From Irrational To Rational Medicine
NATIONAL JOURNAL OF HOMOEOPATHY 2000 Jan / Feb VOL II NO 1.
Dr C S Sandhu
Truth or speculation? Combination or single remedy?
(Dabbapathy or Homoeopathy - Part III)
In the eighteenth century, Dr Samuel Hahnemann observed that nothing in the Universe was functioning on speculation, opinion, intuition or its own will, but on infallible fixed natural laws: eg the sun rises only in the east; night is never delayed. Moon performs its function with mathematical accuracy and so do the stars.
If this is the case, then how can human beings function without any infallible fixed laws of nature, be it eating, sleeping or taking medicine? Based on Lord Bacon's "inductive logic" of inquiry( a method of reasoning to draw a conclusion from particular facts (concluding on facts and not on speculations), Hahnemann observed during his investigation, the dynamisation of Cinchona produced its own kind of individual sickness in the healthy human being and cured permanently similar sickness, including chill, in a sick one. This was a fact perceived by him and based on facts. Dynamisation of Ipecac: produced its own individual sickness, including vomiting, in a healthy human being and cured similar individual sickness, including vomiting, in a sick individual. From such particular facts.
Dr Hahnemann came to the conclusion that there was a relation between dynamisation of drugs and dynamisation of sickness in the sick and this relationship was applicable to all sick people. This relation was formed by Nature and not based on speculation, opinion or intuition of any one individual. This was an infallible law of nature which held good so far as sickness and its cure was concerned. In 1796, he declared this as "Law of Similars". The science of healing began for the first time, in the history of human kind, on basis of the 'law' of healing, discarding speculations, or opinions of powerful persons, which were, which are and will remain biased and dangerous to the suffering humanity.
He discovered this truth and mentioned it in a book originally titled as Organon of rational art of healing and later, in 1810, changed to Organon of Medicine; wherein the law of Similars is stated in Aph 26 as follows:
"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". In the footnote, he gives many examples of working of dynamisation.
From the above, it is safe to conclude, that this Law of Similars works on a dynamic plane and not on any physical plane. Dynamisation of each and every individual drug is essentially needed to work out the individual dynamic effects on creative dynamic force of individual healthy human being. The fundamental causes of sickness and origin of 'human being as a whole' are based on dynamic plane and not on physical plane. He further investigated that the original natural dynamic sicknesses in the universe were only three. He named them Psora, Syphilis, and Sycosis. These predispose to sickness in their own kind of strange, rare and peculiar way. Each individual sickness, thus, needs similar dynamisation of individual drug creating similar symptoms for its permanent annihilation.
Combinations:Each of these i.e. Psora, Syphilis, or Sycosis possess their own entity and individuality. Again these conclusions are facts and not speculation or opinion. Strange, rare and peculiar phenomenon or combinations of two individual drugs, or two individual fundamental diseases, or two individual beings create a third unknown individuality. As such, combination of dynamisation of any two or more drugs, needs its own proving on the healthy human being to bring out its symptoms, its individuality and entity on dynamic plane for its judicious application on the sick as a whole. There cannot be any room for speculation or intuition. Dynamisation of a fundamental disease cannot be found out with ultra modern instruments. The sick have to be restored to health on basis of 'patient as a whole' on dynamic plane and is neither treated on nomenclature basis, nor as an organ or a part, but the sick as a whole.
Dr Samuel Hahnemann began to prepare dynamisation of individual materials or drugs by a method known as trituration and succussion. He used the preparation on himself to work out its dynamic affects. He named this process as "proving". Up to 1833 he proved 67 drugs and catalogued their effects in a book, Materia Medica Pura.
In 1833, 36 years after the birth of Homoeopathy, while Hahnemann was still in Cothen, Dr Julius Aegidi, then physician to princess Frederica of Prussia, proposed the idea of using two remedies in combination by olfaction and had some success. Hahnemann initially embraced the idea and talked to Boenninghausen; began experimenting briefly by combining two remedies (never three or more) administered by olfaction. He carried out these experiments between June and October 1833. He abandoned the experiments in 4-5 months as not successful. He wrote the following letter to Boenninghausen on 16th Oct 1833.
Cothen, October 16th, 1833
".... Your eloquence would have easily persuaded me, if I had been in your position, that is, if I had been as much convinced as you are from a large experience, of the possibility and even great utility of giving double remedies. But from many attempts of this kind only one or two have been successful, which is insufficient for the incontrovertible establishment of a new rule. I was therefore, too inexperienced in this practice to support it with full conviction. Consequently it required only a slight momentum to induce me to alter that passage in the new "Organon", that I concede the possibility of two well chosen remedies given together with advantage in some cases, but on the whole this seems to be very difficult and doubtful method. And in this way I believe I have done justice to truth on the one side and to my inner conviction on the other. I am sorry if I have receded too much from your wishes...."
2. On January 9th, 1834, Dr Hahnemann again wrote a letter to Dr Aegidi on Homoeopathic Polypharmacy, that should have a sobering effect on all of us. He stated:
Cothen, January 9th, 1834
"In my opinion you have proceeded somewhat too speedily in the matter of administering double remedies, since you are generally an impulsive man. I cannot and will not prevent you from talking about it in public; I don't myself.
"You presuppose that imitators could easily find the correct similimum in such case of illness, not only for one part of the symptoms but also the other part and in such a way that they could always achieve good results. Ha! If most Homoeopaths could or would discover only ONE remedy, exactly suitable in accurate similarity to the characteristic symptoms, we would gladly excuse them the necessity of finding the nearest suitable one.
On my part, I find the discovery of the right remedy, difficult and laborious in every case. Therefore, I do not see how they would hit upon the first, to say nothing of the second twin remedy so easily! Pardon me for being so incredulous in the matter. However, I leave it to you to write about it as you think fit, but I beg you to use on the Archive as both the Homoeopathic periodicals appear before the general public....it will be delight for the allopaths.
Samuel Hahnemann
3. 10 years before Hahnemann's death and prior to development of LM Potencies, Hahnemann, Boenninghausen and Aegidi all abandoned the use of double remedies after less than a year of experiments which proved that approach, to their satisfaction, to be ineffective and risky. Materia Medica Pura made reference only to 67 remedies (Hahnemann made reference to this fact in aphorism 162 of Organon of Medicine in 1833 stating "moderate number of medicines are exactly known as to their true, pure action"). The dilemma of the limited Materia Medica was certainly a driving force in his entertaining what he referred to as double-remedies, where each appeared to cover complimentary portions of the totality of symptoms. The problem was, it just did not work in practice. In 5th edition of Organon of Medicine (1833) Hahnemann cautioned against this practice in aphorism 273. Revised with next 10 years of experience, the 6th edition of Organon in 1843 stated as follows:
"In any case under treatment it is neither necessary nor permissible to administer more than one single, simple medicinal substance at a given time. It is inconceivable how the slightest doubt could exist as to whether it was more consistent with nature and more rational 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 Homoeopathy - the one true, simple and natural art of healing, to give the patient at one time two different medicinal substances.
