

• Irregular

necrotic

lesion

100

152

- light

chestnut

•Irregular

necrotic

lesion

- dark

chestnut

100

•Localiza-

tion of

necrotic

lesions

- margin

of foliole

100

•Localiza-

tion of

necrotic

lesion

- side of

foliole

100

• Chloro-

sis around

necrosis

100

• Necrosis

on the tips

of folioles

100

•Light-

green

islands in

foliar

tissue

100

• Epinasty

In tests with boric acid in ponderable doses, all bean

(Figure 1) and tomato (Figure 2) plants in treatments

1 to 6 exhibited at least 1 symptom, while in several

cases one same plant exhibited more than one

symptom.

Figure 1: Necrotic lesion in bean plant

The 2 species studied differed regarding

sensitiveness to boric acid not only in dilution 6cH

but also in ponderable dose, since tomato plants

exhibited 3 symptoms more than bean plants: cream-

hued necrotic lesion, light-green islands and

epinasty. Regarding the remainder of symptoms, rate

of occurrence was similar among all plants under

study.

Figure 2: Necrosis on the tips of tomatoes folioles.

Similar to test “bean plant – ponderable dose”, also

samples in test “bean plant – 6cH” did not exhibited

symptoms cream-hued necrotic lesion, light-green

islands and epinasty. The percentage of plants

exhibiting symptoms in test “bean plant – 6cH” was

much lower than in test “bean plant – ponderable

dose” (Table 2) particularly regarding symptoms

“chlorosis around necrosis”and “necrosis on the tips

of folioles”. No symptom that was not observed with

ponderable dose was observed in tests with 6cH.

Table 2 - Occurrence of symptoms in all treated plants

Leaf symptom

Tomato plants

(ponderable dose)

Bean plants

(ponderable dose)

Bean plants

(6cH)

153

• Irregular necrotic

lesion – cream

5 (20,8)

• Irregular necrotic

lesion - light chestnut

22 (91,6)

20 (83,3)

16 (26,6)

•Irregular necrotic

lesion - dark chestnut

20 (83,3)

23 (95,8)

11 (18,3)

• Localization of

necrotic lesions - margin

of foliole

24 (100)

13 (21,6)

• Localization of

necrotic lesion - side of

foliole

24 (100)

22 (91,6)

13 (21,6)

• Chlorosis around

necrosis

23 (95,8)

3 (5,0)

• Necrosis on the tips of

folioles

24 (100)

5 (8,3)

• Light-green islands in

foliar tissue

15 (62,5)

• Epinasty

6 (25,0)

Discussion

Necrotic spots and mottled chlorosis are symptoms

of toxicity by boron, and they appear on the areas of

leaves with most transpiration [11]. Differences in

sensitiveness to boron among plant species have

been reported in the literature. Cereals and

gramineous plants are more sensitive to high levels

of boron. Barley has the highest sensitiveness

followed by wheat and oat [7], whereas cotton and

sorghum are rated quite tolerant [14]. In this study,

it was observed a higher sensitiveness to boron in

ponderable dose in tomato plants, which exhibited 3

symptoms more than bean plants.

Besides differences in sensitiveness to boron among

different species of plants, it was also observed

differences among cultivars of a same species.

Carneiro et al [15] found that 3 cultivars of bean

plants reacted in different manners to intoxication

with boric acid. Eldorado cultivar always showed a

lesser number of symptoms independently from the

dose employed, whereas Uirapuru and Carioca

cultivars were more sensitive. Such differentiated

sensitiveness has been reported in the literature also

for other species of plants [16,17].

Ours is the first report of differences in sensitiveness

between species to high dilutions of boron. Tomato

plants showed no symptoms when treated with

dilution 6cH, whereas bean plants exhibited the

same kind of symptoms as when treated with

ponderable dose although in a lesser number of

samples. Rossi et al [18] studied the effect of

homeopathic preparations on the productivity of

potatoes. These authors observed that out of 3

cultivars tested, only 1 was affected by the

homeopathic preparation. In our study only 1

cultivar of each species was used, therefore it cannot

be established whether the lack of symptoms in test

“tomato plant – 6cH” was due to the specificity of

the cultivar employed or whether it is a general trait

of tomato plants.

In this study, only primary symptoms developed in

foliar tissues were observed and to describe them the

symptomatology presented by Salgado and Amorim

[12] proved to be adequate. However, it is possible

that other alterations also occurred but were not

visually detected. Plants have an ability to react

through metabolic changes that are not visually

detectable [19]. Some authors have reported changes

in the contents of secondary metabolites in plants

elicited by high-diluted substances [20-22].

However, taking into account that the choice of the

homeopathic medicine most suitable to a

farm/culture/crop will depend on the visual

identification of symptoms in plants at the field, we

did not hold necessary to evaluate in this study

alterations not visually identifiable.

The results observed in this study together with data

in the literature regarding differences in symptoms

of intoxication among plant species and cultivars [7-

10,14-17] can be used in the elaboration of a HMMP

describing the typical symptoms exhibited by plants

[23]. Such HMMP grounded on the symptomatology

of plants has the advantage of following

154

Hahnemann’s guidelines [3] in Organon §144:

“From such a Materia Medica everything that is

conjectural, all that is mere assertion or imaginary

should be strictly excluded; everything should be the

pure language of nature carefully and honestly

interrogated”.

Symptoms obtained in HPTs in plants as grounds for

a therapeutic application of the principle of

similitude have already been employed by Betti et al

[24] to increase the resistance of tobacco to TMV.

The differences in the response to intoxication by a

given substance among different species of plants

described in the literature and in this study regarding

the pathogenetic experimentation of boric acid and

more particularly of Boron 6cH strengthen the need

to test substances in the individuals/species where

they will be used for therapeutic purposes according

to the principle of similitude. Moreover, from these

results it is possible to infer that the indication of

homeopathic medicines will have to take into

account such differences due to the requirement of

individualization of treatment. Further studies are

needed to verify this hypothesis.

The results presented in this article suggest that the

elaboration of a HMMP requires taking notice of the

species where symptoms were obtained. Another

significant point is that HPTs in plants ought to be

carried with both ponderable doses and high

dilutions in order to identify more clearly differences

in sensitiveness among species, and a larger number

of symptoms can be observed and recorded, thereby

allowing for a more accurate application of

therapeutic similitude in each botanical species. In

this way, it will be possible to score the relative

significance of each symptom for a given drug as it

is done in the traditional homeopathic materia

medica.

References

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=====================================

22 Use of homeopathic formula in malnourished

children

Domitila Francisca Díaz Villanueva1, et al.

(IJHDR. 11(38)/2012)

ABSTRACT

The present intervention study sought to assess

the results of homeopathic treatment in

malnourished children aged 1-19 years old below the

3th percentile in the weight-height ratio at San Juan

Policlinic, Ranchuelo County, Cuba, between

November 2004 and December 2005. A total of 99

children were randomly allocated by Mathcad in two

groups, one (n=50) was given homeopathic

treatment, and the control group (n=49) that did not.

Administration of medication was defined by

clinical criteria. Inclusion, exclusion and exit criteria

were defined. Variables were identified and

operationalized, and the information collected from

both groups was interpreted. After one-year follow-

up, 42 out of 50 children (84%) treated with

homeopathy attained normal weight, whereas only

15 out of 49 (30%) of the children in the control

group attained normal weight.

Introduction

According to the World Health Organization

(WHO), about 12 million children younger than 5

years old die every year, especially in countries in

development. To the WHO it is clear that children

with severe malnutrition are at high risk of dying,

and every year about 6 million people die from

starvation [1-3].

In Cuba, nutrition and its problems also

represent a source of concern [4,5]. The use of

homeopathy in malnutrition is not widespread in our

county. To be sure, such condition is treated with

proper diet, hygiene and vitamins. However,

although vitamins are useful and even indispensable

in some cases, their systematic use might result in

other disease, thus implying a risk for patients and

economic onus for families and society at large [6-

8]. On the other hand, there are no studies assessing

156

the correlation between the nutritional state and the

clinical, epidemiologic and social factors of the

population [9,10].

The present study sought to characterize several

clinical, social and epidemiologic factors associated

with malnutrition in San Juan de Years, and to assess

whether homeopathic medication would help

children normalize their nutritional status. For this

purpose, a homeopathic complex including Calcarea

fluorica 30 cH, Calcarea carbonica 30 cH and

Calcarea phosphorica 30 cH was used.

According to classic sources [11,12] such

medications improve the assimilation of nutrients

without increasing appetite. This complex has

already been used in veterinary medicine [13,14],

but not in human beings with this particular

indication.

Therefore, the aim of the present study is to

assess the effectiveness of a homeopathic complex

including Calcf 30 cH, Calc 30 cH and Calc-p 30 cH

in the treatment of malnourished children.

Materials and methods

The present exploratory intervention study was

performed in San Juan de Years, Ranchuelo County,

Cuba, between November 2004 and December 2005

in order to identify possible differences in the results

of the treatment of malnutrition when homeopathic

medication is used in addition to diet.

The sample comprised 99 malnourished

[weight-height ratio was below the 3rd percentile

(3P)] out of 981 children aged between 1 and 19

years old whose The sample was randomly divided

in two groups by means of simple random sampling

using software Mathcad 14.0. Thus, the treated

group comprised 50 children, and the control group

49. No stratification was performed regarding

gender and residence type (urban or rural) – which,

nevertheless, are described - because these factors

vary in different population areas. Future studies

intend to include larger samples and investigate

whether such factor exert influence on the outcomes.

Inclusion criteria: low weight (<3p) in children

aged 1 to 19 years old. Exclusion criteria: presence

of encephalopathy, malformations, and severe

mental retardation. Exit criteria: children who

moved to other areas or did not comply with

treatment.

Homœopathic treatment consisted in the use of

a complex including Calc-f 30 cH, Calc 30 cH and

Calc-p 30 cH. Patients in both groups were

prescribed a diet adjusted to their age and gender [3],

and a poly-vitamins tablet/day to children older than

9, and half tablet/day to children younger than 9

years old.

Clinical assessment was based on weight-height

(in kg and com, respectable) with inclusion,

exclusion and exit criteria, and it was the

determining factor to prescribe the homœopathic

formula, which was given to children below 3P.

The data were entered in an ad hoc database and

data were proceed first manually and then with

software SPSS 15.0. statistical analysis employed

Chi-square test to establish the significance of

differences between frequencies according to strata

(treated and control groups) and/or time-points of a

same variable (before after use of homœopathic

formula). Significance was established as: p<0.01 =

highly significant difference 0.01≤ p < 0.05 =

significant difference; and p ≥ 0.05 = non-significant

difference.

Results and Discussion

The results are described in tables and graphics

that allow concluding there was significant

correlation between the use of homeopathic complex

and attainment of normal weight in malnourished

children.

Table 2 describes the initial population

according to weight-eight ratio distributed in groups

according to percentiles. Among 99 patients < 3P,

most corresponded to age-range 5 to 9 years old (n=

42, 42.4%).

Table 1. Operationalization of variables

Variables

Description

Measurement scale

Independent

Epidemiologic

Age

Age (years)

Pediatric: 4 to 19 years old

Adults: 20 to 64 years old

Elderly: older than 65 years old

157

Gender

Classification according to gender

Male

Female

Skin color

Definition of skin color

White

Black

Brown

Clinical

Weight

Weight of patient

Kg.

Height

Height of patient

Cm.

Weight-height

ratio

Ratio of weight to height in kg and cm

expressed in percentiles for the Cuban

population

<3P:Malnourish-ed.

3-10 P: Thin.

10-90 P: Normal weight.

90-97 P: Overweight

>97 P:obese

Social

Housing

conditions

Good

Regular

Poor

Good: stone or concrete flooring, sanitary service,

water, hygiene.

Regular: one of the above is lacking except for

hygiene.

Poor: as above and also hygiene lacks.

Parents’

schooling

Elementary

Secondary

Pre-university

University

Primary: completed 6th grade Secondary: completed

9th grade

Pre-university: completed 12th grade University:

attained degree.

Overcrowding

Yes or No

Overcrowding: more than 4/room.

Family income

per capita

Total income of the family divided by

the number of its members

Pesos MN (USD 1.00 = MN $25.00)

Sanitary

education

Mothers’ knowledge on nutrition

Questionnaire

Dependent

Outcomes

Weight-height ratio before and after

intervention

Solved: attained normal weight Unsolved: did not

attain normal weight

Table 2: Descriptive analysis of the study population according to weight-height ratio according to age and

distributed according to percentiles

Age

<3 P

3 – 10P

10 – 90P

90 – 97P

>97P

1.4

21.2

29.5

174

29.4

30.7

12.1

5 - 9

42.4

20.4

165

27.9

23.6

45.4

10 -14

27.2

18.1

106

17.9

28.5

31.8

15 -19

31.8

145

24.5

10.6

Total

4.4

590

60.1

182

18.5

6.7

158

Table 3 shows that most affected age-range was

5-9 years old (42.4%) and that more boys (75%)

were affected compared to girls; significance varied

according to age-range among highly significant (1-

4 years old: p=0.001), significant (5-9 years old:

p=0.014; 10-14 years old: p=0.012), and non-

significant (15-19 years old: p=0.096). The most

affected age-range was 5-9 years old (42.4%).

Table 3: Distribution of the nutritional state

according to age, gender and residence area

Age

Gender

Residence

(years)

Male

(n, %)

Female

(n, %)

Urban

(n, %)

Rural

(n, %)

1-4

18(86)

3 (14)

5 (16.6)

(23.1)

5-9

29 (69)

13 (31)

(46.7)

(40.6)

10-14

20 (74)

7 (26)

8 (26.7)

(27.6)

15-19

7 (7)

2 (2)

3 (10)

6 (8.7)

Total

74 (75)

25 (25)

30 (30)

69 (69)

Table 3 still shows that most malnourished

children resided in the rural area, which is a

historical trend due to several reasons [3,4],

including deficient nutrition, poverty, lack of

hygiene, dietary habits, contaminated water, and

association with parasitic and bacterial diseases.

Also in this case the three younger age-ranges

exhibited significant difference (p=0.016; p=0.031;

p=0.034, respectively), whereas age-range 15-19

years old did not (p=0.317).

Table 4 describes the age distribution of the

sample population according to treatments. From 50

patients in the treated group, 10 were in the 1-4 year-

old age range, 25 in the 5-9 year-old age range, 9 in

the 10-14 yearold age range, and 6 in the 15-19 year-

old age range. From the 49 patients in the control

group, 11 were in the 1-4 year-old age range, 17 in

the 5-9 year-old age range, 18 in the 10-14 year-old

age range, and 3 in the 15-19 year-old age range.

There were no significant differences between both

groups (data not shown).

Table 4: Distribution of the study sample per

age-range and treatments

Age

Total

Homeopathy

Control

1- 4

5 - 9

10 -

15 -

Total

100

Table 5 shows that 42 out of 50 (84%) patients

in the group treated with homeopathy attained

normal normal weight, whereas in the control group,

only 15 out of 49 (30%) did, and 70% (n=34)

remained below the 3rd percentile. Distributed by

age, age-range 1-4 years old proved to be the most

vulnerable in the control group, since only 1 child

out of 11 (9%) attained normal weight.

These results show that the homeopathic

treatment induced recovery of the normal weight

compared to the control group. The proportion of

cases that attained normal weight in the treated (42)

compared to the control (15) group was statistically

significant (p< 0.001, U test, Mathcad).

Comparison between age-ranges (Chi-square)

showed that the shift to the normal weight was

highly sifnificant in age-ranges 1-4 and 5-9 years old

(p=0.007 and p<0.001, respectively), and significant

in age-range 10-14 years old (p=0.035), but

difference was not significant in age-range 15-19

years old (p=0.157), although the trend for

improvement compared to the control group is

maintained.

The aims of the present study were limited to

validate the effectiveness of a homeopathic formula

as adjuvant in the treatment of malnutrition.

Randomization was appropriate for this purpose,

however, further issues must still be addressed, such

as the velocity of shift from a nutritional state below

the 3rd percentile and normal weight and the factors

able to influence such shift. In his regard, no studies

could be found in the literature.

Despite such limitations and the one represented

by the lack of double-blind, placebo-controlled

design, these results suggest that homeopathic

treatment might be efficient as adjuvant in the

treatment of malnutrition and further studies with

larger samples and placebo-controlled must be

performed. Conclusions The homeopathic complex

used proved to be effective as adjuvant in the

treatment of malnourished children, as shown by the

significant proportion of children who shifted from a

159

condition below the 3rd percentile to normal weight

in the treated group.

This effect was highly significant and

significant in age ranges 1-4, 5-9, and 10-14 years

old. Although the difference was not statistically

significant in age-range 15-19 years old, the trend for

shift to normal was maintained compared to the

control group.

Table 5: Distribution of the study sample per age-range and treatments after treatment

Age

Homeopathy

Control

Normal weight

Malnourished

Normal weight

Malnourished

10-90 P

>3 P

10 – 90 P

> 3 P

1- 4

5 - 9

10 -14

15 -19

Total

References

[1] Goodmen A. Las acciones bursátiles no son

comestibles [Stock exchange is not edible]. Granma,

26 de mayo de 2008: Secc. Internacionales.

[2] Amador García M, Hermelo Treche M.

Alimentación y nutrición [Diet and nutrition]. In: De

la Torre Montejo E, Canetin Fernández S, González

Valdés J, Gutiérrez Muñiz JA, Jordán Rodríguez JR

et al, Pediatría II [Pediatrics II]. La Habana: Editorial

Pueblo y Educación; 2004.

[3] Martín Mateus MA, Cruz M: Inmunodeficiencias

congénitas y adquiridas [Congenital and acquired

immunodeficiencies]. In: Cruz M, Tratado de

pediatra [Treatise of pediatrics]. 7ª ed. La Habana:

Editorial Ciencias Médicas; 2006.

[4] UNICEF: Cinco millones de niños africanos

mueren antes de los 5 años [Five million African

children die before age five years old]. Granma, 31

de mayo de 2008; Sec, Internacionales,

[5] Cruz M, Molina Font BLA, Borguño JM.

Factores predisponentes en la desnutrición

[Predisposing factors in malnutrition]. In: Cruz M,

Tratado de pediatría [Treatise of pediatrics]. 7ª ed.

La Habana: Editorial Ciencias Médicas; 2006.

[6] Melrd WC. Inseguridad alimentaria, hambre y

desnutrición [Nutritional insecurity, starvation and

nutrition]. In: Behrman RE, Kllegman RM, Janson

HB, Nelson Tratado de Pediatría [Treatise of

pediatrics]. 17ª ed. Madrid: Elsevier; 2004.

[7] Herid WC. Necesidades nutricionales

[Nutritional needs]. In: Bowman BA, Russell RM,

Conocimientos actuales sobre nutrición [Current

knowledge on nutrition], 8ª ed. Washington DC:

OPS; 2003. Int J High Dilution Res 2012; 11(38):

25-32 31

[8] Martí-Hanneberg C. Nutrición en pediatría

[Nutrition in pediatrics]. In: Cruz M, Tratado de

pediatría [treatise of pediatrics]. 7ª ed. La Habana:

Editorial Ciencias Médicas, 2006.

[9] Alonso Lago O, González Hernández DI, Abreu

Suárez G. Malnutrición proteico energética [Protein-

energy malnutrition]. Revista Cubana de Pediatría.

2007; 79(2): 20-27,

[10] Magraner Tarrau ME, López Hernández IC,

Toledo Vega C, Sandelys Acosta M,

Comportamiento de la morbimortalidad infantile

[Behavior of children morbimortality]. In: Pediatría,

160

programa/resúmenes Pediatrics/program/abstracts].

La Habana: Palacio de las Convenciones; 2005.

[11] Boericke W, Materia medica homeopática

[Homeopathic materia medica]. New Delhi: B Jain

[s.d.].

[12] Vannier L. Materia medica homeopática

[Homeopathic materia medica]. México DF: Porrúa;

2000.

[13] Cuesta M, Soria EM. Homeopatía agropecuaria

[Homeopathy in agriculture and livestock raising].

Las Villas: Samuel Feijóo; 2006.

[14] Cuesta M, Montejo E, Duvergel J, Medicina

interna veterinaria II [Internal veterinary medicine

II]. La Habana: Félix Varela; 2007.

=====================================

23. Colocynthis, Loxosceles reclusa and patient –

made Isodes in Cancer: Case Reports

RICHARDSON-BOEDLER, Cornelia

(AJHM. 108, 2/2015)

Treatment of cancer is challenging in both

allopathic and homœopathic medicine. In

Homœopathy, some encouraging success has been

documented historically and more recently. The

manner of preparation and administration of

remedies has varied. British physician James

Compton Burnett (1840-1901) used various

potencies and tinctures, often prescribing Thuja

occidentalis 30c.1 American physician Eli G. Jones

(1850-1933) utilized low potencies, tinctures (as

with Colocynthis in cancer of pylorus) and other

material preparations.2 In the present day, the 200c

potency is often used. For example, Carcinosin 200c

is employed by the Indian physician Ramakrishnan,

who tends to administer it with a plussing method.3

Different methods of potentization as well as the

effects of certain plants in homœopathic cancer

treatment have been analyzed.4, 5 The historical use

of Carcinosin, the cancer nosode, has been viewed in

light of the remedy’s analogous relationship with the

plant remedy Colocynthis (Citrullus colocynthis).5

In my treatment of patients with overgrowths

(neoplasms), including cancer, I have found

Colocynthis (30c), patient-made isodes and the Bach

flower remedies developed by the English physician

Edward Bach (1886-1936) to be pillars of therapy.

Colocynthis

Colocynthis has been shown to have features

very similar to Carcinosin, such as certain times of

aggravation, modalities (pains better pressure and

warmth), and causations (indignation).6 Carcinosin

is prepared from cancerous tissue; it plant analogue,

therefore, is accredited with an affinity for and

ability to address the cancerous growth itself, which

is marked by a dynamic repetitive cell division that

is disproportionate to the surrounding cellular

structures (similar to the plant’s production of the

pumpkin-like poisonous fruits, from which the

remedy is gained).5

It is thought that cancer may result from

suppression of emotional conflicts, with subsequent

despair and feelings of personal worthlessness.7

Colocynthis treats symptom caused by psychological

suppression; it treats the strong pains of abdominal

colic (from disturbing emotions, as does

Chamomilla),8 intestinal ulcerous conditions, and

tumors.5 Samuel Hahnemann noted its use in

symptoms derived from vexation (violent colic),

indignation, embitterment or from an “internal,

gnawing” mortification over injustice received or

observed.9

Yet, in the cases we present here Colocynthis

successfully treated a carcinoid tumor in a female,

when a psychological causation was unclear (case

1), slowed the growth of a malignant liver tumor in

a male when a psychological causation was unclear

(case 1), slowed the growth of a malignant liver

tumor in a male exposed to chemicals, who lacked

psychological complaints (case 2) and flattened a

fatty tumor (lipoma) in a “carefree” dog. Similarly,

in these and other cases (author’s practice), the

physical keynotes of Colocynthis were not noted.

The distinct pains of Colocynthis had once

guided the nineteenth century physician James Grant

Gilchrist in his treatment of a hard, elastic, coconut-

sized ovarian tumor.1 The pains, felt in the region of

the right ovary, were sharp and stabbing, better from

bending double and the patient walked bent over

with the hand on the right side (pains better

pressure). Repeated dosing with Colocynthis 200c

or higher potencies over a period of five months

achieved cure. His colleague Dunham cured a

similar case with the remedy!

According to Constantine Hering, Colocynthis

is “indicated in some cases of very painful cancer.”10

In this function, it was not known by Samuel

Hahnemann, who first proved the remedy using the

dried attenuated toxic pulp of the fruit. Provers

developed specific pains of cutting, pinching,

grasping, clawing, throbbing and digging character.

The pinching pains and the sensation as if the bowels

were squeezed between stones were felt particularly

in intestinal colic. Hahnemann noted the long-

lasting action of the remedy. The proving symptoms

here consulted and augumented from the first

161

edition, were published in 1827 in the sixth volume,

second edition of his work Reine Arzneimittellehre

(Materia Medica Pura)11 and were augmented again

later.9

Theory and practice allow us to conclude that

homœopathic Colocynthis affects both malignant

and benign overgrowths (also cysts) and that it has

applicability in cancer, similar to a nosode. Though

having distinct indications as remedies, nosodes can

be used in different patients for the pertinent,

specific disease.

Traditional medicine and modern scientific

research attest to the anti-cancer properties of C.

colocynthis. When four plants, indigenous to

Morocco and used as cancer treatment in the

country’s traditional medicine, were tested in vitro

for anticancer activity, C. colocynthis showed the

most promise as an allopathic anticancer drug (over

Piper cubeba, Aristolochia longa and Delphinum

staphisagria). It triggered a significant and dose-

dependent inhibitory activity against cancer cell

lines from mammary adenocarcinoma and colon

carcinoma and was also inhibitory in the three other

cell models tested. The four plants prior to testing

had been washed, dried, crushed and macerated;

filtration had eliminated non-soluble particles.12

Patient-made Isodes

In the treatment of overgrowths, patient-made

isodes can play an important role. It has been

proposed that isodes prepared from blood treat

cancers of the blood and prevent metastases via the

blood stream in malignancy.4 They have treated

cancer of the bone marrow (case 3) and been

recommended by the author in a case of leukemia.

Discharges can be potentized (e.g. the urine in cancer

affecting the urinary tract).

Patient-made isodes treat infections of the

blood. Along with instructions for preparation, they

were first presented in 1994, after beneficial results

were obtained in two patients infected with the

human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).13 A mother

and child with borreliosis were helped (author’s

cases). They have been recommended for treatment

of Ebola hemorrhagic fever14 and, in forensic

medicine, for a case of ehrlichiosis (a usually tick-

borne illness caused by bacterial pathogens, genera

Ehrlichia and Anaplasma, which parasitize

leukocytes).15 They can be used in coagulopathy or

in any abnormal changes or conditions of the blood.

The isodes are easily prepared according to the

following instructions, adapted from the initial

publication.13 Instead of the originally-

recommended dilution in water and alcohol, only

water (spring or tap) is used (as in case 3). The

patient’s own fluids or discharges are serially diluted

in water and succussed. Skin flakes, as in psoriasis,

can be potentized, but the first dilution is allowed to

stand for a day.

Instructions for Making Isodes

This method uses the simple homœopathic

potentization method according to Korsakoff. It is

further simplified by the use of only water; alcohol

is not necessary. The body’s immunity is raised by

the use of an “isode” and important physiological

changes can occur.

You need: a 1 ounce (30ml) glass bottle with a

closure; a dropper; tap or spring water; two drops of

bodily fluid.

Preparation: Carefully put two freshly gained

drops of bodily fluid into the 1 ounce (30ml) bottle;

avoid contaminating the bottle’s opening. Add

about 10ml of water so that a third of the bottle is

filled. Pound the closed bottle ten times firmly on a

phone book or other pliable surface (process of

succussion).

Pour out all contents of the bottle (in the toilet

or sink) and quickly clean/sterilize the area, but leave

the remaining drops of the fluid in the bottle. The

drops are adhering to the inner wall of the bottle.

Thus, do not clean the bottle. (I assume that about

two drops are remaining inside the bottle.)

Fill the bottle again with the same amount of

water so that a third of the bottle is filled.

Pound the bottle again ten times on the phone

book. You have now gained the 2c potency. Pour

the contents in the toilet or sink and clean the area.

Again, do not clean or rinse the bottle but refill to

one third of its size with water.

Pound again ten times on the phone book (3c

potency) and repeat the procedure twenty-seven

times to the 30c potency. If you are not weary, work

up to the 200c potency, which is very effective.

Dosing: With the dropper, reach into the bottle

with the desired potency and take one drop of either

the 30c or 200c potency only once (under the

tongue). Discard all fluid from bottle and sterilize

the bottle, closure of the bottle, and dropper in

boiling water.

Repeat the entire procedure once a month for the

200c potency, twice a month for the 30c potency.

Bach Flower Remedies

Medicinally activated with heat-potentization in

water (by sunlight or boiling), Bach flower remedies

complement homœopathic treatment and are to be

given in parallel to homœopathic remedies in the

treatment of overgrowths. They prevent

homœopathic aggravations and accelerate the

process of cure.4 Overgrowths need repeated

homœopathic dosing, hence the need for the

162

prevention of aggravations or the development of

proving symptoms. Bach flower remedies also

protect the Vital Force from the side effects of

allopathic cancer treatment.

The Bach flower combination Rescue Remedy

or case-specific Bach flowers are taken, preferably

throughout the entire treatment period. Rescue

Remedy, yielding a synergistic effect, contains five

Bach flowers, namely impatients (tension), Star of

Bethlehem (grief), Clematis (fainting), Cherry Plum

(fear of losing control), Rock Rose (terror). The

Bach flowers Olive and Centaury, both for

exhaustion, protect from depletion during

chemotherapy. All three therapeutic avenues,

Homœopathy, Allopathy, and Bach flower therapy

may be used concurrently in a given case.

Treatment Regimen

The recommended regimen4 is as follows: Two

pills of Colocynthis 30c are given under the tongue

twice per day for five to seven days. After an

interval of two weeks, the same regimen is repeated.

The patient again waits two weeks and repeats the

course of Colocynthis, after which the overgrowth

should be assessed. Additional dosing may be

necessary—always with the same regimen and two

week interval—until the growth is gone.

On the days of Colocynthis use, the additional

employment of Rescue Remedy or other chosen Bach

flowers is most crucial, though the flowers should be

given daily until well. They are taken as follows:

One drop from the stock bottle is put in a glass (or

bottle) of water, which is sipped four times per day.

Up to six remedies total, one drop from each, may be

added to the glass of water.

Isodes can be given in the middle of the two-

week interval between intake of the homœopathic

medicine. For example, five days of intake of

Colocynthis are followed by intake of the isode

seven days later. Another seven days later, the

course of Colocynthis resumes. Generally, isodes

may be prepared every two weeks (30c potency) or

once a month (200c potency). One drop suffices for

the isode dose, though dosing may be (slightly)

altered by the prescriber.

Cases

Case 1: A Carcinoid Tumor

A thirty nine year-old mother of two children

consulted me on May 23rd, 2003. Her symptoms

were panic attacks, anxiety about travel, dizziness,

nausea, sleeplessness. After Theridion

curassavicum, Conium maculatum and Aconitum

napellus, which all gave benefit, Moschus

moschiferus (30c, 200c) was curative. Bach flower

remedies were also taken.

After a trip to Mexico, she underwent allopathic

treatment for Giardia infection. Shortly thereafter,

in early November 2005, she learned that benign,

small, carcinoid tumor was present in her rectum.

She also had inflamed internal haemorrhoids as well

as colitis-like symptoms, passing some blood and

mucus. She was urged by her medical doctors to

have the tumor removed, out of cocern it could turn

cancerous. Upon my recommendation, she agreed

to try Homœopathy prior to the surgery. She took

Colocynthis 30c, two pills twice daily for five days;

she was to wait two weeks and repeat the regimen.

Bach flowers, to be taken throughout the treatment

period, were Rescue Remedy and for exhaustion,

Olive.

The rectal surgery was performed with the

intent to remove the carcinoid cells in the identified

location. I was informed on December 16th, 2005, of

the results of the surgery and biopsy—no trace of the

carcinoid cells or of cancerous cells had been found.

Case 2: A Liver Tumor and Abnormal Nodules in

Lung

A repair technician for printers and computers

who had been exposed in his work to ink (potentially

carcinogenic)16 and other chemical substances,

suffered a malignant colorectal tumor, which was

removed in May of 2008. He was fifty-seven years

of age. The tumor (Stage III) was “poorly formed,

with fingers.” In early 2009, a painless malignant

liver tumor was discovered. The diagnosis was

metastasized adenocarcinoma with extensive

necrosis consistent with colorectal primary tumor.

Surgery, which would entail the removal of 10% of

his liver, and chemotherapy were the suggested

allopathic treatments. He rejected this course.

On February 23rd, 2009, he was prescribed

Colocynthis 30c, two pills twice daily for five days;

he was to wait two weeks and then repeat the same

regimen. The whole sequence could be repeated a

few times under supervision. He was also prescribed

Bach flowers (Crab Apple, Agrimony, Vine). He was

to inform me of the test results gained at the hospital.

About two weeks after this prescription, he was

instructed by letter to prepare his blood isode (30c).

two drops twice daily for three days were prescribed,

to be taken during the middle of the two-week

interval between the courses of Colocynthis.

Metastases by the blood route would thus be

prevented. However, he had objections to working

with blood. Instead, on March 23, 2009, he was

prescribed the remedy Loxosceles reclusa 200c for

restoration of affected liver tissue, to be taken

regularly during the middle of the two-week interval,

preceded and followed by two days of Rescue

Remedy.

163

On May 9th, 2009, I learned that the tumor’s

growth had slowed considerably. His hospital

doctor’s new prognosis was: “The tumor will

overtake the liver in five years.” His initial comment

had been: “You have six months to live.” By this

date, May 9th , the patient had undergone a few

courses (each with five days of intake of Colocynthis

and had taken three doses of Loxosceles reclusa.

Laboratory studies determined the carcinogenic

lesion, which had grown from 0.0 to 2.2 cm in the

first ninety days, grew only from 2.2 to 2.5 cm in the

second ninety days (during which time he had begun

using Homœopathy). In addition abnormal nodules,

which had previously been detected in his lungs, had

disappeared.

For several weeks prior to these results, I had

not been able to supervise the patient’s response to

Colocynthis, as routine appointments were not made.

I had sent him a letter at the end of April

discouraging further unsupervised intake of this

remedy (though I had not yet seen aggravations in

patients from the Colocynthis regimen, usually taken

with Bach flowers). One more month of the regimen

was prescribed in early May 2009 when learning of

the tumor’s slowed growth.

I heard from him again on September 18th, 2009.

He informed me that by July the tumor had resumed

a faster growth and was surgically removed in

August without detrimental effects. No other

carcinogenic lesions had formed. He felt well and

was glad regarding his complete recovery.

In June and July, he had taken only Loxosceles

reclusa 200c as homœopathic remedy (one dose

every two weeks), indicating Colocynthis as the

effective cancer remedy, which had slowed the

tumor’s growth; the former remedy appeared to have

protected the liver tissues.

A dose of Colocynthis 200c, taken every three

months, followed by one week of Rescue Remedy,

was the suggested chronic preventive regimen.

Case 3: Chronic Diarrhea followed by Multiple

Myeloma

A woman, eighty-four years old, with a chronic

condition of varicose veins (that ached two days

before a rain-storm), sought treatment on July 20th,

2011, for chronic diarrhea. It had started eighteen

months ago, “out of the blue.” Troubles relating to

her veins were not paramount to her at that time. She

had been diagnosed with a mild case of lymphocytic

colitis, which had hardly responded to allopathic

treatments. When questioned about her mental state,

she reported chronic worries, intensified about two

years ago, around her daughter’s health condition.

An attack of diarrhea was announced by loud

abdominal gurgling and she had to seek a toilet fast.

The watery stool would be released suddenly,

forcefully, like an explosion, with air pressure

(though she hardly had gas), and could be triggered

by sneezing or blowing the nose. She could

experience up to five attacks per hour or as few as

three or four per day. On lying down at night the

urge to stool asserted, sometimes immediately, and

it regularly woke her again at 5:30 am. The release

of stool always caused a feeling of relief, but should

she lie down right after stool, the urge could be

incited again. A foamy, frothy film, like a powder,

would swim on top of the released watery stool,

which had a rotten odor; it was free of mucus.

One dose of Podophyllum 200c and, a month

later, a five-day course of Jatropha 30c (two doses

per day), were ineffective. Gambogia 200c

(resinous gum from Garcinia morella), taken every

fourth day over two weeks and, due to frequent calls

to the office, repeatedly thereafter, triggered a

healing response. I recommended it be

complemented by her own preparation of an isode

(30c) from liquid stool. She followed the

instructions sent to her for preparing a patient-made

isode. The first isode treatment, only one dose taken,

was on October 30th, 2011. Two weeks later she

prepared a new isode (30c) and took a second dose.

Reportedly, the effect was astounding-experienced

“right away.” On November 15th, 2011, she

informed me of her complete healing: her stools had

normalized.

In February 2012, a tumultuous

symptomatology needed fast and repeated

prescribing and dosing. The primary complaint was

a fear-arousing sensation of her “heart racing into

neck”(former symptom). This was worse while

lying down and worse any small exertion in bed,

such as turning to the side. She also had hard, hot

edema of legs (new symptom), with pain on pressure

but no pitting (Strophantus hispidus 200c,

Arsenicum album 30c, Loxosceles reclusa 200c),

and with pounding sensation and pains as if from hot

needles, in red-spotted feet, worse left foot, worse

middle of night and at 4:00 am, better cold

applications (Vespa crabro 200c, which lastingly

calmed heart). She had a concurrent diagnosis of

multiple myeloma, for which Conchiolinum 200c

was first prescribed (indicated for affections of the

bone marrow, as myelitis).17

She received allopathic medications. A diuretic

helped diminish the edema of the legs. The myeloma

was considered treatable, but not curable and she

was informed of a life expectancy of four to five

years with treatment. Chemotherapy started in late

April 2012. It caused no side effects. (I had

prescribed repeated use of Rescue Remedy to help

protect her Vital Force.)

164

To treat the myeloma homœopathically and

consistently, she was instructed on March 9th, 2012,

to prepare a fresh isode (30c) from her own blood

every two weeks until well, taking only one drop of

the 30c potency each time as the dose. This regimen

would address, periodically, the current condition of

her blood. On April 10th, 2012, she told me of her

doctor’s current assessment: “The myeloma has

infested 50% of your blood.” From early April until

the end of the year, she prepared the isodes; her

blood values improved steadily. For the first two

months of the isode intake, she was prescribed Vespa

crabro into July 2012. Concerning other remedies

used, in March 2012, she had been recommended

Gambogia 6c for occasional leg cramps and in

August 2012, Gambogia 200c was needed for a bout

of diarrhea.

On January 30th, 2013, she was prescribed two

daily doses, taken over two days, of Euphrasia

officinalis 30c, primarily for a tendency to sty

formation on the right upper lid. At this date, she

informed me that the allopathic treatment for

myeloma had been discontinued, as she had

recovered completely. The isode treatment,

occurring over a nine-month period, is to be viewed

as the major cause in the steady improvement and

recovery. She is free of the myeloma also in April

2013.

On December 1st, 2014, I learned from the

daughter that her mother’s varicose veins had

completely disappeared—apparently due to the

homœopathic treatments.

The patient had taken Bach flowers throughout

the treatment period, including Hornbeam, Red

Chestnut, Agrimony, Crab Apple, Gorse, Sweet

Chestnut, and Rescue Remedy.

Using Loxosceles reclusa in Cancer?

The remedy Loxosceles recusa, made from the

brown recluse spider, has been shown to be related

to Tarentula cubensis, which is a remedy of unclear

origin but likely made from the brown spider,

Loxosceles laeta.18 Tarentula cubensis causes and

treats painful, burning, purplish abscesses with

ulceration and gangrene—symptoms also induced

by a L. laeta bite—as well as scirrhous of mammae19

(preferably when appearing with the burning pains,

purplish color, and decomposition). Yet, in the

above-presented second case, it was not Loxosceles

reclusa, which is toxicologically similar to L. laeta,

but Colocynthis that slowed the tumor’s growth.

Loxosceles reclusa was introduced to

Homœopathy in 1998.20 I have used this remedy

successfully in a number of cases, including:

inflammatory conditions such as abscesses, not only

in a patient with a probable L. reclusa bite but in a

child with a chronically infected lymph node; severe

gangrenous diabetic leg ulcer in an elderly man;

Epstein-Barr virus infection (amelioration of

symptoms, such as headache, brown urine, and quick

recovery); poison ivy and poison oak rashes;

shingles (diverted at onset with no recurrence);

chronic swelling and pain situated near a nailed

forearm fracture (an apparent sensitivity to the metal

implant); arthritic pains and swellings (good

improvement); alleviation of strong pains in a man

dying from anuria and internal hemorrhage (a cancer

patient healed months previously y chemotherapy);

hemorrhaging wound; non-healing surgical wound

(healed by a colleague upon my recommendation).

In most of these cases a single dose of the 200c

potency was sufficient.

Moreover, a delayed high spontaneous

lymphocyte transformation rate in humans (delayed

hypersensitivity), caused by L. reclusa

envenomation has been observed in allopathic

medicine and pointed out as occurring also in

patients rejecting transplanted organs.21 Thus, it is

possible that homœopathic Loxosceles reclusa

could prevent rejection of transplantation. This

could benefit patients, including cancer patients,

seeking transplants after surgical loss. The remedy

could also act in an emergency and divert an existing

response of a delayed hypersensitivity in patients

with various kinds of transplants, while aiding in the

healing of the surgical wound.

Tumors of Hard tissues

Colocynthis is recommended also in the

treatment of tumors of hard tissues, bone or

cartilage, as it appears to address metastases in

malignancy (case 2). However, additional remedies

are also advised. One may refer to Hekla lava for

osteosarcoma,19 cancer of the bonemarrow3 and for

bony tumors (osteoma) that are spongy.1 silica and

calcarean fluorica can be used for tumors of

cartilage (enchondroma) and bony tumors,1

Stillingia sylvatica for “immense nodes” on bones8

Conchiolinum can be employed for enchondroma.22

Some Measures to Prevent Cancer

Measures to prevent the induction of cancer are

advised. The metals chromium, nickel, and iron are

among the foremost inducing agents in cancer, so

dietary supplements containing these metals should

be avoided. This is especially important for workers

exposed occupationally to these metals. Such

workers are also recommended to wear protective

masks during all working hours. Pigments may

contain these metals in various combinations with

other elements, affecting painters, artists, and print

as well as textile workers. Likewise, wearers of

metal implants are in the critical group, unless the

now-available titanium metal implants were used.

Fluoridated and chlorinated drinking water may

165

assist in the erosion of the metal implants in the

body, hence in the increased release of the toxic

metal species, and should be replaced with spring

water.16

Conclusion

Colocynthis and patient-made isodes offer a

gentle approach to the treatment of abnormal

growths, including cancer in various manifestations,

with the promise of general applicability. The 30c

potency of Colocynthis has been effective, as used in

this regimen. Bach flower remedies not only prevent

homœopathic aggravations but ease the patient’s

mental/emotional and physical struggls.

References

1. Burnett JC. Curability of tumours by

medicines. London: Homœopathic Publishing;

1893. P.59-83, 159-61.

2. Jones EG. Cancer: its causes, symptoms and

treatment. 1911; rpt. New Delhi: B. Jain; 2000.

P.242-3.

3. Ramakrishnan AU, Coulter CR. A

homœopathic approach to cancer. Berkeley

Springs (WV): Ninth House; 2001.

4. Richardson-Boedler C. Methods of

potentisation and curative effects in cancer

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10. Hering C. The Guiding Symptoms of our

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=====================================

24. Fighting for one’s own health – care as a cause

of illness

MARION Baschin (MedGG. 32/2014)

Introduction

The care of patients at home has always taken

place. However, long professional care is, and has

always been, required only for a fraction of those

suffering from illness. But, usually when suffering

from brief or minor complaints, we treat ourselves or

call on those close to us. Moreover, in the 19th

century, the costs involved and the complete lack of

care facilities meant, in many cases, that people had

no other option than to be cared for at home by

166

members of their family or sometimes neighbours.

However, it is tragic that, in publications about the

health system of a town, the services of nurses and

carers are referred to mostly in a general sentence,

saying that sick people were looked after by their

families. For example, in such an investigation

about the city of Münster, we find: “Most sick people

in Münster were visited at home by the doctor and

looked after by their family, even in the case of fatal

illnesses.”

Although some cases in the city were

also looked after by professional carers, particularly

by the Sisters of St. Clement and the deaconesses of

the Protestant hospital, details on home care o the

sick, particularly by lay healers, are hard to find.

that time, as today, carers took great risks and

difficulties and also experienced negative effects on

their own health.

This report presents the results of the

investigation of the patient journals of two

Münsteranina homœopaths. These documents shed

light – from an unexpected source – on care activities

at home and the resulting conflicts for carers.

Firstly, a brief description of the records will be

given. Secondly, those patients who became ill as

result of taking care of someone else will be taken

into account. With the help of letters, which are

only available for the most famous patient, the

German poetess Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, the

question of why those now affected took on the

“burden of care” will be considered and presented in

the third part. The article will conclude with some

methodological remarks.

Source – The patient journals

The lay homœopath Clemens von

Bönninghausen practiced in Münster, Westphalia,

from 1829 until his death in 1864. He was born in

1785 and had studied law before turning to his

See for America Apple (1990) or

Risse/Numbers/Walzer Leavitt (1977) for example.

Schwanitz (1990), pp.57-58.

Eckart/Jütte (2007). pp.286-295, with additional

literature and an overview of research;

Stolberg(2003), p.77. A brief explanation on the

general activities of the Sisters of St. Clement is

given in Jungnitz (1981). pp.74-110.

For more details concerning him and his practice:

Kottwitz (1985) and Baschin (2010).

For a description see Baschin (2011). Concerning

homœopathic case taking see Jütte

Baschin (2010) and the description of the ongoing

project at

http://www.igm.bosch.de/content/language2/html/1

2298.asp (last accessed: Jan. 29, 2014). The years

healing activities. Although he was never approved

as a legal physician, he was allowed to practice by

an extraordinary permission from the Prussian king.

According to homœopathic principles, he kept very

detailed patient journals. The notes von

Bönninghausen made concern not only the actual

symptoms the sick people were complaining about,

but various other pieces of information about the

social status of the patients, the remedies they had

taken and the therapies they had previously received,

and, in some cases, the cause of the illness and other

circumstances of the patients’ lives as well as the

information about the ongoing homœopathic

treatment.

His son Friedrich (1828-1910) took over

the practice in 1864 and continued his father’s

records. Friedrich had also first studied law but then

added a proper study of medicine from 1855 until

1858. He was approved as a legal medical

practitioner in Münster from 1862 on. During a PhD

thesis, dealing with the patients of Clemens Maria

Franz, and a current project, investigating the

practice of Friedrich, several of the years covered by

the 149 journals they had both compiled were

examine.

The entries in the documents have been

transferred into databases and then analysed

according to the social structure of the patients, the

illnesses they wanted to have cured and questions of

consultation behavior as well as the practice of the

healers in general.

In several cases, the surviving patient journals

of these two homœopaths reveal that carers were

actually fighting to protect or restore their own

health.

Usually an attempt was made to treat the

complaint in another way before consulting the

homœopath. Besides these preliminary histories, the

journals also indicate the socio-statistical data on

those who had themselves now become patients.

The journals make it clear which hazardous

covered in both research projects are 1828/29-1833,

1839-1843, 1849-1853, 1859-1863/64 (the practice

of the father)and 1864-1867, 1872-1875, 1879-1882

and 1886-1889 (the practice of the son). The

journals are kept in the IGM, P 1-P 149. There is no

biography of Friedrich von Bönninghausen

available. For brief information, see Schroers

(2006), p. 16.

In total, the patient histories of 14,266 ill people

seeking a cure from Clemens Maria Franz von

Bönninghausen and 6,832 doing the same from

Friedrich von Bönninghausen were examined. A

connection to care activities could be made in 24

cases treated by Clemens and in 11 cases treated by

Friedrich.

167

consequences such self-sacrificing work could have

for carers and also how they worked to combat them.

Therefore the records document caregiving at home

by families and other lay people and the resulting

health problems. This is a field which, due to the

lack of source documentation, is very difficult to

investigate but needs to be researched.

Taking care and being ill – risks and conflicts

Of the 35 people who became ill as a

consequence of their caring activities, 29 were

women and five men, whilst, in one case, the sex

could not be known for sure, but was most probably

a man. This is not a surprising result, as former

research works have shown that giving care was left

to the women and that such work was expected from

them in most cases.

Information about their

profession was found with 14 people. The care

activities were carried out by members of all social

classes. Eight people came from the lower class,

and, in particular, worked as farmers. Three people

each were members of the middle and the upper

classes.

Most carers were adults, aged between 21 and

30 years old.

But even teenagers aged 16 or 18

were asked to take on the task. There were four

children who are part of the investigation as they

were infected by their nurse and in one case the child

suffered from extremely delayed consequences of

the caring activity carried out by the mother.

But the patient records also tell us, who received

the care and which illnesses were cared for. Family

members, such as children, siblings, parents, a

grandfather or wife were looked after. Of course,

there were other sick people too, whose relationship

to the carer is sadly not clear in the journals. For

example, it is not clear what the relationship between

a 16 year old and the “man” whom she cared for, but

who died of dropsy, was. It could be a case of

Stolberg (2003), pp. 77-83; Schwig (2009), p.216;

Hoffmann (2010), p.340.

As such, this is also a proof that domestic care was

carried out amongst all the levels of society.

However, reports of such activities amongst

members of the lower classes are comparatively rare.

Stolberg (2003), p.78; Schweig (2009), pp.214-223.

The age of one of the people was not specified.

Four were the above-mentioned children. Four of

the patients were between 16 and 20 years old,

eleven between 21 and 25 years old and three

between 26 and 30 years old. Six patients were aged

between 31 and 40 and a further six were 41 years

old or older.

In 16 cases, it is unknown who received care or

what their relationship was to those now affected. In

neighbourly help or even pained work.

The patients

were suffering from brain fever, scabies, cholera,

consumption or dropsy.

In these cases the risk of

catching the illness, and some carers did indeed

catch the illnesses from the patients.

A 24 year-old woman had clearly been looking

after her grandfather for some time. He had been

suffering from dizziness and apoplexy. It is not

explicitly reported which activities the caregiving

involved, nor how they were carried out. At least

this entry states that she gave “anxious” care, which

we can take as meaning extremely loving and

intensive care. Also, the comment “day and night

care” gives us an indication of how much effort the

activity required. In addition, one entry in the

journal shows that a 54 year-old woman, who cared

for her father intensively around the clock, clearly

took her task very seriously. The same applies to the

“excess” care another woman gave to her mother.

Another case states that the caregiving activity of a

daughter was made up of rubbing her father with a

grey ointment, containing mercury. However, most

entries simply specify “care” or “sitting up (at

night)”, without any explanation of the services

provided.

The length of the caregiving activities was

mentioned in two patient histories. For example, the

mother of a 21 year-old woman had suffered from

brain fever for fur weeks and was looked after the

whole time by her daughter, who now saw the first

symptoms of the disease in herself. A girl is also

recorded as having provided care of the same disease

for even longer, in this case five weeks.

Two further patient histories highlighted the

intensive care of patients by carers. During the

course of their illness, those affected became a part

of the family network set up for their medical

assistance and care.

In the case of his own son,

Clemens von Bönninghausen stated that his son had

one case, a girl was suffering. A wife and a

grandfather appear in one case each. In three cases

each, fathers and mothers were cared for by children,

whilst five children received care from their mother.

Five patients were looked after by siblings. Similar

results concerning those who received care in home

today: Hoffmann (2010), pp. 338-339, and for the

Early Modern period Stolberg (2003), pp.78-79.

The following illnesses were encountered (number

in brackets): scabies (two), whooping cough(one),

dropsy (one), brain fever (nine), cholera (one),

consumption (two).

For general information, see Lachmund/Stollberg

(1995) and Stolberg (2003).

168

“deteriorated” to such an extent, due to teething and

coughing, that convalescence was unlikely.

However, the boy’s health improved “thanks to the

care given to him and now he is healthy, is

blossoming and is very strong”.

In addition, such

intensive care and attention was not always crowned

with success, as testified to by a letter from Wilhelm

Grimm to Jenny von Droste-Hülshoff, the sister of

the poetess.

The carers had become infected with the

illnesses, from which those they were caring for

were suffering. In particular this occurred in those

cases connected to brain fever. Others showed

similar symptoms to those they had been looking

after, causing them to think they were suffering from

the same complaint. This applied, for example, to

the poetess Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, who, after

caring for her brother who had died of consumption,

was of the opinion that she herself was suffering

from the disease.

Similarly, another patient had

cared for a “child with scabies” and traced her eye

infection back to the child.

Other patients had physical and psychological

complaints, stomach ache, aching in the head or

limbs, sore throats, exhaustion and dizziness, a

nervous complaint (not specified in detail), pressure

in their chest or a rash. The strain caused some

women to miss their period.

The patient mentioned

above, who had rubbed her father with the ointment

containing mercury, suffered from “involuntary

movements of the right arm and leg” and had

“difficulty speaking, due to a heavy tongue and lots

of spittle in the mouth”. However, in another case

we find simply: “Sick after tending the sick”.

A countess’s “extreme worry” about sick

children caused her to develop a strong rash. Sitting

with a dying patient caused a 33 year-old woman to

suffer from depression for seven whole years before

she visited the homœopath.

The illness of a baby

was also traced back to the fact that its mother was

IGM, p.151, p.41; P 76, fol. 107. This is also

documented by other histories. Baschin (2010),

p.191, or Schweig (2009), pp.215-216.

Schulte-Kemminghausen (1978), pp. 90-91.

IGM, P 151, p.1, also IGM, P 53, FOL. 173. For

similar findings Stolberg (2003), pp. 80-81.

IGM, P 80, fol.29.

This was the case in IGM, P 75, fol. 376, and P

149, fol.167.

IGM, P 103, fol.242, and P. 149, fol.154.

For example, see IGM, P 116, fol. 81, and P 138,

fol. 212. The psychological impact of such care of

the sick and dying was also a topic in the letters of

“continuously depressed during pregnancy on

account of caring for its [that is the mother, M.B.]

father”.

A lot of people had already tried to improve

their symptoms by other cures. But the different

attempts with medical therapies or consultations of

other doctors were not successful.

Now they tried

to find help from the two homœopaths.

Those cases, in which children were infected by

caregivers, signal an additional problem encountered

in caregiving. Multiple families seem to have shared

a child’s nurse, who then carried whooping cough

from one child to the next. Babies were also affected

by rashes and scabies in the same manner. The

consequences for those providing care are not

explained in the journals. However, it becomes clear

that, in such cases, “helping hands” actually turned

into wandering “sources of risk”.

The risks connected to taking care of people

suffering from infectious diseases were well known

by the carers. Therefore, in some cases, they

themselves required remedies from the homœopath

to prevent infection. The above mentioned 16-year-

old was in fear of catching “hydrophobia” (rabies).

This was because, while taking care of the poor

sufferer, she herself had had some wounds on her

hands, which made an infection more possible. In

other cases, remedies against nervous fever were

required.

Despite all the risks of becoming infected

themselves from the known “infectious” illnesses of

the patients, those who had themselves now become

ill all chose to engage in or to continue their caring

duties. In addition, the entries of the two healers

show that looking after seriously ill people up to

their death also had serious psychological effects.

The records therefore shed light on caregiving at

home, which was carried out mainly by adult

women, and the resulting health problems.

Droste-Hülshoff, as can be seen in the quotations

mentioned later.

IGM, P 78, fol. 69. For further information on the

emotional afflictions during pregnancy, see Baschin

(2010), p.211 and pp. 217-218.

Nine patients had clearly not tried any previous

treatment before going to the homœopath. Five

people had consulted a doctor in advance and 14

patients had been given medicines.

On this problem with additional literature:

Hähner-Rombach (2009).

For examples, IGM, P 73, fol.215, P 113, fol.

126, and P 141, fol. 44.

169

Conflicts and motives in family caring – The

example of Annette von Droste-Hülshoff

The patient history of Annette von Droste-

Hülshoff is the first recorded by the homœopath

Clemens von Bönninghausen. Annette von Droste

Hülshoff was born in 1797 in a castle near Münster

in Westphalia.

Her musical and literary talents

were supported by her family. In 1838 she published

her first books with poems and four years later her

famous novel “Die Judenbuche” followed. From

1841 on, she spent most of her time in Meersburg on

Lake Constance, and died there in 1848.

The famous German poetess traced her own

health problems from November 1829 onwards to

the fact that she had cared for her brother Ferdinand,

who had been sick with tuberculosis.

She was

convinced that she was suffering from the same

symptoms, for example “serious emaciation with a

lack of energy”, “redness on fallen-in cheeks”,

“permanent stabbing pains on the left side”,

“continuous suffocation n the chest, as if from a tight

corset” as well as “major depression and

hopelessness”.

Having consulted another doctor

without any improvement, this doctor suggested a

homœopathic treatment. For several years, Clemens

Maria Franz von Bönninghausen tried to help the

poetess whose state improved from time to time but

who also used other medicines and consulted other

doctors as well, especially when she was away from

Münster and no other homœopath was available.

We know nothing so far about Annette herself

taking care of her brother. Some of her letters

describe the health of Ferdinand and how she

worries about him having coughed and vomited

blood.

However, none of her letters exist for the

There are several biographies about the poetess.

For this article, the following were used: Beuys

(1999); Droste zu Hülshoff (1998); Maurer (2004).

For additional literature on the person and her

works:http://www.lwl.org/literaturkommission/alex

/index.php?id=0000003&layour=2&author_id=000

00080 (last accessed: Jan. 29, 2014).

The original journal can be found in

Bönninghausen (2011), pp. 3-10. For more details

concerning the treatment: Kottwitz (1985), pp.109-

144 and pp. 172-177, Dinges/Holzapfel (2004) and

Beuys (1999), pp.204-206.

Bönninghausen (2011), p.3. The original words

were: “sehr bedeutende Abmagerung mit

Hinschwinden der Kräfte”, “Röthe auf den

eingefallenen Wangen”, “beständige Stiche in der

linken Seite”, “fortwährend Brustbeklemmung wie

von zusammenge-schnürtem Brustkasten” and

period between November 1828 and November

1829.

This “silence” may be explained by her

intensive care of her brother, which occurred during

these months. Ferdinand died in June 1829. How

much Annette von Droste-Hülshoff had obviously

committed herself to the task of nursing can be seen

from a letter from her concerned sister addressed to

Wilhelm Grimm. According to Jenny’s description,

Annette suffered from “nervous irritation and

cramps”, as diagnosed by a doctor. And, although

the healer had told them that the illness was not

serious, Jenny was deeply worried about her sister’s

health and was afraid of losing her as well.

In his

response, Wilhelm Gimm assured Jenny that he was

quite confident that Annett’s health problems were

not too serious. He expressed the opinion that the

exhaustion was connected to the task of nursing, and

stated: “I have heard how wonderfully committed

she is to the illness of her brother and I consider there

to be nothing more natural than for her nerves to

have suffered from the effort.”

Nursing and caring activities are reported in

several of the letters written by Annette herself. She

even cared for her nurse, several relatives and

friends. This fact is also stressed in the different

biographical works about her.

And the poetess

took the task of nursing and caring very seriously. In

one case she refused to visit her sister on Lake

Constance because she felt the urgent necessity to

take care of her nephew at Burg Hülshoff.

From

time to time she clearly neglected her own health

when taking care of another person. As such, her

sister and her mother, for example, were very

worried about Annette’s health and tried to help and

comfort her themselves.

But they were not always

“groβe Niedergeschlagenheit und

Hoffnungslosigkeit”.

For example in the following pages of her edited

letters:Droste-Hülshoff also writes about her

brother’s illness: Schulte-Kemminghausen (1978),

p.86 and .115. A description of the family members

is given by Droste-Hülshoff (1998), pp. 136-196.

Her brother was born in 1802.

See the edition Droste-Hülshoff (1987). Also

confirmed by Beuys (1999), p.202.

Schulte-Kemminghausen (1978), p.116 (letter 27th

July 1829).

Schulte-Kemminghausen (1978), p.122.

Beuys (1999), p. 196; Droste zu Hülshoff (1998),

p. 90. Further details in the following annotations.

Droste in a letter to her mother of 3rd November

1840: Droste-Hülshoff (1993), p.151.

Her sister:Schulte-Kemminghausen (1978), p.

116, her other: Beuys (1999), p.196, or the attempt

by her brother Werner to send her to Münster after

170

successful and when one day the poetess was ill

herself she complained about her mother not having

the necessary patience to take care of her.

Within the family, the caring services of

Annette were appreciated and expected. Moreover,

the poetess grew up in a noble family, principally

characterized by the Christian values of brotherly

love and care.

For example, her own mother

preferred care from Annette than from her daughter

Jenny and also praised her to the skies.

Annette

von Droste-Hülshoff did not marry. Therefore a lot

of relatives thought she would have plenty of free

time, for example writing letters, paying visits,

giving music lessons to cousins or helping during an

episode of illness.

Annette knew about these

expectations, dealt with them – as will be described

later – and tried to fulfill them, although the work

sometimes took more from her than she could

provide.

During the care of several patients, she was

exposed to serious anguish or was extremely

affected by the psychological problems of those

affected.

However, as can be read in her own

letters, Annette von Droste-Hülshoff was actually

happy to meet these expectations and worked hard to

do so. For example, she wrote to her mother from

Bonn in March 1831, whilst staying with a friend and

looking after her serious illness:

God knows what you must think of me,

dearest mother, but I know that I am

completely innocent and, over the course

of the last four weeks, often did not know

whether I was coming or going. I am now

in my 5th week with Mertens [her friend

called Sibylle Mertens, M.B.], who is very

seriously ill. I am under a great strain, such

as I have scarcely experienced before. I

have looked after poor Mertens day and

her care activities “to relax and enjoy herself”, in the

letter of 4th October 1833: Droste-Hülshoff (1987),

p.140. further examples: Droste zu Hülshoff (1998),

pp. 80-82.

Letter to her sister Jenny of 1st July 1846. Droste-

Hülshoff (1992), p.384. but obviously the poetess

herself was not a very patient patient. Beuys (1999),

p.202.

Droste zu Hülshoff (1998), pp. 85-92, and Beuys

(1999), p.196.

Droste zu Hülshoff (1998), p.90. he quotes a letter

to Annette written by her mother in 1841: “How

often I have thought of you, sweetest Nette, and

wished good Jenny would do what she could […] but

I could not brin myself to make the poor thing suffer

as she suffers so much already.”

night, almost completely on my own; as

she had recently dismissed her maid for

drinking and could not stand her any more.

Her two eldest daughters are at the inn.

Adele Schopenhauer is always ill. So I was

on hand to help. Poor little “Bill” didn’t

sleep a wink for the first 14 days; now

things have improved, but I still have to get

up once or twice, almost every night, I have

started doing all the housework and surely

have to use over 20 bowls a day; at other

times, I have to check on the children […]

As there were no other members of the family

or friends, to say nothing of staff, on hand, Annette

took on all the necessary work. Care also included

doing the housework, looking after the children and,

of course, sitting up at night. Annette may have been

replaced by another woman for some of the time, but

then she would take up her task again. Her friend lay

in bed with dizziness and cramps. She took

enlivening baths but the situation seemed to be very

serious, even though the doctor assured her that it

wouldn’t be fatal. The poetess no doubt also helped

her friend before and during the baths. Annette

described her state of mind during and after the

caregiving activities with the words: “My God, what

fears I suffered!” The patient reacted so greatly to

the news of annette’s early departure that the carer

changed her plans and promised to stay “until she

had recovered somewhat”, which, in Annette’s

opinion, “could be a few more weeks”. In another

case, Annette herself did not feel particularly well,

but still felt the obligation to be with her brother

who, in her opinion, was in a worse situation than

she was and needed attention. She particularly

Droste zu Hülshoff (1998), pp. 93-98;Beuys

(1999), p.199 and p.217.

For example several episodes of caregiving tasks

are given in the letter to her sister dated 4th October

1833: Droste-Hülshoff (1987), pp.138-142; Beuys

(1999), p.199 and p,217; Maurer (2004), p.60;

Droste zu Hülshoff (1998), p.285.

Droste in the letter of 7th February 1831 to Therese

von Droste-Hülshoff, in Droste Hülshoff (1987),

p.121; Droste in the letter of 4th October 1833 to

Jenny von Droste Hülshoff, in Droste-Hülshoff

(1987), pp.138-142.

Letter to Therese von Droste-Hülshoff of 11th

March 1831. Oste-Hülshoff (1987), pp. 122-125.

The other quote is also from there. On the friend, see

also Beuys (1999), p.208-209.

171

emphasized her consideration for sick people, even

if she felt less for the healthy.

In 1846, Annette was again called to a case of

serious illness. This time, together with her mother,

she cared for an uncle, who was suffering from

intestinal cancer. The two women carried out the

work on their own and the certainty that the patient

could not be helped, “eventually overwhelmed […]

our energies”, especially when the patient felt well.

After this, both the poetess and her mother felt “very

unwell, and we [meaning Annette and her mother,

M.B.] couldn’t get better either”.

In this case too,

the dying patient was looked after in the home of

members of the family.

These examples illustrate the services of

caregiving and nursing in the case of Annette von

Droste-Hülshoff. They prove that such episodes are

described in private letters and that systematic

research of the corpus could probably bring up many

more. Furthermore, in several letters and even

poems, the poetess discusses her nursing tasks and

her motives for doing so.

For example, she regrets not having helped a

friend when he was ill. She does emphasise her own

stamina and ability to carry out such work: “Oh, I

can surely care for the sick! And I am not helpless

but (and I think I may say this) determined and

capable in any cases where people feel ill.”

Her

own determination to take on even long-lasting and

difficult caregiving work becomes clear here. If help

was required, then she was always there for her

friend, without question.

In later years, she wrote to Carl von Haxthausen,

her uncle: “It is my fate to travel from one sick

person to the next, I like doing it and it does not harm

Letter to her sister Jenny, 1st July 1846. Droste-

Hülshoff (1992), p.384. it says there: “Mother had

little sympathy with my caregiving, and said she

thought we argued too much, but if I sometimes do

not take enough care of the healthy, one can surely

not say that for the sick.”

Letter to Levin Schücking of 11th February 1846.

Droste-Hülschoff (1992), pp.356-357.

Letter to Levin Schücking of 27th May 1842.

Droste-Hülshoff (1993), p.310.

Letter of 26th June 1846 to Carl von Haxthausen.

Droste-Hülshoff (1992), pp. 378-381. Information

concerning Carl von Haxthausen: Droste zu

Hülshoff (1998), pp.237-239.

Letter to her mother therese von Droste-Hülshoff

of 11th March 1831. Droste-Hülshoff (1987),

pp.122-123.

The poem “Nach fünfzehn Jahren” deals with the

care of her sick friend Sibylle Mertens. Original in

Droste-Hükshoff (1985), pp.162-163, explanation in

me. […] and I want at least to do my best.” In this

case, she was not feeling well herself and was

considering another homœopathic cure, whilst at the

same time planning to offer care and provide

company to her brother Werner who had injured his

knee and was receiving an allopathic cure. Although

knowing she might not be a great help, she wanted

to stay at his side talking and walking around with

him to improve his knee.

In this case, she calls it

“her fate” to hurry from one patient to the next. This

implies the social and, in particular, family

expectations. However, in the same breath, she

emphasizes that she liked to take on the work and it

would not harm her. The latter was not always the

case, as can be seen in the previous and following

quotations. She expressed similar sentiments

regarding her motives during the care of her sick

friend Mertens, and did not play down the symptoms

of exhaustion which this work brought with it: “I

gladly carry out the work, and feel good doing it, but

I am often tired, so tired, like a cart horse […].”

In two poems Annette also dealt with the feeling

of fulfilment, which motivated her to carry out her

work. They clearly show that the care of a dear

friend not only included staying up at night and

carrying out the housework, but also naturally

included prayer. At the same time, the poem “Nach

fünfzehn Jahren” also clearly shows the physical

exhaustion, in particular tiredness and dizziness,

caused by this self-sacrifying work.

In a further poem, Annette deals with the

question of how to achieve “wealth, love and

happiness”. The poetic answer discusses the

services involved in tending the sick. A loving, self-

sacrificing activity, rewarded at the end by a “reborn

the volume Droste Hülshoff (1997), pp.1139-1146.

The original text is:”Wie hab’ ich doch so manche

Sommernacht,/Du düstrer Saal, in deinem Raum

verwacht!/Und du, Balkon, auf dich bin ich

getreten,/Um leise für ein teures Haupt zu

beten,/Wenn hinter mir aus des Gemaches Tiefen/

Wie Hilfewimmern bange Seufzer riefen, /Die

Odemzüge ausgeliebtem Mund;/ Ja, bitter weint’ ich

– o Erinnerung!/Doch trug ich mutig es, den ich war

jung,/ War jung noch und gesund.

Du Bett mit seidnem Franzenhang geziert,/Wie

oft hab’ deine Falten ich berührt,/Mit leiser, leiser

Hand gehemmt ihr Rauschen,/Wenn ich mich beugte

durch den Spalt zu lauschen,/Mein Haupt so müde,

daβ es schwamm wie trunken,/So malt mein Knie,

daβ es zum Grund gesunken!/Mechanisch löste ich

der Zopfe Bund/ Und sucht’ im frischen Trunk

Erleichterung;/Ach, Alles trägt man leicht, ist man

nur jung,/Nur jung noch und gesund!”

172

glimmer around the convalescing face” and a

“loving glance at you, in a way that friends and not

lovers can give”. Such an incident leads to feelings

of happiness, love and wealth (“Then you are happy,

loved and are rich”). The task fills one with strength

and the feeling of being at the centre of the world, or

a rock, which cannot be damaged. (“A rock on

which all lightning forks […] Then you are the

centre of your world, the circle, from which all

happiness stems.”)

as such, she describes the

emotionally-fulfilling feelings of selflessly caring

for another and being there for them. According to

Annette, wealth, love and happiness only occur

whenone spends time with others and cares for them.

This poem shows that the self-sacrificing activity of

the poetess was also based on her own deep

conviction. In her eyes, “the weeks of caregiving”

were “not dead time” but Christian devotion.

In other works, the poetess deals with the

baancing act between family obligations and her

own desires. As she was unmarried and so “not

bound to any kitchen”, she felt that “We [the poem

is directed at a friend and includes Annette, M.B.]

have only been created to be helpful.” However,

Annette did not sink into self-pitty when faced with

these expectations. On the one hand, she offers self-

criticism, as she didn’t fight against her fate.

However, as can be seen she drew great satisfaction

from her caregiving activities. The care and

responsibility for those she loved allowed her to

withstand the pressures of the work involved.

Therefore, the drive to provide care came from her

The poem entitled “Das Ich der Mittelpunkt der

Welt” was published for the first time in 1844. It can

be found in Droste-Hülshoff (1985), pp. 320-321,

explanations in Droste-Hülshoff (1998), pp. 1821-

1826. The original words are: “Standest an einem

Krankenbett du je,/Nach wochenlangen

selbstvergeβnen Sorgen, / Hobst deine schweren

Wimpern in die Höh’,/Zu heiβem Dankgebete an

dem Morgen,/Und sahst um des Genesenden

Gesicht/Ein neuerwachtes Seelenschimmern

schweben / Und einen Liebesblick auf dich, wie

nicht/Ihn Freund und nicht Geliebte können geben?

Dann bist du glücklich, bistgeliebt und reich,/Ein

Fels, an dem sich alle Blitze spalten;/Dann mag dein

Kranz verwelken, mögen bleich/Krankheit und alter

dir die Stirne falten:/Dann bist der Mittelpunkt du

deiner Welt,/Der Kreis, aus dem die Freudenstrahlen

quillen,/Und was so Frisch der Bäche Ufer

schwellt,/Wie sollte seinen Born es nicht erfüllen!”

Droste zu Hülshoff (1998), p.285.

Beuys (1999), pp. 199-200. The poem quoted

there is called “Auch ein Beruf”. These quotes come

own social feelings of obligation as well as the

expectations of her by her family and surroundings.

As such, it is really difficult for historians to

separate these different motives and to locate them

in the conflict between her own conviction and self-

sacrificing help on the one hand and social or family

expectation and duty on the other. This is especially

the case when, as in most cases, no sources are

available to shed light on this aspect. Therefore the

letters of the poetes von Droste-Hulshoff are a rare

piece of good fortune.

In general, her letters talk a lot about health and

illness and the behavior of those being affected and

their cures. That private letters are a rich source in

this respect has already been proven by several

works. But, as can be seen, careful reading can also

give hints on nursing and domestic caregiving.

Unfortunately, this aspect has not so far been the

focus of research and has only been taken in to

account in few recent publications.

Final remarks and conclusion

Despite all the risks of being infected by those

suffering from illnesses known to be dangerous, the

carers had all decided to fulfil their caregiving

duties. As the letters of the poetess Droste show, the

fulfilment of society’s expectations as well as their

own self-sacrifice motivated the work. It is difficult

to separate these two ideals, if it is possible at all.

Moreover, for the majority of carers, no documents

exist, which could give clues on this point. In some

cases the caring service might have been paid, which

also suggests financial motivation.

But this cannot

from the second stanza. The self-criticism begins in

the fourth stanza and is expressedin the following

manner in stanza five: “Denn wer nicht kämpfen

mag der Trage! / Dulde wer nicht zu handeln weiβ!”

Droste-Hülshoff (1985), pp.360-362. Concerning

her general family situation:Droste zu Hülshoff

(1998), pp. 45-47.

Beuys (1999), p. 196, talks of “clear Christian

duty”. On the subject of the offered sacrifices as

dealt with in the 20th century in the context of

caregiving see Hoffmann(2010), p.341.

In general concerning letters as sources for

historical research: Dinges/Barras (2007),and also

taking into account nursing in their research:

Stolberg (2003), pp. 77-83, and Schwig (2009), pp.

214-223, with further literature. On the basis of

autobiographies Hoffmann (2010),pp.338-342, deals

with the aspects of caregiving.

This applies particularly to those carers, whose

relationship to the patient is unknown. For more on

paid domestic caregivers see Stolberg (2003), p.79.

173

be proved from the sources presented here. But the

entries of both healers show, as in the case of Droste-

Hülshoff, that taking care of seriously ill people until

their death also meant a great psychological burden.

The records and letters document care giving at

home by families or other lay people and the health

problems which resulted. This is a field which, due

to the lack of sources, is very difficult to investigate.

In connection with the research of illnesses, a

scheme has been suggested to describe the problems

in this field. A lot of illnesses are treated without

having been a patient in a hospital or having seen a

doctor. But, due to the character of these institutions

during a career as a patient, a lot of documents detail

these treatments and they are therefore easier to

investigate.

But those episodes of illness being

dealt with in private have not provided us with

similar documents. This applies in the same way to

the research in nursing history. Caregiving in one’s

own home has only occasionally left traces in written

sources, especially if the task was carried out by lay

people.

The only direct way would be the use of “ego

documents”, But, up to now, they have rarely been

evaluated with such a focus. Therefore the entries in

the patient journals deliver an indirect method of

finding clues in this field, which is so difficult to

investigate. They are able to show, at least partially,

the burden and risks involved in home caregiving.

The results with respect to the carers – that they

were mostly adult women – and the fact that home

caregiving took place, are not new. But, with the

help of the records, some proof could be collected in

sources for the caring activities which took place.

With this the correct, but in most cases unproven,

assumption that this sort of care took place could be

traced in historical sources. With this conclusion,

we can see that it might be worth investigating

patient journals, letters and other “ego documents”

for further hints, in order to receive additional clarity

about home caregiving, especially by lay people. In

part, this task, which is undoubtedly time-

consuming, could begin with sources which are

already under investigation and which might deliver

clues. Out of a lot of little mosaid pieces, a picture

could be built, which would clarify home caregiving

activities and their environment.

Biography

Archives

Archives of the Institute of the History of Medicine

of the Robert Bosch foundation in Stuttgart (IGM)

Eckart/Jütte (2007), p.290, and Larsen (1991).

P I-P 149 (patient journals of Clemens and Friedrich

von Bönninghausen)

P 151

Internet Links

http://www.igm-

bosch.de/content/language2/html/12298.asp (last

accessed: Jan.29, 2014)

http://www.lwl.org/literaturkommission/alex/index.

php?id=00000003&layout=2&author_id=00000080

(last accessed: Jan. 29, 2014)

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Baschin, Marion: How patients built the practice of

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Beuys, Barbara: “Blamieren mag ich mich nicht”.

Das Leben der Annette von Droste-Hülshoff.

Munich 1999.

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Walter Gödden. Tübingen 1987.

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Herzogenrath 1981.

 reprinted from Dream 2047, Octtober 2014,

Vol.17 No.1.

 Pradip Kumar Sengupta is a hydrogeologist and

after retirement from government service he works

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Weimar; Vienna 2003.

=====================================

25. The Chronicle of Arsenic

Pradip Kumar Sengupta(S & C. 81, 1-2/2015)

as an independent researcher on water resource

management and volunteers as a science

communicator., E-mail:

sengupta_pradip@yahoo.com

175

Arsenic is a very common name in the modern

world. Since discovery of its presence as a toxic

substance in groundwater, the name ‘arsenic’ has

become a matter of grave concern for the people

living in the alluvial plains of Bangladesh and some

parts of India and other countries. Millions of people

are victims of arsenic toxicity. Before this

phenomenal appearance of arsenic in our drinking

water, this element was known only to chemists and

geologists and to some extent to metallurgists. But

if we look into the history we will find the emphatic

presence of arsenic and its compounds in various

turning points of human culture and history. It had

been used both for good and bad purpose for several

centuries. In our history, literature, and business

arsenic was in existence with its all vices and virtues.

Origin of Arsenic

Arsenic is an element found in nature in rocks,

soil, water and air—in fact, it is one of the most

common elements on Earth. According to cosmic

abundance its place is 20. Arsenic is rarely found in

native form. Arsenic minerals are very common and

are found primarily in igneous and metamorphic

rocks. In sedimentary rocks and alluvium it is

generally found as minor sulphide or oxide minerals

associated with other mineral grains.

According to geochemists the primary

compound of arsenic is arsenic hydroxide which in

favourable environment becomes arsenic sulphide

due to its high affinity towards Sulphur. The first

mineral thus formed is orpiment (As2S3). (The name

orpiment has come from the word auropigmentum,

which means powder of gold.) The carbonation of

arsenic sulphide minerals, including orpiment and

realgar (As2S2), is an important process in leaching

arsenic into groundwater under anaerobic

conditions.

Discovery of Arsenic

Natural occurrence of arsenic minerals had been

known since antiquity. Aristotle in the 4th century

BC makes reference to a mineral named sandarach

(arsenic trisulphide). In the 1st century AD, Pliny

stated, “Sandarach is found in gold and silver

mines.” By the 11th century three species of arsenic

minerals became known to us – the white, yellow

and red – which are arsenic ferrosulphide

(arsenopyrite), arsenic trisulphide (orpiment) and

arsenic disulphide (realgar), respectively. But as an

element it was unknown till 13th century.

The 13th century German philosopher and

theologian Albertus Magnus has been given the

credit as discoverer of metallic arsenic. However,

his documentation is considered vague. In 1649,

German physician and pharmacologist Johann

Schroder clearly reported the preparation of metallic

arsenic by reducing arsenic trioxide with charcoal.

Thirty-four years later, the French chemist Nicholas

Lemry also observed that metallic arsenic was

produced by heating arsenic trioxide with soap and

potash. By the 18th century the properties of metallic

arsenic were sufficiently known to classify it as a

semi-metal.

In 1641 a German physician named Johann

Schroder wrote in his pharmacopeia that arsenic is

generated if arsenic oxide is burnt with charcoal. In

late 18th century a number of compounds of arsenic

were prepared in the laboratory and people became

aware of the multifarious chemical properties of the

element. Arsenic appears in three allotropic forms:

yellow, black and grey; the stable form is a silver-

grey, brittle crystalline solid. It tarnishes rapidly in

air, and at high temperatures burns forming a white

cloud of arsenic trioxide.

Arsenic toxicity

Arsenic has been a cause of mortality

throughout the world and a highly preferred poison

by killers. The associated problems of arsenic

poisoning include heart, respiratory, gastrointestinal,

liver, nervous, and kidney diseases. The

carcinogenic effect of arsenic arises from the

oxidative stress induced by arsenic. Arsenic’s high

toxicity naturally led to the development of a variety

of arsenic compounds as chemical weapons, such as

dimethyl arsenic chloride. During World War I

some arsenic poisons were employed as chemical

warfare agents. This threat led to many studies on

antidotes and an expanded knowledge of the

interaction of arsenic compounds with living

organisms. One result was the development of

antidotes such as British anti-lewisite.

Arsenic in History

Arsenic compounds and metallic arsenic has

been used by people since long. Realgar and

orpiment were most popular. Beautiful women used

orpiment powder as a cosmetic for its golden colour.

Artist Senini wrote, “Arsenic is golden but it is

poisonous. As a pigment it is closest to gold. But it

cannot be used for fresco and tempera because it

turns black after a few days.”

Orpiment was also found in a bag near the

mummy of Tutankhamen, which proves that the

compound was also adored in ancient Egypt.

Orpiment used to be imported from Persia, Armenia

and Asia Minor. Egyptians used to prepare bronze

by mixing arsenic with copper and tin. Arsenic was

also used in mirrors.

176

The use of arsenic as a medicine goes back to

antiquity. Plinny wrote, realgar can be used for

dressing wounds. Besides it is a medicine for sores

and skin ailments. If it is taken with turpentine oil it

cures asthma.

Orpiment was also used as a medicine for warts

and swelling. In the 16th century a Swiss-German

scholar named Paracelsus pioneered the use of

chemicals and minerals in medicine. He wrote that

an ointment containing powder 18 toads dried in

Sun, mixed with white and red arsenic, pearl, coral

and other precious gemstones and herbs prevents

plague if applied on throat.

In India arsenic was in use since the time of

Buddha. In Charak Samhita, orpiment appears under

the name harital and realgar as monoshila. Arsenic

element has different names in different regions. In

Sanskrit it is called sankh, in Hindi Sankhiya, and

senko bish in Bengali. In Indian medical science it

is stated that “if properly processed harital cures

bronchitis, and hysteria. It also improves body heat

and appetite. It is also a cure for leprosy. If

unprocessed harital is taken it may lead to death.”

Arsenic as a poison

Use of arsenic as a poison is very old. Aristotle

in 340 BC described it as a cattle killer poison. The

Chinese Encyclopaedia of Medicine of 16th century

AD described arsenic as a pesticide and rat killer

poison. Till 19th century arsenic trioxide was a

favourite weapon of professional killers.

Chronic arsenic poisoning with the symptoms of

peripheral neuritis broke out among beer drinkers in

an epidemic form in the county of Lancashire in

England in 1900. Beer was found contaminated with

arsenic, varying from 0.01 to 0.3 grain or even 1.4

grains per gallon, and derived from impure sulphuric

acid used in the manufacture of glucose and cane

sugar required for brewing it.

If we look into the pages of history we shall find

that several political murders had been committed

using arsenic. One of the best examples is the death

of Napoleon on the island of St. Helena in South

Atlantic where he was poisoned with arsenic. In

ancient England arsenic candles were very popular

weapon for poisoning anybody slowly. Arsin gas is

emitted from arsenic candle which is highly toxic.

George Wythe (1726-1806), a signer of the

Declaration of Independence and the first official

law professor in the United States, was poisoned by

his grand-nephew George Wythe Sweeney, with

arsenic to claim an inheritance.

Modern Uses of Arsenic

With passing time scientists discovered

beneficial properties of arsenic. From 1860 until the

introduction of DDT and other organic pesticides

inorganic compounds of arsenic remained as the

dominant pesticides. But widespread contamination

of soil gave rise to public resistance to use of arsenic

in agriculture. Arsenic chemicals such as

monosodium methyilarsonate(MSMA) are typically

used for control of grassy weeds such as crabgrass in

fields.

Metallic arsenic is used mainly in the making of

alloys, in combination with lead and copper. Trace

quantities of arsenic are added to lead-antimony grid

alloys used in acid batteries. Exceedingly high pure

arsenic metal is used in the electronics industry,

primarily in the form of gallium or iridium arsenide

to form semiconductor compounds. It is used for

making LEDs.

Arsenic in Literature

Arsenic is a favourite fictional murder weapon,

due to its reputation for being odourless, colourless,

and virtually undetectable by the victim. Director

Franz Capra’s 1944 film Arsenic and Old Lace is

good example of this.

In Gustave Flaubert’s debut novel Madam

Bovary the heroin Emma committed suicide by

consuming arsenic. A Rose for Emily by William

Faulkner is another example of appearance of

arsenic in literature. There are more examples in

Bengali literatures also. In Chander Pahar, the great

adventure novel by Bibhuti Bhusham

Bandyapadhyay, presence of arsenic in stream water

is mentioned. In Jagat, a Hindi Novel by Rahi

Masoom Reza, a death from arsenic poisoning came

at a turning point of the novel.

Arsenic in Ground Water

Arsenic poisoning still remains a public

menace. Arsenic contamination of the ground water

in Bangladesh and in West Bengal, India, is a major

public health problem today. It is often due to

naturally occurring high concentrations of arsenic in

deeper levels of ground water. Arsenic poisoning

was first identified in the early 1980s in west Bengal,

India, where health officials linked an outbreak skin

lesions to groundwater pumped from shallow wells.

A 2007 study found that over 137 million people in

more than 70 countries are probably affected by

arsenic poisoning of drinking water. It is estimated

that every day, more than 100 million people are

exposed to arsenic-contaminated drinking water in

Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Myanmar,

Nepal, Pakistan and Vietnam. In the Ganges Delta,

the affected wells are typically more than 20 meters

and less than 100 meters deep. Extraction of large

volumes of ground water for irrigation is believed to

be a major factor for the rising arsenic contamination

177

of ground water. Indian scientists have developed

simple techniques of making ground water arsenic

free which can go a long way in tackling the arsenic

problem.

