Hypertensive People Some Observations
NATIONAL JOURNAL OF HOMOEOPATHY 1996 Jan / Feb Vol V No 1.
Kulay F M.
Hypertension, commonly called High blood Pressure (HBP) has to be treated by a Homoeopath in the same way in the he treats any other diagnosed condition.
Theoretically, a disease can be mitigated by ANY drug which is similar in its essence (as reflected in a sick PERSON. This is not a platitude, repeated AD NAUSEUM it can be repetition until not only laymen and non-Homoeopaths, but even Homoeopaths, appreciated the significance of this TRUE principle of cure epitomized in a few words, and adhere to the recommended approach uncompromisingly. True, it is easier said than done, in a large number of cases, for vastly different reasons., Difficulties, however, cannot be allowed to obscure the demands of the ideal.
(EDITOR:Will the author please substantiate his criteria?)
Homoeopathic materia medica is unique in more ways than one: Paradoxically, it is rich as well as poor. Firstly , proving cannot be pushed to the extent of producing pathological ultimates. On the basis of the provings, remedies no known for a pathological condition, have been successfully used, so that a parallel accumulation of CLINICAL knowledge has been built up to manage almost all known disease. Secondly, in spite of the fact that there are so may well proved remedies that almost all medical challenges can be met, there are many less-understood remedies, because they are not well-proved, which poses a serious problem with regard to their proper employment. And, further a condition about which there is a paucity of successful clinical evidence calls for a great skill in prescribing: hypertension belongs to this last category.
Dr Phatak in his concise repertory lists 14 remedies, all carrying ONE mark, under the rubric BLOOD PRESSURE, HIGH (p 35). They are: Aur., Bar-c., Bar-m., Coff., Con., Crate, Glon., Iod., Lycps., strong-c., Sumb., Tab., Ver-v., and Visc.
Of the 95 remedies listed under Hypertension in the Synthetic Repertory (Vol 112, P 312), only 11 are common with Phataks list. They are:.
Aur, Bar-c., Bar-m., Coff., Glon, Iod, Stront-c, Sumb, Tb., Ver-v., Visc.
Only five of these carry two marks-Aur, Bar-c,. Stront-c, Sumb, Visc.
R Bhishambar Das (Select Your Remedy-P 238-40)devotes three pages to the subject, but only
four remedies are common with the above -Aur Bar-m., Glon., Ver-v., He recommends Lach as
the "head-remedy". which takes two marks in the SR list and does not appear in
Phataks. In my experience too, Lach appeared in quite a few cases. Since Lach is a very
well-known, well-understood remedy, even a novice cannot often miss it. Clarkes Prescriber
(B Jain Publishers, 1988, p 208) mentions only Aconite, Verat-v and Viscum-album.
Dr D C Das Guptas Therapeutic Hints (pp 49-50) recommends Acon, Bell, Gels, Glon, and adds Adonic v, Cactus-g and Verat-alb.
Verat few remedies emerge from the above sources, and of these, fewer and common to all. Thus, CLINICAL data on the subject is not much, except for SRs long list of 95 remedies.
A reference to Materia medicas seems to be more disappointing. Even Phatak does not often use more than disjoined phrases in his MM and that too not under all the drugs he lists in his own repertory.
Given below are Phataks words in his Materia Medica
- Bar-c Cardiac symptoms after suppressed footsweats or after masturbation. (p 92).
High Blood Pressure. (p 93). - Bar-mur It causes vascular degeneration causing HYPERTENSION when high systolic pressure, comparatively low diastolic pressure is present, with cerebral or cardiac symptoms (p 93).
- Coffea Sudden rise of blood pressure. (203)
- Crataegus High arterial tension. (p 218)
- Stroph Increasing the systole and diminishing the rapidity.. (p 564)
- Sumbul High blood pressure due to arterial sclerosis (p 577)
- Tabacum Coronary sclerosis and high tension.(p 582).
- Verat-v Reduces blood pressure. (p 614)
- Viscum-alb Low tension (p 622).
In this paltry evidence of HBP in Materia Medica, one often finds its association with Aneurysm, ARteriosclerosis and Gout. It is then either a part of the COMMON symptoms of the syndrome or a SIGNAL drawing attention to the syndrome or a SIGNAL drawing attention to the syndrome. It is found, as a SIGNAL, in renal, hepatic and other disorders too. Man is, unfortunately, more resourceful than the legendary ostrich which ducks its head into the sand. Man can put the signal itself off, so that is not there to see. From a Homoeopathic point of view, we are in that state with regard to Hypertension in which masters of Homoeopathy once found themselves when clinical data was yet to emerge. Our approach therefore has to be like theirs-PRESCRIBING ON THE TOTALITY.
There is also the question of BEING WITHIN NORMAL LIMITS. What is that? A friend of mine lives NORMALLY with very high BP. Twice in the last twenty years or more, his BP was brought to NORMAL by heavy dosage, and he was promptly converted into a vegetable. An intelligent person, an ex-judge, a good singer, and anon-stop talker like his BP figures CHEERFULLY(Lach again?) that THAT was his correct level of BP, not the NORMAL one THEY forced on him. Of course, he goes sick when his BP level shoots beyond HIS usual, like Hepar-Sulph which is too SOUR to take any more SOUR.
Then there was another spirited fellow I knew. He would take up fallen causes, but not like a trade-unionist, who contributes only to noise-pollution. He would demolish the adversarys edifice of arguments without the sound of a brick falling. Once it so happened that in his college staff-room a few colleagues ganged up against one, noisily. Although he was with the majority, he kept imploring them to desist from, what he thought, a futile altercation Suddenly, he lost his USUAL composure, took up the cudgels on behalf of the majority, and shouted the lone opponent down. After this episode,. he developed high blood pressure, vertigo and nausea, better lying still, worse sitting up. He was given given Staph 1M, two doses, twelve hour apart. That was all he needed, and that was about ten years ago.
Why staph, but? He was a highly emotional person, but non assertive as long as he could take It. He thinks he loves peace and harmony. Is he too timid to assert and therefore he is forced to love peace or to suffer inwardly? Maybe both! One anyway does lose ones poise at times. But even then a Staph may throw a thing in anger but not at the offender.
Anxiety, Stress, Worry, Suppressions (Physical Mental) may, increase blood pressure. One does not always know how to share, if possible, ones inner turmoil with another, nor does one always succeed even if one tried. The CAUSATIVE role of avoidable and unavoidable stress has been as old as man, although its impact on modern life has been heavy, subtle and insidious. The all-comprehensive Homoeopathic approach not only takes into account this factor, as all do, but is equipped with remedial measures to fight it.
Thus between the frightened Aconite and the neurasthenic Zincum, we have remedies that can apply to a vast number of different PASSING mental states or PERMANENT mental characteristics.
While Homoeopathy emphasises the MENTALS, the recent trend in overplaying them is disturbing. A child sucks his thumb, clings to the mother; an adult had disciplinarian parents and has lost all grit; another has a bad husband or a nagging or ailing or fastidious or...mother-in-law. Each theme is so developed in case-presentation that one feels one is listening to, or reading, a short story. The impression one gets is that one need not have many remedies around; one or two, such as Saccharum or Cobalt should be enough.
The fact is we have remedies to meet almost all life situations. Shock of a bad news is different from an emotional upset caused by unrequited love. One must learn to know or understand our remedies as best as one can, and this entails a strenuous, tenacious and unceasing struggle. Armed thus, one can deal with Hypertensive persons just as one deals with other types of patients.
