THE HOMOEOPATH
Spring 2000

Mike Bridger writes a comprehensive article on Kali-carb. Main features:

1. Kali-carb often has paucity of symptoms.
   
   
2. Kali-carb are people who put up with complaints and incompetence, but cannot rectify it - such as a railway ticket official or a person working under an incompetent boss.
   
   
3. Their resignation is evident from: Their difficulty in recovering from acute illness - too weak and exhausted to throw off the acute ailment.
   Hopeless and depressed - often seen after flue, bronchitis and pneumonia.
   Resigned to their fate - sticks to a hateful job, because of family responsibilities.
   
   
4. Kali-carb persons are notoriously possessive even of things they do not like; Hang on to their husbands even when they positively loathe them.
   
   
5. They worry about money, poverty and future.
   
   
6. Stoicism in face of difficult circumstances. Kali-carb is controlled and even rigid in their aversion to changing things, however unpleasant things may be.
   
   
7. Indifference, either real or affected. If the latter, they pretend to be unconcerned by work, family and health, though internally extremely anxious.
   
   
8. They have severe mood swings before menstruation - extremely irritable, fearful of being alone; death and the future; at this stage it can be confused with Phos and Ars-alb. They do not think that anyone can make them well. They cannot explain what is wrong with them and even if they could, they do not bother, because what is the point?
   
   
9. Kali-carb is a dutiful remedy and their sense of duty is not quite the same as other remedies like Carcinosin. It is more in doing what has to be done, especially related to family matters.
   
   
10. Both Kali-carb and Lyco are possessive, overly mentalised and miserly. While Lyco likes to establish his innate superiority and would try to control the interview, Kali-carb tries to control himself. Like Lyco, Kali-carb is a liver remedy; both are flatulent and feel full and distended after eating a little. The time of aggravation is of course, very different.
    
    
11. It is a colic remedy par excellence; helps when Colocynthis fails.
    
    
12. In asthma, when Arsenicum does not help and the patient bends double to get relief but does not get relief, give Kali-carb
    
    
13. It is a very difficult remedy to understand in isolation and more difficult to see in the clinic. Whether it is an apparently Arsenicum case of asthma, an apparently colic case of Colocynthis, an apparent Bryonia case of pleurisy, when you find that these remedies do nothing, Kali-carb can save the day. It can be confused with Natrum-mur. The author says that he used this remedy in arthritis, with pain in the small of the back as a concomitant. Many a time he says it prevented hip replacements or at least prolonged the inevitable, with the characteristic symptom of sharp pain extending down the leg, especially the Rt leg.

Report on a seminar on OTHER CASES OF SERIOUS PATHOLOGY conducted in Feb 2000 at London by Dr A U Ramakrishnan, who normally talks and specializes in cancer. He covered, with illustrations, cases of multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, convulsions and epilepsy, Meningitis and Encephalitis, congenital Hydrocephalus, intracranial tumours, Alzheimer's disease, Bell's palsy, heart disease, hypercholesterolaemia, angina pectoris, diabetic nephropathy, retinopathy and neuropathy. He indicated various remedies used; some of the case illustrations are given under each head, which makes the report a valuable guide for learning. For instance in Multiple Sclerosis, the most useful remedies are Aconite, Bell, Causticum, Conium, Carcinosin and Plumbum. Aconite and Bell give excellent pain relief and can be used for the diplopia at the very onset of the condition (days one to three.) It should be used in a fresh case for the first few days of symptoms. If a constitutional remedy picture is clear, it should be given; otherwise choose between Conium, Causticum and Plumbum. Dr Ramakrishnan considers Carcinosin a breakthrough remedy. He often uses it when the indicated remedy works only partially. Carcinosin facilitates the action of the indicated remedy. In the acute stage, you get rapid improvement in symptoms since cause is inflammation. Recent plaques can disappear with the correct homoeopathic remedy; hence early treatment of MS is desirable.