====================================

26. Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe, Part 1

Reviewed by Susanne Saltzman

(AJHM.109/2016)

“Oh, my God, I cannot believe we did what we did.

But we did.” – Dr. William Thompson, CDC senior

scientist and whistleblower.

The documents VAXXED: From Cover-Up to

Catastrophe is an extraordinary film that is shocking

in its description of an alleged cover-up by the U.S.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) –

the governmental agency that is charged with

protecting the public health. it came to light through

disclosures by one of its senior scientists turned

whistleblower, Dr. William Thompson. The

evidence in this film could have far reaching effects

if Congress would subpoena Dr. Thompson for his

testimony about how the CDC had omitted crucial

data in their final 2004 report that revealed a causal

relationship between the Measles-Mumps-Rubella

vaccine (MMR) and autism. Instead, it’s been over

a year and Congress is still sitting on the original data

sent to them by Thompson from the 2004 study

before it was allegedly “sliced and diced” by the

CDC.

There has been an exponential growth of autistic

cases since the early 1990’s with an almost vertical

curve since 2002 – from a prevalence of 1/166 cases

to 1/45 cases (1) or 1,082,353 cases of autism in

2014 alone. The fact that the CDC might have

known about the MMR-autism link as early as

November 2001 may make this one of the single

biggest fraud/cover-ups in medical history that has

contributed to one of the worst iatrogenic medical

tragedies of our time. Since the pharmaceutical

industry is the most powerful lobby in the nation(2)

and wields tremendous influence in both Congress

and our major media outlets, as well as the fact that

one vaccine can amount to $30 billion in profits for

Big Pharma in one year, the facts about this case

might never come to the public’s attention, making

it essential that everyone see this film.

I want to make one point very clear: the film is

not anti-vaccination or even anti-measles

vaccination. This is despite massive claims to the

contrary by the mainstream media. The film clearly

states that there is a statistically significant increased

risk of autism when the trivalent Measles-Mumps-

Rubella (MMR) vaccine (as opposed to the single

vaccines) is given to children between the ages of 12

and 18 months.

The director of the film is Dr. Andrew

Wakefield, a former prominent British pediatric

gastroenterologist with over 140 published peer-

reviewed scientific studies, whose reputation was

targeted after he and his colleagues published a 1998

study in The Lancet demonstrating a link between

the MMR vaccine and intestinal inflammation in

children with regressive autistic behavior. The film

shows Dr. Wakefield at a public press conference at

the Royal Free Hospital in London, England in 1998

summarizing his findings from a 250-page review he

completed of vaccine safety in children where he

concluded that results, especially for the measles-

mumps-rubella vaccine, were “lamentable,” and he

advocated for the single measles, mumps, and

rubella vaccines to be given as an option for parents

instead of the trivalent MMR version until the

question of its safety was scientifically resolved.

You clearly hear him at the conference supporting

the measles vaccination program but strongly

advocating that parents have the option of choosing

the monovalent/single vaccines over the polyvalent

one.

A crucial point highlighted in the film is the fact

that there are no long-term, double-blind, placebo-

controlled safety studies done on vaccines as there

are on drugs because vaccines are classified as a

Public Health Measure. Even more shocking is the

fact that there are NO studies done on combinations

of vaccines, yet we are sometimes giving our

children up to six to nine doses of vaccines at one

time. (See CDC Vaccine Schedule at end of this

review.)

What followed Wakefield’s public testimony in

the UK was a surge in demand by parents for the

single vaccines which were still available at that

time. However, soon after Wakefield’s testimony,

decisions were made to withdraw the importation

license for the single vaccines in England while

Merck pharmaceuticals in the US suddenly stopped

the production of the single vaccines as well, giving

parents no option but to use the available trivalent

MMR vaccine which had not been adequately

studied for its safety. When he asked a senior person

at the Department of Health why they would do such

a thing, Wakefield was told that if parents were given

a choice at that time, then it would mean the end of

the MMR program. Wakefield states, “The concern

was the protection of the program over and above the

protection of the children.”

Soon afterwards, newspaper articles in the UK

stating that Dr. Wakefield was under inquiry by the

178

General Medical Council began circulating that he

had used fraudulent data in the 1998 Lancet paper

(that linked the MMR vaccine with gut inflammation

in autistic children) that had 11 other co-authors,

including the most prominent pediatric

gastroenterologist in the world at that time, Dr. John

Walker Smith. The Lancet paper was retracted for

reason that were subsequently shown to be false in

the English High Court, but the Lancet editor refused

to reinstate the paper. (3, 4)

I spoke with Dr. Wakefield at the VAXXED

screening in NYC and he agreed to do an interview

sometime in the future which will be a remarkable

opportunity for us to hear from this incredibly

honorable and courageous physician who has

consistently advocated for safer children’s vaccines

to the detriment of his career.

Now back to the film.

The film begins with Dr. Brian Hooker, an

environmental biologist with over 60 technical and

scientific studies in international journals, whose son

was diagnosed with autism in 1998. At that time the

CDC was beginning its studies on vaccines and

autism and Hooker tried to contact them because he

was deeply critical of the studies. The CDC decided

that the scientist who would communicate with

Hooker was Dr. William Thompson, their senior

scientist. Hooker says “Because I was on his back,

because he didn’t like what I was saying about he

statistics, I received a letter from a CDC attorney in

2004 saying I was no longer permitted to contact the

CDC.” Fast forward to 2014 when Hooker received

a call from Thompson confessing that the CDC had

in fact omitted crucial data in their final report of

2004 that did reveal a causal relationship between

the MMR vaccine and autism and that he felt “great

shame” over the fact that he went along with it. Over

the next several months, unbeknownst to Dr.

Thompson, Dr. Hooker recorded their phone

conversations (legal in certain states due to the “one-

party consent” law) which included information on

the confidential data destroyed by Thompson’s

colleagues at the CDC that Thompson had saved and

shared with Dr. Hooker.

Throughout the film there are testimonies and

video footage by families whose children were

developing normally until they received the MMR

vaccine, after which they were never the same. One

mother in particular, Polly Tommey, a co-producer

of this film, describes in detail how her baby, Billy,

who was developing normally by 12 months of age,

developed a high fever and seizures within 48 hours

of the MMR vaccine, followed by head banging,

severe diarrhea and arrested development with an

eventual autism diagnosis. His history actually

revealed several rounds of antibiotics prescribed by

his pediatrician for upper respiratory “cold-like”

symptoms—“in case of infection”—before

receiving the MMR vaccine. Interestingly, it was

later revealed in the film by Dr. Doreen

Granpeesheh, founder of the Center for Autism and

other Related Disorders, that most of the autistic

children she treated shared two things in common: a

history of excessive antibiotic use at an early age,

followed by a severe reaction and regressive autistic

behavior after the MMR vaccine. Knowing what we

know today about the importance of the human

microbiome for children’s health (the gut “houses”

at least 70% of the immune system), one could

question whether the overuse and misuse of

antibiotics at such an early age might have caused

severe “gut dysbiosis” thereby increasing the

children’s vulnerability to the MMR vaccine.

Polly and her husband were encourage to tell

their story on local TV program at the time and

within thirty minutes there were 250,000 email hits

which – for the first time ever – crashed the TV

station’s computers. Hundreds of thousands of

parents from throughout the UK were describing

their experiences with the MMR vaccine (some

Tetanus vaccine [DPT] as well) and its effects on

their children that mimicked the Tommey’s

experience with their son Billy. From seizures and

head banging to severe intestinal problems and

eventually a child who regressed into autistic

behavior, the stories were so alike that Polly,

overwhelmed with this information, created the

famous “Autism File Magazine” in which she

published many of these stories. Within four months

of its initial publication, they had over 45,000

subscribers. According to Mrs. Tommey, these

parents were desperate to tell their stories because

not only were they not getting answers from their

doctors but many of their children’s pediatricians

were discounting their experiences and not taking

them seriously when they described the changes in

their children’s behavior after the MMR vaccine.

The most difficult part of the film to watch—

and the most heartbreaking—was the videos of

perfectly normal babies and their sudden regression

into autistic behavior within a few days to weeks of

receiving the MMR vaccine. I watched footage of

beautiful babies smiling, babbling, walking and

interacting with their parents at around 12 months,

only to watch them begin seizing and head banging

within a few days of the vaccine. Over the weeks

and months, they developed severe intestinal

problems, became listless and disconnected with a

“vacant stare.” Their normal development was

arrested and these children were later diagnosed

autistic.

179

At this point in the film, Dr. Andrew Wakefield

described a brief history of the MMR vaccine which

rivals any Hollywood horror movie, except, of

course, that this is a true story with disastrous

consequences for real-life families. In 1987, the

trivalent MMR vaccine produced by Smith-Kline

Beecham was introduced under the name of Trivirix

in Canada, then quickly withdrawn when it caused

outbreaks of meningitis in children. However, that

same month the same vaccine was introduced in the

UK under another name called Pluserix (also by

Smith-Kline Beecham) and caused various

outbreaks of meningitis until it was finally

withdrawn four years later in 1992 (due to public

outcry). At that point, Wakefield said it should have

been destroyed, but instead it was shipped to

developing countries like Brazil where a mass

vaccination campaign resulted in an epidemic of

meningoencephalitis.

Scientists studied this epidemic and discovered

that the risk of meningitis was directly associated

with the age of exposure; the younger the child was

when they received the MMR vaccine, the greater

the risk of meningitis. (What I found fascinating

about this study was that it showed that the risk was

greater in children receiving the MMR vaccine at 4-

8 years compared to those who received it at 9-11

years, yet we give it to our children at 12-18 months).

So Wakefield and others asked, “Is there a similar

risk with autism, is age of exposure to MMR a risk

for autism just as it was for meningitis? Dr.

Wakefield is then seen on C-Span sharing this

hypothesis with the CDC and the US Congress on

April 6, 2000, where he is clearly stating that this

does not prove that the MMR vaccine causes autism,

just that further studies need to be done. It was, in

fact, Dr.Wakefield’s testimony that inspired Dr.

Brian Hooker to begin studying and requesting more

data from the CDC.

How did the CDC allegedly cover-up the data?

Hooker began analyzing the data from the

original 2004 study (Thompson found a legal

loophole that allowed him to expose potentially

classified documents to Hooker) and he discovered

that Black children (5) had a 2.4 times greater risk of

autism (164% increase) if the MMR vaccine was

given between the ages of 12 and 18 months in

comparison to those children who received the

MMR vaccine after 3 years of age. Since autism is

4 times more common in boys, when data was

analyzed for Black males only, the relative risk (RR)

increased to 3.36, meaning that the risk of autism

was 236% greater in Black boys if they were given

the MMR vaccine between 12-18 months as

compared to 3 year of age.

Thompson presented this data to his CDC

colleagues back in November 2001 (it took 6 months

from May 2001 to December 2001 to analyze the

data from the study.) He then told Hooker that from

October 2002 to February 2004 he and four other

CDC scientists sat behind closed doors and

proceeded to omit, “slice and dice,” and literally

throw out data that they did not want revealed.

These scientists were Coleen Byle, PhD, the CDC

Disabilities Division Director, Marshalyn Yeargin-

Allsop, MD, Frank Destefano, MD, CDC director of

immunization safety, and Tanya Bhasin, Post-

graduate research associate. To conceal data on the

autism-vaccine connection for Black children, these

researchers went about changing the analysis plan by

statistical power. How exactly was this done?

Since only 50% of the children were born in

Georgia, instead of using school records, only the

Georgian birth records were used which decreased

the number of children in the study from 3000 to

1800. This decreased the relative risk (RR) from

2.64 to 1.8 which meant that the data was no longer

statistically significant. What did the data show

about the risk for all healthy children (of all

ethnicities) who received the MMR between 12 and

18 months?

Find out in Part II, next month’s edition of the

Journal where you will also learn about Thompson’s

attempts to reveal what was going on to his superiors

and information on the 1986 National Child Vaccine

Injury Act, which Jim Moody, public interest

attorney, states was a large motivation for the alleged

cover-up.

References

1. www.cdcgov/nchs/data/nhsr/nhsr087.pdf

2. www.opensecrets.org/lobby/topphp?indexType

=i&showYear=2015

3. vaxxedthemovie.com/Andrew-Wakefield-

biography.

4. Drsuzanne.net/dr-suzanne-humphries-vaccines-

vaccination

5. The CDC used the grouping Black and

White/other

=====================================

27. Vaxxed: From cover-Up to Catastrophe, Part II

SALTZMAN, Susanne (AJHM. 109/2016)

“These senior people do vile, unethical things

and no one holds them accountable.” – Dr.

William Thompson, CDC senior scientist and

whistleblower

180

In the last May e-journal, we presented Part 1 of

the review of VAXXED:From Cover-Up to

Catastrophe, about an alleged cover-up by the

Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

involving its 2004 vaccine-autism study as disclosed

by its senior scientist turned whistleblower, Dr.

William Thompson. Thompson revealed how the

data was manipulated by CDC scientists to cover-up

the statistically significant MMR vaccine-autism

link for African-American children. Part II will

complete this review of this powerful documentary.

When the scientists looked at the rest of the data

to discover which children were most at risk for

autism from the vaccine, they looked at those

children who had no co-morbid conditions apart

from autism—no cerebral palsy, mental retardation,

hearing or visual impairment, epilepsy or any other

birth defect—in other words, all children who were

completely healthy their first year before the MMR

vaccine. They called this group “isolated autism”

(which was essentially all healthy children) and what

they found was shocking: there was an astronomical

effect—relative risks were as high as 7-8 times or a

700%-800% increased risk of autism—in those

healthy children in the first year of life who received

the MMR vaccine at 12-18 months compared to

those children who were vaccinated with MMR after

3 years of age.

Thompson stated that when he disclosed this

data to his four colleagues (see last month’s May

issue), they literally “Wheeled in the garbage can”

and threw out the data—all, of course, except

Thompson himself, who kept his hard copies and

computer files which he later revealed to Brian

Hooker.

Of course, since every child in the study still

received the MMR vaccine—albeit at different

ages—the relative risk for autism for vaccinated

versus unvaccinated children was, and is, still

unknown. According to the film, the CDC has

refused to do this study even though every

pharmaceutical drug has been through this kind of

double-blind placebo controlled trial (drug vs

placebo). The question is: If the isolated autism

study above showed such an increased risk of autism

in healthy children who received the MMR at 12-18

months vs 3 years of age, then how much more risk

would be shown if we compared vaccinated children

to those who were never immunized? It is quite

possible that this study, which clearly needs to be

done, would help explain the exponential growth in

autism that we have seen over the past 20 years.

In defense of Thompson (who stated he was

“shocked” by how the data was manipulated behind

closed doors from February 2002-October 2004), he

sent emails (all revealed in the film) to various CDC

department heads raising “red flags,” warning about

the “struggles” he was having with the data. One

email was sent to Melinda Wharton (one of the CDC

directors) on October 18, 2002, stating, “I am writing

you once more regarding the Department of Justice

request …for MMR vaccine.. autism data… I first

spoke with you Sept 3rd, regarding the sensitive

results we have been struggling with in the

Metropolitan Atlanta Autism MMR/Autism

study…I have also tried to bring your attention to

some potentially sensitive legal issues surrounding

what documents we should provide for this study.”

In the email, Thompson threatened to remove

himself as an author of the draft. He then sent an

email to Walter Ornstein, the director of the National

Immunization Safety Program on Oct. 20, 2002,

threatening to withdraw himself from the study

because he was not interested in taking “all the

political heat” that would occur. He apparently

never received a response.

It is important to note that around the fall/winter

of 2002, there was increasing suspicion of and

pressure on the CDC from various government

agencies, such as the Department of Justice (DOJ),

to provide results of the MMR-autism study that was

completed a year prior in November 2001. On

December 10, 2002, U.S. Congressman Dan Burton

(1983 – 2013) was shown in front of Congress (C-

span) demanding answers from the CDC about the

autism epidemic that “will cost the taxpayers

trillions of dollars in the future” as these children

become adults. He shouted, “We cannot let the

pharmaceutical companies and our government

cover this mess up today because it ain’t going to go

away and for the FDA (Federal Drug

Administration) and HHS (Department of Health

and Human Services) and other health agencies to

hide behind this façade that there are studies that

have conclusively proved otherwise (that there is no

vaccine-autism connection), is just wrong.”

David Weldon, MD, another U.S. Congressman

(R-Florida 1995-2008) was also suspicious of the

CDC’s activities and he wrote a number of letters to

the head of the CDC, Julia Gerberding, MD (CDC

director 2002 – 2009) with serious complaints about

the “revolving door” of conflicting interests (with

employees moving between the CDC, major

universities, and the pharmaceutical companies) and

stated that there was no oversight of the CDC to

make sure that the vaccine safety studies were done

properly and objectively. (1) In a later letter (2), he

asked Dr. Gerberding to postpone the February 9,

2004 Institute of Medicine (IOM) Immunization

Safety Review Committee meeting (whose purpose

was to review the CDC on matters of vaccine safety

and damage IOM’s reputation. (3) Weldon later

181

introduced a bill in Congress with Carol Maloney

(D-NY) in 2006 that would give responsibility for

the nation’s vaccine safety to an independent agency

within the Department of Health and Human

Services, removing most vaccine safety research

from the Centres for Disease Control.

It was at the IOM meeting scheduled for

February 9, 2004, that Thompson, as the lead

scientist, was to present the findings of the (allegedly

fraudulent) final report. He emailed Gerberding

(CDC director) on Feb 2, 2004, “I will be presenting

the summary of our results from the Metropolitan

Atlanta Autism Case-Control study and I will have

to present several problematic results related to

statistical associations between the receipt of the

MMR vaccine and autism.” (4). Although

Gerberding did not reply, Thompson was

immediately replaced by Dr. Frank DeStefano to

present the findings to the IOM which revealed data

that showed no statistically significant association

between the MMR vaccine and autism for any

subgroups of children (Black, White/Other.)

In fact, if Thompson had not kept hard copies of

the original data before October 2002 (when he

stated the files were tampered with and destroyed),

then no one would ever know what transpired.

Deprived of the truth, the IOM declared MMR

safe in its Immunization Safety Review stating, “The

committee does not consider a significant

investment in studies of the theoretical vaccine-

autism connection to be useful at this time”

effectively shutting the door permanently and

completely on the MMR-autism link. Thompson

stated that this was the lowest point in his career.

Soon afterwards, Dr. DeStefano and his team

received the Department of Human and Health

Services “HHS Secretary’s Award For

Distinguished Service” for their study showing no

link between the MMR vaccine and autism. This

study was published in Pediatrics in 2004, “Age at

First Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccination in

Children with Autism and School-Matched Subjects:

A Population-Based Study in Metropolitan

Atlanta.”(5)

It is important to understand that this was the

last study done by the CDC, the leading national

public health institute of the United States, on the

vaccine-autism link because of the results of this

2004 study that its own senior scientist claimed was

a complete fraud. Although there have been other

studies concluding that there was no vaccine-autism

link, most of these studies were done in major

universities, the majority of which receive their

funding from the pharmaceutical industries.

Fast forward to 2014 when Hooker was

contacted by Thompson (who described the “terrible

shame” he felt every time he saw a family with an

autistic child, knowing that he was “part of the

problem”). Hooker stated he was horrified by what

Thompson told him and he contacted Dr. Andy

Wakefield, whose reputation by now—10 years

later—was destroyed and who had left the UK to live

in the US. He then told Hooker to record

Thompson’s phone conversations (perfectly legal in

some states according to the “one party consent”

law) to protect Thompson as well.

When Hooker saw the data from the original

documents before they were allegedly tampered with

by CDC researchers (Thompson found a legal

loophole that allowed him to reveal this data to

Hooker), he filed a complaint with The Office of

Research Integrity at the U.S. Department of Health

and Human services. He received a letter stating that

every co-author of the study (except for Thompson)

denied that such “secret” meetings had taken place

or that data had been changed or discarded.

Thompson predicted this would happen and saved

and provided meeting notes to Hooker at precisely

the times the other researchers said no meetings took

place. You can see these meeting notes clearly dated

in the film. “These senior people do vile unethical

things and no one holds them accountable,” stated

Thompson to Hooker.

Hooker then published a paper on “Measles-

Mumps-Rubella Vaccination Timing and Autism

Among Young African American boys: a Re-

analysis of CDC Data” in Translational

Neurodegeneration.(6) (After publication, the

journal later retracted the article due to “post-

publication peer review.”) Since the information in

this article could only have come from an insider at

the CDC, Hooker and Wakefield decided to

publicize Thompson’ name in order to protect him.

At this point, Wakefield told Hooke to get

Thompson a whistleblower lawyer and to make sure

his CDC documents were with Congressman Bill

Posey since “Whistleblowers are in danger only as

long as the only people who know their identity are

their enemies.”

Del Big Tree, the executive producer of his film

and Emmy award-winning producer of the daytime

talk show, “The Doctors”, described his own

“awakening” when he expected to see the news of

Thompson as the CDC whistleblower all over the

major news media outlets such as fox, CNN, etc. Yet

while he saw the information “explode all over the

blogosphere,” he was shocked that not one major

media reported it. “This is when I realized that all

of television is essentially supported (owned) by Big

Pharma,” he stated.

This is made evident in the film, which showed

clips of the mass media hysteria over the Disney

182

measles outbreak in December 2014 where various

government agencies urged parents to “get your

children vaccinated.” Dr. Paul Offit from Children’s

Hospital of Philadelphia was shown stating that there

was no good reason for parents to not vaccinate their

children. Chief Medical Correspondent of CNN, Dr.

Sanjay Gupta, stated, “We don’t know what causes

autism but we know vaccines do not,” and even Bill

Gates blasted Dr. Andrew Wakefield for “lying”

about the whole vaccine debacle.

However, one of the most outrageous scenes in

the film was when the audience learned that Dr. Julia

Gerberding, head of the CDC from 2002-2009,

accepted a new high paying job in 2010—as the

president of the vaccine division at Merck

Pharmaceuticals! (7) In fact, Gerberding did such a

good job promoting Merck’s vaccines that Merck

became the global leader in the vaccine market based

on sales under her expert leadership.(8)

Finally let’s discuss some very important

information from the film on the “Vaccine court.”

The pharmaceutical company (that manufactured the

vaccine in question) does not have to participate in

the proceedings at all. The U.S. Department of

Justice (DOJ) acts as the government’s lawyer with

taxpayers footing the bill for their defense.

Beginning in 2002 there were already thousands

of cases accumulating in vaccine court with an

average compensation for an autistic child of

approximately 5 million dollars. The government

was facing potentially trillions of dollars in liability.

James A. Moody, a public interest attorney at

law, stated: “As the autism epidemic grew, they had

to develop a fraudulent study that would exonerate

MMR (vaccine) to deliberately defeat the cases in

vaccine court to avoid paying all these

compensations. (The fact that) thousands of parents

who petitioned were denied their due day in court by

a corrupt and deliberate obstruction of justice is one

of the most unethical medical decisions of all time

because it was made with knowledge to sacrifice

these children as a direct affront to the Congressional

mandate that they all be compensated.”

Since 1986, the Vaccine Court has paid

approximately billion dollars for vaccine injuries.

Towards the end of the film, Congressman Bill

Posey (R-Florida) is seen before Congress on July

29, 2015, demanding that parents be told the truth by

public health agencies. By this time, Thompson had

provided all the original untouched documents to

Posey who said, “A hearing and thorough

investigation is warranted. I implore you to please,

please take action.” That was almost one year ago

and Congress has still not subpoenaed Thompson.

Finally, Stephanie Seneff, PhD, MIT, senior

scientist who is well known for her studies on the

link between glyphosate (Round Up) and autism

(and other chronic conditions), stated that if the

vertical trend in the prevalence of autism continues,

then it is estimated that by the year 2032, 50% of

children and 80% of boys will be autistic!

It was revealed during the live panel discussion

(attended by Hooker, Wakefield, Del Big tree and

others) following the film that Thompson is still at

the CDC, but he cannot speak voluntarily for legal

reasons. In fact, in another interview with Brian

Hooker, Del Big tree and Andrew Wakefield that I

recently heard with Lisa Garr on “Coast to Coast”

AM radio (9), Hooker stated that the CDC would

rather keep Thompson there than have him out in

public where he could potentially do more damage

by speaking to the press.

Finally, the film calls on us to contact our

political leaders and demand the following:

1. That Congress subpoena Dr. William

Thompson and investigate the CDC fraud.

2. That Congress repeal the 1986 National

Childhood Vaccine Injury Act and hold

manufacturers liable for injury caused by their

vaccines.

3. That the single measles, mumps, and rubella

vaccines be made available immediately.

4. That all vaccines be classified as pharmaceutical

drugs and treated accordingly.

Editor’s Note: Just a word about item 4 above.

Considering the history of the manipulation of data

on drug trials by Big Pharma (10, 11, 12), the move

to make all vaccines classified as pharmaceutical

drugs may not be the solution, we need to creating

safer vaccines!

References

1. www.safeminds.org/wp-

content/uploads/2014/08/Weldon-letter-to-

Gerberding 10-31-03.pdf

2. Bolenreport.com/wp-

content/uploads/2016/04/Reference-17-

Weldon-letter-to-Gerberding.pdf

3. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) is a group of

doctors and researchers that review the available

data on vaccine safety and advises the

government on vaccine research policy. It was

because Dr. Wakefield had put forth the theory

of a possible MMR vaccine-autism connection

in front of Congress in 2000 that the IOM

requested that the CDC do the (2004) study on

whether the earlier age of exposure to MMR

increases the risk of autism.

4. www.naturalnews.com/images/CDC-

Gerberding-warming-Vaccines-Autism .jpg

5. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14754936

183

6. translationalneurodegeneration.biomedcentral.c

om/articles/10.1186/2047-9158-3-16

7. www.reuters.com/article/us-merck-gerberding-

idUSTR5BK2K520091221

8. www.mercknewsroom.com/news-

release/corporate-news/merck-announces-

appointment-dr-julie-gerberding-executive-

vice-president

9. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FG6ZHT0

L8rs

10. www.nytimes.com/2004/11/14/business/despit

e-warnings-drug-giant-took-long-path-to-

vioxx-recall.html?_r=0

11. www.salon.com/2013/001/27bad_pharma_dru

g_research_riddled_with_half_truths_omission

s_lies/

12. www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM200410

073511522

28. The Current Measles Craze

MOSKOWITZ, Richard (AJHM. 109/2016)

Because I keep getting frantic calls from parents

about this, and even such usually sensible sources as

NPR and National Geographic are calling out “anti-

vaxxers” as irrational deluded, or even anti-

scientific, I feel compelled to try to offer a bit of

common sense, and to avoid having to repeat the

same things over and over, although I must admit to

have been doing just that for the past several decades

to the few who would listen.

I’ll begin with something so obvious that it’s

almost embarrassing to have to say it, that all we’re

talking about is a few hundred cases of a disease that

I – like almost all of my contemporaries – caught and

recovered from as a child. Granted, a few people

continued to develop complications and even die

from them, and, granted, it was still a killer disease

in isolated populations encountering it for the first

time. But as a matter of public health, in the

developed world at least, it had evolved into a

“normal disease of childhood,” because it attacked

almost everybody, because almost everybody

recovered from it completely, and because the

immunity that resulted from it was thorough,

virtually absolute, and lifelong.

That meant, first of all, that children recovering

from it would never get it again, no matter how many

times they were re-exposed. Second, and probably

even more important, they were also protected non-

specifically by the concerted mobilization of the

 This article was written in the spring of 2015, a few

months after the Disney measles outbreak.

immune mechanism as a whole, like a kind of

graduation ceremony certifying the body’s readiness

and capacity to respond acutely and vigorously to

whatever viruses and bacteria might threaten it in the

future. I’m certain that I owe the good health I enjoy

today in no small part to having contracted and

recovered from this memorable but almost

invariably self-limiting illness seventy years ago.

So part of what I’m saying is that we didn’t

really need the measles vaccine in the first place,

because after several hundred years of experience

with the virus, the developed nations of Western

Europe and the United States at least had learned

how to deal with it as safely ad effectively as could

possibly be imagined—and even extracted from it

profound and lasting benefits for the health of every

individual and indeed of the race as a whole—such

that nursing mothers gave a borrowed immunity to

their infants through the milk at their most

vulnerable time of life. Whatever its virtues, the

measles vaccine can’t possibly offer anything even

remotely comparable to these benefits, and indeed,

as I have written elsewhere, goes a long way toward

nullifying and actually reversing them.(1)

In short, the decision to vaccinate against the

measles was not made in response to a genuine

public health emergency, but simply to showcase the

efficacy of the vaccination concept against this

exceedingly common and well-known infectious

disease of childhood. And this it has done quite

brilliantly, it must be said, at least on the surface; for

in ten years it succeeded in lowering the incidence of

the acute disease from about 400,000 cases annually

to only a few thousand, and to considerably less than

a thousand at present. This is a truly remarkable

achievement, albeit with a significant downside, as

I’ve said.

In any case, it’s interesting and rather curious

why the medical and vaccine establishments don’t

simply claim victory, and let it go at that; it’s a claim

that few would argue with, and everybody except me

and a few other deviants would be happy. After all,

everybody knows that infectious diseases come and

go: new outbreaks comprising a few hundred cases

from time to time are hardly surprising and certainly

don’t qualify as an appreciable threat to the

population as a whole. So while listening to the

news stories, we need to ask ourselves what all the

bullying and hysteria are really about. The one thing

I can say for sure is that it can’t be about the disease,

for the reasons I’ve just stated. A moment’s

reflection is enough to give the answer, which boils

down to two political agendas that the vaccine and

184

medical establishments have already been promoting

for decades:

1) To blame the outbreak on the unvaccinated kids;

and therefore

2) To drum up support for new legislation to

eliminate the very few exemptions that still exist.

A new and particularly draconian law of this

type has already been passed in California, and

similar ones have been proposed in several other

states as well.

From a purely logical viewpoint, this strategy

makes no sense, partly because the few hundred

cases are so insignificant in the scheme of things, as

I’ve said, but mainly because the best way to pin the

blame for the latest mini-outbreak on the

unvaccinated kids would be to demonstrate a large

preponderance of actual cases in the unvaccinated

group. The curious fact that such statistics are rarely

divulged strongly suggests that the real numbers

actually point in the opposite direction, that the

majority of cases occur among the vaccinated kids,

as has been uniformly true of such outbreaks in the

past. Blaming the unvaccinated thus ironically aids

the pro-vaccine advocates in hiding the evidence that

could best corroborate or refute their argument.

Finally, vaccination rates are already well over

90% in the United States for most vaccines, and well

over 95% in many areas where the disease has

actually broken out, statistics that are among the

highest in the world. It’s absurd to suppose and

impossible to imagine that even vaccinating

everyone without exception, as the proposed new

laws intend, would do much if anything to stop these

small outbreaks that continue to occur. But the mere

aspiration to do so has profoundly altered the terms

of the debate, by making it into a civil rights issue,

threatening the right of every patient to refuse

treatment, and the right of all parents to determine

the health care appropriate for their children, which

is precisely why these very few and seldom-used

exemptions were created to begin with. While these

could of course be waived temporarily in the event

of a genuine public health emergency, that is

assuredly what these small clusters of ordinary

childhood illnesses are not.

Which brings me to another equally obvious

point. If the vaccine were effective in conferring a

genuine immunity, similar to that acquired by

coming down with and recovering from the natural

disease, then the unvaccinated kids would be threat

only to themselves. In fact, even the most zealous

pro-vaccine advocates know perfectly well that

vaccine-medicated immunity falls far short of that

standard, being neither genuine, nor powerful, nor

long-lasting. That’s why scapegoating and bullying

won’t work, even if the population finally comes

around to accept it. Vaccination is a trick, a

simulated or counterfeit immunity that is partial and

temporary at best, and carries other major downsides

that I’ve written about elsewhere (1) and needn’t go

into at the moment.

The most pressing issue before us is simply to

preserve the frail remnant of personal liberty

embodied in these few remaining exemption that the

people of Massachusetts have long been rightly

proud of, which the vaccine manufacturers and the

physicians who do their bidding are bent on taking

away. I hope and pray that the American people will

not let that happen.

References

1. Cf. “The Case Against Immunizations”(1983),

“Vaccination: a Sacrament of Modern Medicine

(1991), and “Hidden in Plain Sight: the Role of

Vaccines in Chronic Disease”(2005), which

have been reprinted in my book Plain

Doctoring: Selected Writings, 1983-2013.

==============================

29. Shining Light on the Darkness – Editorial

(AJHM. 109/2016)

June e-journal presents Part II of VAXXED:

From Cover-Up to Catastrophe which describes

senior scientist and whistleblower William

Thompson’s attempts to alert his superiors to the

alleged manipulation of data in the 2004 CDC

vaccine-autism study as well as information on the

1986 National Child Vaccine Injury Act, which Jim

Moody, public interest attorney, claims was a large

motivation for the cover-up.

We also present a case of an autistic child

successfully treated with homœopathic medicine by

Dr. Amy Rothenberg. Due to the time constraints

and the effort involved in completing part II of the

VAXXED review, we will not be publishing Dr.

Rothenberg’s case according to CARE guidelines.

However, the reader will enjoy Amy’s

conversational style and benefit from her expertise

both as a teacher and a practitioner of our wonderful

healing art. We are also printing another piece on

the scientific myths surrounding the measles “craze”

by Dr. Ronald Whitmont, who is another voice of

reason (see also Moskowitz’ The Current Measles

Craze, AJHM May 2016) in the mass hysteria

promulgated by the major media that surrounds this

infectious disease. Compare the hysteria

surrounding the 644 cases of measles that were

recorded as a result of the Disney outbreak last year

vs the 1,082,353 cases of autism diagnosed in 2014

185

alone that has barely received the media attention it

so justly deserves.

This Journal represents the American Institute

of Homeopathy that, since 1844, has represented a

minority of physicians who truly understand our

most sacred Hippocratic oath, “Primum non

nocere”—“First do no harm.” This is no small

matter, indeed, in a society where conventional

medical errors are now the third leading cause of

death. (1) In fact, many of us discovered

Homœopathy as a result of our experiences as young

physicians in allopathic training where we witnessed

too many of its failings. We yearned for a better way

to heal our patients and, when we discovered

Homœopathy, our search for a system of medicine

that was gentle, safe and effective was finally

realized.

The alleged cover-up by the CDC that may have

affected millions of children is only part of the

problem. It is our society’s blind allegiance to

authority or “the experts” on many different levels,

whether it’s parents’ unquestioning faith in their

doctors, their doctors’ trust in the CDC, or public’s

difference to the medical

establishment/pharmaceutical industry in general,

that is literally killing us. (2) How many parents

have said to me through the years, “I knew I should

never have given my child that shot?” How many

parents have said to me through the years, “I knew I

should never have given my child that shot? How

many pediatricians felt that uneasiness in their “gut”

before giving multiple vaccines to a baby at once?

We are all complicit at some level in this debacle

because we refuse to trust that innate wisdom and

intuition that comes from a Higher and much more

loving and compassionate place. It is this love and

compassion for ourselves and others that will

ultimately heal this wounded planet.

Part of that healing requires us to have the

courage to expose transgressions at every level of

our society—from our governments, the military-

industrial complex, and the medical/pharmaceutical

establishment to our workplaces and in our own

homes. By witnessing the “shadow” parts of

ourselves, we can decide Who We Are in

relationship to it. In fact, our world demands it.

Witness Julian Assange’s WikiLeaks, Chelsea

Manning’s exposure of the Iraq and Afghan War

logs, Edward Snowden’s release of the classified

National Security Agency (NSA) documents, Dr.

Marcia Angell’s The Truth About the Drug

Companies, Dr. Ben Goldacre’s Bad Pharma: How

Drug Companies Mislead Doctors and Harm

Patients, the Vioxx debacle and now Dr.

Thompson’s confession, just to name a few.

I believe each and every one of us is calling

forth these events at this critical time in our history

because we deeply desire to live in a more just and

humane society, whether we fully realize it or not.

It is through transparency at every level of our

society (“shining a light on the darkness” that the

truth will ultimately “set us free” to evolve and

become fully conscious human beings who

remember that we are deeply interconnected and that

when one of us suffers, we all do.

Every vaccine damaged autistic child that I see

in my practice is my own.

Every heartbroken parent who may never see

his or her child grow up to become independent,

fully functioning adults is me.

Susanne Saltzman, M

Editor, AJHM

References

1. www.bmj.com/content/353bmj.i2139

2. www.jhsph.edu/research/centers-and-

institutes/johns-hopkins-primary-care-policy-

center/Publications_PDFs/A154.pdf

=====================================

30. Measles Madness: Part I

WHITMONT, Ron (AJHM. 109/2016)

(written February 2015)

With a virtual “feeding frenzy” going on with

the media right now there is so much hype and fear

being generated about measles that we are beginning

to see a mob mentality develop around this issue.

Unfortunately, all this hype is being continually

stoked by innuendos and half-truths on the part o

media personalities and pundits.

One celebrity medical advisor after another

seems to be pushing the “party line” and advising the

public to “get into line” to make sure their children

are vaccinated. People are being bullied and

accosted with slogans and hearsay, and told that the

“right thing” is to shut-up and vaccinate. But why is

there suddenly such a rush and an extreme amount

of pressure being put on parents to immunize against

the measles? Shouldn’t parents have the right to

make “informed choices” regarding their own and

their family’s health?

Louise Kuo Habakus, and some attorneys

affiliated with New York University School of Law,

believe that both basic human rights and the statute

of informed consent are being violated by current

state and federal vaccination mandates. (1)

There is a tremendous amount of media

coverage being devoted to the measles vaccination

186

and extremely limited information regarding

potential risks and side effects is being provided in

return. Additionally, the safety and efficacy of most

vaccines have only been perfunctorily studied,

usually for period of weeks following their

administration. Long-term studies of vaccine health

effects are virtually nonexistent.

Time journalist Walecia Konrad states:

“Research surrounding vaccine safety is far from

perfect. Infact, it’s not even very good. Which is

stunning when you consider that the shots are given

to more than 3 million kids every year… Drug

manufacturers are required to demonstrate how well

a new vaccine will do at preventing disease, but they

need not investigate the particulars of how a given

child might react—a much harder task. Vaccines

can be released after trials on just a few thousand

children. If a serious side effect hits one in 100,000,

it might not show up in the testing phase.”(2) This is

exactly what happened with the measles vaccine

when it was found to increase the risk of acute

encephalopathy and permanent brain injury.”(3)

It is extremely hard to find any studies on

vaccinations that were not sponsored or influenced

in some way by the pharmaceutical industry.

According to New York Times reporters, “most of the

experts who served on advisory panels … to evaluate

vaccines for flu and cervical cancer had potential

conflicts that were never resolved.” The Department

of Health and Human Services (HHS) found that the

Centers for Disease Control (CDC) “failed nearly

every time to ensure that the experts … were not

being paid by companies with an interest in their

decisions.” Further, they “found that 64% of these

advisors had potential conflicts of interest that were

never identified, or left unresolved” by the CDC.

“Thirteen percent (of these advisors) failed to have

an appropriate conflicts form on file at the agency at

all, which should have barred their participation in

the meetings entirely…and 3% voted on matters that

ethics officers had already barred them from

considering.” (4) (emphasis mine)

There are numerous reports documenting the

corruption and conflicts of interest at the Food and

Drug Administration and other organizations

responsible for approving and recommending

vaccines.(5)

According to a recent report filed by the

Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP), the

U.S. Food and Drug administration’s Adverse Event

Reporting System (FAERS), which is intended to

function as the government’s primary medication

and vaccine safety surveillance system, is deeply

flawed. This program is designed to identify the

harmful effects of thereapeutic drugs and vaccines

from around the world, but it relies on voluntary

reports submitted by consumers and health

professionals who are under no obligation to do so.

Reports may be filed with either the U.S.

government or directly to the drug manufacturers,

who must then report to FAERS. According to the

ISMP: “While drug manufacturers are now reporting

adverse drug events in unprecedented numbers from

around the world, we judged that the overall

completeness of adverse event reporting was poor.”

They estimated that as many as 50% of the reports

filed by the pharmaceutical industry were missing

critical information.(6)

According to Beate Wiesseler, the deputy head

of the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health

Care (IQWiG), an organization based in the Federal

Republic of Germany, there is widespread bias and

omissions in medical publishing when

pharmaceutical companies are involved. Typically

only “positive” research will be reported, leaving out

the non-findings or negative findings where a new

drug or procedure may have proved more harmful

than helpful. Wieseler wrote, “You can’t say this is

an isolated problem. It’s widespread, and it affects

drug companies, universities and regulatory

authorities.” Much of that problem seems to arise

from financial conflicts of interest when

pharmaceutical or medical device companies fund

the studies. Past research shows an association

between industry sponsorship and positive outcomes

or conclusions in most studies.(7)

Conspiracy theories aside, the largest, and most

powerful industry in the world is the pharmaceutical

industry. The health care “industry” is the largest

lobbying group in Washington, DC, and it outspends

the military-industrial complex by more than 4:1.

Lobbyist spending by the pharmaceutical industry

alone in 2014 was more than $227 million. Why

should this industry care so much (and spend to so

much) to ensure that we vaccinate our offspring?

Curiously, the number of vaccines being

recommended for children and adults in our society

keeps increasing. Even more vaccines are in the

pipeline for a great number of benign and harmless

conditions. The vaccine industry has become a cash

crop for the pharmaceutical industry, largely because

it has both a captive audience and complete

immunity from legal action.

By granting the pharmaceutical industry

complete immunity from vaccine-related injury

claims, a very important system of checks and

balances has been discarded from the medical

system. According to the Institute of Medicine

(IOM), vaccines are considered inherently unsafe

and risky.(8) The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting

System (VAERS) and the National Childhood

Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (NCVICP)

187 
© Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXXIV – XXXVI,  2017 - 2019.  Private Circulation only. 
 
were both established to provide a clearinghouse and 
a no-fault compensation program for vaccine related 
injuries and deaths.  According to U.S. Department 
of Health and Human Services records:, over $2.8 
billion in compensation awards have already been  
paid to petitioners and more than $121.6 million has 
been  paid  to  cover  attorneys’  fees  and  other  legal 
costs since 1986.  This number fails to reflect that 
more than 70% of claims made to this department are 
denied.(9) 
  If vaccines are so effective and beneficial, why 
does this industry need to spend so much to try to 
convince  us  that  they  are?    Wouldn’t  the  right 
decision be obvious to someone who has seen all the 
data and studied the results?  What is so wrong about 
giving individuals the  freedom to  make their  own 
choices regarding vaccination? 
  If  vaccinations  are  indeed  as  effective  as  we 
have been told (by the industry), then why would it 
matter at all, if a small (or even a large) group of 
individuals  chose  to  forgo  vaccinations  and 
“gobare”?   Wouldn’t this decision just affect those 
who chose to forgo treatment?  A reasonable vaccine 
is intended, in fact designed, to work in exactly these 
circumstances: it is supposed to prevent those who 
are vaccinated from catching illness from those who 
are not.  If vaccines actually worked, this question of 
personal choice would be moot.  But do they actually 
work? 
  Current CDC data indicates that the majority of 
(but not all) cases of measles in recent years affect 
the  unvaccinated  population.(10)    About  50%  of 
those  affected  in  the  current  (2015)  California 
measles outbreak were not vaccinated.(11)  Exactly 
how many vaccinated individuals have been affected 
is still unclear.  It also appears that many more adults 
have been contracting this condition (between 27-
45%  of  affected  individuals  in  the  last  few  years 
were  adults),  which  raises  the  question  of  why  a 
childhood illness is now affecting so many adults?  
This  represents  a  very  important  problem  with 
vaccination. 
  In  2003,  Morbidity  and  Mortality  Weekly 
Report  (MMWR)  confirmed  the  largest  school-
based cluster of measles since 1998, which included 
a  group  of  nine  confirmed  cases  identified  in  an 
eastern  Pennsylvania  boarding  school.    Seventy 
seven  percent  (77%)  of  these  students  had  been 
previously vaccinated while only two students who 
got  ill  were  unvaccinated.  (12)    Apparently  the 
measles vaccine is not doing what it was designed to 
do: prevent measles in a vaccinated population. 
 
References 
1. Habakus  LK  and  Holland  M.  Vaccine 
Epidemic.  Skyhorse Publishing and The Center 
for Personal Rights.  New York, 2011. 
2. Konrad W and Ginsburg EH.  Who’s Calling the 
Shots?  Offspring Magazine, June/July 2000:99-
106.  
www.offspringmag.com/highlights/excerpts.cf
m?story=shots (accessed online 2/4/15) 
3. Pediatrics 1998;101:383-387. 
4. Harris  G  Advisers  on  Vaccines  Often  Have 
Conflict,  Report  Says.    New  York  Times, 
December 18, 2009. 
5. Harris G, Halbfinger DM. F.D.A. Reveals It Fell 
to  a  Push by  Lawmakers.    New  York Times, 
September  24,  2009.  
www.nytimes.com/2009/09/25/health/policy/2
5knee.html?_r=2&partner=rss&emc=rss& 
(accessed online2/4/15) 
6. ISMP  Quarter  Watch.    January  28,  2015.  
www.ismp.org/quarterwatch/pdfs/2014Q1.pdf 
(accessedonline 2/5/15) 
7. Hsu  J.  Dark  Side  of  Medical  Research: 
Widespread Bias and Omissions.  Live Science, 
June  24,  2010.    www.livescience.com/8365-
dark-side-medical-research-widespread-bias-
omissions.html (accessed online 2/5/15) 
8. www.iom.edu/Reports/2011/Adverse-Effects-
of-Vaccines-Evidence-and-Causality.aspx 
(accessed online 2/4/15) 
9. www.hrsa.gov/vaccinecompensation/data.html 
(accessed online 2/4/15) 
10. www.cdc.gov/measles/cases-outbreaks.html 
(accessed online 2/5/15) 
11. www.cdph.ca.gov/Pages/NR  15-008.aspx 
(accessed online 2/5/15) 
12. MMWR 53(14)306-09, 2004. 
 
===================================== 
 
31. Measles Madness: Part II 
      WHITMONT, Ron (AJHM. 109/2016) 
  (written February 2015) 
 
  What about other vaccines? 
  According to the New York Times there were 
93 childhood fatalities from the flu between October 
and December 2003, but 66% of these children had 
already been vaccinated against the flu. (13)  Again, 
vaccination against the flu does not seem to provide 
a great deal of protection. 
  According to a recent report in the Journal of 
Virology  (study  of  viruses)  annual  influenza 
immunization  weakens  the  immune  system  and 
makes it more likely that a previously immunized 
individual will contract the flu.  Researchers found 
that  “epidemiological  data  suggest  that  previous 
vaccination against seasonal influenza increased the 
risk  of  infection  with  pandemic  influenza  …  and 
may have potential drawbacks that have previously 

188

been underappreciated.”(14) Current

recommendations mandate annual influenza

immunization in all age groups, and ignore these

important epidemiological results. We do not know

if this phenomenon is unique to influenza or if it

affects other vaccinated populations as well. This

might account for the rising rates of measles

infection in previously immunized adults.

In another outbreak report in the New York

Times in 2010, more than 1,500 orthodox Jewish

boys developed the mumps in Brooklyn, New York.

According to the New York City assistant health

commissioner for immunization: “most of the young

men who were infected had been vaccinated for

measles, mumps and rubella…. This is a well-

vaccinated community.”(15) This outbreak suggests

that vaccination efficacy may be less than expected.

A report in the New York Times involved a

whooping cough (pertussis)outbreak in New

Rochelle, New York in 2003. At least 19 people

were affected, “many of them children who had been

vaccinated.” The health commissioner from the

Westchester County department of health admitted,

“Vaccination would not make someone completely

immune.”(16)

The Dutchess County Department of Health

issued a Public Health Alert regarding an outbreak

of varicella (chicken pox) on May 9, 2006 stating:

“Between April 6, 2006 and the present, there has

been (sic) 25 students diagnosed with this condition.

To date, all of the cases have occurred in

previously vaccinated students.”(17) (emphasis is

not mine).

According to a report in the New England

Journal of Medicine (NEJM) most of the 6,584 total

cases of mumps reported in 2006 occurred in young

adults who were already fully immunized. (18)

If vaccines are so effective (and so beneficial),

why do a substantial number of outbreaks take place

in the immunized population? If these vaccines were

as good as the manufacturers, the FDA, the medical

organizations, and the media pundits suggest, then

(by definition) the immunized population should not

develop these conditions. Furthermore, those who

have been immunized should have nothing to fear

from those who haven’t. After all, isn’t that the

entire point of vaccination?

It turns out that the explanation for this

phenomenon lies in what has been described by the

Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) as

“Waning Immunity”. Waning immunity is the

process by which immunity induced by a vaccine

diminishes over time. (19) this phenomenon is in

contradistinction to permanent immunity, which is a

result of most illnesses (including measles), and as

the designation implies, it is usually lifelong.

When healthy individuals contract actual

illnesses in childhood (measles, mumps,

chickenpox, whooping cough, etc.) the resulting

immunity is usually permanent. This means that

actually getting sick with a childhood infection,

imparts lifelong protection, with a near zero risk of

ever contracting the disease again (barring some

unforeseen immune system compromise). On the

other hand, vaccines generally require multiple

doses to stimulate an immune response, which tends

to wane within one to five years. If vaccines are not

repeated frequently, throughout one’s lifetime, their

protective effects simply evaporate.

Varicella (Chicken pox) vaccine-induced

immunity lasts about one year on average.(20) This

phenomenon should raise serious concern within the

medical community since chickenpox is a relatively

benign condition in childhood, but when contracted

as an adolescent or an adult (after the vaccine

immunity has waned) it can lead to much more

serious complications, including pneumonia, sepsis

and encephalitis.(21)

Another problem associated with the

introduction of the Varicella vaccine is the number

of cases of shingles (a far more serious condition

with potentially long-term complications) that has

arisen in response. Chicken pox is a “typically mild

childhood illness,” but it is being replaced by a much

more serious adult disease: shingles, or herpeszoster.

Researchers believe that the presence of actual cases

of chicken pox in the community stimulates the adult

immune system and prevent shingles outbreaks

(caused by a reactivation of the chickenpox

virus).(22) When the immune stimulation from

chickenpox is absent (due to the use of the vaccine),

there is no background reminder for the immune

system and the virus reactivates in the form of this

painful condition known as shingles.

Allowing children to become sick with

chickenpox virtually eliminates shingles from the

adult population. Similarly with measles, by

allowing children to contract this illness and develop

permanent immunity, very few adults will get the

disease, and the rate of more serious complications

will be much lower, since adults get more

complications from this illness than children.

According to the New England Journal of

Medicine (NEJM) immunity gained from the DTaP

vaccine (Diptheria, Tetanus, acellular Pertussis)

wanes extremely rapidly, and the risk of developing

any one of these diseases increases by 42% each year

after vaccination ceases: “The odds ratio for

pertussis was 1.42 per year, indicating that each year

after the fifth dose of DTaP was associated with a

42% increased odds of acquiring pertussis.” (23) the

waning of vaccine-mediated immunity in these cases

189

can be devastating, as we have seen with pertussis in

the elderly.

The meningitis vaccine, which is currently

recommended by age 7, wanes so rapidly that

booster shots are necessary to maintain adequate

immunity into the teenage and adult years when the

risk of this condition is at its peak (in college and

graduate school years).(24)

All of this indicates that vaccines have failed

on at least two distinct fronts: 1) They fail to provide

lasting immunity, and 2) they create an older

population of individuals at much higher risk for far

more serious disease, since most childhood diseases

are safer and more benign when they are acquired in

childhood. Most of these illnesses are associated

with many more complications when acquired as an

adult.

A frequent claim made by measles vaccine

advocates is that the vaccine saves lives, but deaths

from measles declined to near zero before the

measles immunization program was even started.

Claims made by vaccine advocates are simply not

based in scientific reality. Data from the Historical

Statistics of the United States clearly illustrates this

fact. (25).

This data unmistakably demonstrates that the

measles vaccine had nothing to do with the decline

of measles related deaths. The risk of complications,

including death was inexorably declining before the

vaccine was ever introduced. Those who claim great

benefits from the introduction of the measles

vaccination are simply misinformed or confused.

Making false statements in this regard is propaganda

and should cease.

There is another important conclusion that can

be drawn from the above data, and that that even

though measles cases remained stable prior to the

introduction of the vaccine, the virus naturally

attenuated and adjusted itself to the population. It

acclimated itself to coexist with us. This

phenomenon is not unique to just this virus, but

seems to take place in a large number of similar

situations. Epidemiological studies reveal that most

diseases go through a similar process of natural

attenuation whereby the disease is initially

aggressive but later adapts to the host (who, in turn,

adapts to the disease). This mutual adaptation and

adjustment appears to be the rule of nature, rather

than the exception.

What isn’t revealed by the above graph is the

phenomenon that took place after the measles

vaccine (and other vaccines for childhood illnesses)

were introduced: there was a rapid escalation of

chronic illness beginning in childhood and extending

into old age. Today, more than fifty percent of

children suffer from some form of chronic disease,

and most adults report similar findings. This

phenomenon coincides with the advent of

vaccination practices and is very likely related.

Many theories exist, but it may be that the immune

system requires certain childhood illnesses to fully

mature. Vaccines may also injure the immune

system, and there are a great number of additives and

contaminants in the average vaccine to make this

theory plausible. But additional data from the

Human Microbiome Project strongly suggests that

the immune system requires certain bacterial an viral

injections at key developmental stages to trigger

normal immune system maturation an

development.(26)

Recent research reported in the Annals of

Rheumatology confirm that certain infections impact

the human gut microbiome and are associated with a

reduced incidence of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), an

autoimmune disease. This corroborates the theory

that infections help (rather than harm) the immune

system by stimulating its maturation. In contrast, the

absence of key childhood infections (vis a vis

vaccinations) harm it (by omission) and may allow

chronic inflammatory conditions to develop.(27)

Theories abound about why the elimination of

certain acute childhood illnesses work against the

immune system, and much more study of this

phenomenon is certainly warranted. There are

enough anecdotal reports as well as verified cases of

vaccine injury today to suspect that we have only

touched the “tip of the iceberg” when it comes to

long term vaccine effects on the immune system.

Vaccines have been linked to a great number

of chronic conditions, including autism, Type I

Diabetes (28), seizures(29), chronic inflammatory

conditions, autoimmune diseases (30) and many

others. Much more research is needed to determine

if these connections are real, but the evidence (and

the mechanism of action) is extremely compelling.

The reassurances provided by organizations and

individuals with vested interests in these products

are not convincing in light of the science behind

these observations. Extreme caution regarding

vaccine interventions is definitely warranted.

The Association of American Physicians and

Surgeons (AAPS) (31), a physician-led organization,

has called for a moratorium on mandatory

vaccination, citing over 11,000 annual cases of

vaccine reactions with twenty percent leading to

disability or death. These are only the short-term

manifestations of vaccine injury. So far, no one has

even begun to calculate the long-term effects that

these treatments may have on the health of our

population and society.

Be aware of emotionally targeted marketing

practices designed to bully and intimidate parents to

190

make hasty immunization decisions. These

decisions should not be made lightly and without a

full review of all the available data. There are

enough unanswered questions regarding the safety

(and efficacy) of immunization practices to make

any reasonably intelligent person hesitate in an

attempt to clarify the benefits and risks of these

interventions. It is ultimately quite clear that there is

a fundamental lack of unbiased information

regarding the short and long-term safety an efficacy

of these treatments. The entire industry and its

regulatory bodies are rife with issues suggesting a

breakdown of objective scientific protocol, conflict

of interest and abuse of public trust. If the health and

safety of our children, and all future generations, are

at stake, perhaps it does make sense to pause, “to

measure twice and cut once.” This is our

responsibility as citizens and parents.

References

13. Altman LK. Flu Has Killed 93 Children, But

Comparisons Are Difficult. New York Times.

Jaunuary 9, 2004.

14. Bodewes R. et al., Annual vaccination against

Influenza Virus Hampers Development of

Virus-Specific CD8+T Cell Immunity in

Children. J Virol. 2011Nov;85(22):11995-

2000. doi:10.1128/JVI.05213-11. Epub 2011

Aug 31. (accessed online 2/4/15)

15. Hartocollis A. Jewish Youths Are at Cwenter Of

Outbreak Of Mumps. New York Times,

February 12, 2010.

16. New Rochelle: Whooping Cough Outbreak.

Metro Briefing, New York. New York Times.

October 6, 2003.

17. Dutchess County Department of Health Public

Health Alet. William R. Steinhaus, County

Executive, and Michael C. Caldwell, MD,

MPH, Commissioner of Health. May 9, 2006.

18. N.Engl J Med. April 10, 2008;358:1580-1589.

19. Zoler ML. Waning Immunity Behind Pertussis

Epidemic. Fam Pract News, December

2011:12.

20. O’Connor A. Chicken pox Vaccine Found to

fade in a Year. New York Times, February 24,

2004: F7.2/4/15)

21. http://www.cdc.gov/chickenpox/about/complic

ations.html (accessed online 2/4/15)

22. Goldman GS, Universal Varicella Vaccination:

Efficacy on Herpes Zoster. Int J Toxicology

July-August 2005, 24(4):205-213.

23. N. Engl J Med. 2012;367:1012-9.

24. Harris G. Meningitis Booster Urged for

Teenagers. New York Times, October 28,

2010:A23.

25. http://healthsentinel.com/joomla/index.php?opt

ion=com_content&view=article&id=2654:ed-

states-disease-death-rates&catid=55:united-

states-deths-from-diseases&Itemid=55

(accessed online 2/4/15)

26. http://commonfund.nih.gov/hmp/index

(accessed online 2/4/15)

27. SanbergMEC. Recent infections are associated

with decreased risk of rheumatoid arthritis: a

population-based case-control study. Ann

Rheum Dis doi: 10.1136/annrmdis-2014-

206493 (accessed on line 2/5/15)

28. Tucker ME. Vaccines Blamed for Rise in Type

1 Diabetes. Int Med News, April 15, 1998:42.

29. Combination Vaccine and Seizure Risk. New

York Times, Tuesday June 29, 2010.

30. Tucker ME. Hepatitis B Vaccine Under Fire in

Hill Hearing. Int Med News. June 15, 1999.

32. The Map of Hierarchy and a Case of Autism

ROTHENBERG, Amy (AJHM. 109/2016)

After 30 years of practice, I find myself

increasingly interested in the challenges of following

patients over time. How do we fare as a profession

in terms of long-term follow-up? What about

treating children into adulthood? With regard to

Homœopathy in particular, are there any guideposts

that let us know our patient is moving in the right

direction? Certain philosophical and practical tools

can be helpful. This article, through a pediatric case

presentation, describes one such tool, the Map of

Hierarchy.

One of the things I have most loved about

practicing is the long arc of treating a baby or small

child and watching them develop over time. In many

ways this has mirrored my own evolution as a

mother, first of little ones and now of three college-

age kids. I believe that with good naturopathic care

and homœopathic prescribing, patients can reach

their optimal level of health and realize their genetic

potential. We all like the overnight miracles, the

patient who makes great strides in a few short

months either from a brilliant prescription or more

commonly from a joint effort of doctor and patient

and the healing power of nature. But with children,

things can be both easier and more difficult.

Lifestyle changes may or may not be relevant,

compliance may or may not be forthcoming and, in

the case of autistic patients, some of the challenges

seem insurmountable. In this patient narrative, I

focus on the use of the Map of Hierarchy, as opposed

to case analysis or the elucidation of Materia

191

Medica, as it has wide application for pediatric cases

and it has been relevant for many of my patients.

Perhaps more than any group, those on the

autistic spectrum give us the change to observe how

Homœopathy impacts a patient over time and it is an

area in practice where we can all use guidance in

terms of long-term follow-up care.

Little Charlie was a four year-old towhead

locked away in a world of his own when he first

presented to my office. Because he had no language

skills to speak of, no self-help abilities and

seemingly no interest interfacing with the world

around him, his parents arrived to my clinic feeling

desperate. They had implemented the DAN

protocol; they had committed a small fortune and

endless hours to an in-home Applied Behavioral

Analysis (ABA) program, on top of a state-of-the-

art, early intervention and top-notch preschool

programming. Unlike other children on the

spectrum. Charlie seemed nearly unresponsive and

made very little progress in the year after his

diagnosis.

The first thing I noticed about Charlie was how

strikingly beautiful he was, with wide and light blue

eyes, porcelain skin and long, lush eyelashes. He

made no eye contact with anyone in the room that

day and wore only a far away look on his face. He

had no history of a head injury or seizures and his

hearing and vision were intact. Early in my practice,

patients like Charlie made me anxious and worried;

what could I possibly do to help? But in the ensuing

years, I have seen autistic children come running

back into this world when they were once so remote.

I have seen violent, destructive children settle down

and move toward the essential tasks of learning and

relating to both objects and people. Every autistic

child is different though there are often shared

symptoms. For the homœopath, it is in the many

symptoms that we find the particular characteristics

upon which to prescribe.

Charlie seemed 100% non-responsive to sound

and to touch. He sat still most of the day as people

did things for him. Yet, he was a robust looking

child and did eat whatever was put in front of him,

though without relish and with only a few food

preferences.

His mother’s pregnancy, her third, had been

uneventful, with prenatal vitamins taken several

months before conception. She had early and

consistent prenatal care, and a natural childbirth.

Her two daughters were alive and well. He was a

perfect baby his mother recalls, except he did not

nurse like his elder siblings. He never got the hang

of it and the family decided early on to use formula.

I never like hearing the phrase “perfect baby”,

which, at least in this case, was defined as never

crying, sleeping through the night and taking several

long naps each day. Babies should cry and at least

make their physical and emotional needs known.

Many kids who are diagnosed with autistic spectrum

disorders will have a history of being quite difficult,

colicky and restless, but a subset—that Charlie fit

into—is described as “perfect” which relates to their

homœopathic constitutional type.

Charlie never made eye contact and his parents

became worried by around six months. He did not

seem interested in his older sisters and did not smile.

Their pediatrician brushed aside parental concern

saying that all kids bloom on their own schedule. To

my ears, if a mother of three thinks there is a

problem, there usually is! It is now known that the

earlier interventions take place, the better it is for any

child on the spectrum. As the rise in autism

incidence occurs, all parents and the doctors who

care for families will be trained in observing and

addressing early signs of autistic spectrum disorders.

Charlie had always been chubby with a big belly

and poor tone, especially in his upper body. The

main food he seemed to love was eggs and would eat

them prepared in any way. He had a large head and

sweat freely, top to bottom. He was chronically

constipated, not yet toilet trained, and he had a bowel

movement perhaps once or twice a week. His

parents had tried gluten and case in free diets, good

quality probiotics and many of the suggestions from

their DAN doctor. He often had a runny nose and

congestion especially during the hay fever season.

When most homœopaths hear big fat kid,

sweaty head, chronic runny nose, constipation and

desires eggs, they may think, “Ahah! Must be a

patient who needs Calcarea carbonica!” but here’s

where the error is made and why.

Take a look at the Map of Hierarchy, below:

The Map of Hierarchy

Of course, this is not a complete map; there are

many more remedies included. Paul Herscu, ND,

my husband and partner, conceived this map many

192

years ago and we have taught hundreds of

homœopaths to think along these lines. The

remedies to the left represent common remedies, the

ones we give often to many people with all sorts of

complaints; these constitutional types are basically

oriented to the world on mental and emotional levels.

We can see a person needing Natrum muriaticum

who is depressed or a person needing the remedy

Phosphorus who is anxious, but the level and

intensity of emotional and mental issues is generally

worse as we move toward the right on this map. As

we move to the right, we can see remedies that

address deeper pathology. However, all of the

remedies to the right will retain symptoms of

remedies to the left. For example, let’s say I have a

patient with ulcerative colitis who needs a remedy

like Veratrum album. Perhaps they are a bit manic

or crazed, self-absorbed, and filled with ideas, and

as they get better, healthier and more balanced, we

may see them move toward the left of this map,

perhaps needing a remedy like Medorrhinum. Over

time, as years pass, they may show signs of needing

a remedy such as Sulphur.

It is also important in Homœopathy, and

probably all of medicine, to focus treatments on that

which is most limiting to the patient at the time. So

the fact that Charlie was chubby, craved eggs and

was sweaty, was not really the point. More

significantly, he was completely unengaged,

nonverbal and he was not developing normally.

Charlie’s history of severe constipation and his

complete detachment, perhaps best exemplified by

the additional fact that he did not respond much to

pain, brought to mind only a handful of

homœopathic remedies. I needed a remedy that

covered his unresponsiveness, slowness in

movements and constipation—remedies such as

Opium and Helleborus. I gave him Opium 200C

that first visit with hopes that we could bring Charlie

out of his world and into ours.

I made sure to spend adequate time with his

parents preparing them for possible reactions to the

remedy that I had observed with similar patients.

Using the Map of Hierarchy, I knew that the right

direction for Charlie to proceed was for him to move

to the left on the map and it was likely that he would

develop some challenging behaviors. But I knew

from experience that these changes were necessary

for Charlie to become more engaged in the world.

Indeed, at our two-month follow-up, Charlie

was clearly different. He was running around like he

had a train to catch; over and over he picked up

blocks and put them in the bucket, dumped them out

and started again. He ran back and forth to his

mother with blocks. He still made no eye contact,

had no language or self-help skills. But he had

“woken up”—and had begun to interact, mostly with

the materials around him, strongly preferring objects

to people. He was doing some “stimming” (self-

stimulatory behavior), holding the object du jour out

in front of him and twisting his wrist this way and

that. His parents were torn because although they

knew this was the right direction for Charlie to

proceed, he had become much more difficult to

control. Personally, I was elated! Charlie was

waking up! I also knew from experience that all the

treatment and supportive approaches they had tried

in the past which were largely unsuccessful would

now be much more effective. I encouraged them to

carry on in their efforts with diet and behavioral

approaches with renewed hope and dedication.

In the course of that year, Charlie had three

doses of Opium in ascending potency and then, one

day at an office visit, it became clear to me that he

needed a different remedy. Although he was now

five years old, his behaviors were closer to those of

a two or three-year-old. Of course, they were!

Charlie had never done before any of the things he

was now doing, such as parallel play, repeating

questions and annoying his sisters. His speech had

developed and he had a large vocabulary, although

he did not initiate dialogue and his accuracy with

pronouns was poor. He repeated lines from favorite

videos and songs. But he could now name objects,

express some of his basic bodily needs and he

showed some rudimentary signs of emotional

expression.

Charlie also started to get sick more. He seemed

to catch every cold his sisters brought home, unlike

his earlier years. With each infection he developed

swollen submaxillary glands that would remain

swollen long after the illness. His repetitive actions,

his childish ways (in homœopathic repertory

language, we use “childish” to describe behavior that

is less mature than expected for the patient’s age)

along with his chronically swollen glands pointed to

the remedy, Baryta carbonica, and I was happy to

see him moving, albeit slowly, toward the left on the

Map of Hierarchy. I gave this remedy hoping it

would help him to be less hyper-focused on objects

and more engaged with people. I also knew that if a

child enters into the world—from an isolated autistic

state—at the age of four through six, he will have a

serious deficit in his ability to relate to others. I often

have serious deficit in his ability to relate to others.

I often have to remind parents that any steps into the

world are good and that we can work with any

behavior issues that arise.

Charlie gave us many to work with, from

pushing and grabbing to hitting and biting. Hs one-

on-one aide at school had a singular purpose: to help

Charlie learn to keep his hands to himself. As he

193

came out of his shell, he seemed to have a lot of

needs and they could not be met fast enough. His

sixth year was spent helping him to use words to

meet his needs rather than his physical urges and to

help him toilet train. He managed to graduate from

kindergarten that year, well on his way to both goals.

We had a hiatus o two years without a visit due

to other issues in the family; so, when I next saw

Charlie, he was a big eight-year-old who bounded

into my office and gave me a huge hug. I was happy

and a little overwhelmed by his exuberance. In the

intervening years we worked long distance, through

a colleague, and I continued to recommend Baryta

carbonica, but at some point, it was clear that he no

longer needed it. He continued to move to the left

on the Map of Hierarchy as though he had spread the

map out on his lap and decided where to go.

When he entered the third grade, Charlie was a

strong reader and capable math student, although he

was still socially awkward and he would

inappropriately stand too close or invade another

person’s space. But he was loving, gregarious and

helpful. He was able to do most of the things

expected from an eight-year-old such as dress and

feed himself, put his laundry in a basket, complete

basic homework assignments with support and

follow along with an age appropriate movie or story

book. He still hyper-focused on various subjects and

he was fascinated by trucks and building equipment,

like many kids, and had become adept at Legos. The

word that seemed to fit him best was “quirky.”

His seasonal allergies had become year-round,

making his mother wonder if perhaps it was allergy

to dust or cat dander. He was basically healthy and

robust looking. He was no longer violent in any way

nor prone to the acute infections that had plagued

him a few years back. His affect also seemed much

more typical. He was still a hot kid, very thirsty and

messy to the hilt. Any room he played in looked like

a tornado ha just whipped by. When I asked if he

still loved eggs, he looked at his mom and they both

shook their heads with a resounding NO!

Somewhere along the way, he lost that desire. At

this point, what seemed to limit him most were two

things, his exuberance, which was actually a lovely

quality but needed to be tempered for more

appropriate social interactions, and his other ongoing

social challenges.

In a warm and thirsty kid who is messy, thirsty

and dislikes eggs, most homœopaths would

prescribe Sulphur.

Charlie has taken Sulphur a few times a year

over the past two years when his allergies have

kicked up or when he hits a social bump in the road.

I expect he will need this and closely related

remedies for a long time to come, and I look forward

to treating him in the coming years. I imagine that

his teenage years, with their onslaught of hormones,

will be a particularly challenging time for him. I

look forward to treating him into adulthood and

supporting his and his family’s efforts.

Being privy to the lives of our patients, caring

for a patient and his family over years and decades,

are some of the greatest rewards of being a doctor.

With a simple tool like the Map of Hierarchy, which

reflects a philosophical understanding, we can see

that we are moving in the right direction with a

patient. In treating those with complex pathology or

overlapping diagnoses, it is helpful to have some

guideposts along the way.

*The Map of Hierarchy, was first delineated in Dr.

Paul Herscu’s book Stramonium with an

Introduction to Analysis Using Cycles and Segments.

New England School of Homœopathy Press 1996.

Editor’s Note: For another useful and powerful

guideline to determine whether the remedy given is

correct, I refer the reader to Dr. Saltzman’s

Predictive Homeopathy Course Review, Part I,

(AJHM. Winter 2015). This piece describes Dr.

Vijaykar’s strict interpretation of Hering’s law based

on embryological development to determine if cure

is proceeding in the right direction.

=====================================

33. The Alchemy in Homeopathy

Whitall N. Perry

Source: Studies in Comparative Religion, Vol. 16,

No. 1 & 2 (Winter-Spring, 1984). © World Wisdom,

Inc.

www.studiesincomparativereligion.com

Then of the venom handled thus a medicine I did

make;Which venome kills and saveth such as venome

chance to take. Glory be to him the graunter of such

secret wayes, Dominion, and Honour, both with

Worship, and with Prayse. O poisondled, which is

not cured save by poison! Ripley St. Augustine

Homœopathy—as distinguished from

allopathy—is a system of medical treatment through

minute doses of substances which cause in healthy

people the same symptoms as those produced by the

disease in question. In contrast to “ordinary”

medicine which aims at curing the outward

symptoms, it aims at healing the disequilibriums in

194

the “vital” structure which permit entrance of the

disease in the first place.

There is a freely confessed ignorance, with both

practitioners and patients who have verified and

experienced the efficacy of Homœopathic healing,

as to exactly why or how it works. Christian

Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843) himself,

the German founder of what has henceforth been

termed the Homœopathic system of medicine, said:

“It matters little what may be the scientific

explanation of how it takes place; and I do not attach

much importance to the attempts made to explain it”

(Organon of Medicine, 5th & 6th Ed., New Delhi,

n.d., Sec. 28).

Harris L. Coulter, one of America’s foremost lay

exponents of Homœopathy, uses the established

term empirical medicine to describe the Hippocratic

system of prognosis followed in Homœopathic

practice; and indeed, Hahnemann developed his

therapeutic knowledge of drugs through the

experimental procedure of testing their properties by

so-called “provings” on healthy persons.

But proven effects presuppose commensurate

causes, and no science can enhance its standing

through the admission that its efficacy is based on

hit-or-miss procedures. Not that Homœopathy lacks

laws to go by: there is the Law of Similars, Hering’s

Law (concerning the evolution of symptoms), the

Avogadro Law (concerning dilutions), the Law of

the Minimum Dose, and that of the Single

Remedy—to cite but a few. Yet these laws concern

contingencies within a medical perspective which

leaves begging the question of fundamental origins.

* * *

Here Hahnemann combines apparent

evasiveness with that note of vanity frequent among

innovative practitioners convinced by obvious

results but always on the defensive against their

more orthodox colleagues. “In this investigation I

found the way to the truth, but I had to tread it alone,

very far from the common highway of medical

routine,” he writes in his Preface to the First Edition

of the Organon. In Section 62 of the same, he states

that the efficacy of Homœopathic treatment is a

thing “which no one before me perceived.” Again, “I

was the first that opened up this path” (Sec. 109).

“Homœopathic dynamizations…were unknown

before me” (Chronic Diseases, Philadelphia, 1896;

Calcutta, 1975; Part 5).

The founder of Homœopathy prudently stressed

that he had fallen upon nothing new, in that a therapy

effective now must have been equally so throughout

human history: “For truth is co-eternal with the all-

wise, benevolent Deity” (Org., Introd., 5th Ed., p.25,

n.). But apart from a passing reference to

Hippocrates, and the naming of several later

physicians who had fleeting premonitions of cure by

analogy, Hahnemann credits a sole Danish army

physician in the eighteenth century by the name of

Stahl with having briefly come anywhere near to

the similia similibus principle. “But it was dismissed

with a mere passing thought, and thus the

indispensable change of the antiquated medical

treatment of disease…into a real…healing art,

remained to be accomplished in our own times”

(Introd., p.30).

By no means, however, does the evidence fully

support this contention. Hahnemann was a widely-

read scholar, with a working knowledge outside his

native tongue of Greek, Latin, English, French,

Italian, Spanish, Hebrew, Arabic, Syriac, Chaldaic,

and Sanskrit.[1] The medical views of the most

illustrious among his Renaissance predecessors

could hardly have escaped his attention—a

supposition corroborated by his motto, simila

similibus curantur “like is cured by like”, which

comes from the Swiss physician and alchemist,

Paracelsus (Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus

Bombastus von Hohenheim, born on 17 December

1493 at Maria-Einsiedeln near Zürich and died in

1541), whose outstanding medical contribution was

to disclose the curative powers of mineral substances

when reduced to their quintessential properties. This

work in iatrochemistry was developed by the

Belgian chemist, physician, and alchemist, Jan

Baptista van Helmont (1577-1644) into a

pharmacological system. It was Hahnemann’s

genius to rationalize the elements of this Materia

Medica into a praxis based on the Law of Similars,

the Minimum Dose, and the Single Remedy. Why,

then, the seeming dissimulation about the sources

from which he must have drawn his knowledge?

* * *

The answer most probably lies in the character of

the age in which he lived. The Renaissance had

replaced the otherworldly stamp of the Middle Ages

with a Titanesque humanism; the civilization that

emerged in the wake of the Black Death during the

fourteenth century was irremediably impoverished

spiritually, although figures like Marcilio Ficino,

Thomas à Kempis, Nicholas of Cusa, and Pico della

Mirandola amply testified to a spiritual legacy in the

195

fourteen hundreds still very much alive. And amidst

the ferment of the Reformation came a certain

flowering of the sacred with esoteric doctrines re-

emerging in new quarters. But the climate of

scientific enquiry gaining ground in the seventeenth

century struck a mortal blow, and one can say that

this century really was in its way the “end of a

world”, with a phenomenon like Sir Isaac Newton

(1642-1727) towering as a watershed between two

cosmic views—the ancient and the modern: a

colossus in the scientific domain, while concurrently

a secret alchemist with deep religious convictions.

By the time of Hahnemann’s birth the rationalist

mentality was well entrenched with the materialistic

and self-sufficient complacency of its “one-world

syndrome”. Higher orders of reality now counted for

little save in the monasteries, and Homœopathy’s

founder faced the paradox of having to promulgate

in scientific fashion a medicine based on

“prescientific” principles. To have invoked an

alchemical source for his procedures would have

been like a biologist in our days presenting for his

doctorate an emanationist—let alone creationist—

theory of the universe.

* * *

In a three-volume work entitled Divided

Legacy: A History of the Schism in Medical

Thought (Washington, D.C., 1977), Coulter traces

the descent in the West from classical times to the

present of two roughly parallel but inimical schools

of medical theory and practice. The first stems from

the semi-legendary Greek physician Hippocrates (c.

460 B.C.) and is called empirical, in the sense that it

is an open system based on observation and

prognosis; it regards the human organism as being

governed by a physis or vital principle, which is the

true physician that the doctor only aids. Morbific

influences are handled by “coction”—an old medical

and alchemical term defined in the Oxford English

Dictionary as “The ‘ripening’ of morbific matter,

which fits it for elimination from the living body”—

a process the physician stimulates through the

administration of what are termed “similars”. This is

expressed by a Law of Cure attributed to

Hippocrates, which states: “Through the like,

disease is produced, and through the application of

the like, it is cured.”[2]

The other current derives from the Greek

physician Galen (fl. 2nd century A.D.), the reputed

founder of experimental physiology, and is known

as rationalistic, being a closed system based on

diagnosis; the organism is regarded as determinate,

and not spontaneous or autonomous, in its behavior.

Here the physician treats illnesses through the

administration of what are called “contraries”, the

aim being to suppress morbific influences through

the administration of agencies that counteract the

symptoms of the illness. Hahnemann invented the

term allopathy for this system to distinguish it from

his homœopathy.

The Galenic method views things ab extra: it

works by analysis; the word anatomy itself is from

the Greek anatemein to dissect. Disease is

considered as an “entity” attacking the organism

from without. The Hippocratic method by contrast

sees things ab intra and works more by intuition. To

these Empirics or Empirici (a word that has come to

be equated in orthodox medicine with quacks,

charlatans and imposters), the communia or general

symptoms of a disease are less interesting than

the propria—the unique symptoms of a given

patient. From their perspective the illness (within the

relative standpoint of sickness) is the afflicted

person himself, whose aggregate of idiosyncrasies

identifies his disease, and by consequence the

corresponding remedy.

Holistically speaking there need be no

fundamental incompatibility between these two

schools of medicine. Indeed, each secures its

legitimate sufficiency from its interpenetration with

the other, although this is more crucially the case

with the Galenic than with the Hippocratic therapy,

since the former discipline de principio admits only

mechanistic causes, while the latter being vitalistic

has no reason a priori and de facto to deny the

physiologically evident. In actual practice, however,

the Galenic current anticipates the methodology of

modern scientific enquiry by categorically rejecting

all causes which do not have verifiable origins; while

the Hippocratic persuasion for its part tends to draw

into its orbit, along with those who are highly

endowed intellectually, a fringe element of

absolutists, occultists, and sectarians of divers hues.

It must be stressed that Galen himself, a genius in

anatomy, was an Aristotelian and a pneumatic

physician by lineal descent, and is no more

responsible for the limitations later attaching to his

name medically than can Aristotle be held to blame

for the aberrations of rationalism that developed in

later European philosophical systems.

* * *

The synthetic approach of the Empirics to

medicine is attested by Plato (Phaedrus, 270 c):

196

Hippocrates the Asclepiad says that the nature

even of the body can only be understood as a whole.

And that Plato supports this view is confirmed

in Charmides (156 D ff.):

As you ought not to attempt to cure the eyes

without the head, or the head without the body, so

neither ought you to attempt to cure the body without

the soul; and this is the reason why the cure of many

diseases is unknown to the physicians of Hellas,

because they are ignorant of the whole, which ought

to be studied also; for the part can never be well

unless the whole is well… The great error of our day

in the treatment of the human body [is] that

physicians separate the soul from the body.

And this has been the great error much of the

time since those words were spoken. In the first

century A.D. a Roman encyclopedist named Aulus

Cornelius Celsus put out works on agriculture,

medicine, military science, law, and philosophy, of

which his eight-volume De medicina alone is extant.

Although this treatise was ignored by the physicians

of his day, it became one of the most popular medical

textbooks of the Renaissance when reprinted in

1478. What Theophrastus Bombastus thought of it is

eloquently demonstrated in his choice of the

cognomen Paracelsus, meaning “beyond Celsus”,

who stands here for the type of

medical rationalism rife in the early sixteenth

century. This was the age of Martin Luther and of

general spiritual and social ferment in Europe. In a

Foreword to the 1976 reprint of Arthur Edward

Waite’s The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of

Paracelsus (Berkeley, California), Charles Poncé

describes the Swiss spagyrist—called by his

followers “the German Hermes”—as “an intrusion

of archetypal powers onto the human stage.” Indeed,

Paracelsus was one of those figures who from time

to time storm out of heaven to shake the world’s

complacency and subvert false doctrines:

You [physicians] have entirely deserted the path

indicated by nature, and built up an artificial system,

which is fit for nothing but to swindle the public and

to prey upon the pockets of the sick. Your safety is

due to the fact that your gibberish is unintelligible to

the public, who fancy that it must have a meaning,

and the consequence is that no one can come near

you without being cheated. Your art does not consist

in curing the sick, but in worming yourself into the

favor of the rich, in swindling the poor, and in

gaining admittance to the kitchens of the noblemen

of the country. You live upon imposture, and the aid

and abetment of the legal profession enables you to

carry on your impostures, and to evade punishment

by the law. You poison the people and ruin their

health; you are sworn to use diligence in your art; but

how could you do so, as you possess no art, and all

your boasted science is nothing but an invention to

cheat and deceive? You denounce me because I do

not follow your schools; but your schools can teach

me nothing which would be worth knowing. You

belong to the tribe of snakes, and I expect nothing

but poison from you. You do not spare the sick: how

could I expect that you would respect me, while I am

cutting down your income by exposing your

pretensions and ignorance to the public?[3]

He cured, and impressively, where other doctors

could not; on the recommendation of Erasmus and

Oecolampadius (Johannes Heussgen, professor

of theology at Basle University), Paracelsus, who

received his medical degree from the University of

Ferrara in 1516, was appointed City Physician of

Basle with a professorship at the university in

physics, medicine and surgery—a function which he

inaugurated on St. John’s Day in 1527 with a public

burning of the works of Avicenna, Galen and other

authorities in a brass pan with sulphur and nitre. “If

disease put us to the test,” he declared, “all our

splendor, title, ring and name will be as much help

as a horse’s tail.”

For this and other indiscretions he was run out of

the city, whereupon he resumed a nomadic mode of

life which had already led him throughout Europe

and regions further east, all the time adding to his

considerable store of knowledge and performing

marvelous cures. Finally in 1541, through the

invitation of the Prince Palatine, Archbishop Duke

Ernst of Bavaria, he secured a haven at Salzburg,

where his life was brought to a premature end at the

age of forty-eight years, presumably by his enemies

the jealous physicians, druggists and apothecaries

who it is conjectured arranged to have him flung

down a precipice, they for their part claiming that he

died in a drunken debauch. The propensity, in fact,

of his biographers to associate the alchemical

reformer’s name with drinking led Eliphas Levi in

his Dogma de la Haute Magie (Introd.) to exclaim:

“Marvelous Paracelsus, always drunk and always

lucid, like the heroes of Rabelais.” If drunken he

was, it came from the mania of his inspirations, plus

the dithyrambic fury that seized him when he blasted

the ignorance of his colleagues.

In religion, Paracelsus kept clear of the

controversies provoked by the Reformation, but his

sympathies were close to Luther: “The enemies of

Luther are to a great extent composed of fanatics,

knaves, bigots and rogues,” he said. “Why do you

197

call me a ‘Medical Luther’? You do not intend to

honor me by giving me that name, because you

despise Luther. But I know of no other enemies of

Luther but those whose kitchen prospects are

interfered with by his reforms. Those whom he

causes to suffer in their pockets are his enemies. I

leave it to Luther to defend what he says, and I shall

be responsible for what I may say. Whoever is

Luther’s enemy will deserve my contempt. That

which you wish to Luther you wish also to me: you

wish us both to the fire.”[4]

Apart from an apprenticeship in medicine and

metallurgy under Sigismund Fugger at Schwaz in the

Tyrol, Paracelsus had for teacher the Abbot

Trithemius (Hans von Trittenheim, 1462-1516) of

the Benedictine monastery of Sponheim, and later

abbot of St. James at Würzburg—a theologian

skilled in alchemy and astrology; this person was

likewise master of Theophrastus’ illustrious

contemporary, the Neo-Platonist, Kabbalist, and

Hermeticist Cornelius Heinrich Agrippa (1486-

1535). Furthermore, according to van

Helmont,[5] Paracelsus received the Philosopher’s

Stone at Constantinople in 1521 from his

countryman the alchemist Solomon Trismosin,

known for his book Splendor Solis, which exists in

vellum manuscript in the British Museum.

