Rheumatology : Some Case Reports
NATIONAL JOURNAL OF HOMOEOPATHY 1997 Sep / Oct VOL 5 NO 5.
Dr K P S Dhama
Dr [Mrs] Suman Dhama
'Ana / Tub-k / Syph
Nature demands that for a seed to flower, a suitable soil is required. So too, for disease.. Kent rightly says: "Susceptibility is prior to all contagion." The original idiosyncrasy is really the basis for all disease and throughout life it will express itself by various pathological manifestations. One can find its exact image of the drug, in the symptoms which it exteriorizes from time to time. Homoeopathic treats the sick as a whole, along with his general as well as focal medical problems.Each case needs full attention, up to perception of his sickness. As such while treating any case of so-called Rheumatic complaints, we have to treat the 'sick as a whole'.
We have satisfactorily treated many cases of so-called Rheumatism and Arthritis, diagnosed in leading hospitals in Delhi,. From this we are giving three case reports, to show the efficacy of Homoeopathy in treating the sequel of underlying chronic diseases [miasms] which produces pathology like rheumatic arthritis etc.
Case : 1
Mr C, aged 46 yr, a well known, honest police officer, and unmarried [he took a decision not to marry and had been living a simple life in real sense], suffered fror so-called Osteoarthritis. He was diagnosed and treated at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, for three months but his condition deteriorated day by day and deformities started in multiple joints. This was his state when he came to our clinic on 19/7/86
His complaints started with a mild backache in Feb 1986 which spread to the waist [L] side; worse morning. It was followed by numbness in the [L] leg and occasional mild pain in the calf region, the upper portion of foot, [L] as well as [R], noticed only while walking. Numbness in the fingers of the [R] hand. Sudden pain in the smaller joints of a momentary duration. It was felt only after keeping the hand in a state of rest for a few minutes. Burning sensation in the thighs [outer side], mostly [R] side in sitting posture after a little walk. Slight stiffness and pain in the waist. But he did not feel any discomfort or pain, while lost in his work. He used to work almost 18 hrs a day.
He noticed numbness in 1971 after returning from a trip of European countries, where he walked a lot, missed regular meals and exposed himself to damp and cold. He took allopathic medicine [Neurobion injections, 5 injections twice a year till 1983, coinciding it with change of weather], as advised by his physician. He used to love the rainy season and loved getting wet..
Past History: Malnutrition in childhood; typhoid fever in 1956; suffered from minor thyroid trouble in 1977 and was put on Eltroxin [5 mg] once daily; Malaria in 1982. He gave up Eltroxin in 1983 and got himself checked for thyroid problems at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi in 1986. Thyroid was found normal.
Family History: Father died during partition in 1947, when the patient was only 7 yrs old. Mother [61] has goitre.
We found the following additional symptoms:
1] prostration of mind, worse while reading
2] sadness
3] anxious dreams
4] remorse
5] Air open, seashore amel.
6] Aversion to sweets
7] desires warm drinks and food, coffee, saltish preparations
8] industrious
9] occupation ameliorates
10] obstinate
11] sensitive
12] lack of self -confidence.
In this case the symptoms of sadness and remorse were not due to disease, as he was an honest and hard working individual who always took life in a positive sense; but he was unable to explain these symptoms further. Generally open and seashore air aggravates the pains of rheumatic origin but in this case these modalities ameliorated the complaints. A sick person suffering from rheumatic/arthritic pain does not want to do any work because of pain whereas in this case the 'sick' is an industrious man and feels no problem while lost in his work. The other symptoms pertain to the disease and thus are common symptoms and not mportant from the prescrioption point ov view..
On the basis of above, we prescribed him one dose of Aurum- met 200 on 19/7/86 followed by placebo. He felt better but had a relapse of pain and stiffness, worse morning. We gave him Aur- met 1M /1 dose on 19/8/86 followed by placebo . He told us that he was 60-70% better. On 23/10/86, though he was much better, he informed us that he wanted to leave his job as he thought that he was not doing justice to it.
Remembering the observation made by Dr William Boyd in the preface to "Text book of Pathology" that disease in a human is never exactly the same as disease in the experimental animal, for in man the emotions come into play. It may be the man or woman rather than the disease that needs to be treated. There is always the psyche to be considered as well as the soma.". As such, mental symptoms of the 'sick' should be given preference.
Although he was far better as far as his arthritic complaints were concerned yet the symptoms were flowing in the wrong direction from outer to inner as a result of which lack of self confidence became very prominent and he wanted to leave his job. This was not a healthy sign.