A case of a 23 yr old woman, first seen in June 95. Scanning showed multiple plaques. The first symptom was transient diplopia, then tingling in the Rt thigh and paraesthesiae. Treatment: Bell 200 four times a day for 3 days followed by Causticum 200 weekly for four weeks. Dr Ramakrishnan advises that the switch from acute to chronic should be carried out QUICKLY, as soon as the acute remedy stabilizes the case. In three months this patient was asymptomatic and scanning showed absence of plaques. She was well on last FU in 1998. (Editor corroborates this speed of switch, as the most important innovation emphasized in the research conducted in the paediatric hospital of Dr Ram Subramanium of ICR, at Mulund)

Maurizio Italiano discussed a case of Lapis-albus. He says this remedy should be seriously considered in all cases when the patient reminds you of Silicea or Calc-carb but has more symptoms of enlargements; or even when considering Sanicula-aqua. In Lapis-alb there is much more irritability. In these cases there is ravenous appetite with a tendency to obesity.

AN UNUSUAL CASE of a 5-month-old girl, who vomited and coughed profusely and constantly, is discussed. Diagnosed as oesophageal dysmotility and chronic reflux, the baby had to be tube-fed round the clock. Recalling a similar case treated by another colleague with Strychnine, Dr Sally Kent consulted Boericke's Material Medica and came across a one line description of an allied remedy Strychninum-et-ferrum-cit for chlorotic and paralytic conditions; dyspepsia with vomiting of ingesta. These symptoms fully matched with those of the child; this remedy was prescribed in 6c twice daily. After one month the baby was taking milk from the bottle, after two months could take three solid feeds a day and with daily repetition, was able to get over all her problems.

A LONG STANDING CASE of hay fever in a male was cured with Aurum-muriaticum-natronatum. The symptoms of ambition, pride, fear of failure, inability to leave behind work at the office and depression pointed to Aurum-met; tendency to brood, to persevere and dwell on the past, as well as the reserved, sentimental nature, quick to take offence pointed to Natrum-mur. Other typical traits pointing to Aur-mur-natr: too yielding, wanting to please others, difficulty in handling adversity, his parents' frequent quarrels, strong craving for sweets and chilly. Aur-m-n in increasing potency over a 4-year period considerably reduced the hay fever attacks by 70-80 %.

A CASE OF HEAVY BLEEDING during pregnancy was treated with Adrenaline-chloride followed by Sepia.

Amir Cassum attempts to refute the negative statements made about Homoeopathy by so-called modern scientists. Homoeopathy, he says, represents a new paradigm, which came about not by process of addition to the then existing scientific knowledge, but as a revolutionary break from it. It was exactly opposite to the then current science and the idea that increasing the dilution coupled with succussions increased the efficacy of the medicine instead of decreasing it, particularly after a stage when no molecule of the medicine could be physically seen. This was the revolutionary departure. He says that history has proved that there is not a single scientific rule, which has remained inviolable and not yielded to continuing research and discoveries. He argues that it is not necessary for Homoeopaths to accept the methodological and straightjacket approaches of modern science to prove the principles of Homoeopathy.
Book reviews and interviews form the rest of the issue.

THE HOMOEOPATH
Autumn 2001, No 83

A report on a seminar by Dr Farokh Master on management of acute diseases during the treatment of chronic diseases. He said that when an acute condition develops in a chronic case under treatment, one should not be afraid to prescribe the indicated remedy if the picture is clear; if the picture is not clear, giving an acute remedy will be dangerous as the patient may deteriorate. If the acute disease is treated adequately with the indicated remedy, the acute symptomatology disappears and the constitutional symptoms become clear on which the constitutional medicine can be prescribed. The prescription of the constitutional medicine in the prodromal phase of an acute disease prevents it from developing. He gave tips on the use of nosodes when symptom picture is not very clear.