But Nature above all was his true instructor, as

he affirms in his usual unequivocal manner:

O you hypocrites, who despise the truths taught

you by a great physician, who is himself instructed

by Nature, and is a son of God himself! Come then,

and listen, imposters who prevail only by the

authority of your high positions! After my death, my

disciples will burst forth and drag you to the light,

and shall expose your dirty drugs, wherewith up to

this time you have compassed the death of princes,

and the most invincible magnates of the Christian

world. Woe to your necks on the Day of Judgment!

I know the monarchy will be mine. Mine, too, will

be the honor and the glory. Not that I praise myself:

Nature praises me. Of her I am born; her I follow.

She knows me, and I know her. The light which is in

her…and not the lamp of an apothecary’s shop, has

illuminated my way.[6]

Far from this being the ravings of a madman,

Paracelsus—a humble person, whose intercourse

was as much with “executioners, barbers, shepherds,

Jews, gypsies, midwives and fortune-tellers”

(Hartmann, p.6) as with the noblesse—was baiting

the personal vanity and ostentation of the physicians

of that age; and we have it on the authority of van

Helmont, that “Paracelsus was a forerunner of the

true medicine. He was sent by God and endowed

with knowledge. He was an ornament for his

country, and all that has been said against him is not

worthy to be listened to.”[7]

* * *

The corpus of writings attributed to Paracelsus is

enormous: most of his works were dictated to, and

later edited by, his disciples, and come in a mixture

of Latin and old German, with the assumption

moreover that spurious elements were added—

which compounds the difficulty of deciphering

genuine from apocryphal elements in what is already

a disconcerting amalgam of fact with allegory.

Despite all these impediments, however, the basic

tenets of his message are unmistakably clear.

Paracelsus founds his doctrine on Hermes, in

declaring: “It is a great truth, which you should

seriously consider, that there is nothing in heaven or

upon the earth which does not also exist in Man, and

God who is in heaven exists also in Man, and the two

are but One” (InHartmann, p.67). “Nature (Heaven)

is Man, and Man is Nature, all men are one universal

Heaven and Heaven is only one universal Man.

Individual man is part of the universal Man, and has

his own individual heaven, which is a part of the

universal heaven… Thus, there are many points in a

circle, and each point constitutes a circle of its own,

and yet they all belong to the great circle, and as each

little circle may expand so as to encompass the

whole, so the heaven in man may grow, so as to

expand towards the whole or contract into his own

center and disappear” (p.256). These remarks bear

on the relationship between accident and Essence—

a theme furthermore which is fully developed in the

writings of Frithjof Schuon.

“Nature being the Universe, is one, and its origin

can only be one eternal Unity. It is an organism in

which all natural things harmonize and sympathize

with each other. It is the Macrocosm. Everything is

the product of one universal creative effort; the

Macrocosm and man (the Microcosm) are one. They

are one constellation, one influence, one breath, one

harmony, one time…one Firmament, one Star, one

Being, although appearing temporarily in a divided

form and shape” (Liber Paramirum, ii; Hartmann,

pp. 61-2, 69). “Man is not a body, but the heart is

man; and the heart is an entire star out of which it is

built up. If, therefore, a man is perfect in his heart,

nothing in the whole light of Nature is hidden from

him” (In Waite, II. p. 308).

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“The Bible tells us that Man is made out of

nothing; that is to say, his spirit, the real man, is from

God, who is not a thing, but the eternal Reality; but

he is made into three somethings or ‘substances’, and

these three constitute the whole of Man” (In

Hartmann, p. 278). “These three substances

[Hermes] names Spirit, Soul, and Body… They

signify nothing else than the three principles,

Mercury, Sulphur, and Salt, from which all the seven

metals are generated. For Mercury is the spirit,

Sulphur is the soul, and Salt is the body. The metal

between the spirit and the body, concerning which

Hermes speaks, is the soul, which indeed is Sulphur.

It unites those two contraries, the body and the spirit,

and changes them into one essence… Hermes said

that the soul alone is the medium by means of which

spirit and body are united” (Generat. Rerum, i;

Waite, I. p. 125; Hartmann, p. 286). “The body

comes from the elements, the soul from the stars, and

the spirit from God. All that the intellect can

conceive of comes from the stars” (In Hartmann, p.

312). By “stars” is understood cosmological

archetypes and principles, and planetary influences.

“It is, therefore, above all, necessary that we

should realize the nature of the three Substances as

they exist in the Macrocosm, and recognize their

qualities, and we shall then also know their nature

and attributes in the Microcosm of man,…and as the

whole constitution of man consists of these three

Substances, consequently there are three modes in

which diseases may originate, namely, in

the Sulphur, in the Mercury or in the Salt. As long as

these three Substances are full of life they are in

health, but when they become separated disease will

be the result. Where such a separation begins there

is the origin of disease and the beginning of death”

(In Hartmann, p. 294). The foregoing is called

the Tria Prima theory.

* * *

Such, according to Paracelsus, is the view of the

whole man required, at least implicitly, of the

physician who is to be true to his calling and

efficacious in his practice. “It is the spirit that holds

concealed within itself the virtue and power of the

thing, and not the body. For in the body is death, and

the body is subject to death, and in the body nothing

but death must be looked for” (De natura rerum, iv;

Waite, I. p. 135). “By dividing and dissecting the

external body, we can learn nothing about the inner

man, we merely destroy the unity of the whole”

(Paramirum, i.6; Hartmann, p. 236). “The physical

body has the capacity to produce visible organs—

such as the eyes and the ears, the tongue and the

nose—but they all take their origin from the invisible

body, of which the external visible form is only the

outward representation… If we know the anatomy of

the inner man, we know the Prima materia, and may

see the nature of the disease as well as the remedy”

(pp. 226, 236). “For this inner sight is the Astronomy

of Medicine, and as physical Anatomy shows all the

inner parts of the body, such as cannot be seen

through the skin, so this magic perception shows not

only all the causes of disease, but it furthermore

discovers the elements in medicinal substances in

which the healing powers reside” (p. 71).

“That which gives healing power to a medicine

is its ‘Spiritus’ (an ethereal essence or principle)…

Each plant is in a sympathetic relation with the

Macrocosm and consequently also with the

Microcosm, or, in other words with Constellation

and Organism (for the activity of the organism of

man is the result of the actions of the interior

constellation of stars existing in his interior world),

and each plant may be considered to be a terrestrial

star. Each star in the great firmament and in the

firmament of man has its specific influence, and each

plant likewise, and the two correspond together. If

we knew exactly the relation between plants and

stars, we might say: this star is ‘Stella Rorismarini’,

that plant is ‘Stella Absynthii’, and so forth. In this

way a herbarium spirituale sidereum might be

collected, such as every intelligent physician, who

understands the relationship existing between matter

and mind, should possess, because no man can

rationally employ remedies without knowing their

qualities, and he cannot know the qualities of plants

without being able to read their signatures” (pp. 71,

74-75). What is said here of plants is equally

applicable to mineral substances in general.

“Even the ignorant knows that man has a heart

and lungs, a brain and a liver and stomach; but he

thinks that each of these organs are separate and

independent things, that have nothing to do with

each other, and even our most learned doctors are not

aware of the fact that these organs are only the

material and bodily representatives of invisible

energies that pervade and circulate in the whole

system; so that, for instance, the real liver is a force

that circulates in all parts of the body, and has its

head in that organ which we call the liver. All the

members of the body are potentially contained in the

center of the “vital fluid, which has its seat in the

brain, while the activity which propels it comes from

the heart” (De Viribus Membrorum; Hartmann, pp.

263-4).

199

“The origin of diseases is in man, and not outside

of man; but outside influences act upon the inside

and cause diseases to grow. A physician who knows

nothing about Cosmology will know little about

disease” (p. 257). “Those who merely study and treat

the effects of disease are like persons who imagine

that they can drive the winter away by brushing the

snow from the door. It is not the snow which causes

the winter; but the winter is the cause of the snow”

(p. 255).

“To understand the laws of nature we must love

nature. He who does not know Maria does not love

her, he who does not know God does not love Him”

(p. 258). “It is not the physician who heals the sick,

but it is God who heals him through nature, and the

physician is merely the instrument through which

God acts upon the nature of the patient” (p. 281).

“God does not go to see a patient; if he comes to him,

he comes in the shape of a man. If a town possesses

a good physician, people may look upon him as a

blessing from God; but the presence of an ignorant

doctor is a public calamity and a curse to all… God

kills no one, it is nature which causes people to die.

God is Life, and the physician in whom the power of

God is manifest will be a fountain of life and health

to the sick. To God belongs the praise and to man the

blame” (pp. 275-6, 282).

What Paracelsus has been conveying in these

passages is that man’s outward body is but the

clothing or form of an inward, invisible, and true

body wherein the life-principle resides, and that to

cure an ailing outward body efficaciously means

treating the inward body through the appropriate

“inward bodies” of medicinal substances, namely,

their subtle essences wherein their curative powers

lie. True healing in sum is a sacred calling, and the

practitioner should be a man of probity and piety

withrecourseto Philosophy, Cosmology (Astronom/

Astrology), and Alchemy—these together being the

“four pillars” on which Dr Theophrastus Hohenheim

says his medical system is founded.

* * *

Whatever the plane on which it operated—

spiritual, medical, or chemical—alchemy meant

transmutation, and this could only be had by

reducing properties to their subtle prototypes,

namely, to their quintessential nature, which is that

non-differentiated potentiality whence forms begin.

Transmutation here is not to be understood so much

as the transformation of one element into another as

it is the sublimation of any property into its seminal

or highest essence. Figuratively Gold can be

considered as the Mother of all metals, representing

the perfect elemental equilibrium of which the base

metals are but limited reflections owing to their

“loss” of this equilibrium, or lack of a wholeness

which they “strive” with the alchemist’s aid to

regain. Thus, theoretically and somewhat

allegorically speaking, a metal brought back to its

prototypal substance is in a state of receptivity to the

“tingeing” power of the primordial materia

prima underlying all matter, and hence capable of

assuming a “glorified body” of gold. But more apt to

our purpose is the statement on transmutation given

by Thomas Vaughan in his Anima Magica

Abscondita:

Question not those imposters, who tell you of

a sulphur tingens, and I know not what fables; who

pin also that narrow name of Chemia on a science

both ancient and infinite. It is the Light only that can

be truly multiplied, for this ascends to, and descends

from, the first fountain of multiplication and

generation. If to animals, it exalts animals; if to

vegetables, vegetables; if to minerals, it refines

minerals, and translates them from the worst to the

best condition.

According to Paracelsus, “The purpose of

alchemy is not, as it is said, to make gold and silver,

but in this instance to make arcana and direct them

against diseases; as this is the outcome, so it is also

the basis… It is not the physician that controls and

directs, but heaven, by the stars; and therefore the

medicine must be brought into an airy form in such

a manner that it may be directed by the stars. For

what stone is lifted up by the stars? None save the

volatile. Hence many have looked for the quintum

esse in alchemy which is nothing else but that thus

the four elements are taken away from the arcanum,

and what remains afterwards is the arcanum. This

arcanum furthermore is a chaos, and it is possible to

carry it to the stars like a feather before the wind”

(Liber Paragranum, iii; Holmyard, pp. 167-8).

To attain the arcanum through the removal of the

four elements is the whole of the spagyric art, this

word itself coming from the Greek spanto separate

+ ageirein to assemble. It is the ancient alchemical

theme of solve et coagula, dissolve and coagulate,

volatilize and fix. This is the Grand Magisterium of

alchemy. The “universal solvent” used for

transmutation is a menstruum called the Alcahest.

The arcanum is nothing other than “the virtue of a

thing in its highest potency” (Archidoxes, De

Arcanis; Hartmann, p. 283), “an invisible fire, which

destroys all diseases” (Tinct. phys. vii; p. 295). To

obtain this arcanum, says Albertus Magnus, one has

200

“to make the fixed volatile and the volatile

fixed”[8] —a dictum more especially applicable to

spiritual alchemy but relevant by transposition to all

levels.

Concerning the preparation of medicine,

Paracelsus tells us that “it is created, indeed, by God,

but not fully prepared for its final end. It is, so to say,

hidden in the ore. Now, the work of Vulcan is to

separate the ore from the medicine itself… That

which the eyes perceive in a herb is not Medicine,

nor what they see in stones and trees. They see only

the ore; but inside the ore the medicine is hidden.

First of all, then, the ore has to be removed from the

medicine. When this is done, the medicine will be

ready to hand. This is Alchemy; this, the special

office of Vulcan, who superintends the

pharmacopoeia, and brings about the elaboration of

the medicine” (Labyrinthus Medicorum; Waite, II. p.

166). As an example, he says iron will cure anaemia,

“because the astral elements of iron correspond to

the astral elements contained in Mars [the sanguine

planet], and will attract them as a magnet attracts

iron. But we should choose a plant which contains

iron in an etherialized state” (In Hartmann, p. 245).

Paracelsus further says: “The quintessence, then,

is a certain matter extracted from all things which

Nature has produced, and from everything which has

life corporeally in itself, a matter most subtly purged

of all impurities and mortality, and separated from

all the elements. From this it is evident that the

quintessence is, so to say, a nature, a force, a virtue,

and a medicine, once, indeed, shut up within things,

but now free from any domicile and from all outward

incorporation… The very smallest quantity of

saffron tinges a vast body of water, and yet the whole

of it is not saffron. Thus, in like manner, must it be

laid down with regard to the quintessence, that its

quantity is small in wood, in herbs, in stones, and

other similar things, lurking there like a guest. The

rest is pure natural body… Nor must it be supposed

that the quintessence exists as a fifth element beyond

the other four, itself being an element… The fact that

the quintessence cures all diseases…[arises] from an

innate property, namely, its great cleanliness and

purity, by which, after a wonderful manner, it alters

the body into its own purity, and entirely changes

it…

“As every animal contains within itself the life-

spirit, yet the same virtue does not exist in each,

simply because they all consist of flesh and blood,

but one differs from another, as in taste or in virtue,

so it is with the quintessence… Thence it happens

that some quint essences are styptic, others narcotic,

others attractive, others again somniferous, bitter,

sweet, sharp, stupefactive,” and so forth. “In this

place it should equally be remarked that each disease

requires its own special quintessence” (Archidoxies,

iv; Waite, II. pp. 22-24).

These observations also apply to the “hypostatical

principles” or Tria Prima theory mentioned earlier.

For although the Sulphur is One, the Salt is One, and

the Mercury One, yet as there are many kinds of

fruit, so are there as many sulphurs, salts, and

mercuries as there are metals and minerals; and these

are still further divided, “as there is not merely one

kind of gold but many kinds of gold, just as there is

not merely one kind of pear or apple but many kinds.

Therefore there are just as many different kinds of

sulphurs of gold, salts of gold, and mercuries of

gold” (In Holmyard, pp. 170—171).

* * *

As regards the practice of medicine, the alchemical

remedies are for constitutional diseases, those which

“radiate from the center”; “that which is localized—

i.e., circumscribed or confined to a certain locality,

belongs to Surgery.” Paracelsus divides the cause of

all diseases into five classes: (1) Ens Astrale, those

provoked by astral causes, such as plagues and acute

diseases; (2) Ens Venenale, those provoked by

poisonous substances and impurities—diseases like

rheumatism, gout, and dropsy; (3) Ens Naturale,

those provoked by psychological causes, or diseased

states of mind; (4) Ens Spirituale, those provoked by

passions, evil desires, disordered thoughts, or a

morbid imagination; and (5) Ens Dèale, those

originating from divine, or what the Hindus would

call karmic, causes.

As there are five categories of diseases, so are there

five ways of curing them, and hence five classes of

physicians: “1. Naturales. i.e., those who treat

diseased conditions with opposite remedies; for

instance, cold by warmth, dryness by moisture, etc.,

according to the principle Contraria contrariis

curantur. To this class belonged Avicenna, Galen,

etc.” (Allopathy, Hydrotherapy); “2. Specifici.—

Such as employ specific remedies, of which it is

known that they have certain affinities for certain

morbid conditions. To this class belong

the Empirics”(Homœopathy); 3. Characterales.—

The physicians of this class have the power to cure

diseases by employing their will power”

(Magnetism, Hypnotism, Mind-cure);

“4. Spirituales.—The followers of this system have

the power to employ spiritual forces, in the same

sense as a judge has power over a prisoner in the

201

stocks, because he is in possession of the keys. Such

a physician was Hippocrates” (Magic); “5. Fideles.

i.e., those who cure by the power of Faith, such as

Christ and the apostles.”

“Among these five classes, the first one is the most

orthodox and narrow-minded, and they reject the

other four because they are not able to understand

them.” Paracelsus goes on to say that the five causes

of diseases overlap and give rise to many

subdivisions. For the rest, “Each physician, no

matter to which sect he belongs, should know the

five causes of diseases and the five methods of

treatment; but each method may be in itself

sufficient to cure all diseases, no matter from what

cause they originate” (De Entibus Morbosum).[9]

The physician must be aware that “each man’s

constitution differs in some respect from that of

another” (Paragranum; Hartmann, p. 223); as for the

role of diagnosis, “The true physician sees the

constitution of his patient as if the latter were a clear

crystal, in which not even a single hair could escape

detection. He sees him as he would the stones and

pebbles at the bottom of a clear well” (pp. 316-17).

Lastly, Paracelsus lays great stress on the therapeutic

role of faith: “The curative power of medicine often

consists, not so much in the spirit that is hidden in

them, as in the spirit in which they are taken. Faith

will make them efficacious; doubt will destroy their

virtues” (p. 268). “The fear of disease, he said, is

more dangerous than disease itself.”

“Oh you doubtful man, you Peter of little faith, who

are moved by each wind and sink easily! You are

yourself the cause of all such diseases; because your

faith is so little and feeble, and your own evil

thoughts are your enemies. Moreover you have

hidden within yourself a magnet which attracts those

influences which correspond to your will”

(Philos. Occulta; Hartmann, p. 273).

“Even Christ could not benefit those who were not

receptive of his power. This power is Faith, and it

should be present in the patient as well as in the

physician. Christ did not say to the sick, ‘I cured

thee,’ but he said, ‘Thy faith made thee whole.’…

The patient should therefore have faith in God, and

confidence in his physician” (De Virtute Medici; p.

281).

* * *

Turning now to Homœopathy, we can start with this

dictum by Hahnemann: “The spirit of the drug acts

on the spirit in man.”[11] Paracelsus says what

amounts to the same, in his axiom, “The star is

healed by the star.”[12]

“The action of [Homœopathic] medicines in the

liquid form upon the living human body,” says

Hahnemann, “takes place in such a penetrating

manner, spreads out from the point of the sensitive

fibers provided with nerves whereto the medicine is

first applied with such inconceivable rapidity and so

universally through all parts of the living body, that

this action of the medicine must be denominated a

spirit-like (a dynamic, virtual) action” (Org. Sec.

288).

“For this more than perfect medicine,” in the words

of Paracelsus, “is all-powerful, penetrates all things,

and infuses health at the same time as it expels all

diseases and evil. In this respect no medicine on

earth is like it” (Manual concerning the

Philosophers’ Stone; Waite, II. p. 105).

It is the “spirit-like action” of the medicines,

Hahnemann taught, that reverberates on the spirit-

like vital principle or life-force, which alone

animates the human body and regulates all its

functions. “The material organism, without the vital

force, is capable of no sensation, no function, no self-

preservation” (Org. Sec. 10).

This vital force, which the author refers to as

the vital principle in the Sixth Edition of

the Organon, is what Paracelsus calls the Archaeus,

or the formative power of Nature, and

microcosmically, corresponds to the Anima

Mundi or World Soul of the macrocosm as found in

Plato and the Stoics. The vital force or “life

substance within the body”, according to Dr James

Tyler Kent (1849-1916), the “Hahnemann” of

American Homœopathy (though a former adversary

until he studied the subject), “is the vicegerent of the

soul.”[13]

We have seen that Paracelsus defines the spirit-like

property in alchemical medicines as

their arcanum or quintessence, which he

alternatively names the ens, entia, or Primum Ens.

This is intrinsically the same thing the homeopaths

designate as the Dynamis in their medicines. Now

when a person is ill and treated Homœopathically,

the dynamis/arcanum, provided it is chosen correctly

for the malady in question, arouses and reinforces

those elements in the vital principle/ archaeus that

are responsible for and govern the diseased part, thus

initiating a healing process. More often than not this

causes in the patient a temporary aggravation of the

202

symptoms, which is in fact indicative that the

remedy has been rightly chosen.

This Homœopathic curative process flows from the

subtle towards the gross, from the center towards the

periphery, in keeping with what is known as

Hering’s Law, from Constantine Hering (1800-

1880), the “Father of American Homœopathy” (and

another former adversary): namely, cure proceeds

from above downward, from within outward, from

the most important organs to least important

organs, and in the reverse order of appearance of

symptoms.[14]

Allopathic treatment takes the opposite route: it aims

directly at the externals, at the diseased part, on the

evolutionist-like theory that the cure of the part will

eventuate in the cure of the entire person. Since its

point of departure is in a scientific materialism

which bases its authority on the premise that

everything is ultimately answerable in

physicochemical terms, it cannot but make short

shrift of any perspectives which do not fall within

the compass of its chosen vision, and more

especially as results obtained on its own ground are

often quite spectacular (penicillin, antibiotics,

vaccines, and so forth).

Franz Hartmann, who was not an occultist merely,

but a medical doctor and person of considerable

discernment, was protesting some 100 years ago that

“Modern medicine requires, so to say, a sledge-

hammer for killing a fly; but the finer natural

remedies…have almost entirely disappeared from

the pharmocopoeia and…been remitted to the care

of old women. Their action is not understood;

because it is not so violent as that of the poisons used

by the regular physician and therefore the effects

produced are not so apparent to the eye; but while

the finer forces of nature silently and noiselessly act

upon the body of the patient, the poisonous drugs

administered by the modern practitioner, usually

serve only to drive away effects by shifting the seat

of the disease to a still more interior and more

dangerous place” (pp. 249-50). Hartmann expands

this idea with the following example:

It would be interesting to find out how many chronic

diseases and life-long evils are caused by

vaccination. If the organism contains some

poisonous elements, Nature may attempt to remove

it by an expulsive effort caused by the action of the

spirit from the center toward the periphery, and

producing cutaneous diseases. If by vaccination a

new herd is established to attract the diseased

elements…, the manifestation of the poison on the

surface of the body may disappear, but the poisonous

elements will remain in the body, and some other

more serious disease will manifest itself sooner or

later (p. 224).

“Why is the practice of medicine of Theophrastus

Paracelsus almost incomprehensible to the modern

practitioner? It is because the latter seeks to treat the

diseased organs themselves, which are as such

merely the external effects of internal causes, and he

knows of no other way to act upon them except by

mechanical or chemical means; while the method of

treatment of Paracelsus by means of which he made

the most wonderful cures, is to change the interior

causes from which the outward effects grow; to treat

the very essences out of which corporeal organs

become crystallized and to supply them with the

power of vitality of the quality which they require.

To accomplish this, deep insight into the causes of

disease, spiritual perception, spiritual knowledge

and spiritual power are needed, and these qualities

belong not to that which is human in man, but to the

light of the spirit which shines into him. For this

reason the Arcana of Paracelsus have been

universally misunderstood” (Hartmann, pp. 282-3).

The same standard is clearly affirmed by

Hahnemann in his Preface to the First Edition of

the Organon (1810): “The most sacred of all human

occupations [is] the practice of the true system of

medicine. The physician who enters on his work in

this spirit becomes directly assimilated to the Divine

Creator of the world, whose human creatures he

helps to preserve, and whose approval renders him

thrice blessed.”

* * *

So essential is the concept of the vital principle to

Homœopathy that it merits closer scrutiny:

In the healthy condition of man, the spiritual vital

force (autocracy), the dynamis that animates the

material body (organism), rules with unbounded

sway, and retains all the parts of the organism in

admirable, harmonious, vital operation, as regards

both sensations and functions, so that our indwelling,

reason-gifted mind can freely employ this living,

healthy instrument for the higher purposes of our

existence (Org. Sec. 9).

Expounding this passage, Kent defines

the immaterial vital principle (the term used in the

last edition of the Organon) as a Simple Substance;

and he goes on to say: “One who is rational will be

led to see that there is a supreme God, that He is

203

substantial, that He is a substance. Everything

proceeds from him and the whole series from the

supreme to the most ultimate matter in this way is

connected. Just as surely as there is a separation, and

not a continuous influx from first to last, ultimates

will cease to exist.

“The true holding together of the material world is

performed by the simple substance…Simple

substance is endowed with formative intelligence,

i.e., it intelligently operates and forms the economy

of the whole animal, vegetable and mineral

kingdoms… [It] gives to everything its own type of

life, gives it distinction, gives it identity whereby it

differs from all other things…

“This substance is subject to changes; in other

words, it may be flowing in order or disorder, may

be sick or normal… Man may cause it to flow in

disorder.

“Any simple substance may pervade the entire

material substance without disturbing or replacing

it…

“It dominates and controls the body it occupies…

By it are kept in order all functions, and the

perpetuation of the forms and proportions of every

animal, plant and mineral. All operation that is

possible is due to the simple substance, and by it the

very universe itself is kept in order. It not only

operates every material substance, but it is the cause

of cooperation of all things.

“Examine the universe and behold the stars, the sun

and the moon; they do not interfere with each other,

they are kept in continuous order. Everything is in

harmony and is kept so by the simple substance.” It

is this “harmony of the spheres” which enabled

Paracelsus to take account of the reverberations

which astral influences have on the human

microcosm.

“In considering simple substance we cannot think of

time, place or space, because we are not in the realm

of mathematics nor the restricted measurements of

the world of space and time, we are in the realm of

simple substance. It is only finite to think of place

and time. Quantity cannot be predicated of simple

substance, only quality in degrees of fineness…

“The simple substance also has adaptation… What

is it that adapts itself to environment? The dead body

cannot… When the vital force from any cause

withdraws from the body…the body tends to decay

at once… All disease causes are in simple substance;

there is no disease cause in concrete substance

considered apart from simple substance. We

therefore study simple substance, in order that we

may arrive at the nature of sick-making substances.

We also potentize our medicines in order to arrive at

their simple substance; that is, at the nature and

quality of the remedy itself. The remedy to be

Homœopathic must be similar in quality and similar

in action to disease cause” (Lecture VIII).

Hahnemann late in his career said the function of the

vital force, this “principle that animates us,” is “to

preserve the vital operations in good order as long as

the individual is not morbidly deranged by the

inimical influence of pathogenic forces,” but that by

itself alone “it is not capable, not intended, not

created” primarily for this extra work of combating

hostile disease. However, when aided by the true

healing art to put disease to rout, “it is always the

vital force that conquers, just as the native army

which drives the enemy out of the country must be

called the conqueror, although it was assisted by

foreign auxiliary troops.” It is the Homœopathic

physicians with their medicinal arsenal that can in

the role of an auxiliary force “by degrees cause and

compel this instinctive vital force gradually to

increase its energy…until at length it becomes much

stronger than the original disease was, so that it can

again become the autocrat in its own organism, can

again take the reins and direct the organism on the

way to health, whilst in the meantime the apparent

increase of the disease produced by the

Homœopathic medicines disappears spontaneously,

whereon we, witnessing the re-established

preponderance of the vital power, that is to say, the

re-established health, cease to administer these

remedies.

“Incredibly great are the resources of the spirit-like

vital principle imparted to man by the infinitely

benevolent Creator, if we physicians did but know

how to keep it right in days of health by a properly

regulated wholesome regimen, and in diseases to

summon it forth and stimulate it up to the proper

mark by pure Homœopathic treatment” (Die

chronischen Krankheiten/Chronic Diseases, iv,

Düsseldorf, 1838; Org. pp. 188-9).

* * *

The alchemists insured the secrecy of their formulae

for preparing the elixir by the very extravagance of

prescriptions proffered in their treatises. One feels it

is almost with a “malice” towards the curious that

they spoke so freely about such matters and

processes as ablution, incision, combustion,

204

dissolution, fluxibility, coagulation, reverberation,

cohobation, mollification, circulation, decension,

putrefaction, and so on; of their dissolvings,

calcinings, tingeings, whitenings, bathings,

renewings, imbibings, and decoctings there is no

end.

A pattern does nevertheless emerge. In the second

treatise of his Splendor Solis, Solomon Trismosin

quotes a saying of the Philosophers:

Dissolve the thing and sublimate it, and then distil it,

coagulate it, make it ascend, make it descend, soak

it, dry it, and ever up to an indefinite number of

operations, all of which take place at the same time

and in the same vessel (Garstin, p. 66).

Paracelsus, after taking to task the common run of

physicians who “give themselves up to ease and

idleness, strutting about with a haughty gait, dressed

in silk, with rings ostentatiously displayed on their

fingers, or silvered poignards fixed on their loins,

and sleek gloves on their hands,” extols the spagyric

physicians, who “find their delight in their

laboratory,…[who] put their fingers among the

coals, the lute, and the dung, not into gold

rings,…[who] rejoice to be occupied at the fire and

to learn the steps of alchemical knowledge. Of this

class are: Distillation, Resolution, Putrefaction,

Extraction, Calcination, Reverberation,

Sublimation, Fixation, Separation, Reduction,

Coagulation, Tincture, and the like” (De Natura

Rerum, viii; Waite, I. p. 167).

In the latter part of his Organon Hahnemann

describes the procedures required for making

Homœopathic remedies, which are prepared from

mineral, plant, or animal substances. The basic steps

are extraction, decantation, dissolution, dilution,

attenuation, and potentization or dynamization,

either by means of trituration (pulverizing in a

mortar) or succussion (agitation through striking a

hand-held vial forcefully against a firm surface).

Certain processes require distillation and the use of

water baths. Tinctures preserved in alcohol maintain

their potencies indefinitely (some of Hahnemann’s

original preparations are still in use), provided they

are not exposed to sunlight or heat, which inactivates

them. Globules of milk sugar impregnated with these

tinctures become the carrier which “manifests the

healing power of this invisible force in the sick

body” (Org. 6th Ed. Sec. 270). Writes Hahnemann:

“The Homœopathic system of medicine develops for

its use, to a hitherto unheard-of degree, the spirit-like

medicinal powers of the crude substances by means

of a process peculiar to it…whereby only they all

become immeasurably and penetratingly efficacious

and remedial, even those that in the crude state give

no evidence of the slightest medicinal power on the

human body” (Org. Sec. 269).

We have in Paracelsus a passage which mirrors these

preceding remarks:

This Philosophers’ Stone has forces of this kind,

whereby it expels so many and such wonderful

diseases, not by its complexion, or its specific form,

or its property, or by any accidental quality, but by

the powers of a subtle practice, wherewith it is

endued by the preparations, the reverberations, the

sublimations, the digestions, the distillations, and

afterwards by various reductions and resolutions, all

which operations of this kind bring the stone to such

subtlety and such a point of power as is wonderful.

Not that it had those powers originally, but that they

are subsequently assigned to it” (Archidoxies, De

Arcana; Waite, II. p. 42).

As regards drugs that are poisonous in the crude

state, Kent gives the example of opium, which

administered in large doses, flows against “the

stream of the vital influx,” thus causing “a state of

suspension…in the dynamic economy”; whereas by

inverse analogy, the same drug Homœopathically

potentized and administered, flows “in the stream of

the vital action…[and] then the symptoms that arise

are of the best order” (Lecture XXVIII).

Morbific matter—called nosodes—is at the base of

remedies obtained from animal substances.

Paracelsus provides an altogether Homœopathic

description of their use, the subtilized essences of

which he names mumia:

Who knows rightly about what God is, who knows

nothing about the devil? Wherefore since God has

made known to us the enemy of our soul, that is, the

devil, He also points out to us the enemy of our life,

that is, death… He has made known this enemy to us

and also how and by what means we must escape

him. For as there is no disease against which there

has not been created and discovered a medicine

which cures and drives it away, so there is always

one thing placed over against another—one water

over against another, one stone…one mineral…one

poison…one metal over against another—and the

same in many other matters… Hence it follows that

the mumia of the flesh cures wounds of the flesh, the

mumia of the ligaments cures wounds of the

ligaments, etc. Thus the body which has sustained an

injury carries its own cure with it” (De nat. re.

iii; Chirugia Minor, Lib. I. 1; Waite, I. pp. 130, 169).

205

In his well-researched work, The Science of

Homeopathy, George Vithoulkas has a chapter on

the very demanding conditions under which

Homœopathic remedies must be collected and

produced: “Hahnemann was a fully qualified

chemist, and well-acquainted with alchemy as well,

so his knowledge of how to prepare particular

minerals was very specific and thorough.” “For this

medicine,” says Paracelsus concerning the spagyric

concoctions, “requires such preparation as mere pill-

sellers do not compass, and understand less about it

than a Swiss cow” (Philosophers’ Stone; Waite, II.

p. 102).

Every care must be taken to insure that the choice

and manipulation of plant and other substances

corresponds exactly to the conditions followed in the

original “provings”. Purity, simplicity, freshness,

and chemical availability are primary concerns.

Homœopathic pharmacies now generally simplify

dilution and succussion through use of machines, but

even here it often requires three months to make a

high potency remedy. For those readers who may be

interested, an example of Hahnemann’s

thoroughness is given below in his description of

trituration:

In this preparation, peculiar to Homœopathy, we

take one grain in powder of any of the substances

treated of in the six volumes of Materia Medica

Pura, and especially those of the antipsoric

substances following below, i.e., of silica, carbonate

of baryta, carbonate of lime, carbonate of soda and

sal ammoniac, carbonate of magnesia, vegetable

charcoal, animal charcoal, graphites, sulphur, crude

antimony, metallic antimony, gold, platina, iron,

zinc, copper, silver, tin. The lumps of the metals

which have not yet been beaten out into foil, are

rubbed off on a fine, hard whetstone under water,

some of them, as iron, under alcohol; of mercury in

the liquid form one grain is taken, of petroleum one

drop instead of a grain, etc. This is first put on about

one-third of 100 grains of pulverized sugar of milk,

and placed in an unglazed porcelain mortar, or in one

from which the glaze has been first rubbed off with

wet sand; the medicine and the sugar of milk are then

mixed for a moment with porcelain spatula, and the

mixture is triturated with some force for six minutes,

the triturated substance is then for four minutes

scraped from the mortar and from the porcelain

pestle, which is also unglazed, or has had its glazing

rubbed off with wet sand, so that the trituration may

be homogeneously mixed. After this has been thus

scraped together, it is triturated again without any

addition for another six minutes with equal force.

After scraping together again from the bottom and

the sides for four minutes this triturate (for which the

first third of the 100 grains had been used), the

second third of the sugar of milk is now added, both

are mixed together with the spatula for a moment,

triturated again with like force for six minutes; it is

triturated a second time (without addition) for six

minutes more, and after scraping it together for

another four minutes it is mixed with the last third of

the powdered sugar of milk by stirring it around with

the spatula, and the whole mixture is again triturated

for six minutes, scraped for four minutes, and a

second and last time triturated for six minutes; then

it is all scraped together and the powder is preserved

in a well-stoppered bottle with the name of the

substance and the signature 100 because it is

potentized one hundred fold[15] [nowadays labelled

lc].

* * *

A crucial axiom in the preparation of Homœopathic

remedies is that the more the substance is succussed

and diluted, the greater the therapeutic effect while

simultaneously nullifying the toxic

effect (Vithoulkas, p. 102). Dilution without

succussion adds no kinetic energy to a solution,

while succussion without a corresponding increase

in dilution raises the level of energy in a solution by

one potency only, regardless of how many times it is

succussed.

As the Hahnemannian method of dilution requires

the discarding of an enormous number of glass vials,

another valid solution, called the Korsakoff method,

has come into practice, since it can use the same vial

for each new potency.

On a decimal scale, a 1/10 dilution is the equivalent

of a 1X potency (100 succussions). An eighth

decimal dilution is called an 8X potency (800

succussions). On a centesimal scale, the one most

commonly used, each centesimal potency, based

upon serial dilutions of 1/100 and designated by a

“c”, is equivalent in dilution to two decimal

potencies. Thus a 30c potency is the same as a 60X

in dilution (1/1060), but the 30c with 3000

succussions has only half the potency of the 60X

with its 6000 succussions.

Some Homœopathy, following a system suggested

by Hahnemann, use potencies based on serial

dilutions of 1/50,000, called 50-millesimal

potencies, or simply millesimals.

By convention, high potencies are given Roman

numeral designations: a 100,000 potency is thus

called CM.

206

According to a pivotal figure known as Avogadro’s

number (from the Italian physicist Amedeo

Avogadro, 1776-1856), it is statistically improbable

that any dilution beyond the 12c or 24X level will

retain a single molecule of the original medicinal

substance. Hence dilutions inferior to this number

are sometimes referred to as macrodilutions, and

those superior to it, as microdilutions. Yet

Homœopaths often obtain successful results with

potencies over 100,000c. This is represented by a

dilution of 1/100,000, or a total of 100,000 zeroes

(compared with the dilution of 1/1000 that

corresponds to Avogadro’s number, with a total of

24 zeroes).

The attestation of these Homœopathic physicians

concerning the presence of active agencies found in

high dilutions is backed up by numerous biological,

chemical, and physical experiments uniformly

demonstrating the existence of some form of energy

in the ultra-molecular dilutions.

Coulter in his Homœopathic Medicine (St Louis,

1975) says H. Junker in 1928 observed that various

substances in dilutions up to 10¯27 affected the

growth of bacterial cultures; that J. Patterson and W.

Boyd in Scotland found the Schick test for diphtheria

was changed from positive to negative by oral

administration of alum-precipitated toxoid in a

dilution of 10¯60 or of Diphtherinum, a

Homœopathic preparation, in a dilution of 10¯402.

Harvey Farrington, M.D, in his Homeopathy and

Homeopathic Prescribing (Philadelphia, 1955) says

that gold can be detected by colloidal chemistry in

the 25th decimal

(10,000,000,000.000,000,000,000,000) trituration;

that radium in the 60th decimal affects sensitive

photographic plates (which can only be explained by

its force or power or dynamis).

Among examples given by James Stephenson, M.D.,

in a series of talks at Boston University, in 1958:

Wurmser and Loch of France in 1948, in the field of

physics, recorded changes in a beam of light of fixed

wavelengths when passed through various solutions

of Homœopathic microdilutions, as measured by

deflections of a microgalvanometer. These were

obtained for quinine sulphate, Taraxacum dens

leonis (dandelion), and Aesculus hippocastanum

(horse chestnut) at dilutions from 10¯24 to 10¯30.

Gay of France later obtained similar results with

microdilutions up to 10¯60 of Strychnos nux

vomica, Pulsatilla nigricans (the anemone),

Lycopodium clavatum (club moss), Cinchona

officinalis (quinine), Ignatia amara (St. Ignatius

bean), Castoreum (beaver musk), Moschus (musk),

sodium chloride (salt), and Sepia officinalis

(cuttlefish). In collaboration with J. Boiran he

accurately detected 100 times out of 100 a flask

containing sodium chloride 10¯54 from 6 flasks

containing distilled water.

Heintz of Germany found that microdilutions of

sodium chloride significantly altered infrared

absorption spectra of light.

In biochemistry W. Persson of Leningrad showed in

1930 that Homœopathic microdilutions affected

significantly the rate of action of various enzyme

systems.

Jannet of France in 1902 demonstrated that 10¯50

dilutions of silver nitrate significantly decreased the

amount of growth in a yeast, Aspergillus niger. L.

Kolisko of Switzerland twenty years later found that

microdilutions of copper salt, iron sulphate, and

antimony trioxide caused a characteristic sinusoidal

effect on the growth of wheat germ seed as compared

to control plants.

Among the zoological investigators, Stearns of the

U.S.A. in 1926 showed that microdilutions of

sodium chloride ranging from 10¯60 to 10¯200

produced in guinea pigs sterility, loss of appetite and

weight, and general weakness.

In all, 23 experiments by 19 separate investigators

over a 70-year period show that succussed

microdilutions act under controlled, laboratory

conditions as well as clinically.[16]

* * *

On the therapeutic power inherent in high

Homœopathic dilutions, Dr Dominique Senn, a

medical genius and leading European authority in

the field, has this to say: “The old refrain, proclaimed

from the seat of authority, that Homœopathy is just

a matter of deceitfully handing out a

‘placebo’[17] or distilled water, becomes ridiculous

in the face of the established evidence concerning the

effect of the unbelievable power in a 50-thousandth

dynamized dilution of the simile remedy. The

incredulous patient who has experienced this will not

forget it!

“Newborn babies, and even patients in comas,

respond to the controlling signals of the remedy,

207

without the possibility of rationally bringing in a

psychic influence.

“The spectacular efficacity of Homœopathic

remedies on all kinds of animals, remedies more and

more being used by veterinarians trained in this art,

is supplementary proof of a real action on the animal

organism—apart from all imagination!”[18]

The “infinitesimal dose” is a stumbling block for

many people, even though size here is really a

relative matter. Since numerous morbific agencies

are discernible only through their effects, why a

priori should certain healing agencies not be so

likewise? “The doctrine of the divisibility of matter,”

writes Hahnemann, “teaches us that we cannot make

a part so small that it shall cease to be something, and

that it shall not share all the properties of the

whole… Why should there be doubts about the

powerfulness of such small but still material doses of

Homœopathic remedies, though their calculated

weight is extremely small, since some of the most

powerful counter-disease forces are quite

imponderable, and yet have a great influence on the

health of man? Who is ignorant of the medical

powers of cold and heat?” (Org. Suppl. to Sec. 283).

Another medical writer, Salvador de Madariaga,

observes that a minute quantity of catalyst can

determine a chemical reaction; that “a change in the

water one drinks, even though chemically

insignificant is apt to be detected by the body, and

how minute are the quantities of carbonates,

sulphates, or phosphates that can make or mar a

mineral water”; that a single rose can “emit for days

enough aroma to affect any human being” who

comes near it; that an experiment in California to

grow plants on sand soaked in chemical solutions

revealed that “certain metals are indispensable for

certain plants, and yet, only in very small quantities

(for instance, one in 500,000 of zinc for tomatoes).

Moreover, I hold that the notion of ‘normal size’ is

arbitrary and that nature will have none of it. It is a

pure human prejudice which decrees as normal sizes

ranging between the flea and the hippopotamus; but

the sizes of the hydrogen atom and of the Milky

Way, though not normal for us, are perfectly normal

for nature. For all these reasons, arguments about the

infinitesimal dose do not seem to make much

sense.”[19]

“Know, then, for a fact,” says Paracelsus, “that

nothing is so small but that from it anything can be

made and can exist without form”

(Philosophers’ Stone; Waite, II. p. 100).

Present-day proponents of Homœopathic medicine,

seeking explanations for the power inherent in

microdilutions, turn towards quantum and relativity

physics, looking for a Fourth Law of Motion, or a

Fourth Law of Thermodynamics. They tend to link

the idea of a vital force with the theory of an

electrodynamic field “englobing” physical bodies.

From the viewpoint of traditional cosmology, the

subtle domain of manifestation underlies the

physical plane of existence, which is none other than

the material projection of its subtle prototype. But,

naturally, projection presupposes avenues of

communication. And in this respect we can return to

Kent’s image and say that just as the vital force is

vicegerent of the soul, so then may something on the

order of the electromagnetic field be considered as

vicegerent of the vital principle. And here

Stephenson gets close to the heart of the affair when

he asks: “From a causal standpoint this field is

generally considered to be secondary to the matter,

and dependent upon it, but what if the reverse is true

and the field is primary and the matter is secondary

to it? Then, even after the matter is stripped away,

the field would remain. A more holistic view would

consider both matter and the field as co-functions of

each other with one primary at one time, under

certain conditions, and the other primary under other

conditions.”[20] This last sentence is quoted,

because although inaccurate from a causal or

emanationist standpoint, it has its applications within

a medical perspective.

Both Senn and Vithoulkas warn against a tendency

with modernist-oriented theorists and practitioners

of Homœopathy to fall into a scientific fallacy.

Correct Homœopathic procedure, according to Senn,

“not only presupposes the assimilation of the

Hahnemannian doctrine in all its amplitude and

extraordinary subtlety of observation, but also that

one respect it.

“There is unfortunately room to observe that certain

Homœopathic schools have gone astray in the

interpretation of the original principles. The

concern—or excuse—to get in line with the

evolution of modern science ends up in a regrettable

confusion and devaluation of the doctrine. What

results is a polypragmacy that scorns immutable

laws, imparted by nature, which Hahnemann’s

genius had perceived. The result is an allopathic

Homœopathy, which is by definition an

absurdity.”[21]

“Those prescribers who broke from the leadership of

Hahnemann tended to reject not only his use of high

208

potencies, but many of his other principles as well,”

writes Vithoulkas. “They favored mixing many

remedies together, giving a variety of potencies at

once, repeating remedies frequently throughout days

or weeks, prescribing upon the organ affected or the

diagnostic label, giving remedies to produce

‘drainage’ of the system, etc. In short, the low

potency prescribers by and large utilized

Homœopathic remedies in an almost purely

allopathic manner. These practices are still in vogue

in many areas of the world today and are seriously

disrupting the possibilities of cure of many

thousands of cases.”[22]

At all events, the key to keep in mind invariably,

with Homœopathy, is that the remedies are

“subtilized” substances that act on the “subtle body”

of the subject; they function as the prototypes of

plants and minerals and organic matter, or their

energizing properties. To “potentize” is to “render

potential”, and potential means possible—in

potentia—not actual; latent, not manifest; capable of

coming into being or manifestation. It is mutatis

mutandis like the Ether in the First Matter, which

contains the four Elements in a state of virtuality, or

in an undifferentiated equilibrium prior to

materialization.

Hahnemann’s trituration (Paracelsus’s granulation)

has its precedent in alchemical procedures such as

that described in a seventeenth-century tract, The

Sophic Hydrolith, where the original Matter of the

Philosopher’s Stone has to be “pounded, reduced to

powder, and resolved into its three elements…and

then again…be re-combined into a solid stone of the

fusibility of wax by the skilled hand of the

artist”[23] —a conversion called ceration.

His dilutions have an antecedent in the process of

cohobation, or successive distillations, which

alchemists were wont to repeat hundreds of times, in

keeping with Trismosin’s “indefinite number of

operations”.

Succussion, Hahnemann said, “is nothing less than a

trituration of liquid substances” (Org. p. 219), which

would more particularly be his own contribution,

although allied to the reverberation practiced by

alchemists.

Dynamization or potentization by the same token

would have its correspondence in the alchemical

sense of sublimation or exaltation. “If you follow me

rightly,” says Paracelsus, “your medicine will be like

the air which pervades and penetrates all that lies

open to it, and is in all things, drives away all fixed

diseases, and mingles itself radically with them, so

that health takes the place of disease and follows it”

(Philosophers’ Stone; Waite, II. p. 106).

Microdilutions bring to mind the alchemists’

insistence on the minute quantity of stone (or

powder) needed for “tingeing metals”. Hence

Paracelsus: “The true sign by which the Tincture of

the Physicists is known, is its power of transmuting

all imperfect metals into silver (if it be white) or gold

(if it be red), if but a small particle of it be injected

into a mass of such metals liquefied in a crucible”

(Rev. Natur. ix). Now Paracelsus has already

cautioned us that the purpose of alchemy is not, “as

some madly assert,” to make gold and silver, but

rather to make arcana for the curing of disease. The

above citation on transmuting, moreover, is taken

from an alchemical tract called Helvetius’ Golden

Calf (Hermetic Museum, II), by Johann Friedrich

Schweitzer (1625–1709), generally known as

Helvetius, a cultured German distinguished for his

medical knowledge, and physician to the Prince of

Orange. To dispel any doubts about his intended

meaning in this tract, Helvetius dedicated it to three

physicians, one an intimate friend, one court

physician to the Count Palatine of Heidelberg, and

the third court physician to the Elector of

Brandenburg. He announces furthermore on the first

page that “Even in our degenerate age…the

Medicine is prepared which is worth twenty tons of

gold, nay, more, for it has virtue to bestow that which

all the gold of the world cannot buy, viz., health.

Blessed is that physician who knows our soothing

medicinal Potion.”

That Paracelsus was recognized for his minuscule

medicinal doses appears in the skeptic Robert

Burton’s (1577-1640) Anatomy of Melancholy,

where he mocks the spagyrist: “He brags moreover

that he was the First of Physicians, and did more

famous cures than all the Physicians in Europe

besides; a drop of his preparations should go further

than a dram or ounce of theirs, those loathsome and

fulsome filthy potions, heteroclitical pills (so he calls

them), horse medicines, at the sight of which the

Cyclops Polyphemus would shudder.”

What Paracelsus understands by “a drop” is

unequivocal: “You must know that the dose of this

medicine is so small and so light as is scarcely

credible. It should only be taken in wine, or

something of that kind, and always in the smallest

quantity on account of its celestial power, virtue, and

efficacy” (Philosophers’ Stone; Waite, II. p. 105).

209

The famous Catalan alchemist, Arnold of Villanova

(1235?-1312?), claimed his elixir was capable of

transmuting base metals one thousand times its own

weight (Holmyard, p. 122), the same ratio as given

in The Sophic Hydrolith (Hermetic Museum, I. p.

88), while Helmontius (van Helmont) in his On Life

Eternal says “one grain of our powder had

transmuted into purest gold 19,186 times its own

weight of quicksilver—and this process can be

repeated indefinitely” (Golden Calf).

Roger Bacon (1214?-1294) goes one better,

asserting his stone could transmute a million times

as much base metal into gold (Encyclopaedia

Britannica, 14th Ed., entry Alchemy).

“This Philosophers’ Stone not only transmutes one

weight,” Paracelsus informs us, “but this transmutes

another, and this again another, and so on, in so far

that these mutations might be extended almost

endlessly, just as one light kindles a second, and this

second a third” (Archidoxies, De Arcana; Waite, II.

p. 43).

And the seventeenth-century English alchemist,

George Starkey (Eirenaeus Philalethes), likewise

writes in The Stone of the Philosophers: Embracing

the First Matter and the Dual Process for the

Vegetable and Metallic Tinctures (Ch. XIII), that the

virtue of the tincture “is proportioned to the number

of circulations;…every time it is thus treated its

virtues are increased, in a ratio of ten to one hundred,

a thousand, ten thousand, etc., both in medicinal and

transmuting qualities; so that a small quantity may

suffice for the purposes of an artist during the

remaining term of his life.” And the stone (Ch. XII)

easily dissolves in any liquid, “in which a few grains

being taken its operation most wonderfully pervades

the human body, to the extirpation of all disorders,

prolonging life by its use to its utmost period; and

hence it has obtained the appelation of ‘Panacea’ or

a universal remedy. Therefore be thankful to the

Most High for the possession of such an inestimable

jewel, and account the possession of it not as the

result of your own ingenuity, but a gift bestowed of

God’s mere bounty, for the relief of human

infirmities.”[24]

Helvetius’ initial skepticism regarding small doses

comes out in a story he tells on himself in his Golden

Calf. He had suggested through a polemical tract

directed against the Sympathetic Powder of Sir

Kenelm Digby (1603–1665), English author,

diplomat, adventurer, and part-time alchemist, that

the Grand Arcanum might after all be but a “gigantic

hoax”—which said tract provoked a visit on the 27

December 1666 from a mysterious stranger whom

Helvetius refers to as the Artist Elias. On learning

that for all his alchemical lore Helvetius had never

been able to prepare the Universal Medicine, the

stranger removed from “a cunningly-worked ivory

box” three large pieces “of a substance resembling

glass, or pale sulphur,” which he said contained

enough “Tincture for the production of 20 tons of

gold.” The curiosity of the physician was piqued,

and he importuned the Artist on a subsequent visit

some three weeks later, if he would not reveal the

secret, at least to part with a piece of his precious

Stone. The stranger finally complied in handing over

a fragment the size of a rape or mustard seed,

whereupon the doctor, discountenanced, had the

imprudence to intimate that this crumb might not

suffice to transform any appreciable mass of lead.

His visitor eagerly retrieved the particle, and

dividing it with his thumb, threw one half into the

fire and gave back the other, saying: “Even now it is

sufficient for you.” At this point the baffled

Helvetius confessed that when he had first held the

ivory box in his hand he had managed to scrape away

with his nail an atom or two of the substance and

later to project it onto lead, which had only caused

an explosion leaving behind a puddle of glassy earth.

The stranger quipped that his host “was more expert

at theft than at the application of the Tincture,”

explaining that the experiment had aborted through

a failure to envelop the spoil in yellow wax before

consigning it to the crucible. More information

Helvetius could not extort from the Artist, who gave

a few pointers on alchemy in general, then left never

to return.

At his wife’s insistence, however, Helvetius, did

soon try the operation again, with the precaution this

time to wrap his minute fragment in wax; whereupon

there resulted a most remarkable transformation,

with the lead turning into the purest gold imaginable.

The story on a literal plane defies credibility (the

scene, for example, where the Artist casually

discards half the fragment of Stone in the fire, when

he had on a previous occasion rebuffed Helvetius’

entreaties for a piece in protesting that preferably to

sharing it he would immediately cast the entire

contents into the flames, “if fire could be burnt of

fire”).

On a historical plane, however, the episode retains

an element of mystery. Both Porelius, the general

Assay-Master or Examiner of Coins at The Hague,

and Brechtel, goldsmith and minter to the Duke of

Orange, confirmed the high quality of his gold,

210

which Helvetius guarded in his possession as

evidence of the veracity of transmutation. Reports of

the affair reached Spinoza, who later came to The

Hague, first visiting the goldsmith and then

Helvetius, who showed him the gold nugget and the

crucible in which it had been produced, with some

gold still clinging to the inside. Spinoza came away

convinced of the miracle—the only fitting term for it

if true. And even two centuries later Hermann Kopp,

the German chemist and historian of chemistry,

preferred to reserve judgment.[25]

One can ask why, if concocting medicines is all that

alchemy is about, did alchemists cloak their art in

such mystery? The answer is that fabricating

medicines was only the adjunct of a much more

essential goal, the healing and restitution of the soul

to God, with cosmological chemistry (including

certain erotic elements) as the support for this. By its

nature such a Hermetic path had to be restricted to

qualified adepts.

It was Hahnemann who, while fully pious,

nonetheless turned the art into a substantially secular

practice, in accordance with the

rationalistichumanism of his times. Paracelsus with

his clarity/obscurity was the predestined forerunner

of this later and cosmically necessary alternative to

the sweeping inroads of scientific materialism, and

its physicochemical approach to all organic

functioning. Senn, who follows the saying that “no

poison exists without its antidote”, has emphasized

the providential arrival of Homœopathy on the scene

just at the time when vaccination was being

introduced by Hahnemann’s contemporary, Edward

Jenner (1749-1823). And Senn cannot be charged

with a prejudiced attitude towards modern medicine,

for he writes: “One has to recognize that the

allopathic medicinal arsenal has in the last decades

prodigiously enriched itself in weapons of all

calibers. One can only acclaim the extraordinary

conquests of modern medicine, both from a

diagnostic and therapeutic viewpoint.

“However, means are one thing, and their use quite

another.” He speaks about the abuse of medicaments

through medical ignorance, and through infatuation

with every new fad in drugs, none of which can be

taken with impunity. Preventative therapy itself can

be a two-edged sword, depending on how it is

understood and applied to the stresses of modern

living.

“One has to keep away from any kind of

monomaniacal and sectarian idea maintaining there

is only one single therapy that can restore a patient’s

health. Nature will always remain the best ally, for it

has always known how to heal spontaneously.

“In other words, it seems altogether admissible,

reasonable, and even indispensable to adapt a

therapeutic program in the light of modern

knowledge, while making a choice. The drama with

official medicine is precisely that it offers no

alternatives, and obstinately refuses access to other

therapeutic solutions when it does not openly

obstruct such access. The disconcerting

powerlessness of laboratory analyses to reveal and

likewise objectify the origin of certain troubles,

which are nonetheless duly verified in many cases,

should never justify one’s being content to tag the

patient with that handy label: psychosomatic”

(op. cit. Ch. XI).

The truth in such cases is that the illness has

insidiously evolved to a deeper psychosensorial

level. And it is here, precisely, that Homœopathy can

be particularly efficacious, since it has in its nature

the power to heal on the mental and psychic planes,

as well as the physical. But as Senn indicates, the

ways are multiple, and among other legitimate

therapies that have their efficacy according to

circumstances can be included thermal baths,

medicinal herbs, dietary regimens, physiotherapy,

and acupuncture, not forgetting the healing art of the

shaman, such as practiced by the American Indian

medicine men.

Helvetius recognized the latitude of options in

writing that “between the different metals there

exists a sympathy such as that between the magnet

and steel, gold and quicksilver, silver and copper;

and this sympathy is the rationale of the

transmutation of metals. On the other hand, there are

also metallic antipathies, such as that of lead to tin,

of iron to gold, of lead to mercury—antipathies

which have their counterpart in the animal and

vegetable worlds. An accurate and comprehensive

knowledge of these sympathies and antipathies is the

one great qualification of every man who aspires to

be a Master of this Art” (pp. 299-300). No curative

system of course is immune from the mediocrity or

even sheer incompetence of any who may be

practicing unworthily—and this includes those

physicians lacking in diagnostic skill, which

deficiency will vitiate any other qualities they may

possess; expert perception and judgment here

depend more on intuitive synthesis than on analytical

inquiry.

* * *

211

Organic disease is the terrain for Homœopathy. With

acute illnesses Homœopathic medicines that are

judiciously chosen and applied as a single remedy (a

preparation “should be made as does not consist of a

number of ingredients”—Paracelsus, Archidoxies,

X.viii) in a minimum dose can set in motion virtually

on the instant, a radical healing process resulting in

permanent cure. Of his arcanum, Paracelsus says: “I

grant that after its preparation it is a greater and more

potent poison than before; but it is such a poison as

seeks after its like, to find out fixed and other

incurable diseases, and to expel them. It does not

suffer the disease to speed its course and do injury,

but as if it were an enemy to the disease it attracts the

kindred matter to itself, consumes it from the very

roots, and washes it as soap washes the spots from a

foul rag, along with which spots the soap retires also,

leaving the rag pure, uninjured, clean, and fair to

look upon” (Philosophers’ Stone, Waite, II. pp. 103-

4).

In the case of chronic illnesses, the cure can require

a number of years, as layer by layer, hidden and

deep-seated disequilibriums in the constitution—

maybe going back for generations—surface to be

eliminated.

Hahnemann taught that chronic disorders come from

three basic diatheses (the constitutional

predisposition to a category of disease) which he

called miasms: the Psoric Miasm, the Syphilitic

Miasm, and the Sycosis Miasm. These represent not

individual illnesses but rather groupings of organic

malfunctioning. Significantly, he found that

treatment for these three miasms responded best

through the use respectively of Sulphur, Mercury,

and Thuja (Arbor vitae).[26] We do not know if a

chemical affinity exists between Thuja occidentalis

and sodium chloride, but if Arbor vitae here is

replaced by salt, we have Paracelsus’s hypostatical

principles or tria prima.

One advantage of Homœopathic remedies is that

they leave no toxicity in the system, all residue of the

original substance having been eliminated through

the successive dilutions. Thus the remedy used in

curing one disease cannot render the patient

debilitated, or worse, create another. An inadequate

prescription, moreover, leaves the patient where he

was before: it engages no reaction in the organism.

A further merit of Homœopathy is that even where

the diagnosis is doubtful, successful treatment still is

possible provided that the single remedy prescribed

corresponds correctly to the patient’s propria or

totality of characteristic symptoms. For as was said

earlier, the patient in a certain way is his illness, so

that Homœopaths tend, as did Paracelsus, to define

the malady by the remedy that matches the

symptoms. Thus, even with an epidemic such as

measles or cholera, no two patients will manifest

exactly the same symptoms although the epidemic

will fall within a certain class of disease. And here

again, the treatment is not aimed at killing the

particular germ, microbe, or virus involved (which

Kent says cannot be considered the fundamental

cause of the disease, but simply the scavenger

immediately accompanying it), but rather at the

specific metabolic deficiency that has allowed the

bacteria entrance in the first place, and which when

rectified will immunize the system against further

ravages. It is noteworthy that in the Hindu system of

Ayurvedic Medicine, “The study of medicines

frequently assumed greater importance than the

study of the disease. If the symptoms were

prominent a medicine was prescribed for the

symptoms, leaving the disease otherwise severely

alone.”[27]

The process, we repeat, works in a centrifugal—or

what amounts to an “antievolutionist”—progression,

from the center towards the periphery: “Every cell in

man has its representative of the innermost, the

middle and the outermost,” says Kent (Lecture IV);

“there is no cell in man that does not have its will

and understanding, its soul stuff or limbus or simple

substance, and its material substance.

“Disease must flow in accordance with this order,

because there is no inward flow. Man is protected

against things flowing in from the outward toward

the center. All disease flows from the innermost to

the outermost, and unless drug substances are

prepared in a form to do this they can neither produce

nor cure disease.” Those remedies which are

correctly prepared set in motion a purificatory

procedure which the alchemists called coction,

whereby the residues of toxic matter are localized

and ultimately eliminated by the body. This is a

reason why the final stages of a disease may manifest

in skin eruptions and rashes. In the case where a

morbid condition is driven inward by wrong

medication, it is not that it “flows” inward: what it

does is re-establish itself by fastening upon a more

interior organ.

As might be imagined, Homœopathic

prescriptions—worked out through “provings” on

healthy volunteers—have developed into an

enormous pharmacopoeia running into several

thousand remedies, although the ones generally used

number in the hundreds. The materia medicas most

212

frequently consulted here are Allen’s 10-

volume Encyclopaedia, Hering’s 10-

volume Guiding Symptoms, and Clark’s

shorter Dictionary. In this domain the alchemists

had a cosmological knowledge a priori of the inner

properties or “astrological” dimensions of

substances as relating to the human organism, which

rendered the more experimental aspect of “provings”

unnecessary for them. But Hahnemann came at a

later time, when traditional sciences were no longer

operative; and his boast of being the one to introduce

definitively the similimum procedure of curing to the

world is incontestable, if one understands that he is

speaking in terms of official medicine, without

reference to whatever might have been known and

practiced in closed Hermetical circles of the past—

the Paracelsian current included.

* * *

Homœopathy reached the United States in 1825,

with the first college in Allentown, Pennsylvania. By

the turn of the century about one quarter of the entire

medical profession in the country was composed of

homeopaths, according to Kenneth R. Pelletier,

University of California School of Medicine, San

Francisco (Coulter puts the figure at a more modest

one sixth). But concerted attacks by the American

Medical Association in collaboration with the big

drug companies over licensing standards, along with

the Flexnor Report in 1910, brought about the forced

closing of all United States Homœopathic medical

schools. It is not a cause for astonishment that an

article slighting Homœopathy, entered under this

heading in the 1966 edition of the Encyclopaedia

Britannica, was written by the President of the

Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association, and

Director of Medical Relations; whereas an unsigned

article in an earlier edition (14th, 1929) is altogether

favorable, saying: “We can scarcely now estimate

the force of character and of courage which was

implied in his [Hahnemann’s] abandoning the

common lines of medicine.”

The teaching and practice continue legally today in

South America, the Orient, Europe and England,

where the Royal Family from Hahnemann’s time

have been adherents of the regimen.

In our present world countless millions of people are

afflicted with one form or another of iatrogenic

disease (morbidity from physician and drug-induced

causes). What is the prognosis for homeopathy’s

chances of revival—let alone survival—in the years

to come?

In the light of our current high-intensity

industrialized medicine, the prospects are at best

equivocal. It partly depends perhaps on the degree of

physical indisposition people are willing to tolerate

before changes are insisted upon. Here is how a

leading Homœopathic physician evaluates the

problem:

Homœopathy refuses to reveal its secrets to a casual

enquirer. The study of an individual in his illness,

though fascinating, is sufficiently time-consuming.

It caters essentially to the idealistic type of mind

which craves for the satisfaction that comes from “a

job well done”, and which considers material gains

as only incidental. It will suit the hard-working

conscientious physician with a philosophical bent of

mind which takes readily to the study of the

emotional and intellectual sides of man. It will suit a

physician who has an individual bent of mind and

strong convictions that enable him to swim against

the current and even isolate himself from the medical

fraternity, if need be. Homœopathy demands full

adherence to its principles if consistent results are to

be obtained.

Thus, it will hardly appeal to a physician with a

mechanical bent of mind which is so essential for the

making of a good surgeon. Persons hankering after

“mass treatments” and “specifics” will be

disillusioned. Physicians who look forward to a life

of ease and comfort and who are “constitutionally

averse to work” will abhor the practice of

Homœopathy and, if at all they take to it, they will

bring little credit either to the Science or to

themselves. Although Homœopathy never lets down

badly its faithful follower and assures him a

reasonable living and standing in the community, the

material gains are not such as to satisfy the more

ambitious![28]

It is fitting to close the present survey on alchemy

and Homœopathy with the words of Elias Artista, in

Helvetius’ Golden Calf, reminding the reader that

the term Universal Medicine (the Azoth of

Paracelsus) has both the lesser meaning of medicines

based on correspondences between the outer and

inner universes (macrocosm and microcosm) and the

greater meaning of healing through the Divine power

that can reintegrate the soul back into its archetypal

essence:

It is quite true that in your common, tinkering

Medicinal Art, which seeks to counteract only the

separate symptoms or manifestations of disease,

there is no room for an Universal Medicine. But the

true physician knows that all disease (whatever

213 
© Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXXIV – XXXVI,  2017 - 2019.  Private Circulation only. 
 
shape it may assume) is simply a depression of the 
vital spirits,  and that  whatever  strengthens vitality 
will  cut  off  the  possibility  of  disease  at  the  very 
source,  expelling the  humors  which  each produce 
their own peculiar malady, and I maintain that our 
Universal Medicine is a remedy of this radical kind. 
It gently promotes and quickens the movement of the 
vital spirits, and thus, by renewing the source of life, 
renovates and  quickens the  whole  frame,  infusing 
new vitality  and  strength  into every  part.  For this 
reason, adepts call it the Great Mystery of Nature, 
and the preventative of old age and disease. By its 
aid any man may live the full term of days naturally 
allotted to him, and need have no fear of contagion, 
even  when  the  plague,  or  some  other  malignant 
epidemic,  is  striking  down  hundreds  of  his 
neighbors. 
“Blessed,”  says  Helvetius,  “is  he  to  whom  the 
knowledge  of  our  Art is  vouchsafed  in  answer to 
prayer throughout all his work for the Holy Spirit! 
For it should be remembered that this is the only way 
in which our Art of Arts is vouchsafed to man, and 
if you would attain it, the service of God ought to be 
your chief business.” 
 
 
NOTES 
 
[1] See  Elinore  C.  Peebles, Hahnemann  and 
Homœopathy,  N.Y.,  1955;  and  Julia  Minerva 
Green, The  Heart  of  Homœopathy,  Washington, 
D.C., n.d. 
[2] Green, op. cit. 
[3] Cited in The Life and Doctrines of Paracelsus, 
by Franz Hartmann, M.D., 1887; 4th Ed. N.Y., 1932, 
pp. 203-4. 
[4] In Hartmann, pp. 18-19. 
[5] Tartari Historia, Sec. 3 
[6] In  E.  J.  Holmyard, Alchemy,  Penguin  Books, 
1957, p. 164; and Hartmann, p. 27. 
[7] In Hartmann, p. 28. 
[8] E. J. Langford Garstin, Theurgy or the Hermetic 
Practice, London, 1930, p. 67. 
[9] Hartmann, CH. VII. 
[10] Kurt  Seligmann, The  Mirror  of  Magic,  N.Y., 
1948, p. 322. 
[11] Dr. William M. Davidson, Lectures on Medical 
Astrology, Monroe, N.Y., 1979. 
[12] Dr.  Jacques  Michaud, Médecines 
ésotériques…Médecine de demain…, Paris, 1976, p. 
200. 
[13] James  Tyler  Kent,  A.M.,  M.D., Lectures  on 
Homœopathic Philosophy,  New  Delhi,  1977, 
Lecture VIII. 
[14] George  Vithoulkas, The  Science  of 
Homeopathy, N.Y., 1980, p. 231. 
[15] Samuel  Hahnemann, Chronic  Diseases, 
Calcutta, 1975, p. 147. 
[16] James  Stephenson,  M.D., Homeopathic 
Research, Chestnut Hill, Mass., 1966. 
[17] The term used by Nobel Prize winner J. Monod 
in his book, Dans l’unité de l’homme, Paris, 1974. 
[18] Dr.  Dominique  Senn, La  balance  tropique, 
Lausanne, 1980, pp. 183-4. 
[19] Salvador  de  Madariaga,  “On  Medicine”, 
from Essays With a Purpose, London, 1954. 
[20] Stephenson, op. cit. 
[21] Senn, op. cit. p. 189. 
[22] Vithoulkas, op. cit. p. 167. 
[23] The  Hermetic  Museum,  London,  1953,  from 
Orig. Latin Ed. Frankfort, 1678; I. p. 77. 
[24] C.  A.  Burland, The  Arts  of  the  Alchemists, 
London, 1967, pp. 177-8. 
[25] Seligmann, p. 178, and Holmyard, p. 253. 
[26] Harris L. Coulter, Homœopathic Medicine, St. 
Louis, 1975, p. 39. 
[27] Benjamin Walker, Hindu World, London, 1968, 
entry on “Medicine”. 
[28] Dhawale, Principles  and  Practice  of 
Homœopathy, Vol. I, Bombay, 1967, pp. 23-4 (cited 
in Coulter, Homœopathic Medicine, p. 72). 
===================================== 
 

214

34. Nephritic Syndrome in a child with Wilms

Tumor A Homœopathic Medicine Case Report

WHITMONT, Ron (AJHM. 109/2016)

A three-year-old female child, status post-

nephrectomy, radiation and chemotherapy for stage

3 Wilms tumor developed nephritic syndrome in her

remaining kidney. She was treated with

homœopathic medicine in lieu of conventional

treatment. The case was repertorized using

principles of Predictive Homœopathy(PH) and the

homœopathic medicine Staphysagria was

administered on the basis of a singular Syphilitic

Entry Point (SEP). The patient responded rapidly to

the treatment and the condition completely resolved.

Introduction

Nephritic syndrome or glomerulonephritis is a

glomerular disorder characterized by edema, high

blood pressure, and the presence of red blood cells

and protein in the urine. It can be caused by

infections, an inherited genetic disorder,

autoimmune disorders and/or side effects from

pharmaceuticals. Conventional medical treatment

consists of antihypertensive therapy, anti-

inflammatory medications, a reduced potassium diet

and physical rest. A case of Nephritic Syndrome was

treated following unilateral nephrectomy, radiation

and chemotherapy for Stage 3 Wilms Tumor in a

three-year-old girl. Due to the seriousness of her

daughter’s already weakened state, the patient’s

mother declined conventional therapies and sought

homœopathic treatment instead.

Patient Information

This is a case of Debbie (not her real name, who

developed sudden onset of gross hematuria at the age

of two. (Her health status prior to July 2014 was

unremarkable). After a lengthy work-up involving

an ultrasound, CT scan, PET scan and biopsy of her

left kidney, she was diagnosed with a Stage 3 Wilms

Tumor. The tumor originated I the left kidney,

extended to the inferior vena cava (IVC) and directly

into the right atrium of the heart. The tumor filled

two-thirds of the right atrium. Shortly after her

biopsy Debbie became septic.

A left nephrectomy, adrenalectomy, lymph

node dissection, and dissection of the IVC and right

atrium were performed in October 2014. Forty-eight

hours postoperatively, she developed a blood clot in

the IVC along the site of previous tumor attachment.

Debbie was placed on anticoagulants and steroids

and she remained in the pediatric intensive care unit

for two weeks postoperatively.

In addition to surgical removal of the tumor,

Debbie received a chemotherapeutic “DD4a

protocol” consisting of vincristine, doxorubicin and

dactinomycin in addition to cyclophosphamide and

etoposide. This regimen was followed by nine days

of three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy.

Chemotherapy was completed in January 2015.

Prophylactic weekly antibiotics with

sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim were continued

for a total of nine months and eventually

discontinued in July 2015.

In March 2015, Debbie developed stomach and

“bottom” pain. Work-up revealed normal laboratory

findings with the exception of microscopic

hematuria and microalbuminuria. The consulting

nephrologist recommended treatment was never

initiated. Instead the mother called my office to

schedule a homœopathic consultation. Debbie’s

mom told me: “I would like to do everything I can to

improve her kidney function and avoid going on

these harsh meds.”

Review of systems revealed a “sweet and

loving” child with occasional “acting out” and a few

tantrums where she strikes others. She occasionally

holds her urine for unknown reasons and sometimes

complains of seeing “bugs” in her room. Since her

surgery she occasionally sees a play therapist to help

her adjust to the trauma.

She has an intermittent cough, occasional upper

back pain, and normal bowel movements. Her sleep

is generally good with occasional nightmares.

Patient was on no medications at the time of

homœopathic treatment and her supplements

included vitamins A, D, a B complex and probiotics.

Past History

Normal development and milestones.

Psychosocial History

Debbie’s parents are in the midst of

“relationship problems”. Her father is unemployed

and her mother is a former intravenous drug user.

She denied using drugs during Debbie’s pregnancy.

Her parents may be “ending their relationship soon”

partly due to their significant financial stress

complicated by Deb’s medical needs.

Debbie eats well and has a good appetite. She

loves eggs, pasta, cheese, salt and especially craves

sweets. She also like fruits, vegetables, carrots, and

edamame.

Mother describes Debbie as “happy” and not

fearful. She loves being naked and she likes and asks

for cold baths. She is thirsty and prefers juice.

Strange, rare & Peculiar

Debbie always wants to be happy and she likes

to please others. During treatments, she would

“thank” her mom “through the tears.”

215

Timeline of patient medical history, diagnoses and treatment

received

Dates

July 2014

First appearance of gross hematuria

October 2014

Surgery, initiation of radiation and

chemotherapy

January 2015

Chemotherapy completed

June 2015

Nephritic Syndrome diagnosed

July 2015

Prophylactic antibiotics discontinued

August 2015

Homœopathic treatment initiated

September 2015

Nephritic Syndrome resolved

November 2015

Last follow up

Diagnostic Assessment

Laboratory studies on June 20, 2015, indicate

abnormal urinary microalbumin levels of 35.5

(normal less than 1.2). follow-up studies on

September 16, 2015 (after homœopathic treatment),

reveal urinary microalbumin levels less than 1.2.

(See reports).

Homœopathic Assessment

The widespread malignant growth of the cancer

which involved destruction of her kidney as well as

the consequent development of Nephritic Syndrome

suggested that this was a syco-syphilitic case. In

light of this child’s history of severe pathology

followed by invasive surgery, radiation and

chemotherapy, she was astonishingly resilient. I was

also struck by the oddity of her emotional reaction

during treatment; her need to smile, laugh, and

reassure (thank) her mother through tears of

excruciating pain. The patient’s mother confirmed

that Debbie was always reassuring others and

concerned about making other people feel better.

During my training in Predictive Homœopathy,

Dr. Praful Vijayakar emphasized that “strange, rare

and peculiar” mental symptoms can sometimes be

useful in understanding deeper layers of miasmatic

influence in a patient. Syphilitic behaviors can be

interpreted symbolically as correlating with the

physical destruction in a syphilitic case. The

Predictive Homœopathy methodology emphasizes

the practical utility of selecting symptoms as “entry

points” in cases of extreme pathology. These

corresponding rubrics are called Syphilitic Entry

Points.

The Syphilitic Entry Point (SEP) is one method

of addressing the deepest mental representation of

physical pathology in a case. By choosing a

syphilitic symptom (rather than a sycotic or psoric

one), it is possible to select a homœopathic medicine

capable of addressing the most serious and

destructive elements of a case.

Rubrics

1) MIND; Cheerfulness, gaiety, happiness;

tendency; sadness; with (9)

2) MIND; Please, others, desire to (8)

3) MIND; Desires to be naked (20)

4) FOOD; Thirst, general (358)

5) GENERALITIES; Desires or ameliorated by

cold bath (48)

I considered the first two rubrics to be the most

important symptoms describing Debbie’s odd,

characteristic or “strange, rare and peculiar”

behavior. The only medicine to appear in both these

rubrics was Staphysagria.

I considered both Hyoscyamus and Stramonium,

but believed that Pulsatilla was the strongest second

choice, particularly once I tried combining the first

two rubrics into one, and then using physical

modalities to balance the analysis. However, I did

not believe that Debbie was a Pulsatilla child,

primarily because she did not crave upon air (nor

was she ameliorated by it) and she did not crave

support from others (a strong characteristic of

Pulsatilla emphasized by the Vijayakars). On the

contrary, Debbie wanted to provide support for

others.

Staphysagria is a well-known homœopathic

medicine, useful in cases of major abdominal

surgery and trauma, but it is also found in the

repertory under: KIDNEYS; Inflammation,

nephritis.

Children needing Staphysagria can be moody,

petulant, and cranky. They may throw tantrums and

can be afraid of being yelled at, punished, abandoned

and hurt. They fear being unlovable and not being

good enough. They can be overly nice, timid,

passive, and have a pathological desire to please

others. (2)

People needing Staphysagria have ailments

from suppressed emotions, especially anger. They

tend to be yielding and mild, avoid quarrels and

confrontation, and they don’t want to cause trouble.

They often “accept authority to an extreme

degree.”(3)

The Vijayakars taught that one of the basic

sensitivities of people needing Staphisagria is an

over concern with what others think of them. They

try to please others and project a good image of

themselves in order to avoid others’ displeasure.

They tend to be “good” boys and girls.

Staphysagria is predominantly chilly and

hungry. Debbie was hungry, but she was also hot

(her preference for nakedness and cold baths).

I selected Staphysagria as a first choice because

of these mental characteristics as well as its

importance in cases involving surgical interventions.

Ideally, I would have preferred to see more of

Debbie’s modalities (such as thermals) match with

the remedy before prescribing it, but I trusted that

Staphysagria was still a good fit for her.

216

Therapeutic Intervention

I administered Staphisagria 200c, one single

dry dose by mouth followed by one placebo pellet

daily. The Vijayakar’s have recommended using

placebo in this manner after the verum medicine is

administered, and I find that it does not interfere with

the case.

Follow-Up and Outcomes

On August 25, 2015 (eleven days post remedy),

the mother reported that she was “doing good (sic),

in fact great for the most part.” Her behavior was

“amazing in preschool,” though she still had

tantrums at home.

She had only complained of pain in her legs,

stomach and “bottom area” once or twice compared

to constant pains in the past. She still had some

nightmares and one single night terror. Her most

difficult time was bedtime because she didn’t want

to be alone. She went into her parents’ parents’ bed

at three a.m.

Mother stated she still frequently held her urine,

but that Debbie was more emotionally stable both at

home and at school, and her energy had improved as

well.

I decided to continue the placebo on a daily

basis and her follow-up after a urinalysis on

September 19, 2015 (six weeks post remedy)

showed complete resolution of the microalbuminuria

(< 1.2) with microscopic hematuria of 3-5 RBC’s.

debbie’s mom was “thrilled.” Her most recent renal

ultrasound of the right kidney was reported as

“normal” (as was the prior study), but it did show a

small “fold” of tissue in the bladder, which the

radiologist described as an “artifact.” Both her

nephrologist and oncologist recommended no

further treatment except routine follow-up.

I had her continue daily placebo and the follow-

up on November 17, 2015 (ten weeks post remedy)

reported by Debbie’s grandmother was that she was

doing well. This was in spite of the fact that her

parents had separated, and her mother began abusing

intravenous drugs again. Due to time constraints, the

report was brief, and no further treatment was

recommended. Placebo was continued and a formal

follow-up was strongly recommended.

Assessment

Nephritis resolved.

Behavior improved.

Urinary reticence and bladder issues remained.

Discussion

Nephritic Syndrome in the remaining kidney of

a three-year-old child status post-nephrectomy,

chemotherapy and radiotherapy for a stage 3 Wilms

tumor is a potentially serious condition compounded

by the risks of anti-hypertensive and anti-

inflammatory medications. Homœopathic medicine

is an extremely safe and potentially effective

treatment for glomerulonephritis. These medicines

contain nanodoses of natural substances that assist in

rebalancing the patient’s immune system. The

remedy is selected based on the totality of a patient’s

mental, emotional and physical characteristics so

that two children with glomerulonephritis may

receive two completely different homœopathic

remedies.

In the case of Debbie, she responded rapidly to

the most well-indicated remedy and her nephritis

completely resolved. However, although only four

months elapsed between initial treatment and her last

follow-up, there is still adequate information to draw

several conclusions. First, I would not consider this

case completely resolved from a homœopathic

perspective, but merely improved. Debbie’s

remaining urinary symptoms, as well as her

nightmares, are a good indication that she is still

suffering from significant emotional trauma.

Although her grandmother has temporarily stepped

into help take care of Debbie, the stress of her

parents’ break-up as well as her mother’s addiction

will undoubtedly pose serious challenges in this

child’s life. Further follow-up and treatment have

been strongly encouraged, but I am doubtful that this

will take place due to the child’s unstable home

environment.

Second, one of my main goals going forward in

this case would be to help Debbie manage some of

the damaging effects from chemotherapy and

radiation therapy. I suspect that sometime in the

future, she may benefit from the administration of a

bowel nosode, which might help both her

microbiome and immune system achieve a fuller

recovery.

In the analysis of this case, I found that the

methodology of using the Syphilitic Entry Point

(SEP) taught in Predictive Homœopathy seminars

was extremely effective.

Informed Consent

The patient’s parent provided consent to publish

this case report.

References

(1) Gagnier JJ, et al., The CARE guidelines:

consensus based clinical case reporting

guideline development BMJ Case Reports

2013; doi: 10.1136/bcr-2013-201554

(2) Murphy R. Nature’s Materia Medica, Synergy

MacRepertory, V 8.5.2.0.

(3) Vermeulen F. Synoptic Materia Medica I.

Synergy MacRepertory, V 8.5.2.0.

=====================================

217

35. Homeopathic use of modern drugs: therapeutic

application of the organism paradoxical reaction

or rebound effect

ZULIAN TEIXEIRA, Marcus

(IJHDR. 10 (37)/2011)

ABSTRACT

When Samuel Hahnemann systematized

homeopathy and the effects of drugs on the state of

human health, he described the primary action of

drugs and the following secondary and opposite

reaction of the organism. Seeking to apply this

secondary action or vital reaction of the organism as

therapeutic method, he postulated the principle of

similitude, i.e. the prescription to ill individuals of

drugs that cause similar symptoms in the healthy

(similia similibus curentur). In modern

pharmacology, secondary action (vital reaction) of

drugs is known as rebound effect or paradoxical

reaction of the organism. It has been observed after

discontinuation of several classes of palliative

(enantiopathic) drugs, namely those that act

according to the principle of contraries (contraria

contrariis curentur). Although in this case it is

associated with severe and fatal iatrogenic events,

rebound effect might awaken a healing reaction

when the very same drug is employed according to

the principle of similitude. The validity of the

principle of similitude is proved by scientific

evidence on rebound effect, whereas conventional

drugs primary (therapeutic, adverse and side) effects

might be equated to pathogenetic manifestations and

thus be homeopathically applied. For this purpose a

homeopathic materia medica and repertory

comprising 1,251 modern drugs was elaborated

using the monographs described in The United

States Pharmacopeia Dispensing Information as

source (www.newhomeopathicmedicines.com).

Thus, the therapeutic range of homeopathy is

broadened through the addition of hundreds of new

medicines that might be employed in every kind of

disease including countless modern clinical

syndromes.

Introduction

In a work considered foundational for

homeopathy entitled Essay on a new principle to

ascertain the healing powers of drugs [1], Samuel

Hahnemann discusses the pharmacological

properties of tens of medicines used at that time, and

describes their direct primary action on the body

manifested through a series of pathogenetic effects

or symptoms, as well as the subsequent indirect

secondary action developed by the organism to

neutralize the former. Hahnemann attributes the

healing power of drugs to the latter. To illustrate:

Arsenic (Arsenicum album). Direct primary

action: tendency to excite spasm in the blood vessels

and chills, in daily paroxysms; continual use of large

doses gradually causes an almost constant febrile

state; decrease of the tonus of the muscular fiber and

the sensitiveness of nerves (paralysis); stimulates

cough; causes some chronic affections of the skin

(with desquamation). Indirect secondary action:

treatment of intermittent fever with daily recurrence,

useful in hectic and remittent fever, in some types of

paralysis, in cough, in similar diseases of the skin.

Later on, in the “Introduction” to Organon of

homeopathic medicine [2], his major work,

Hahnemann describes hundreds of examples of

involuntary homeopathic cures accomplished by

“Old School” doctors. Thus he was able to ground

his early observations on the therapeutic similarity

principle on hundreds of literature references

stemming from different authors. To continue with

the example of arsenic above:

“[...] And whence could arise that curative

power of arsenic which exhibits in certain species of

intermittent fevers, (a virtue attested by so many

thousands of examples, but in the practical

application of which, sufficient precaution has not

yet been observed, and which virtue was asserted

centuries ago by Nicholas Myrepsus, and

subsequently placed beyond a doubt by the

testimony of Slevogt, Molitor, Jacobi, J. C.

Bernhardt, Jiingken, Fauve, Brera, Darwin, May,

Jackson, and Fowler), if it did not proceed from its

peculiar faculty of excit ingfever, as almost every

observer of the evils resulting from this substance

has remarked, particularly Amatus Lusitanus,

Degner, Buchholz, Heun, and Knape. We may

confidently believe E. Alexander, when he tells us

that arsenic is a sovereign remedy in some cases of

angina pectoris, since Tachenius, Guilbert,

Preussius, Thilenius, and Pyl, have seen it give rise

to very strong oppression of the chest; Gresselius, to

a dyspnea approaching even to suffocation; and

Majault, in particular, saw it produce sudden attacks

of asthma excited by walking, attended with great

depression of the vital powers”.

In paragraphs 63 to 65 of Organon of medicine

[3], Hahnemann explicitly grounds the “mechanism

of action of drugs” and the “principle of similitude

or similarity” on the drug primary action and the

corresponding secondary action or vital reaction of

the organism:

“Every agent that acts upon the vitality, every

medicine, deranges more or less the vital force, and

causes a certain alteration in the health of the

individual for a longer or a shorter period. This is

termed primary action. [...]. To its action our vital

force endeavors to oppose its own energy. This

218

resistant action is a property, is indeed an automatic

action of our life-preserving power, which goes by

the name of secondary action or counteraction”.

(Organon of medicine, paragraph 63)

By giving to ill individuals drugs that caused

similar symptoms in healthy experimental subjects

(similia similibus curentur), application of the

therapeutic similarity principle seeks to elicit a

healing homeostatic reaction against disease by

inducing the organism to react against its own

disorders. Described in 1860 by Sorbonne

physiologist Claude Bernard as “fixité du milieu

intérieur”, the term “homeostasis” was minted in

1929 by Harvard physiologist Walter Bradford

Cannon to name the tendency or ability of living

beings to keep their internal environment constant by

means of physiological processes of self-adjustment.

Emphasizing that the organism secondary

action (opposed in nature to the drug primary action)

is observed “in each and every instance without any

exception” with either ponderable or infinitesimal

doses in both healthy and ill individuals, Hahnemann

raises the similitude principle to the level of “natural

law” (Organon of medicine, paragraphs 58, 61, 110-

112).

Hahnemann had resource to hypothetical

syllogism “modus tollens” (“inference by negation”

or “indirect proof”) to validate the homeopathic

treatment method (principle of similitude). In this

way, in paragraphs 56 to 67 of Organon of medicine

[3] he subjected the so-called enantiopathic or

antipathic treatment method (principle of contraries)

to critical analysis. Bringing up instances of several

drugs contemporarily used on the grounds of their

primary action contrary to the patient’s symptoms

(contraria contrariis curentur), Hahnemann showed

that after an initial slight and short-lasting

aggravation relief of the thus palliated symptoms

always followed “with no exception whatsoever”:

“Important symptoms of persistent diseases

have never yet been treated with such palliative,

antagonistic remedies, without the opposite state, a

relapse - indeed, a palpable aggravation of the

malady - occurring a few hours afterwards. For a

persistent tendency to sleepiness during the day the

physician prescribed coffee, whose primary action is

to enliven; and when it had exhausted its action the

day - somnolence increased; - for frequent waking at

night he gave in the evening, without heeding the

other symptoms of the disease, opium, which by

virtue of its primary action produced the same night

(stupefied, dull) sleep, but the subsequent nights

were still more sleepless than before; [...] - weakness

of the bladder, with consequent retention of urine,

was sought to be conquered by the antipathic work

of cantharides to stimulate the urinary passages

whereby evacuation of the urine was certainly at first

effected but thereafter the bladder becomes less

capable of stimulation and less able to contract, and

paralysis of the bladder is imminent; - with large

doses of purgative drugs and laxative salts, which

excite the bowels to frequent evacuation, it was

sought to remove a chronic tendency to constipation,

but in the secondary action the bowels became still

more confined; [...] How often, in one word, the

disease is aggravated, or something even worse is

effected by the secondary action of such antagonistic

(antipathic) remedies, the old school with its false

theories does not perceive, but experience teaches it

in a terrible manner”. (Organon of medicine,

paragraph 59)

In terms of modern scientific reason and physio-

pharmacological concepts, the primary action

adduced by Hahnemann corresponds to the

therapeutic, adverse and side effects of conventional

drugs. The secondary action or vital reaction in turn

corresponds to the rebound effect or paradoxical

reaction of the organism, which has been observed

after discontinuation of several classes of drugs that

act contrarily to the symptoms of patients (palliative,

enantiopathic or antipathic drugs) [4-11].

Analogously to the traditional secondary action

of homeopathic medicines, the rebound effect of

modern drugs may be used for therapeutic purposes

[12-14], namely to stimulate homeostatic healing

reactions provided that drugs are prescribed

according to the principle of similarity of symptoms

as described below.

This article presents the conclusions of a study

that sought to develop a method to use modern drugs

according to the principle of therapeutic similitude.

The first part discusses the validity of the similitude

principle on the grounds of scientific evidence on

modern drugs rebound effect or paradoxical

reaction, and the possibility to consider the adverse

effects of conventional drugs as homeopathic

pathogenetic effects. The second part describes a

homeopathic materia medica and repertory

comprising the primary (therapeutic, adverse and

side) effects of modern drugs as described in The

United States Pharmacopeia Dispensing Information

(2004), and illustrates and systematizes their

therapeutic application in present-day diseases.

Evidence of similitude in modern pharmacology

The hypothetic “modus tollens” used by

Hahnemann to develop the principle of therapeutic

similitude corresponds to the “null hypothesis” of

modern statistics. We also applied it in the course of

the last fourteen years to the study of the “sad results

of the use of antagonistic medicines (principle of

contrary)” of modern drugs according to modern

219

physio-pharmacological notions such as rebound

effect or paradoxical reaction of the organism (viz.,

homeopathic model secondary action or vital

reaction).

Bridging the gap between the homeopathic

principle of treatment and modern pharmacology,

countless reports in pharmacological compendia and

clinical and experimental trials published in

scientific journals point to a secondary reaction of

the organism opposing the primary action of a drug,

thus confirming Hahnemann’s early observations.

Such secondary action seeks to maintain organic

homeostasis, and is currently known as rebound

effect or paradoxical reaction of the organism in

conventional pharmacology.

To illustrate: drugs classically used in angina

pectoris treatment (beta-blockers, calcium channel

blockers, nitrates, etc.) whose primary action is

beneficial (anti-angina) might awaken paradoxical

increase of the frequency and intensity of chest-pain

after discontinuation or irregular use, which

sometimes does not respond to any therapeutic

means. Drugs used to control arterial hypertension

(alpha-2 agonists, betablockers, ACE inhibitors,

MAO inhibitors, nitrates, sodium nitroprusside,

hydralazine, etc.) might cause rebound arterial

hypertension as paradoxical reaction of the organism

to the primary stimulus; antiarrhythmic drugs

(adenosine, amiodarone, beta-blockers, calcium

channel blockers, disopyramide, flecainide,

lidocaine, mexiletine, moricizine, procainamide,

quinidine, digital, etc.) may awaken rebound

exacerbation of basal ventricular arrhythmias when

treatment is interrupted. Anticoagulant drugs

(argatroban, bezafibrate, heparin, salicylates,

warfarin, clopidogrel, etc.), employed in the

prophylaxis of thrombosis due to their primary effect

may promote thrombotic complications as

paradoxical reaction of the organism. With the use

of psychiatric drugs such as anxiolytics

(barbiturates, benzodiazepines, carbamates, etc.),

sedative-hypnotics (barbiturates, benzodiazepines,

morphine, promethazine, zopiclone, etc.), stimulants

of the central nervous system (amphetamines,

caffeine, cocaine, mazindol, methylfenidate, etc.),

antidepressant (tricyclic, MAO inhibitors, etc.) or

antipsychotic (clozapine, phenothiazines,

haloperidol, pimozide, etc.) paradoxical reactions of

the organism seeking to keep organic homeostasis

may be observed associated with the appearance of

symptoms contrary to the ones expected from their

primary therapeutic use, consequently worsening the

initial picture. Drugs with anti-inflammatory

primary action (corticoids, ibuprofen, indomethacin,

paracetamol, salicylates, etc.) might trigger

paradoxical reactions of the organism that increase

inflammation and its mediators serum concentration.

Drugs with analgesic primary action (caffeine,

calcium channels blockers, clonidine, ergotamine,

methysergide, opiates, salicylates, etc.) may cause

significant hyperalgesia as rebound effect. Diuretics

(furosemide, torasemide, triamterene, etc.)

enantiopathically used to diminish plasma volume

(edema, arterial hypertension, congestive heart

failure, etc.) may cause rebound sodium and

potassium retention, thus increasing the basal plasma

volume. Drugs primarily used as antidyspeptic

(antacids, H2 antagonists, misoprostol, sucralfate,

etc.) in the treatment of gastritis and gastroduodenal

ulcers might promote after a primary decrease of

acidity rebound increase of hydrochloric acid

production by the stomach eventually causing

perforation of chronic gastro-duodenal ulcers.

Bronchodilators (adrenergic drugs, sodium

chromoglycate, epinephrine, ipratropium,

nedocromil, etc.) used in the treatment of bronchial

asthma may worsen bronchial constriction as

paradoxical response of the organism to the

interruption or discontinuation of treatment, etc. [4,

Evidenced by clinical and experimental

pharmacology [9, 10], the properties of rebound

effect (organism paradoxical reaction) are the same

as the homeopathic vital reaction (secondary action)

described by Hahnemann (Organon of medicine,

paragraphs 59, 64, 69): (i) it appears only in

susceptible individuals (around 5% of the

population), whose constitution exhibits symptoms

similar to the pathogenetic effects of the drug; (ii) it

does not depend on the drug, repetition of doses, or

type of symptoms (disease); (iii) it appears after the

primary action of the drug (discontinuation) as an

automatic manifestation of the organism; (iv) it

induces an organic state (symptoms) opposite to and

greater in intensity and/or duration than the drug

primary action; (v) the size of effect is proportional

to the intensity of the primary action of the drug.

As further peculiar characteristics of this

phenomenon, rebound effect or paradoxical reaction

of the organism manifests itself within a variable

period of time (hours to weeks) after interruption or

discontinuance of treatment. It also lasts a variable

period of time (hours to weeks) as a function of the

characteristics of the drug and each patient’s

idiosyncrasy. Evidence of similitude in modern

drugs fatal iatrogenic events

Despite countless scientific studies giving

evidence of the rebound effect of modern drugs

published in high impact factor journals, its

mechanism is systematically neglected in teaching

or public divulgation contexts. Thus, dismissed as a

mere “natural phenomenon” (described by

220

homeopathy more than two centuries ago), countless

fatal iatrogenic effects arising from the use of

modern enantiopathic drugs that could be avoided by

the inclusion of these evidences in modern medical

knowledge are not.

Despite the idiosyncratic nature of this

phenomenon that appears in about 5% of individuals

(and for this very same reason calls to individualized

medicines in homeopathic treatments),

contemporary scientific evidences point to the

occurrence of severe and fatal iatrogenic effects as a

function of the organism paradoxical reaction

following discontinuance of several classes of

modern enantiopathic drugs [6].

Recent meta-analyses showed that due to their

primary anticoagulant action all non-steroidal

antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), either selective

(rofecoxib, celecoxib, etc.) or non-selective

(salicylates, diclofenac, naproxen, ibuprofen, etc.)

cyclooxygenase inhibitors induce thrombogenic

paradoxical reactions after discontinuance leading to

significant increase in the incidence of thrombosis

and causing fatal vascular events (acute myocardial

infarction – AMI, and cerebrovascular accidents –

CVA) [7].

Analogously further meta-analyses indicate that

after their primary bronchodilator action, long-

acting betaagonist bronchodilators (salmeterol,

formoterol, etc.) cause significant irreversible and

fatal paradoxical bronchospasm [8]. Several studies

showed that antidepressant agents selectively

inhibiting serotonin reuptake (SISRs) induce

rebound exacerbation of suicidal ideas after an initial

improvement of this symptom [9]. The same applies

to various types of statins (simvastatin, lovastatin,

atorvastatin, etc.) resulting in paradoxical and fatal

vascular events (AMI, CVA) after primary increase

of their pleiotropic or vascular protective effects

[10]. Recent research shows that just as other anti-

dyspeptic agents, also proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs

such as omeprazole, pantoprazole, esomeprazole,

etc.) cause rebound hypergastrinemia and acid

hypersecretion after initial improvement of gastric

acidity, thus exacerbating gastritis and ulcers

(perforation of chronic ulcers), gastric cancer,

carcinoid tumor and so forth [11].

Compared to placebo, the risk of fatal vascular

events was 3.4 times higher after salicylates

discontinuance, 1.52 after NSAIDs and 1.67 after

rofecoxib discontinuance [7]. Risk of fatal

bronchoconstriction was 4 times higher after long-

acting bronchodilators discontinuance, and 1/1,000

patients/year/use deaths from rebound

bronchospasm, which corresponds to 4,000-5,000

deaths/year only in the USA and 40,000-50,000

worldwide as a function of the widespread use of

these agents [8].

Risk of suicidal behavior was 6 times higher

after SISRs discontinuance representing about 5

rebound suicidal events per 1,000 teenage-

patients/year/use, i.e. 16,500 suicidal ideas or

behaviors/year only in teenagers and only in the

USA [9]. After statins discontinuation compared to

no treatment, the risk of mortality was 1.69 higher

and the risk of fatal vascular events was 19 times

higher, thus corresponding to hundreds of thousands

of episodes due to the widespread use of these agents

[10]. In regards to PPIs, 70% of users report rebound

acid hypersecretion [11].

Average time for rebound effect or paradoxical

reaction to manifest after treatment discontinuation

does not vary among different classes of drugs, e.g.

10 days for salicylates, 14 days for NSAIDs, 9 days

for rofecoxib, 7 days for SISRs and 7 days for statins.

In regards to anti-dyspeptic agents, rebound acid

hypersecretion occurs within 1 hour after a standard

antacids dose, 2 days after a 4-week-course of H2-

receptor antagonists, and 1 or 2 weeks after a 4- or

8-week PPIs course. Rebound phenomena last 10

days after a 4-week H2-receptor antagonists course,

and 2 to 4 weeks after a 4- or 8-week PPIs course.

Treatment duration did not show direct correlation

with the appearance of rebound effect, however,

drugs with intense palliative action, i.e. that

significantly suppresses the primary symptoms, of

disease exhibit proportional frequency/intensity of

paradoxical reactions. [6-11]

Homeopathic pathogenetic trials (HPTs)

To establish the healing properties of drugs in

order to apply the principle of therapeutic similitude,

homeopathy employs HPTs as a pharmacological

clinical research model. HPTs may be equated to

modern “phase I studies” and they take into account

all types of primary actions, the so-called

pathogenetic (mental, Int J High Dilution Res 2011;

10(37): 338-352 343 general or physical) effects or

symptoms induced by drugs on the state of human

health. These very same effects are called

therapeutic, adverse or side effects of drugs by

modern pharmacology.

Despite Hahnemann laid down ideal

stipulations to carry out HPTs (Organon of

medicine, paragraphs 105- 145), the homeopathic

materia medica is actually a compilation of signs and

symptoms recorded during the tests of thousands of

drugs in both healthy and ill individuals in

ponderable (substances in raw state) and diluted

(dynamized medicines) doses. Therefore, it

comprises pictures of artificial disease states needed

to apply the homeopathic therapeutic method. In this

221

regard, it is worth to observe that the historical

reviews carried out by Robert Ellis Dudgeon [15]

and Richard Hughes [16] show that most symptoms

listed in works homeopathic materia medica written

by Hahnemann (Fragmenta de viribus

medicamentorum, Materia Medica Pura and Chronic

Diseases) arise from drugs used in ponderable doses

and/or on ill individuals.

Analogously, later homeopaths published new

HPTs or additions to the older ones performed in the

same manner, from which the following are still

employed in present-day homeopathic clinical

practice: C. G. C. Hartlaub and C. F. Trinks (Reine

Arzneimittellehre, 1828-1831, Germany), George H.

G. Jahr (Manual of Homeopathic Medicines, 1835,

Germany), Edwin M. Hale (New Remedies, 1867-

1873, USA), Timothy F. Allen (The Encyclopedia of

Pure Materia Medica, 1874-1879, USA), etc. [15-

16]

Accordingly, the next section describes the

adverse events of modern drugs that from the

homeopathic perspective may be considered primary

actions (pathogenetic manifestations) able to induce

a healing vital reaction (paradoxical reaction or

rebound effect) when applied according to the

principle of therapeutic similitude.

Use of adverse events as pathogenetic

manifestations of modern drugs

Adverse events (AE) or reactions (AR) to drugs

are defined by the World Health Organization

(WHO) [17] as “a response to a drug which is

noxious and unintended, and which occurs with

doses normally used in man for the prophylaxis,

diagnosis, or therapy of disease, or for the

modification of physiological function”.

During the study of a new drug (phases I to IV)

[18], besides the expected therapeutic effect, also

adverse events appear (adverse/ side effects), which

can be classified according to criteria such as

predictability, frequency, intensity, causality and

severity [19]. For this study purposes, namely to

assimilate the adverse events of modern drugs to

pathogenetic effects (new symptoms) of such drugs,

the criteria making this relationship evident are

predictability, frequency and causality.

According to the criterion of predictability,

“predictable” adverse events are the ones already

described in the literature (drug monographs);

conversely, “unpredictable” adverse events have not

yet been reported. This study employed the adverse/

side effects described in drug monographs (The

United States Pharmacopeia Dispensing Information

- USP DI) [20], therefore they are all “predictable”

and are likely to reappear in future trials.

“Predictable” adverse events can be further

classified according to their frequency or incidence

of expression [21] as: (i) “very common”: frequency

higher than or equal to 10.0%; (ii) “common”: higher

than or equal to 1.0% and lower than 10.0%; (iii)

“not common”: higher than or equal to 0.1% and

lower than 1.0%; (iv) “rare”: higher than or equal to

0.01% and lower than 0.1%; and (v) “very rare”:

lower than 0.01%.

Drugs monographs used in this study (USP DI)

[20] classify drugs adverse/side effects according to

their frequency in three groups: (i) “more frequent”:

higher than or equal to 4.0%; (ii) “less frequent”:

higher than or equal to 1.0% and lower than 4.0%;

and (iii) “rare”: lower than 1.0%.

It is worth to remind here that before any new

drug is approved and marketed it must be subjected

to phases I to III studies, where their adverse events

are observed in thousands of individuals. Phase IV

studies conversely refer to the surveillance and

vigilance of a drug effects after it entered the market,

which extends the observation range to tens of

thousands of individuals and also on the long run.

Results are then incorporated into the drug

monographs, which are periodically updated (USP

DI).

Therefore, the adverse events used in this study

as pathogenetic manifestations (new symptoms) of

drugs were observed in the lowest frequencies (about

1.0%) in hundreds of individuals; this fact reinforces

the validity of this proposal.

Regarding causality, according to WHO [19,

22] an adverse event is related to a drug according to

the following categories: “defined”, “probable”,

“possible”, “improbable”, “conditional” and

“unclassifiable”, depending on the degree of

certainty of the corresponding interaction. By

definition, adverse events whose causality is rated

“defined” or “probable” exhibit: temporal sequence

(i.e., there is temporal connection between the

administration of the drug and appearance of adverse

events); typical reaction; they disappear when the

drug is discontinued; and cannot be explained out of

the underlying disease or other therapeutic means.

The causal link between a drug and an adverse

event (risk evaluation) is retrospectively established

as cause effect. “Predictable” and “quantified” (i.e.

determined frequency) have “probable causality”

[19]. For this reason, the adverse/side effects used in

this study (USP DI) exhibit evident causal

relationship with the corresponding drugs (predicted

risk) and thus are “new symptoms belonging to the

drug”, as Hahnemann stipulated in paragraph 142 of

Organon of medicine [3].

Homeopathic use of modern drugs: therapeutic

application of the rebound effect

Some instances of involuntary homeopathic

cures with conventional drugs are reported in the

222

scientific literature. Biphasic contraceptives

(anteovin) were used to induce rebound ovulation

and consequent pregnancy in women with functional

sterility; central nervous systems stimulants

(methylphenidate) were used to calm down and

improve attention in children with attention deficit

hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); gonadotropin

releasing hormone stimulants (leuprorelin) were

used in the treatment of testosteronedependent

prostate tumors; immunosuppressant agents

(thiomorpholine analogous to prazosin) induced

rebound immune-stimulation after primary

immunosuppression, and so forth [4,5].

Retracing classic homeopathy steps to conclude

an earlier stage of this research [12-14], this author

systematized the use of modern drugs according to

the principle of therapeutic similitude. This is, we

suggest stimulating the organism’s healing rebound

effect or paradoxical reaction (vital reaction) by

using drugs (in infinitesimal doses) that caused

similar symptoms in healthy or ill individuals. To

make this proposal operative a Homeopathic Materia

Medica of Modern Drugs grouping together all

primary (therapeutic, adverse and side) effects of

drugs (USP DI) according to the traditional chapters

scheme of the homeopathic Materia Medica was

needed. At the same time, special value was

attributed to the frequency of appearance of

symptoms during the different phases of the study of

drugs.

To facilitate actual selection of an

individualized medicine (similar to the patient‟s

totality of symptoms) – which is the basic premise

for successful homeopathic treatment – the second

stage involved the elaboration of a Homeopathic

Repertory of Modern Drugs, where symptoms and

their corresponding remedies are arranged as in the

classic homeopathic repertories.

Homeopathic Materia Medica of Modern Drugs

(HMMMD)

As initial source for HMMMD The United

States Pharmacopoeia Dispensing Information (USP

DI, 2004) was chosen because its information is

reliable and it bears no conflict of interests with the

pharmaceutical industry.

All primary (pathogenetic manifestations), viz.

therapeutic, adverse and side effects of each drug

were systematized according to the traditional

homeopathic materia medica pattern and allocated to

the corresponding chapter: Mind; Vertigo; Head;

Eye; Vision; Ear; Hearing; Nose; Face; Mouth;

Teeth; Throat; External Throat; Stomach; Abdomen;

Rectum; Stool; Bladder; Kidneys; Prostate Gland;

Urethra; Urine; Genitalia Male; Genitalia Female;

Larynx and Trachea; Language, Conversation and

Voice; Respiration; Cough; Expectoration; Chest;

Back; Extremities; Nails; Sleep; Dreams; Chill;

Fever; Perspiration; Skin e Generalities. Diagnostic

Tests were grouped together in a new chapter.

According to the homeopathic tradition and in

conformity with the classification of adverse events

mentioned above [20,21], “frequency of incidence”

of pathogenetic symptoms (therapeutic, adverse and

side effects) was scored; these scores (points) are

represented in the text with different fonts: “very

frequent” (therapeutic effects) / 5 points / bold italic

font; “more frequent” (≥ 4%) / 4 points / bold font;

“less frequent” (≥ 1% and < 4%) / 3 points / italic

underlined font; “rare” (< 1%) / 2 points / italic font;

“overdose” / 1 point / normal font.

In HMMMD, syndromes (viz., modern clinical

diagnoses) were kept as such, whereas their

constituting symptoms were distributed among the

respective chapters of the HRMD. This study

systematized the pathogenetic effects (symptoms) of

1,251 modern drugs according to the homeopathic

model allowing for their therapeutic application on

the grounds of the principle of similarity. The overall

structure is illustrated by the example of PPI drug

“pantoprazole” (Table 1).

Table 1. Example of systematization of pathogenetic effects in HMMMD

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Pantoprazole (Gastric acid pump inhibitor)

Chapters

Primary actions or pathogenetic effects

Mind

anxiety; confusion

Vertigo

dizziness; vertigo (dizziness; feeling of constant movement of self or surroundings;

sensation of spinning)

Head

headache; migraine

Vision

Blurred vision

Eye

angioedema (large, hive-like swellings on eyelids); neuropathy, optic, anterior ischemic

(blindness; blurred vision; decreased vision; loss of vision, sudden)

223

Vision

blurred vision

Hearing

tinnitus (ringing or buzzing in the ears)

Nose

rhinitis (runny or stuffy nose); sinusitis (aching, fullness, or tension in area of affected

sinus; headache; runny nose)

Face

angioedema (large, hive-like swellings on face, lips)

Mouth

angioedema (large, hive-like swellings on mouth, and/or tongue); salivation, increased;

speech disorder (difficulty in speaking)

Throat

pharyngitis (sore throat)

External Throat

pain, neck

Stomach

belching; dyspepsia (indigestion); gastroenteritis (abdominal pain; anorexia; diarrhea;

nausea; weakness); nausea; vomiting

Abdomen

flatulence; gastroenteritis (abdominal pain; anorexia; diarrhea; nausea; weakness); pain,

abdominal; pancreatitis (abdominal pain; nausea; vomiting); failure, hepatic (headache;

stomach pain; continuing vomiting; dark-colored urine; general feeling of tiredness or

weakness; light-colored stools; yellow eyes or skin)

Rectum

diarrhea; rectal disorders

Bladder

infection, urinary tract (difficulty in urinating; frequent urge to urinate; painful

urination)

Kidneys

nephritis, interstitial (bloody or cloudy urine; fever; skin rash; swelling of feet or lower

legs; greatly decreased frequency of urination or amount of urine)

Respiration

bronchitis (chills; cough; headache; hoarseness); dyspnea (shortness of breath);

infection, upper respiratory tract (cough; runny or stuffy nose; sore throat)

Cough

cough, increased

Chest

bronchitis (chills; cough; headache; hoarseness); pain, chest; tachycardia, mild (fast,

pounding, or irregular heartbeat or pulse)

Back

pain, back

Extremities

arthralgia (pain in joints); hypertonia (muscle rigidity or stiffness)

Sleep

insomnia (trouble in sleeping)

Skin

erythema multiforme (pain in joints or muscles; itching or redness of skin; bull‟s eye-

like lesion on skin); itching; necrolysis, epidermal, toxic (itching or redness of skin;

loosening and/or stripping off of top layer of skin; skin tenderness with burning); rash

Generalities

anaphylaxis (changes in facial skin color; fast or irregular breathing; puffiness or

swelling of the eyelids or around the eyes; shortness of breath, troubled breathing,

tightness in chest, and/or wheezing; skin rash, hives, and itching); angioedema; asthenia

(loss of energy or strength; weakness); erythema multiforme (pain in joints or muscles;

itching or redness of skin; bull‟s eye–like lesion on skin); flu-like syndrome (abdominal

pain; chills; cough; headache; pain in joints or muscles; runny nose; sneezing; sore

throat); hyperglycemia (increased frequency and volume of urination; unusual thirst);

hypokinesia (difficulty in moving); infection; injection site reaction (bleeding;

blistering; burning; coldness; discoloration of skin; feeling of pressure; hives; infection;

inflammation; itching; lumps; numbness; pain; rash; redness; scarring; soreness;

stinging; swelling; tenderness; tingling; ulceration; warmth); jaundice (yellow eyes or

skin); pain; Stevens-Johnson syndrome (aching joints and muscles; blistering,

loosening, peeling, or redness of skin; unusual tiredness or weakness); pancytopenia

(high fever; chills; unexplained bleeding or bruising; bloody, black, or tarry stools; pale

skin; unusual tiredness or weakness; cough; shortness of breath; sores, ulcers, or white

spots on lips or in mouth; swollen glands); rhabdomyolysis (dark-colored urine; fever;

muscle cramps or spasms; muscle pain or stiffness; unusual tiredness or weakness);

vasodilation (feeling of warmth or heat; flushing or redness of skin, especially on face

and neck; headache; feeling faint, dizzy, or lightheaded; sweating)

Homeopathic Repertory of Modern Drugs (HRMD)

The pathogenetic symptoms listed in the HMMMD were distributed following the traditional model of

homeopathic repertories. Thus, the same arrangement of chapters was followed, and all drugs inducing a

224

same symptom are grouped together under rubrics and sub-rubrics. Drugs are mentioned by the abbreviation

of its name and different fonts indicate their score of relative “frequency of incidence”. To facilitate the

search of the most accurate rubric in all chapters, “crossed-references” point to similar pathogenetic

manifestations. The overall structure is illustrated by the example of rubric “cancer”, included in HRMD

chapter “Generalities” (Table 2).

Table 2. Example of symptoms description in HRMD (Chapter Generalities)

Cancer (See Tumors)

 breast: DrosE-syst., Estro-syst.

 invasive: EstroPO-syst.

 carcinoma

 breast: Adal-syst.

 gastrointestinal: Adal-syst.

 hepatocellular: AnabS-syst., DrosEE-syst., EstroPO-syst.

 women having a predisposing or pre-existing condition, especially those who smoke tobacco:

DrosEE-syst., EstroPO-syst.

 liver: Cyp-syst.

 prostatic carcinoma disease flare, transient: Gos-syst.

 skin: Adal-syst.

 squamous: Imiq-top.

 urogenital: Adal-syst.

 endometrial: ConjE-syst., DrosE-syst., Estro-syst., Estro-vag.

 leukemia (bone pain): AnabS-syst.

 myeloid or myelogenous, acute (bone pain): Docet-syst., Ibr-syst.

 non-lymphocytic, acute (tiredness; weakness): Clod-syst.

 promyelocytic leukemia (APL) differentiation syndrome, acute: ArsTr-syst.

 secondary: Epir-syst.

 lymphoid syndromes (including lymphoid hyperplasia, pseudolymphomas, and

pseudopseudolymphomas): AntconH-syst. [Phenytoin]

 lymphoma: Adal-syst., AntthyGR-syst., Cyclosp-syst., Etan-syst.

 increase in the incidence of: AntthyGR-syst.

 lymphoma like reaction: Adal-syst.

 post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease (PTLD), increase in the incidence of:

AntthyGRsyst.

 malignancies: Alef-syst., Etan-syst.

 neuroblastoma: DiphtTTH-syst.

 ovarian: ConjE-syst.

 skin, non-melanoma: Etan-syst.

______________________________________________________________________________________

Adal-syst.: Adalimumab (Systemic); Alef-syst.: Alefacept (Systemic); AnabS-syst.: Anabolic Steroids

(Systemic); AntconH-syst. [Phenytoin]: Anticonvulsants, Hydantoin (Systemic) [Phenytoin]; AntthyGR-

syst.: Anti-thymocyte Globulin (Rabbit) (Systemic); ArsTr-syst.: Arsenic Trioxide (Systemic); Clod-syst.:

Clodronate

______________________________________________________________________________________

(Systemic); ConjE-syst.: Conjugated Estrogens and Medroxyprogesterone For Ovarian Hormone Therapy

(OHT) (Systemic); Cyclosp-syst.: Cyclosporine (Systemic); Cyp-syst.: Cyproterone (Systemic); DiphtTTH-

syst: Diphtheria and Tetanus Toxoids and Acellular Pertussis Adsorbed and Hepatitis B (Recombinant) and

Inactivated Poliovirus Vaccine Combined (Systemic); Docet-syst.: Docetaxel (Systemic); DrosE-syst.:

Drospirenone and Estradiol (Systemic); DrosEE-syst.: Drospirenone and Ethinyl Estradiol (Systemic);

Epirsyst.: Epirubicin (Systemic); Estro-syst.: Estrogens (Systemic); Estro-vag.: Estrogens (Vaginal);

EstroPO-syst. Estrogens and Progestins Oral Contraceptives (Systemic); Etan-syst.: Etanercept (Systemic);

Gos-syst.: Goserelin (Systemic); Ibr-syst. Ibritumomab Tiuxetan (Systemic); Imiq-top.: Imiquimod

(Topical).

______________________________________________________________________________________

225

Conclusion

Applying the “modus tollens” hypothetic

syllogism initially used by Hahnemann to give

scientific grounds to homeopathic therapeutics, this

author devoted the last fourteen years to ground the

principle of therapeutic similitude on the

phenomenon of rebound effect or paradoxical

reaction of modern drugs. The first phase of this

study comprised a thorough review of the literature

on clinical and experimental pharmacology studies.

The second stage consisted in developing a method

to employ modern drugs according to therapeutic

similitude, which resulted in a proposal to include

1,251 new drugs in the homeopathic materia medica.

Although ideally HPTs ought to be performed

with drugs in infinitesimal doses administered to

healthy individuals to avoid confusing true

pathogenetic effects and symptoms of disease, the

traditional works on homeopathic materia medica

compile together signs and symptoms recorded in

tests of drugs on healthy and ill individuals and

induced by both ponderable and infinitesimal doses.

Thus, they contain all the pictures of artificial

disease states needed to apply the principle of

therapeutic similarity. In the clinical research of new

drugs (phase I to IV studies) the aspects of

predictability, frequency and causality of adverse

events described in monographs indicate that they

also are pathogenetic manifestations (new

symptoms) of drugs, thus endorsing their use

according to the principle of similitude.

In order to widen the range of application of

therapeutic similitude to hundreds of new drugs

tested on thousands of individuals according to strict

protocols, a HMMMD and a HRMD were elaborated

following the homeopathic traditional model. In the

former, the symptoms of each drug were distributed

in chapters following the classic homeopathic model

and scored according to their relative frequency of

appearance. In the latter, chapters group together all

drugs inducing a same symptom with their

corresponding score. It will be thus possible to

employ new drugs to relieve clinical disorders

commonly treated by homeopathy as well as modern

signs, symptoms and complex syndromes (Table 3).

This research project is titled “New

Homeopathic Medicines: use of modern drugs

according to the principle of similitude”, and it is

distributed in three volumes: (1) Scientific Basis of

Principle of Similitude in Modern Pharmacology;

(2) Homeopathic Materia Medica of Modern Drugs;

and (3) Homeopathic Repertory of Modern Drugs.

Aiming at divulgating this project among

homeopaths worldwide as well as to allow for its

improvement, the full materials are posted online,

initially in English and Portuguese at

www.newhomeopathicmedicines.com [23].

Thus, concluding a study began in 1997 [4,5],

all studies on this subject will be grouped in the

project materials in the hope of widening the

scientific basis of homeopathy and the homeopathic

treatment of modern diseases.

Table 3. Examples of homeopathic therapeutic use of conventional drugs

Chapters

Homeopathic therapeutic use of conventional drugs

Mind

Anxiety, delirium, dementia, depression, forgetfulness, hyperactivity, irritability,

lethargy, mania, panic, schizophrenia, suicidal disposition, etc.

Vertigo

Dizziness, faintness, gait disorders, lightheadedness, orthostatic hypotension, syncope,

unsteadiness, vertigo, etc.

Head

Aneurysm, arteritis, encephalitis, headache, intracranial hypertension, meningitis,

migraine, seborrhea, stroke, etc.

Eye

Astigmatism, cataract, cornea disorders, glaucoma, inflammations, keratopathy,

necrosis, neuritis, papilledema, retina disorders, etc.

Vision

Amblyopia, blindness, blurred, diplopia, hypermetropia, myopia, presbyopia, scotoma,

etc.

Hearing

Buzzing, deafness, hyperacusis, hypoacusis, ringing, tinnitus, etc.

226

Nose

Congestion, coryza, dryness, epistaxis, rhinitis, sinusitis, sneezing, etc.

Face

Gestures, heat flushes, hirsutism, neuritis, paralysis, swelling, trismus, etc.

Mouth

Bleeding, dryness, gingivitis, glossitis, mucositis, sialorrhea, speech disorders,

stomatitis, taste disorders, ulcers, etc.

Throat

Angioedema, dryness, dysphagia, esophagitis, pharyngitis, ulcers, etc.

External throat

Goiter, hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism, lymphadenopathy, parotitis, torticollis, etc.

Stomach

Anorexia, dyspepsia, gastritis, gastroenteritis, hemorrhage, hiccough, nausea,

polydipsia, reflux, ulcers, vomiting, etc.

Abdomen

Ascites, appendicitis, cholelithiasis, colitis, gastroenteritis, hemorrhage, hepatic

insufficiency, hepatitis, hepatomegaly, inflammatory bowel disease, intestinal

obstruction, pancreatitis, peritonitis, splenomegaly, tumors, etc.

Rectum

Constipation, diarrhea, hemorrhage, hemorrhoids, mucositis, tenesmus, etc.

Bladder

Hemorrhage, infection urinary tract, urinary disorders, etc.

Kidneys

Calculi, glomerulonephritis, pyelonephritis, renal insufficiency, tubular disorders,

urinary disorders, etc.

Urine

Acetonuria, albuminuria, glycosuria, hematuria, oliguria, polyuria, proteinuria, pyuria,

sediment, etc.

Genitalia male

Atrophy testes, desire sexual disorders, function sexual disorders (ejaculation; erection;

fertility; orgasm), inflammation, etc.

Genitalia female

Abortion, cancer, desire and function sexual disorders, hormonal dysfunctions,

inflammation, disorders of (lactation, menses, ovaries, uterus), tumors, etc.

Larynx and Trachea

Inflammation, laryngismus, edema (glottis, larynx), etc.

Respiration

Accelerated, arrested, asthma, breathing, bronchitis, distress, dyspnea, insufficiency,

impeded, infection, irregular, slow, sounds, wheezing, etc.

Chest

Acute myocardial infarction, angina, arrhythmias, heart failure, effusion pleural,

inflammation (alveolitis, endocarditis, pneumonitis, pericarditis, pleuritis), pulmonary

(edema, embolism, fibrosis), etc.

Extremities

Ataxia, gout, incoordination, inflammation (arthritis, myositis, neuritis, phlebitis,

tendinitis), myopathy, neuropathy, osteoporosis, paralysis, stiffness, weakness, etc.

Generalities

Anaphylaxis, anemia, coma, convulsions, demyelinating disorders, diabetes,

encephalopathy, hypertension, hyperthermia, lymphadenopathy, neuropathy,

StevensJohnson‟s syndrome, thromboembolism, etc.

References

[1] Hahnemann S. Essay on a new principle for

ascertaining the curative power of drugs, with a

few glances at those hitherto employed. In:

Dudgeon RE. The lesser writings of Samuel

Hahnemann. New Delhi: B. Jain Publishers;

1995 (Reprint edition).

[2] Hahnemann S. Organon of homeopathic

medicine. Third American edition. English

version of the fifth German edition. New York:

William Radde; 1849.

[3] Hahnemann S. Organon of medicine. 6th

edition. (Translated by William Boericke). New

Delhi: B Jain Publishers; 1991.

[4] Teixeira MZ. Semelhante cura semelhante:

o princípio de cura homeopático fundamentado

pela racionalidade médica e científica [Similar

cure similar: the homeopathic healing principle

based by medical and scientific rationality]. São

Paulo: Editorial Petrus; 1998.

[5] Teixeira MZ. Similitude in modern

pharmacology. Homeopathy. 1999; 88:112-

120.

[6] Teixeira MZ. Evidence of the principle of

similitude in modern fatal iatrogenic events.

Homeopathy. 2006; 95:229-236.

[7]Teixeira MZ. NSAIDs, Myocardial

infarction, rebound effect and similitude.

Homeopathy. 2007; 96:67-68.

[8] Teixeira MZ. Bronchodilators, fatal asthma,

rebound effect and similitude. Homeopathy.

2007; 96:135-137.

[9] Teixeira MZ. Antidepressants, suicidality

and rebound effect: evidence of similitude?

Homeopathy. 2009; 98:114-121.

[10] Teixeira MZ. Statins withdrawal, vascular

complications, rebound effect and similitude.

Homeopathy. 2010; 99:255-262.

[11] Teixeira MZ. Rebound acid hypersecretion

after withdrawal of gastric acid suppressing

227

drugs: new evidence of similitude.

Homeopathy. 2011; 100:148-156.

[12] Teixeira MZ. Homeopathic use of modern

medicines: utilisation of the curative rebound

effect. Med Hypotheses. 2003; 60:276-283.

[13] Teixeira MZ. „Paradoxical strategy for

treating chronic diseases‟: a therapeutic model

used in homeopathy for more than two

centuries. Homeopathy. 2005; 94:265-266.

[14] Teixeira MZ. New homeopathic medicines:

use of modern drugs according to the principle

of similitude. Homeopathy 2011; 100:244-252.

[15] Dudgeon RE. Lectures on the theory and

practice of Homœopathy. New Delhi: B Jain

Publishers; 1982 (Reprint edition). Lectures VII

e XII.

[16] Hughes R. A manual of

pharmacodynamics. 6th ed. New Delhi: B Jain

Publishers; 1980 (Second reprint edition).

Lecture II.

[17] World Health Organization (WHO). The

Uppsala Monitoring Centre. The importance of

pharmacovigilance. Safety monitoring of

medicinal products; 2002.

[18] United States. Code of Federal

Regulations. 21 CFR. Food and drugs. 312

Investigational new drug application.

Washington; 2003. Available at:

http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfd

ocs/cfcfr/cfrsearch.cfm?cfrpart=312.

[19] Marodin G, Goldim JR. Confusions and

ambiguities in the classification of adverse

events in the clinical research. Rev Esc Enferm

USP. 2009; 43:690-696. Available at:

http://www.scielo.br/pdf/reeusp/v43n3/en_a27

v43n3.pdf.

[20] The United States Pharmacopeial

Convention. The United States Pharmacopeia

Dispensing Information. Easton: Mack Printing

Co; 2004.

[21] World Health Organization (WHO).

Council for International Organizations of

Medical Sciences. Guidelines for preparing core

clinical safety information on drug from

CIOMS Working Group III. Geneva; 1995.

Available at:

https://apps.who.int/dsa/cat98/zcioms8.htm.

[22] World Health Organization (WHO). The

Uppsala Monitoring Centre. Safety monitoring

of medicinal products. Guidelines for setting up

and running a Pharmacovigilance Centre; 2000.

Available at:

http://apps.who.int/medicinedocs/en/d/Jh2934e

[23] Teixeira MZ. New homeopathic medicines:

use of modern drugs according to the principle

of similitude. São Paulo: Marcus Zulian

Teixeira; 2010. 3v. Available at:

www.newhomeopathicmedicines.com.

=====================================

36. Fixed first Principles

HENRIQUES, Nichola (AH. 22/2016)

To prove their effectiveness, it is critical that all

medical systems satisfy science’s reasonable

demand for consistency in methodology. However,

when it comes to Homœopathy it is almost

impossible to satisfy that demand, as the illustrious

Dr. J.T. Kent astutely observed.

_________________________________________

“Homœopathy is now extensively disseminated

over the world, but, strange to say, by none are its

doctrines so distorted as by many of its pretended

devotees.”1

_________________________________________

It is rarely admitted or disclosed publicly that

Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, originator of Homœopathy,

promulgated one particular homœopathic doctrine

and principle-based practice methodology that

deserves the honorable name “Homœopathy.”

_________________________________________

“The pure homœopathic healing art is the only

correct method, the one possible to human art, the

straightest way to cure as certain as that there is but

one straight line between two given points.”

Dr.S. Hahnemann, The Organon of Medicine,

sixth final edition, §53

_________________________________________

Devoid of divergence and distortion, this is the

methodology that throughout his life Hahnemann

fiercely asserted was the method all homœopathic

practitioners should always apply and all patients

should always receive.

There is so much more to Homœopathy than

ingesting micro-doses of medicinal substances.

Allow me to present to you in all its loveliness and

beauty, Hahnemann’s original master-piece, the pure

homœopathic healing art.

“Efficiency in Homœopathy implies and

involves native ability, acquired technical

proficiency, and logical consistency in the

application of its principles. The exercise of these

qualifications requires honesty, courage, fidelity to

a high ideal and a right point of view.”2

Mastery of Homœopathy is inextricably linked

to the scholarship of The Organon of Medicine, sixth

and final edition,3 Hahnemann’s treatise on the

228

meaning of health, disease and cure: in other words

the operating system and handbook of Homœopathy.

In this Hahnemann clearly defines what

Homœopathy is and what it is not; he clarifies its

singular methodology, and explains everything one

needs to know in order to practice Homœopathy

efficiently and effectively, including:

 How to uncover the medicinal qualities of

substances

 How to prepare the medicines

 How to document information

 How to relate to clients

 How to take a case

 How to properly select the medicine and

dosage

 How to select intervals between each dose

 How to evaluate patient responses

The completeness of this work begs the

following questions:

 How is it so many practitioners ignore the

rules governing the practice of Homœopathy?

 How can practitioners define Homœopathy,

select and administer micro-doses of medicinal

substances as they wish? Creating divergent

methodologies built on the shifting sands of

personal philosophy introduces flaws into a

previously flawless medical system.

To ensure that each patient’s experience of

Homœopathy is sweet and not sour, Hahnemann

requires practitioners to understand, accept, adhere

to and apply every one of the nine fixed first

principles of homœopathic practice to every case of

disease:

 The Vital Force of nature

 Inherent predispositions to illness

 Susceptibility: action and reaction

 Totality of characteristic individualizing

symptoms

 Potentiation and infinitesimal dose to effect

cure

 Knowledge of the curative power of each

individual medicine

 Law of Similars—homœopathic law of

nature

 Correct dose

 Natural Direction of Cure

These are very clearly defined. In order to

easily grasp their significance, think of each

principle as the highest quality material used to

construct, strengthen and support the edifice on

which the science and art of Homœopathy are built.

Allow ignorance, omission, alternation or dilution of

any of the principles and the edifice crumbles into

dust.

In totality these principles:

 Serve as the chain of reasoning that underpins

the origination, structure and practice of

Homœopathy

 Have always been the same and will always

remain the same

 Are the mainstays of Homœopathy

 Are rules that govern best-practice

Homœopathy

 Correct flawed thinking about Homœopathy

 Provide a benchmark against which to assess

and compare divergent methodologies and

identify false doctrines

 Guide practitioners through each phase of

treatment, ensuring avoidance of roundabout

methods, speculation, guesswork, empiricism

and routine use of remedies

 Provide medical science with consistency of

methodology so that its effectiveness may be

thoroughly tested

Each fixed principle is an integral, inseparable

part of the whole medical system of Homœopathy

and crucial for cure. These principles enable

practitioners to diligently carry to the mission of

Homœopathy:

 To heal the sick—rapidly, gently and

permanently

 To utterly destroy the disease in its entirety, in

the shortest, most reliable and most harmless

way, through the use of plain and intelligible

principles

 To treat judiciously and wisely

Through their study, they allow practitioners to

know:

 The things that derange and alter health, and

cause disease

 What is to be cured in each individual case of

disease

 The curative powers of each medicine

 How to adapt natural substances for medicinal

purposes

 How to select the appropriate dose and correct

period for repeating each dose

 How to identify obstacles to recovery and

develop strategies for their removal4

The first four principles—Vital force of Nature;

Inherent Predispositions to Illness; Susceptibility:

action and reaction and the Totality of

Characteristic Individualizing Symptoms of the

illness—show us how to conduct the most effective

homœopathic client examination so that we elicit the

central disturbance, know exactly what needs to be

understood about each patient and the unique nature

229

of the illness to be treated. Their rigorous

application enables the practitioner to know:

 Things that alter health and cause illness

 Things that indicate disease

 The individual’s strength or weakness at a

given moment

The Vital Force of nature

The word force means “strength, an attribute of

physical action or movement; the exertion of power

or influence.” Hahnemann recognized that an

invisible, powerful, innate force of nature exists

within every molecule and at the core of our being.

This Vital Force of nature instinctively

preserves life; it is the innate self-healing power each

of us possesses; it motivates us to achieve our full

spiritual, mental, emotional and physical potential in

life, and goes by different names: qi, high or low

spirits, energy or vitability. The natural direction of

this Vital Force is always from the center outwards.

Absence of this Vital Force is observed in a corpse.

The intention of the homœopathic client

examination is to reveal the strength of the Vital

Force present in the client. In Homœopathy, the

Vital Force is strongest when the progress of life is

unimpeded. Without the need of medicine of any

kind, this force naturally corrects very minor

imbalances and reduces susceptibility to illness.

Even though we are exposed to a multitude of

harmful influences every hour of every day, we

withstand most of them. We will feel “off” for a

short while, then–still without medication –we

rapidly bounce back. Our Vital Force is at work,

fulfilling its mission to sustain and preserve life.

On the understanding that no medicine has been

ingested, persisting discomfort in one or more

regions of the body provides evidence of a

disproportionate susceptibility to some harmful

influence(s). Left alone without help, the Vital

Force in this case is powerless to resist or efficiently

restore balance. The appearance of each symptom

experienced during a person’s lifetime and the

distinctive forms of suffering in different regions of

the body indicate an unresolved, continuously

progressing single state of disharmony and dis-ease

affecting the entire person. A single symptom no

more represents the whole person. It is the totality

of uncomfortable changes that constitutes a

particular person’s disease and it is the totality that

must be treated. The complete symptom history

spans the entire period of time—from the first

moment the person feels unwell, from the oldest

through to the most recent symptoms, to the moment

they start treatment and beyond. The length of time

that symptoms have been experienced indicates how

long the Vital Force has been struggling to survive

without help.

Homœopathy is designed to treat and remove

symptoms of natural illness that occur when a

particular set of conditions exists: there is an

inherent predisposition to disease that has become

extremely aggravated and, as it were, opened a

window of disproportionate psychological and

physical susceptibility to harmful influences. In that

moment of increased susceptibility, the Vital Force

is overpowered by the harmful influence(s), and

surrenders. The previous balance and integrity of the

whole being is now weakened and damaged.5 Life

is threatened and the Vital Force reacts. To rid itself

of harm, every orifice in the body can be used as a

vent: ears, eyes, nose, mouth, skin pores, rectum, etc.

Fever is quelled by perspiration and increased

secretion of urine. Lung inflammation is soothed by

increased mucus, perspiration and often nosebleeds.

Tonsil inflammation is reduced by increased

salivation. Other venting tactics of the Vital force

include coughing, vomiting, diarrhea and bleeding

from the anus, skin eruptions or enlargement of

external glands. If none of that works, the Vital

Force goes into damage limitation mode.

Sometimes the harmful influence is contained within

tumors, cysts or secondary growths, and stashed

around the body to be dealt with when there is more

energy.

In Homœopathy, experience of symptoms is

considered to be evidence that the natural curative

process is definitely underway, but that the Vital

Force has run out of steam. It has stalled, rather than

nor started at all and is now exhausted, crying out for

help to finish the job it began. The remaining energy

must be conserved and nurtured. A fragile Vital

Force must be gently strengthened and nudged into

curative activity with the smallest medicinal dose—

rather than being given a violent kick in the pants

with the largest medicinal dose, which often

completely overwhelms it for a second time. In other

words. “least medicine is best medicine.” The

correctly selected homœopathic medicine is one that

works in unison with and boosts the remaining

power of the Vital Force, enabling it to free itself

from harm.

For the correct, smallest dose of medicine to be

selected, practitioner knowledge of the unique state

of each client’s Vital Force at the time of

presentation is essential. The dose must be just

sufficient—no more, no less—to engage the Vital

Force in repairing the damage caused and thus

transform illness into health.

Knowledge about the prevailing strength of the

vital Force is obtained through the location and

intensity of each symptom experienced. When the

230

Vital Force is disturbed, depending on its strength or

weakness at a given moment, the center and degree

of the disturbance may manifest in the spiritual,

intellectual or emotional spheres, or the physical

body. Where most of the suffering is in the interior

of the body, the strength of the Vital Force is

understood to be severely reduced. It has

insufficient strength to resist, to promote to the inner

regions of the body from harm and push the central

disturbance to the peripheral regions. Where most

of the suffering occurs in these peripheral regions,

the Vital Force is judged to be somewhat stronger. It

has sufficient energy to keep the disorder in these

outer regions but insufficient energy to completely

expel the harm and restore health.

Put another way, viewing the individual from

innermost to outermost regions, the extreme

innermost region is the energy at the core of out

being, otherwise known as our invisible spirit-like

Vital Force, the mental faculties encompassing our

will, intellect, desires, longings, cravings, aversions

and hatreds, fears and dreads. Closest to the

innermost region are the brain and central nervous

system. Moving progressively further and further

away from the innermost regions, we next look at the

vital organs, fluids and gases associated with the

endocrine, reticuloendothelial, circulatory,

lymphatic, respiratory, digestive, urinary,

reproductive, skeletal, muscular and outer protective

layers. Therefore, where the region(s) most affected

by long-continued illness involve the innermost, the

Vital Force is perceived to be weak and insufficient,

lacking power to repel or push the harmful

disturbance outwards to the furthest regions of the

body. Where the region most affected is the

protective, outer layer, the Vital Force is considered

to be much stronger and capable of completing cure

almost unassisted.

In Homœopathy, every uncomfortable sensation

or symptom experienced is the Vital Force asking for

help. These symptoms give us precise information

about the location, nature, character, degree, depth

and extent of the trouble.

Homœopathic practice is a verbal and

observational discipline. Each symptom described

and gleaned during the client examination process is

evaluated for usefulness in the creation of a unique

portrait of illness to identify the correct, single,

symptom-similar medicine for each client. Proper

administration of the smallest dose of that remedy

has the potential to remove the whole of that

particular individual’s suffering. Changes described

by the client after ingestion of the remedy are the

practitioner’s only useful guide to understanding the

curative versus the non-curative response of the

Vital Force to the remedy and dose.

A practitioner’s failure to observe or correctly

interpret the distress signals of the Vital Force, and

disregarding its significant role in both maintaining

health and causing and curing disease, leads to

avoidable mistakes and obstacles to recovery

including:

 Ignorance about what is to be cured in

disease

 Misunderstanding, or misjudgment of, the

prevailing strength of the Vital Force

 Imperfect remedy or dose selection

 The improper interval for remedy dose

repetition

 The failure to effect cure

Inherent predispositions to illness—Miasms

The second fixed principle relates to causations

and traits of illness. In Homœopathy, there are three

main causations: exciting (including shock, trauma

and epidemics), maintaining (such as work,

domestic violence, war, iatrogenic disease, lack of

love, food, heat, light, clean water or air) and

fundamental inherent predispositions to illness or

“miasms,”6 infectious or noxious emanations.

Hahnemann originated Homœopathy to achieve

rapid, gentle, continuous or permanent restoration of

health rather than temporary relief from symptoms.

After practicing for some years, he observed that

even with the best homœopathic treatment, some

individuals fell ill again after recovering. To

understand why this happened, Hahnemann spent

fifteen years investigating the nature of individual

constitutions and diseases that have affected the

human race throughout history. He deduced that

there were inherent, unceasing, fluctuating, latent or

dormant harmful influences that predispose us to

certain illnesses.

Passed from generation to generation, these

inherent pre-dispositions bond with the Vital Force

and leave their indelible marks on our constitution.

Murder is their mission. They often remain

unrecognized for years, especially when we’re

young and flourishing, and enjoying a lifestyle that

is beneficial to our soul, heart and body. We look

and feel as if we’re perfect health. Later on, after

some adverse or life-changing event, these

predispositions re-emerge in a new disguise. In

proportion to the degree they have weakened or

disturbed the Vital Force, they develop rapidly and

assume a more serious character, especially when

the Vital Force has been medically mismanaged.7

Prolonged medical treatment and violent, strong

medicines sap the patient’s vitality to an unmerciful

extent, rendering the Vital Force incapable of

responding to homœopathic medicine and the patient

incurable.8

231

Slumbering inherent predispositions to illness

may also be awakened by improper administration

of very high doses of incorrectly chosen

homœopathic medicines repeated too frequently and

without their effects being properly monitored.

A proficient homœopathic client examination

includes a review of the family medical history. This

tracks the path of destruction wrought by the

predispositions back to the moment they first got a

grip on the client. The symptom history reveals the

traces and identity of each predisposition and

determines which one dominates the case at that

specific time. It also reveals whether its influence is

latent, slowed, suspended or active. In homœopathic

practice, the more complicated an illness is, the more

likely it is that the illness is caused by the harmful

influence of multiple inherent predispositions.

Effective treatment involves calming the activity of

the predispositions and, where possible, annihilating

them—gently teasing apart these threads and

loosening a knot. Multiple predispositions produce

more threads and tighter knots.

According to Hahneman’s miasm theory, three

inherent predispositions are responsible for all

chronic illnesses.9 One predisposition that

Hahnemann called “Sycosis,” from the Greek word

for fig, causes over-productive tendencies, oozing

and growth-like symptoms. The second is called

“Syphillis,” due to its destructive, painless,

ulcerating tendencies, which closely resemble

symptoms produced in the venereal disease. The

third, named “Psora” from the Hebrew word for

“deep trouble,” is responsible for underproductive

tendencies, itching conditions and prolonged,

recurring illnesses.

In terms of which one is most problematic,

according to Hahnemann:

“At least seven-eighths of all chronic

maladies spring from Psora as their only

source, while the remaining eighth spring from

Syphilis and Sycosis or from a complication of

two of these three miasmatic chronic diseases,

or (which is rare) from a complication of all

three of them.”10

If we think of Psora as the soil in which the

seeds of Sycosis and Syphilis want to put down

roots, treatment involves removing the soil so that

there’s nothing in which seeds can grow.

Understanding the theory of inherent

predispositions to illness is as essential for effective

progress assessment as it is for making the first and

subsequent remedy selections. To effectively assess

what is happening and why at any point, it is

important to understand which inherent

predisposition prevailed at what point in the patient’s

timeline of suffering. In that way, reappearing traces

of inherent predispositions to illness during recovery

are easily observed, and the reasons for their

reappearance properly understood.

Here’s how the theory of inherent

predispositions can be put into practice effectively.

A client’s timeline of illness shows that the

under productive predisposition (Psora) was

responsible for the symptoms that made them feel

unwell for the first time. Some event or incident

awakened it. The treatment (not homœopathic)

relieved some of the suffering but not all of the

symptoms ever really went away completely. Later

on, different symptoms and conditions appeared.

The original illness changed. New symptoms, e.g.

ulcerations, merge with the old ones. The new

ulcerating symptoms belong to the destructive

predisposition (Syphilis). The presence of a

combination of predispositions complicates the

illness. The patient becomes weaker. Later still, the

suffering changes again. Completely different

symptoms appear showing the excessive

predisposition (Sycosis). Severely ill, the person

presents for homœopathic remedy and dose the Vital

Force regains power and begins rooting out traces of

Psora. The latest symptoms of the chronic illness are

always the first to yield to treatment of Psora; but the

oldest conditions and those that have been most

constant and unchanged by previous treatment

(among which are those that affect a particular

region or part of the body) are the last to disappear.

This only happens when all the remaining disorders

have disappeared, and in all other respects the

patient’s health has been almost totally restored.

This is the reason clients’ understandable

request for the one symptom that bothers them above

all others, to be removed first of all, is impracticable.

Patient individuality and practitioner remedy

and dose selection mistakes mean the ideal recovery

scenario may not happen.

Application of the principle of inherent

predispositions provides a useful context in which to

understand what causes certain symptoms to appear

at different times during life in response to prior

treatment, as well as what to expect in response to

homœopathic treatment. In that way we are not

utterly bewildered by the recovery route the Vital

Force takes in a particular client, or the fleeting flare-

ups of symptoms associated with each

predisposition.

Practitioner ignorance of the inherent

predisposition to illness principle creates the

following obstacles to cure:

 Misperceiving the chronic versus acute nature

of an illness11

 Ignorance about different treatment protocols

232

for acute and chronic illness, which leads to:

 Incorrect characteristic symptom totality

selection

 Imperfect remedy and dose selection

 Improper monitoring intervals

 Improper period for remedy repetition

 Failure to understand that acute flare-ups of

a chronic condition, e.g. reappearance of an old

skin eruption or joint pain, indicate

reappearance of an inherent predisposition

Susceptibility: Action and reaction

The third fixed principle relates to the leading

role played by susceptibility in illness and recovery.

In the context of Homœopathy, susceptibility is

the degree of reactivity of our Vital Force. It is the

quality of state of our Vital Force at any given

moment. Our vital force and susceptibility are so

integral and inseparable, it could be said that if the

Vital Force is a face, then susceptibility is the

expression on that face.

Hahnemann teaches us that susceptibility is an

unmistakable Law of Nature. It relates to how likely

and to what degree we are mentally, emotionally and

physically influenced by particular inherent

predispositions to illness. As discussed previously,

these predispositions dictate the degree to which the

individual is influenced by circumstances, events,

environments, internal and external changes, etc.,

and how slowly or quickly successful adjustment to

those changes occurs.12 Examples of stimuli to

which we might react or be susceptible to in varying

degrees include danger, heat, cold, light, darkness,

food, offense, criticism, loss, lack or excess of love.

In health, we are susceptible to the things that

enable us to thrive and be able to resist harmful

influences. We act and react proportionately,

successfully and speedily adjusting to all manner of

changes without missing a beat. For example, if it is

cold we will turn on the heating, or add clothes

almost automatically. When we are ill, a tiny draft

of cold air affect us very deeply, and no matter how

much we increase the heat we just cannot get warm.

There is therefore a tendency towards becoming

overwhelmed by a particular influence.

During the consultation, clients narrate the

history of their illness through their experience of

symptoms. These experiences indicate not only the

unique state of disturbance, but also the specific

strength or weakness of the client’s Vital Force and

susceptibility. Through this information,

practitioners are able to determine the power and

depth of the disturbance and the degree of resistance

offered by the Vital Force.

Knowledge and application of the homœopathic

principle of susceptibility are important in another

way. Cure induced by Homœopathy takes place

only because the individual is as susceptible to the

homœopathic remedy and dose selected as they are

to the illness. The greater the symptom-similarity

between the symptoms of the original natural illness

experienced and the symptoms proved to have been

induced by the homœopathic remedy, the less

homœopathic medicine is required and the quicker

the susceptibility to suffering may be removed.

Failure to apply the principle of susceptibility

leads to selection of improper doses. Incorrect doses

create the obstacle of unnecessarily overstimulating

and damaging the Vital Force, inducing it to

overreact to remedies and doses. The patient

experiences an intensification of original natural

symptoms and/or the appearance of uncomfortable,

unnatural symptoms. Symptoms that were never

part of the original illness are now among the

symptoms experienced. Where there is an

intermingling of natural, original symptoms with the

appearance of “unnatural” symptoms, there is

extreme confusion about exactly what is to be

treated. For clarification, turn to the homœopathic

Materia Medica, the medicine knowledge base.

Under the medicine given, look for the new

symptoms. If they are listed, this confirms the

medicine has the power to produce those symptoms.

Therefore, the medicine was well chosen but the

dose was ill chosen. If the new symptoms are not

listed, both medicine and dose were unsuitable. A

reanalysis of the case is required.

In chronic illness, to disregard a person’s

susceptibility and the prevailing strength of the Vital

Force and routinely start treatment with the most

powerful doses risks severe injury to the Vital Force.

It exposes clients to avoidable, severe and

intolerable intensification of suffering. This

behavior demonstrates practitioner ignorance of the

fact that, in Homœopathy, no dose of the correct

medicine is too weak or too small to effect a change

or cure, and the gentlest, proper dose is always the

smallest, minimal dose.

Totality of characteristic individualizing

symptoms

The fourth fixe principle governing

homœopathic practice is the totality of characteristic

individualizing symptoms. This relates to the

removal of the disease in its whole extent. For the

cure of any disease, the totality of characteristic

symptoms must be removed; the symptom totality

indicates the correct homœopathic medicine for that

purpose. To cure, the true practitioner of

Homœopathy must view the illness in its entirety

rather than focusing on single symptoms and

separate parts. In that way, the remedy with the

proven power to induce the greatest number of

233

characteristic symptoms similar to the illness

experienced will be selected and recovery will begin.

Success in the selection of the most symptom-

similar remedy depends entirely on the view of

illness taken by the practitioner. As this outlook

varies, so does the change of success. Through the

symptoms the Vital Force produces, a portrait of the

illness is painted for both client and practitioner. The

aim of all practitioners is to realize an undistorted

view of the illness in its totality. This is achieved

through considering each person with all their

symptoms and creating a complete,

multidimensional portrait rather than a one-sided

view. Practitioners who do not understand or

rigorously apply this principle do so to the determent

of their clients.

“The oftener you prescribe for different

groups of symptoms the worse it is for your

patient, because it tends to river the

constitutional state upon the patient and to

make him incurable. Do not prescriber until

you have found the remedy that is similar to t

whole case, even though it is clear in your mind

that one remedy may be more similar to one

particular group of symptoms and another

remedy to another group.”13

To underline the range of distorted views taken

by practitioners, here are a few examples:

 A practitioner who views cases only from

the Patho-logical aspect; a client’s

temperament; eye or hair color; a client’s

complexion or height

 A practitioner whose view comprises only

keynote symptoms of certain remedies

memorized, or the opinion of some other

practitioner.

 A practitioner who observes the totality as

two separate alternating states—one set of

symptoms one time and a different set another

time after a change has occurred—rather than

considering them all to be part of the whole

This last example leads to changes of remedies

with every shift in the illness, but at the end of the

year the patient has grown steadily worse.

Unfortunately, in these cases, the practitioner will

conclude that each group of symptoms has been

“cured.” This type of work ends in failure because

the practitioner has not viewed the client’s totality of

symptoms. Carelessness in selecting and

considering the symptoms after they have been

recorded in the case history leads to indifferent

results.14

One thing that is often not accepted or understood

is that Homœopathy is only useful in the treatment

of symptoms produced by natural disease. It is not

designed for treatment of side-effect symptoms

caused by routine, prolonged and frequently

repeated strong doses of mainstream medicines. To

find the correct homœopathic remedy selection.

Symptoms that appear in response to medication are

excluded. They tend to disappear gradually after

disuse of the drug that produced them. The clearest

image of the illness that can be given is when the

client began to feel unwell for the very first time and

the first symptoms appeared before mainstream

medicine or other treatments were administered and

the original state of illness was altered. Those are

the symptoms of the original illness. That is the

disease that is to be cured.

Viewing a single person to be in several different

states at the same time, and treating each symptom

or condition separately with several different

remedies is not a homœopathic view of illness. It is

the view of illness taken by mainstream medicine.

Another distorted view occurs when a practitioner

takes a few symptoms randomly or every single

symptom the client has experienced in their life, and

uses a computer algorithm to generate numerically

graded prioritized lists of possible remedies.

This is how it should be done: The totality is

related equally to the remedy and to the disease. The

symptoms of the remedy must correspond perfectly

to the symptoms of the disease. The totality of

symptoms and its corresponding symptom-similar

homœopathic remedy are both based on the same

idea. In examining each case of illness, the

homœopathic practitioner obtains what appears to

the novice to be a heterogeneous mass of symptoms,

or fragments of symptoms. Sometimes the client’s

report may not appear to include even one complete

symptom. Instead the perceptible symptoms of

disease are often broken up and scattered throughout

the different parts of the client’s organism. The

practitioner finds a clearly expressed sensation in

some part, but without any accompanying worsening

or ameliorating modifying condition. In another

part, the practitioner finds a clearly expressed

worsening or ameliorating condition, but no definite

sensation is found; or perhaps the client will simply

report feeling better or worse under certain

conditions. In reality the client is expressing

incomplete symptoms, only parts of very few

complete symptoms, which the examiner must bring

together to complete a picture of the whole suffering.

“The symptoms as first elicited from the

patient may be, and usually are, scattered,

fragmentary, often unrelated. It is the business

of the therapeutic artist to piece these fragments

together in a definite and symmetrical form; to

give them their true form and individuality; to

234

erect the totality, which at the same time

indicates both the disease and the remedy. This

he must do according to some preconceived plan

and form. He must have a framework or skeleton

upon which and around which to build his

symptom structure, if it is to have coherency or

consistency. He must be able to see through the

confused and scattered symptoms and fragments

of symptoms and fragments of symptoms the

outline, at least, of the remedy; he must …

combine these fragments to make one

harmonious whole.”15

Hahnemann instructs true practitioners of

Homœopathy to recognize that the totality of the

disease symptoms and the disease itself16 are the

same thing and clearly articulates the significance of

taking the symptom-image totality view of illness

rather than any other view. According to

Hahnemann, it is only the more striking, singular,

rare, uncommon and peculiar (characteristic) signs

and symptoms that provide the unique portrait of an

individual’s totality of suffering,17 which are to be

compared with symptoms of medicinal substances

recorded in the Materia Medica. This view of illness

underpins the correct thought process required to

find the correct remedy.

In Hahnemann’s pure homœopathic healing art,

it is the person as a whole who is sick, rather than

his head, or her eye or heart. For example, if there is

a stitching pain felt in the eye, the type of pain

belongs to the eye, which belongs to the individual,

and the sensation “stitching pain in the eye” is noted

as a characteristic symptom of this particular patient

and their eye. If walking increases the eye pain, “eye

pain worse walking” is noted as a characteristic

aggravation of the symptom.

“The totality eliminates all theoretical

elements and the speculations of traditional

medicine and deals only with the actual manifest

facts. The facts it assembles, are not according

to some arbitrary or imaginary form, but

according to a natural order.”18

During the patient examination, the most

important illness descriptions are those that provide

characteristic individualizing information that

makes that case unique. A “characteristic

individualizing” symptom has several components:

causation, location, sensation, sides, time and

extension. A symptom with all components is called

a “complete” characteristic symptom. When trying

to discriminate between symptoms the more

complete a symptom is, the more it characterizes the

client and consequently the more useful it is for

finding the correct remedy.

Characteristic symptoms are also essential for

accurate potency selection. Cure using

Homœopathy requires sufficient Vital Force

susceptibility to the medicine. There must not only

be shared symptom-similarity between symptoms

produced by medicines and symptoms produced

naturally during illness, but also shared similarity

between the dose of remedy and Vital Force

susceptibility. Where the symptoms of a case are not

clearly developed and there is an absence or scarcity

of characteristic symptoms an imperfect choice of

remedy is very likely, to which the Vital Force will

be less susceptible. Less Vital Force susceptibility

indicates a less potent dose of a medicine is required.

However, when the characteristic symptoms of a

case correspond very closely to the characteristic

symptoms produced by a medicine, patient

susceptibility to the medicine is considered to be

higher, requiring consideration of medium to high

potency doses.

Let’s say the patient reports “itching.” The

proficient practitioner knows that this is pretty

useless information. It won’t lead to the correct

medicine. So, she formulates open questions, for

example, “Tell me more about the itching.”

Gradually the common symptom “itching” is

transformed by the patient’s words into the

characteristic symptom: skin itching from insect

bites, worse at night, worse from getting wet, better

scratching until it bleeds.

This type of high-quality client information

makes using the repertory so much quicker and more

efficient.

In the totality of characteristic individualizing

symptoms remedy selection method, information is

organized in this order under these headings:

 Causation(s), where known with certainty

and without speculation

 Striking, singular, uncommon, peculiar

characteristic signs and symptoms: things that

make you hesitate and meditate, e.g. menstrual

flow only at night

 General mental disposition and modifying

features

 General physical disposition and modifying

features

 Particulars: region, affinity, location,

extensions and modifying features

 Sensations and modifying features19

These components form the symptom image

totality that represents the spirit, mind and body

disturbance experienced. Due to the uniqueness of

each case of illness, the client examination may not

provide information for all sections. Don’t worry. It

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is not about the quantity of symptoms; it is about the

quality of symptoms. The symptom totality

individualizes the disturbance, combines knowledge

of disease with what is known, through experiment,

to be curative in medicines. It is a map that directs

us straight to the symptom-similar medicine for that

particular person in that particular state of disorder.

Viewing the symptom totality correctly, as

Hahnemann instructs, improves the opportunity for

rapid, gentle, permanent recovery. It is seldom used

by practitioners now. Not because it is inefficient,

but because it demands intelligent, fine

discrimination between which symptoms should be

included in the totality and which should be

excluded.

Application of those four fixed principles

provides knowledge of what causes an indicates

disease, exactly what must be treated and the

prevailing strength or weakness of the individual’s

Vital Force.

The following principles: potentiation and

infinitesimal dose, knowledge of the curative power

of each individual medicine, the Law of Similar, and

the proper dose—single substance, single dose—are

the heart of Homœopathy. They dispel the myth that

Homœopathy is unscientific. Rooted in the branch

of medical science known as Materia Medica—

which studies the history, preparation, properties and

effects upon the living system, in health and disease,

of all the various therapeutic substances20—they

remind us that all medicines have as much power to

harm as they do to heal and, therefore, must be used

judiciously.

Potentiation and infinitesimal dose

This fifth fixed fundamental principle of

Homœopathy is crucial to gentle cure. It represents

the pharmacology of Homœopathy and must be

understood properly. Misunderstanding about the

purpose of this principle incites controversy and

ridicule from mainstream medical practitioners.

Thorough knowledge of this principle makes it much

easier to confidently explain to an interested public

and debate with Homœopathy’s detractors.

It is frequently forgotten that the principle of

cure through shared similitude between symptoms

experienced during illness and symptoms produced

by medicines is useless without the related principle

of potentiation and the infinitesimal dose. This

principle is based on a fundamental concept of the

universe often applied in quantum physics: “the

quantity of action necessary to effect any change in

nature is the least possible.”21 Potentiation and the

infinitesimal dose is the mechanism through which

Homœopathy administers medicines in the least

harmful way to avoid everything that might weaken

the patient or cause pain in the slightest degree. To

understand the principle of potentiation fully, it

needs to be viewed in the correct context.

The human body continuously, automatically,

unconsciously and naturally exerts an effort to

preserve itself and remain intact and whole. It

instinctively offers resistance to everything that

tends to disturb normal functioning. That resistance

is experienced as uncomfortable changes, including

conditions such as pain, fever and inflammation, and

changed secretions and excretions. The partly

psychical, partly physical natural forces which the

human body experiences do not possess the power of

unconditionally deranging health. illness is brought

on by them when we are sufficiently susceptible.

Hence, exposure to natural inimical forces does not

produce disease in everyone, nor at all times.

Hahnemann discovered that the living human

body is much more disposed to let its health be

altered by the vastly superior power of remedies than

by the inferior power of natural illness. Experience

has proven incontestably that homœopathic

remedies possess an unconditional power to disrupt

health. Every remedy reacts at all times, under all

circumstances, on every living human being, and if

the dose is large enough it will produce its own

peculiar, distinct symptoms. This is certainly not the

case with natural diseases.22

Depending on the quantity of the substance or

the power of the remedy dose, its action may produce

suffering or cure. There is a primary action and a

secondary reaction of drugs. The primary action

elicits one group of symptoms, whereas the

secondary action elicits a directly opposite set of

symptoms. For example, a physiological dose of

opium produces symptoms of deep sleep or diarrhea

in the primary action, and long-lasting wakefulness

and/or constipation in the secondary reaction. The

dominant school of medicine argues that human

beings are only affected by physiological doses of

crude substances. The objective is always to

produce a direct, definite, predetermined

physiological effect on the body. To be therapeutic,

the drug must produce symptoms that are opposite to

the symptoms of the illness: anti-inflammatory,

antiseptic, anti-biotic, anti-coagulant, etc. The

physiological size and strength of the dose is always

the maximum consistent with safety. Bodily

resistance experienced as extra suffering (i.e. side-

effects) is considered “peculiar” and worth

tolerancing because the benefits of a drug are

perceived to outweigh its disadvantages. Centuries

of mainstream medical overprescribing of powerful

medicines has resulted in a global public health

catastrophe, where the very basis of modern

medicine is under threat due to rising numbers of

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previously treatable severe illnesses that are now

drug resistant, jeopardizing procedures including

surgery and chemotherapy.

In homœopathic practice, symptoms are signs of

an intangible Vital Force of nature that has become

disturbed and distressed, and is responding to

conflicting forces causing it to struggle to preserve

health and life. The objective of homœopathic

treatment is never to produce symptoms, but to

remove them completely in a direct manner.23

Because the effects of the medicine resemble the

experience of existing symptoms, the remedy and

dose encounter little or no protective bodily

resistance. To be therapeutic, the dose always must

be so small that at best the symptom disappears. At

worst it in only capable of producing a slight

temporary intensification of already existing

characteristic symptoms, never of producing a

severe intensification of existing symptoms or new,

different symptoms.

In order to heal gently, to calm, strengthen and

encourage the weakened Vital Force to restore order

as rapidly as possible, the healing properties of crude

natural substances must be released in the most

harmless way. They must be specially adapted to

influence the Vital Force without overwhelming it.

The medicinal substances must be:

 Pure in quality

 Non-toxic

 Incapable of producing unwanted side-

effect symptoms

 Soluble in water and alcohol

 Infinitesimal in quantity

 Easily accessible to the ever changing,

distressed, intangible Vital Force

 Capable of being instantly appropriated by

the sentient nerves, and assimilable by the

whole body

Hahnemann observed that the human body

responds differently to large and small drug doses.

For example, a teaspoon, of ipecacuanha causes

sickness and vomiting; however, under certain

conditions, only drop-doses of ipecacuanha are

required to cure sickness and vomiting. Large doses

of opium bind up the bowels, while a small dose

loosens them.

The purpose of homœopathic remedy

preparation process is as follows:

 To render crude, inert, virulent or

poisonous substances into less harmful, soluble,

assimilable ones

 To create the smallest effective dose of

medicine possible

 To liberate and expose the most subtle

essence of the medicinal substance and its

power

 To moderate the strength of the medicine in

some degree, while increasing the remedy’s

power to penetrate into the body

To achieve all those goals, Hahnemann

formulated a mathematical scale of substance

measurement, serial division, trituration, dilution

and agitation. In this pharmacological process

matter is serially divided and diluted into certain

definite proportions of parts of a natural substance to

parts of a non-medicinal medium.

Recovery from illness using Homœopathy

cannot occur unless there is similitude between a)

the existing characteristic individualizing symptoms

experienced, b) the symptoms a particular medicine

has the power to induce in healthy people and c)

similitude between prevailing strength of the

patient’s Vital Force and strength of the medicinal

dose.

Other reasons that indicate only the smallest

dose of homœopathic remedy is required to induce

cure are:

 The individual is susceptible to outside

influences

 The individual’s sufferings indicate the

illness has penetrated beyond the body’s natural

defenses

 There is no bodily resistance to the

homœopathic remedy

The next fixed principle relates to a typical

Phase I clinical trial, which is designed to provide

knowledge of which symptoms are produced by a

given medicinal substance.

The curative power of each individual medicine

Medicinal substances are not dead masses in the

ordinary sense of the term; their true essential nature

is pure force. Before we can hope to find and select

a remedy capable of producing symptoms as similar

as possible to the totality of the symptoms of the

natural disease to be cured, all the morbid symptoms

and alterations in health that each remedy is

specially capable of developing in the healthy

individual must first have been observed.24

Therefore, in Homœopathy, before administering

medicines to sick people, it is critical that we

investigate and gather accurate information about

how each individual medicine affects healthy

people.

To achieve this goal, Hahnemann devised and

conducted a series of clinical trials.25 So that the true

effects of each medicinal substance might be clearly

expressed, every possible cure was taken to ensure

237

purity of the experiments. They were performed on

males and females who were as healthy as possible,

and under regulated external conditions as nearly

alike as possible. He administered doses according

to the preparation method in which the ratio between

the medicinal substance and the non-medicinal

diluting medium was 1:100—the centesimal “c”

potency scale. Experience taught him that low (3c-

12c, 24c) potencies produce only the more general

symptoms common to many medicines. To clearly

differentiate between remedies, Hahnemann wanted

to elicit the specific characteristic symptoms

peculiar to each medicine. So he chose the moderate

potency:30c,26 even though it is doubtful that any

molecules of the original substance remain in such a

dose. It was administered in dry pellet doses to both

male and female healthy people, two doses daily27

until they began to experience mental, emotional or

physical signs of discomfort, which they recorded.

A medium potency is enough to produce the greatest

amount of characteristic symptoms but not enough

to induce lasting effects. The medicinal symptoms

disappear by themselves once repetition of dosing

stops at the end of the proving. Hahnemann ensured

the purity of the data gathered as described.

“As the experimenter cannot, any more

than any other human being, be absolutely and

perfectly healthy, should slight ailments to

which she was liable before the start of the

experiment reappear during the experiment,

those ailments must be placed between brackets,

to indicate they are dubious and cannot be

confirmed as solely derived from the medicine

under investigation.”28

The experimenter must possess a sufficient

amount of intelligence to be able to express ad

describe his sensations in accurate terms.29

“If the person cannot write, the physician

must be informed by him every day of what has

occurred to him, and how it took place. What is

noted down as authentic information on this

point, however, must be chiefly the voluntary

narration of the person who makes the

experiment, nothing conjectural and as little as

possible derived from answers to leading

questions admitted; everything must be

ascertained with the same caution as I have

counseled above (§84-99) for the investigation

of the phenomena and for tracing the picture of

natural diseases.”30

To eliminate the potential for bias, the name of

the substance under investigation was withheld from

drug-trial participants. At the end of every day

during an experiment, all participants were

interviewed separately. Each symptom experienced

was meticulously recorded, including the name of

each participant against each symptom experienced.

All the symptoms documented during the

experiment were collated. Among those substances

tested, Carbo vegetabilis (vegetable charcoal)

induced 720 symptoms and Belladonna 1,440

symptoms. Th first phase of Hahnemann’s

experiments involved testing 67 pure natural

substances: a monumental body of work or one

person, and an extraordinary contribution to medical

science. His research provided not only invaluable

evidence of the character and intensity of mental,

emotional and physical illness that a particular

natural substance has the power to induce in healthy

people, but also how even the smallest medicinal

dose, in dilution way above 12c, is large enough to

affect the human body and induce illness.

To ensure sufficiency of homœopathic

medicines. Hahnemann continued experimenting

with different natural substances throughout his life,

but not on animals. He understood that human

beings are more similar to one another than they are

to animals, and that the vital operations and

processes of animal and human bodies differ. He

was also aware that disease manifests itself in all

spheres of the body: mental, emotional and physical.

Human experimenters cannot accurately record the

subjective feelings of animals when animals cannot

communicate these feelings to humans.

The next principle relates directly to medical

science’s Phase II clinical trial, which sees the drug

given to people who have a medical condition to see

if it does indeed help them.

The Law of Similars: the homœopathic Law of

Nature

This principle is the fundamental tenet of

homœopathic practice. Hahnemann’s experience

with medicines taught him that natural disease is

different from artificial disease. Natural disease is

conditional upon the individual being sufficiently

disposed or susceptible to powerful, partly

psychological partly physical, external harmful

influences.31 Hahnemann gained knowledge about

the symptoms each medicinal dose produces in

healthy people through his earliest experiments

conducted on himself. He took four drachms of

cinchona bark twice a day which induced paroxysms

of chills and fever. When he observed patients in his

medical practice experiencing similar symptoms, he

administered a dose of cinchona bark and noted that

the symptoms disappeared.

For homœopathic remedies to effect a cure, they

must firstly be capable of producing in the human

238

body symptoms of an artificial disease as similar as

possible to the disease to be cured, and secondly be

administered in a dose that is somewhat more

powerful than the natural disease. Although the

artificial disease caused by the remedy is stronger

than the natural disease, it is much more easily

overcome by the Vital Force because it is only a

simulation of the natural disease.

To test the veracity of the hypothesis that cure

through shared-symptom-similarity between

medicine and illness is possible, Hahnemann noted

the characteristic individualizing symptoms

experienced by a sick person, and searched his

proving data for a remedy that induced the greatest

number of similar symptoms in healthy people. He

observed that after taking infrequent infinitesimal

sub-physiological doses of such medicines, sick

people rapidly regained health.

Hahnemann concluded: “That medicine which,

in its action on the healthy human body, has

demonstrated its power of producing the greatest

number of symptoms similar to those observable in

the case of disease under treatment, does also, in

doses of suitable potency and attenuation, rapidly,

radically and permanently remove he totality of the

symptoms…that is to say (§6-§16), the whole disease

present, and change it into health; and that all

medicines cure, without exception, those diseases

whose symptoms most nearly resemble their own,

and leave none of them uncured.”32

This depends on the following homœopathic

law of nature: A weaker dynamic affection is

permanently extinguished in the living organism by

a stronger one, if the latter (whilst differing in kind)

is very similar to the former in its manifestations.33

“… Without causing pain or weakening, they

just suffice to remove the natural malady

whence this result: that without weakening,

injuring or torturing him in the very least, the

natural disease is extinguished, and the patient,

even whilst he is getting better, gains in strength

and thus is cured…”34

Hahnemann had achieved his goal of rapidly

curing disease in the gentlest, least harmful way. His

experiments with medicines and people verified the

fundamental homœopathic Law of Nature, The Law

of Similars: cure through shared symptom-similarity

between medicine and illness is possible.

Unless we pay particular attention to the exact

words used to describe the Law of Similars, a very

serious confusion arises. The dictionary definition

of the word “similar” is: “having a resemblance in

appearance, character or quantity, without being

identical.” The dictionary definition of the word

“same” is: “identical; not different.”

Homœopathy cures medicinal substances that

are always different in kind and nature from the

illness or that which causes the illness, but produce

effects resembling the symptoms of illness

experienced. Hahnemann states clearly:

“Without this difference in the nature of the

morbid affection from that of the medicinal

affection, a cure were impossible; if the two

were not merely of a similar, but of the same

nature, consequently identical, then no result

(or only an aggravation of the malady) would

ensue; as for example, if we were to touch a

chancre with other chancre poison, a cure

would never result therefrom.”35

Where the word “similar” is accidentally or

deliberately replaced by the word “same,” instantly

the medical practice of Homœopathy is transformed

into isopathy: the ancient theory of curing a sick

person’s diseased organ by instructing them to eat

the analogous organ of a healthy animal. Conferring

temporary artificial immunity from certain diseases

by inoculating individuals with identical viruses of

those diseases is isopathy.