Tips: Staphylococcinum in myocardial infarction
Bacillus No7 in cardiac arrest
Streptococus-hemolyticus in acute endocarditis
Paratyphoidinum-b in acute gastro-enteritis
Secale-cor in acute haemorrhages
The seminar report contains a discussion of four cases presented. One cases follows.

Case: A young boy afflicted with Myelodysplastic syndrome, characterized by hypercellular bone marrow and ineffective haemopoiesis. The white cell count is very low and blood film shows abnormal neutrophils. As a result, the boy was extremely susceptible to infection. He was born five weeks premature and at 7 months developed pneumonia; was on antibiotics and become deaf. He has had several blood transfusions and developed a large liver abscess. At that stage the mother opted for homoeopathic treatment.

By nature the boy was sweet, affectionate, empathetic and fastidious- must wear matching clothes; must decide what rest of the family should wear. The dinner table should be cleaned immediately after each meal and so on. Likes salty and pungent food and crazy for chicken. He has several neavi on the body especially on abdomen; emaciated extremities. The mother said that during that pregnancy she was stressed due to hostility and jealousy of her colleagues at work due to her promotion. She had to do extra work to compensate for their non-cooperation. The child was prescribed Carcinocin under which he was doing well.

Chlamydia- Trachomatis: Two interesting articles on Chlamydia- trachomatis, which is an intra-cellular parasite responsible for conjunctivitis, pneumonia and Genito-urinary infections. It is spread by anal or vaginal intercourse. Or due to impaired functioning of the immune system from suppression. In UK the incidence of non-specific urethritis is attributable to this parasite in 70% of cases. It is noticed that many sexually active women have Chlamydia infection. It has not received the attention it deserves. In a recent press report in UK it is stated that Chlamydia is a disease and causes silent, devastating damage that can go unnoticed for years. Long term effects of the infection in females include pelvic inflammatory disease, increased risk of ectopic pregnancy, transmission of bacteria to the baby in childbirth leading to conjunctivitis or pneumonia, increased risk of pre-term delivery and lower average birth weight, increased risk of miscarriage and enhanced risk of acquiring HIV. For males the long-term effects include epididymitis, sterility and urinary tract complications. In one case a woman suspected to have this infection, had seven miscarriages and three ectopic pregnancies.

But she was reluctant to undertake a test for the same as she was embarrassed. It is reported that despite such serious effects arising from this infection, most people do not know about it or suspect that they have it, as it is hidden. In her article Linda Kenyon says that the nosode prepared from out of this bacterium Chlamydia has these key symptoms: unclear remedy picture; anti-chlamydial titre higher than 1/0; unbearable itching in the genital area; sterility; bone disorders; cancer; history of harmone treatment; allergies; conjunctivitis etc. It is sycotic miasm. She says that so far there is no clear picture of the remedy from clinical experience. A case where this nosode was very curative in the case of a woman, who had a history of thrush, infertility, cervical erosion, cervical cysts, uterine fibroids, increased menstrual pains, varicose veins endometriosis etc is discussed. There is an article on the proving of the nosode.

There is a lot of interest these days for Chinese medicine, Feng Shui, Chinese astrology etc. Two articles on Chinese medicine, one for increasing the cure rates with Chinese meridian system along with homoeopathy and on method of treatment of children’s diseases under the Chinese medicine with tips presented. Jude Dawson says that finding the remedy in many cases can be straight forward if one concentrates on good case taking and finds the remedy on the totality of the case. She discusses in detail a case of 54 year old woman who suffered form homesickness, tiredness and disappointments from expectations of her daughter, inability to relate to people and communicate in the new place to which she had to shift. The remedy was Phos-acid.

In an article on the developments in the Homoeopathic front in France the author, Jennie Taylor says that she came across TWO TIPS: One drop of lemon juice in each eye twice a week for curing cataracts and Mica 9 C tds as a near specific for vitiligo. (any takers?) Book reviews and two general articles on why Hahnemann chose the word Homoeopathy and how he built up his Materia Medica form the rest of the issue.

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