Confusion between the practice of isopathy and

Homœopathy is rife. It has led to contamination of

Homœopathy by isopathy. In the 18302s, some

ordinary physicians treating illness by isopathy

began to administer micro doses of potentiated

unnatural live or dead diseased substances called

“nosodes,” claiming to practice Homœopathy.

However, I believe their claim is invalid because the

so-called “nosode theory” in medical practice is

isopathy. It clearly violates the homœopathic Law

of Similars: cure through symptom-similarity shared

between natural substances that are always different

in kind and nature to the illness experienced and are

not made from material either identical to a disease

or produced by a disease. Violation of this

fundamental law is exactly the reason why

Hahnemann not only rejected isopathy, but he also

asserted that nothing can result from this nosode

theory but trouble and aggravation of the disease.36

Consequently, Hahnemann recommends treating

symptoms of the venereal diseases syphilis with

homœopathic preparations made from mercury, and

gonorrhea with medicines made from the leaves of

the plant Thuja occidentalis, rather than with

nosodes.

Proper dose: Single substance, single dose

After selecting the relevant symptom-similar

remedy, the next task is to give careful consideration

to how much, and how often the patient should

receive it. This principle states that to restore health,

239

the proper dose is always a single substance in the

smallest, single dose, given as infrequently as

possible.

Hahnemann’s instruction on the proper dose

explodes another myth about Homœopathy: that

“any dose of homœopathic remedy administered

according to any number of repetitions at any

interval will produce a curative response.” Creators

of that myth fail to recognize that dosage is a key part

of the homœopathic medical doctrine. The

medicinal dose selected is required to achieve a

delicate balance: it must be sufficient to assist the

weakened Vital Force of nature, but not so strong as

to induce overreaction or weaken the Vital Force

further. Failure to understand the importance of the

proper dose leads to endless improper changes of

medicines, unnecessary complication of very simple

cases and avoidable patient suffering.

In homœopathic practice, the optimal minimal

dose is individually tailored specifically to the

unique needs of each person and their illness. Cure

depends on accurate selection of both remedy and

potency.37 Diligent practitioners avoid bias against a

particular potency scale. Whether the potency

selected is centesimal or LM/Q, the goal is always

similitude between a patient’s prevailing strength,

illness and medicinal symptoms. You never know

whether you have succeeded until the patient

responds. The balance of dose and frequency is

crucial: too large a dose and the Vital Force will

produce an intolerable, damaging overreaction, too

frequent and the curative response is interrupted.

Too frequent centesimal dosing is a common

error caused by dependence on information

contained in the fifth rather than sixth edition of The

Organon of Medicine, and ignorance of the fact that,

in Homœopathy, it is the minimal dose that effects

cure rather than the maximal dose. Even if the first

dose proves beneficial, a second or third unaltered

dose would not prove to be beneficial, because:

“The Vital principle does not accept such

unchanged doses without resistance, that is,

without other symptoms of the medicine

manifesting themselves than these similar to the

disease to be cured, because the former dose has

already accomplished the expected change in

the vital principle and a second dynamically

wholly similar unchanged dose of the same

medicine no longer finds, therefore, the same

conditions of the Vital Force. The patient may

indeed be made sick in another way by receiving

other such unchanged doses, even sicker than he

was, for now only those symptoms of the given

remedy remain active, which were not

homœopathic to the original disease, hence no

step towards cure can follow, only a true

aggravation of the condition of the patient.”38

To avoid injury, a homœopathic remedy must

never be routinely administered repeatedly without

client review between doses to confirm that the first

dose of remedy selected was beneficial, and that

another dose is definitely required.

When remedy dose and Vital force are in

harmony, the curative response is both breathtaking

and unforgettable for patient and practitioner. You

get to observe and appreciate the genius of

Homœopathy. Prescribing with that accuracy

demands great skill. According to Hahnemann, the

correct minimal dose is a single substance, a single

medicine, in a single dose.

“In no case under treatment is it necessary

and therefore not permissible to administer to

a patient more than one single, simple

medicinal substance at one time. It is

inconceivable how the slightest doubt could

exist regarding whether it was more consistent

with nature and more national to prescribe a

single, simple medicine at one time in a disease

or a mixture of several differently acting drugs.

It is absolutely not allowed in Homœopathy, the

one true, simple and natural art of healing, to

give a patient at one time two different

medicinal substances.”39

Where the single remedy protocol is ignored,

and several different medicines and potencies are

combined, patient progress assessment is riddled

with confusion. It is impossible to accurately judge

with certainty many factors, including: which

medicine in which potency induced a response;

which medicine and potency produced a curative

rather than non-curative response; which medicine is

still affecting the Vital Force and which medicine

isn’t; which medicine and potency induced the Vital

Force to overreact; which remedy and dose should

be repeated and why. This “throw everything but the

kitchen sink” methodology is certainly much easier

for practitioners, but it risks exposing patients to

avoidable extra suffering. It is the exact opposite of

what Hahnemann intended.

The proper dose of homœopathic remedy is

always single substance in the smallest, single dose,

given as infrequently as possible and only when

patient response indicates repetition. The biggest

incentive to adhere to this rule is this:

“The well informed and conscientiously

careful physician will never be in a position to

require an antidote in his practice if he will

240

begin, as he should, to give the selected

medicine in the smallest possible dose.”40

Hahnemann’s reasoning for always

administering the single substance is as follows:

“As the true physician finds in simple

medicine, administered single and uncombined,

all that he can possibly desire (artificial

disease-forces which are able by homœopathic

power completely to overpower, extinguish, and

permanently cure natural diseases), he will,

mindful of the wise maxim that ‘it is wrong to

attempt to employ complex means when simpler

means suffice,’ never think of giving as a remedy

any but a single, simple medicinal substance;

for these reasons also, because even though the

simple medicines were thoroughly proved with

respect to their peculiar effects on the

unimpaired healthy state of man, it is yet

impossible to foresee how two and more

medicinal substances might, when compounded,

hinder and alter each other’s actions on the

human body; and because on the other hand, a

simple medicinal substance when used in

diseases, the totality of whose symptoms is

accurately known, renders efficient aid by itself

alone, if it be homœopathically selected…”41

In pure Homœopathy, clients are never given a

medicine without a definite appointment being

scheduled for a progress report. The illness is in

motion, the Vital Force is in constant motion, and

there are shifts in bodily functions. Practitioners

have a duty to diligently monitor client responses at

certain intervals depending on whether the potency

prescribed is centesimal or LM/Q and whether the

state of illness is chronic or acute. Evidence of a

directional shift of symptoms is used to evaluate

whether the Vital Force is responding curatively or

not. Patients must never be left on the wrong

medicine for too long. It invites serious and

avoidable harm.

This brings us to the last fixed fundamental

principle.

The natural direction of cure

To understand this principle correctly, the

practitioner must be aware of what happens once the

homœopathically selected medicine has been

absorbed into the body and the Vital Force responds.

Before the remedy is taken, during the long

struggle to regain balance, the weakened Vital Force

becomes more and more distracted and confused

about how to free itself from harm. It sends out

numerous distress signals. When it receives a dose

of the correctly selected homœopathic remedy – a

stimulated similar, but slightly magnified version of

the illness that is strong enough to grab its full

attention—clarity replaces confusion. The power of

the remedy and the prevailing power of Vital Force

unite. The Vital Force is compelled to increase its

strength by degrees. At last its strength increases to

the point where it becomes far more powerful than

the original natural illness and eventually it

overpowers the artificial, medicinally stimulated

illness restoring equilibrium throughout the body.

As soon as the practitioner sees the quality of health

restored, dosing stops. The Vital force reigns

supreme over its domain. Life goes on.42

In correct homœopathic treatment of a chronic

illness that has been left alone and not irritated by

medical mismanagement of any kind, a curative

response is understood to take place when the

patient’s strength increases right from the start and

continues to improve. This is followed by mental

and emotional improvement, followed by relief from

discomfort in the outer physical parts of the body.

This inward to outward directional shift indicates

that order is gradually being restored throughout the

body.43 All is well when diseases go from center to

circumference, outwards from the centers of life,

from the heart, lungs, brain and spine, from the

interior to the extremities.44 The innermost vital

organs under greatest threat tend to heal first; less

vital organs recover later. For some patients,

symptoms simultaneously disappear in a north-to-

south direction—from head to hands and feet.45

It is imperative to understand that illnesses that

have been irritated—complicated by prior medical

mismanagement of some kind—tend to heal much

more slowly. The road to recovery is full of twists,

turns and detours. Even so the curative direction of

such illness I still always inward to outward, and

never outward to inward.

A simple example of correct direction of cure is

an individual who suffers mental depression and skin

symptoms. After treatment, the mental depression

lifts first. The skin symptoms improve and disappear

later. Were the skin condition of recover first

without improvement of the depression, or he

depression worsen while the skin improves, that

response indicates the patient is moving in a non-

curative direction. Symptoms that move outwards to

inwards, from skin to mind or rain, from less vital

organ to more vital organ (e.g. in the case of

rheumatic fever, if the joints get better first and the

heart condition worsens) are indicative that the

illness has been strengthened and continues

unabated. The influence of the remedy on the Vital

Force must be interrupted immediately and

appropriate non-medicinal adjunctive measures

241

implemented. The case needs to be urgently

restudied and a different remedy selected, one that

shares greater symptom-similarity with the illness.

These nine, fixed fundamental principles,

therapeutic Laws of Nature and pure doctrine of

Homœopathy render the practice fit for purpose. In

order for Homœopathy to maintain its integrity,

nothing conflicting with its fixed principles may be

added or subtracted.

“Thus Homœopathy is a perfectly simple

system of medicine, remaining always fixed in

its principles as in its practice, which like the

doctrine whereon it is based, if rightly

apprehended, will be found to be complete (and

therefore serviceable).”46

Where the principles are unknown, ignored,

veered away from misunderstood or misapplied,

then the effectiveness of Homœopathy is

compromised.

What I have described is true Homœopathy.

Hahnemann rejected and vowed to expose

falsehoods taught under the name Homœopathy,

why can’t we follow his lead?

Endnotes

1. Dr.J.T. Kent, Lectures on Homœopathic

Philosophy Authors Preface.

2. Dr.S. Close, The Genius of Homœopathy

3. All quotes are from the 1922 first English

translation by Dr. William Boericke

4. Dr.S. Hahnemann, The Organon of

Medicine, sixth edition §1 to §4.

5. Dr. S. Hahnemann, The Organon of

Medicine, sixth edition §31 and Author’s

Preface to the fourth edition.

6. 19th Century German word, from the mid

17th Century Greek miasma: defilement.

7. Dr. S. Hahnemann, The Organon of

Medicine sixth revised edition, §78 and footnote

8. Ibid, §74

9. Dr. S. Hahnemann, The Chronic Diseases:

Their Peculiar Nature &Their Homœopathic

Cure, Chapter: Nature of Chronic Diseases

10. Ibid

11. Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, The Organon of

Medicine, sixth edition, §72-78

12. Dr.S. Hahnemann, Homœopathic Materia

Medica Pura, Vol.I, Article Spirit of

Homœopathic Medical Doctrine

13. Dr. J.T. Kent. Lectures on Homœopathic

Philosophy, Lecture 37

14. Kent’s New Remedies, Clinical Cases,

Lesser Writings, Aphorism &percept, compiled

by Dr. W.W. Sherwood. Article: The View of

Successful Prescribing

15. Dr.H.A. Roberts, Annie C. Wilson,

Introduction to Boenninghausen’s Therapeutic

Pocketbook. Section: The Art of The Physician

in Case Taking.

16. Dr. S. Hahnemann, The Organon of

Medicine, sixth edition §17

17. Dr. S. Hahnemann, The Organon of

Medicine, sixth revised edition, §153

18. Dr. H.A. Roberts, Annie C. Wilson,

Introduction to Boenninghausen’s Therapeutic

Pocketbook. Section: The Art of The Physician

in Case Taking

19. Dr. J.T. Kent Repertory of the

Homœopathic Materia Medica, Articles: Use of

the Repertory; How to Study the Repertory; and

How to Use the Repertory

20. Dr. John B. Beck, Lecturer on Materia

Medica and Therapeutics(1851)

21. Pierre-Louis Maupertius 1698-1759 French

Mathematician and Philosopher

22. Dr. S. Hahnemann, Materia Medica Pura;

The Organon of Medicine, sixth edition, §30,

§32, §33.

23. This is done by selecting the smallest dose

possible of a natural substance that when

administered to healthy humans in experiments,

has been proven to be capable of producing the

greatest number of symptoms similar to those

experienced by the patient.

24. Dr. S. Hahnemann, The Organon of

Medicine, sixth edition, §106-§108.

25. Dr. S. Hahnemann, The Organon of

Medicine, sixth edition, §105-§145

26. Dr. S. Hahnemann Materia Medica Pura

Volume 1, Section Title: Preamble

27. Dr. S. Hahnemann, Materia Medica Pura,

Volume 1 Preamble.

28. Dr. S. Hahnemann, Materia Medica Pura,

Volume 1, preamble

29. Dr. S. Hahnemann, The Organon of

Medicine sixth edition §126

30. Ibid § 140

31. Dr. S. Hahnemann, The Organon of

Medicine, fourth edition Author’s Preface: The

Organon of Medicine sixth edition, §31

32. Dr. S. Hahnemann, The Organon of

Medicine, sixth edition, §25

33. Dr. S. Hahnemann, The Organon of

Medicine, sixth edition, §26

34. Dr. S. Hahnemann, The Organon of

Medicine, sixth edition, Author’s Preface.

35. Dr. S. Hahnemann, Materia Medica Pura,

Vol. 1, Article: Spirit of the Homœopathic

Medical Doctrine.

242

36. Dr. S. Hahnemann, The Organon of

Medicine, sixth edition, §26, §56 Footnote 63.

37. Dr. Hahnemann, The Organon of Medicine,

sixth edition, §275.

38. Dr. S. Hahnemann, Organon of Medicine,

sixth edition, 247 & Footnote 133

39. Ibid §273

40. Ibid §249 Footnote 136.

41. Ibid §274.

42. Dr. S. Hahnemann, The Organon of

Medicine, Author’s Preface to the sixth edition,

and §29, and The Chronic Diseases: Their

Peculiar Nature and their Homœopathic Cure;

Preface to the Fourth Volume.

43. Dr. S. Hahnemann, Chronic Diseases:

Their Peculiar Nature and Their Homœopathic

Cure

44. Dr. J.T. Kent, Lecturers on Homœopathic

Philosophy, Lecture 35

45. Dr. H.A. Roberts, The Principles and Art of

Cure by Homœopathy, Chapter 4

46. Dr. S. Hahnemann, The Organon of

Medicine, Sixth Final Edition, Author’s Preface

=====================================

37. Lessons from the Organon: On ‘Heilkunst,’

Totality, and Suppression

SHEPPERD, Joel (AJHM. Annual 2017)

On “Heilkunst”

Organon der Heilkunst is the title of the second

edition of Hahnemann’s text. Hahnemann does not

use the word “Homœopathy” in the title. He does

not use a more common word for “medicine” such

as “Medizin.” Translators use the phrase “medical

art” or “art of healing” or just “medicine.” They do

not expand on any further significance of this more

unusual word, “Heilkunst.” However, for the

modern homœopathic practitioner, “Heilkunst” does

have significant implications.

Some people may be familiar with the word,

“Heil,” perhaps unfortunately, from old World War

II movies. “Heil” means “heal” as well a “cure.” In

current American bio-medicine these two words

have different usages. Healing does not always

mean that the physical body recovers from illness,

but that negative thoughts and feelings are released.

People heal each other by listening, accepting,

believing, caring and understanding what it is like to

live with serious illness. On the other hand, experts

intervene to cure with their science.

When Hahnemann declares that to heal the sick

is the highest and only calling of the practitioner

(§1), he insists that we cure with our homœopathic

methodology as well as heal with our humanity.

“Kunst” directly translates as “art.” In the

current allopathic culture, “art of medicine” may

refer to uncertainty or a physician’s intuition or

personal style of practice. It may mean a lack of

convincing scientific evidence to justify a particular

decision—the outer boundary of evidence-based

practice. To other doctors, the art of medicine refers

to behaviors such as bedside manner of ethical

decisions. Still others use the phrase to explain their

use of judgment and interpretation of knowledge to

make a difficult diagnosis.

Within homœopathic circles, some believe that

they may follow whatever creative impulse happens

to strike their active imagination in the name of ‘art.’

Hahnemann does not use “Kunst” in any of these

ways.

A review of an unabridged dictionary yields a

definition, first and foremost, that art is skill gained

through practical experience in one’s field of

endeavor. For instance, a portrait artist may be born

with innate talents, but they still must learn to use

pigment from oil, acrylic or water based paints.

They must learn the qualities of their canvas,

whether paper, cotton, parchment, velum, etc. they

do not use their imagination alone to become a

skilled expert; they practice over and over again with

the tools of their craft. Similarly, the true art of

Homœopathy is skill resulting in mastery of the

principles of Homœopathy through repeated

attentive clinical experience.

A “Heilkünstler,” as Hahnemann used the word,

is more than a mere prescriber of homœopathic

remedies. He does not do whatever he pleases in the

name of newness or self-expression. The dedicated

practitioner applies himself consistently to the

exacting principles of homœopathic methodology,

and then he attains consistent results for the benefit

of all humanity.

On Totality

The phrase “totality of symptoms” (§7, §18) is

a truism in Homœopathy that has lost its meaning.

Every homœopath assumes that they know the

meaning of this phrase, but there are many facets to

its understanding. Hahnemann uses at least six

different words for “totality” because there are many

facets to its complete meaning.

“Gesamtheit” translates as “totality.” It is used

in about 13 aphorisms. “Inbegriff” means a

“substantive total” or “epitome” of the totality. This

implies that part of the totality is more significant.

We usually call this epitome the characteristic

symptoms. This word is used in about 17 aphorisms.

There is a German word “Total,” which is

spelled the same as in English. Hahnemann used this

word twice (§17, 58). “Ganz” translates as “whole.”

It is found in 10 or so paragraphs. The word “Bild”

243

becomes “picture” in English. It is used in about 24

paragraphs. It is mostly used in the phrase “picture

of the disease.” Almost always, Hahnemann used

the phrase “totality of symptoms of the disease.” It

is not so correct for homœopaths to say, “we treat the

person, not the disease.” In light of the Organon, it

would be more accurate to say, “We treat each

person’s unique disease, not the diagnosis.”

The word “Gestalt” is mentioned in four

aphorisms (§6, 91 92, 175). Gestalt is no longer

considered a foreign word in English; so, it is not

capitalized. In the older English translations of the

Organon, the words “form” or “shape” were used. In

the newer translations it is not interpreted.

Hahnemann used the word “Gestalt” long before any

gestalt theory or gestalt psychology was developed.

What did he intend to connote? Let’s take an

example. A picture is essentially two-dimensional

and can be seen in its totality by standing in one

place in front of it. To see a full sculpture—its

gestalt, on the other hand—requires the observer to

walk all the way around it because it is three

dimensional. The totality of symptoms is not a linear

list. It is multidimensional in its completeness.

A comment about the word “Symptomen” is in

order. In modern mainstream medical jargon,

symptoms are subjective characteristics of a patient.

Signs are objective and measurable. Hahnemann

means both “signs” and “symptoms” when he says

“Symptomen.”

What is “totality?” It is less obvious than it

seems. One possibility is an arithmetical total. The

whole is merely equal to the sum of its parts. This

sum total of symptoms can be called an analytical

total. It is totality derived from reductionist

assumptions.

Another type of totality is when the whole is

considered to be greater than the sum of its parts.

Modern holistic practitioners tend to say this. It

assumes that parts aren’t enough and that there is

something more important. What is this unknown,

mysterious ‘something’ that makes the parts greater?

Is it an idea, concept, category, theme, archetype,

symbolism or delusion? All this is mere conjecture

and introduces theories that anyone is allowed to

imagine in their mind. This theoretical total

introduces metaphysics into Homœopathy.

Hahnemann’s totality is different than the two

choices just mentioned. He defines an intrinsic

wholeness. The multidimensional gestalt is a “living

whole”(§13). The whole is fully within the parts;

every part presents the whole. There is no guessing

at some meaning hidden beyond the directly

observable phenomena. There is no pre-judgment

about what is directly perceived.

The totality is a picture completed from a sketch

(§104). It is not a lengthy list. It is not a theoretical

construct. It is a given wholeness that becomes

richer with greater depth as we gather the details.

On Suppression According to Hahnemann - §202

Homœopaths observe daily that medicines

applied allopathically do not cure the whole disease.

§37 says dissimilar allopathic treatment, even if

mild, never cures old chronic diseases, even if

applied for years. From §58 we hear that the

palliative treatment merely treats only one or a few

symptoms, not the totality of disease. It produces

short-acting relief followed by a return of symptoms

or a greater aggravation. Allopathic treatment can

cause incurable chronic disease (§74-76). The old

school medicine only aggravated the illness (§203-

204). Homœopaths know that allopathy worsens

disease and creates new disease. Does allopathy

suppress disease?

Hahnemann uses the word “suppression”

(“unterdrücken”) in a specific way. He states that

the allopathic prescriptions silence, suspend and

suppress the original malady for a short time only

without being able to cure it; it adds a new disease

condition to the old one (§39). Again, he says

intermittent fevers can be suppressed by quinine, but

are not cured. Patients remain sick in a different way

(§235a, 244). Hahnemann says that suppression is

when the organism is not allowed to express the

disease dynamic in the best way that it possibly can

in order to heal itself.

Skin disease serves as an example of how

Hahnemann describes suppression. External

ailments arise from internal causes (§189). The local

disease is created on an external part not essential to

life to silence the internal disease, but only for a

while, with no cure (§201, 201a). for example,

mineral baths very often make patients worse by

driving away (“vertrieben”) the skin rashes. After a

brief period of well-being, the life principle makes

the uncured internal trouble break out in another part

of the organism, one that is far more important to life

and well being (§285).

In aphorisms 202 and 203, Hahnemann states

that when the old school doctor destroys the local

symptoms by some external means, one usually says,

but incorrectly (my emphasis) that the local disease

has been driven back into the body. Why is it

incorrect to say that the disease is driven from the

skin into the body? To help clarify this, take the

example of a young child recently developing

eczema. The mainstream allopath uses

corticosteroids. The allopaths assume that they are

removing the whole disease when the skin improves.

If some time later, the child develops asthma, they

244

may consider it a newly developing disease. Some

homœopaths may express the situation differently.

They may say that the steroids suppressed the skin

disease and ‘drove it deeper’ to the more vital lungs.

This statement seems to presume that the skin

eruption was the expression of the whole disease at

the time. It is not. The chronic disease process

transforms the whole internal organism first, before

the skin manifestations. The lungs are already sick.

The skin eruptions help to delay the continued lung

malady. If the dynamic illness cannot express itself

on the skin, then the already sick lungs will reawaken

with more serious disease processes.

The allopathic treatment did not suppress the

whole local disease and drive it to the lungs. The

suppression of the local expression of the whole

disease reawakened the rest of the totality of the

disease already in progress. The mainstream study

of medicine makes it easy to presuppose that what is

empirically observable in the present is the

wholeness of the disease. Instead homœopaths must

consider the complete process of chronic dynamic

disease.

=====================================

38. Grippous Broncho-Pneumonia with Meningitic

Symptoms.

Dr. JOUSSET (HR. XVIII, 1/1903)

(Translated for the Homœopathic Recorder from

Leipziger Pop. Z. f. Hom., January 1903)

René X., eleven years of age, was received into

the hospital on the 7th of May. His appearance was

decidedly typhus. He appeared stolid, gave no

answer to questions, and was in an almost constant

delirium. The tongue was coated white with red

borders. The teeth were sooty. Temperature 104˚F.

Those who had attended the patient stated that he had

been sick for four days. The illness had begun quite

suddenly with a violent attack of fever after his

returning from a walk. His temperature had not

fallen since that time.

On his entrance into the hospital the patient

received Hyoscyamus 6 and Bryonia 6. Next day as

the symptoms continued the same medicines were

continued. Some distention of the abdomen was

observed; at the auscultation some rattling was

heard; carphologia, Kernig’s symptoms. On the

third day the symptoms in the lungs appeared more

clearly. In both tips of the lungs there was a start

toward broncho-pneumonia, the respiration having

taken on a blowing character. Phosphorus 6 was

prescribed. The examination of the urine showed the

presence of albumin and 3.04 chlorates. There was

Martin Solon’s cloudiness. These symptoms

improved under Phosphorus 6. An examination of

the expectoration showed the presence of influenza

bacilli.

The patient left the hospital twelve days after his

reception, being entirely restored. These

observations of broncho-pneumonia gave a further

proof of the severe character which is impressed on

all cases by influenza.

Our patient at his reception showed a complex

of the most severe symptoms, which caused a

suspicion of inflammation of the brain, severe

prostration, a mixture of delirium and somnolence,

Kernig’s symptom, and actual carphologia. If we

add to this the fact that when he was received there

were no lung symptoms at all, then the hesitating

diagnosis and the corresponding treatment will be

comprehended. The appearance of broncho-

pneumonia, which seized on the two lobes of the

lungs, as well as the constitution of the urine fully

decided the diagnosis. Phosphorus in the 6th dilution

caused a rapid defervescence. The re-convalescence

was quite brief, as he was only twelve days in the

hospital.

-------------

A Milk Pack.

A physician in the Transvaal region of South

Africa, knowing that milk absorbs poisonous germs

that are exposed to it, conceived the idea of applying

milk externally to people afflicted with fever and

skin diseases. The patient is wrapped in a sheet that

has been saturated with milk, and then a hot blanket

is put around the person and kept on for an hour.

Then the clothing is removed and the patient is

sponged with warm water, in a room, as hot as can

be borne. A case of small-pox thus treated had most

of the poison taken out of the skin and the patient

was placed on the road to recovery within twenty-

four hours. This remedy acts so quickly that

successful operation in the case of fevers will

recommend its use in cases of sudden attack. Milk

is well adapted to repair the damaged system. –

Exchange.

MOSAIC FROM MY PRACTICE

Dr. H. Goullon

(Translated for the HOMŒOPATHIC RECORDER

FROM THE LEIPZIGER POP. Z. f. Hom., December,

1902.)

Graphite Cure.

A patient wrote me that I had cured her years

ago from a dreadful case of Psoriasis, which was

very troublesome. It had healed then beautifully.

Now there was a new attack of great severity.

The exanthem extends all over the body, but is worst

245

on the hands and the arms up to the elbows. She can

hardly stand the itching and burning on the hands

and arms. What makes this worse is, that her

business requires a clear skin, else her customers will

be frightened away. The patient requests me to send

her some medicine as quickly as possible “as her

hands are actually turning blue from heat.” This was

July 27th.

On August 14th she wrote: Your medicine acted

very well; since taking it I have improved from day

today; it has healed off beautifully, but still I do not

yet feel quite well.

This was certainly a very satisfactory result. I

am not intent on obtaining a very rapid cure in such

cases, for I am one of those physicians who consider

the theory that “cutaneous diseases are of a local

character,” the very acme of medical stupidity. The

longer we practice the more clearly we recognize the

truth for every visible external ailment there is a

specific internal injury. Therefore I reject all salves

which would quickly dry up exanthems.

Only in cases where intolerable itching is

complained of I prescribe a few grains (not

grammes) of flowers of Sulphur to be rubbed with

pure lard into an ointment with which worst parts,

the parts which itch most, are gently rubbed in the

evening with a quantity as large as half a bean, and

this is washed off in the morning with lukewarm

water.

But the chief remedy used is Graphites given

internally; this remedy alone acts specifically on

such eruptions of herpes or psoriasis. I give six

drops of the 9D. dilution on about one gramme of

sugar of milk; a quantity as large as a pea to be taken

morning and evening.

Even the mere softening and removal of crusts

and scabs has sometimes serious consequences; such

a case I noticed in a lady who had a disfiguring crust

above her eyes after passing through a painful siege

of erysipelas. When, on the advice of a specialist,

the crust was softened with oil, had fallen of and

disappeared, there followed a neuralgia that lasted

for years and, indeed, up to the present time, and

which led to the most dreadful paroxysms with a

fiery redness of the face. The lady herself declares

firmly that there was a causal connection between

her neuralgia and the irrational advice which caused

an interruption of the outbreak of the exanthem.

Silicea case

On the 9th of July Mr. G., from E., came to me.

He has had several attacks of appendicitis. This was

a year and a half back. At the present there is in the

ileo-cæcal region a swelling as large as a fist and as

hard as a stone, which gives the impression of being

a newly-formed tumor. His doctors in consequence

advised Mr. G. to at once proceed to H. to have an

operation performed by Prof. von B. There seemed

to be but little prospect of doing anything in this case

with homœopathic remedies. But I pitied the man

and determined to at least make an attempt, but I

limited the trial to two weeks.

For so long a time he was allowed to entertain

the hope of getting through without an operation.

The patient presented himself to me after two weeks

and to my astonishment there was hardly a trace to

be felt of the tumor. Only when digging in deeply

with the fingers where the tumor had been there was

discovered a little tissue of somewhat harder

consistency. But the disappearance of the tumor

remained a fact. And there had been no crisis, nor

unusual discharge, either through the intestines or

the bladder, no copious discharge in any direction.

The matter remained, therefore, in obscurity and we

can only theorize. A re-absorption or dispersion in

the usual way is, I think, excluded, owing to the

cartilaginous or bony hardness of the great tumor.

And what was the cause of this clinic marvel? It

was affected through Silicea, one of our most

efficient remedies, which, we are sorry to say, is in

the allopathic camp in spite of the copious and

industrious labors of Schulz, the Professor of

Materia Medica in Greifswalde, still a terra

incognita, i.e., all Greek to our learned colleagues.

Our patient had received four powders, of which

each one contained four drops of the 12D, dilution

of Silicea. Twice a week in the evening the whole

powder was taken at one dose.

And even with those who would really deny the

propter hoc in this instance this case remains an

interesting unicum, as the patient had only the one

alternative, either a surgical operation or an

experiment with Homœopathy.

----------------------

INTERESTING CASES FROM ITALY.

From a report of the Polyclinic in Florence for

1901, we excerpt the following interesting cases:

Pneumonia

1. A woman, forty-six years of age, of very tender

constitution, in consequence of a cold, was seized

with a severe and prolonged chill, followed by heat

and almost simultaneously with a very violent

lancinating pain in the chest, which was aggravated

by even the slightest inhalation. She took Aconite,

but without benefit. An examination showed pleuro-

pneumonia. Bryonia 3 removed the pains and

moderated the fever, a gentle general perspiration

ensuing. On the fourth day Dr. Baldelli changed to

246

Ipecacuanha 3. The general course caused an

expectoration of a favorable resolution. But on the

morning of the fifth day he heard that during the

night there had been much excitement and the state

was worse. The temperature which in the evening

had been 102.7˚ had rapidly diminished to 97.1˚; the

pulse was very small, having 110 beats; respiration,

40; a cold perspiration covered the whole body and

the face had a Hippocratic expression—and yet the

patient, when questioned, professed to feel better.

This contrast between the objective and the

subjective symptoms did not promise well,

especially as the pneumonic process was stationary.

Fearing a collapse, the doctor gave Carbo veg. 3,

following it up with Phosphorus 3, in repeated

doses, also using oxygen every ten to fifteen

minutes. To protect himself in a case of a casualty,

he caused a consultation with a celebrated professor

of the Royal Clinic, who also declared the state to be

ominous and advised the continued frequent use of

oxygen. To meet the dynamic condition he

recommended the injection of Ether, Camphor,

Caffein, etc. in view of temp. 97˚, pulse 120, and

respir. 48, he could give the husband only a very

unfavorable prognosis. Quid agendum? The author

did not give up hope. He did not make any injection,

the professor himself not having much hope from

such a remedy, but continued Phosphor. 3, a drop

every half hour, until improvement should set in; he

also continued the oxygen, keeping Carbo veg. in

reserve in case of a collapse. Towards midnight he

found the patient no worse, and next morning he

found a slight improvement in all the symptoms.

This improvement continued during the day, so that

he could assure the family and the numerous friends

on the third day after the consultation, it being the

eighth day of the disease, that the patient was out of

danger. With the help of Phosphorus, Carbo veg.,

Cactus grandifl., China, Metall. Alb., and without

falling back on the injections which at this day enjoy

so much favor, the improvement continued, she

recovered completely and now enjoys good health.

A Severe Case of Catarrh of the Bladder – Uva

Ursi.

2. A man, sixty-four years of age, had for some

time suffered from urinary troubles. He discharged

a copious amount of fœtid urine, of a penetrating

smell, and had chills, lasting almost an hour,

followed by fever, which was considered as

rheumatic and of little importance. It was only when

these chills became more severe, and micturition

was almost impossible, owing to the pains in the

neck of the bladder, and burning and lancinations

along the urethra, so that a few drops only were

discharged, that Dr. Baldelli was sent for. He

prescribed Cantharis 30, with hot compresses and

half-baths. The pains then diminished and the urine

was discharged more easily and in greater

abundance; but it had a fœtid smell and contained a

copious sediment of mucus and pus. It was easy to

diagnose Cystitis, but since idiopathic inflammations

of the bladder are rare, and there was in this case

neither a traumatic nor a medicinal cause, a urinary

calculus might be suspected. Since rinsing of the

bladder for several days did not change the

condition, Dr. B. consented to a consultation with

one of the most able surgeons. But he could not

discover any calculus, and was very reserved as to a

prognosis. Dr. B., therefore, quietly continued his

homœopathic treatment. After the examination with

the catheter, he gave Arnica 30, which much reduced

the urethral fever, and he made injections in the

bladder with water mixed with alcohol and a two

percent solution of Borax; but for several days the

disease changed but little, until he used Uva ursi,

giving it in the 6, 12 and 24 dilutions, at intervals

shorter or longer according to the urgency of the

condition. After this the fever diminished and also

the other symptoms gradually receded and the cure

proceeded without interruption. There has been no

relapse since that period, six years ago.

A Mixed Case

3. The third case is a patient who was given

up by the allopaths, a teacher, thirty-five

years old, who was said to have been

suffering from typhoid fever for the last

fourteen days. He had first been seized

with meningitis, which had gradually

assumed a typhoid character, with

headache, nausea, vomiting, stiffness of the

neck and delirium. The physician who had

treated him had used all possible remedies;

he had also consulted with another eminent

physician, who had agreed with him in

declaring the case to be hopeless. In her

4. distress, the wife of the patient at last

consulted Dr. B., who came at once to see

the patient, and found him very much

emaciated, with staring, deep-set eyes, the

pupils dilated and with some strabismus,

with super-sensitive limbs tending to

contract, and with occasional vomiting. He

was in a very excited delirium, with

continual hallucinations, and frequently

attempted to escape from his bed. A

bladder with ice was prescribed for his

head, and internally Aconite 3 and

Belladonna 3, in alternation. When Dr. B.

called the next day he met the physician

247

who had first treated the patient, who had

already been told that Dr. B. had been

called in. He appeared greatly astonished

that Dr. B. had put aside the medicines

which he had prescribed. Dr. B. requested

him to defer any unnecessary discussion

before a patient who was so severely sick,

and that he should diligently observe the

patient, who was one of his friends, and

assist him with his good advice towards the

restoration of the patient, as he could not

visit him frequently owing to the distance.

But the colleague refused this friendly

offer, and gave him an open field. After

receiving Stramonium, the patient began to

quiet down, his conscious intervals were

more prolonged, and in three to four days

he had regained his full consciousness.

During his convalescence, which now set

in, a headache remained which was

particularly aggravated from walking in the

sun. This was cured with Glonine 30. At

the close he received China, which

completed the cure.—From l’ Omiopatia in

Italia.

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39. Lessons From The Organon

SHEPPERD, Joel (AJHM. 110/2017)

On Potency and Repetition of the Dose

Aphorism 245 of the fifth edition of

Hahnemann’s Organon says, “Every new dose of

any medicine whatsoever, even of the one last

administered, that has hitherto shown itself to be

salutary, would in this case disturb the work of the

amelioration.” This paragraph is completely omitted

in the sixth edition. Instead, the substitute aphorism

246 in the sixth edition states that in chronic

diseases, a single dose of the right remedy does

sometimes complete the cure though it may take 40

to 100 days. Hahnemann then states that although

this rarely happens, it’s important to reduce the time

of cure if possible, and this can be accomplished

under the following conditions: 1) select very

accurate remedies, 2) give small doses of high

potencies dissolved in water at suitable intervals

known by experience, and the potency of each dose

must be somewhat different from the dose before it

and after it. The next two aphorisms detail the

preparation of liquid doses in numerous variations.

“Some patients are a thousand times more sensitive

(§248).” This implies that there are at least a

thousand ways to prepare the remedy doses and their

frequencies of repetition.

The fifth edition prepares the remedies by the

common centesimal method. The sixth edition

describes the 50th millesimal (called LM or Q

potencies in modern times) technique. “What I said

in the fifth edition of the Organon.. was all that my

experience permitted me to say at that time… the

same well-chosen medicine can now be given daily,

even for months if necessary (246a).” The two

methods of remedy preparation are not so drastically

different, so do not solely account for the quite

different directions in the administration of the

remedy.

Why the change? Hahnemann moved to Paris

where the patients had a complex and more

dissipative lifestyle. They were less healthy than the

German folk who had a mostly farming-based

culture in small towns and villages. It is not that the

Germans had less serious illnesses, but their medical

history was much more straightforward with less

variables. The Parisians needed “medicines of the

highest power and the mildest action (§270f)” for

their complicated cosmopolitan mode of living. The

homœopath of today with an urban/suburban

practice has patients much more like those in

Hahnemann’s Paris experience. In fact, the patient

of today is exposed to many more influences that can

interfere with a single dose of remedy. These

obstacles to cure may be environmental toxins,

processed food-like substances, allopathic

interventions, emotional stress or the sensitivities

(§116-117) of the less healthy population. A fixed

list of antidotes is no longer useful. Each patient

must be individualized. The potency and frequency

of doses must be evaluated differently for every

patient based on at least three variables including

how intense the disease is, how good a match the

remedy is, and how much healing energy the patient

has.

With all the noxious stimuli of modern times, it

is the experience of many homœopaths that one dry

dose repeated infrequently does not always cure the

usual patient. Doses in liquid form repeated at

intervals give more consistent results for some

patients. Do not ignore §171, which emphasizes that

in chronic disease, several remedies are needed in

succession to cure. In serious acute infectious

disease, such as Ebola, it is expected that more than

one remedy will be needed depending on the stage

of the disease. This is similar to Hahnemann’s three

remedies for cholera: Camphor; Cuprum metallicum

and Veratrum album, depending on the stage of the

illness. And in §40, Hahnemann says to alternate

remedies in complex disease with dissimilar

248

diseases—a very common state in the patients of

today.

=====================================

40. Lessons from the Organon: On the Treatment of

Pneumonia

SHEPPERD, Joel (AJHM.110/2017)

Disease is a state of being of the organism, a

dynamically dis-tuned life force, a non-entity, not

material thing, not pathology, not hidden and subtle

in the interior; it shows itself by signs and symptoms

observed by a physician (§8, §13, §14).

Homœopaths do not treat the diagnosis, but each

person’s unique expression of disease.

The ordinary, conventional school permits only

a few names (diagnoses); it does not allow the

prolificacy of nature to dare to produce any others.

Then it proceeds according to fixed patterns in its

treatment. The homœopathic doctor is not caught in

such prejudices. He does not acknowledge the

names; she cures each person according to his or her

individuality (§73a, b). X-rays help confirm the

diagnosis of pneumonia, but the word “pneumonia”

represents only a few signs and symptoms, not the

whole of the disease.

Each new epidemic or sporadic disease must be

explored as if it were new and unknown, no matter

how it is named. The symptom complex is found by

exact investigation of the current disease picture

without conjecture, but with perception. Each

epidemic is unique and different from all previous

ones (§73, §100). The infectious agent named as a

“cause” of pneumonia only gives the homœopath

another fact, but it does not determine the

homœopathic treatment.

The homœopathic medicine helps those who

were in fairly good health before the epidemic—

those who were not chronically sick with developed

Psora (§240). The correct treatment of serious

pneumonia may save the person’s life, but it may not

cure them if they had pre-existing chronic disease.

The long-term disease must be treated before they

return to health.

Use a single remedy at one time with a patient.

If two or more medicines are given together, it is

impossible to predict how they might hinder or

change each other’s action on the human body even

if the pure effects of each are already known on the

healthy (§273-274). It’s best not to use

polypharmacy in the treatment of serious acute

disease.

A more rapid cure can be accomplished under

the following conditions: 1) select very accurate

remedies, 2) give small doses of high potency es

dissolved in water at suitable intervals, known by

experience; the potency of each dose must be

somewhat different from the dose before and after it

(§246). An intense illness requires more of the

remedy.

In urgent cases, give the medicine solution

every hour or more frequently. In acute disease, give

every six, four, three or two hours(§248).

If in six, eight, or twelve hours the patient is

distinctly worse and new symptoms arise hour to

hour, the doctor must dutifully select the most

appropriate remedy for the condition as it is now

presenting itself (§248, §250). Truly serious febrile

diseases may have different stages, each requiring a

different remedy. In pneumonia there may be an

inflammatory stage followed by a consolidation

stage and then a resolution stage. Each new picture

of the disease stage requires that the case be retaken.

For instance, Hahnemann determined three remedies

for cholera depending on the progressive stages of

the disease. The latest Ebola outbreak, for example,

would probably require more than one remedy for its

cure.

For reference, it should be noted that the word

pneumonia does not appear in the Organon.

=====================================

41. Lessons from the Organon: Acute Miasm,

Acute Disease; Chronic Miasm, Chronic

Disease

SHEPPERD, Joel (AJHM. 110/2017)

Disease is not a product of matter, not a

pathology category, not a fixed state (§8a), or a

name. Go beyond allopathic thinking. Dynamic

disease is a distunement (§12), a living energy

imbalance of the whole organism.

Acute disease (§72, 73) occurs rapidly; it

distunes the “vital” principle. It reaches a peak or

crisis and then it kills, or it disappears and the person

returns to their previous health. a febrile condition

is part of the homœopathic definition of acute

disease. It starts from an exciting cause (§5) due to

many possible “noxious influences”(§72, 73).

Unlike the allopathic model, the fever does not have

to be from a pathogen. Acute disease can arise from

trauma, exposure, excesses of lifestyle, or emotional

upsets. Not everyone is susceptible because of each

person’s unique predisposition to disease.

Acute miasm is a subset of acute disease (§73).

Hahnemann mentioned that some epidemics recur

over the centuries with recognizable disease

symptom patterns, and so are given names, such as

cholera or scarlet fever. He noted that the noxious

influences spread, not by the pattern of a chemical or

249

environmental toxin, but by the pattern of an

infectious agent, a very small organism, invisible to

the naked eye. These observations were made about

half a century before the materialist germ theory.

But it is not the microbe that causes the disease. It is

energy transfer that begins a disease process. The

physical pathogen is only a carrier of the energy that

influences the susceptible organism.

Homœopaths do not treat the acute miasm based

on the name of the so-called infectious disease agent,

but individualize each new outbreak of an epidemic

based on a true totality of symptoms/phenomena.

Chronic disease (§72, 204) is not defined in

Homœopathy by the duration of an illness. The

definition includes the observation that the Vital

Force will never cure the disease by its own effort.

There must be some intervention. In the first edition

of the Organon, Hahnemann observes that chronic

disease arises from two sources. The first source is

people practicing an unhealthy mode of living. The

naturopaths call lifestyle errors the “determinants of

health.” the chronic disease symptoms disappear if

the mode of living improves. This first source of ill

health is called “not true chronic diseases” (§77). (1)

The second source of chronic disease is called

“artificial chronic disease” (§74-76). It is from

allopathic treatments. The mainstream medical

system calls it iatrogenic disease.

During his continuing practice of Homœopathy,

Hahnemann observed that some illnesses returned in

spite of accurate Homœopathy for acute disease and

in spite of a healthy lifestyle. He spent twelve years

researching the problem before writing “Chronic

Diseases”(§80a). he called this third observed

source of chronic disease the “true natural chronic

diseases” (§72, 78, 79, 80).(2,3,4). They originate

from chronic miasm, which is described as “dynamic

contagion.”

The chronic miasms are not the naming of

diseases. They are the naming of a dynamic disease

process. (aphorism 81). The stages of the chronic

miasm process are the same for all the chronic

miasms, no matter how many manifestations of

disease symptoms are given specific disease names

(§80-81). The original three chronic miasms are

given names based on the clinically observed skin

eruption stage (psora, sycosis, syphilitic). The

names are only a shorthand word for the complete

description of the skin. It is like saying,” It is

herpes,” instead of describing the vesicles or

pustules or crusts in detail.

When an organism is undergoing miasm, the

first stage is contact with the noxious influence. The

German word in the Organon is “Ansteckung,”

which is “contagion” or “infection.” Contagion

means “with touch.” The word “infection” refers to

“stain” or “taint.” The translation to “contagion” is

more direct. The organism is instantly transformed

energetically.* (See Editor’s Note below.) No

matter how quickly the place of contact is washed or

sterilized, the contagious transformation continues

in a susceptible person. The “dynamic” of the phrase

“dynamic contagion” is yet to be investigated by

mainstream science. See Hahnemann’s book, “The

Nature of Chronic Diseases” for a complete

description of all the stages of the single dynamic

process of chronic ‘miasming.’

The first description of the miasm process was

new to the medical world. It changed the method

homœopaths used to investigate a case and choose a

remedy in ways we take for granted today (§206-

209). For instance, homœopaths look at a person’s

whole life, past and present, and family history for

the characteristic symptoms. Homœopaths now

know that there are remedies that can cover complex

chronic diseases, not just acute diseases.

Homœopaths understand that the predisposition

of people to disease and their susceptibility is

influenced by miasms. Also, homœopaths can treat

the chronic disease process before the manifestation

of obvious pathology (latent stage). Homœopaths

know to treat the primary (external) and secondary

(internal) symptoms of chronic disease at the same

time with a remedy (§204, 205) (5,6) and not

suppress with treatments for the skin.

The modern world is complex and filled with

disease causing variables. In today’s homœopathic

practice, most people have multiple miasms.

Knowing the miasmatic process helps us understand

the causes of disease, progression of disease, and

directions of healing. Knowledge of a chronic

miasm no longer eliminates any remedy from

consideration for any one person’s disease process.

References

1. Aphorism 77: Disease engendered by

prolonged exposure to avoidable noxious

influences should not be called chronic. They

inclue diseases brought about by: the habitual

indulgence in harmful food and drink; all kinds

of excesses that undermine health; prolonged

deprivation of things necessary to life; unjealthy

places especially swampy regions; dwelling

only in cellars, damp workplaces, or other

closed quarters; lack of exercise or fresh air;

physical or mental overexertion; continuing

emotional stress; etc.

These self-inflicted disturbances go away

on their own with improved living conditions if

no chronic miasm is present, and they cannot be

called chronic diseases.

250

2. Aphorism 78: The true natural chronic

diseases are those that arise from a chronic

miasm and that, left to themselves without their

specific remedy, continue to increase

indefinitely, tormenting the patient with ever

greater suffering to the end of his days, despite

the best mental and dietary habits. These

diseases are by far the gravest, most numerous

scourges of humanity after those caused by

medical abuse (PARA 74). The most robust

physical constitution, the most orderly way of

living, and the most lively vital energy are not

equal to eradicating them.(a) (Refer to the

Organon for footnote a.)

3. Aphorism 79: Until now only syphilis has

been somewhat recognized as a chronic

miasmatic disease, one that, when untreated,

disappears only at death. Sycosis (fig-wart

disease), similarly ineradicable by the Vital

Force when untreated, has not been recognized

as a particular chronic miasmatic disease, which

it most certainly is; it is thought to be cured with

the destruction of the outgrowths on the skin,

despite the lingering decline that remains.

4 Aphorism 80: Immeasurably more

widespread, and consequently far more

important than the two preceding, is the chronic

miasm of psora. While the other two manifest

their specific chronic inner malady by the

venereal chance and the cauliflower-like

excrescences, respectively, the inner, monstrous

chronic miasm of psora announces itself after

the complete internal infection of the entire

organism, through a characteristic cutaneous

eruption accompanied by unbearably

voluptuous tickling itching and a specific odor,

and sometimes consisting of only a few vesicles.

This psora is the true underlying cause and

creator of almost all the multitudinous, indeed,

innumerable disease forms that are not due to

syphilis and sycosis. (a) They include:

neurasthenia, hysteria, hypochondria, mania,

melancholia, idiocy, madness, epilepsy and all

kinds of fits, softening of the bones (rachitis),

scrofula, scoliosis and kyphosis, bone caries,

cancer, fungus hematodes, neoplasms, gout,

hemorrhoids, jaundice and cyanosis, dropsy,

amenorrhea, hemorrhage of the stomach, nose,

lungs, bladder and womb, asthma and

suppuration of the lungs, impotence and

infertility, migraine, deafness, cataract and

amaurosis, kidney stones, paralyses,

deficiencies of the senses, and every kind of

pain, etc., all mentioned in pathology books as

separate diseases.

See the Organon for footnote(a)

5. Aphorism 81: The gradual transmission

and incredible development of this ancient

contagion, for hundreds of generations and

through many millions of human organisms,

explains to some extent the countless disease

forms into which it has evolved throughout the

entire human race, especially when we consider

the great variety of chronic diseases (secondary

symptoms of psora).

It is no wonder that so many different, often

prolonged internal and external noxious

influences should produce such an endless

variety of deficiencies, deteriorations,

intonements, and suffering in such widely

varying organisms permeated by the psoric

miasm. Hitherto, the old pathology has

mistakenly presented them as diseases in

themselves under a number of particular names.

(b)

In footnote (a), Hahnemann names

extrinsic factors that modify the development of

psora such as the climate, physical and moral

education of youth, physical and moral abuses

in professional or private life; diet; human

passions; various morals, customs and habits.

In footnote (b), he rails against allopathy’s

naming of diseases to justify a standardization

of treatment. He states “the old school gives

specific names even to those widespread acute

diseases that may indeed be propagated by a

specific, unknown infectious agent within each

individual epidemic, as if they were known,

fixed diseases always recurring in exactly the

same form: typhus, hospital fever, jail fever,

camp fever, putrid fever, typhoid fever, nerve

fever, etc.

“Yet each epidemic of such migrant fevers

manifests each time as a new disease that has

never before existed in exactly that form; it

differs greatly in its course, in many of its most

prominent symptoms, in its whole behavior.

Each appearance is so dissimilar to all previous

epidemics, whatever we call them, that one

would have to forswear all logic and precision

of thought to give such wisely varying

epidemics the name established by accepted

pathology and to treat them all identically in

accordance with this same faulty label.”

“…from all this it is clear that a true

physician will not allow these useless and

incorrect disease names to influence his therapy.

He knows not to judge and treat disease

251

according to the nominal similarity of an

individual symptom, but rather according to the

totality of the patient’s symptoms. He must

carefully uncover the patient’s sufferings and

never jump to conclusions about them on empty

hypotheses.”

6. Aphorism 204: “… most chronic diseases

develop from these three chronic miasma:

internal syphilis, internal sycosis, but most of

all, and to a disproportionate extent, internal

psora.

Each of these miasms has already occupied

the entire organism and permeated all its parts

before the appearance of the primary, vicarious

local symptoms (the scabies eruption in psora,

the chancre or inguinal bubo in syphilis, and the

fig-warts in sycosis), which prevents its full

manifestation.

If these miasms are by external means

deprived of the vicarious local symptoms that

allay the general internal malady, sooner or

later the characteristic diseases that the Creator

of nature has decreed for each of them must

inevitably develop and manifest fully and thus

spread all its nameless misery, the incredible

multitude of chronic diseases, which have

plagued the human race for hundreds and

thousands of years.

None of them would have manifested

themselves so often if physicians had wisely

endeavored to cure these three miasms

fundamentally and to extinguish them in the

organism exclusively by the internal use of

homœopathic medicines appropriate to each,

without disturbing their external symptom

through topical treatment.

Aphorism 205: The homœopathic physician

never treats any of these primary symptoms of

chronic miasms or any of the secondary ones

arising during their development by local means

(neither with externally dynamically acting ones

nor with mechanical ones). He cures only the

great underlying miasm instead, whereupon its

primary (except in some cases of long-standing

sycosis) and secondary symptoms

spontaneously disappear as well. But since this

is never the method of treatment which has been

followed before the homœopathic physician

comes upon the scene, he usually finds that the

primary symptoms have regrettably already

been destroyed externally by previous

physicians, and he now has to deal with the

secondary ones, i.e., the ones arising from the

full manifestation and development of the

indwelling miasms-most often with the chronic

diseases of internal psora. In my book on the

chronic diseases, to which I here refer the

reader, I have presented the internal cure of

these miasms as thoroughly as any one

physician could do after many years of

reflection, observation, and experience.

Footnote (a) refer to the Organon.

*Eitior’s note: To borrow from Hahnemann’s

Chronic Diseases, Hahnemann believed that

Psora, the most fundamental and universal of

the miasms-was transferred almost instantly to

the Vital Force of the person. “The itch disease

is, however, the most contagious of all chronic

miasmata, far more infectious than the other

two…the miasm of the itch needs only to touch

the general skin, especially with tender children.

As soon as the miasma of itch, for example,

touches the hand, in the moment when it has

taken effect, it no longer remains local.

Henceforth all washing, and cleansing of the

spot avail nothing.” He goes on to say…

“The nerve which was first affected by the

miasm, has already communicated it in an invisible

dynamic manner to the nerves of the rest of the body

and the living organism has at once, all unperceived,

been so penetrated by this specific excitation that it

has been compelled to appropriate this miasma to

itself until the change of the whole being to man is

thoroughly psoric.”

In other words, Hahnemann believed that once

psora “took hold” in the body, the reason ant or

dynamic frequency of the person- if susceptible to

the resonant frequency of the invading pathogen- is

then changed, creating a susceptibility to deeper

ailments since almost invariably the initial

manifestation of psora, such as a skin eruption, is

suppressed (usually by allopathic treatment) and the

newer symptoms become secondary psora.

=====================================

42. The Origins of Homeopathy

MORRELL, Peter (AH. 22/2016)

“He came like a meteor, and it might almost be said

he faded like meteor, so far as the official school

were concerned.”1

--------------------------------------------------------------

“Its keen exposure of the ordinary practice – its

proud rejection of old formulas – in utter

condemnation of time-sanctioned systems, raised

against it a clamorous and angry host of opponents,

who felt and resented this assault on their

stronghold; while its fresh and vigorous

truthfulness—its appeal to reason and experience

against all the old arbiters in medicine, served as a

252

gathering cry to numbers who had been convinced

by former papers, but had not ventured openly to

espouse so daring a heresy.”2

--------------------------------------------------------------

Homœopathy originated from experiments

Hahnemann conducted over many years with single

drugs. He gave up medical practice around 1783,

and while working on translations for another two

decades he accumulated a vast knowledge of single

drugs and their therapeutic properties. At the same

time, he led a very peripatetic life, moving from

town to town in Saxony, rarely straying far from the

river Elbe.3 All the while, he continued his

experiments while earning a very meager living

translating medical and scientific texts into German,4

having abandoned orthodox medical practice for fear

of its dangerous and ineffective methods.5 He

eventually also dismissed its alleged cures as mere

palliations and suppressions that only compounded

sickness further and caused more suffering than they

relieved.6

“Lawless empirical medicine”7

It is air to say that Hahnemann primarily

formulated Homœopathy as a reaction against the

ineffective and unprincipled medicine of his day.

This is the main reason he abandoned medicine in

disgust soon after his first marriage in November

1782.4 The strong doses of mixed drugs in common

use also inspired him to rebel against the routine use

of brutal methods like purging and bleeding.8 Not

only were the mainstream methods abhorrent, but he

had personally found them to be ineffective,

dangerous and in some cases a genuine threat to the

life of patients.9 How could he as a family man

employ such methods against the illnesses of his

own wife and children? “Disease now invaded his

own family, and he felt, with a father’s keenness, his

inability to afford aid.”10 As a result of these strong

emotional and intellectual reactions against orthodox

practice, he decided that the chief problem lay in the

drugs used.

How could physicians possibly know the true

properties of the drugs in regular use, given that the

therapeutic indications for them in the Materia

Medica were unproven, unconfirmed, spurious, very

misleading, often exaggerated and in some cases

completely fictitious? Though the properties of

these drugs were mostly imagined, none of them

ever having been tested, they had for centuries been

crystallized into dogmas.11 He therefore regarded

the Materia Medica of his day as a thoroughly bogus

and unreliable document, a work of fiction, totally

unscientific and in truth a hopeless mish-mash of old

wives’ tales, dreams and fantasies, created by “our

physicians by their customary method of fabricating

the virtues of medicines out of airy hypothesis, and

constructing a Materia Medica of such fanciful

materials.”12, 13 This problem was further

compounded by the fact that in his day drugs were

always routinely used in complex mixtures. It would

therefore be impossible to clearly attribute any cure

to a specific single drug.14

“The purification of the Materia Medica”15

Hahnemann therefore decided there could be no

alternative but to “to clear the Materia Medica from

the innumerable errors and uncertaintis,”16 by

undertaking a very thorough “root and branch”

revision of it. He saw this as absolutely the vital first

step. He proposed that each drug should be tested

individually on healthy people so as to establish

clearly, unambiguously, objectively—and thus

scientifically—what its genuine therapeutic

properties of an individual drug. This information

could then be used to determine which drugs should

be given for which conditions and to which patients.

And it would replace the myths and fairy tales that

had for centuries filled the old Materia Medicas. He

regarded Materia Medica revision as a first step to

make medicine a more scientific enterprise.17

To Hahnemann’s astonishment and dismay, his

proposal was met with a torrent of opposition,

resistance, criticism and even derision from his

fellow physicians and apothecaries.18 They saw

nothing wrong with the Materia Medica or the

compound drugs in use; they saw nothing wrong

with the apothecaries, and they saw nothing wrong

with bleeding and purging their patients. Undeterred

by the magnitude of this rebuttal—indeed spurred on

by it—he decided to undertake this mammoth task

on his own. This explains the context behind the

provings he commenced in the 1790s.19

Hahnemann set about the painfully slow process

of compiling a new Materia Medica singlehandedly

by undertaking numerous careful experiments with

single drugs, testing them one by one.20 In his

typically thorough and meticulous manner he noted

down all the symptoms he experienced. He matched

his with information on single drugs he had

identified by scouring the medical literature,

including records of accidental poisonings, as well

as cures made by individual drugs in the past.21, 22

Bolstering in this way his own observations, he

began to piece together information on the genuine

properties of single drugs. In the course of this slow

process he also became convinced of the folly of

medicine’s long—established habit of using drugs

on the basis of Galen’s “contraria” maxim. The

253

material he had compiled from the historical

literature pointed more towards the Hippocrate and

Paracelsian precept of “similia similibus” as a more

attractive, more promising and probably more

reliable medical compass:23 “Within the infant rind

of this small flower Poison hath residence and

medicine power.”24

Hahnemann also rejected dangerous and

depletive measures like purging and bloodletting,

which were in very widespread use at that time.25 He

favored similar rather than contraries and single

drugs as opposed to mixed drugs. Being also aware

of records in the medical literature (both ancient and

contemporary), he knew of cases where drugs could

induce symptoms similar to the disease which they

could cure: examples included belladonna for scarlet

fever and arsenic and mercury for syphilis. He also

considered the possibility of using poisons

therapeutically.26 In this respect he followed closely

in the footsteps of Paracelsus and Störck,27 who had

both contended that to cure a sickness the intensity

of the disorder must always be matched by the

intensity of the remedy. They both emphasized that

the deadliest diseases can yield to the deadliest

poisons, and therefore study of the effects of poisons

can reveal some of the most powerful remedies.

Being very impressed with the evidence for their

position, Hahnemann soon came to adopt the same

viewpoint and travelled in the same therapeutic

direction.

Provings

The Viennese physician, Anton von Störck

(1731 – 1803) first conducted “provings” of drugs by

ingesting small, sublethal doses of deadly poisons

like aconite, hemlock, colchicum and henbane and

noting the symptoms they produced. In several Latin

tracts, he then proclaimed their great healing power

for conditions similar to the symptoms these drugs

produced in healthy volunteers.28 On this basis, for

example, he recommended stramonium—which

induces strange delusions—for madness. His short

works on this groundbreaking approach appeared in

the 1760s and 1770s and for a while they were

popular and influential texts, and were translated

into several European languages.29 Though very

dangerous, in many ways Störck’s methods have

also been depicted as fore-runners of the clinical

trials of modern pharmacology.30

Hahnemann adopted Störck’s method31 and

conducted provings of many other drugs and so

compiled more detailed and accurate symptom

profiles (“drug pictures”) than had been recorded in

the traditional Materia Medicas of his day. His first

such proving was of Peruvian bark (cinchona) in

1790,32 and additional drugs were tested throughout

the next few decades. The cinchona proving fully

confirmed his ideas about medical similar while also

leading him to undertake further provings and the

epiphany of a general principle: similia similibus

curentur. In 1805, soon after settling in the town of

Torgau, and finally putting his travelling years

behind him,33 he published his Fragmenta de

viribus, a two-volume collection in Latin of the

provings of 27 drugs.34 Half of the symptoms in this

work had been recorded in older writings (including

Störck) and half were his own.

Hahnemann’s process of proving drugs

continued for many years.35 After his Fragmenta

deviribus, further provings appeared in his Materia

Medica Pura and The Chronic Diseases of 1828.36

In this manner, over a forty-year period, Hahnemann

created a completely new Materia Medica

containing the detailed and pure symptoms of single

drugs. He had now compiled detailed accounts (drug

pictures) of the genuine therapeutic properties of

many of the medicines in common use at the time

(e.g. Aconite, Belladonna, Stramonium, Opium) as

well as many new one completely unknown to

medicine or only very rarely used e.g. Silicea,

Lycopodium, Carbo veg., Aurum, Calcarea

ostrearea (Calc-carb).37

Return to practice

While proving drugs, in the 1790s Hahnemann

had also started using them to treat patients and so

he had resumed – albeit on an experimental and part-

time basis – the practice of medicine.38 During this

time he recorded his observations on the use of these

newly proven drugs. Hahnemann soon laid down

“rules” for using remedies – mostly concerning

selection of potency, mode of administration and

rate of dose repetition - but they changed and

evolved repeatedly in the light of his ongoing

clinical experience.

Two important but unforeseen developments in

the formation of Homœopathy then appeared,

derived firstly from the provings and secondly from

clinical experience. The provings revealed a

completely new medical dimension. They showed

that a drug creates symptoms in every part of the life

and body of the organism. Although every drug has

certain impacts upon specific systems, tissues and

organs, it also has a mental and emotional impact and

induces definite changes in dreams, sleep and also

the menstrual cycle in women. These features were

previously unknown, and Hahnemann could not

have had any prior knowledge that this situation

would become apparent when he set out to revise the

Materia Medica.

254

Consequently, a drug profile in Hahnemann’s

new Materia Medica contains a detailed and multi-

faceted image of the impact the drug has on the

whole human organism. He who noted that many of

these mental and emotional aspects of a drug can

figure quite significantly when one is trying to

choose a remedy for a specific patient. This

undreamt-of holistic aspect of the provings affects

how a drug is perceived and used by the homœopath

and how it must then be matched to symptoms.

Illness itself is also an individual and multifaceted

affair. Homœopathic drugs therefore must be

carefully matched to an individual case of sickness,

that is to a “case totality” rather than to a disease

label.39 This point led Hahnemann to emphasize the

individuality, idiosyncrasy and uniqueness of each

case, and thus the absurdity of giving broad is ease

categories, names and classifications, which are

rejected as useless tools for homœopathic practice.

Aggravations and potentization

Once Hahnemann started using these newly-

proven drugs he also observed that patients often

displayed a marked sensitivity to the most similar

remedy which, in crude or over-powering doses, can

aggravate symptoms.40 Acknowledging this

sensitivity he sought methods to render the action of

a remedy gentler.39, 41 He devised dose reductions

and potentization methods, innovations which very

soon became distinctive features of Homœopathy.

These tiny doses have always been ridiculed by

allopaths42

Hahnemann’s first dilution experiments

(c.1799) were attempts to attenuate the excessively

strong action of Belladonna and Opium and were

made using large bottles43 accompanied by vigorous

shaking (succession) for several minutes at every

stage.44 This early “potentization” method was

designed to reduce the crude amount of the drug

while retaining its therapeutic power.45 Around

1800, having tried various ratios, he settled on a

graduated scale, diluting his drug tinctures by one

part in 100 in a water and alcohol mix. He called this

the centesimal scale and the drugs so produced

centesimal potencies.

Hahnemann’s further experiments established

the crucial importance of vigorous shaking at every

stage in the serial dilution process. The reason for

this innovation has never been fully explained, nor

where the idea came from.46 One possible source of

Hahnemann’s pharmaceutical method of trituration

(initially used for insoluble substances) can be seen

See “Hahnemann’s History of Potentization,”

pages 22 for further insight into this topic.

in 13th century Arab medicine (allegedly attributed

to Albucasis, 963-1013) where gold was rubbed on

coarse linen under water and the resulting sediment

of fine gold particles then used as a medicine.

Though Hahnemann references this method,47 he

gives no further clues as to it origin. Nor does he ever

reveal the likely source of his penchant for the

vigorous shaking of medicinal solutions.

“decimal scale” that dilutes one part of the drug in

ten parts of alcohol was developed by Hering and

Vehemyer in 1836.48 These decimal potencies

slipped into general use quite quickly; 3x and 6x, for

example, were immensely popular throughout

Europe during the nineteenth century and formed the

mainstay of the work done by many of the early

homœopaths.49

Hahnemann came into conflict with the

apothecaries for having openly criticized their

compound mixtures and the often poor quality of

some of the drugs they supplied, frequently at

exorbitant cost.50 This conflict became further

inflamed when he started preparing his own

remedies. By refusing to use the apothecaries’

compound mixtures and by insisting on making and

using his own single drugs, he encroached upon the

rights and privileges of the apothecaries’ guild. This

conflict with apothecaries flared up repeatedly and

was doomed to haunt him all his professional life.51

“Hahnemann … begins to excite the dread of the

apothecaries, who see the vision of thir gains

beginning to melt. This is not to be endured. Are

these faithful allies of the physicians, who have

mutually so enriched each other, to be sacrificed to a

pretended reform?”52

Hahnemann had other reasons for wishing to

use single drugs. He detested the Galenic medicine

in which he had been trained, founded as it was upon

the maxim of contraries: “contraria contrariis” – let

sickness be treated by drugs that produce the

opposite effects. Examples of contraries include

laxatives for constipation and antispasmodics for

coughs;53 this approach still dominates modern

pharmaceutics.

“Sincere, honest, and learned men”

Despite mainstream opposition to

Homœopathy, the eminent physician to Queen

Victoria, Sir John Forbes (1787 – 1861), urged the

profession to at least acknowledge that Hahnemann

was an important, innovative and gifted medical

scholar and a brilliant man. This provoked a storm

of controversy at the time, especially in Edinburgh.7

255

“(We cannot) hesitate for a moment to

admit, that he was a very extraordinary man,

one whose name will descend to posterity as the

exclusive excogitator and founder of an original

system of medicine, as ingenious as many that

preceded it, and destined, probably, to be the

remote, if not the immediate, cause of more

important fundamental changes in the practice

of the healing art, than have resulted from any

promulgated since the days of Galen himself.

Hahnemann was undoubtedly a man of genius

and a scholar; a man of indefatigable industry,

of undaunted energy. In the history of medicine

his name will appear in the same list with those

of the greatest systmatists and theorists;

unsurpassed by few in the originality and

ingenuity of his views, superior to mostin having

substantiated and carried out his doctrines into

actual and most extensive practice;’54 and

further, “not only that the system is an ingenious

one, but that it professes to be based on a most

formidable array of facts and experiments, and

that these are woven into a complete code of

doctrine with singular dexterity and much

apparent fairness. And it is but an act of simple

justice to admit, that there exist no grounds for

doubting that Hahnemann was as sincere in his

belief of the truth of his doctrines as any of he

medical systematists who preceded him, and

that many, at least, among his followers, have

been, and are sincere, honest, and learned

men.’55

Conclusion

As the “midwife” “to whom the science owes its

birth,”56 Hahnemann had firmly established a

modest set of new principles to underpin the new

therapy. Most fundamentally these were: single

drugs, similar and provings, followed later by case

totality and infinitesimal doses. In choosing them he

had inevitably rejected the core principles of the

medicine of his day: mixed drugs, contraries, strong

doses and named diseases. The latter he termed

allopathy57 and the former Homœopathy.

Hahnemann was not only reacting against allopathic

methods, but also against the very core principles

upon which those methods were based, constructing,

as he went, a new medical system rooted entirely in

empirical experiments, observations and experience,

but crowned also with newly forged principles that

melded into a coherent whole. “This principle he

had deduced from large observation; he had found it

perfectly consistent with the experience of former

writers, and had extensively tested it in his own

practice with the happiest results.”58 In every

respect, it remains clear that he lived a very busy,

useful and productive life. Little wonder then that

on his tomb his epitaph reads: Non inutilis vixi, I

have not lived in vain.

References

1. The quote refers to Johannes Scotus Erigena;

CG Coulton, Studies in Medieval Thought,

London: Nelson, 1940, p.68

2. Dr J Rutherford Russell, Sketch of the Origin

and Progress of Homœopathy, British Journal

of Homœopathy vol.1, 1843, pp.1-21, p.20

3. The 1790s were Hahnemann’s “restless years of

wandering,” (Richard Haehl, Samuel

Hahnemann, His Life and Work: Based on

Recently Discovered State Papers, Documents,

Letters, etc. (John H Clarke; FJ Wheeler, Eds.),

London: Homœopathic Pub. Co., 1922, vol.1,

p.13) being “distracted by mental labours,

which drove him restlessly from town to town,”

(Haehl, vol. 1, p.48) until he had finished

“wrestling with his thoughts.” (Haehl, vol 1,

p.48) He changed his “residence seventeen

times between 1782 and 1805.” (Harris L

Coulter, Divided Legacy: a History of the

Schism in Medical Thought, (4 vols.)

Washington: Wehawken Book Co., 1973-94,

vol.2, p.309) He “endured poverty in order to

pursue the one great aim of his existence,” (R E

Dudgeon, Lecturers on the Theory and Practice

of Homœopahy, London & Manchester: Henry

Turner & Co, 1853, p.liii) These might well be

seen as “a long series of years he was depressed

by poverty and driven from one town of

Germany to another.” (EE Marcy, The

Homœopathic Theory and Practice of Medicine,

New York: Radde, 1850, p.57)

4. “From 1782 to 1796 he earned a living largely

through chemical research, translations and

writings,” (Coulter, vol.2, p.310)

5. He decided “to give up his medical practice,”

(Haehl, vol.1, 267) very “soon after his marriage

in November 1782.” (Haehl, vol. 1, p.28) “He

gave up medical practice, as he preferred

honourable poverty to a bad conscience,”

(Haehl, vol.2, p.180) having “temporarily

abandoned medicine in disgust at its

uncertainty, and had devoted himself solely to

chemical and literary pursuits.” (Dudgeon,

p.xxx)

6. He condemned “the use of wrong, powerful

medicines… strong palliatives…contraria

contrariis curentur” (Samuel Hahneamann, The

Organon of Medicine, combined 5th/6th Edition,

translated by R.E. Dudgeon, and edited by

William Boericke, Philadelphia: Boericke &

Tafel, c.1893, p.25)

256

7. C B Ker, The History and Statistics of the

Introduction, Growth and Representation of

Homœopathy in Great Britain and Ireland,

World Homœopathic Convention 1876,

London: Brit Hom Soc., 1877, p.3

8. He rebelled “against the enormous doses of

ordinary practice.” (Dudgeon, p.392); he

described the prescriptions in common use as “a

confused jumble of unknown drugs—mostly

poisons—mixed together.” (Dudgeon, p.xxviii).

He “reviled the customary practice of mixing

several medicinal agents because of the

uncertain effects and potential danger to the

patient.” (Michael Carlston, Classical

Homœopathy, New York: Churchill

Livingstone, 2003, p.13) “Throughout his life,

he fought against the practice of polypharmacy,

or prescribing numerous medications to the

same patient.” (Edward Shalts, The American

Institute of Homeopathy Handbook for Parents:

A Guide to Healthy Treatment for Everything,

San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Boss, 2005, p.33)

“As 1784 he contended…against bleeding.”

(Wm Ameke, History of Homœopathy, its

origin, its Conflicts, with an Appendix on the

Present State of University Medicine, translated

by A.E. Drysdale, edited by R.E. Dudgeon,

London: E. Gould & Son, 1885, p.67) He

dismissed on instinct “bleeding, cold, emetics,

purgatives, diaphoretics.” (Ameke, p.46). He

was opposed to patients being “Sweated and

purged, puked, bled and salivated,” (Ameke,

p.45) back to health by these heroic measures.

9. “In Hahnemann’s time (1799) the death of our

own George Washington was undoubtedly

caused by the repeated bloodletting in which he

was subjected. He was almost completely

exsanguinated.” (Stuart Close, The Genius of

Homœopathy: Lectures and Essays on

Homœopathic Philosophy, Philadelphia:

Boericke and Tafel, 1924, p.29)

10. Russell, op cit., p.3

11. He rejected the authorized allopathic “Materia

Medica based on conjectures and compound

prescriptions,” (Organon, §54); He

“strenuously …rejected and fought against the

theories of disease origin and diagnosis, as

known in his time.” (Haehl, vol.I, p.290) He

“became disillusioned and dissatisfied with

current medical practice.” (Lewis B Flinn,

Homeopathic Influence in the Delaware

Community A Retrospective Reassessment, Del.

Med. Jnl., 48.7, July 1976, pp.418-418, p.427)

Hahnemann clearly “perceived that the whole

edifice of the old Materia Medica must be

rebuilt from the very foundation, as that Materia

Medica furnished nothing positive regarding the

(true) pathogenetic actions of drugs.”

(Dudgeon, p.176)

12. S. Hahnemann, Materia Medica Pura, 1818,

p.182

13. Regarding the Thesaurus medicaminum, which

Hahnemann translated in 1800: “the best

counsel I can give you, dear reader, is to place

the main body of this book into the fire.”

(Dudgeon, 1853, pp.xxviii); see also Haehl,

vol.I p.308; “the… virtues of medicines cannot

be apprehended by…smell, taste, or

appearance…or from chemical analysis, or by

treating disease with one or more of them in a

mixture…” (Organon; v.110)

14. He “was a most passionate opponent of mixed

doses that contained a large number of

ingredients.” (M Gumpert, Hahnemann: The

Adventurous Careet of a Medical Rebel, New

York: L.B. Fischer, 1945, p.96)

15. Dr James Johnstone, Hahnemann Ter-Jubilee

Festival, Jnl Brit. Homeo. Soc., 1904-5 pp 298-

328, p.299

16. Stephen Simpson, A Practical View of

Homœopathy, London: Bailliere, 1836, p.vii

17. Regarding the proposed reform of the Materia

Medica, in 1797, see Dudgeon, p.179

18. “The ..very opposition of his colleagues made

him more resolute in his determination to carry

out his plans alone.” (Dudgeon, p.181)

19. Regarding the first provings, see Dudgeon,

pp.179-181

20. And yet, remarkably, his proposal to reform the

Materia Medica “faced stern opposition from

his colleagues and even more so from the

apothecaries.” (Paolo Bellavite; Andrea

Signorini, The Emerging Science of

Homœopathy: Complexity, Biodynamics, and

Nanopx wssharmacology, Berkeley, Calif.:

North Atlantic Books, 2002, p.31) His

“proposed reform and perfecting of the Materia

Medica …met with nothing but derision and

contempt from his colleagues.” (Dudgeon,

p.179)

21. Hahnemann therefore “concluded that the

curative powers of drugs depended on their

‘symptom similarity’ to diseases.” (A T

Kirschmann, A Vital Force: Women Physicians

and Patients in American Homeopathy 1850-

1930, PhD thesis, Univ of Rochester, New

York, 1999, p.21) “The Law of Similars, which

is unquestionably the cornerstone of

Homœopathy,” (Bellavite et al, p.5) and “the

central guide for medical practice.” (M Wood,

Vitalism: The History of Herbalism,

257

Homœopathy, and Flower Essences, Berkeley,

Calif.: North Atlantic Books, 2000, p.41)

22. He collected cases of “accidental provings and

deliberate poisonings.” (Clare Goodrick-Clarke,

Alchemical Medicine for the 21st Century:

Spagyrics for Detox, Healing, and Longevity,

Rochester, Vt.: Healing Arts Press, 2010, p.34)

23. He concluded that “the disease producing

effects of drugs, would give the key to their

therapeutic or curative powers.” (John C Peters;

Frederick G Snelling, The Science and Art, or

the Principles and Practice of Medicine, W.

Radd: New York, 1858, p.87)

24. Wm Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act 2,

Scene 3, 1596; “the Primary characteristic of

homœopathic medicine was the Law of

Similia,” (William G Rothstein, American

Physicians in the Nineteenth Century: From

Sects to Science, Balimore: Johns Hopkins

University Press, 1972, pp. 165-6)

25. In the Galenic medicine of his time

“bloodletting, cupping, the application of

leeches, purging and vomiting were standard

practices.” (Charles S Cameron, Hahnemann A

Second Century Look, Phila. Med. 1957 (53),

pp.83-87, pp.84-5). He expressed “a

dissatisfaction with the standard medical

practices of his time: routine bleedings, heroic

purgings with cathartics, and administration of

large doses of crude drugs.” (Paul Callinan,

Family Homeopathy: A Practical Handbook for

Home Treatment, New Canaan, Conn.: Keats

Pub., 1995, p.4)

26. The belief “that a poison at the same time

contains its own healing agent is an ancient

belief.” (R Tischner & LJ Boyd, The History of

Homeopathy, New York: American Institute of

Homeopathy, 1933, p.63); “he set himself

diligently to collect from the writings of ancient

and modern medical authors all the cases of

poisoning he could lay hands on, and to institute

experiments with different drugs on himself and

various friends, and to compare their effects

with the histories of the maladies recorded as

having been cured by such drugs singly and

alone.” (Dudgeon, p.49) Soon after the

cinchona proving of 1790, Hahnemann

“collected histories of cases of poisoning. His

purpose was to establish a physiological

doctrine of medical remedies, free from all

suppositions, and based solely on experiments.”

(Gumpert, p.92) Hahnemann “compiled an

exhaustive list of accidental poisonings record

by different doctors in different countries

through centuries of medical history.” (George

Vithoulkas, The Science of Homeopathy, New

York: Grove Press, 1980, p.23) With the

provings, he set out “to make experiments with

all sorts of drugs (even poisons) on healthy

human beings, in order to obtain a rational

Materia Medica according to homœopathic

principles.” (Ameke, p.110)

27. “Galen made the important suggestion that

poisons’ may produce symptomatic pictures

similar to disease, a viewpoint amplified by

Paracelsus.” (Linn J. Boyd, A Study of the Simile

in Medicine, Philadelphia: Boericke & Tafel,

1936, p.5)

28. It was Anton von Störck in the 1760s who had

“suggested the treatment of diseases with

poisons according to the principle of similar.” (P

A Nicholls, Homœopathic and the Medical

Profession, London & New York: Croom Helm,

1988, p.12) Hahnemann knew of “the

experiments of Störck with several powerful

medicinal substances,” (Dudgeon, p.188) and

“the name of Störck with several powerful

medicinal substances,” (Dudgeon, p.188) and

“the name of Störck is mentioned many times in

the provings.” (Tischner, p.130) “Störck was

the first scientist to systematically test the

effects of so-called poisonous plants (e.g.,

hemlock, henbane, meadow saffron).

Discovering new therapeutic properties in

previously dreaded plants….Störck was able to

successfully treat his patients using the drugs he

discovered.” (Urs Leo Gantenbein, The First

School of Vienna and Samuel Hahnemann’s

Pharmaceutical Techniques, MedGG, 19, 2000,

pp.229-49); “The only one who had made the

first step to the Hahnemannian simile was

Anton Störck; he had proved the first plant

extracts on the healthy and then used these

results in patients according to the simile

principle.” (Tischner, p.218) “Störck, … (was)

the chief predecessor of Hahnemann.”

(Tischner, p.235) “Direct connection is

established through that fact that Quarin was

Störck’s pupil and Hahnemann’s teacher and the

Störck-Hahnemann association via Quarin is

also suggested by Hahnemann’s remark: ‘All

that I am as a physician, I owe to Quarin.’

“(Boyd, p.19); “As we know, Störck introduced

into medical practice, aconite, belladonna,

hyoscyamus, colchicum, stramonium, conium

and pulsatilla…and afterwards found in

Hahnemann his most active supporter.”

(Ameke, p.77)

29. Störck’s published works: A Little Book on

Hemlock, 1760; A Little Book on Stramonium,

Hyoscyamus and Aconite, 1762;A Little Book

on Colchicum autumnale, 1763; A Little Book of

258

continuing experiments with new medicines,

1765; A Little Book on Clematis erecta, 1769;

Two Papers on the Snowdrop Tree and the

Burning Bush, 1769;A Little Book on Pulsatilla

nigricans, 1771

30. Störck is seen as a pioneer of pharmacology:

“Störck, one of the great figures of the Vienna

school, undertook careful pharmacological and

toxicological studies on plant substances,

including hemlock (1760-1); stramonium,

hyoscymous, and aconite (1762); colchicum

(1763) and pulsatilla (1777).” (J Mann, Murder,

Magic, and Medicine, Oxford & NewYork:

Oxford University Press, 1992, p.347); “The

first deliberate self-experiment with a drug that

I know of was reported by Dr. Anton Störck in

1760. …(with) blackish-green drug Cicuta

vulgaris.” (L K Altman, Who Goes First? The

Story of Self-experimentation in Medicine, New

York: Random House, 1987, p.89); “The first

scientific study of the toxic effects of

Hyoscyamus and Stramonium in animals was

published by Störck in the 18th century.” (Laszlo

Gyermek, Pharmacology of Antimuscarinic

Agents, Boca Raton: CRC Press, 1998, p.3);

“Aconite…was not introduced into medicine

until 1762 (Baron Störck, Vienna).” (David M

R Culbreth, A Manual of Materia Medica and

Pharmacology, Philadelphia, Lea & Febiger,

1927, p.205)

31. “Hahnemann’s later writings, including his

Organon, show that he was considerably

influenced by Störck, Joseph Quarin.

Hahnemann’s elaborate system …can be seen as

a development and refinement of the techniques

he learned in Vienna.” (Gantenbein, pp.229-49)

32. Regarding the cinchona proving, “it was in the

town of Stotteritz 1790 that he translated a book

discussing an herb known as cinchona bark,

which had been found to cure malaria.” (Eanor

B Amico, ‘Samuel Hahnemann,’ in Frank N

Magill, Dictionary of World Biography vol.4,

The 17th and 18th Centuries, Fitzroy Dearborn,

1999, pp.593-595, p.593) In 1790, “he

translated Cullen’s Materia Medica, and

discovered the fever-producing property of

cinchona bark.” (Dudgeon, p.xxi)

33. Having settled in Torgau “his period of stress

and wandering is now over.” (Haehl, vol. 1,

p.72); Torgau – Haehl, vol.2, pp.78-93

34. “Hahnemann’s ‘Fragmenta de viribus

medicamentorum positivis’ ….supplies reports

on the tests of twenty-seven medicines the

results of years of experiment on himself and his

family” (Gumpert, p. 122) He wished to create

a medicine based solely on experiment and

“without the superfluous rubbish of

hypotheses.” (Gumpert, p.26) Fragmenta de

viribus medicamentorum: positivis sive in sano

corpore humano observatis (Fragmentary

Observations relative to the Positive Powers of

Medicines on the healthy Human Body). “the

Materia Medica Pura had had its precursor in

the Fragmenta.” (Boyd, p.149) “The work,

begun in the ‘Fragmenta,’ was continued in the

‘Materia Medica Pura,’ the first volume of

which appeared in 1811 followed by five more

volumes up to 1821. The twenty-seven drugs

considered in the ‘Fragmenta’ in the meantime

became sixty-four, if one counts the provings of

the magnet as three, as does Hahnemann.”

(Tischner, p.395)

35. Re the cinchona experiment see Dudgeon, p.xxi

36. Re chronic diseases see Dudgeon, pp.xxxv-

xxxvi

37. Anonymous, Defence of Hahnemann and His

Doctrines, London: Bailliere, 1844, p.84; P P

Mandal & B. Mandal, A Text Book of

Homœopathic Pharmacy, New Central Book

Agency P Ltd, 2011, p. 191; Henry Buck, The

Outlines of Materia Medica & a Clinical

Dictionary, London: Leath & Ross, 1865, p.215

38. He resumed medical practice in 1799 in

Bamburg according to Rima Handley, A

Homeopathic Love Story, USA: North Atlantic

Books, p.67

39. Hahnemann emphasized “the totality of the

symptoms of the disease;” (Boyd, p.57) “the

choice of the remedy is determined by the sum-

total of all the symptoms.” (Dudgeon, p.316)

40. He declared that “a suitably selected

homœopathic remedy…usually causes, as it

were, a slight aggravation of the patient’s

condition in the first hour or two after its

administration.” (Organon, 1, §132); the

aggravation “is, in reality, nothing more than an

extremely similar medicinal disease, somewhat

exceeding in strength the original affection.”

(Organon 6, §157)

41. “The potentized form of the remedy was

introduced… to overcome side effects and

toxicity.” (David K. Owen, Principles and

Practice of Homœopathy: The Therapeutic and

Healing Process, Philadelphia: Churchill

Livingstone Elsevier, 2007, pp.272-3) He

“began to dilute the remedies in order to find

curative doses that did not produce unwanted

side effects,” (Bellavite p.11); It was “the

homœopathic aggravation…(that) induced him

to gradually decrease the dose.” (Dudgeon,

p.311) Hahnemann “was only gradually led to

the employment of infinitesimal doses.” (A

259

Teste, The Homœopathic Materia Medica:

Arranged Systematically and Practically

Philadelphia: Rademacher & Sheck, 1854, p.18)

Though he had initially “made use of the pure

mother-tinctures in ordinary doses, but.. a

temporary augmentation of

symptoms…induced him to reduce his doses

until he came to use attenuations and dilutions.”

(Marcy, p.122)

42. “No poison, however strong and powerful, the

billionth or decillionth of which would in the

least degree affect a man or harm a fly.”(James

Y Simpson, Homeopathy: Its Tenets and

Tendencies, Theoretical, Theological, and

Therapeutical., 3rd edition, Edinburgh:

Sutherland & Knox, 1853, p.11); “much has

been written and spoken on the alleged

absurdity of atomic doses.” (Dr Rosenstein,

“Infinitesimal Doses,” The Homœopathic

Times, London, 1851, p.46)

43. Opium & Belladonna first dilutions: “It is in his

little work on Scarlet Fever, published in 1801,

that we have the first forebodings of an unusual

mode of preparing the medicines….the dose of

Opium there recommended ..is very small

compared with the ordinary dose…the object of

this dilution was to diminish the power of the

medicine chiefly…for patients of very tranquil

disposition.” (Dudgeon, p.338) “In 1800-1 he

was using 1/18,000 of a grain of Aconite,

1/2000 of a grain of Capsicum, Pulsatilla in

1/400,000 or 1/1,600,000 of a grain,

Chamomilla 1/3,840,000,000 of a grain.”

(Haehl, vol.1, pp.314-5)

44. Re succession see Dudgeon, pp.346-7

45. Hahnemann “advocated ever more definitely

the administration of small doses.” (Gumpert,

p.96) “In 1800 we first meet with anything like

infinitesimals and these only in certain cases.”

(Dudgeon, p.xlv) There was a “sudden

transition from the massive doses he prescribed

in 1798 to the unheard of minuteness of his

doses only one year later.” (Dudgeon, pp.395-6)

46. Regarding potentization “the object of dilutions

is to render their form milder; with the

diminution of the dose we make them, as it

were, more amicably disposed towards the

organism, whereas in their crude state as

poisons they were inimical to it.” (Dudgeon,

p.383)

47. See S. Hahnemann, Materia Medica Pura,

volume 1, 1818, pp.180-2

48. “The centesimal scale was introduced by

Hahnemann and the decimal scale by

Constantine Hering during the lifetime of

Hahnemann,” (N C Sukul & A Sukul, High

Dilution Effects: Physical and Biochemical

Basis, Dordrecht & Boston: Kluwer Academic,

2004, p.5); The decimal scale “was introduced

by Hering…to potentize snake venoms, and

Albert Vehsemeyer gave a more detailed

description of this scale in 1836.” (Mandal &

Mandal, op cit., p.139); “Dr. Constantine

Hering of Philadelphia was the first who

introduced the decimal scale. Dr. Vehsemeyer

of Berlin, in 1836, in a precise manner, set forth

the principles, therein involved. (Hygaeia vol

IV, p.547)” (Willmar Schwabe, Pharmacopaea

Homœopathica Polyglotta, 1880, (Book on

Demand Pod, reprint 2013), p.B17)

49. For Dr John Drysdale (1816-1892) “low

dilutions did best and he found no advantage

above the 3rd decimal.” (Frank Bodman,

Richard Hughes Memorial Lecture, Brit Homeo

Jnl 1970; 59, pp.179-93, p.184) At the London

Homeopathic Hospital c.1900, “anything above

a 3x potency was anathema.” (Dr George

Burford Obituary, Brit. Homeo. Jnl 27, 1937,

pp.164-175, p.172) Many British homœopaths

only prescribed remedies “in low potency,

usually 1x or 2x, but mother tinctures were used

regularly.” (B Leary, M Lorentzon, A

Bosanquet, It won’t do any harm: practice &

people at the London Homeopathic Hospital,

1889-1923, in Culture, knowledge, healing.

Historical perspectives of homœopathic

medicine in Europe and North America.

Sheffield: EAHMH-Publications, 1998, pp.251-

73, 1993) Some homœopaths “restricted

themselves to the crude tinctures and

triturations, or the very low dilutions, ranging

from 1x to 6x.” (Close, pp.183-4)

50. Hahnemann alluded to the “adulteration of

drugs and to deceptions practiced by the

apothecaries…he drew attention to the

dishonesty of some in the profession.” (Rosa W

Hobhouse, Life of Christian Samuel

Hahnemann, Founder of Homœopathy,

London: Th C.W. Daniel company, 1933,

p.165) He regarded many of them as “swindlers

who compounded spurious medicines and grew

fat on the unabated sufferings of the sick.”

(Gumpert, p.94) He despised “their monopoly

of the right both to prepare and to dispense

drugs.” (Hobhouse, p.163) and refused to allow

preparation of homœopathic remedies by “the

hands of those who had not even the remotest

respect for his method.” (Hobhouse p.207)

51. In the 1780s and 1790s he was “driven from one

town of Germany to another by the persecutions

of the physicians and apothecaries.” (Marcy,

p.57) Then, “in 1820, the Apothecary Guild of

260

Leipzig brought Hahnemann to court…he was

convicted and barred from making his own

remedies.” (Amico, p.594)

52. See Russell, p.16

53. He condemned “the use of wrong, powerful

medicines… strong palliatives…contraria

contrariis curentur.” (Organon, p.25) He

laments “the inefficacy of the treatment by

contraries.” (Dudgeon, p.49) For the sick,

doctors “gave them cold for heat, depression for

excitement, evacuations for stoppages. Behind

all their arrogant Latin, there was a single,

primitive, commonplace idea: Contraria

contrariis; you must stop holes…cure stoppages

by purgatives, blood ebullitions by venesection,

sour eructations by alkalis.” (Gumpert, p.87)

54. John Forbes, Homeopathy, Allopathy and

Young Physic, New York: William Radde,

1846, p.4

55. Ibid. pp.4-5

56. See Russell, p.2

57. “The antipathic, enantiopathic or palliative

method,” (Organon, §57) as “fundamentally

unhelpful and hurtful.” (Organon §56) In 1800,

in the Preface to his translation of the Theaurus

Medicaminum, Hahnemann condemned

allopathic drugs as “unnatural, contradictory

and opposed to the object for which they are

designed.” (Thomas L Bradford, The Life and

Letters of Dr. Samuel Hahnemann,

Philadelphia: Boericke & Tafel, 1895, pp.71-2)

58. See Russell, p.17

=========================================

43. Causation in Primary Central Sleep Apnea and

its Significance in Homœopathic Case-Taking

Dr. HO, Fatima (AH. 24/2018)

Abstract: Central Sleep Apnea (CSA) is generally

considered to be less prevalent than Obstructive

Sleep Apnea (OSA). While secondary CSA is

known to be associated with chronic opioid use and

high altitudes, and to occur in elderly patients with

comorbidities such as heart failure or stroke, primary

CSA is considered to be idiopathic. However, recent

work by Drewry has revealed the causation of one

form of primary CSA. Close reading of the scientific

literature suggests that both physical and

psychological trauma can give rise to CSA in

otherwise healthy individuals. Knowledge of the

causation underlying this form of CSA allows the

homœopath to elicit crucial information during case-

taking, thereby improving the chances of finding the

correct remedy for a particular case.

Acknowledgements: the author would like to

thank Dr. Damaris Drewry for allowing access to her

clinical data as well as explaining her thought

process in the genesis of “PTSD-based CSA.” The

author would also like to thank Dr. Andy Chi Tak

Ho for the construction of the flowchart and for

being the source of inspiration that led to the

undertaking of the research summarized here.

Introduction

Sleep apnea is the temporary cessation of

breathing that occurs involuntarily and repeatedly

during sleep.

There are four types of sleep apnea:

1. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)

2. Central sleep apnea (CSA)

3. Mixed sleep apnea (patient presenting with

symptoms of both OSA and CSA)

4. Complex sleep apnea (iatrogenic, patient

ending up with symptoms of both OSA and

CSA following positive airway pressure

therapy)1,2

Central sleep apnea (CSA) is much less

commonly diagnosed than obstructive sleep apnea

(OSA), and arises from a completely different

background. OSA always involves blockage of the

airway but there is continued respiratory effort.3

CSA, on the other hand, is characterized by a lack of

drive to breathe during sleep, resulting in repetitive

periods of insufficient ventilation and compromised

gas exchange.4 CSA comprises a heterogeneous

group of conditions characterized by an involuntary,

repeated, suspended respiratory effort. In CSA, the

problem arises primarily in the respiratory center in

the brainstem that is responsible for normal

breathing, or secondary to other conditions such as

diseases, drugs (especially chronic opioid use5, 6), or

high altitude.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine’s

International Classification of Sleep Disorders, 3rd

edition (ICSD-3), distinguishes five subtypes of

central sleep apnea(CSA) syndromes in adults:

 Primary CSA (idiopathic)

 Cheyne-Stokes breathing-CSA pattern (e.g.

patients with heart failure or stroke).

 CSA due to medical conditions other than

Cheyne-Stokes

 CSA due to drugs (narcotics/opioids), and

 High altitude-induced periodic breathing

Pathophysiology7, 8, 9

Normal ventilation is regulated to keep arterial

oxygen (PaO2) and carbon dioxide (PaCO2) levels

within narrow ranges. This is achieved by feedback

loops that involve chemoreceptors, intrapulmonary

261

vagal receptors, respiratory control centers in the

brainstem, and respiratory muscles. During wakeful

periods, signals from the cerebral cortex influence

respiration. This is known as behavioral control and

involves nonchemical stimuli such as pulmonary

mechanoreceptors. During sleep, behavioral control

is believed to be suspended, with chemical control

becoming the major mechanism regulating

ventilation, PaCO2 being the major stimulus.

Reduction of PaCO2 of just a few mmHg below the

apneic threshold can result in apnea.

Two types of pathophysiological phenomena

can cause central sleep apnea syndromes:

1. Ventilatory instability (either decreased or

increased ventilator drive), or

2. Depression of the brainstem respiratory

centers or chemoreceptors

While unstable ventilatory control during sleep

is the hallmark of CSA, the pathophysiology and

prevalence of the various forms of CSA vary

greatly.4 Recent advances in scientific research have

shown that the mechanisms responsible for CSA and

OSA overlap, and patients with central sleep apnea

often have obstructive events, with the pharynx

narrowing considerably during a central apneic

event.10, 11 The significance of this is that CSA can

be mistaken for OSA and, in fact, is often treated

inappropriately as such.

Incidence and prevalence of CSA

Compared to OSA, CSA only accounts for

about 5-10% of clinic patients seen in sleep

centres.12 CSA is generally considered to be less

prevalent in the general population than OSA.13 It is

also known to be associated with chronic opioid use

or high altitudes.14 Primary CSA, on the other hand,

is considered to be idiopathic, i.e., of unknown

cause.

However, recent work by Drewry16 has brought

to light a form of CSA in otherwise healthy

individuals that she has been able to resolve using a

special form of psychotherapy. Could this be a form

of primary CSA that has hitherto been deemed

idiopathic? Drewry’s work consists of discovering

the trauma underlying the development of PTSD-

based CSA.” Her contention is that specific

psychological trauma is the underlying causation of

tis form of CSA. This contention is supported by a

myriad of research papers in the scientific literature.

Research literature

Freeze response

Human beings undergoing extraordinary

stressful situations, in which neither fight nor flight

are possibilities, are known to exhibit the freeze

response.17 According to Burgess & Holmstrom18

and Heidt, Marx, & Forsyth,19 a relatively high

percentage of rape victims feel paralyzed and unable

to act despite no loss of consciousness during the

assault. The freeze response is the only coping or

survival mechanism available to those unable to

fight back or escape, e.g. victims of rape and

childhood sexual abuse. It can also occur in men and

during non-sexual violence.20

If a freeze response (also known as tonic

immobility) is not discharged, as when a wild animal

shudders back to life after playing dead when the

predator has left, and it often is not in human

beings—perhaps due to chronic exposure to abuse—

then post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can

result. This conditioned suppression of instinctive

emotional response (e.g. weeping) and physical

response (e.g. shaking, shivering, shuddering)

immediately following trauma can lead to an

overload of the psyche and is known to be predictive

of the severity and prognosis of PTSD. In their 2010

article,21 Lima et al conclude that “tonic immobility

seems to have a greater negative impact on PTSD

prognosis than peritraumatic panic or dissociation.”

The PTSD and sleep apnea connection

In 2008, Spoormaker and Montgomery22 noted

that “Several sleep disorders—nightmares,

insomnia, sleep apnoea and periodic limb

movements—are highly prevalent in PTSD, and

several studies found disturbed sleep to be a risk

factor for the subsequent development of PTSD…A

growing body of evidence shows that disturbed sleep

is more than a secondary symptom of PTSD—it

seems to be a core feature.”

Studies have shown a very high incidence of

sleep disordered breathing in anxiety disorders,

including PTSD.23 Sleep apnea is known to be a co-

morbid condition in PTSD in combat veterans24, 25

and in women who have suffered sexual trauma.23, 26

In their 2004 article,27 authors Masaoka and Homma

point out that respiratory psychophysiology studies

have found that respiratory patterns are affected by

fear and anxiety. They go on to make the link

between the limbic system and the respiratory centre

in the brainstem, noting that “the brainstem regulates

respiration to adjust for a metabolic requirement but

final respiratory output appears to be from

interactions between maintaining homœostasis and

input from many types of sensory information and

emotions from the higher cortical and limbic

structures.”

In her 2017 article,16 Drewry explains her theory

of the connection between “PTSD-based CSA” and

post-traumatic stress, postulating that “the false

perception of imminent death during a traumatizing

262

event is interpreted as fact by the subconscious mind,

which then gives the directive to create a stop-

breathing program in the autonomic nervous system,

possibly via the activity of the neuropeptide orexin.

The “stop-breathing program” is a faulty survival

mechanism in direct opposition to the body’s innate

directive to breathe continuously during sleep, and

results from archived traumatic memories that run

subconsciously all the time. People in crisis may

stop breathing in order to avoid inhaling water,

toxins, or amniotic fluid, or to make themselves

unobtrusive in order to avoid a threat. Drawing on a

body of work that encompasses 90 men and women

over eight years (between 2008 and 2016), Drewry

makes a compelling case for the PTSD/CSA

connection. Of her 90 sleep apnea subjects, 64 had

reported symptoms of anxiety and panic while 33

had been diagnosed with PTSD.

Head trauma

In the introduction to their 2009

article,28Castriotta et al elaborate on the various

causes of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and the types

of sleep disorders that can result. “Traumatic brain

injury (TBI) has been increasingly recognized as a

major health problem in both the civilian and

military population as a consequence of motor

vehicle accidents and explosive devices. Every year,

over 124,000 civilians in the USA who sustain a TBI

develop a long-term disability. Presently, there are

over 3.3 million Americans living with a TBI-related

long-term disability. Recent studies have revealed a

high prevalence of sleep disorders in the TBI

population, including narcolepsy, posttraumatic

hypersomnia (PTH), periodic limb movements in

sleep (PLMS), and especially obstructive sleep

apnea (OSA), with serious consequences.”

In their 2007 article,29 researches Verma et al

found that the rate of sleep apnea in their study

population (60 adult patients with TBI who

presented with sleep-related complains three months

to two years following TBI) was significantly higher

than population norms.

In their 2012 article,30 researchers Viola-

Saltzman, and Watson acknowledge that both CSA

and OSA can result from TBI. “Sleep disturbance is

common following traumatic brain injury (TBI),

affecting 30-70% of individuals, many occurring

after mild injuries. Insomnia, fatigue and sleepiness

are the most frequent post-TBI sleep complaints with

narcolepsy (with or without cataplexy), sleep apnea

(obstructive and/or central), periodic limb

movement disorder, and parasomnias occurring less

commonly. In addition, depression, anxiety and pain

are common TBI co-morbidities with substantial

influence on sleep quality.”

Viola Saltzman and Watson make a point of

including sports-related head injury (conclusion) in

their discussion, together with other civilian TBI

such as falls, motor vehicle accidents, assaults etc.,

with such injuries often occurring in the context of

construction or industrial accidents domestic and

child abuse, as opposed to military or combat TBI.

They explain the mechanisms of TBI in different

areas of the brain resulting in different types of sleep

disorder.

“The type of sleep disturbance resulting from a

closed head injury depends on the location of injury

within sleep-regulating brain regions. Post-

traumatic hypersomnia is seen when areas involving

the maintenance of wakefulness are damaged. These

regions include the brainstem reticular formation,

posterior hypothalamus and the area surrounding the

third ventricle. High cervical cord lesions have also

been known to cause sleepiness and obstructive

sleep apnea (OSA). In addition, whiplash may cause

hypersomnia by precipitating sleep-disordered

breathing.

“Coup-contrecoup brain injury following head

trauma occurs most frequently at the base of the skull

in areas of bony irregularities (especially the

sphenoid ridges), with consequent damage to the

inferior frontal and anterior temporal regions,

including the basal forebrain (an area involved in

sleep initiation). As a result, insomnia is a common

symptom following injuries of this mechanism.

Closed head injury can involve the suprachiasmatic

nucleus and/or its output tracts leading to

disturbance of circadian rhythmicity with

concomitant hypersomnia and insomnia.”

In the world of contact sports, certain athletes

take a lot of high velocity hits and spills which can

cause concussion, with or without loss of

consciousness, so it is not surprising that offensive

and defensive linemen accounted for 85 per cent of

the cases of sleep-disordered breathing in 52

professional football players.31 Recent data from

helmet sensors show that running backs and

quarterbacks suffer the hardest hits to the head, while

linemen and linebackers are hit on the head most

often.31 Data on head acceleration and hit direction

are used to calculate a composite score of exposure

that researchers believe might be a good predictor of

concussion.32 Both hit severity and hit frequency

need to be taken into account because repeated head

impacts may cause sub-concussive neurological

damage over time.

Discussion

The PTSD-limbic system-breathing

connection27, 33-40

The amygdalae are a pair of limbic system

structures involved in our emotions and motivations,

263

particularly those related to survival. They are also

responsible for determining which memories are

stored and how, possibly based on the intensity of

the emotional response evoked. There are neurons

in the amygdalae that are responsible for fear

conditioning, an associative process whereby we

learn through repeated experiences to fear

something. Our experiences can cause changes in

brain circuitry, physiology, and even anatomy. For

instance, hyperactivity of the amygdalae or having

one amygdala that is smaller than the other has been

associated with fear and anxiety disorders, including

PTSD. Fearful situations can overwhelm normal

brain functioning by sensitizing the amygdalae to the

point where they over-react to situations that are not

life-threatening. This is the essence of PTSD, where

the fight/flight/freeze response (an activity mediated

by the amygdalae) is activated inappropriately.

The limbic system influences both the

sympathetic part of the autonomic peripheral

nervous system and the endocrine system, which

means that stress hormones are released with the

activation of the fight/flight/freeze response.

Increased levels of stress hormones and an over-

active sympathetic nervous system impairs our

immune function and our Vital Force, making us less

able to deal with life’s stresses. This, essentially, is

what happens physiologically when severe or

prolonged psychological trauma culminates in

PTSD.

It is known that PTSD sufferers are hyper-

vigilant during the day.41 This hyper-vigilance

conceivably carries on into the night, even during

sleep, disallowing normal slumber by rousing them

from one breath to the next through orexin-mediated

physiological mechanisms, all orchestrated to ensure

that they survive (at least in the short-term).

If PTSD has to do with over-active amygdalae,

and breathing patterns are subject to influence from

the limbic system, does it then follow that any kind

of psychological trauma that results in PTSD can

result in breathing disorders? And would the odds

increase if the trauma is breathing related?

Breathing-related trauma16

Based on her work with individuals suffering

from sleep apnea, Drewry concluded that trauma that

results in a freeze response (the tendency towards

tonic immobility in the context of threat) may give

rise to “PTSD-based CSA.” In her work with people

with CSA, she has discovered the following

common themes, many of them breathing-related.

All have shown up as causation in cases of sleep

apnea that have partially or completely resolved

following her specific therapy.

 Asthmatic attacks

 Anxiety or panic attacks

 Near-drowning experience

 Becoming conscious during general anesthesia

 Losing consciousness suddenly, unexpectedly,

and unintentionally,

 Tonsillectomy as a child and being

frightened/panicky/struggling against the ether

mask

 Knocked out in a fight or accident or while

playing sport

 Losing consciousness intentionally, e.g.

stopping breathing to experience a “high”

 Birth trauma e.g., “blue baby” (born with

umbilical cord wrapped around neck), or born

premature and kept in an incubator

 Intra-uterine trauma e.g., mother smoked or

drank alcohol or took drugs while pregnant

In their 1994 article,42 Kahn et al. noted the

correlation between parental smoking and

obstructive apnea in infants. They concluded that

“prenatal smoking by mothers correlated with an

increase in frequency and length of obstructive

apneas and a decrease in birth weight of their infants.

The infants were under greater risk for obstructive

apnea if both parents smoked. Explanations for our

results are unknown to us, but these findings may be

of interest in the study of infant breathing behavior

and epidemiological characteristics of sudden infant

death syndrome.”

Approximately 25% of Drewry’s ninety clients

had mixed SA, i.e., a combination of OSA and CSA.

While these patients felt emotional relief after

therapy, airway obstruction still interfered with their

breathing. The conclusion she drew from this was

that CSA induced by trauma (and maintained by

PTSD) is amenable to psychotherapy but the

obstructive component of these patients’ sleep apnea

was secondary to other factors (such as food

sensitivities) and thus not amenable to

psychotherapy. For those whose CSA completely

resolved following therapy, psychological trauma

(with or without physical trauma) was the one

commonality.

It is the author’s contention43 that the

obstructive component of sleep apnea has to do with

an underlying tubercular miasm, which is borne out

by Drewry’s observation, as food sensitivities and/or

allergies are expressions of an allergic diathesis

which itself derives from the tubercular miasm.

Homeopathic case-taking

In the case of a patient presenting with sleep

apnea as part of their symptomatology, it is

important to understand that a diagnosis of OSA or

CSA may not be definitive, as CSA can be

264

misdiagnosed as OSAM and the two can co-exist in

the form of mixed or complex SA. In primary

idiopathic CSA or mixed sleep apnea, a history of

trauma, whether physical or psychological, is likely

to be present. A good, thorough, history-taking that

elicits causation is imperative. Without taking

causation into account, seemingly well-indicated

remedies may fail to work. There may be a need to

go beyond current signs and symptoms in order to

treat the underlying cause or NWS (Never Well

Since) factor that could be the obstacle to cure.

In the case of head trauma or breathing-related

trauma, the patient is often happy to disclose relevant

details when prompted to do so. In cases of pre-

natal, intra-uterine, or early childhood trauma, they

may be able to obtain relevant information from

parents or older siblings. In cases of abuse,

sensitivity on the part of the clinician is, of course,

of the utmost importance.

The following groups of people appear to be

most at risk of developing sleep apnea:

 Combat veterans

 Road traffic accident survivors

 Victims of bullying and abuse (especially

childhood sexual abuse)

 Victims of near-drowning

 Witnesses of violence

 Traumatic brain injury (e.g., contact sport

athletes suffering from concussion)

It is easy to understand why combat veterans

and road traffic accident survivors would end up

with PTSD. Victims of bullying and abuse often

develop coping or survival mechanisms such as

staying very still and breathing very shallowly in

order to avoid the notice of an alcoholic or abusive

parent or spouse. Children who witness a parent or

sibling being abused can also become frozen in

shock and horror.

Direct physical trauma, i.e., trauma to the base

of the skull or the upper part of the back of the neck

(high cervical cord), may be a primary causation as

the respiratory centre is located in the medulla

oblongata and pons in the brainstream. Indirect

trauma can also be primary causation, as contrecoup

injuries affect the side of the brain opposite to where

impact occurred, as when a blow causes the brain to

strike the side of the skull opposite the point of

impact. There is also the possibility of both direct

and indirect head trauma, as in coup-contrecoup

injuries. One example would be motor vehicle

accidents where the driver hits his forehead against

the steering wheel. Another example would be

contact sports injuries sustained at high velocities.

In both cases, damage occurs to the part of the brain

bounces away from the point of impact to strike the

opposite side of the skull. Even in the absence of

impact, brain injury can occur, as in whiplash

injuries or “shaken baby syndrome.”

It is now clear that trauma, both physical and

psychological, can result in sleep apnea. Whether

CSA or mixed SA results may depend on the

susceptibility of the individual which in turn is at

least partly determined by their miasmatic

background. In the 2018 article, “Miasmatic

Consideration In Pediatric Obstructive Sleep

Apnea,43 the author postulates a mechanism whereby

a tubercular background confers a weakness upon

the respiratory system, giving rise to a susceptibility

to OSA. If we were o add trauma to the picture, then

the person with an underlying tubercular miasm is,

conceivably, more likely to develop mixed SA (often

misdiagnosed as OSA), while someone without the

underlying tubercular miasm may be more likely to

develop primary or trauma-based CSA. More

information about the relationship of the tubercular

miasm and sleep apnea can be found in my previous

article, recently published in the American Journal

of Homœopathic Medicine.43

Homœopathic medicines

Repertorization of the signs and symptoms of

sleep apnea, followed by a close reading of various

Materia Medicas led to the following homœopathic

medicines being chosen as representative of sleep

apnea remedies.

Ammonium carbonicum, Ammonium causticum,

Antimonium tartaricum, Arsenicum album, Badiaga

(Spongilla fluviatilis), Cadmium sulphuratum,

Camphora, Carbo animalis, Carbo vegetabilis,

Cenchris contortrix, Digitalis purpurea, Graphites,

Grindelia robusta and squarrosa, Kali carbonicum,

Lachesis mutans, Laurocerasus, Naja tripudians,

Opium, Quebracho (Aspidosperma), Sambucus

nigra, Spongia tosta, Sulphur, Valeriana officinalis.

By far, Opium and Lachesis cover the most sleep

apnea symptoms. At least two other snakes

(Cenchris and Naja) need to be differentiated from

Lachesis which is, after all, better-represented in the

repertories.

Note that Lachesis, Opium, and Sulphur are

represented in head trauma rubrics such as

[GENERALS-INJURIES-concussion], [HEAD-

CONCUSSION of brain], [HEAD- INJURIES of the

head-after], etc. Other remedies in the above list that

also show up in head trauma rubrics include:

Ammonium carb, Badiaga, Camphora,

Laurocerasus, and Valeriana. Interestingly, Opium,

265

which covers many sleep apnea symptoms as well as

head trauma, also covers psychological trauma.

Consider the following rubrics of Opium:

MIND-After Fright, which remains

MIND-Painlessness of complaints usually painful

MIND-Forgetful of sufferings, and

MIND-Desire to escape from reality

If a rubric were to be constructed for sleep

apnea, Lachesis and Opium would be in bold caps.

A sub-rubric for OSA, would include different

(tubercular) remedies than a sub-rubric for CSA.

CSA would need sub-sub-rubrics according to

different causations: one for head trauma, one for

psychological trauma, and another one for “cardiac

asthma” (with a cross-reference against “Cheyne-

Strokes” breathing) in CSA secondary to heart

failure or stroke.

Conclusion

The heart has a complex neural network of

ganglia, neurotransmitters, proteins and support

cells, a neural circuitry that enables it to act

independently of the brain in order to learn,

remember, and even make decisions. Heart

transplant recipients have been known to take on

characteristics and even memories of their donors.44,

45 Certainly, the body remembers, as psychotherapist

Babette Rothschild explains in her book. The Body

Remembers: The Psychophysiology of Trauma and

Trauma Treatment. Is it conceivable that a body

which, years before, had an experience of trauma,

e.g., near-drowning, remembers how dangerous it

was to breathe (and thereby inhale water) while

losing consciousness), a cascade of events occurs?

The body (or more precisely, the heart) remembers

that it would have been fatal to breathe, and so sends

out the alarm to the brain, and the brain responds by

stopping breathing.

As the conscious mind relaxes its hold with the

approach of sleep, the trauma is re-lived and the

body responds in a replay of the original freeze

response or perhaps a misguided attempt to save

itself—a “stop breathing to stay alive” program in a

case of near-drowning, or breath-holding in a young

child who learned to do so in a desperate attempt to

remain under the radar of an abusive parent. But the

coping mechanism that allowed them to survive in

the distant past is now maladaptive and harmful to

their well-being.

Building on the work of John and Beatrice Lacy

in the 1960s and 1970s, researchers from the

HeartMath Institute, led by Dr. Rollin McCraty,

have determined that communication between the

heart and brain is a dynamic, two-way process, with

one continuously influencing the other. The heart

communicates with the brain in four major ways:

neurologically (transmission of nerve impulses),

biochemically (hormones and neurotransmitters),

biophysically (pressure waves and energetically

(electromagnetic field interactions).

In his article, “Heart Rhythm Coherence – An

Emerging Area of Biofeedback,”46 Dr. McCraty

notes that “the analysis of heart rare variability

(HRV), or hear rhythms, provides a reliable measure

of autonomic nervous system dynamics that is

particularly sensitive to changes in

psychophysiological state.” In 1996, Dr. McCraty

presented a paper: “Head-Heart Entrainment: A

Preliminary Survey”47 at an Applied Neuro-

physiology Colloquium, in which he described the

degree of entrainment exhibited between hart rate

variability (HRV), respiration, and EEG recordings.

It stands to reason that severe trauma is not

simply forgotten but is often stuck in our energy

systems, waiting to be triggered once our stress

levels go above a critical point. Childhood trauma

can be devastating in both the short and long term.

The Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) Study48

carried out by the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention in 1995, which followed 17,000

respondents over fifteen years, found a direct

relationship between childhood abuse, neglect,

household dysfunction (e.g., divorce, alcoholic

parent, violence, substance abuse) and severely

compromised health outcomes later in life.

In all cases of sleep-disordered breathing, it is

imperative to bring to light any history of trauma in

both the near and distant past, including infancy and

the birthing process (e.g., drugs given to the mother,

forceps delivery, umbilical cord around the neck), as

a newborn soon after birth (e.g., separation from

mother, vaccination reactions, reactions to

medications), and even as the unborn foetus’

reaction to the mother’s mental and emotional state.

All this information is invaluable to the homœopath

who understands the need to go beyond the obvious

signs and symptoms of the presenting complaint to

the causative or never well since (NWS) factor that

may hold the clue to cure.

There is no question that serious consequences

can arise when sleep apnea is left untreated or treated

inappropriately. While CPAP machines and intra-

oral appliances treatment options that do nothing to

address the underlying root causes of the problem.

In homœopathic terms, they are merely palliative

and not curative. In fact, more serious problems can

arise in when CSA is misdiagnosed as OSA and

treated as such, giving rise to iatrogenic complex

SA.

Knowing that trauma (both physical and

psychological) can give rise to a form of primary

266

CSA (or mixed SA in a patient with a tubercular

miasm) allows the homœopath to elicit crucial

information during case-taking, thereby improving

the chances of finding the correct remedy for a

particular case.

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Appendix

Materia Medicas

Allen, H.C. (1916). Keynotes and

Characteristics with Comparisons of some of the

Leading Remedies of the Materia Medica. 4th ed.,

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Homœopathic Therapeuics.

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Materia Medica. B. Jain Publishers(P) Ltd.

Clarke, J.H. (1902). A Dictionary of Practical

Materia Medica.

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Comparative.) Fourth edition revised and enlarged

with clinical index. Chicago: Gross & Delbridge.

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(with therapeutic hints). B. Jain Publishers (P) Ltd.

Hering, C. (1879-1891). The Guiding

Symptoms of Our Materia Medica. 10 volumes.

Kent, J.T. (1904). Lectures on Homeopathic

Materia Medica.

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Lotus Health Institute, 3rd ed.

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Therapeutics.

Phatak, S.R. (1988). Materia Medica of

Homœopathic Medicines. B. Jain Publishers

(P)Ltd., 2nd ed.

Vermeulen, F. (1997). Concordant Reference.

Homeopathic Educational Services, 2nd ed.

=====================================

44. Unprejudiced Observers: Hahnemann,

Leonardo da Vinci and Scientific Innovators

MORRELL, Peter (AH. 24/2018)

“Galen, the ruler of men’s minds on all matters

connected with medical science for thirteen

centuries and more; his authority at once a

despotism and a religion, which it would have

been treason to question and impiety to gainsay;

his works, with those of Aristotle, the text on

which the intelligence of Europe expended itself

in criticism and comment during all these

ages.”1

--------------------------------------------------------------

To draw a parallel between Hahnemann (1755-

1843) and Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) might

seem a tad audacious or even bizarre, as they seem

poles apart and were very different kinds of people.

However, there are some important similarities

where they come close, most especially in their

attitude towards how real knowledge can be created.

Hahnemann can be successfully compared to

several key figures in history, such as Lord Francis

Bacon (1561-1626), Galileo (1564-1642) William

Harvey (1578-1657), Isaac Newton (1642-1727) and

Charles Darwin (1809-1882), because they each, in

their day, set their compass against orthodox views

by declaring startling new discoveries and carving

out new paths towards knowledge gained largely

through empirical observation and experiment.

They each regarded “reading the great book of

nature,”2 as a superior path to true knowledge rather

than devotion to the dead hand of rigid

scholasticism. For, “without observations and

repeated experiments, the mind is only chasing after

phantoms and appearances without any scientific

value.”3 Each in their own way, they observed and

itnterpreted things in ways that challenged the

entrenched orthodox notions of the day, rendering

them rebels and iconoclasts: pioneers of new

knowledge. They all had an excellent education and

enjoyed high professional standing after studying at

some of the finest European universities.

Leonardo da Vinci

Da Vinci was the illegitimate son of an obscure

peasant girl and had little or no formal schooling.

His illegitimacy barred him from studying Greek and

Latin and he spent his childhood exploring nature

and pursuing his passion for drawing rather than

studying books. He thus remained largely oblivious

of the views and ideas of the great thinkers of the

past. He never wet to university and seemed to be

quite scornful of formal book learning of others.

This attitude is shown when he says: “though I may

not, like them, be able to quote other authors, I shall

269

rely on that which is much greater and more

worthy:-on experience, the mistress of their

Masters.”4 And also: “they do not know that my

subjects are to be deal with by experience rather

than by words and [experience] has been the

mistress of those who wrote well. And so, as

mistress, I will cite her in all cases.”5

Da Vinci predates by about a century all the key

figures of the scientific revolution, including Bacon.

He pioneered the detailed exploration of natural

forms and mechanisms as revealed through the

anatomical and engineering drawings that fill his

many notebooks. Therefore, in the history of ideas

he foreshadows the empirical and observational

methods of the great pioneers of science: Bacon,

galileo, Newton and Harvey. Yet, he is rarely

credited with that position, perhaps because this

aspect of the man has been obscured by his

considerable artistic achievements.

His writings contain many examples of the

value he places on experience:

 “My intention is to consult experience first,”6

 “My works are the issue of pure and simple

experience, who is the one true mistress.”7

 Sound rules are the issue of sound experience—

the common mother of all the sciences and

arts.”8

 “Wisdom is the daughter of experience.”9

 He relied on, “nothing more than his

considerable powers of observation and

deductive reasoning.”10 For example, his

observations concerning the motion of waves in

water, “laid the foundation for wave

theory…and proposed that invisible sound

waves travelled through the air in the same

manner.”11 Regarding his observation of the

dual action of the biceps muscle, “it would be

two centuries before Leonardo’s observation

was repeated.”12

 Pure and simple experience, who is the one true

mistress.”13

 “Good judgment is born of clear understanding,

and a clear understanding comes of reasons

derived from sound rules, and sound rules are

the issue of sound experience – the common

mother of all the sciences and arts.”14

 “Certainly, the proof should be allowed to rest

on the verdict of experience.”15

Francis Bacon

In the 15th century, a number of Aristotle’s

works were grouped together and called The

Organon. The term means “instrument,” an

instrument dealing with logic and for investigating

the nature of truth. It sought to establish very clearly

what is true and provided a series of guidelines on

how to make sense of things. For many centuries

prior to Bacon the views of Aristotle had been

revered as the absolute authority on philosophy and

had been frozen into a strict orthodoxy until the birth

of science in the early 1600s.16

Bacon’s Novum Organum, or The New Organon

(published in 1620), rejected the dogmatic

orthodoxy of Aristotle’s method and replaced it with

the notion that real truths can only be discovered

empirically from the observation of nature and by

conducting experiments.17 Bacon thus forms the

obvious inspiration for those pioneers of science

such as Galileo, William Harvey and Newton.18

Galileo was punished by the Church for teaching

heretical views of planetary motion,19 and Harvey

was severely criticized for teaching his discoveries

about the circulation of the blood that were contrary

to accepted teachings.20 Both were castigated as

heretics for daring to publish views contrary to the

accepted dogmas of Aristotelian thought and the

Church.

With both da Vinci and Bacon, we see a clash

between observation and received orthodoxy. In

both cases we see people who admired the truth more

than they admired orthodox dogmas, and who then

became portrayed as rebels and iconoclasts because

of their adherence to the new truths they had

unearthed. They are both good exemplars of the

empirical and experimental method which had been

previously espoused by Bacon. However, what is

also clear is that Leonardo was espousing and

following the same empirical path for at least a

century before Bacon.

Bacon is always credited as the originator of the

experimental and empirical approach to obtaining

truth, because that is what he espoused in his Novum

Organum and other writings. He is therefore rightly

seen as the progenitor of the scientific method, as

further refined by such figures as Descartes, and as

employed by Galileo, Harvey, Newton and all great

scientists ever since.

In the Baconian view, any scientific theory

should flow “naturally from observational data, not

from holy writings or transcendental visions,”21 and

avoid any “unpleasant philosophical or theological

conclusions.”22 A truly scientific theory should

justify “itself by reference to observational

data….and not by invoking sacred texts or the

mystical experiences of holy men… (it should

emerge) straight from the observational evidence.”23

“Bacon’s is a theory about how to shape

scientists (as they will subsequently come to be

known), so that, contrary to their natural

inclinations, they manifest the requisite good sense

and behavior in their observation and experiment.”24

270

The Beconian view does involve “a rejection of

the classical tradition and an emphasis on many of

the elements that Bacon will take up: above all,

observation and experiment,”25 and he argued for

“an experimental science based on sensory

observation.”26 However, Aristotle and the

scholastics were not entirely wrong: “Aristotle

realized (unlike almost everyone before him) that

knowledge of nature requires systematic

observation. Through careful examination he

recognized an astounding amount of order within the

living world, a crucial first step.”27

 “Becon’s overhaul of method was most properly

construed by him to be a theoretical project – at

stake in his project are the very grounds and

enabling conditions of knowledge production,

and the originary articulation, the invention in

a sense, of the mechanism-experience,

experiment, induction, observation, etc. – by

which this knowledge production is to be

carried out.”28

 “He follows only observations and sense

experience.”29

 “Bacon’s attempt to effect a fundamental reform

of philosophy from a contemplative discipline

exemplified in the individual persona of the

moral philosopher, to a communal, if ultimately

centrally directed, enterprise exemplified in the

persona of the experimental naturel

philosopher. In turn, observation and

experiment are lifted out of the purview of the

arcane and the esoteric, and planted firmly in

the public realm.”30

 “There are significant Beconian precedents

for… the idea of experiment and observation

replacing Scholasic methods of disputation.”31

 “Perhaps Bacon’s greatest influence on the

seventeenth-century intellectual upheaval was

his insistence on observation as the basis for

knowledge of nature.”32

 “Bacon’s chief complaint in connection with the

false systems of natural philosophy was the

methodology employed within those systems.

He accused Aristotle of ‘bending’ experience to

conform to his system. That is, rather than

allowing nature falsely in order to make it fit

with his system. His snide remark at the end

about the Scholastics reveals his belief that they

followed Aristotle so uncritically that they did

not even check with experience to see if

Aristotle’s system is empirically adequate. This

led to a blind allegiance to a false system of

natural philosophy, that is, to an Idol of the

Theatre.”33

Galileo

In agreeing with Copernicus mathematically

that the sun is much more likely to form the centre

of the solar system than the earth—because it gives

a much more accurate account of the motions of the

planets—Galileo set himself on a course towards

conflict with Church authorities. He bolstered his

calculations with numerous actual observations of

the heavenly bodies using a telescope. Despite his

close friendship with the Pope, his books were

condemned as heretical. He was quizzed by the

Inquisition and he suffered house arrest for many

years.

Galileo sets the precedent of a pattern of very

negative reaction towards new ideas that was

experienced by several other great thinkers and

experimentalists. He has therefore become the

martyr of the scientific approach and is still held up

as a hero by the scientific community for being bold

and daring enough to defy the received authority and

immense power of the Church—a power often

portrayed as a mindless form of authoritarian

dogmatism.

Early science was “grounded not on tradition

but its own observational and experimental

processes, its own metaphysic, and its own

philosophy of knowledge,”34 and yet there had

always existed an “empirical side of Aristotelian

philosophy, stressing the importance of observation

and experience in uncovering the secrets of

nature.”35 “It was by observation that solid

knowledge of human anatomy had been built up

since the early sixteenth century,”36 which was then

followed by a “vast expansion of scientific

observation and experiments in the seventeenth

century.”37 This “new outlook upon nature was

enriched and confirmed by sealous attention to

observation and experiment.”38

Galileo’s telescope “had allowed him to see the

mountain of the Moon and…by assiduous and

painstaking observation he discovered four ‘stars’

that revolved around Jupiter,”39 and “there can be

no doubt that Galileo’s observation of the stars was

the first step toward the universe of the vast numbers

of stars and systems of stars at vast distances of

modern cosmology.”40 However, the religious

authorities would not readily “accept Galileo’s

physical observations of the new celestial

phenomena.”41 and the Jesuits “either refused to

believe the observations or sought ways of

explaining away their troubling consequences.”42

Harvey

Based on a series of ingenious experiments that

he conducted on animals (mostly dogs, pigeons and

deer) and the human arm, Harvey was able to

271

demonstrate the absolute falsity of Galen’s 1500-

year-old views about the circulation of the blood.

For example, he showed for the first time the clear

differences between the arteries and veins, the

direction of blood flow in each and the mathematical

absurdity of Galen’s view that blood is synthesized

in the liver from food, then pumped out from the

heart to the tissues where it dissolve Harvey

demonstrated that given the accurately measurable

volume and beat of the heart it would be impossible

in a 24 hour period for the body to synthesis the

enormous volume of blood that Galen’s theory

required.

“Galen mistakenly thought that blood was

pumped out to irrigate the tissues, and that new

blood was made continuously to resupply the heart.

His idea was taught for nearly fifteen hundred years.

It was not until the seventeenth century that an

Englishman, William Harvey, introduced the theory

that blood flows continuously in one direction,

making a complete circuit and returning to the heart.

Harvey calculated that if the heart pumps out just

two ounces of blood per beat, at 72 beats per minute,

in one hour it would have pumped 540 pounds of

blood—triple the weight of a man! Since making

that much blood in so short a time is clearly

impossible, the blood had to be reused. Harvey’s

logical reasoning (aided by the still-new Arabic

numerals, which made calculating easy) in support

of an unobservable activity was unprecedented; it set

the stage for modern biological thought.”43

In fact, he demonstrated convincingly that the

heart pumps the same volume of blood around the

body over and over again, being carried out to the

tissues by the arteries and then returned to the heart

by the arteries and then returned to the heart by the

veins. “He relied on experimentation, comparative

anatomy and calculation to arrive at his

conclusions…many proponents agreed with his

theory largely because of the logic of his argument

and his use of experimentation and quantitative

methods. Many opposed the circulation theory

because of their rigid commitment to ancient

doctrines, the questionable utility of

experimentation, the lack of proof that capillaries

exist, and a failure to recognize the clinical

applications of his theory.”44 Despite his

experimental proof, his views were condemned as

heretical, especially in Catholic southern Europe,

where there were calls for his imprisonment and his

books were condemned.

In England he was protected by his close

associations, first with King James I and then with

his son, King Charles I, “Harvey had been physician

extraordinary to Jams I since 1618 and remained at

court to attend Charles I after James died in

1625.”45 “Harvey said that Charles I ‘much

delighted in this kind of curiosity [the dissection of

the organs of generation of deer] and was pleased

many times to be an eye-witness to my

discoveries.”46

Regardless of his honesty and his ingenious

experimentation, Harvey was for many years reticent

and hesitated to share or publish his ideas, being

fearful of the way they might be received as heretical

teachings that he felt might (a) damage his reputation

as an anatomist and physician, and (b) provoke

losses to his medical practice. These fears proved to

be well-founded and some years of criticism would

have to elapse before his teachings on blood

circulation would be finally accepted into

mainstream medicine.

Newton

Apart from his mathematical and religious

writings, Isaac Newton is rightly famous for his

investigations concerning gravity, optics and

mechanical motion. For these developments he is

recognized as one of the greatest scientific geniuses

of all time. However, he was also criticized – mostly

by religious and artistic people – for creating a

materialist, godless and mechanical view of the

universe. For example, William Blake painted him

as a dangerously satanic figure and condemned the

Newtonian universe in the lines of a poem: ‘a robin

redbreast in a cage sends all heaven into a rage.’47

Considering Newton’s own deeply held religious

views, this critique is a tad ironic. Blake was

reacting not so much to Newton the man but to the

godless and mechanical interpretation of his ideas

that had become the scientific norm after his demise.

Blake regarded Newton as “trapped within the

confinement of his own calculations,”48 because he

detested the idea that the universe is “governed by

the immutable laws of the inverse square rule and

the fluxional calculus…a vast machinery of order

and uniformity.”49 Blake “denouncs Newton and

Locke as the great enemies…he accuses them of

seeking to imprison the free human spirit in

constricting, intellectual machines.”50 He thought

that Newtonian physics “crushes the life out of the

free, spontaneous, untrammeled human spirit.”51

Perhaps the ‘Godless mechanical universe’ died

out with Einstein and Schroediger, and one imagines

that today very few scientists52 hold that firmly to

such an idea; many would probably admit the

possibility of the creative imagination, the free

human spirit, and even of religions and gods. In that

sense, perhaps Blake had misread Newton.

However, the accuracy with which objects can now

be sent from earth to another planet and land within

seconds or minutes of the predicted landing time is a

272

powerful confirmation not only of Newton’s

mechanics, but also of his mathematics.

Darwin

Charles Darwin made new sense of the fossil

record and comparative anatomy through reference

to variation and competition in populations, and so

created a theory of evolution that totally outshone he

simplistic notions of his French predecessor,

Lamarck. Darwin and Mendel are both rightly

revered as heroes of the scientific method and for

their construction of innovative and compelling

theories about the natural world. Even Galileo and

Harvey, who at the time were condemned as heretics

by the Pope, were eventually recognized. All these

great men are rightly seen as heroes of the scientific

method.

There is no doubt that Harvey and Galileo paid

a high price for their ‘heresy.’ Harvey must have

been immensely grateful he was living in a

Protestant country, for if he had still been living in

Italy, he would certainly have received a visit from

the Inquisitors. Bacon and Newton did not face the

same opprobrium. Worst of all, Darwin had

attacked the very fabric and foundation of Victorian

life: the Church. Apart from Bacon and Newton,

they each paid the heavy price of seeing their

professional standing tainted by their writings.

Hahnemann likewise.

Darwin was driven into a neurotic state and

became obsessed with his health problems for years,

largely due to being wracked by guilt at the

implications his theory would have for theology. He

seems to have been struggling with his “God,-

implanted monitor, conscience.”53 To be regarded as

a decent, moral and upright citizen in Victorian times

required one to be seen to have an outlook supportive

of the values of the Anglican Church. His faith had

lapsed, he had stopped attending church and he was

cognizant of the grave implications his writings

would have on the otherwise high status he enjoyed

in Victorian society. His theory of evolution was

dismissed by the church as godless and materialistic

and seemed to spell yet another scientific attack on

Christian theology.

Darwin was not a mere theorist as he spent a lot

of his time making observations of living things and

also conducting numerous experiments. Darwin

“rejoiced in the employment of his wonderful power

of observation in the physiological problems which

occupied so much of his later life.”54 His

investigations and experiments chiefly involved

worms, barnacles and plants. “The key empirical

aspect of Darwin’s observations…remained

constant from 1835.”55 He conducted many

experiments on cross fertilization in flowering

plants, as well as others on the effect of light on

growing seedlings.

He also conducted experiments on the survival

rates of seeds in saltwater to test his theory that

plants could spread their seeds perhaps over

hundreds of miles of ocean. Regarding “Darwin’s

scientific method…observation, close and detailed,

was at the centre of his procedure. Such

observation…was always accompanied by a stream

of theory. As his son Francis remarked, “He often

said that no one could be a good observer unless he

was an active theorizer.”56 Therefore, it is fair to say

he was an excellent observer, naturalist and

experimental scientist in the mainstream sense. For

example: “This was his most prodigious,

painstaking series of experiments. The plants had to

be protected from insects by sheets of gauze. He

cross-fertilized some batches and selfed others.

Seeds were carefully collected, labelled, and grown

to maturity under identical conditions.”57

Hahnemann

Hahnemann was beset by poverty nearly all his

life and was really a very serious and conservative

person. There wasn’t really very much joy in his life

and he was consumed by a sense of duty and a sense

of mission to do something important. One does not

get any of those impressions with Leonardo da

Vinci, who seems by contrast to have been a far more

flippant and carefree person who took his time and

followed mission. Even his art – incredible though

it is – was almost an accidental by-product of his

love of life and his insatiable curiosity rather that

stemming from any all-consuming or serious sense

of mission. Innately, his life seems to have

contained much more exuberance and joy than

Hahnemann’s.

Almost all Hahnemann’s writings are peppered

with the word ‘experience’ and it is therefore very

easy to find examples where he refers to the value he

places on this quality. His work was “founded on

premises derived from experience,”58 and carved out

according to principles based on nature and

experience.”59 In Aphorism 6 of The Organon, he

bemoans the, “futility of transcendental speculations

which can receive no confirmation from

experience.”60 His medical views were arrived at

entirely through empirical experiment – “derived

from pure experiences and observations,”61 and “in

consonance with nature and experience.”62 In

aphorism 52 he affirms his medical knowledge

derives from, “accurate observation of nature, on

careful experimentation and pure experience.”63

His views sprang from endeavor and hours of sober

reflection as well as tireless experiment, what he

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himself calls: “many years of reflection, observation

and experience.”64

Hahnemann “was a physician basing himself as

far as possible on experience.”65 His views were

“based upon his own experiences.”66 He enunciated

“principle based purely upon experience and

without questionable theories.”67 Every time, and

by deep instinct, “he will not devise and puzzle out

anything by meditation but would go the way of pure

experience.”68 He “criticizes general medicine, its

uncertainty and the views built upon insufficient

experience and the speculations in medicine.”69

claiming that “there is knowledge only in the domain

of sensory experience, metaphysics as a science is

impossible.”70 All his views amount to “prudent

conclusions built of experience.”71 He denies

absolutely that there is any value in endless medical

speculation: “in every pure experiment and every

true experience, the fact is consequently established;

it matters but little what may be the scientific

explanation of how it takes place.”72

In his construction of Homœopathy,

Hahnemann gives “pure experiment, careful

observation and accurate experience alone,”73 as

the sole determining factors, the sole forces that

shaped his new system. Hahnemann “cast tradition

aside, and had recourse only to the medicines he had

learned, tested and confirmed.”74 “Hahnemann

developed his theory not on the basis of speculation,

but as the result of pure observation.”75 Hahnemann

regarded the theories of Allopathy as “constructions

of the intellect, something that was not found but

made …an enormous fallacy.”76 because he held

that true knowledge of medicine “was not to be

acquired from authority, but existed in the natural

objects themselves.”77 Like Paracelsus before him,

Hahnemann “thought he could learn more medicine

by travelling and observing than from any library,”78

and, like William Harvey, Hahnemann professed to

learn “not from books….not from the tenets of

Philosophers, but from the fabric of Nature.”79

As far as Hahnemann was concerned,

“physiology…looked only through the spectacles of

hypothetical conceits, gross mechanical

explanations, and pretensions to systems…. Little

has been added…what are we to think of a science,

the operations of which are founded upon perhaps

and blind chance?”80 He condemned “speculative

refinements, arbitrary axioms…dogmatic

assumptions…(and the) magnificent conjuring

games of so-called theoretical medicine.”81

Hahnemann had little time for “medical

pedantry,”82 and the “dogmatic demand of exclusive

devotion to one method,”83 In effect, the average

doctor of Hahnemann’s day was “bound in the fetors

of dogmatic assertion, he stumbled through life,

trying to plant his uncertain feet in the footsteps of

those he accepted as his masters; preferring that his

patient should die according to rule rather than be

cured by unauthorized measures; and opposing

heresy more vigorously than he opposed disease.”84

Hahnemann denounced their use of “medical

pedantry,”82 and the “dogmatic demand of exclusive

devotion to one method.”83 In effect, the average

doctor of Hahnemann’s day was “bound in the

fetters of dogmatic assertion, he stumbled through

life, trying to plant his uncertain feet in the footsteps

of those he accepted as his masters; preferring that

his patient should die according to rule rather than

be cured by unauthorized measures; and opposing

heresy more vigorously than he opposed disease.”84

Hahnemann denounced their use of “hypothesis,

explanations, demonstrations, conjectures, dogmas

and systems whose consequences were then

apparent.”85

He regarded the medicine of his day as having

chiefly “evolved out of physicians’ heads, out of

illusion and caprice,”86 and of comprising “an

infinite kingdom of fantasy and of arbitrary

assumptions, the parent of disastrous delusion and

of absolute nothingness.”87 It seemed merely to

spring from “irrational principles”88 and to

exemplify “the vain impotence of our art.”89 In all

these points he makes clear that he values

observation and experience above every kind of

theoretical speculation or rational deduction. He

makes it clear that he has turned his back of

theoretical medicine as taught by university

professors, which he dismisses as vain and useless.

He always places method and experience absolutely

above ideas and theories. In this regard, he shows

just how close he has come to the same views of

Leonardo, Harvey and Bacon.

In the 5th edition of the Organon Hahnemann

uses three words a great deal. These words are:

experience, observation and experiment. He uses

experience 82 times, observation appears 46 times

and experiment appears 65 times. I believe these

figures speak volumes about the true origins of

Homœopathy as a medical science. They show just

how firmly Homœopathy was rooted in observation,

experiments and experience – the very watch-words

of all the mainstream sciences.

Discussion

Hahnemann probably comes closest to Galileo

and Harvey in terms of the strong negative reaction

that greeted his ideas. In all three cases, one might

say the new ideas were too radical and far-reaching

to evoke even a whisper of public acceptance. In all

three cases also, what was being proposed amounted

to the outright rejection of an entire paradigm and its

274

replacement with something strangely new and

unfamiliar. In all three cases, the new ideas

threatened to overturn many centuries of entrenched

dogmas. The reaction from the establishment in all

three cases was broadly similar: so-called heretical

teachings were attacked and denounced and the

person espousing them identified, targeted,

ostracized and subjected to very uncomfortable

public and professional pressures and restrictions.

The Church presented a pretty united front

against the ideas and publications of Galileo. And

the professors of medicine presented a united front

against Hahnemann, just as they had done against

Harvey. This form of professional behavior or

closing of ranks is typical whenever the accepted

ideas and practices of a profession are attacked or

rejected from within. The problems Hahnemann had

from the apothecaries and fellow physicians differ

very little from the reactions of senior clerics to

Galileo and the professors of medicine to Harvey. In

such cases, the offending ‘heretic’ is denounced

publicly, their ideas are rejected and colleagues are

encouraged to join in with other acts of very public

condemnation.

Newton and Bacon did not receive any of these

types of treatment, but Darwin did. One might say

that Newton had merely made discoveries that did

not overthrow a paradigm, but which mostly added

new material to established knowledge of the

physical world in a way and at a time that was not

totally challenging to the accepted world order.

Darwin’s ideas, however, did amount to an order-

changing set of new doctrines that shook society to

its core. Clearly, the most shocking logical

conclusion of his work was that humans are basically

little ancestors. This was deeply challenging to the

accepted religious ideas of the day, which regarded

human beings as special, as distinct from and

superior to the animal world and the product of

divine creation.

For him to suggest that anatomically we are so

little different from the apes amounted to an

outrageous proposition at the time. There is no doubt

that he knew in advance that his conclusions about

evolution would place him on a personal – and very

uncomfortable – collision course with the Church

and that this knowledge cautioned him to delay

publication as long as possible. He grew fearful of

the negative effect publication would have on his

reputation as a respected scientist and country

gentleman of good standing in Victorian society.

This reaction based on foreknowledge was broadly

similar to Harvey, who also delayed publication of

his ideas for about 11 years.

When we compare Hahnemann with Leonardo,

it seems the comparison breaks down in terms of

how they fared in society. Or does it? Leonardo was

not ostracized and denounced by his colleagues as a

dangerous revolutionary, rebel and heretic in the

way Hahnemann was. In fact, he was lauded as a

painter of great genius. Perhaps this reflects a

difference between the world of art and that of

medicine? In 15th-century art, there were well-

established rules to follow but if the end product was

stunning, then the innovative methods were neither

questioned nor condemned. In early 19th-century

medicine, that was simply not the case. The

distinction between art and medicine would seem to

be that the normal methods and rules of art had never

coalesced into a set of rigid dogmas backed up by

Aristotle – as they certainly had in medicine – and so

when a new style came along it may have been

scorned, but the artist was not treated as a pariah.

In the cases of Galileo, Harvey and Hahnemann,

the methods and rules which they ‘broke’ had been

crystallised into dogmas for many centuries and

strict adherence to them was policed with fanatical

zeal. In any case, Leonardo’s methods mostly

amounted to little more than very skillful

refinements of techniques already in use. Although

one might choose to regard the ideas of Hahnemann,

Harvey, and Galileo, as mere modifications and

refinements of previous work, such a view was

rarely expressed at the time. Indeed, their proposals

amounted to a revolution in ideas that could not be

easily tolerated.

To sum up about Leonardo and Hahnemann we

can include the following features that they both

seemed to have in common:

 Pay great attention to detail

 Learn from and praise experience

 Praise empirical study

 Possess exceptional observational powers

 Apply great skill

 Have artistic ability

 Conduct experiments

 Work hard

 Think in innovative ways

 Put truth first

 Dismiss authority

 Led more by evidence than by dogma

 Prefer practice over theory

Leonardo predates Bacon, but essentially

espoused the same advice about observation and

experiment Hahnemann preached the very same idea

an followed the same method as Bacon, Leonardo,

Galileo, Harvey and Darwin. He used the word

experience much more than the rest, but in essence it

means the same thing; close observation, attention to

detail, experiment, and endless trial and error. It all

275

boils down to finding things out for yourself rather

than following books and experts. Of course, the

major difference between Hahnemann and Leonardo

concerns their education and their attitude towards

educated people.

Hahnemann is not alone in using three words a

great deal. We find the same words crop up with

similar regularity in Leonardo’s Notebooks, and in

Isaacson’s biography of Leonardo.

Word

Organon

5th

edition

Isaacson’s

biography

da Vinci

Leonardo’s

Notebooks

Observation

Experience

Experiment

101

This is where they come so close. They both

relied heavily on trial and error, observation and

experimentation, one in the honing of their artistic

skills and the other in formulating a new system of

medicine. The parallel doesn’t end there. When

Hahnemann translated the Thesaurus medicaminum

in 1800, he wrote a preface and in it he said, “the best

counsel I can give you, dear reader, is to place the

main body of this book in to the fire.”90 The

Thesaurus medicaminum was no trifling book, it was

a thick tome, a classic work on the Materia Medica

of the time, detailing every drug in use, its properties

and the doses physicians should use for them all.

This was a standard work which he translated into a

text of 412 pages. Why then should Hahnemann

recommend that the reader should burn this book? A

very simple answer: because he found it to be a

useless work of fiction! Through personal

experience he had found that the drugs in it did not

possess the properties listed and the doses had just

been copied and recopied for centuries. This meant

Hahnemann, in great despair, had reached the end of

the road and abandoned medicine solely because the

drugs in use did not do what the books and professors

claimed. And it was that fact which set him on the

path of proving medicines himself.

A major difference between Hahnemann and

Leonardo is that Hahnemann had been taught a set

of rules, an ‘instruction manual’ if you will, all about

how to practice medicine. Leonardo had never been

given any such instruction manual; from childhood

he was untutored, a blank canvas. He had to work

things out entirely as he went along, driven solely by

the insatiable curiosity and natural talent of this

incredible man. He created his own instruction

manuals for painting, for anatomy and for

engineering as he went through life derived solely

from his own observation, experimentation and

experience.

Sadly for Hahnemann, the instruction manual he

had been given by his teachers turned out to be

useless. And so, this very learned man – a man

heavy and weighed down by his own learning was

forced to abandon all that learning and create from

scratch a new instruction manual for a new form of

medicine. That is basically what the Organon

evolved into. In this regard he ended up in a similar

place to where Leonardo had started out: working

things out by trial and error as he went along. And

in this endeavor – just like Leonardo – he relied

heavily on the same three important qualities:

observation, experimentation and experience. And

these were the very same tools used and

recommended by the great scientists we have looked

at: Galileo, Bacon, Harvey, Newton and Darwin.

Acknowledgement

I wish t express my sincere thanks to Steven

Lubitz, MD, MPH, of the Massachusetts General

Hospital, for kindly sending me a copy of his article

about William Harvey.

Notes

1. Robert Willis, William Harvey: A History of the

Discovery of the Circulation of the Blood, London:

Kegan Paul, 1878, p.41

2. M Sgarbi, The Aristotelian Tradition and the

Rise of British Empiricism, Springer, 2013, p.91

3. Sgarbi, op cit., p.183

4. Leonardo da Vinci and Jean Paul Richter

(trans.), The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci,

1888, p.11; Walter Isaacson, Leonardo Da

Vinci, Simon and Schuster, 2017, p.170

5. Vinci & Richter, op cit., p.10

6. Isaacson, op cit., P.173

7. Vinci &Richter, op cit., p.12

8. Vinci & Richter, op cit., p.18

9. Vinci & Richter, op cit., p.1150

10. Leonard Shlain, Leonardo’s Brain:

Understanding Da Vinci’s Creative Genius,

Lyons Press, 2015, p.116

11. Shalin, op cit., p.118

12. Martin Clayton & Ronald Philo, Leonardo Da

Vinci: The Mechanics of Man, Getty Pub, 2010,

p.38

13. Vinci & Richter, op cit., p.12

14. Vinci & Richter, op cit., p.18

276

15. Vinci & Richter, op cit., p.654

16. Ahmed Alwishah & Josh Haye, (Eds.) Aristotle

and the Arabic Tradition, Cambridge: CUP,

2015, pp. 2-3

17. Francis Bacon, Lisa Jardine, Michael

Silverthorne, Francis Bacon: The New Organon,

Cambridge: CUP, 2008, p.5

18. Walter Pagel, William Harvey’s Biological

Ideas: Selected Aspects and Historical

Background, Basel & New York: S Karger

Publications, 1967, pp. 344-48.

19. Stillman Drake, Galileo at Work: His Scientific

Biography, New York: Dover Publications,

2003, p.349

20. William Harvey, Exercitatio anatomica de

Motu Cordis et Sanguinis in Animalibus, (An

Anatomical Study of the Motion of the Heart and

of the Blood in Animals), London, 1628;

Thomas E. Wright, William Harvey: A Life in

Circulation, Oxford: Oxford University Press,

2013.

21. Michael J Behe, Darwin’s Black Box: the

Biochemical Challenge to Evolution, Free

Press, 2006, p.244

22. Behe, op cit., p.245

23. Behe, op cit., p.246

24. Stephen Gaukroger, Francis Bacon and the

Transformation of Early-Modern Philosophy,

Cambridge:CUP, 2001, p.12

25. Gaukroger, op cit., p.14

26. Dennis Desroches, Francis Bacon and the

Limits of Scientific Knowledge, Continuum,

2006, p.58

27. Behe, op cit., p.7

28. Desroches, op cit., p.182

29. Gaukroger, op cit., p.180

30. Gaukroger, op cit., p.221

31. Gaukroger, op cit., p.224

32. K Hutchinson & S Gaukroger, The Uses of

Antiquity: the Scientific Revolution and the

Classical Tradition, Springer, 1991, p.145

33. Laurence Carlin, The Empiricists: a Guide for

the Perplexed, Continuum, 2009, pp.21-22

34. A Rupert Hall, The Rise of Modern Science –

from Galileo to Newton 1630-1720, New York:

Harper & Row, 1963, p.35

35. Peter Machamer, The Cambridge Companion to

Galileo CUP, 1998, P.38

36. Hall, op cit., p.34

37. Hall, op cit., p.27

38. Hall, op cit., p.7

39. Machamer, op cit., p.19

40. Machamer, op cit., p.252

41. Hall, opcit., p.22

42. Machamer, op cit., p.247

43. Behe, op cit., pp. 7-8

44. S A Lubitz, Early reactions to Harvey’s

circulation theory: the impact on medicine, Mt

Sinai J Med., 2004 Sep;71

45. Roger French, William Harvey’s Natural

Philosophy, Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press, 1994, p.114

46. French, 1994, p.339

47. See Kevin Hutchings, Imaging Nature: Blake’s

Environmental Poetics, McGill-Queen’s

University Press, 2003, p.53; Kathlen Raine,

Blake and Tradition, Princeton University

Press, 1968, p.49

48. Peter Ackroyd, Blake, London: Vintage Books,

1996, p.193

49. Ackroyd, p.193

50. Isaiah Berlin, The Proper Study of Mankind,

London: Pimlico, 1998, p.259

51. Berlin, op cit., p.260

52. For example, Richard Dawkis. See: Amit

Goswami, God Is Not Dead: What Quantum

Physics Tells Us about Our Origins and How

We Should Live, Hampton Roads Publishing

Company, 2012, pp.9-10, p.34, p.136; Graham

Smetham, Quantum Path to Enlightenment,

lulu.com, 2017, pp.13, 217, 264, 296; David

Ludwig, A Pluralist Theory of the Mind,

Springer, 2015

53. Samuel Hahnemann, Contrast of the Old and

the New Systems of Medicine, Reine

Arzneimittellehre, part iv, 2d edit. 1825,

reprinted in R.E. Dudgeon (Ed.), Hahnemann’s

Lesser Writings, London, 1852, pp.712-723,

p.719

54. A C Seward, Darwin and Modern Science:

Essays in Commemoration of the Centenary of

the Birth of Charles Darwin, CU, 1909, p.385

55. Sandra Herbert, Charles Darwin, Geologist,

Cornell Univ Press, 2005, p.315

56. Philip Pomper, David Gary Shaw (eds.), The

Return of Science: Evolution, History, and

Theory, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2002,

p.61

57. A Desmond and J Moore, Darwin, London:

Michael Joseph, 1991, p.775

58. Samuel Hahnemann, The Organon of Medicine,

combined 5th/6th Edition, Translated by R.E.

Dudgeon, and edited by William Boericke,

Philadelphia: Boericke & Tafel, 1893, §28

59. Organon §5, footnote

60. Organon, p.32

61. Organon, Preface to 2nd Edition

62. Organon, Introduction

63. Organon, §52

64. Organon, §205

65. Rudolf Tischner, History of Homeopathy (trans.

L.J BOYD), New York:AIH, 1933, P.167

277

66. Tischner, op cit., p.170

67. Tischner, op cit., p.176

68. Tischner, op cit., p.245

69. Tischner, op cit., p.270

70. Tischner, op cit., p.315

71. Tischner, op cit., p.316

72. Organon, §28, quoted in Tischner, p.319

73. Martin Gumpert, Hahnemann – The

Adventurous Career of a Medical Rebel, New

York: L B Fischer Publ. Corp., translated from

the German by Claude W Sykes, 1945, p.144

74. Gumpert, op cit., p.67

75. Edward C. Whitmont, Psyche and Substance:

Essays on Homeopathy in the Light of Jungian

Psychology, Berkeley, California: North

Atlantic Books, 1980, p.40), p.40

76. Isaiah Berlin, ‘Georges Sorel’ in Against the

Current: Essays in the History of Ideas, London:

Pimlico, 1979, p.298-302; pp.301-2.

77. Roger French, Medicine before Science: the

Busineeeeess of Medicine from the Middle Ages

to the Enlightenment, Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press, 2003, p.149

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79. Roy Porter, The Greatest Benefit to Mankind A

Medical History of Humanity, New York:

Norton, 1998, p.215

80. S Hahnemann, Aesculapius in the Balance,

1805, in Lesser Writings, pp.410-434; pp.423-6

81. Wilhelm Ameke, History of Homœopathy, with

an appendix on the present state of University

medicine, translated by A.E. Drysdale, edited by

R.E. Dudgeon, London: E.Gould & Son, 1885,

p.134

82. Linn J Boyd, A Study of the Simile in Medicine,

Philadelphia: Boericke & Tafel, 1936, p.125

83. Boyd, op cit., p.9

84. C T Campbell, Personality of Hahnemann,

Cleveland Ohio: Hahnemann Society, 1892, p.8

85. Boyd, op cit., p.70

86. Ameke, op cit., p.134

87. Ameke, op cit., p.134

88. Organon 5, §104

89. Hahnemann, 1805, op cit., p.415

90. Robert E Dudgeon, Lectures on the Theory and

Practice of Homeopathy, London &

Manchester: Henry Turner & Co, 1853,

pp.xxvii-xxviii

=========================================

45. “The Great Debate:” Single or Multiple

medicine Prescribing

DR. CURTIN, David (AH. 24/2018)

I Br Hom J 1993; 82: 137-152

This debate was first published in British

Journal of Homœopathy,I and appears here with

permission.

Motion: This house believes that the single

remedy is the medicine of experience.

In the Boardroom of the Royal London

Homœopathic Hospital in 1992.

Introduction

Dr. Victoria Blackstone: The 1990s are no

more a time for complacency in the furtherance of

Homœopathy than were the 1790s or the 1890s. is

not the function of the study of history to gain

experience and enlightenment for one’s survival in

the present?

In 1790 Samuel Hahnemann demonstrated his

genius and the similia principle in his Cinchona

experiment. By the time he died in Paris in 1843 he

had firmly established the roots of Homœopathy

which we are still nurturing today. Could he have

achieved more had he not been so antagonistic to his

allopathic peers and the pharmacists of his day?

Would George Guess have been banned from

medical practice in September 1991 in his home

state of North Carolina had not the infighting of his

ancestors in the low potency/high potency split of

the 1890s, and gradual absorption of low potency

homœopathic prescribing into allopathic medicine

brought about the decline of Homœopathy in the

USA?

Surely there is no place for self-congratulation

on either our educational success in Homœopathy in

this country, or our position in relation to non-

medically qualified practitioners. George

Vithoulkas, one of the greatest contributors to the

philosophy, practice and teaching of Homœopathy

since Kent died in 1916, believes implicitly in the

single remedy prescribing of classical Homœopathy.

He is not a medically qualified homœopath.

There is an ever-increasing public interest in,

and demand for homœopathic treatment in the UK

today. If we are to serve this public well in the

development of Homœopathy into the twenty-first

century we must:

 Practice the most effective form of

Homœopathy

 Produce positive scientific research

incorporating the skills of our non-medically

qualified colleagues, as in other branches of

medicine

 Not repeat history’s mistakes by rejecting in any

way, a large and active group of dedicated

278

homœopaths, just because they happen not to have

been trained in allopathic medicine.

With these aims in mind the debate on multiple

versus single remedy prescribing took place at the

Royal London Homœopathic Hospital on 7 July

1992.

The motion for debate was: “This house

believes that the single remedy is the medicine of

experience.” The debate was chaired by Dr. Peter

Fisher.

At the end of the debate the audience of 60 voted

2 to 1 in favour of the single remedy being the

medicine of experience.

I hope this debate will herald the beginning of a

new era of the practice of better and more effective

Homœopathy, and a closer and more congenial

alliance with the Society of Homœopaths in the

furtherance of Homœopathy in the UK into the next

century.

The Debate

Dr. Peter Fisher: Ladies and Gentlemen. It is

a great pleasure for me to chair this debate, because

there is no issue which has been as long running or

as divisive within Homœopathy as the one we are

debating: the question of multiple versus single

remedies, pluralism versus unicism, whatever you

like to call it. It has been a long-standing and

ferocious debate within Homœopathy. Or rather it

hasn’t been a debate but a ferocious dispute with no

debate. It has been a dialogue of the deaf with both

sides insulting each other. But I have never seen the

issue properly discussed or brought out, so I think it

is an excellent idea of Victoria’s to hold this

discussion tonight. We are going to have a formal

debate: first of all David Curtin is going to propose

the motion, then George Lewith will oppose it and

then Francis Treuherz will second the motion and

June Burger will second for the opposition.

Proposing the motion

Dr. David Curtin: Ladies and Gentle men: I

would like to begin by just a very brief review of the

basis of Homœopathy. On what do we base a

homœopathic prescription? We look at the totality

of the symptoms of the patient, paying particular

attention to symptoms which individualise the

patient and then we look for a remedy to match the

symptoms of the patient, one which has a similar

symptom picture and we look for such a remedy in

the Materia Medica. The information about each

remedy in the Materia Medica is based on provings,

in many cases verified by clinical experience alone.

We look for one that is the most similar to the

symptoms of the patient and that is the simillimum.

This remedy is homœopathic for that particular case

and it is the similarity to the totality of the symptoms

of the patient that makes the medicine homœopathic.

We also have the repertory, a tool which opens up

the Materia Medica for us and guides us towards

certain remedies. Computers now speed up this

process considerably so that the professional

homœopath has the possibility of prescribing quite

quickly with a high degree of precision.

So what of the action of remedies? I would like

to look first at the single remedy. What actually

happens when a remedy is given? If we give the

simillimum, the whole patient may be cured and all

the symptoms removed thereby. This is what I hope

for in every prescription I give. Sometimes,

however, the prescription I give is not the

simillimum. It may have no effect on the patient, in

which case I look for a different remedy. It may be

a partial similar, in which case there may be a partial

cure, i.e. some of the symptoms of the patient are

removed, others may remain. There is an additional

factor where the partial similar is given and that is an

appearance of new symptoms which are symptoms

of the remedy. This constitutes a proving. So in fact

by giving a remedy that is not the simillimum for the

case we may produce a proving in the patient and

produce some new symptoms.

So what then is the next step? To observe the

effect of the remedy: if we have given a single

remedy, the action of this remedy can be clearly

observed and appropriate action taken when

necessary; perhaps to repeat the remedy when the

symptoms return, if they return; perhaps to give a

higher potency if this is called for. But by giving a

single remedy we can see quite clearly exactly what

that remedy has done. The prescriber thereby learns

about this remedy and gets precise feedback about

the accuracy of his choice of remedy. This improves

the quality of his work and the precision of his future

prescribing.

But what happens if two remedies are given at

the same time? We have a more complex situation.

One of these remedies might act and the other might

not. If one of these remedies is the simillimum it

might cure. But which of the two is it that has cured?

When a repetition is called for, as might be if the

symptoms return, it will be necessary to repeat that

combination exactly as before and the prescriber will

still not know which of the remedies has done the

curative work. Both of these remedies may act. If

one is the simillimum it might act curatively, but the

second might act antagonistically, thereby

interfering with the curative action of the simillimum

or the patient may prove the other remedy. So we

have a much more complex and potentially

279

confusing situation. The overall result is likely to be

not as good as if the simillimum was given alone.

There can be considerable confusion of the case,

particularly if more than two remedies are given

together. I have seen this kind of confusion many

times. Both of these remedies may be partial similar

but neither the simillimum, in which case there may

be an improvement of some symptoms but also the

appearance of new symptoms of both remedies.

Which is which? What remedy is doing what? How

are you going to find out? Neither remedy may act.

Two or three remedies in combination can be just as

wrong as one. The only way to truly know what

combination of symptoms call for a combination of

remedies is to prove those remedies in combination.

Otherwise the prescriber can only be guessing as to

what the indications are for such a combination.

Why should a prescriber want to prescribe want

to prescribe more than one remedy at a time anyway?

There may be many reasons, but as time is short I

will look at just one or two. One may be that the

prescriber is not sure which remedy to prescribe.

Giving more than one may seem to double or triple

the possibility of getting it right. It may work like

this in some cases, but in others it will not. Even if

this strategy does work, the prescriber will never

know which of the remedies cured the patient and

therefore misses an opportunity to learn how to

differentiate similar remedies in practice. Some

prescribers give more than two remedies at a time. I

have seen prescriptions of twenty different remedies

prescribed every day. Can this really produce good

results? If so, why stop at twenty remedies, why not

give 500? If you gave 500 you could be sure of

including the simillimum as one of those remedies.

Certainly results of a sort are obtained by

multiple prescriptions, but I have yet to see such

prescriptions produce a result anywhere near as good

as the simillimum. I often wonder if these poly-

prescribers have ever seen how good the result of a

simillimum given alone in a single dose can really

be. Another practitioner faced with the dilemma of

which of two or three different remedies to choose,

but who prescribes only one remedy at a time and

only prescribes the second and so on if this does not

act, will discover which of the remedies was curative

and by re-examining the case can discover why that

was the curative remedy. This is the practitioner

who will continually refine his skills and prescribe

with greater precision and accuracy as he grows in

experience. It may take more time in his early days

of practice, but in my experience it is this single

remedy prescriber who most rapidly cures his

patients.

I have often tried to think of a place for

combination prescribing. I’ve thought of the ABC

or the Aconite, Belladonna, Chamomilla first aid

and simple acute prescribing for people who are

completely new to Homœopathy. But I actually

think that even this is an insult to most people’s

intelligence. There cannot be many people who

could not easily be taught how to distinguish

between these three remedies. No, it is the single

medicine prescriber carefully matching each

prescription to the totality of his patients symptoms

and conscientiously observing the results of each

prescription who will learn the most and the fastest.

It is he who will become the master of this great art

and science of healing called Homœopathy. The

single remedy is the remedy of experience. Thank

you very much.

Opposing the motion

Dr. George Lewith: Thank you for inviting me,

Ladies and Gentlemen. I feel a bit like Daniel in the

lion’s den here. I knew it was going to be a bad day

when it started. I put on this nice white suit and

promptly spilled ink all over my trousers when I saw

my first patient. You have days like that, they

usually start off badly and get worse.

The medicine of experience, but whose

experience? We’ve heard an interesting view of an

individual practitioner’s experience and opinion

about why to prescribe singles. Fundamentally

because they wish to learn more about the remedy.

That’s in summary what we have been told. I’d like

to treat this as a classical debate and I will return you

to the motion that this house believes the single

remedy is the remedy of experience and, as I say, the

argument that we have heard is that the single

remedy is useful in terms of practitioner learning.

Now classical Homœopathy has got a big part to

play. I use classical singles, also use complexes.

Horses for courses. I would like to give you a little

idea about how I use complexes in a way that might

be better termed functional medicine. It is really a

derivation of Homœopathy and it is how many

people on the continent, particularly if they are using

Bioelectric Regulation (BER) techniques, medicine

testing techniques, use complexes. They will

attempt to define how the patient is functioning,

what level of intoxification they have, whether they

have a problem with an overdose of chemicals, or a

problem with chronic low-grade infection, be it with

a virus or with a bacterium. They will attempt to

define that. Very often they will then prescribe a

nosode. Having used a nosode, the principle,

particularly the principles expounded by Dr.

Reckeweg, of a complex approach to a problem, will

then involve using drainage, drainage from a

particular organ, perhaps support using a probiotic

such as an acidophilus preparation, or one of the

280

many probiotics that may be used for the gut along

with liver, kidney, pancreas remedies. So, there will

be a range of remedies used.

The first confusion I think that exists between

single and complex is that they are different

approaches. They are different approaches based on

different philosophies and are not mutually

exclusive. One is looking at the patient with one

particular language, one particular philosophy and

the other is looking at the patient with another

particular philosophy and another particular

language. The philosophy of the classical

Hahnemannian approach uses was developed 200

years ago and I would argue strongly that things have

changed a little in the last 200 years. I would also

argue that there are different kinds of problems

which confront us now; physically and

biochemically our problems are different from those

which confronted us 200 years ago.

Consequently, we may need different tools to

approach them. Again, I emphasise that I don’t see

those tools as mutually exclusive. I see them as

living side by side quite happily. But I do not

necessarily find that a classical Hahnemannian

Homœopathy includes, for instance, the kind of

approach that I find useful in chronic viral infections

which I believe are a very new phenomenon. I don’t

believe that we have the kind of single provings that

really help us enough in that area and it is here that

complexes can work well, not used just on a

symptomatic basis, but used on a structured basis, on

a basis of trying to understand function, on a basis of

trying to understand toxins, on a basis of trying to

understand organ support.

In many ways functional medicine, and that is

how I see complex Homœopathy being used, has

great deal in common with conventional medicine.

It learns from conventional medicine. It learns from

pathology and microbiology, it learns from organ

function. For instance, let us take a case of

rheumatoid arthritis in a person who has had a series

of recurrent tonsillitis infections in their youth. You

will look at this patient and you will say to yourself,

“Well, this patient has a malar flesh and they’ve got

chronically enlarged tonsils. Somebody forgot to

take the tonsils out and they’ve probably got a

streptococcal toxicity, that is probably what is

wrong.” Now a conventional doctor may well be

able to make that link, make that diagnosis but

complexes actually give you a treatment handle.

They give you an approach. You may give nosodes

and you will combine those with drainage remedies.

Hahnemann’s experience is very interesting

because here we are back to the debate between

classical Homœopathy and Hahnemannian

Homœopathy and the first thing for us to remember

is that on a world-wide basis complexes are used

much more widely than singles. That may not be the

case in the United Kingdom but it is certainly the

case on the Continent. Secondly, I think we should

remember that complexes have been being used for

at least as long as singles, so I don’t think you can

turn round and say: ‘Oh well, single remedies were

first, complexes are just some modern invention,

some crazy idea’ that is not true. so, complexes and

singles have both been used for similar periods of

time and if we wish to look at practitioner experience

we can make the same arguments as David Curtin.

Complexes have something to offer and it was

quite clear, from very early on in Hahnemann’s

ideas, that he did not believe that single remedy had

all the answers. I am not a great scholar or a great

academic, but I would like to quote from the

Organon. In the fifth edition of the Organon of

Practical Medicine one can read an entire paragraph

on multiple prescriptions. Here Hahnemann is

reported as saying that for acute conditions two or

three remedies are to be used in alternation. Whereas

for chronic illnesses two remedies that may well

have differing approaches, are both indicated, are to

be administered together. That is the great master.

Lutze takes a very interesting view on this

because he had exactly the same debate, you can

almost picture yourself back about 150 years here in

this room. Because this debate was going on in 1874

and I quote from a letter that Lutze subsequently

wrote.

In this manner we and indeed the entire world

were deceived for 21 years. We were defrauded

when this most important discovery by Hahnemann

was concealed by homœopaths.

The author goes on to say that the writings in

1833 by Boenninghausen and the following year, by

Jahr, homœopathic treatment using more than one

remedy, were victoriously criticized and then

censored by the homœopathic community of the

time. That has since been passed over, a complete

silence. So, there are a whole pile of homœopaths

who are totally unaware of this debate. Are we going

to go back 150 years or are we going to see things

progress a little more? We can use many different

approaches to get a patient better.

And that does not just mean using singles and

complexes; it might mean for instance, heaven

forbid, combining acupuncture and manipulation so

you get a back better quicker or, goodness me, taking

somebody with a homœopathic indication for colitis

and putting them on a food exclusion diet to maintain

them. I mean, that must be heresy to the unicast

homœopath, yet it makes logical common sense.

One combines therapies to get the best deal for the

patient, the quickest deal, the best deal; one

281

combines approaches. As a doctor, you don’t stick

to a single approach. You use your experience and

your experience nearly always involves using

several different approaches to deal with an

individual, ideally to give them an approach that they

can use in the long term.

Lutze’s tone in the subsequent part of his letter

becomes vehement. The scientific fraud relative to

Hahnemann’s supplementary enlargement of the

ambit of homœotherapeutics was suppressed and

omitted from the Organon with intent to defraud in

relation to using multiple remedies.

So here we have somebody in 1874 knowing

full well that Hahnemann used multiple remedies as

part of the strong Continental tradition of multiple

remedy use, accusing Hahnemann of defrauding

people when he knew perfectly well that in a number

of instances there were indications for using multiple

remedies simultaneously.

So, I leave my case there, I don’t think that

single remedies are the remedy of experience, I don’t

think that they were even the remedy of

Hahnemann’s experience. Ladies and gentlemen,

the decision is yours.

For the motion

Mr Francis Treuherz: I am delighted to be

here today in this august establishment. In addition

to making it a serious debate I was given permission

to be a little light-hearted as well. So, we will have

a combination of both.

I looked at this book by a Dr. Julian Kenyon

who I belie is Dr. Lewith’s partner, and this is where

I first saw the term BER. I don’t like abbreviations.

I think it stands for Bio-Electrical Regulatory

medicine. I am not really sure what it is, and I

discovered a sentence, “complex Homœopathy is a

method of formulating medications which was

initially developed by one of Hahnemann’s pupils.”

Which of Hahnemann’s pupils? A little search did

indeed reveal Dr. Lutze, the same gentle man whom

you mentioned. We’ll come back to him.

But what of the single remedy of experience?

Where does it come from? It comes from

Hahnemann. It comes from an essay he wrote before

the Organon called The Medicine of Experience

where he says medicine is a science of experience;

its object is to eradicate disease by means of

remedies. What we are talking of here is the

knowledge of the employment of these remedies.

A single remedy is always calculated to produce

the most beneficial effects without any additional

means provided it be the best-selected, the most

appropriate and in the proper dose. It is never

requisite to mix the two of them together, said

Hahnemann in 1806. But way back in 1707 he said

pretty well the same thing.

Is it well to mingle many kinds of medicines

together in one prescription, to order baths, clysters,

venesections, blisters, fermentations, inunctions all

at once or all after the other in rapid succession if

we wish to bring the science of medicine to

perfection, to make cures and ascertain for certain

in every case what effect the medicines employed

produced in order to be able to us them with like or

even greater success in similar cases?

So, I think that in Homœopathy Hahnemann

was the first to write of the idea of single remedy.

You suggested that things have changed since

Hahnemann wrote and I agree. Thanks to his

example, homœopaths have gone on proving and

discovering more and more remedies to help the

profession catch up with the changes in the nature of

human disease. The remedies are indeed proved but

there are other ways of obtaining information as to

what may be useful about a medicine, including

toxicology and clinical experience. One of my

heroes is James Compton Burnett and I want to quote

from a well-known passage where he writes about

the discovery by Garth Wilkinson of Hecla lava.

Here a homœopath is having a holiday in Iceland and

he has a homœopathic imagination. He notices that

the sheep have bony growths on their jaws and

ankles and he realizes that this must come from the

ingestion of the grass which grows on the volcanic

mountain. So, he brings back some Hecla and has it

run up as a potency.

Burnett writes: “Hecla lava has been shown to

consist of Silica, Alumina, Calcium, Magnesia with

some Ferric Oxide.” But it is a single remedy

because it is the effect of the very particular

combination of these substances from toxicology

and later from clinical work that indicates its use not

giving an artificially created remedy from Silica,

Alumina, Calcium, Magnesia, Ferric Oxide. Brother

allopath, “this is the science of therapeutics. What

have you to take its place? Give absorbents and paint

the part with iodine? What guarantee can you give

me that your absorbents will not absorb a bit of the

pancreas or some small glands in lieu of the

exostosis? Or are you also true to your principle

‘contraria contrariis curentur.’” Then pray tell me

what is the contrary of an exostosis? It appears to

me that the use of a complex remedy artificially

created is in fact the employment of the principle of

contraries not of similar and that for me is the

philosophical problem.

Back to the historical problem. According to

Haehl’s biography of Hahnemann Lutze’s edition of

the Organon was regarded at the time as spurious.

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“In the year 1865 the publication of a sixth

edition by the homœopathic physician Dr. Arthur

Lutze of Koethen was announced. It was, however,

soon evident that this sixth edition of Lutze

contained arbitrary alterations. In particular there

was interposed a paragraph 274B on the use of

double remedies which stood in direct opposition to

Hahnemann’s accepted principle that only one single

and simple medicine at one time should be given to

the patient. Dr. Lutze supports is inclusion of this

paragraph on double remedies by reference to

Hahnemann himself but since Hahnemann

personally could not be called upon to pass

judgement, protestation followed protestation and

what protestations there were!”

There was a Dr. Aegidi who thought that two

suitable remedies might have good results if smelled

together. Hahnemann had at various times referred

to olfaction, of inhaling a remedy and indeed this has

been shown to be effective in the famous case of the

man who was found in a stable and who was so

hypersensitive, Kaspar Hauser, Bœnninghausen, a

close friend and colleague of Hahnemann, was one

of the protesters:

“It is true that during the years 1832 and 1833 at

the instance of Dr. Aegidi I made some experiments

with combined remedies, that the results were

sometimes surprising and that I spoke of the

circumstance to Hahnemann, who after some

experiments made by himself had entertained for a

while the idea of alluding to the matter in the 5th

edition of the Organon which he was preparing in

1833. But this novelty appeared too dangerous for

the new method of cure and it was I who induced

Hahnemann to express his disapproval of it in the 5th

edition of the Organon in a note to paragraph to 272.

Since this period neither Hahnemann nor myself

have made further use of these combined remedies.

Dr. Aegidi was not long in abandoning this method

which resembles too closely the procedures of

allopathy opening the way to a falling away from the

precious law of similarity, a method which was

becoming everyday more entirely superfluous owing

to the increasing wealth of our remedies. If

consequently in our day a homœopathician takes it

into his head to act according to experiments made

30 years ago when our science was still in its infancy

and which was subsequently condemned by

unanimous vote, he clearly walks backwards like a

crab and shows that he has neither kept up with nor

followed the progress of science.”

So, I say to you, Sir, that we are in the presence

of crabs!

What have the crabs come up with? Well, in the

19th century they came up with Munyon’s catarrh

tablets, rice one shilling; Munyon’s headache cure,

price one shilling; and Munyon’s cold cure. And it

came with an instruction book, Munyon’s

Homœopathic Home Remedies. Now I open it at

random.

“…diseases of the kidneys. Are you drowsy?

Do you have dropsy? Do you have back ache? Do

your limbs feel heavy? Do you have scanty urine?

Do you have unusual thirst? Do your limbs or your

feet swell? Is your water thick and milky? Do you

have severe headaches?”

I have only read about seven, but it goes on.

These combination remedies appear to be good for

so much and who knows what they contain. The

British Medical Association (BMA) did a survey,

although we all know that BMA surveys are not

always reliable, when they looked at these patent

medicines. The survey was published in 1909 and it

was called Secret Remedies and What They Contain.

Unfortunately, all they could find was sugar.

There have been more venerable and carefully

thought out approaches to combination remedies.

Weleda produce Pertudoron; (Belladonna 3x, China

3x, Coccus cacti 3x, Drosera 1x, Ipecacuanha 3x.

Mephitis 5x and Veratrum album 3x) as a whooping

cough remedy. I imagine that for that we

homœopaths would have to find a patient who was

red-faced, hot for the Belladonna, weak and losing

fluids for the China, had a string or thread in his

throat as a sensation, with stringy mucus pouring out

for the Coccus cacti, whose cough began as soon as

he has lain his head on a pillow for the Drosera,

vomited and felt no better for it for the Ipecacuanha;

no doubt for the Mephitis there is yet another strange

and peculiar symptom of a thread in the throat or

something like that, and for the Veratrum album he

may even have chill, cholera and various forms of

grief and madness as well!! All in the one whooping

cough remedy. Among their other combinations

which I have seen referred to are metals and plants

combined by growing the plant in the soil of the

mineral so we have Ferrum per urticam. A strange

idea for a combination remedy.

More recently, in fact yesterday in the post from

America came news of Invigorol: ‘a natural,

homœopathic stimulating tonic: Avena sativa (oats)

favourably influences the nutritive function of the

body for nervous exhaustion and fatigue; Alfalfa;

Echinacea; Hydrastis canadensis; Gentiana and

Sterculia (Kola-nut)’, with various indications.

There is also Pretectal, which is “a formula indicated

for the initial phase of cleansing the body from many

environmental hazards.” It contains: Benzium,

Cuprum metallicum, Cadmium, Arsenicum album,

Chlorum, Plumbum, Mercurius and Nux vomica.

The same company makes another combination to

calm one down. I expect I shall need it after this

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debate. Passiflora, Valeriana, Humulus,

Chamomilla, Coffea, Ignatia all together. You can

peruse them at your leisure after the debate.

Dr. Lewith did not say, but might have said, and

may be Dr. Burger will say that the single remedy is

but a placebo. Who is the arch exponent of the single

remedy? No one has referred to him yet. Dr. James

Tyler Kent.

“I have often had physicians tell me that it was

due to suggestion that my medicines acted so well.

But my answer to this is that I suggest just as

strongly with my wrong remedy as with the right one

and my patients improve only when they have

received the similar or correct remedy.”

I think that disposes of the placebo issue.

To end, Dr. Lewith suggested that the world has

moved on and Homœopathy has moved on since

Hahnemann. I want to finish by quoting a more

modern homœopath, one of my heroines, Dr.

Elizabeth Wright Hubbard. Rumour had it she was

the first woman to ride a running board on the New

York ambulance service and when she finally

practiced for herself she visited her patients in a

white Rolls-Royce. She obviously had a successful

practice! The term single remedy does not imply

that only one remedy should be used throughout a

case, although that is the desideratum, but rather that

only one remedy should be used at a time. It cannot

be too often stated that one must not give a remedy

lightly nor change it frequently. In acute diseases the

concept of one single remedy at a time still holds

good, although the remedy may have to be changed

as the case develops. In this case some of our master

prescribers state that the original remedy may be

indicated again at the close of the cycle to complete

the case.

When one reads about these master prescribers

and even mistress prescribers (the homœopathic

medical schools in America were the first of any

modern medical schools to admit women) they often

talk of the one remedy which will last that patient

throughout his or her life.

They were dealing with simple societies

compared with the ones we have now. In his early

days George Vithoulkas was dealing with people

from simple peasant society in Greece. As things

have changed in Athens, in America, in Britain, we

indeed have a more complex society and we have to

deal in more complex prescribing. The complexity

lies in choosing the right single remedy to follow the

right single remedy when it is time to change the

remedy. The single remedy is the medicine of

experience.

Opposing the motion

Dr. June Burger: The motion is that the single

remedy is the medicine of experience. Well, after

practicing for over twenty-five years I can say that it

certainly has not been my experience. And it hasn’t

been mine because I have actually tried to keep an

open mind.

When I first entered the practice of

Homœopathy I did so with the greatest skepticism. I

was a regular doctor and I had only practiced regular

medicine. But it happened that the experience of a

patient made me look at this peculiar system of

medicine and to start thinking about it and so it was

that I came to this august establishment and sat

through, and I shall remember it to my dying day,

five courses of a week each. With due respect to all

the literature, an awful lot of it seemed to me, at the

time, nonsense! I couldn’t actually believe that this

stuff worked and of course in my day it was not just

single remedies being taught but that three doses of

the 10M if you got it right would be the cure-all.

Well, I suppose the only way to learn is to go

out and to practice. I was plunged into the hot seat

of the paediatric out-patients of this hospital,

relatively newly qualified. All casualty officers in

hospitals will know I that some of us actually did

have to learn that way with Pye’s Surgical

Handicraft round the screen while we coped with

whatever was going in the casualty department,

particularly on a Saturday night. And therefore, I sat

quietly listening to all these profound statements by

people whom I respected as people, but I was very

aware that I had never heard so much passion and

religiosity. I won’t even mention all the “isms” that

people belonged to, and the intellectuality was at

times quite stunning. Fortunately for me the patients

were very simple, they were children and they didn’t

exhibit so much of these “fevers of passion” which

my teachers were breathing down my neck, telling

me that this was the only way to practice this

particular form of medicine. They were little

children whose mothers and father were quite

desperate because they had the usual thing: ten

courses of antibiotics in eight months, that sort of

stuff. Not surprisingly they came here.

Now, there are other practices within medicine

that I have a great respect for. I have a great respect

for pathology, I have indeed a great respect for some

of the modern technology that we now have at our

disposal. I am very glad to say that I have access to

a magnetic resonance imaging machine and it has

proved extremely helpful. First and foremost, before

we enter the practice of homœopathic medicine we

should be good doctors, diagnostically, even though

I will concede that only 50% of patients who are seen

at hospital can be formally diagnosed. I do know a

few facts but not many because I’m not desperately

intellectual! But nevertheless, if we have the ability

to diagnose we should use it, but then comes the

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crunch. How to treat it? A very fundamental

question indeed.

So, having trained conventionally and been

plunged dramatically into the homœopathic scene I

had to use what was in the books and what I was

being taught. I remember taking Margaret Tyler’s

book with me to bed every night for about a month

and wondering whether I wasn’t (with due respect to

her because she was a lovely lady and she wore the

most beautiful hats. She was a very caring person. I

think her shadow is still in this hospital). But you

know what it was like reading Grimms’ fairy stories.

I like fairy stories and I think I got to the letter C in

Tyler’s Drug Pictures (you know it’s all As, Bs, Cs)

and I began to think, well I just can’t accept that all

it is all like this.

And so, I realized that the only way to practice

homœopathic medicine was to take the kernel of it

and to develop it a bit in your own way and to use it

in a way that experience told you actually got the

patient better. And isn’t that what the practice of

medicine is all about? To get the patient better? It

may not be a total healing but if they have their

migraines that are plaguing them every weekend

reasonably controlled so that they can function far

better, or their endometriosis so they are not doubled

up in agony once a month for four days with the

excruciating pain that it brings them. If you can help

to put them out of pain, and those are two instances

where patently modern medicine is not succeeding.

Not to mention many others that we all know about,

I wrote a list, it included things like: severe

generalized atopic eczema and asthma, and then in

the child leukaemia, in the adult senile dementia and

of course, the up-to-date situations that we are now

all being confronted with: post-viral fatigue, myalgic

encephalomyelitis (I can never say it), cancer and so

on. And is homœopathic medicine helping us here,

I wonder? Is it helping us as doctors to bring the

patient some comfort and healing? Well actually I

think it is and I wouldn’t be practicing if I wasn’t,

but I have never got anywhere using a single dose,

because of what experience has taught me (and you

can argue: well of course she’s got plenty of friends

in the psychotherapeutic area). Yes indeed, I have,

some of my dearest friends are psychotherapists and

to them it is “all in the mind,” the mental experience

of a patient has brought on his illness. So that there

is a whole area that we have to look at.

There is also, of course, the area where the

patient’s personality and feeling, life or whatever

you like to call it, has been suppressed. They have

had their head down in intellectual activity day after

day, week in week out, wen there has perhaps been

an artist in there trying to get out, or even a singer or

musician, but they have never allowed it.

And of course, therefore if we look at illnesses

in their totality which is what we are “supposed to

do” in this branch of holistic medicine, it would seem

to me that we sometimes must apply remedies where

there has been a grief experience or something in

their childhood. If we give something for that

suppression of a feeling and then an “organ remedy”

where the physical symptoms manifest themselves,

then we might be in with a chance to do something

that can perhaps remotely be considered as healing.

After three months of practicing three doses I

realized that I was getting absolutely nowhere. I was

just about to chuck it all in, but you see I did

somehow know that there was something in it. It

was a sort of gut reaction if you like, I didn’t do a lot

of reading, I still haven’t read a lot of books, but

somewhere it seems to me in nature it’s all out there.

It’s just us who haven’t got the wit to know how to

use it. I respect Sammy Hahnemann very much for

what he resurrected and reincarnated, but I do

believe that if he was alive today he would be writing

different books. By the way Elizabeth Wright

Hubbard did not write that book at the end of her

career. I think she slightly changed her mind later,

and I’m not sure that she did go out in a white Rolls-

Royce; she was quite a modest lady.

This debate begs many questions and it is

unique to have, as Peter Fisher said in his opening

remarks, the chance to air some views other than

what has been called classical Homœopathy. I don’t

believe it’s classical at all, I never have done, I don’t

believe there is any such thing as classical

Homœopathy. I only believe that there is the

Homœopathy of one’s own personal experience and

that if you take it to its conclusion it seems to me

patently absurd to just match a mental remedy and

say that is going to do everything. So, this debate

does have undertones of great significance for this

Faculty. I am reminded of one of my favourite

speakers, Rabbi Lionel Blue on Desert Island Discs.

Sue Lawley asked him why his favourite record was

“Why Has a Cow Got Four Legs,” sung by Cicely

Courtneidge, he said that it begged the deepest

philosophical questions. When asked what was his

pet hate he said “I hate fanatics.” Fanaticism is a

modern word and I hope that at the end of this debate

we will agree to differ.

I believe there are almost as many remedies as

there are doctors and that some doctors find one way

to practice homœopathic medicine, others find

another and that no one school has the truth. I wrote

this down: if this house believes that the single

remedy is the remedy of experience it is deluding

itself. Deluding itself not only in the educational

sphere, by teaching it, and thereby finding that in

quite a high proportion of situations it doesn’t work,

285

not only by losing a lot of well-meaning doctors who

come to its courses, but in making relationships with

our medical colleagues. I find this terribly

important. I have never lost faith with my medical

colleagues in conventional medicine. They will

prescribe sometimes the most outrageous things for

me on an FP10 if I ask them to, to help the patients,

simply because if you try to convince them that one

remedy is going to cover the whole spectrum of a

disease process then they really give up on you and

I can’t blame them for that.

But finally, and George did mention this: it has

been my good fortune to have used a bit of my

leisure since I left this hospital to travel. I have been

to many places, but principally to Europe and have

visited quite a number of European clinics. If we

think in this country that we have the edge in the

EEC we are going to have to have another big think

because we haven’t. We are years behind them in

lots of ways and I would commend you to go and

visit some of the clinics in Europe to see what they

are doing and how they are going about it. And of

course, the French with their imagination use

polypharmacy, the Germans a bit more down to

ground, not really down to earth, but heavier, would

try two or three remedies. They have a huge

following in Germany. The Swiss also use

polypharmacy. It is therefore my pleasure, Mr.

Chairman, to be cut off by you and to sit down now

and to say once more that the single remedy has not

been my experience at all. But you must all go out

and try for yourselves and use what you find best for

the patients.

Contributions from the floor

Dr. Brain Kaplan: I am a doctor using

Homœopathy predominantly in a unicast way.

There is just one issue I want to bring up. I have no

objection, although it’s not my style, to use one or

two remedies at the same times as long as the doctor

or practitioner has studied Materia Medica. What I

have found very disconcerting is that I attended a

workshop held in London promoting combination

remedies, many containing 10,15,20 remedies in

combination. I saw in the seminar something that I

had never seen in medicine before, something quite

unprecedented, and that was doctors being

encouraged to use medicines of whose action they

knew nothing nor of the rationale behind prescribing

that medicine.

Now in medical school a doctor when he uses

penicillin, methotrexate, or whatever, has some idea

of how that medicine works. Yet people were being

encouraged to go out use these combinations of

medicines knowing nothing of the Materia Medica

of their components. If they did know the Materia

Medica of the components and they were prepared

to use them in that combination then that is their

choice, that is their style. But it is my belief that

someone who has taken the trouble to learn Materia

Medica and learn it well would not choose to use

these combinations in this way.

Ms Elizabeth Medallion: I am a so-called

classical homœopath and I must say I was very

shocked that the last speaker, after five weeks of

learning Homœopathy using Homœopathy in the

way that she does, said that as long as you can relieve

the patients of their symptoms that is enough. That

to me is not a cure in any way. You’re not looking

at the miasms, you’re not looking at eradication. I

also feel that the cure should be felt on all levels.

The patient in the end should forget their original

symptoms. You also mentioned that you cannot

understand how a remedy which only acts on the

emotional or mental level can also relieve the

physical symptoms. But surely in the Organon this

is what we are taught. The seat of the disease is on

that level, and the physical symptoms are on the

periphery and the end result. So, I really wonder

why you are not reading books and why you’re

denying the classical approach, because I think

you’re missing out. It is a curative approach, there

is a great growth of classical Homœopathy and I

really am upset to hear you decry it in the way you

do.

Dr. June Burger: Well I am not surprised you

are upset. You are entitled to be upset. But my

patients are also upset when they don’t get better

because they do come usually in pain or agony of

mind. You just heard what George Lewith told you

about the fifth Organon that he has dug out. Did you

take that on board? Have you any comment to make

on that statement?

Elizabeth Medallion: All I know is that I

follow the classical approach and my colleagues and

myself have good results; so we don’t feel we need

to resort to any other method.

Dr. June Burger: What I would question is

what you call the classical approach? Who has got

the truth?

Member of audience: I think David Curtin

outlined it very well.

Dr. June Burger: But where does he get the

truth from?

Mr. Michael Clark: I feel that it will be

unhelpful if we just got into the dogmatics of

Homœopathy, which I can see us getting into rather

fast. If we could get back to some of the issues

which I think are connected with the way in which

medical science works. In this case it is through the

emphasis on experience, that is experience with a

certain amount of evidence behind it. It’s a long

tedious business to produce it and so I would be

286

pleased to hear from anyone else from the floor who

was detail of their own experience supporting the

motion either way rather than assertion.

Dr.Andrew Lockie: Homœopathic physician.

I’ll chip in my two pence-worth now because I

suspect in the end we will agree to disagree, but I

think it is unfortunate if we allow this split to

continue. My own practical experience is, and I

don’t know a lot about complex Homœopathy, but it

sounds to me as if a lot of it is on the same level as

nutritional lifestyle changes, detoxification and other

measures which in my understanding would be what

Hahnemann put under the heading of “obstacles to

cure.” The Vital Force is unable to act because there

is such a heavy burden of something, whether it be

physical, psychological, social, religious or

whatever, there is some burden that is blocking the

action even of the indicated remedy and therefore

there is place for any measure which can remove

these obstacles to cure.

Secondly, one criterion that I always apply in

questions like these, because I get a bit of flak about

my book, but my position is that I’d rather have a

patient walking through my door who was on

complex Homœopathy than walking through my

door on allopathic drugs. It is much easier to deal

with a patient who is on complex Homœopathy than

it is to deal with a patient who is not just on an acute

drug but on long-term drugs.

Thirdly, I personally use tissue salts in

combination and I also use the Wala injections, such

as Disci comp. cum Pulsatilla, particularly in back

problems and have got fantastic results from that

when the indicated remedy apparently hasn’t

worked. This is a local injection just over the spot

of sensitivity and I have had some really dramatic

results from it. I haven’t a clue how they work

because I don’t understand Rudolf Steiner and

anthroposophical medicine and I can’t really be

bothered attempting at this stage of the game to find

out. But they do work.

The combination tissue salts are complex

remedies. They are very low potency and they are

working on a more nutritional level than the dynamic

plane that the single high potency remedy works on,

therefore I can see a place for both types of

Homœopathy. I don’t know that they are mutually

exclusive. As a personal statement I could see

myself using complex Homœopathy in the same way

as using nutrition and detoxification techniques,

removing obstacles to cure, but for me it would be to

prepare the ground for a more classical approach.

So, I come back to the point that I don’t like to

see the patients coming through the door taking

anything, not even vitamins and minerals, because

they can be a problem as well. I’d rather a patient

came to me on nothing at all, just a clean picture. But

I would rather they were on complex homœopathic

remedies than drugs and I back up Brian Kaplan’s

point: I don’t think it’s intellectually honest to train

doctors for three days in the use of complex remedies

without also giving them an understanding of the

Materia Medica of the individual components. I

don’t think that is intellectually honest in any type of

medicine.

Ms.Shirley Gay: I am a pharmacist working in

a homœopathic pharmacy, and I also have another

hat as a practitioner registered with the Society of

Homœopaths. As a pharmacist, quite often, in the

front of the shop we are called upon to give, off the

top of our head, remedies which sometimes may be

complex remedy. Someone will come in and say,

“What do you think about me using ABC (Aconite,

Belladonna, Chamomilla) or AGE (Aconite,

Gelsemium, Eupatorium) for my ‘flu?” And quite

frankly, when we’ve got five minutes to choose a

remedy, that is what we quite often resort to. But as

a homœopath who has studied Homœopathy for

three years at a full-time course I would like to think

that I know a bit more about remedies when I sit

down with my patients than to be able to say: “Well

I don’t know which remedy you are, so let me give

you four and hope that one of them actually hits the

mark.”

The other thing about complex Homœopathy

which I find a little bothersome is that recently when

I went to New Zealand I discovered that there was a

pharmacy there that was promoting complex

Homœopathy to the public and producing 10

different “simplexities.” They were putting out a

little booklet saying that you can come along to our

courses which are five weekend courses and at the

end of that you will get a qualification which says

that you are a homœopath and you are fit to use these

remedies. I think that this totality degrades the name

of Homœopathy and I would have to see that kind of

thing happen here.

I think perhaps where we are getting confused is

in the word Homœopathy itself. If we actually use a

potentized substance to treat a person in

combination, then that is what we are doing. But if

we are using Homœopathy, we are using

homœopathic remedies as described by Hahnemann.

If one wishes to use complex remedies in organ and

drainage levels then you should say that you are

using potentized remedies but not homœopathically,

you are using potentized remedies to drain and to

cleanse the body in a certain way. But Homœopathy

is the Homœopathy of Hahnemann.

I quote the Organon, it is a footnote to aphorism

25:

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Ms. Sarah Richardson: Professional

homœopath of 14 years’ experience. Following Dr.

Lewith’s comment on Hahnemann and his quotation

from the fifth edition of the Organon, I think Francis

Treuherz dealt with that in the Lutze controversy. I

believe I am Hahnemannian in my approach that the

single remedy is always the ideal. Rima Handley has

translated a large quantity of Hahnemann’s case

notes from the end of his practice when he was

writing the sixth edition of the Organon which was

at the time he was developing the LM potencies. The

truth is that Hahnemann didn’t always use the single

remedy, but he tended to use what he considered the

similimum and a miasmatic remedy. There are a lot

of people who wish that he hadn’t done that at the

end of his life. But the truth, from his case records,

is that he did. But he stated quite clearly that he was

using one on what he considered a sort of blanket

miasmatic level and that the other was the

similimum. And there is no evidence from those

notes that he was using a whole lot of remedies all at

once. Very clearly, he would either give a miasmatic

remedy once a week and then the indicated remedy

perhaps daily. This was in the run-up to his

producing the LM potency.

My experience has been that when I started

prescribing I would often use more than one remedy

but as I have improved my understanding and work

with Materia Medica and understanding of the Law

of Cure I more and more use only one remedy.

However, there are times when, from my fear of not

getting the right remedy or because there is an

obstacle to cure, I might, as Hahnemann did, use an

alternating remedy. There are cases when that is

what is indicated and works. So, there is the

experience of using clearly indicated alternating

remedies in certain situations. My experience

through case notes, of which I have a couple of

thousand, is that the clearer I am of my prescription

the better the single remedy acts and that is my

experience. When it doesn’t there is either some

major obstacle to cure or it’s my own inadequacy.

Dr. Michael Jenkins: Royal London

Homœopathic Hospital. I must admit to doing lots

of different kinds of Homœopathy and it often

depends on what mood I am in and what kind of

patients I happen to be seeing and the amount of

pressure I am under, the time of day. By 4 or

5 o’clock on Friday afternoon I am often getting

much more to the mixtures! On a bright Tuesday

morning I am more likely to be using single

remedies. Now this is just an observation of my own

practice and how I am feeling and how I am

performing. But I must may we work here under

quite a lot of pressure and we don’t have the time

that we would like to have. So, I tend to use ingle

high potency prescribing when I can see it fairly

clearly and fairly quickly. If I can set it is going take

hour to search for a similimum which might not

actually exist I tend to use a combination.

There are several groups of patients, in fact

many groups of patients, where I am not at all

convinced that there is constitutional prescription or

a similimum. If you take for example patients with

rheumatoid arthritis, there is often very little

remarkable to find about them. They are remarkable

by the fact that they are so unremarkable! I you go

round chasing afer a magic similimum in the 10M

you are going to fail frequently. As June Burger

knows well, I came a little after her, we had Blackie

on one hand and Twentyman on the other. I was

brought up between the two of them and their

various disputes. I oscillated from one camp to

another, so I have no conflict in my own mind

between using single remedies in high potencies

sometimes and using mixtures of low potencies at

others, depending on both my own foibles, my own

weaknesses and strengths and also the clinical

situation with which I am faced. There are many

situations where I find it much more practical to go

low for mixtures and for others, if I can really see the

similimum, to go high. I don’t actually see a conflict

in my own practice.

Ms Ann Larkin: London College of Classical

Homœopathy. I would like to support one of the

previous speakers. I think that one of the answers to

the understanding of Homœopathy could well be in

the length and quality of training. I think another of

the problems in finding the remedy is the time

allowed for the interview. If you are trying to find

the correct remedy, the correct single remedy in a

five-or ten- minute interview it is extremely difficult.

With reference to what Andrew Lockie was saying

about preferring to have somebody come who is

having complex Homœopathy rather than allopathic

medicine, I don’t know whether I would necessarily

agree, because I think one of the great dangers of

complex Homœopathy is the danger of suppression.

I believe that a homœopathic suppression is far more

serious because it is acting on a deeper level than an

allopathic suppression which is quite bad enough in

itself.

Ms Tricia Austin: I am not a practitioner, nor

indeed am I a student. I humbly represent the public.

There were some fairly guarded comments, but I

would like to enlarge on one particularly guarded

comment. And that is that the practitioners who

prescribe complex remedies very rarely know

exactly what those remedies are going to do because

they are not yet proven. One of the things that we

have seen in the twentieth century in allopathic

medicine is that doctors are under pressure from the

288

numbers of patients who pass through their surgeries

and the numbers of representatives from drug

companies to learn about the drugs not from the use

of them but more from what they are told by the drug

companies. It is not that many years ago that doctors

were recommended to provide for pregnant mothers

a particular drug that was wonderful for them and

their children. You may have heard of thalidomide.

I, as Jill Public, do not want to be in the position

of having someone prescribe for me a remedy of

which the prescriber does not know the probable

outcome. I also do not want to be in the position of

having the only people who understand the possible

outcome being the drug companies. If you go this

particular rote of complexes, if it is not handled with

meticulous care, it will finish up in the same way as

allopathic medicine, with only the drug companies

knowing precisely how these things could perform.

It is a very dangerous path.

Summing up: Proposing

Dr. David Curtin: I would first like to say a

little about myself and my practice. I have made it

my business to investigate ways of getting

Homœopathy to work better and I have practiced in

many different ways, I have worked in many

different situations. I have worked as a locum in

many different homœopathic practices and I have

observed the ways in which different practitioners

have worked, the kind of results that they have, and

I have tried many of these different methods myself.

I have used complex remedies, I have used

pendulums, I have done all sorts of dowsing, I have

tried many difference things and the way that I

practice now is not fixed. I continue to investigate

and I continue to look for ways to improve the results

which I get in my practice. But one thing that is clear

is that I have now found that finding a remedy for

the totality of the symptoms of the patient, the whole

patient is that which gives me the best results by far.

I would like to pick up something that June

Burger said about the French homœopaths. She said

the French with their imagination use polypharmacy.

I would change that a little bit to say that they use

polypharmacy without imagination. They practice

in this way without imagination, hey prescribe

combinations of remedies on local symptoms and

call it Homœopathy. Perhaps the local symptoms get

better or perhaps they don’t, but what about the rest

of the patient? I think this gives Homœopathy a bad

name.

I get many patients coming to me and saying

I’ve been having homœopathic treatment for years

and it has done this and it has done that or it hasn’t

done anything at all, but it is often clear to me that it

has actually done very little. Some times the patients

are satisfied they say: “I went to the doctor for this.

He gave me this medicine and it got better.” I say,

“so what? What about the rest of the patient?” I look

at the patient as a whole and I like to see my patients

get better as a whole and when they do, they really

appreciate it. I want to get the message over to the

low, combination prescribers that they are missing

out on something much better. If one does treat the

whole patient, and I prescribe a single remedy for the

greatest totality that I can see, then I find that the

whole patient gets better, not just the bladder, not

just the bladder, not just the chest, but everything.

Picking up something that George Lewith said

about the throat problem and then later on arthritis

developing, toxins of streptococcus being found and

then given something for that. Okay, so perhaps the

rheumatoid arthritis improves, perhaps the throat

gets better. What about the other symptoms, what

about the fear of the dark, what about the anxiety?

So, the single remedy is my approach.

There was talk of support on a number of

occasions, support remedies, support for organs,

support for this, support for that. I would like to say

again that when I prescribe, I prescribe for a totality

and I prescribe a single remedy. When such a

remedy is given and the choice has been good, the

patient starts to improve. This improvement

generally follows a particular path. It follows a

pattern and I refer in particular to Hering’s

observations on cure that the process of the disease

is reversed and that the symptoms disappear in the

order in which they appeared. This is something that

can be observed. Often the patient needs support in

many different ways. I give my remedy and the

process of cure is initiated. Things start to change in

the patient’s life. Sometimes if a grief has been

suppressed this anger then erupts. Sometimes

people who have been stuck in a particular life style

which does not suit them or is compressing them in

some way, start to react against it. Things need to

change in their life. Such people need counselling:

they need support, they need to talk to someone in

order to determine how they are going to cope with

the changes that are happening in their lives, what

choices they are going to make in order to improve

the qualities of their lives.

This is one kind of support. Andy Lockie talked

about support at other levels. The patient may need

to see the osteopath. The patient may need to have a

broken leg set. The patient may need to be given

advice concerning diet. There may be certain habits

they have or things that they ingest or whatever that

actually are interfering with the process of cure. We

can give many different kinds of support to patients.

Sometimes orthodox medicine may need to be given

as a support of one kind or another. I have already

289

mentioned the example of fixing a broken leg.

Sometimes surgery is necessary. Sometimes it is

necessary to give thyroxine or insulin to maintain the

patient’s life. We cannot depend on Homœopathy to

do everything. But Homœopathy can do the most

remarkable things and in my experience the most

effective way of achieving this has been prescribing

single doses. So, I maintain that the single dose is

the medicine of experience. It is the medicine which

allows the practitioner to learn, to grow, to discover,

not just to learn about the medicines but to learn

about the patients to learn how to discover what it is

in patients that needs to be cured.

The problem that the patient really has is not

necessarily the problem that they present with. A

good homœopath, I maintain, will discover what that

problem is and endeavor to put it right by prescribing

an appropriate medicine. And if a homœopath

practices in this way by constantly monitoring the

results of the remedy, feeding back to the patient if

the remedy is not working well. Asking, “What is it

that has caused me to prescribe a wrong remedy or a

remedy that was not so good in any working well.

Asking, “What is it that has caused me to prescribe

a wrong remedy or a remedy that was not so good in

any particular case?” by looking again at the patient,

looking again at the case to see what is not quite

right, and asking “Is there some more information I

need, is there something in this patient that I have

misunderstood?” and by following the progress of

the changes within the patient after each single

prescription, the practitioner learns by experience

more about medicines, more about patients, more

about himself or herself in discovering what makes

people tick, what makes people sick and thereby

learns more about how to make them better more

quickly and more effectively.

Ann Larkin made the point that it is difficult in

fifteen minutes to examine the totality of a case. It

can be indeed and I sympathise fully with those such

as Michael Jenkins, perhaps, who sees tens or

hundreds of patients a day. It can be difficult. But I

maintain that the experience of prescribing a single

remedy and carefully observing the response will

enable the practitioner to work more precisely and

more quickly. By doing so he will be able to practice

very accurately in quite short periods. And so, I rest

my case.

Summing up: Opposing

Dr. George Lewith: I am not the opposition, I

am the proposition.

Man Tse-Tung said: “Let a thousand flowers

bloom.” That is probably quite a reasonable thing to

do. The approach that you use works terribly well

for you. The approach that he Chinese acupuncturist

uses works terribly well for him. He has a model of

an illness which allows him to work and understand,

develop a treatment regime and approach a patient.

The model that I am using in complex Homœopathy

is a different model to classical and is based on a

functional understanding and works well for me.

There is no problem with that. I am quite happy to

swap over to an acupuncture model. I find it very

useful sometimes. Sometimes I find, like Michael

Jenkins, that not only do some patients fit a particular

remedy, they don’t fit a particular illness model. So,

I find it useful to be at least bilingual in medicine

because it really helps, it gives you a better

understanding. If you understand three cultures, if

you are trilingual, it is even better. I am trying for

my fourth medical language at the moment. I think

this is genuinely useful because it gives you better

insight.

Francis Treuherz, ever the historian, gives me

quote for quote. You take Hahnemann, you quote

him, you find a counter-quote, you could do it for

almost anybody. Hahnemann didn’t invent

Homœopathy, it was known to the ancient Greeks,

so I understand. So, you can pick and choose and

you can use it to support or defeat your beliefs. The

concept that complex Homœopathy is somehow evil,

insidious, untested, drug company-based, nasty,

horrible and will do us a lot of harm is an interesting

one. In fact, the quality control and the legislation

controls for many of the continental complexes are

far better than for many of the singles produced here

in this country. The complexes have been used for

very long periods of time. They are not new

medicines. They are very safe and they are very

widely used in Europe and their adverse reactions

are very widely reported if they indeed occur

because they come under the same legislation in

Germany and France as conventional medicines. So,

I think that this is an unreasonable worry.

I went into this with a great deal of humour

because when I was asked to take part in this debate

I said well it’s going to be a very predictable

outcome, whatever I say, so I might as well bring on

the Chippendales or something and we could have a

much jollier evening. We all know what the

outcome is going to be, particularly sitting in the

Royal London Homœopathic Hospital. The

proposers could have almost said anything because

the medicine of your experience, of most of you

sitting here, is the single remedy and that is why you

will probably agree with the motion because you

have no other experience. Now that is a major

problem for me because I can’t give you that

experience in five minutes but at least you can open

your minds a little and see that there are other

approaches. And that is really what I am asking you

290

to do. I have a rather large hill to climb and I don’t

seriously expect to be able to climb it. I think,

however, I can dispel some of the distrust, difficulty

and obviously emotionally charged atmosphere

which has been directed on some occasions, not

particularly this evening, at those of us who use

complexes.

I certainly don’t feel that about those of you who

use singles. That is all I can say. I am quite happy

to let you get in with what you know. You are doing

a good job. If it works for you that’s fine. But let

me do my job, let me have my experiences, let me be

trilingual in medicine and if you would like to learn

another couple of languages please do, because it is

great fun. It gives you different perspectives on the

patient and the aim of all of us is very simple. We,

most of us in this area, are here to have fun and, I

hope, to get some professional satisfaction out of

trying to help patients, ideally to learn from our

experiences with patients to become better doctors.

And most of us will choose slightly different paths.

And that attracts the patients who come to us and to

a certain extent is an expression of the way in which

we work and our understanding of medicine of

medicine. Thank God it is slightly individual and

slightly separate. Hope we don’t get ruled by

fanatics. I don’t want to be told that there is only one

way to do Homœopathy because I don’t think that

that is constructive for anybody.

Motion carried

Dr. Peter Fisher: Well, I dare not say anything

after all that, except to say that before we move to a

vote please bear in mind one thing. What we are

asking you to vote on is not your prejudices; we are

not interested in what your views were when you

came into this room or indeed what your views still

are. What you are voting on is the quality of the

argument and if the “wrong” side wins then it is up

to “right but losing” side to polish up their arguments

next time.

The motion is carried. Before we adjourn for

drinks I think we should ask Victoria Blackstone to

do her duchess act, like the Duchess of Kent at

Wimbledon, and present a bottle of champagne each

to the victors!

The debaters:

Proposing

Dr.David Curtin MB, BS, MFHOM

Became interested in Homœopathy while still a

medical student and entered full time homœopathic

practice in the private sector after gaining the

MFHom in 1978, starting practices in London and

Oxford. In 1987 he moved to Devon and now

practices in London and Exeter. He has a particular

interest in education.

Francis Treuherz, MA, MCH, FSHom

Practices at the Marylebone Health Centre. He

is a graduate of the College of Homœopathy and

studied with George Vithoulkas and Dr. Vassilis

Ghegas in Greece and with Dr.S.P. Dey in Calcutta.

He is a Director of the Society of Homœopaths and

edits their journal, The Homœopath. He is addicted

to MacRepertory, the computer software, and

collects old books on Homœopathy. He teaches

regularly on professional training courses in Britain

and Finland. He has published a number of articles,

mainly on the history of Homœopathy. His previous

career included 10 years teaching social sciences at

the University of London, Goldsmiths’ College.

Opposing

Dr. George Lewith, MA, MRCP, MRCGP

His first degree was in biochemistry; he

subsequently qualified in medicine in 1974. After a

number of general medical jobs in London he passed

the MRCP examinations in 1977. In 1979, he

became a lecturer in general practice in the

Department of General Practice in Southampton,

gaining the MRCGP. In 1982 he set up, with Dr.

Julian Kenyon, the Centre for the Study of

Complementary Medicine in Southampton. His

interest in complementary medicine began in 1977,

with a three-month acupuncture course in China, and

has subsequently grown to embrace a large number

of clinical skills within the complementary medical

field. He has written and researched extensively

within the field of complementary medicine, his

particular interest being the development of clinical

trial methodology.

DrJune Burger, MRCS, LRCP, DCM, MFHom

Was a paediatrician at the Royal London

Homœopathic Hospital from 1971 to 1987 in charge

of a busy out-patient department and Clinical

Assistant to Dr. Ralph Twentyman from 1972 to

1974. She was Secretary of The Faculty of

Homœopathy for eight years and then Vice President

for a further three years. She remains a trustee of

The Homœopathic Trust. Since retiring from the

NHS, she has traveled to Germany, Brazil and South

Africa to look at the homœopathic scene in a private

capacity. Her retirement is now occupied with

private practice in North London where her primary

interest is in the health of children and the associated

family dynamics.

Phew

I hope that you enjoyed and learned from that.

Sorry it was so long, but it was a great evening. I

cannot reproduce the applause and the laughter.

=====================================

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46. The Scientific Rejection of Homœopathy

MORRELL, Peter (AH. 23/2017)

“Non scholae sed vitae discimus.” (We learn, not

from school, but from life.)1

“A gram of experience is worth a ton of theory”2

The starting point for this essay is the assertion

frequently made today that Homœopathy is

pseudoscience, unscientific junk, a fraud,

impossible, that it doesn’t work because it cannot

work, and because the pills contain nothing (no

molecules). These critics also claim that repeated

clinical trials are a waste of money because they

have all shown the same thing: that its so-called

therapeutic effects cannot be distinguished from

placebo.3 Let’s be honest, this is what our detractors

are saying! Some of them also say that Homœopathy

defies the laws of physics and chemistry, which

would have to be entirely rewritten if it was ever

proved to be true.

To examine these claims fairly, carefully and

thoroughly would take up a lot of space and time and

so for now, I shall confine myself to examining the

idea that Homœopathy is entirely unscientific and

unproven: a deception of patients and therefore, a

fraud.

The origins and nature of science

The origins of science are very well

documented. Aristotle is the obvious founder, and

although his views became entrenched as dogma for

around 1500 years, he did not initiate observation

and experiment. True science can be traced back

many centuries, but it was not until the investigation

of nature was systematized that science set down

firm roots. While key elements were already active

in the 1400s, the scientific method did not thrive

until the 1600s, with the work of figures like

Copernicus, Galileo, Harvey and Beacon4 newton

and Descartes accelerated this process. Empirical

observation and experimentation inevitably involved

challenging cherished beliefs. Gathering pace,

scientific enquiry became a movement for

dispensing with unsubstantiated superstitions and

unverified opinions.

Religious dogma and untested ancient ideas and

theories eventually attracted the special attention of

scientific investigation. In due course, it was

declared that only theories that could be confirmed

through empirical observation and tested by

experiment could be regarded as true. this “new

scientific method (aimed)… to dominate the entire

field of human knowledge… the great liberators of

the age were Descartes and Bacon, who carried

opposition to the authority of tradition, faith, dogma

or prescription into every realm of knowledge and

opinion …(creating)a new movement… (intended) to

bring everything before the bar of reason.” This was

“the great scientific materialist movement that was

determined to sweep away the last relics of

scholastic metaphysics.” Their big idea was that

“the use of reason and controlled observation….the

methods of the natural sciences… could replace the

chaotic amalgam of ignorance, laziness, guesswork,

superstition, prejudice, dogma and fantasy.”5

Science extolled the virtues of thorough

investigation and employed careful and unbiased

observation of phenomena together with rigorous

testing by experiment.6

Many of the early successes of science were in

the fields of human anatomy, cosmology and

mechanics. Figures like Leonardo da Vinci,

Vesalius and Harvey Unraveled the fine structure of

the human body while Galileo, Copernicus and

Kepler fathered a revolution in accurately measuring

and predicting the motions of the heavenly bodies.7

The latter illustrated very clearly the importance of

precise measurement and mathematics, which were

destined to become important handmaidens of

science. Further mathematical advances were made

by figures like Newton and Leibniz. At the time, the

revelations in anatomy and cosmology were

vehemently opposed by the Church and led (in part)

to Galileo being put under house arrest and Harvey

condemned - both for “preaching heresies.” Yet,

in due course their discoveries became mainstream

and paved the ways for further developments in

biology and physics. Science had thus become an

unstoppable component of human advancement.8

In every branch of science, we can discern the

main elements of the scientific method: observation

and experiment combined with careful

measurement, attention to detail and accuracy.

These have become the indelible hallmarks of

scientific endeavor to which we can also add the

verification of experimental results through

collaboration among workers in specific fields.9

Science “collects, classifies, experiments, takes to

pieces, reassembles, defines, deduces, and

establishes probabilities …(It follows) … the

rational and experimental method which Descartes

and Galileo had inaugurated …. (by which)

…hypotheses (are) confirmed or falsified by

controlled observation and experiment.”10

Science has always maintained a strong

skepticism about theories in general. However, a

corpus of scientific theory inevitably sprang up in

every field alongside the growing mass of

observations and experiments. This involved

interpretation and conjecture which in turn led to

more experiments.11

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Science did not remain an entirely empirical

pursuit for long, but soon accumulated a body of

theory of its own. This meant the elucidation of key

principles and underlying “laws of nature.” In time,

pure observation and measurement of physical

phenomena expanded to include intangibles and

imponderables, which could never be seen or

touched but only inferred or calculated

mathematically. As long as such intangibles enabled

scientists to make better predictions about the

material world, such subtleties were accepted as

probably real. Hence electrons, muons, quarks, X-

rays, gravity fields, black holes, string theory, etc.

became generally accepted as crucial parts of

modern science, even though they could only be

indirectly observed or detected using special

instruments, or inferred mathematically. The true

value of such imputed entities rests entirely in their

ability to explain and predict phenomena, and so

they continue to be accepted and used by scientists.12

One important attribute of scientific

investigation is the search for patterns in phenomena

and data. There is also an impulse to classify

information whereby disparate facts can be

organized into a more logical framework. This

method involves placing similar objects or

phenomena together in the same category and then

constructing a hierarchy. Proceeding in this manner,

science creates a systematization of its domain

grouping similar objects together and then deciding

on the varied relationships that may exist between

categories. This was, in fact, the method initiated by

Aristotle, continued by Cesalpina and Bauhin, and

then rendered much more systematic by Linnaeus in

his classification of living organisms.13

In chemistry and physics a similar approach has

led to the creation of different taxonomies for

studying and organizing the knowledge of each

science. Examples include Newton’s laws of

motion, the periodic table, Boyle’s work with gases,

the laws of thermodynamics, the laws of optics and

electricity, and the understanding of sound and

electromagnetic waves. Apart from the periodic

table, the impact of taxonomy in chemistry includes

such things as the classification and properties of

metal oxides, sulphates, chlorides and carbonates,

alcohols, acids, bases, alkanes, alkenes, esters,

lipids, carbohydrates, proteins, sterols, polymers,

etc. This classifying impulse has effectively divided

the subject into various categories and sub-

categories. In all the sciences, this taxonomic

approach has replaced random facts with orderly

systems of classification.14

The search for causes has been a dominant

theme in science and has moved far beyond the

medieval period when divine causes, demons, spirits

or magic were invariably invoked to account for

unexplained phenomena. In Pagan times, the

prevailing view was that the gods or spirits acted as

invisible causes of natural phenomena. Deaths,

disasters and shifts in personal fortune were believed

to be divine rewards or punishments for human

behavior. This type of magical, superstitious

thinking has persisted into modern times in many

societies around the globe. It has not been entirely

extinguished by the progress of science and may

never be.15

Even in what are regarded at the inexact

sciences of psychology anthropology, sociology and

economics, bodies of knowledge have gradually

developed more credible and identifiable theories

and explanations to account for human and social

phenomena. Science today is largely materialistic

and atheistic in its outlook.16 According to science

“the world is a great organism, in which every

element is a function of every other … or it is a

marvelous system of mathematically expressible

harmonies … or after Descartes and Galileo, a

marvelous machine, or a factory with cogs and

wheels and pulleys. These images are found among

eighteenth century materialists, influenced by the

triumphs of Newtonian science…. (and) a good

many antivitalist thinkers until our own day.17

The mechanism of cause and effect often leads

to quantification, reductionism and simplification.18

Numbers of all kinds seem to have a solid reality of

their own and tend to give the illusion of certainty,

even when they are really just the product of

measuring things more accurately. Quantification

has become a very important component of all the

sciences. While it takes many forms, it is principally

a reduction from a complex set of circumstances to

a few simple elements that can then be easily

arranged into a fairly straightforward cause and

effect mechanism. One problem with this method is

that the map or model then comes to be regarded as

the entire situation itself, with a blind eye turned to

contextualization. This can lead to important things

being omitted, excluded or downplayed. Science has

often blazed its rail and counted its major successes

by selectively choosing or simplifying its view. But

this approach has a hidden cost: simplification never

supplies the full picture and cannot be taken as proxy

for the full picture.19 This methodology is rarely

appreciative of a more holistic (multi-faceted)

appraisal of situations and phenomena. The fact is

that very few phenomena in our world actually have

the kind of simplicity that this approach demands,

and many more are truly multi-faceted.

Furthermore, this quantification process can be a

deceptive tool by conferring upon information a

patina of certainty that it may not in fact possess.20

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The unscientific nature of medicine

Medicine in the 18th century was in a state of

crisis. Far from scientific, the medical arts were a

conglomeration of competing theories and practices.

There was no approved standardized approach to

treating illness and disease. Although physicians

were at liberty to choose any form of treatment they

preferred, they mostly used trial and error techniques

often derided as empiricism. There was no testing

of the drugs in use and no investigation of the

properties of individual drugs; dangerous mixtures

of substances, including well-known poisons like

arsenic, mercury and antimony were routinely used,

often in very high doses repeated frequently;

dangerously depleting measures such as venesection

or leeching were employed; there was no systematic

assessment of efficacy – the measures in regular use

were believed to expel the alleged humors that were

imagined to be the causes of sickness. In addition,

there was a lack of interest in the common and often

severe (sometimes fatal) adverse effects of the

treatments in regular use and a rigid adherence to a

set of therapeutic measures proven to be dangerous

and of unknown therapeutic value. This was based

on the acceptance of a Materia Medica packed with

centuries-old stories and legends about drug

properties, none of which had ever been confirmed.22

Very few people recovered from illness because

of the medical treatment they were given; many

recovered in spite of it.

Nobody seems to have questioned or rebelled

against these methods at the time. Taught in the

universities as dogma, these treatments had the

absolute approval of profession and leading

practitioners. It seems astonishing today that

apparently intelligent, well-qualified men did not

raise a single voice of protest against the barbaric

and ineffective practice of so-called modern

medicine.

The origins and scientific nature of Homœopathy

The nature and origins of Homœopathy are well

documented. Samuel Hahnemann, the founder of

Homœopathy, started out as a mainstream physician,

though he soon became disenchanted with the ideas

and the methods it involved. After becoming a

father, he found himself in the unhappy position of

having no effective weapons he could use against the

illnesses suffered by his family. He could not bring

himself to bleed and purge his wife and children

when they became ill, as was the practice of the day.

Early in his medical career he abandoned medicine

in disgust and took to chemistry and writing. There

is no doubt that before his discovery of

Homœopathy, Hahnemann was a well-respected

scientist and translator.23

Hahnemann became especially admired for his

work in the field of chemistry, and was awarded an

honorary membership of the Leipsic Economical

Society and the Academy of Science of the

Electorate of Mayence.24 he also met the celebrated

French chemist, Antoine Lavoisier, in Dresden

c.1785.25 however, his main distinction was as a

translator of numerous scientific works into German

from English, French and Latin. His translations

were always highly prized for several reasons: they

always contained numerous corrections of fact,

extensive new footnotes and references not found in

the original and lucid explanations of difficult

passages. His translations thus became more highly

regarded and useful than the original works. During

the 1780s and 1790s Hahnemann also published

many original papers on chemistry before turning

back to his medical studies, which eventually led

him to the formation of Homœopathy.

Hahnemann was a man whose great conscience

and insight led him to abandon medicine. He

proposed a reform of the Materia Medica, which

was rejected by his fellows. Having abandoned

medical practice completely, he had to rely entirely

on translating scientific texts for a very meager

income. He also indulged his interest in chemistry

and began to analyze what he perceived as the

underlying problem with medicine: the drugs in use,

their alleged properties, and their mode of

preparation and administration. He therefore

resolved to ascertain new methods to discover the

curative properties of drugs. He also wrote articles

against purging and bleeding. He quickly

condemned all regular medical methods, including

the strong doses of compounded drugs in common

use. His new goal was to search for gentler healing

methods.26

Hahnemann shares the following attributes with

most other scientists:27

 Good observer

 Conducts experiments

 Analyzes evidence

 Creates theories

 Classifies knowledge

 Abandons disproven theories

 Conducts background research

 Publishes papers

 Searches for causes

 Detailed

 Thorough

 Accurate

 Collaborates with colleagues – shares data

Hahnemann possessed some of the finest

qualities of a good scientist, such as painstaking

294

thoroughness, acute powers of observation and a

passion for experimentation. Like other scientists,

he noted patterns in data and searched for causes. He

adopted a classification system for symptoms and

medicines similar to the taxonomic systems used by

scientists working in other fields. Like other

scientists, his ideas and theories were founded on

and supported by observable evidence. Even his

adoption of the Law of Similars arose from his

research into medical history and the observation of

cases cured by remedies that could give rise to

symptoms similar to the illness. His studies of

historical cases of accidental poisoning contributed

to his theory of the Law of Similars. He drew

heavily on the work of previous physicians, most

especially von Stoerck and Gesner who also

undertook experiments with self-administered single

drugs. These examples illustrate his willingness to

draw on the work of others, which is important in all

the sciences. Apart from developing potency scales,

he did not use mathematics in his work, but the key

aspects of his work shadow almost exactly those of

other scientists both past and present.28

In terms of intangibles, Hahnemann pondered

these at length before incorporating them into his

theories. Not until the fourth edition of the Organon

(1829) does any mention of the miasms or Vital

Force appear. And yet, these concepts were certainly

destined to form important components of the

conceptual scaffolding of Homœopathy. Therefore,

as with most other sciences, some intangibles

eventually came to be referenced as key theoretical

aspects of homœopathic epistemology.29

Hahnemann the scientist

Is it possible to regard Hahnemann as a great

scientist in the same vein as Mendel or Darwin?

The case might be made as follows. During the

1780s, as an aside to his translation work, he

researched the entire historical background of

medicine in all its varied forms up to his day. In this

task, he resembles any self-respecting scientist

conducting a very thorough review of his field of

study. His research uncovered a few promising

notions which were at variance with the medicine of

his day: small doses, single drugs and similar.

Again, with the self-poisoning experiments of von

Storeck, Gesner and others, he notes from his own

five or six years of experience as a physician that

small doses are often better than large; that bleeding

and purging often do more harm than good; and that

simple remedies are often superior to complex drug

mixtures. In making these observations, he is aware

that he is affirming views that run counter to the

accepted medical orthodoxy of his day.30

From 1790 onwards, and as a result of these

observations, Hahnemann follows the example of

von Stoerck and conducts a series of tests of single

drugs on himself (and a few others) and records in

great detail the symptoms produced. At this point,

his ideas and methods rely solely on his research, his

own experience as a physician, and the results of his

experiments. That basis is no more nor less than any

scientist would usually claim. Somewhere between

1891 and 1792, he finds himself at a crossroads. He

needs to test some of these drugs on patients.

Throughout the rest of the 1790s he starts doing

exactly that and discovers two essential points; his

remedies work more brilliantly than he could ever

have imagined, and he confirms for himself the

apparent superiority of single, similar drugs over

mixed, contrary drugs.31

Throughout his career, Hahnemann consistently

used smaller doses of drugs than his colleagues.

Towards the end of the 1790s he discovered that the

size of the dose was a critical factor in determining a

drug’s ability to cure smoothly and without

aggravation. He therefore began to reduce his doses

even further. This takes us up to his experiments

(1799-18011) greatly diluting Pulsatilla and

Belladonna. In employing these infinitesimal doses

of ultra-diluted remedies, he again confirmed their

ability to cur certain specific conditions. He also

introduced the shaking (succussing) of the liquids at

each stage of the serial dilution process. In the early

1800s he adopted a precise method, the centesimal

scale, for diluting his single drugs.32 From 1796

onwards, he published in various articles the results

of his investigations, which led o his writings of

1805, 1810 and 1811. While in Leipzig from 1812,

he attracted a group of colleagues who contributed

to the further testing and validation of his work.

Several things evolved from this situation both

for regular medicine and for Hahnemann.

Hahnemann went on to publish the Organon (1810)

and the Materia Medica Pura (1811). He moved to

Leipzig with the aim of founding a college of

Homœopathy. When this endeavor did not bear

fruit, he instead applied to join the medical faculty

of Leipzig University and successfully submitted

and defended a historical thesis in July 1812. Once

accepted onto the faculty, he taught lectures on

Homœopathy twice a week to a small class of

students. They became the first homœopaths and

the provers of new drugs. At this time, Hahnemann

had been practicing and developing Homœopathy

for about twenty years and was 57 years of age.33

To briefly summarize: Hahnemann, in his

construction of Homœopathy had clearly conducted

thorough research, accrued innumerable

observations, exercised profound scholarship and

295

conducted numerous experiments. Therefore, it is

indisputable that Homœopathy is founded on exactly

the same principles and methods as mainstream

science.34

It seems entirely appropriate to compare

Hahnemann to other great scientists who have made

their mark, such as Mendel, Galileo and Darwin.

Mendel was praised for conducting meticulous

experiments on genetic crosses and then interpreting

the results while knowing nothing at the time about

chromosomes or cell division. Darwin made new

sense of the fossil record and comparative anatomy

through reference to variation and competition in

populations, thus creating a theory of evolution that

totally outshone the simplistic ideas of his French

predecessor, Lamarck. Darwin and Mendel are both

rightly revered as heroes of the scientific method and

for their construction of innovative and compelling

theories about the natural world. Even Galileo and

Harvey, who at the time were condemned as heretics

by the Pope, were eventually recognized. All these

great men are rightly seen as heroes of the scientific

method. But this reverence has never been extended

to Hahnemann, whose experiments were equally

innovative and ground-breaking, and who was

equally brilliant in his analysis of the data.35

His conclusions were too radical to find any

form of acceptance among the medical majority. He

persevered, driven by his belief in the “medical

truths” his work had uncovered. However, his many

attempts to win the support of his more traditional

colleagues were doomed to fail. The profession

could not abandon centuries of medical orthodoxy

based on the claims of one man, no matter how

impressive his researches or how credible his

sources.36

His continued successes with remedies

increased his confidence in his new system and

encouraged him in his work and teaching. This

explains why he would not tolerate “half-

homœopaths,” the mongrels and mixers, the

amphibians and bastard homœopaths, as he called

them. Any attempts by his students and colleagues

to dilute the purity of his teachings by using

allopathic methods in any form were met with the

most vociferous avalanche of derision and abuse

from Hahnemann. He was fiercely unbending on

this principle and it clearly reveals the unbridgeable

gulf that had opened up between his system and the

medical practices of his day. He had become totally

uncompromising about every aspect of

Homœopathy. He had severed every link with

Allopathy; henceforth his mindset was permanent

and non-negotiable.37

As the nineteenth century progressed, allopaths

began gradually reducing drug doses; complex drug

mixtures were simplified into only two to three

substances; purging and bleeding went out of

fashion. Many homœopathic drugs were

incorporated into allopathic medicine and were used

homœopathically (single drugs on the basis of the

Law of Similars) with no acknowledgment of, or

gratitude to, Hahnemann. Examples include

Chamomilla, Pulsatilla, Aconite, Camphor and

Belladonna.38 All of these changes in the practice of

conventional medicine can be credited, at least in

part, to the criticisms Hahnemann had expressed and

to the clinical success of homœopaths using these

remedies. Inadvertently, the incorporation of these

drugs into allopathic use reveals just how successful

Homœopathy was in practice. This was to be the

only acknowledgment or credit Homœopathy would

ever get from allopaths: in effect a hidden,

unintentional, back-handed compliment.39

Discussion

There’s no doubt that modern science uses

amazing techniques to probe organisms, the world

and the universe beyond. It has adopted a

predominantly reductionist approach that attempts to

simplify all systems into mechanistic chains of cause

and effect. Unfortunately, that is not how things

exist in reality. And yet. Science views the world as

“a system of idealized entities: atoms, electric

charges, mass, energy, and the like—fictions

compounded out of observed

uniformities…deliberately adapted to mathematical

treatment…(but this is ) not an accurate

reproduction of the structure of reality, not a map,

still less a picture, of what there is. Outside this set

of imaginary entities and mathematical

relationships in terms of which the system was

constructed there is ‘natural’ nature.”40 Yet,

science tends to believe the map of its own making

and regards it as a proxy for reality itself. This is a

conceptually unjustified step that has led to a range

of insuperable problems. Hahnemann dismissed it

as “explanation mania.”41

When this approach is used in medicine, we

begin to see real issues arising. The complexity of

the human organism, and therefore its health and

illness, is several orders of magnitude greater than

that of a cell or a chemical soup. Yet, despite this

complexity, we see conventional medicine utilize the

same woefully simplistic approach when trying to

solve medical problems. Such attempts are doomed

to fail and result in nothing more than symptom

shifting and suppression. Holistic therapies dismiss

the reductionist approach of science as invalid and

instead approach health and illness not via the parts,

but through their totality. In Homœopathy,

Acupuncture, Nature cure and many other CAM

296

therapies, a truly holistic appreciation of health and

illness is attempted and a truly holistic therapeutic

response is mounted. This bypasses the cause and

effect mechanism based on parts and addresses the

dysfunctions of the organism as a whole. In this

approach, symptoms are not merely pushed around

or suppressed but are addressed at their very root.42

The inappropriate use of models in science is a

complex issue, and it often leads to unwarranted

simplification. Biology does not even come close to

describing the actuality of cellular life, let alone

explaining it. Even the fragments we have, which

have been plucked from that reality by employing in

vitro experiments, are mostly gross simplifications.

They bear a poor relationship to the complex reality

from which they came. It is doubtful that we will

ever begin to comprehend how complex life is.43

For example, in the chemical soup of a living

cell, thousands of molecules and enzymes are

moving around, not in random chaos, but

purposefully directed and regulated. But nobody

asks how mRNA leaves the nucleus and how it

knows which ribosome to latch onto or how the

tRNA knows which amino acids to grab. Nobody

asks how the enzymes in DNA replication know

what to do in that process. All enzymes are goal-

directed molecules behaving intelligently, but

nobody asks how they do this or why. And above

all, nobody asks how they do this or why. And above

all, nobody says what “invisible hand” directs the

enzymes and the molecules in such a complex

cellular soup of thousands of chemicals.”44

These very valid questions are not even raised.

But in the holistic therapies, these questions have

already been addressed and conceptual scaffolding

has been erected to explain life processes via the

understanding of what used to be called the animus

or physis, the Vital Force. It is basically that force

that lies behind and directs the molecules; a force

that is present in life, but which is gone in death

wehnall the molecules cease their purposeful

movement and collapse back into random chaos.

Although the concept of the Vital Force has a

long and distinguished history, it was effectively

expelled from all scientific thinking once Wohler

had succeeded in synthesizing urea in 1828. Rather

a premature decision! And yet, conceptual

scaffolding of another kind, (e.g. electrons, muons

and black holes) is readily accepted by the scientific

community. Why is the very useful concept of a

Vital Force really any less justified than this vast

array of imputed scientific intangibles?45

Summing up

In summary, we have checked and evaluated the

credentials of Homœopathy and of Hahnemann

himself and compared them to those of science and

scientists. We actually found very few differences

between them. In essence, Homœopathy is just as

scientific in its origins and development as any other

mainstream science. It is based solely on

experience, empirical observations, careful research

and countless experiments. Such is the path of any

true science. Hahnemann conducted his work with

the same careful attention to detail as other scientists.

He make observations, did the background research,

conducted experiments, double-checked his results

and drew conclusions based only on evidence.34

While Hahnemann was dogmatic in his

rejection of allopathic medicine, he remained

fervently open-minded in his exploration of

Homœopathy, always willing to change his ideas in

the light of new evidence. His views on potency and

dosage, for example, changed many times, as did his

ideas about coffee, sickness causation and how to

manage a case. All these changes in his views arose

from fresh observations and clinical experiments

none of them were made on a whim or due to

speculation on his part. Again, we can point to no

major differences between Hahnemann’s approach

to his research and the conclusions he came to,

versus the approach of the vast majority of scientists,

both past and present.

Our investigation of Hahnemann’s life and work

shows that the rejection of Homœopathy by

mainstream physicians and scientists has very little

to do with any supposed doubts about his scientific

approach, credentials or credibility. Samuel

Hahnemann was a man of great integrity who was

motivated by genuine scientific curiosity and

dedicated to rigorous research and experimentation

in his ceaseless pursuit to heal the sick.

Therefore, the criticisms that have been leveled

at Hahnemann and Homœopathy over the years

appear to be entirely unjustified. We have searched

for and found no basis to condemn him as a

charlatan, or to condemn Homœopathy as

unscientific, a pseudoscience or a species of

fraudulent quackery. In fact, it was and is none of

these things. It is fair to say he had an argumentative

disposition and that by engaging in vituperative

public arguments with other physicians he may have

done some harm to his reputation and his ideas. Yet,

none of these aspects of the man or his behavior

should be allowed to cloud out judgment of his work

and the healing system he has left behind.

The scientific nature of Homœopathy is not

found in its principles but—like mainstream science

– is found in its empirical basis. In this respect, it is

clear that Kent was wrong when he said you can’t be

liberal with principles. “This means law, it means

fixed principles; it means a law as certain as that of

297

gravitation; not guesswork, empiricism, or

roundabout methods, or a cut and dried use of drugs

.. our principles have never changed, they have

always been the same and will remain the same.”46

“One cannot afford to be liberal with principle.”47

By saying this, Kent was in fact putting the cart

before the horse. All principles are ultimately

derived from observations. No theory, no idea, no

principle should be regarded as sacrosanct, absolute

or immutable. They can all be changed in the light

of new evidence, new observations and new ideas.

We must always be flexible and, unlike Kent, guard

against closing our minds to new possibilities.

Unfortunately, science has exhibited the same

tendencies as Kent, which is to believe that its so-

called principles stand above its observations and its

empirical base. This view should be condemned as

it conveniently ignores the derivation of all so-called

principles from empirical observations. “Reality is

an unanalyzable, dynamic changing organism,

incapable of being represented by the static

metaphors of mathematics and natural science.”48

Putting empiricism in the back seat and letting

theories do the driving inevitably leads to errors of

theory and of practice Kent did that. We must rue

the day this happened in Homœopathy and be sure to

never let it happen again. We ensure it never happens

by keeping an open attitude towards new

observations and fresh ideas and by not getting too

carried away with theories.49

Homœopathy is not pseudoscientific junk or a

fraud, and it’s a shame that modern pro-science

campaigners keep propagating these myths. By

endlessly repeating and recycling the same tired old

arguments in order to bolster their highly prejudicial

views, modern-day critics seek to poison the public

mind against Homœopathy. Repetition of falsities—

“fake news – imbues them with a kind of truth and

certainty that they don’t actually possess. This

method is really little more than a mass

brainwashing technique that instills in the public

consciousness a set of entirely false beliefs and

establishes them as true.50 In doing this, the

propagandists also inevitably put proponents of the

subject on the defensive and then petulantly demand

that they explain why the “fake news” is fake and

justify their beliefs. Luckily, most homœpaths have

not responded to this approach by even reacting to

such campaigns. The process of baiting

homœopaths is very similar to the methods of certain

virulent atheistic materialists who attack religious

people of all kinds in an attempt to discredit them

solely because of their religious beliefs. It is a

broadly similar and aggressively intolerant

technique that tries to force people to defend their

own beliefs in the face of hostile criticism.51

Final conclusions

We can conclude from this survey that

Homœopathy is a wholly scientific enterprise both

now and in its origins. We have shown that the

“scientific rejection” of Homœopathy by

mainstream medicine is baseless; it is entirely

without any sound or rational foundation. The

skeptics have not studied the subject carefully or

thoroughly enough to warrant formulating such a

conclusion. For example, they dismiss far too lightly

Hahnemann’s intellectual rigor, his impeccable

scientific credentials, his profound scholarship, his

empirical observations, extensive historical research

and the countless experiments upon which his work

was based. And yet, as we have amply

demonstrated, Homœopathy is rooted not in theory

but in practice, being founded solely on the four

great pillars of science: careful observations,

profound scholarship, thorough research and

repeated experiments.

References

1. Seneca, Epistulae morales ad Lucilium

2. Lord Robert Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury,

‘Fias Experimentum in Corpore Vili,’ Saturday

Review, London, 25 June 1859, p. 776.

3. See: Roxanne Friedenfels, Medicine,

Monopoly, and Moral Panic: 21st Century

Attacks on Homœopathy and Counterstrategy,

Homeopathic Links, 2016, 29 (01), pp. 41-46;

Kevin Smith, Against Homœopathy—a

Utilitarian Perspective, Bioethics 26 (8): 398-

409 (2012)

4. See: William Harvey, Exercitatio Anatomica de

Motu Cordis et Sanguinis in Animalibus, (An

Anatomical Study of the Motion of the Heart and

of the Blood in Animals), London 1628;

Stillman Drake, Galileo at Work: His Scientific

Biography, New York: Dover Publications,

2003, p.349; Walter Pagel, William Harvey’s

Biological Ideas: Selected Aspects and

Historical Background, Basel & New York: S.

Karger Publications, 1967, pp.344-48; Thomas

E Wright, William Harvey: A Life in

Circulation, Oxford: Oxford University Press,

2013

5. Isaiah Berlin, Against the Current: Essays in the

History of Ideas, London: Pimlico, 1997, pp.

82-3, 93 & 163

6. See: Noretta Koertge, Scientific Values and

Civic Virtues, Oxford: OUP, 2005

7. See: Allan Chapman, Stargazers:Copernicus,

Galileo, the Telescope and the Church, Oxford:

Lion Hudson Books, 2014; Maurice

Finocchiaro, Defending Copernicus and

298

Galileo: Critical Reasoning in the Two Affairs,

Springer, 2009

8. For early science as a distinct movement, see:

Alistair Cameron Crombie, Science, Optics, and

Music in Medieval and Early Modern Thought,

London: Hambledon, 1987; Wolfgang Lefѐvre,

Jürgen Renn, Urs Schoepflin, The Power of

Images in Early Modern Science, Birkhäuser,

2003; Thomas F. Glick, Steven John Livesey,

Faith Wallis, Medieval Science, Technology and

Medicine: An Encyclopaedia, Routledge. 2005

9. See: Wesley Shrum, Joel Genuth & Ivan

Chompalov, Structure of Scientific

Collaboration, MIT Press, 2007.

10. Berlin, 1997, pp.17, 19 & 81

11. For the growing corpus of science theory see:

Larry Laudan, Progress and Its Problems:

Towards a Theory of Scientific Growth,

University of California Press, 1992; Karl

Popper, Conjecturers and Refutations: The

Growth of Scientific Knowledge, Routledge,

2002; W. Krajewski, Correspondence Principle

and Growth of Science, Springer, 2011.

12. Referred to variously as abstract, imputed,

imaginary, conceptual or invisible entities, their

problematic status within science has been

commented on by many philosophers of

science. Examples include: Anjan Chakravarty,

A Metaphysics for Scientific Realism, CUP,

2007 p.10; p.15; p.16, p.29, pp.32-33, pp 80-82;

Don Ross, James Ladyman and Harold Kincaid,

Scientific Meta physics, OUP, 2013, pp.27-28,

p.53, p.128; Emiliano Ippoliti, Heuristic

Reasoning (Studies in Applied Philosophy,

Epistemology and Rational Ethics), Springer,

2015, p.42; Evandro Agazzi and Massimo

Pauri, The Reality of the Unobservable:

Observability, Unobservability and Their

Impact on the Issue of Scientific Realism

(Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History

of Science), Springer, 2000, p.14; Bruno Latour

& Steve Woolgar, Laboratory Life, Princeton

Univ Press, 1986, p.54; James Ladyman,

Understanding Philosophy of Science,

Routledge, 2002, pp.7-8, p.82, p.113, p.129, p.

196; B. Barns, Understanding Agency, Sage,

2000, p.42; Louis Caruna, Science & Virtue,

UK: Ashgate, 2006, p.83; Bernadette Bensaude-

Vincent and Jonathan Simon, Chemistry the

Impure Science, ICP, 2008, p.159, pp.206-7;

Alexander Rosenberg, The Philosophy of

Science: a Contemporary Introduction,

Routledge, 2011, p.108.

13. For examples see: Sharma, Plant Taxonomy,

India: McGraw Hill, 2013, pp.8-13; M M

Slaughter, Universal Languages, Taxonomy in

the Seventeenth Century, CIP, 1982, pp.48-64;

V Singh & D K Jain, Taxonomy of Angiosperms,

India: Rastogi Publ, 2004, pp.7-12.

14. See: Nalini Bhushan & Stuart Rosenfeld (Eds.),

Of Minds and Molecules:New Philosophical

Perspectives on Chemistry, Oxford: OUP, 2000

15. See:Helaine Selin, Encyclopaedia of the History

of Science, Technology and Medicine in Non-

Western Cultures, Klower Academic 1997,

pp.523-528; Keith Thomas, Religion and the

Decline of Magic, New York: Scribner’s, 1971;

Stuart McWilliams, Magical Thinking History,

Possibility and the Idea of the Occult,

Continuum, 2011

16. See: Kofi Kissi Dompere, Fuzziness and

Foundation of Exact and Inexact Sciences,

Springer, 2012; O Helmer & N. Rescher, On the

Epistemology of the Inexact Sciences,

Management Science, 6, Oct., 1959, pp.25-52.

17. Isaiah Berlin, The Sense of Reality: Studies in

Ideas and their History, London: Pimlico, 1996,

p.239.

18. See: Lorenzo Magnani & Claudia Casadio

(Eds), Model-Based Reasoning in Science and

Technology: Logical, Epistemological, and

Cognitive Issues (Studies in Applied

Philosophy, Epistemology and Rational Ethics),

Springer, 2016

19. For misgivings about reductionism see: Daniel

J. Amit, Modeling Brain Function: The World

of Attractor Neural Networks, Cambridge:

CUP, 1992 (esp. pp.1-3); Alexander Rosenberg,

Darwinian Reductionism: Or, How to Stop

worrying and Love Molecular Biology,

Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2014,

Robert N. Brandon, Concepts and Methods in

Evolutionary Biology, Cambridge: CUP, 1996.

20. “to understand nature through quantitative and

analytical methods, which has served science so

well for the last three hundred or so years.”

(Fernando Espinoza, The Nature of Science:

Integrating Historical, Philosophical, and

Sociological Perspectives, Rowman &

Littlefield Publishers, 2011, p.35)

21. Re the dogmatic nature of 18th century medical

teaching, see: Roy Porter, The Cambridge

History of Science: Volume 4, Eighteenth-

Century Science, CUP, 2003, pp.465-6; Andrew

Cunningham and Roger French, The Medical

Enlightenment of the Eighteenth Century

(History of Medicine), CUP, 1990; Thomas H

Broman, The Transformation of German

Medicine 1750-1820, CUP, 2002; In “the

eighteenth century, the opinions of these men

were still matters of vital concern,” (Owsei

Temkin, 1946, An Essay on the Usefulness of

299

Medical History for Medicine, Bull. Hist. Med.

19.1, pp.9-47, p.15)and knowing “the various

systems of the time was a matter of necessary

orientation for the doctor,” (Temkin, p. 16).

Indeed, Greek and Latin authors “were still read

and interpreted in the medical faculties of the

universities in the early nineteenth

century,”(Temkin, p.22)

22. Re the shortcomings of heroic medicine, see:

Andrew Wear, Knowledge and Practice in

English Medicine, 1150-1680, Cambridge,

CUP, 2000; Lois N. Magner, A History of the

Life Sciences, Revised and Expanded, CRC

Press, 2002, p.27 & p.62; J. Marin Younker,

Bleed, Blister Puke and Purge: The Dirty

Secrets Behind Early American Medicine, Zest

Books, 2016; Hugh Ormsby-Lennon, Hey

Presto!: Swift and the Quacks, University of

Delaware Press, 2011, p.92: Lewis Aron, Karen

E. Starr, A Psychotherapy for the People:

Toward a Progressive Psychoanalysis,

Routledge, 2013, p.65.

23. Re Hahnemann as a well-respected translator of

scientific texts: “his masterly translations of

scientific books had also spread his fame

beyond his own country.”(T.L. Bradford, The

Life and Letters of Hahnemann, Philadelphia:

Boericke & Tafel, 1895, p.38): “Hahnemann

now translated the whole work, not merely

mechanically, but inserting numerous footnotes,

supplements, independent references, etc.”

(Richard Haehl, Samuel Hahnemann, his Life

and Work: Based on Recently Discovered State

Papers, Documents, Letters, & c. (John H

Clarke; F J Wheeler, Eds.), 2 vols., London:

Homœopathic Pub. Co., 1922 vol.1, p.28); “The

translator is Dr. Hahnemann, a man who has

rendered many services to science both by his

own writings on chemistry, and by his excellent

translations of important foreign works. His

services have been already recognized, but

deserve to be still more so.”(Crell in the

Annalen, quoted in Bradford, p.48); “Demachy

quotes a French analyst without giving his

name, but Hahnemann gives not only the

author’s name, his book, and the particular

passage in question. On every page his notes

appear. (Bradford, pp. 30-31); in 1784, “he

translated Demarchy’s ‘The Art of

Manufacturing Chemical Products’ from the

French. It was an elaborate work in two

volumes, to which he made numerous additions

of his own.” (M. Gumpert, Hahnemann, The

Adventurous Career of a Medical Rebel, New

York: Fischer Publ. Corp, 1945, p.34)

24. Haehl, v.1, p.35; Rosa W. Hobhouse, Life of

Christian Samuel Hahnemann, Founder of

Homœopathy, London: The C.W. Daniel

Company, 1933 p. 63; Hobhouse, p.63

25. Re Dresden and Lavoisier: “Hahnemann met the

author and experimentalist Blumenbach, and

the brilliant but ill-fated chemist Lavoisier,”

(Bradford, p.38)

26. Hahnemann’s “indefatigable search after

truth.” (R.E. Dudgeon, Lectures on the Theory

and Practice of Homœopathy, London &

Manchester: Henry Turner & Co., 1853,

p.xxxix) “Hahnemann now began to search

diligently all the records of medicine, to see if

he could find examples.” (Dudgeon, p.176). He

was a man possessed of “rare acuteness, rich

learning, and unwearied search after truth, even

in his extreme old age.” (Dudgeon, p.263)

27. Re qualities of a good scientist, see: W. Krohn,

R.S. Cohen, P. Zilsel, D. Raven, The Social

Origins of Modern Science (Boston Studies in

the Philosophy and History of Science),

Springer, 2008; Thomas Kuhn, The Essential

Tension, University of Chicago Press, 1977;

Fred D’Agostino, Naturalizing Epistemology:

Thomas Kuhn and the Essential Tension,

Palgrave, 2009.

28. A number of factors point to his scientific ability

including: Samuel Brukenthal’s apothecary

laboratory in Sibiu where Hahnemann resided

1777-9 (see: Lucy Mallows & Rudolf Abraham,

Transylvania, Bradt Travel Guides, 2012,

p.200); his highly regarded wine adulteration

test (Glimpses of Hahnemann the Founder of

Homœopathy, London: Henry Turner & Co.,

1859, 103 pages, p.11, p.66; Bradford, p.39;

Hobhouse, p.63); his highly regarded test for

Arsenic (Glimpses, p. 11; American

Homeopathic Observer a Monthly Journal,

Volume 3, Detroit, Mich., 1866, p.182); his

election to membership of the presence and the

Leipsic Economical Society (Haehl, vol.1,

p.35;Hobhouse, p.63; Braford, p.47); his work

as a chemist (Glimpses, pp.6-7, pp.10-11, p.15,

p.19); his preparation of soluble Mercury in

1789 (Ameke, p.29; Hahnemann Lesser

Wriings, p.1; Bradford, p.42); his regular visits

to his father-in-law, Herr Haeseler’s Moor

Apothecary (Close, p.42): “But the sole

consolation of Hahnemann’s existence in

Dessau (1779-83) was his daily visit to the

apothecary, Häesler, in whose laboratory he

could continue his study of chemistry.”

(Gumpert, p.26; see also Hobhouse, p.49;

Haehl, vol.1, p.265); his many publications on

chemistry (Glimpses, pp.10-11, p.15, p.66;

300

Bradford, p.39; Haehl, vol 1, p.265); his many

publications on chemistry (Glimpses, pp.10-11,

p.15, p.66; Bradford, p.39, Brit J Hom., vol.11,

1853, p.115); and his general high standing

among German scientists c.1783-9 (Dudgeon,

p.314)

“Hufeland, the highest medical authority in

Germany, and almost an autocrat in influence

and power, had claimed Hahnemann an

esteemed friend, and had not hesitated to speak

of him as one of the most distinguished of

German physicians. Hahnemann’s scientific

acquirements were varied and the range of his

information almost encyclopaedic. Thoroughly

familiar with nearly all the modern languages,

a finished Latin and Greek scholar, quite at

home in Arabic and Hebrew, the original

literature of medicine was to him an open book.

He was also an experienced chemist, and his

annotations to the standard works on chemistry

translated and edited by him, were declared of

at least equal value with the original text. He

also did important practical work, furnishing,

among others, a preparation of Mercury which

was heralded a blessing to mankind by those

who later denied him even common intelligence,

and various chemical tests, as his wine test,

which gave him a firm position in scientific

circles.” (R.E.W. Adams, A Lecture for the

First Introductory Session of the Homeopathic

Medical College of Missouri, St. Louis, Miss.,

1859, p.9)

29. Re the first appearance of the Vital Force

concept in 1829, see: Jerome Whitney,

Evolution of the Organon, Homeopathy in

Practice, ARH London, Sprng2010, pp18-23;

“Prior to the 3rd edition of the Organon,

Hahnemann does not use the term Lebenskraft

extensively… but by 1829 the terms Leben and

Natur are rewritten Labenskraft,

Lebensprincip, Lebens-Energie, Lebens-

Erhaltungs-Kraft, and Autokratie.” John A

McCarthy, The Early History of Embodied

Cognition 1740-1920: Th Lebenskraft-Debate

and Radical Reality in German Science, Music,

and Literature (Internationale Forschungen Zur

Allgeneubeb Und Vergleichende), Laiden &

Boston: Brill/Rodopi, 2016, p.173; W A Dewey,

The Vital Force Theory of Hahnemann, The

Medical Advance, vol.42, 1904, p.367 er seq;

J.S. Hallerm History of American Homeopathy

From Rational Medicine to Holistic Health

Care, Rutgers Univ Press, 2005, pp.53-54;

Elihu Rich, Handbook of Biography, London:

Griffin & Co., 1863, p.295; Renata Kunne,

Hahnemann’s Idea of the Vital Force: Fiction,

Construct or Reality? Homeopathic Links, v29

n4 (2015): pp.255-259; Homeopathic drugs are

used to “support the Vital Force of the patient.”

(Hahnemann, in a letter to Dr. Stapf, dated 7

July 1829, Annals & Transactions of the British

Homeopathic Society, 1863, vol.2, pp.156-160)

30. Re Hahnemann’s rejection of allopathic

methods, see: In the Galenic medicine of his

time “Bloodletting, cupping, the application of

leeches, purging and vomiting were standard

practices.” (Charles S Cameron, Hahnemann A

Second Century Look, Phila, Med. 1957 (53),

pp.83-87, pp.84-5). He expressed “a

dissatisfaction with the standard medical

practices of his time: routine bleedings, heroic

purgings with cathartics, and administration of

large doses of crude ddrugs.” (Paul Callinan,

Family Homeopathy: A Practical Handbook for

Home Treatment, New Canaan, Conn.: Keats

Pub., 1995, p.4); He rebelled “against the

enormous doses of ordinary practice.”

(Dudgeon, p.392); he described the

prescriptions in common use as “a confused

jumble of unknown drugs—mostly poisons—

mixed together.” (Dudgeon, p.xxviii). He

“reviled the customary practice of mixing

several medicinal agents because of the

uncertain effects and potential danger to the

patient.” (Michael Carlston, Classical

Homeopathy, New York: Churchill

Livingstone, 2003, p.13) “Throughout his life,

he fought against the practice of polypharmacy,

or prescribing numerous medications so the

same patient.” (Edward Shalts, The American

Institute of Homeopathy Handbook for Parents:

A Guide to Healthy Treatment for Everything,

San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2005, p.33)

“As of 1784 he contended… against bleeding.”

(Wm Ameke, History of Homœopathy, its

Origin, its Conflicts, with an Appendix on the

Present State of University Medicine, translated

by A.E. Drysdale, edited by R.E. Dudgeon,

London: E. Gould & Son, 1885, p.67). He

dismissed on instinct “bleeding, cold, emetics,

purgatives, diaphoretics.” (Ameke, p.46) He

was opposed to patients being “sweated and

purged, puked, bled and salivated,”(Ameke,

p.45) back to health by these heroic measures.

“In Hahnemann’s time (1799) the death of our

own George Washington was undoubtedly

caused by the repeated blood-letting to which he

was subjected. He was almost completely

exanguinated.” (Stuart Close, The Genius of

Homœopathy: Lectures and Essays on

Homœopathic Philosophy. Philadelphia:

Boericke and Tafel, 1924, p.29)

301

31. Re Hahnemann’s early successes of single

similar remedies in the 1790s after his cure of

Klockenbring using Stramonium (Bradford,

p.53; Haehl, vol.2, p.35), these include his cure

of a case of colicodynia with Veratrum

(Bradford, p.53; Haehl, vol.2, p.35), these

include his cure of a case of colicodynia with

Veratrum (Bradford, p.59); his development and

use of Hepar sulphuris for several cases of ‘milk

crust,’ (Bradford, p.57) and finally his successful

treatment of several cases of scarlet fever with

Opium, Belladonna and Pulsatilla (Bradford,

pp.64-70).

32. Hahnemann’s first dilution experiments

(c.1799) were attempts to attenuate the

excessively strong action of Belladonna and

Opium and were made using large bottles

(Dudgeon, p.338; Haehl, vol.1, pp.314-5)

accompanied by vigorous shaking (succession)

for several minutes at every stage. (Dudgeon,

pp.346-7). This early ‘potentisation’ method

was designed to reduce the chemical mass of

the drug while aiming to retain its therapeutic

power. (Gumpert, p.96; Dudgeon, p.xlv &

pp.395-6). Having tried various systems of

dilution, around 1800 he settled on a graduated

scale, diluting his drug tinctures by 1 part in

100 with dilute alcohol. He called this the

centesimal scale and the drugs so produced

centesimal potencies. It “is in Hahnemann’s

little work on Scarlet Fever, published in 1801,

that we have the first forebodings of an unusual

mode of preparing the medicines, of the

infinitesimal doses, and of the dynamization-

theory.” (Dudgeon, p.335 & p.394)

33. For the position of Hahnemann in 1812, see:

Bradford, pp.92-3; Haehl, vol 2, pp.95-96; C.

Fischer, A Biographical Monument to the

Memory of Samuel Hahnemann, London:

James Leath, 1852, pp.26-27; J.C. Peters and

F.G. Snelling, Principles and Practice of

Medicine, New York: W. Radde, 1863, pp.104-

105; Hobhouse, pp.174-5

34. In its origins Homœopathy “used the emerging

scientific methods of experimentation and

empirical validation as its basis.” (W.B.

Jonas, J. Jacobs, Healing with Homœopathy:

The Complete Guide, Warner Books, 1996) see

also: Alice Kuzniar, The Birth of Homœopathy

out of the Spirit of Romanticism, 2017, p.25;

James C. Whorton, Nature Cures: The History

of Alternative Medicine in America, OUP,

2002, p.275; Dr. A. Henriques, Second Clinical

Lecture, The Homœopathic Times, vol.2, 1851,

p.507.

35. Re Hahnemann as a great scientist: when in

1784 he translated Demarchy’s Art of

Manufacturing Vinegar, “this book… augured

the development of the chemical industry which

was to change the face of Europe in the century

which followed. Hahnemann’s own

annotations in this book are evidence of his

increasing competence in chemistry.” (T

Cook, Samuel Hahnemann: Founder of

Homeopathic Medicine, Beaconsfield:

Thorsons, 1981, p.45)

36. Re the isolation of Hahnemann standing

outside of the medical mainstream i.e. a

marginal man, see: Everest V. Stonequist, The

Marginal Man, Introduction, New York:

Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1937; Frederic

Thrasher, The Gang: A Study of 1,313 Gangs in

Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1927;

Robert E. Park, Cultural Conflict and the

Marginal Man, in Stonequist, 1937.

37. Re Hahnemann’s attitude towards bastard

homœopaths and amphibians, examples

include: one of Hahnemann’s star pupils,

Clemens von Boenninghausen, had little

patience with low potency types like Dudgeon,

calling them “amphibians .. neither

homœopaths nor allopaths… giving low

dilution in frequent repetition”.

(Boenninghausen C. The high potencies. Allg.

Hom. Zeit. 1850; 38:358; T.L. Bradford (Ed.),

The Lesser Writings of C von Boenninghausen.

Philadelphia: Boericke & Tafel, 1908: p.5).

This echoes Hahnemann himself when he said:

“the converted are only hybrids, amphibians.”

(Haehl, vol.1, p.187; Harris L. Coulter, Divided

Legacy: a History of the Schism in Medical

Thought, (4 vols.) Washington: Wehawken

Book Co., 1973-94, vol.3: p.332). Such

tensions between the “genuine homœopaths

and the pretenders,” (Coulter, vol.3: p.333)

were soon to grow; see also: AIH, Transactions

of the AIH, vol.63, 1907, pp.162-5; W.F.

Bynum and R. Porter, Companion

Encyclopedia of the History of Medicine,

London: Routledge, 2013, p.611; Jay Shelton,

Homœopathy How it Really Works, Amherst,

N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 2004, p.51; Joel

Shew, The Cholera, its Prevention and Cure:

Showing the Inefficacy of Drug-treatment and

the Superiority of the Water Cure in this

Disease, New York: Fowlers and Wells, 1849,

p.67; The Critique, Denver, Col., vols 19-20,

1912, pp.3-4; The Medical Advance, 1904,

vol.48, p.123; J.E. Forrest, The Medical

Advance, Ann Arbor, Mich., vol.48, 1910,

p.123; see also Pemberton Dudley,

302

Homœopathy Misapplied, Monthly

Homeopathic Review, London, vol.16, 1872,

pp.224-232.

38. Re homœopathic remedies used in Allopathy,

examples include “Cocculus indicus for

paralysis, Pulsatilla nigricans for uterine

problems, Drosera rotundifora for whooping

cough, Apis mellifica for rheumatism and the

popular Aconitum and Veratrum.” (J.S.

Haller, American Medicine in Transition,

1840-1910. University of Illinois Press, 1981,

p.126)

39. Re allopathic adoption of many homœopathic

remedies, Coulter gives a very long list of

remedies allopaths took from Homœopathy

and many also which both took from the

Eclectic School. These include Podophyllum,

Gelsemium, Caulophyllum, Rumex, Berberis

an Lobelia amongst many others. (Coulter,

vol.iii, pp.258-276)

40. Berlin, 1997, pp.301-2.

41. Hahnemann, On the Value of the Speculative

Systems of Medicine, 1808, in Lesser Writings,

pp.488-505, p.491

42. Re holism: “the system of Hahnemann,

however, pays attention to all the symptoms

presented by the patient, even the most minute,

for in it the choice of the remedy is determined

by the sum-total of all the symptoms.”

(Dudgeon, p.316). For “the whole clinical

picture guides the homœopath toward the

proper drug…(one that can) produce a similar

sum total of signs and symptoms,” (O.E.

Guttentag, Trends Toward Homœopathy

Present and Past, Bull Hist Med, 8.8, 1940,

(pp.1172-1193), p. 1187) It “considers the

single patient as indivisible and unique…as not

accessible to the method of measuring,”

(Guttentag, p.177) so beloved of science.

43. Re the limits of reductionism—complex and

dynamic phenomena deserve truly complex

and dynamic model not simplistic

reductionism, see: Stephen S. Rothman,

Lessons from the Living Cell: The Limits of

Reductionism, McGraw-Hill, 2002; Marc H.V.

Van Regenmortel, David L. Hull (Eds),

Promises and Limits of Reductionism in the

Biomedical Sciences: Some Problems and

Perspectives, Springer, 2013; Evandro Agazzi,

The Problem of Reductionism in Science:

Colloquium of the Swiss Society of Logic and

Philosophy of Science, Zürich, May 18-19,

1990), Springer, 1991.

44. See: Fred Boogerd, Frank J. Bruggeman, Jan-

Hendrik S. Hofmeyr, H.V. Westerhoff (Eds),

Systems Biology: Philosophical Foundations,

Elsevier, 2007; Martin Döring, Imme Petersen,

Anne Brüninghaus, Reine Kollek (Eds).

Contextualizing Systems Biology:

Presuppositions and Implications of a New

Approach in Biology, Springer, 2015;

Francisco José Ayala, Theodosius Dobzhansky

(Eds), Studies in the Philosophy of Biology:

Reduction and Related Problems, University of

California Press, 1974; Michael J. Behe,

Darwin’s Black Box: The Biochemical

Challenge to Evolution, Free Press, 2006;

Kostas Kampourakis, The Philosophy of

Biology: A Companion for Educators,

Springer, 2013.

45. See note 12 above.

46. J.T. Kent, Lectures on Homeopathic

Philosophy, Chicago: Ehrhart & Karl, 1900,

p.28.

47. J.T. Kent, New remedies, Clinical cases, Lesser

Writings, Aphorisms and Precepts, Chicago:

Ehrhart & Karl, 1926, p.655.

48. Berlin, 1997, p.169.

49. See: Henry H. Bauer, Dogmatism in Science

and Medicine: How Dominant Theories

Monolize Research and Stifle the Search for

Truth, McFarland & Co., 2012; Keith Ashman,

Phillip Barringer, After the Science Wars:

Science and the Study of Science, Routledge,

2000; Ben Goertzel. The Hidden Pattern: A

Patternist Philosophy of Mind, Brown Walker

Press, 2006, pp-33-34.

50. Re mass brainwashing and propaganda see:

John Atack, Opening Mins: The Secret World

of Manipulation, Undue Influence and

Brainwashing, Trentvalley Ltd., 2015;

Kathleen Taylor, Brainwashing, Conditioning

and Indoctrination, Ishk Book Service City,

1984.

51. See for example: William Kilpatrick,

Christianity, Islam, and Atheism: The Struggle

for the Soul of the West, Ignatius Press, 2012;

Vox Day, The Irrational Atheist: Dissecting

the Unholy Trinity of Dawkins, Harris and

Hitchens, Benbella Books, 2008; Richard

Dawkins, The god Delusion, Black Swan,

2016; Tina Beattie, The New Atheists: the

Twilight of Reason and the War on Religion,

Orbis Books, 2008; C.J. Werleman, The New

Athiest Threat: The Dangerous Rise of Secular

Extremists, Dangerous Little Books, 2013;

John C. Lennox, Gunning for God: Why the

New Atheists are Missing the Target, Lion

Books, 2011.

=========================================

303

47. At Four O’clock In The Morning

KÖNIG, Karl, (HG, XXVII, 11/1960)

A little while ago a young man of 25 came to

see me who suffers from chronic Asthma. A thin

person, rather tall and leaning forward. Posture and

psyche appeared to be typically asthenic.

Questioned in detail about the occurrence of his

attacks, he told me the following: For many years

now the attacks begin in a very typical way which

has not changed despite varied and manifold

treatments; even changes of environment as far apart

as Scotland, the South of England, Germany, and

Switzerland made no difference. The attacks start

suddenly from sleep, at or about 4 a.m.; at this time

the patient wakes up, has gushing, watery stools,

which recur about every half-hour. In addition, there

is strong and very frequent passing of urine, and at

the same time a good amount of dyspnea, all this

continues until about 10 a.m., the critical time. For

now diarrhea and diuresis step, and the patient is

able, as long as he manages to maintain sufficient

inner peace, to overcome the asthmatic troubles with

his will-power. If, however, he is too hasty and

restless, the asthma takes hold of him and continues

for about 2-3 days and nights. After such an attack

begins. During the attacks of asthma the patient feels

sick all the time, and there is a strong sensibility to

pressure over the sternum. During this time the

aversion which he usually has to fatty foods and

those rich in Sulphur (onions) is increased.

On hearing this case-history I was reminded of

another case. This was a man of somewhat over

fifty; a typically pyknic habitus. Corpulent and

lively, one of those who pretend to know everything,

and also believe that they do. This man suffered

from angina pectoris, and the E.C.G. at that time did

in facts how typical evidence of coronary

insufficiency. He described his attacks as follows:

At, or about 4 a.m. I wake from my sleep; I feel a

bit dazed, and do not know why I woke up. But then

the typical attack develops more or less quickly,

usually in a matter of minutes. The chest is gripped

in from as with pincers, then a sharp burning

sensation arises behind the sternum, radiating into

both arms. I can feel it pulsating in the elbows and

finger-tips of both arms and hands. Breathing

becomes difficult, the anxiety increases, and my

thoughts are directed towards death. At the same

time the epigastrium is swollen and painful. The

duration of the attack varies and can be anything

from minutes to hours.

Every doctor, and especially one who tries to get

an exact anamnesis, will have heard similar stories

from his patients. I have also observed in some cases

of epilepsy that the attacks started suddenly at 4 a.m.,

straight out of sleep.

These are chronic diseases (epilepsy, bronchial

asthma, angina pectoris), which are interspersed by

sudden attacks which commence at or about 4 am.

What does actually happen, and why does it happen

just around 4 a.m.? why does it affect some patients

and not many others?

No further explanation is needed when I state

that bronchial asthma, epilepsy, and angina pectoris

are not diseases sui-generis, but syndromes which

may manifest themselves on the background of a

great variety of psychogenic and pathophysiological

causes. But when this happens at four in the

morning, is there a common factor behind the sudden

symptom? Can one anyway put the question in this

way? What is “at or about 4 a.m.” and what is its

meaning?

II. If we now take the next step and look in

Stauffer’s Symptomen-Verzeichnis under “Time”,

we find under 4 a.m. the following specifications:

4 a.m. Acidum niricum (cough).

4 a.m. Ammonium muriaticum (chill).

4 a.m. Angustura vera (backache).

4 a.m. Arsenicum album (anxiety).

4 a.m. Aurum met. (waking).

4 a.m. Causticum (waking and sweat).

4 a.m. Chelidonium; Cyclamen eur.

(waking with aggravation).

4-5 a.m. Kali-sulph. (asthma).

4-5 a.m. Lycopodium (palpitations).

4-5 a.m. Nux vomica (chill and cough).

4-5 a.m. Petroleum; Podophyllum pelt.

(abdominal pain).

4 a.m. Ptelea trifoliata (stomach troubles)

4-9 a.m. Rumex crispus (diarrhea with cough).

4 a.m. Sarsaparilla (waking, with hammering

headache).

4 a.m. Stannum met. (sweat, with phthisis).

4-5 a.m. Sulphur (wakes chilled).

4 a.m. Tabacum (waking, and then sleepless

ness).

4-5 a.m. Veratrum alb. (abdominal pain).

The homœopathic Materia Medica does

therefore know quite a number of remedies which

include “about 4 a.m.” in their drug picture. This

single symptom, however, is accompanied by others

which vary according to the remedy; we find cough,

anxiety, abdominal pain, chill, asthma, etc. Looking

for a first rough classification of all this variety, one

soon discovers a two-fold order. Most of the

symptoms mentioned either concentrate around the

chest, or are of an abdominal nature. Those

belonging to the thorax are: cough (three times),

asthma, fear, sweat with phthisis, palpitations. The

304

abdominal symptoms are: abdominal pain (twice),

stomach troubles diarrhea. The remaining

symptoms simply have the sign of waking and of

chill; chill and coldness, however, usually occur in

connection with sudden awakening and do not have

any particular meaning here.

If we now make a first attempt to outline the

symptomatology of “at 4 a.m.”, the main sign found

from simple awakening (Aurum met.) to wakening

followed by sleeplessness (Tabacum), is chill and

cough; but also cough and diarrhea, waking and

sweat. If the sign of Asthma, palpitations, and

anxiety is added to all this, one can easily imagine

that altogether this awakening-process is due to the

congestion which has arisen within the region of the

chest. If we go through the remedies whose

symptoms fit, we find among them: Arsenicum alb.,

Chelidonium, Lycopodium, Nux vomica,

Podophyllum pelt., Ptelea, Stannum met., Sulphur.

All of them are remedies which particularly attack

the stomach, duodenum, and liver and always,

within the framework of their whole drug picture

tend in that direction. In addition, a small number of

these remedies have a special relationship to the

arthritic process (Ammonium carb., Rumex crisp.,

Sarsaparilla). This brings them, too, into the wider

orbit of the liver-metabolism.

At first impression of the symptomatology at

hand could therefore result in the following picture:

Awakening at 4 a.m., with signs of congestion

in the chest which appear in the form of coughing,

anxiety, sweat, palpitations, and asthma. These

symptoms seem to originate from the epigastrium.

They might originate from a dysfunction of the liver.

Thus we have made the first step forward in the

elucidation of this symptom. But now the question

is: “Why does all this happen just at or about 4

a.m.?” Is it simply by chance, or are there regular

processes which until now we have failed to

understand? Does not time itself in its daily

configuration need to be recognized as a structure

which manifests itself in a different form at each

hour, and thus brings about certain happenings and

events which cannot occur in such frequency at other

“points” of time?

The novelty of such a hypothesis does not speak

against it, I would like to try and give a tentative

answer by means of the phenomenon “at 4 a.m.”

III. For about twenty years now biology and

medicine have started to concern themselves more

closely, definitely, and scientifically with the

problem of Periodicity. The investigations made by

Jores in Hamburg, De Rudder in Frankfurt, and

especially Forsgren in Stockholm have brought

remarkable and important results in this new field of

research. Günther Wachsmuth presented a lucid and

at the same time explanatory summary of many

partial results in his book Erde und Mensch (Earth

and Man).

Already in 1935 Forsgren published a

comprehensive paper in which he pointed out that

the activity of the healthy liver-cell shows a periodic

change in the course of a day. He described an

assimilatory phase which lasts from about 2 p.m. to

2 a.m. and during which glycogen is formed. From

about 2 a.m. onwards the dissimilatory phase

follows, with continually increasing activity. During

the latter bile is formed and excreted, Forsgren

summarizes his views on the liver function as

follows: “We can now visualize the sequence of

events as follows. During the afternoon or evening

an individual has taken his last meal of the day.

Gastric digestion is completed after about 4 hours

(10 p.m. to 11 p.m.), and the duodenum is passed

after another 4 hours (2-3 a.m.). During this time

resorption proceeds from the intestine, and the liver,

which is in the assimilatory phase, takes in water,

albumin, and carbohydrates, thus increasing the size

of the liver-cells and of the liver, and the weight of

the organ. The deposition of water, albumin, and

glycogen already began in the liver-cells during the

afternoon, especially in the central region of the

lobules, and now proceeds towards the periphery.

This increases the glycogen content of the liver, but

the secretion of bile which at the beginning of the

assimilatory phase was still very active, decreases

more and more as the numbers of cells containing

secretion diminishes. At 2 a.m., when digestion and

resorption have ceased, it is at its lowest whilst the

assimilatory phase has at the same time reached its

maximum, and all the liver-cells are filled with the

assimilated substances. Now a new phase begins,

the secretory phase.” And Forsgren describes in

detail the formation of bile-secretion granules within

the periphery of the liver-cells, and the gradual

diminution of the products assimilated until 2 a.m.,

especially of water and glycogen.

Wachmuth has tried to find an explanation for

this phenomenon. He was able to show convincingly

that the phases pointed out by Forsgren, which occur

within the liver-metabolism between 2 p.m. and 2

a.m., can also be found in other functional cycles. A.

Jores, for instance, has pointed out that: “the graphs

of Volker’s investigation show quite clearly that

corresponding to the fluctuations of the blood-

pressure there exist also those of the pulse frequency,

which are quite independent of the mode of living.

The maximum lies at about 6 p.m., the minimum at

about 4 a.m. According to Hagen’s investigations

there is also a cycle in the width of the lumen of

(interior of) the capillaries. About 6 O’clock in the

305

evening very wide capillaries are found, and at about

2 in the morning the narrowest”.

Many other phenomena are connected with this

daily rhythm. For instance, according to Schenk

“hemopoiesis (formation of blood) in the bone-

marrow is strongest at about 4 p.m. the vital capacity

of the lungs varies in this daily rhythm and reaches

its lowest point at about 3 a.m., and its highest at

about 3 p.m. The body temperature is lowest

between 3 and 5 a.m., rises steeply during the

morning until noon, and then remains stationary

during the afternoon and evening”.

Wachsmuth has put together in his book the

various phenomena of the daily periodicity in man,

and for the phase “at 4 a.m.” which is of particular

interest to us, he gives the following list:

MAXIMUM OF THE CENTRIPETAL AND

ASSIMILATORY PHASE

AT 3 A.M.

Maximum of glycogen assimilated in the liver,

of fat resorption in the intestinal wall,

of blood retention in lungs and legs,

of water retention in the blood,

amount of melanophoren hormone,

of narrowing of the lumen of capillaries:

Minimum of bile secretion,

of diuresis (increased secretion urine),

elimination of water,

of pulse rate,

of blood pressure,

of blood circulation,

of venous return,

of cardiac output,

of vital capacity of lungs,

of consumption of oxygen, and carbon

dioxide output,

of the metabolism (chemical changes

necessary for maintaining life)

of body temperature.

This synopsis is most instructive regarding our

problems. The phenomena mentioned under

Maxima alone correspond almost exactly with the

above-mentioned symptoms. For the swelling of the

liver in its state of assimilation can cause palpitations

and stomach complaint. Maximum fat resorption in

the intestine leads to diarrhea, the congestion of

blood in the lungs to asthma and coughing, the

narrowing of the capillary vessels to anxiety and

chill, so that we really have an almost complete

correspondence between the phenomena due to

periodicity and the symptoms taken from the

homœopathic Materia Medica.

It now becomes more obvious why “at 4 a.m.”

does altogether happen. But why do only some

individuals wake up suddenly whilst most people

sleep on peacefully?

The statements made by Forsgren, Jores,

Wachsmuth, and others show quite clearly that the

phase of the maxima and minima which are listed

here begins at about 2 or 3 a.m. the change-over

from assimilatory to dissimilatory phase occurs at

about this time. If, however, this change-over is held

up, and assimilation continues without changing into

dissimilation, the above-mentioned symptoms may

appear. We simply have to imagine this vividly

enough: the accumulation of blood in the lung

region, the contraction of the capillaries, the

retention water in the blood, the enlargement beyond

a given limit of the liver—and we arrive at a direct

understanding of the impulse of wakening at 4 a.m.

for that is probably the critical time. A further delay

in the onset of dissimilation leads to a dangerous

condition. Now the human being wakes up, and at

this very moment dissimilation begins abruptly and

acutely; cough, sweat, diarrhea, palpitations are

symptoms of this. Thus a first understanding is

gained of what actually happens “at 4 a.m.”

This critical point of time, “at 4 a.m.,” pervades

the whole structure of human existence. Thus we

have the highest incidence of births at this time; but

death, too, more frequently occurs around this early

hour in the morning. Exact details about this can be

found in Wachsmuth’s book. He also quotes a rather

dramatic description given by E. Jenny: “The

physiological over-loading of the circulation at

night, when 3-800 c.c. of blood can be retained in the

lungs and a definite swelling noted in the lower legs,

is easily managed by the healthy individual. In

people with circulatory disorders, however, the

adjustment to these periodical changes is

endangered. The early morning attack of

stenocardia (Stenosis = a narrowing) is encouraged

by the diminution of cardiac output and the lower

blood-pressure, in connection with the

parasympathetic contraction of the coronary arteries.

The nightly cerebral hæmorrhage occurs at a time

when the cardiac output is below the daily average,

and the cerebral vessels with their changed walls do

not sufficiently respond to the parasympathetic

stimuli for widening. The pulmonary œdema of

pneumonia at night is encouraged by the increased

amount of blood in the pulmonary vessels due to this

daily periodicity, and the dilution of the blood”

All this points to the results which all these facts

and symptoms can and must lead to. The question,

however, remains: Why are the remedies which have

“At 4 a.m.” in their drug picture exactly those whose

particular points of action lie in the liver and upper

gastro-intestinal regions? Let us try and look at the

phenomena we have discussed so far in such a way

306

look at the phenomena we have discussed so far in

such a way that an archetypal (original) image

begins to stand out and becomes common to them

all. For if we even begin to see it, understanding and

hence therapeutic action will follow.

IV. The phenomena we are discussing, which occur

in daily periodicity, are not limited merely to the

human organism. A 24-hour periodicity is found in

the animal- and plant-kingdoms and is conditional to

certain meteorological phenomena. During the last

two decades various attempts were made to get to the

bottom of the complex cause behind all these

phenomena.

In his work Uber sogenannte “kosmische”

Rhythmen beim Menschen (The So-called “Cosmic”

Rhythms in Man) de Rudder has obscured this issue

rather than clarified it. He writes: “If therefore many

other experiences already show us the reaction of the

human organism to atmospheric changes, the

assumption becomes obvious that a reaction may

also follow the daily rhythm in atmospheric changes.

Such influences have in fact already been very much

looked for, especially in botany, but until now with

no definite result…. The concept given here,

however, doubtlessly paves the way, at least in

principle, to regard the appearance of a daily rhythm

in man as the result of congenial fluctuations of

terrestrial processes which some day will be

perfectly measurable.”

Such statements are hardly a help to positive

research: for de Rudder knows that the

meteorological phenomena to whose manifoldness

he refers have completely different maxima and

minima in the course of the day, and therefore belong

to different causes and factors. The pointer to

“terrestrial processes which some day will be

perfectly measurable” is a consolation which is of

little use to science.

 Goethe’s statements are to be found in the essay

written in 1825, “Versuch einer Witterungslehre”,

where he says about this phemonon: “Apart from the

movement of the barometer mentioned so far which

is not bound to the time of the year or the day,

another movement of mercury has lately become

known to us, after manifold observations, which runs

its determined course in 24 hours….

“We base this on a passage from Simonow’s

description of a ‘Journey of Discovery’ (Vienna,

1824), which goes as follows (p.33): ‘The

phenomena which, according to these observations,

appeared on the barometer are such that every day

the mercury gradually rises to the highest degree of

the barometer are such that every day the mercury

Since then Wachsmuth’s book was published

where the author tries to pursue a purely

phenomenological way of observation. He tries to

order the great number of facts about daily

periodicity which have so far been discovered and

revealed. First he concerns himself with the

phenomenon of the rhythmical double wave of air

pressure every day, which has been known for more

than 200 years. This fact, which remains a kind of

mystery until this day, has been studied by Goethe

already, and led him to ascribe to the organism of the

earth an intrinsic rhythm which he described as “the

basic movements of the living body of the earth”. To

Eckermann he spoke of “the inhalation and

exhalation of the earth in accordance with eternal

laws”.

This view which Goethe had of the earth as a

living being which therefore also shows a rhythm of

breathing, expressed for instance, in the daily

rhythmical change of air pressure, is taken up by

Wachsmuth. He is supported in this by further

indications which were given by Rudolf Steiner.

Goethe’s idea and Steiner’s indications are taken one

step further by Wachsmuth. He explains very clearly

that the assumption of a respiration of the earth

which occurs once during the day and has its time of

exhalation between 3 a.m. and 3 p.m., and of

inhalation between 3 p.m. and 3 a.m. and whose

maxima are to be found at 9 p.m. and 9 a.m.,

respectively, brings all the meteorological and

biological phenomena which have so far been

discovered under one common denominator.

The hypothesis is a very comprehensive one

which may be accorded a high degree of probability.

Wachsmuth describes the respiration of the earth as

a rising and falling of those forces which Rudolf

Steiner described as the etheric formative forces, and

which are the basis of all living things. Particularly

pre-dominating in the respiration of the earth are

those forces which Wachsmuth describes as the

gradually rises to the highest degree of the

barometer, and then slowly begins to fall again. This

rising and falling of the mercury in the barometer

occurs twice in 24 hours. i.e. at 9 a.m. and at the

same hour in the evening (it stands at the highest),

after midnight and in the afternoon at the lowest

point.’”

Goethe then adds: “…this movement undergoes

a certain pulsation, without increase or decrease,

without which one would not be able to think of a

living process; it is also a regular expansion and

contraction which repeats itself within 24 hours and

is weakest in its action in the afternoon and after

midnight, and reaches the highest point at 9 a.m. and

in the evening.”

307

“living chemism”. (Further details are given in

Wachsmuth’s book).

If we take this concept as a possible working

hypothesis and test its value by means of the material

so far known, astonishing concordances result,

particularly for the phenomena pertaining to man.

The maxima and minima mentioned in part III,

which appear at the end of the “inhalation period” of

the earth at 3 a.m., take place mainly in two regions

of the human organism. One of these regions is the

circulation, and the exchange of fluids which is so

closely bound up with it. Blood is accumulated in

the lungs and legs, water is retained in the blood, the

capillaries narrow, the pulse frequency drops to a

minimum, blood pressure is reduced, and venous

return and diuresis are very low. This is mainly a

question of a shifting in the water and blood

distribution. The fluid surface is changed,

independently of whether the individual is asleep or

waking, resting or at work. This change in the

distribution of blood and fluid is dependent only on

the local time of the earth, and not the behavior of

man.

Further phenomena enter more deeply into the

human organization. Here it is not only a matter of

displacements, but of physiological changes which

go deep down into the sphere of cell-metabolism and

cell-growth and decomposition. I mean the

phenomena of the intrinsic rhythm of the liver which

find expression in the dissimilation and assimilation

within the liver-cell, and which Forsgren described.

But there is also a further phenomenon which is

given by Schenk. He was able to prove that the

formation of blood in the bone marrow reaches a

maximum at about 4 a.m., whilst the number of

circulating leucocytes is highest at 4 p.m.

Isn’t it a fully justified concept then to say that

the liver in its metabolic rhythm fully corresponds to

and follows the breathing process of the earth? That

the phase of assimilation runs parallel to inhalation

and that of dissimilation to exhalation, and that

within the human organism the liver represents the

true “barometer” for the earth’s respiration?

Such a concept does indeed come much closer

to the actual facts and an understanding of what is

called the “living chemism is evident in the

formation of glycogen and bile in the periodic

alternation in the physiology of the liver.”

In lectures for doctors which he gave in 1921

Rudolf Steiner pointed out that “the liver breathes in

the human organism”, and that this occurs in that

sphere where “the intake of food and the digestion of

food” takes place. In this statement he anticipated in

a rough outline something which Forsgren

demonstrated scientifically and in detail.

A concordance does therefore exist between the

physiology of the liver in the human organism and

the respiration of the earth. Once, in 1920, Rudolf

Steiner conceived the liver as a “meteorological”

organ and expressed this as follows: “Although the

liver seems to enclose itself in the organism, it yet

belongs to the world outside to a high degree. You

can prove this association with the outside world

insofar as you will always find that the condition of

the liver, as it were, depends on the condition of the

water of a given locality”.

Insofar as it is borne by the living chemism, the

respiration of the earth takes place in the region of

the hydro- and atmosphere of the earth. It pulsates

through the atmosphere in exhalation, and during

inhalation enters the waters of the earth (rivers,

streams, brooks, ground water). This breathing

process, however, acts in harmony or disharmony, in

resonance or dissonance, in conjunction with the

assimilation- or dissimilation- process in the liver-

metabolism.

Since 1920, when Eppinger began to see the

physiology of the liver in close connection with the

spleen and formulated the concept of the

“hepatolienal” diseases, and since the bone marrow

was then seen in relation to this system, and the

reticuloendothelial system recognized as its

anatomical and functional basis, the formation and

decomposition of the single blood-cells has also

been woven into this sphere. Now we derive a

further understanding of the 24-hour periodicity

described above.

In harmony with the respiration of the earth, the

liver has its processes of inhalation and exhalation in

the form of the assimilation of glycogen and

albumin, and dissimilation in the preparation of bile

fluid. This phasic process, however, expands into

the region of the reticuloendothelium, and thus

brings the production of the elements of the blood

into the 24-hour rhythm; parallel to the maximum

assimilation in the liver goes the maximum of

production in the bone marrow. This again reacts

onto the distribution of the blood and hence the

whole fluid household, which again is subject to the

24-hour periodicity.

I think we should gradually get away from the

hypothesis which relates any displacement of

periodicity in the organism to the sympathetic

nervous system as the final impulse. A nervous

system hardly ever is an actively inciting element,

but one which receives and reacts passively.

Considering the phenomena, we have much more

reason to ascribe the central position in the 24-hour

periodicity to the liver itself, and starting from this

centre come to understand the other disturbances of

periodicity.

308

Now we also come to understand why so many

of the remedies which show the symptom “at 4 a.m.”

are the ones which have a direct claim to be liver

remedies; but in its action every one of them belongs

to the rhythmic play of the liver-physiology, to the

periodicity of blood displacement, to the phasic

changes in the water household.

In this way the remedy and the pathological

physiology meet. “At 4 a.m.” is a symptom which

has its point of origin in the liver metabolism. The

asthenic patient reacts to this with diarrhœa and

asthma, the pyknic develops a stenocardiac attack,

the athletic an epileptic fit.

All these syndromes are the result and effect of

the archetypal image which now is obvious. It

consists of the interplay between the liver periodicity

and the respiration of the earth. Thus perception of

the disease leads directly to the finding of the

remedy, and there is truth in Paracelsus’ saying: “It

is the physician’s task to be led through Nature’s

examination.”

- The British Homœopathic Journal, Jan., ‘58

=========================================

48. THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF

HOMEOPATHY MEETING

DENVER, 1894 (SIM. VOL. XXI, 2008)

When should the Organon be taught and how?

Dr. DUDGEON.- The Organon being the best

exposition of the homœopathic system, should be

carefully studied by every one for himself and Its

teachings accepted and endorsed by every teacher of

Homeopathy when they are not inconsistent with the

ascertained facts of modern science.

Dr. HUGES.- The teaching of the Organon does not

seem to me to belong to the chair of Materia Medica,

but rather to that of Theory and Practice of Medicine.

From this I would have it at some time in ever

student’s course, read and critically commented on.

I recommend Dr. Dudgeon’s latest translation.

Dr. SKINNER.- The Organon, in my estimation,

should be studied from the very first. In fact, I do

not believe it possible for any man to have any sound

conception of what Homœopathy is until he

thoroughly understands and can take into his

comprehension the vast and important tenets and

truths of the greatest work that ever was published in

Medicine, theoretically, doctrinally or practically.

Dr. BLAKE.- The Organon should be assimilated

late in life probably.

Prof. MOHR.- The Organon should be studied

during the first year so effectually that its great or

fundamental principles will be indelibly fixed on the

mind of the student. In the classroom, in the clinic

and at every opportunity its practical rules should be

brought to the attention of the students, for they

cannot be too often repeated.

Prof. DEWEY.- The Organon should be taught

during the second and third years of college course.

And I believe in each homœopathic college a

separate chair should be made for the Organon and

Institutes of Homœopathy. Of course much of it can

be taught in conjunction with lectures upon Materia

Medica; but as it contains the philosophy of

Homœopathy it seems to me that a separate chair for

it is preferable, and it should be a chair insisted on

by the American Institute, with two lecture week at

least.

Prof. HINSDALE.-The principles of Homœopathy

should be taught to freshmen, well grounding them

in the philosophy of the theory of Homœopathy. The

Organon can be taught by classroom readings,

preferably by seniors. Comments can be made as the

reading advances and papers prepared by the

students upon topics suggested by the author. The

teach of this valuable book should be critical and

impartial. Adoration for Hahnemann should give

place to admiration for the truth to be taught.

Prof. McELWEE.-The Organon should be taught

when the student’s mind is rested and fresh;

consequently the first thing in the morning, one or

two paragraphs only at a time, those paragraphs

being read by the student, who gives his idea of it,

and then later, under the supervision of the professor,

discusses it before the class.

Prof. GILMAN.-The Organon should be taught

early and continually until it is mastered. It is the

mother’s milk to the medical student. It should be

taught as the Bible is expounded—text-by-text, and

explained and illustrated.

Prof. SNOW.-The Organon should be

systematically taught during the first year of college,

as it is the foundation work of Homœopathy.

Frequent reference should be made to it, however,

during the whole three years an occasion may

demand. It should be committed to memory as

nearly as possible, so that its precepts may remain

always engraved on the mind.

309

Prof. MACK.- I do not use the Organon as a

textbook. I think that one can better teach

Homœopathy without the Organon as a textbook

than with it.

Prof. COWPERTHWAITE.-The Organon should

be taught by a separate teacher. It has not fallen to

my lot to teach the Organon to any extent and I do

not consider myself a competent judge as to how it

should be taught My method is to take my old and

much loved copy which I held in my I when I

attended the lectures by Dr. HERING, and which is

profusely filled with annotations, comments and

under linings according to Dr. Hering’s suggestions.

From this book I talk to the class, giving them

HAHNEMANN ideas, Hering’s comments and my

own views on each particular section we take it up.

Prof. WOODWARD.-The Organon should be

taught to beginners, not without judicious criticism.

Prof. ROYAL.-The Organon should be studied and

taught throughout the entire student’s course.

Prof. LEONARD.-For six years I have tried to teach

the Organon in connection with Materia Medica and

therapeutics; but whether from my own inability to

do it well or from an incongruity of subjects, the

results have not been satisfactory. A critical analysis

of the Organon with an exposition of its essential

pars before senior students, seems to me to be part of

the work of the chair of Theory and Practice, and it

is so taught in the University of Minnesota.

Prof. EDGERTON.-The Organon should be taught

to first course students. A textbook should be gotten

up containing the essentials, and the student should

commit the same to memory and recite in class.

Prof. PRICE.-In my opinion the Organon should be

taught from the chair of Institutes, first omitting the

psoric theory, dynamization, primary and secondary

drug action, alternating drug effects, etc. There is

too much difference of opinion upon these subjects

amongst the best minds in our profession to make a

belief in them a point of Vital necessity. Of course

the chair of Materia Medica and Therapeutics should

teach the fundamental principles of Homeopathy

whether the Organon be quoted or not.

Prof. CHEESEMAN.-The Organon should be

taught by at least two lectures each week during the

entire college course by a competent lecturer.

Prof. HAWKES.-The Organon should be taught

from the “cradle to the grave” of medicine. In my

judgment it should be taught as the good preacher

teaches his congregation: select a portion for a text

(and each section of the Organon is a sermon in

itself) and elaborate to the student and explain its

philosophy. Then make him explain it to me.

Prof. ALLEN, H.C.- The Organon should be taught

every year of the entire course and taught by one who

practices what he preaches. It is the foundation of

our system, and no student can ever practice

Homœopathy who does not know, and know most

thoroughly, its principles.

Prof. PEMBERTON DUDLEY.- I hold to the view

that every student should, first of all be made

acquainted with the methods—perhaps in courtesy I

would say “principles” -on which unhomœopathic

treatment is applied to diseases and injuries by the

various sects of physicians, and that his induction

into the mysteries of Homœopathy should come

later. I am quite sure that the uncompromising

adhesion to the homœopathic law manifested by the

“Homœopathic Fathers” was due to the fact that they

knew from both study and experience all about

allopathic methods and what these methods could

and could not do for their patients; and holding this

view it would naturally follow that the way to make

staunch as well as intelligent homœopathists is to

make them quite fully acquainted with the effects

and defects of the other modes of medical practice

first of all.

Having accomplished this we proceed as

follows: we endeavor to discover how the

phenomenon known as “cure” is to be investigated.

(The allopath never concerns himself on this matter

save only as to the fact of its occurrence and the

nature of the agencies by which it seems to be

brought about. The phenomenon does not present

itself to his mind as at all requiring investigation).

This study forces us to the bedside as the only place

where our curative studies can be pursued—the only

“Laboratory” where principle of cure can be made

known. Then having learned the reasonableness and

practicability of this method of finding out how to

find out cures for diseases, we turn to the Organon

and there discover that the author of that book has

been before us and has made the way plain for us.

So we take up point after point in the development

of curative science—first reasoning it out as well as

we can and then turning to the book t find it all in

Hahnemann’s own worlds. One of the things that

our students discover and often mention in this

course is that the author of the Organon was

anything but the dreaming visionary he has been so

often represented to be. In these studies of

310

Homœopathy both the student and the teacher are

expected to have the open book before them. In last

winter’s class of about eighty first-year men I have

counted over seventy copies of the Organon in the

room at one time, and all of them in use. We call it

our “Sunday School Class in the Organon.”

Prof. MONROE.- It is a question in my mind

whether the Organon should be taught during the

student years; that is systematically. It should be

referred to by the professor frequently, and the

student should be taught that he cannot regard

himself as a well-rounded homœopathic physician,

until he is familiar with the Organon. To my mind,

however, the book is not of such a character as will

admit of its being properly digested during the

rushing, cramming gallop that marks the career of a

student during his last year; and previous to that

time, he is not sufficiently far advanced to

comprehend it.

Dr. GRAMM.- Hahnemann’s Organon should be

read thoroughly by every student before entering a

homœopathic college, and there it should be used by

the regular professor of theory and practice as the

foundation and guide for his teachings during all the

four years. Every section should be properly read

and carefully explained, and its teachings as much as

possible illustrated by cases from actual practice

from beginning, to end.

Dr. PECK.- The Organon should be the first book

placed in the hands of a medical student. If he has

not sufficient sense and knowledge to understand

and to appreciate it, he never can become a

trustworthy physician. The youth should be told to

read it slowly and deliberately, stopping at any (to

him) obscure point, or at any utterance that does not

commend itself to his sober judgment and refer it at

once to his instructor for their joint investigation.

Rarely will this happen a half dozen times. One

or two more rapid re-readings will do no harm.

Since many alleged homœopath physicians do

not provide their pupils this instruction it becomes

necessary for the college to teach the Institutes of

Medicine. These should be taught at the very

beginning instead of at the close of a course of study,

or it is as important that a doctor should know what

he believes, and why, as for the preacher, or any

other man; and the sooner he ascertains this the

better. After a little talk on HAHNEMANN and his

times, display on the blackboard or in other

convenient manner singly and successively the

various propositions. As such is exhibited ask the

class if it accepts that assertion, then call for reasons

pro and con.

Dr. NIELSEN.-The Organon should be taught

especially to the advanced student, but by a

competent teacher and one able to read between the

lines.

Dr.KRAFT.-The Organon, like the bible, should be

read through not less than once a year; its reading

and study should not cease with the medical man’s

commencement exercises. During school-life it

should be listened to from the chair of therapeutics

at least once a week. Not read by the teacher but

talked. The professor of therapeutics should have

naught to do with Materia Medica; in him should be

combined the present highly ornamental chair of

Organon, and the rare chair of Institutes of

Medicine. To him should be given the duties of

explaining the homœopathic law, the therapeutical

application of Materia Medica, the Organon, and

the potencies.

Dr. BOJANUS.- According to my opinion I should

think that the Organon should not be given before

the end of the third year of study and must be

explained and commented in a special course of

lectures, and not before the students have visited the

homœopathic and allopathic clinics and hospitals for

at least two years. In the lectures upon the Organon,

the whole homœopathic literature, with all its

different tendencies, must be passed in review and

particular attention must be paid that the youthful

students should not prefer the literature which has

given itself the task of clothing homœopathic

therapeutics into a form more or less like allopathy.

Such compilations are a comfortable implement in

the hands of those who wish to convert science into

a milking cow; they are useful to establish a position

and keep their disciple in the broad way of the beaten

track, but this is preparing the ruin of Homœopathy.

=====================================

49.The Present Status of Homeopathy

J. RAISBECK Milton

The Homeopathic Recorder

(

VOL. XXXIII, 12/1918)

For a period of over a hundred years

homœopathic physicians have formed a relatively

small group in the profession of medicine. They

still form a minority and, according to the way

of minorities, they tend to ascribe this position to the

prejudices and hostility of the dominant school.

Have we been judged equitably or misjudged?

If an impartial inquiry were made and

should reveal more simple ignorance of our

aims than prejudice, and more indifference

than hostility, it would behoove us to seek the

311

pertinent causes of our present status within

ourselves. We believe that a careful examination

will show discrepancies between what Homœopathy

ought to be and what it is, and that it should be

undertaken with more calmness and less blinding

enthusiasm, more humility and less self-

justification than the tone of much of our current

literature betrays. Humility is a source of strength and

we need strength. If such an examination

should lead to a storm of reactionary self-

approbation, the time taken in making it would be

lost, and it would indicate that our school is

indeed the Sick Man of medicine, doomed to

dismemberment and disintegration. And yet it cannot

profitably be made in the sterile spirit of

destructive criticism. Patience and forbearance

with ourselves (often the most difficult to attain)

and, more than this, frankness are essential if we

are to find wherein our ideals and our realities

differ.

In such an investigation we encounter questions

of policy which have resulted in internal

dissensions; as these differ in each hospital and

teaching center, they are apt to be accidental

and extraneous. Deeper than these, in the very

substance of our theory and practice, we find

more general elements for fruitful study, such

as our criteria of cure. Homœopathic literature,

homeopathic versus physiological

medication, and our attitude toward the

scientific spirit. If this study is to be valid it

must be fearless, made in the spirit of an open

mind, and guided by a cardinal principle, that

unless our criticism of ourselves is more

unsparing and more searching than that of

strangers, unless our standards raised from

within are higher than those which can be

imposed from without, we shall continue to

deserve any discrimination against us that has

not thereby been disarmed.

CRITERIA OF CURE.

A characteristic of the layman which

distinguishes him sharply from the scientific

investigator is his aptness to assume that post hoc,

propter hoc; that a mere sequence of events in time

involves a relationship of cause and effect. We meet

this daily among our patients, even to the point of

the ludicrous. And, to our dismay, we meet it far too

often among our professional brethren. Our journals

are redolent of cures that leave an aftermath of

 These topics will be discussed in subsequent papers

 Who has not noted that the best prescribers

are apt to lay least stress on physical diagnosis

and, vice versa, the most skilled in physical

doubt. Because we know that the homœopathically

indicated remedy ought to do what the writer claims

in his case report, we too often assume (or the writer

does) that the case report proves the remedy did so.

We fail to remember that without our faith in the

homœopathic remedy as a prerequisite, the proof

advanced would lose nearly all its cogency. If we do

fail to realize this, it is because our critical standards

are low. And if we attempt to examine the facts from

the point of view of an observer who has no

preconceived ideas about the indicated remedy, who

is neutral but skeptical, we shall find that in accept-

ing criteria of cure, we as homœopaths have three

principal dangers of which we must beware, the

subjective symptom, the single case report, and

reminiscent statistics.

Our knowledge and use of drugs center in drug

provings. The characteristic of a proving—the

disturbances in health produced by subtoxic doses

of a drug, as recorded by the prover—is the

predominance of subjective symptoms. We match

our drug picture with the disease picture almost

exclusively on the basis of the subjective symptoms

present in the patient. We exercise all our ingenuity

in taking the case, which, in homœopathic parlance,

means the really fine art of ascertaining all the

patient feels, no more nor less than he actually feels,

in just the peculiar and personal way in which he

feels it. So important is this that those among us who

are most successful in prescribing assert that when

the case is well taken the remedy is easily and

almost surely found. In striving for perfection in

prescribing, we become engrossed in the subjective

symptom, and here lies the first pitfall. Besides

tending to make us neglect physical diagnosis,

because we can find the remedy without physical

examination, it has also led us to accept the clearing

up of subjective symptoms as a criterium of cure.

We are asked with the rather crude emphasis of

simplistic argument: "If a patient feels better, he is

better, is he not?" as if the question were obviously

unanswerable. It may be unanswerable, but it hides

many a fallacy.

We cannot estimate subjective symptoms

directly. How real and how intense was the pain that

has been cured? For almost any given lesion we can

all recall patients who have suffered excruciating

pain and others who have suffered almost none. This

difference makes it easier to "cure" some than

diagnosis rarely shine as prescribers? This

mutual exclusiveness is due to faulty training

and will be discussed later.

312

others, and makes the cure much less striking and

perhaps even less valid in some than in others.

Furthermore, the veracity of the patient is a

disturbing problem. Among the poorer classes

especially, a natural desire to meet our wishes and

to be agreeable, or simple timidity, modifies the

subjective picture quite independently of our

remedy. If to this we add suggestion, most potent,

and, in fact, potent solely in the realm of the

subjective symptom, our confusion is complete. If

we cannot prove beyond peradventure of doubt that

the symptom is present as described, how are we to

prove that it is modified or accept as evidence of

cure the disappearance of the intangible? For

practical purposes it may suffice to relieve our

patient's discomfort, and we are glad enough! to

take his word for it, but we cannot ask our

listener, who does not believe in dynamic drug

action, to accept as proof of that action

phenomena he cannot see, feel, hear, or

measure. Case records based on subjective

symptoms only are as convincing as the

testimonials to the dubious virtues of patent

nostrums.

The second element which vitiates much of

the evidence advanced by homeopaths is the fact

that it is made to rest, in many instances, on a

single case report—another form of the ancient

error of hasty generalization. Our current

literature abounds in conclusions drawn from one,

or two, or at most from a very small group of cases.

A single case may be a legitimate example of

drug action and may be used to great advantage

to aid the student in visualizing more distinctly,

but when we endeavor to put upon a single case

the burden of proving any statement whatsoever

we fail signally in the eyes of any discerning

reader. We are given to read a careful

description of the patient's symptoms; we are

told that such and such a drug was

administered; and we are informed that the

patient recovered, more quickly perhaps than

such a patient in our experience ever recovered

before. We are thereupon invited to believe

that the case in question once more proves

the immutable nature of our law of cure.

The procedure, if not unconscious, would be an

insult to our intelligence.

Each of us in his daily work can cite case

reports, with the record of carefully prescribed

remedies to all appearances well indicated,

administered without effect. Does the

presentation of such a case disprove our law of

cure or even bring its validity into doubt? We can

dodge the question by maintaining that our remedy

here was not well indicated, but in all sincerity the

single case that endeavors to prove the theory

is not a whit stronger than the single case

which, as we readily admit, cannot disprove it.

The apparent action of a drug in any single

instance may be due to idiosyncrasy; or, which

is still more probable, the patient in question

may belong to that proportion of cases which

are both benign and rapid in their evolution to a

favorable outcome. In the most severe epidemics

some cases recover spontaneously and quickly,

even after the menace of a dramatic onset. Noth-

ing in the single case report can prevent the

suspicion that our brilliant result is due solely

to the unaided efforts of nature. We may feel

differently about it but when an investigator in

search of facts and not faith does not share our

feeling in the matter we ought not to be

surprised. In his eyes we resemble those

engaged in psychical research who seize only

upon coincidences and exceptions as their

material of study, and ignore the vast number of

experiments that fail. In speaking about our

successes and remaining silent about our

failures we further weaken our insufficient

evidence, the final result to an impartial observer is

unconvincing.

We believe and at bottom we are merely

seeking confirmation of our belief. The

atmosphere of faith does not lead to careful

scrutiny but to eager acceptance of anything which

may be found in accordance with our faith. We

are seeking not for truth, which we feel

confident we have already found, but for moral

and mental comfort. A casual perusal of our

current literature will reveal examples of all

degrees of this attitude, from the reserve which

lends some weight to the deductions made to al-

most egregious credulity, a vicious leaven which

mars so many of our writings. The single case is

utterly without significance; this is a second

point our writers so often fail to take into

consideration.

Arguments in support of Homœopathy are

often impaired by a third factor which we may

call "reminiscent statistics." Any one with a

slight experience of medical meetings can recall

the typical, perhaps venerable practitioner, who

arises amid respectful silence to declare "that in

his experience of over forty years of

confinements he has not had a single perineal

tear." The statement is beyond argument and a

sense of either respect or hopelessness reduces

protest to mere murmurs of dissent. If the same

practitioner, or one of his fellows, were to arise

and state that "in forty years he has not lost a

single case of diphtheria, or of pneumonia, in

313

using nothing but the indicated remedy," he

would succinate less protest and perhaps no mur-

murs of dissent. Nevertheless, both statements

are of the same intrinsic value and offer the

same probabilities of truth, They constitute

an effort on the part of the speaker to force

acceptance of his reminiscences, on his own

personal authority, as the equivalent of

statistical proof of similia similibus

curentur. Hahnemann could indeed say to-

day: "l can cope wi th my enemies, but from

my friends, ( ) Lord, deliver me!"

The men who seek to demonstrate what

Homœopathy can do by such statements do not

realize wherein they weaken our cause. Hasty

generalization, an obliging forgetfulness of

failures, and a tenacious memory for

successes have already been referred to in

other connections. The most glaring feature

of these statements is usually exaggeration; they

often claim for the indicated remedy an

efficacy bordering upon the miraculous.

In this alone they tend to redouble that

cautious skepticism which becomes more

wary as the claims for Homœopathy are

more wildly exalted. The real evils here,

however, lie deeper for such statements

would not have much more weight even in

the

absence of exaggeration; they would then be

merely less ridiculous. They are valueless as

evidence because we have reason to doubt, in

all cases and a priori, the perspicacity of a

single observer, the only exception to this being

the case of experiments which can at all times be

performed again by others. When clinical

material is involved, such statements,

unsupported by documentary evidence must

be ruled out inflexibly, as they cannot be

verified. It is hardly necessary to touch a

more tender point in questioning the veracity

of such remarks, for even the best and most

sincere intentions could not make them

acceptable.

If we rest our arguments upon the simple

affirmations of individuals, however great their

personal prestige, we build upon sand. And we

cannot let statements of this kind go by unchal-

lenged, however much we discount them for

ourselves, for this does not prevent their disastrous

effect upon those who do not share our convictions.

Any inquirer from another school who meets with

such ex cathedra utterances will lose his interest in

 Articles in current numbers of the Archives of

Internal Medicine, the Journal of the American

Medical Association, etc., will illustrate this.

Homœopathy as his knowledge of homeopaths and

their ways increases.

It may be urged that these criticisms do

not apply to all the records made by

homœopathic investigators, as notable

exceptions amply testify. These stand as

exceptions, however grateful, and the majority

remain, indicating the need for a campaign of

education in our own ranks before we undertake

the more extensive task of educating others. We

must meet the old school on common ground by

adopting the only standards that they

themselves will accept in their own work. No

remedy or method of treatment is given serious

consideration by them until the claims made for it

can be supported by unimpeachable evidence.

The evidence advanced is examined unsparingly

in every aspect and from this crucible of

mutual criticism, frank but cordial, un-

compromising but usually without hostility,

the facts emerge finally as definite acquisitions

to the sum of medical knowledge.

The rules of this evidence are simple and

if adhered to with sincerity of purpose they

will enable our claims to command attention.

The canons which must be followed to reach

that end are fourfold: a positive diagnosis must

be established in every case; progress must be

recorded in terms of objective findings: cases

must be presented in large series only; and data,

as far as practicable, must be sponsored by

group of investigators, each competent in the

aspect of the study that he covers, united in

purpose, and checking up results mutually.

Diagnosis to-day is in many cases an

exact science; this applies to syphilis, malaria,

pneumonia, and any other diseases in which

laboratory tests remove practically all

uncertainty. We cannot speak of treating

syphilis successfully unless we can secure,

after positive Wassermann reactions,

permanently negative ones, together with the

disappearance of the clinical symptoms, both

subjective and objective. Without a diagnosis

based on laboratory findings, a discussion of

therapeutic results. is futile. Malaria is

another instance of a disease in which slip-

shod diagnosis has too often invalidated our

pretensions. Clinical cure with the blood infected,

even by a dormant strain of the parasites, is an

illusion, and the cure of cases in which no para-

sites were ever found is apt to be an illusion

314

of another kind. When we speak of malaria we

can mean only an infection by one of the

strains of the plasmodium of malaria. Cases

of intermittent fever without this infection should

be described as such; their treatment and cure

is a far different matter and is a field in which

the prowess of hydrotherapy and simple

expectant treatment can compare very favorably

with Homœopathy. Pneumonia is one of the

latest diseases to profit by the recent progress

made in diagnosis. At present the diagnosis

of "pneumonia" no longer suffices; we must

state further whether our cases are of Type I,

II, III, or IV, besides giving the precise nature of

the bacteriological findings. This is necessary for

us primarily as the mortality in the various types

differs markedly. Our claims of cure of cases of

a type in which the average mortality, under all

methods of treatment, is very low, hardly

represent a real achievement for the indicated

remedy. Unless our diagnoses are

incontrovertible, everything we claim is open to

legitimate doubt. In diseases where laboratory

tests which clinch the diagnosis do not as yet exist

all the objective findings must be united as a

solid basis for our diagnoses. This brings up

the second rule of evidence, the need of laying

stress upon the objective elements in every patient.

There are many ways in which doubt may

be minimized in clinical evidence. Outside of

definitive diagnostic tests, the laboratory is here

again our best ally. There is usually no progress in

any systemic disease without some recognizable

changes, chemical or cystological in character, in

the blood, spinal fluid, urine, etc. Reports of

progress achieved in cases of kidney disease

should be based on the varying relationship of the

blood and urinary nitrogen, and all the other

tests which can give definite data concerning

the renal function and the degree of renal

inflammation. In diabetes we should have

records show how the indicated remedy has

modified the tolerance for carbohydrates,

independently of dietetic or other measures. In cardiac

conditions polygraph, electrocardiographic, and

blood pressure records are the only possible proof

of any real change in the patient's condition. The

fact that the patient is still alive after our

treatment may merely register one of the most

common errors in prognosis. If claims are made

concerning the results of treatment of

superficial carcinomata and of diseases of the

skin, photographic records should be

 This applies naturally not to the work of the private

practitioner whose principal object is to cure, but to

presented. If any maintain that the gait of

tabetics can be modified by the indicated

remedy, cinematographic records, such as

have been made in foreign clinics, are in order.

In every type of disease there are methods of

recording findings which do away with the

uncertain element of individual observation

and interpretation. If we do not remove this

factor we weaken our position. Our object

is to enable the reader to come to his own

conclusions. Argument rarely or never produces

conviction, whereas simple demonstration has

often done so.

The individual case record, however

complete, is only the first step in the right

direction. Large series of cases are necessary to

eliminate exceptions, non-typical reactions, or

errors in interpretations. Twenty cases which

illustrate the identical action of

potentized

remedy in a particular type of disease reduce

the margin of error appreciably; fifty or a

hundred cases or more, would remove all

legitimate cause for doubt.

In order to establish such records, the

energies and authority of one observer cannot

suffice. The co-operation with the clinician of a

serologist and bacteriologist and of physiological

chemist are essential. According to the nature of the

cases, to these may be added the roentgenologist,

ophthalmologist, cystoscopist, and others, until

every aspect of the clinical problem has been

covered, observed in each phase by a skilled technical

specialist whose judgment will serve to keep

the balance true in the final estimate of the

facts. Co-operation preserves not only from

actual error in facts, but also from the subtle

doubt which may attach to the reports of a

single investigator. Any individual may be

mistaken, especially if one problem too con-

stantly in view limits his horizon. We have

heard of too many of the cures which one

practitioner claims to have made and which we

never seem to be able to reproduce in our own

work. Each specialist is apt to see everything in

the terms of his own specialty; we, as specialists

in homœopathic therapeutics are open to this

criticism the more, perhaps, as we realize it less.

We have a grave duty to Homœopathy, we have

taken it as it was handed down to us. We have used

it and abused it but we have clone very little to

establish it more firmly

nd to win for it the

recognition to whirl it is entitled. The individual

practitioner can do little beyond maintaining the

our hospitals whose object should be not only to cure

but also to study disease.

315

conservative attitude which our dignity requires.

Our hospitals and schools can do more. No

further endowments are needed to make use of

the clinical material which is offered there in

abundance. The conscientious administration of the

homœopathic remedy in our wards—and of nothing

else when a homœopathic remedy is really

indicated—the tabulation of results, substantiated

by documentary evidence from the laboratory

and from every source of clinical investigation,

would within a year or two establish the statistical

records necessary to command universal

recognition. It will come to us when it is merited,

but not before.

50. SAGE Open Medical Case Reports

Improvements in long standing cardiac

pathologies by individualized homœopathic

remedies: A case series

TENZERA, Lenka1; DJINDJIC, Boris2, 3;

MIHAJLOVIC-ELEZ4,Olivera; JOHN

PULPARAMPIL5, Bindu; MAHESH6 id Seema;

and VITHOULKAS, George Volume 6

Abstract

We present three cases of cardiac arrest at

different stages of pathology. Acute myocardial

infarction and resulting heart failure is emerging as

the leading cause of mortality. In the long run, acute

episodes and cardiac remodeling can cause

considerable damage and result in heart failure. In

these cases, individualized homeopathic therapy was

instituted along with the conventional medicines and

the results were encouraging. The changes in the

laboratory diagnostic parameters (single-photon

emission computed tomography,

electrocardiograph, echocardiography and ejection

fraction as the case may be) are demonstrated over

time. The key result seen in all three cases was the

preservation of general well-being while the

haemodynamic states also improved. While the three

cases provide evidence of positive outcomes for

homeopathic therapy, more extensive studies are

required in a hospital setting to establish the real

extent to which this therapy may be employed.

Introduction

Cardiovascular disorders (cardiovascular

disease (CVD)) in general and acute myocardial

infarction (AMI) are responsible for 31% of all

deaths globally and are a leading cause of mortality.

While it is true that modern therapeutic

interventions have reduced this considerably, the

challenge remains.1,2 The risk of re-infarction is also

great in survivors (8%– 10% have re-infarctions

within a year) making it even more important to

have care available for emergencies.

The situation is further complicated by the

incidence of arrhythmias along with AMI, in which

case the person may proceed to heart failure and

cardiogenic shock.3 Advanced age, atrial fibrillation

(AF) and anterior infarction herald a poor prognosis

in the case of AMI with approximately 50% of

deaths occurring in the first month after the episode,

most within the first 2 h.3,4 The first goal is

reperfusion of the myo-cardium, so primary

percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is the first

line of therapy along with fibrinolytics and other

cardiac drugs (except when contraindicated).5

After myocardial infarction (MI), along with

local inflammation, inflammatory processes are

known to occur in remote parts of the heart6 and in

the kidney glomeruli7 indicating the involvement of

the entire immune system in an attempt at repair.

Despite the diagnosis being the similar, it is seen that

the process of inflammation and repair of the tissue

after MI do not evoke the same response in

everybody. The mechanism of harmful heart

remodelling after a MI includes numerous cellular,

extracellular and neurohumoral components8 and in

most cases, the size of scar formed is proportionate

to the severity of heart remodelling, but it has also

been demonstrated that size of scar need not translate

into severe heart remodelling.9

The evidence is more in favour of the energy state

of the person and its bearing on the reparative process.

The harmful remodelling under ischaemic conditions

is primarily consistent with the lack of energy

production. It has been reported that the reduced

glucose uptake at the level of the heart cells due to the

genetically induced liver X receptor α (LXRα)

deficiency leads to a severe damage after MI, which

indirectly confirms that during ischaemia the adaptive

transfer mechanism of the energy production is

activated in the heart, from the fatty acid metabolism

to the glucose metabolism which has greater oxidative

utilization for synthesis of Adinosine Tri Phosphate

(ATP).10 A healthy heart quickly activates this cardio

protective mechanism in the condition of ischaemia

which reduces the damage.11 This is delayed or

absent in a weaker state of the person.

The current therapeutic options, despite the

advances, are far from satisfactory. The continued

discovery of factors involved in the remodelling of

an infarcted heart pose continuous challenges. The

latest available therapeutic options include the

following: interleukin 10 (IL-10),11 calcium-

activated potassium channel (KCa3.1) blocking,12

basic fibroblast growth factor with the

transplantation of stem cells from fat tissue13 and

316

regenerative cell therapy14,15 but also berberine

therapy,16 lycopene supplementation,17 continuous

normobaric hypoxia,18 repeated controlled

ischaemia19 and so on.

Classical homeopathy

The premise on which homeopathic therapeutic

principles are constructed is that living organism is

governed by a bio- energy which preserves health in

the best possible manner depending on the

circumstances of conception (genetics, epi- genetics,

etc.). This energy is given the name ‘vital force or

the life principle’. When affected by any detrimental

force (disease or disturbance), this energy marshals

the tools it has at its disposal – the immune system –

and combats the influence, always trying to return to

normal dynamic state. During this fight, it generates

symptoms that are as individualistic as there are

people – the better the level of health, the stronger

the individualizing symptoms.20–22

The classical homeopathic therapy, as was

propounded by Samuel Hahnemann and later

adapted to the contemporary health situations by

James T Kent and George Vithoulkas,21–23 operates on

the paradigm that every human being is born with a

certain amount of energy available for his bio-social

functions. The higher this energy to begin with, the

better the health level.24 As such, the ability to defend

itself against disease is also higher in the organism

with higher energy level. The pathological stimulus

affecting the healthier being, when compared to less

healthy one, is warded off easily and homeostasis is

re-established.

Classical homeopathic practitioner follows a

certain proto- col to establish the level of the patient’s

health at the beginning of every case taking in order

to project the possibilities with the therapy. Whereas

the diagnosis helps understand the pathology in

question, the real prognosis may be assessed from an

understanding of the health level of the person. The

better the energy complex, the better the prognosis

and better the response to homeopathic therapy.24

The truth of this idea may be seen in this case series

as the patients all exhibit a poor prognostic diagnosis

but respond well to homeopathic therapy on account

of their better health state to begin with. The same

approach may not yield such favourable results in a

less healthy case.

This case series presents the treatment of MI

with Homeopathy. It is, to best of the authors’

knowledge, the first of its kind, demonstrating

treatment of acute episodes as well as the

consequence of MI over time. A long-term follow-

up has been provided with laboratory investigations

for the purpose of comparison.

Case presentation

Case 1

The patient, a 62-year-old Serbian man with

history of MI

17 years before, presented with the

diagnosis of status-post MI pars anterioris and PCI

left anterior descending (LAD) aa XVII; ischaemic

compensatory cardiomyopathy; hyperten-

sion and

diabetes mellitus type 2 were also present (Table 1).

The patient presented on 15 January 2015 with a

transient, painless ischaemic attack with a feeling of

weakness in chest, paleness and cold sweating. He

was hospitalized for 5 days in the intensive care unit

when a coronary angiography showed restenosis of

the anterior descendent artery in the stent area and

the middle part of the same artery. Past medical

history: He had MI 17 years ago. Posterior Coronary

Artery (PCA) re-vascularization was performed

with the installation of stent in the proximal part of

the LAD. Diabetes mellitus and hypertension were

diagnosed in 2002. He had been on B-blockers,

statins, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE)

inhibitors, acetyl salicylic acid (ASA), vitamin B

complex, selenium; and not on any anti-

hyperglycaemic drugs. In addition, he had

gonorrhoea at 21 years – treated with antibiotics;

recurrent throat infections since childhood;

tonsillectomy at 26 years of age.

Laboratory investigations: myocardial

perfusion single- photon emission computed

tomography (SPECT) 13 April 2011 (Figure 1(a)).

Report of radiologist: pharmacological dipyridamole

stress test combined with treadmill exercise low-

level 50WmDipy EX: in the beginning, BP120/80

mmHg; beats per minute (BPM) 70, at peak exertion

BPM 115. Enlarged left ventricle with large anterior

wall perfusion defect and septum perfusion defect.

Echocardiography (25 September 2015); left

ventricular end diastolic dimension (LVEDD): 64

mm (norm till 56 mm); left ventricular end

systolic dimension (LVESD): 52 mm (norm till 40

mm); left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF): 38%

(norm >60%); end systole (ES): 18% (norm 28.44%);

mitral flow – E wave = 0.7; A wave 0.8; mitral

regurgitation (MR): 1–2+; tricuspid flow – tricuspid

regurgitation (TR) 1+; left atrial dilation; mitral

valve incompetent with moderate MR with central

flow; left ventricular dilation, remodeling with

akinesia of anterior wall, and akinesia of part of the

septum; moderately reduced ventricle function;

317

diastolic dysfunction with increased values of left

ventricular end diastolic pressure (LVEDP).

Homeopathic intervention: homeopathic therapy

was started on 15 January 2015. The remedies were

selected based on the principles of classical

homeopathy. The case details along with the follow-

ups are given in Table 1.

Laboratory investigations at the end of

homeopathic treatment: myocardial perfusion

SPECT 12 June 2017 (Figure 1(b)): report of

radiologist: pharmacological dipyridamole stress

test combined with treadmill exercise low-level

50WmDipy EX: in the beginning, BP 120/80

mmHg; BPM 70, on peak exercise BPM 120.

Enlarged left ventricle with perfusion defect in the

following areas: apical, apical anterior, anterior wall

and apical half of septal area. No signs of progress

of pathological state.

Echocardiography (31 May 2017): LVEDD 6.1

cm (norm 3.5–6.0 cm); LVESD 4.8 cm (norm 2.1–

4.0); LVEF 40%;mitral flow – MR in trace; tricuspid

flow normal; left atrial normal dimension; mitral

flow – diastolic dysfunction of left ventricle (LV)

(E/A= 0.65); MR in trace; LV – enlarged with

hypertrophic walls; hypokinesia of septum and

anterior wall, LVEF 40%.

Case 2

The patient, a 92 year-old Serbian woman,

presented on 22 June 2015 with an acute episode of

MI and was hospitalized. There was associated AF

with rapid ventricular response, preventing

stabilization of her general condition (Table 2).

Past medical history: tuberculosis (1951),

malaria (1960), total hysterectomy (1980) and traffic

accident causing brain concussion (1982). Laboratory

investigations and follow-up: electrocardiograph

(ECG; 23 June 2015) (Figure 2(a)) showed ST

segment elevation, in I, aVL and V1–V5 with

reciprocal changes in the inferior leads; anterior wall

infarction. AF with rapid ventricular response. The

patient was given intravenous amiodarone (anti-

arrhythmic).

Homeopathic intervention: on 25 June 2017,

homeopathic therapy was given in the form of a

few sips of water dose of Arnica montana 30C. A

few minutes later, the cardiac monitor showed a

sinus rhythm, confirmed by the ECG on 26 June

2017(Figure 2(b)).

She was moved from the intensive care unit to

a hospital room at this point, and homeopathy was

not repeated. On 27 June 2015, she went into AF

with rapid ventricular response again and was re-

admitted to the intensive care unit.

Systolic dimension (LVESD): 52 mm (norm till

40 mm); left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF):

38% (norm >60%); end systole (ES): 18% (norm

28.44%); mitral flow – E wave = 0.7; A wave 0.8;

mitral regurgitation (MR): 1–2+; tricuspid flow –

tricuspid regurgitation (TR) 1+; left atrial dilation;

mitral valve incompetent with moderate MR with

central flow; left ventricular dilation, remodelling

with akinesia of anterior wall, and akinesia of part of

the septum; moderately reduced ventricle function;

diastolic dysfunction with increased values of left

ventricular end diastolic pressure (LVEDP).

Homeopathic intervention: homeopathic

therapy was started on 15 January 2015. The

remedies were selected based on the principles of

classical homeopathy. The case details along with the

follow-ups are given in Table 1.

Laboratory investigations at the end of

homeopathic treatment: myocardial perfusion

SPECT 12 June 2017 (Figure 1(b)): report of

radiologist: pharmacological dipyridamole stress

test combined with treadmill exercise low-level

50WmDipy EX: in the beginning, BP 120/80

mmHg; BPM 70, on peak exercise BPM 120.

Enlarged left ventricle with perfusion defect in the

following areas: apical, apical anterior, anterior wall

and apical half of septal area. No signs of progress

of pathological state.

Echocardiography (31 May 2017): LVEDD 6.1

cm (norm 3.5–6.0 cm); LVESD 4.8 cm (norm 2.1–

4.0); LVEF 40%; mitral flow – MR in trace;

tricuspid flow normal; left atrial normal dimension;

mitral flow – diastolic dysfunction of left ventricle

(LV) (E/A= 0.65); MR in trace; LV – enlarged with

hypertrophic walls; hypokinesia of septum and

anterior wall, LVEF 40%.

On repetition of Arnica 30C (on 28 June 2015),

however, the sinus rhythm appeared within a few

minutes, and she was discharged from the hospital

the next day. She stabilized and stayed well for six

more months after being discharged from the

hospital, evidenced by the stability in ECG. On 10

November 2015, she had another MI attack.

However, this time there was no AF, and she was

stable with immediate administration of Arnica

200C, despite the LVEF being only 15%. She stayed

in the intensive care unit for a day. Holter ECG

showed a sinus rhythm.

After the last episode, she has stayed well

hitherto, and the last investigation performed was

on 10 April 2017. The echocardiography (Figure

2(c)) shows a stable cardiac state, despite

remodelling of myocardium and reduced left

318

ventricular function. She is not on any anti-

arrhythmic drugs.

Case 3

A 68-year-old Indian man with a history of

coronary artery disease underwent percutaneous

transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) for LAD

in 2001, underwent coronary artery bypass grafting

in 2009 (Table 3). On 26 November 2016, he started

complaining of severe breathlessness and collapsed

around 3.30 a.m. at home and was transported to

hospital immediately.

The patient also had hypertension and diabetes

mellitus. Laboratory investigations:

echocardiography (27 November 2016) (Figure

3(a)): dilated left atrium; dilated left ventricle;

severe hypokinesia of entire septum, apex and

anterior wall; mild to moderate MR; sclerosed

aortic valve; mild tricuspid regurgitation; ejection

fraction 24%. Echocardiography was repeated on

27 December 2016 (Figure 3(b)) and found the

same findings as above, but the ejection fraction had

reduced to 16%.

Homeopathic intervention: homeopathic

therapy was begun on 29 December 2016; one dose

of Calcarea phosphorica 200C was given with

evidence of improvement in the ejection fraction

(Figure 3(c)). The details of the follow- up are given

in Table 3.

Most recent laboratory investigation (12 April

2018) (Figure 3(e)): dilated left atrium; mild

concentric left ventricular hypertrophy; mild regional

wall motion abnormalities in inferoseptal and inferior

segments with preserved thick- ness; fair LV systolic

function; grade 1 diastolic dysfunction; normal

valves morphology; mild MR; trivial tricuspid

regurgitation; ejection fraction 64.68%. The patient is

well till date and is carrying on with his daily life with

vigour.

Discussion

Although not usually applied in emergency cases

and severe pathologies, homeopathy has previously

helped repair severe conditions.25 This case series

indicates that we may investigate further the

possibilities of homeopathy in such cases. The immune

system is always trying to achieve balance, and in situ-

ations, as described here, there are patients whose

energy com- plex is good enough that the stimulation

from homeopathic remedy is employed to the benefit

of the patient. However, this outcome is not expected to

be the rule. Homeopathy bases its prescription on the

symptoms that the individual organism generates as a

response to pathology and this response is the only

guide that exists for the homeopath.20 Considering the

idea of vital force/life principle as explained earlier, the

existence of individualistic symptoms presupposes a

certain amount of energy present to be applied for the

process of cure in the person. If this is not the case,

which is quite common in a potentially terminal

situation, then there is not much that homeopathy can

do. However, when individual symptoms do exist, the

recovery is impressive if the rules of homeopathy are

followed.

In the first case, attention must be paid to the

fact that although the primary target of the

treatment was cardiac pathology, the treatment was

inclusive of all his other com- plaints such as panic

attacks and indigestion. The remedies were given

in a specific sequence according to the most

dominant and indicative symptoms of the moment.

At all times, attention was paid to make sure that

the patient was moving towards a better level of

health.24 The opinion of the cardiologist (Figure

1(c)) states that the perfusion of the myocardium

had considerably improved, as evidenced by the

SPECT reports. The opinion is that such an

improvement is not just representative of improved

blood flow but that of improved cardiomyocyte

metabolism – an essential factor for a healthy

heart.26

The parameters for improvement and good

response to treatment in homeopathic therapy are

measured by the body’s ability to defend itself with

an efficient acute inflammation when required. The

idea is that as the defence mechanism becomes

weaker, the organism loses the ability to put up an

efficient acute inflammation and enters a low-grade

chronic inflammation eventually triggering the

chronic disease that the patient is predisposed to

genetically.27,28 The reverse of this occurs during

homeopathic therapy and patient begins to have

acute inflammatory states as the chronic

complaints reduce.29 In this case, as the cardiac

status improved, the patient began suffering more

in his gastrointestinal tract and as that improved,

there appeared suppuration in the lipomas that had

stayed as such for many years. This is interpreted

with the background of hierarchy of organs systems

and pathologies. The reduction in the deeper

problem is followed by concentration of the

disease/suffering on the lower system and is of a

more superficial pathology (Gastro Intestinal Tract

(GIT) and skin; acute inflammation).22 Without the

support of homeopathic therapy, such a reversal of

state has not been recorded. If such results are to be

achieved with homeopathy, exact observation and

prescription at every change of health status is

essential and is a potential limitation in the absence

of expertise.

319

The second case is of AMI with AF and rapid

ventricular response in an aged woman with anterior

infarction (Figure 2), heralding a bad prognosis.3,4

Nevertheless, in this case, a clear picture of a

homeopathic remedy was apparent during the acute

attack, which depicted a good prognosis and a very

efficient immune system. The dramatic response to

a few sips of Arnica shows that the vitality of the

organism was preserved. In such cases,

Homœopathy may be employed for the benefit of the

patient with impressive results.24 We see that during

her second episode of MI, when Arnica was

administered right in the beginning, she was stable

and did not have any associated AF. The ejection

fraction was still low but she did not have any

associated complaints and is able to go about her

daily life without any difficulty.

The third case is also an example of a very

healthy constitution according to levels of health

theory.22 Here, despite such poor functioning of the

heart, the symptoms indicating homeopathic remedy

were very clear. In addition, the response to single

dose of the remedy was dramatic. Within a year, the

ejection fraction of the heart increased from 16% to

65% (Figure 3) and has been maintained within

normal limits since then. The functioning of the left

ventricle was also restored along with the valves

returning to near normal, as is evident from the

reports. The diastolic dysfunction that was grade 2

has over time reduced to grade 1.

In these cases, the advantage was that of

adherence to therapy. Non adherence could become

a limitation in severe pathologies if patient is not

informed regarding the various responses that may

occur during the course of treatment. Certain

developments such as return of old complaints and

aggravation of peripheral symptoms (which are a

part and requisite of homeopathic therapy) must be

anticipated before hand and the patient informed

duly.21,22,24

Further studies are required to establish the

exact possibilities of homeopathic therapy in severe

cardiac pathology. These studies must be carried out

in hospital setting and strictly adhere to the rules of

classical homeopathy to avoid indelible errors. This

case series suggests that homeopathy may be

investigated for use in cardiac events, both during

the acute attack and for its consequences, when

scientifically applied, based on its laws.

Conclusion

The three cases in this series provide evidence

of positive outcomes for homeopathic therapy.

Case-controlled studies can further establish the

exact role-played by homeopathic therapy in such

severe cardiac conditions. Here, there is a selection

bias as the patients were all kin of homeopathic

therapists and this may be overcome by conducting

a large randomized grouping in the said controlled

study.

There are some observations made commonly in

classical homeopathic practice such as return of

acute inflammatory states while at the same time

there is betterment of the chronic complaint that are

yet to be borne out by proper experimental evidence

despite existence of vast clinical support to this. This

series is a starting point on which evidence we may

design further studies.

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the help of the

patients in consenting to publish their case details.

L.T.: data collection; initial draft of manuscript. B.D.

and O.M.: data collection. B.J.P.: homeopathic

physician–data collection; initial draft of manuscript.

S.M.: final editing of manuscript. G.V.: guide and

final approval of the paper.

Declaration of conflicting interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of

interest with respect to the research, authorship

and/or publication of this article.

Ethical approval

Our institution does not require ethical approval

for reporting individual cases or case series.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for

the research, author- ship and/or publication of this

article.

Informed consent

Written informed consent was obtained from the

patient(s) for their anonymized information to be

published in this article.

ORCID iD

Seema Mahesh https://orcid.org/0000-0002-

4765-5595

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Article reuse

guidelines:

sagepub.com/journals-permissions

DOI:

10.1177/2050313X18792813

journals.sagepub.com/home/sco

Improvements in

long standing cardiac pathologies by

individualized homœopathic remedies

Date received: 19 December 2017; accepted: 11 July

2018)

[Tables are followed in P.No. 352]

====================================

51. Arsenic poisoning

Sources: The Hindu, Chennai 20 April 2000

The Hindu, Chennai 26 August 2004

We have been reading more often in

newspapers about Arsenic poison. There have been

several researches in this regard. Prof. K.J. REDDY

of the Department of Renewable Resources of the

University of Wyoming discovered that laboratory-

produced Cupric oxide particles can purge highly

poisonous arsenic spirits from contaminated

water…. Recent studies suggest that high

concentration of arsenic in drinking water are found

in the United States and throughout the world

according to Reddy. Long term exposure to the toxin

by humans has been linked to skin, lung, bladder and

Kidney Cancer and can also lead to fatal

cardiovascular and nervous system breakdowns.

Most Arsenic enters water supplies either from

natural deposits in the earth’s crust or from industrial

pollution, from copper smelting mining and coal

burning.

Arsenic has dual effects on normal human cells,

it can cause Cancer and in cancerous cells it can lead

to cell death – cause and cure.

The biggest mass poisoning in history began

innocently in the late 1970s when the United Nations

International Children’s Emergency Fund

(UNICEF) dug about one million wells to provide

clean water in rural areas of Bangladesh. Most of

the surface water was polluted and the new wells

were seen as the solution to the water dilemma.

Villagers dug at their own expense three million

wells, mostly used for irrigation purposes. No one

knew whether the new wells were polluted because

they were not tested for Arsenic contamination.

Arsenic poisoning started showing up in the mid

1980s, and today it is estimated that hundreds of

thousands of people throughout Bangladesh are

suffering from it and millions more are at risk.

(Source: Handling Arsenic Poisoning, The Hindu,

Chennai, 20 April 2000)

Arsenic poisoning: ‘Bangladesh aquifers have high

Arsenic levels’ says a Newspaper, two years ago.

“Contaminated ground water has affected millions

of people. Wells that have been dug into relatively

shallow aquifers produce drinking water with levels

of Arsenic for above those considered safe. .. During

the dry season some of it discharge into major rivers

and now a study in the Proceedings of the National

322

Academy of Sciences shows that river sediments

have become contaminated with Arsenic, with

potential to contaminate ground water even

further…..”

[Homœopathy Practitioner know well the Samuel

HAHNEMANN had in published his famous book

on Arsenic poisoning (Arsenic Vergiftung). We

(Homœopaths) would do well to carefully read again

the Arsenicum Provings and the Clinical Data so far

available to ensure that we do not over look them in

our regular practice.].

HAHNEMANN has in his pre-homœopath days,

written of the antidotes to Arsenic poisoning,

(Richard HAEHL, in his famous book ‘Samuel

Hahnemann, His Life and Work’) published in 1786

(‘On poisoning by Arsenic: its treatment and

Forensic Detection, Leipsic, Lebrecht Crusins, 276

pages given directions on the test to find out the

poisoning, Prof. Henke wrote in 1817 ‘Samuel

Hahnemann’s publication on Arsenic, which at that

time was classical, has introduced the best arsenic

tests into forensic medicine.’ HAEHL writes: ‘He

classified the large number of recommended

remedies for poisoning by arsenic; he grouped

together the best together the best remedies resulting

from his personal physiological experiments on

dogs, and gave accurate directions for their use.

Medical antidotes which be might have discovered

himself, he did not cite. Yet he was able to

enumerate no less than 382 different authors and

works, covering several languages and several

centuries, and in 861 passages quoted exactly the

page and volume – a further proof of his marvelous

book-lore.’

[It is very strange that no one is interested to read this

scientific work of HAHNEMANN. No college

anywhere spoke of it. May be the tests are

outmoded, nevertheless may not be irrelevant. =

KSS].

--------------------------------------------------------------

I find you, Lord, in all things and in all

My fellow creatures, pulsing with your life;

As a tiny seed you sleep in what is small

And in the vast you vastly yield yourself.

The wondrous game that power plays with

Things is to more in such submission through the

world;

Groping in roots and growing thick in trunks

And in treetops like a rising from the dead.

-Reiner Maria Rilke (1875 – 1926)

===================================

(Further articles (Part II) followed the page no.328)

323

PART III

(While Part II features articles from other journals, Part III contains the editor’s own contributions and