treating acute diseases

[elham]

Dear friends,

Recently I was asked to conduct a course on treating acute diseases. I thought I would write the outline of our discussions for the group. This is of course not a complete discourse on acute diseases it is just some pointers that might help us at times.

To avoid giving you a headache I will send the article in two parts.

Any suggestions or additions in better understanding this topic are welcome.

best regards

Elham

Treating acute diseases. Part 1

From a Homoeopathic point of view I can think of no better classification of acute diseases than the one made by Hahnemann.

Broadly speaking acute diseases can be classed under three groups those that appear individually those that appear sporadically and those that appear epidemically.

Before we study these topics seperately a few points regarding case taking in acute diseases need to be stressed. While treating acute diseases we only consider the symptoms that have appeared with the acute disease. Thus for example if a person has been very irritable all his life and during the sickness also he continues to be the same we do not consider that as a symtom. If a person has been very irritable and during the acute condition he becomes very mild then that is an important symptom. So what we look for in an acute disease is the changed mental state and all symptoms that have appeared during the acute disease. As a rule we should not mix the symptoms of acute disease with the chronic condition of the patient. This rule of course applies to purely acute diseases and not acute conditions that keep repeating themselves.

Some things to look for in an acute disease are:

1. The speed at which symptoms have appeared. For example aconite and Bell symptoms come on with great spped and great intensity. Bry and gels symptoms appear more gradually.

2. The mental state is very important or rather the changed mental state. Is the patient anxious for example Ars or aconite patients would have anxiety written all over their face. Other patients that might appear anxious include Rhus tux, Ipecac etc.

Another thing to look for is fear. The Ars patient would look frightened, aconite and cham may also be needed when the patient appears fearful.

Some remedies would like to have people around them these include Ars. Phos. Bism. silicea. Puls usually wants someone near her but at times during fever she may want just to be left alone. Others hate to be disturbed when sick, these include Bryonia, gels, Nux-v, Ant-c, sepia etc.

Some patients are terribly restless during acute diseases these include Arsenic, Rhustux, Eupatoreum, Cham, Acon etc.

Others are dull and listless such as Opium, puls(Though puls may have restlessness at times) , Arn, Bapt, sulph, acid phos etc.

Some patients become very irritable during acute diseases and they may need Nux, cham, Hep bry, coloc etc.

Some patients may weep and feel depressed and they may need puls, bell, caps etc.

Others may be found shrieking and they may need Cham. coloc, cactus, bell etc.

3. The third thing to look for is time. Time can be used in two ways, one is to ask when did the disease start and the other is what time is the disease at its peak. Some examples of remedies that have symptoms aggravated at special times include:

Midnight: Ars, Kali- ars, samb, spong etc.

12- 2.00 am Ars, Kali- ars, sulph, etc.

2-4: Kali carb, thuja, china, Kali bi etc

4-6 Nux, Puls, Nat-s, Kali-iod, Nat-s Stann, China, sulph etc.

10. am Nat-m, gels, R.T.

11 am nat-m, Sulph, gels, sepia etc

12.-1 Arg met etc

2.00 Puls

3.00 Ang, Bell, Thuja etc.

4.00 pm Lyco, Hell etc

5.00 pm Lyco, Puls, Chel

600 Nux, Puls, Phos.

9.00 pm Bryonia

Sunset to sunrise: Aur, Merc, Phyto, Syph etc

10.00 pm Chin-s

4. Thirst: A very important thing to look for is thirst.

If the patient is thirstless then he may need such remedies as Puls, Apis, gels, Ant-t, etc. Puls would have a dry moutth with thirstlessness similar to nux-mos (Very rarely bry).

Bry, phos, Eupatoreum, sulph, merc, nat-m, R.T. etc will usually be thirsty.

Ars, R.T. lyco etc. may have thirst for small quantities of water at short intrevals.

Bry, verat, phos Nat-m etc are not only thirsty but they need large quantities of water each time.

Some would prefer warm drinks such as Ars, chel, Hepar, sabad etc.

Others prefer cold drinks such as Puls Phos, verat, Acon etc.

5. Next come in the modalities.

A. If it is a pain - is it better by pressure such as we see in Colocynth, Bryonia, Mag-phos, Puls, Silicea, Arg-nit etc. Or worse from pressure such as we see in Apis, hepar, merc-c, etc. Some remedies can not have the part touched for example hepar, lach, bell, Chin, Cham, Kali-c etc. Remedies like china, lach, kali-c etc. can not tolerate touch though they don't mind hard pressure.

B. Relation to heat: Some remedies crave heat and are better by warm applications and by warmth in general such as Ars, Hepar, Kalmia, Nux. R.T. Sil, Dulc, etc. Others like cold applications and cold air such as Puls, Iod, Secale etc. Still others may like heat internally and cold externally such as lyco or cold internally and warmth externally such as Phos.

C. Covering: Some patients need to be completely covered such as Hep, R.T., Sil etc. They can not have even a hand or a foot uncovered without being aggravated. Others do not want covering suc as Apis, Iod, Lyco, Kali-s etc.

D. What position does the patient feel best. Is he better by motion as in R.T., Ferr., Puls, Lyco etc or worse from motion as in Bryonia, Nux, Sil, Chel etc. Is he better by lying down such as we see in Mang, Nux, Bry, Nat-m, and Calc. Or worse lying such as Kali-c, Ars, Dros, Hyos, Lyco etc. If better by lying down is it in one particular position or is he better lying down in any position.

E. Can any concomitant symptoms (for example headache with pain in back of Sil, pain in distant parts when coughing of caps.) or any concomitant modalities such as headache better urination of Gels and Sil be found.

6. Perspiration: This can be useful at times in acute diseases. Does the patient perspire a lot. Is he better after perspiration. Mrec, Sulph, Sep. etc perspire a lot but the patient is no better with the perspiration. On the other hand Gels Nat-m etc feel better after perspiation. Some patients such as Cham and Puls will have chill with perspiration. Others may have chill followed by perspiration.

7. Very rarely character of pains may be important : Are the pains burning as we see in Ars, Phos, sulph etc or drawing as we see in Am-mur, Rhus tux etc. or stitching as in Bry, Kali-c, etc. splinter like as in Hepar, Nit-ac, Argentum, etc..

8. Another thing to look for is the location of the complaint. For example if it is a sore throat is it on the right side as we see in Lyco, M.I.F., Bell etc or on the left as we see in Lach, M.I.R., Sabad, Sep etc. Does it alternate as in Lac-can or shift its position and wander.

9. The mouth and the tongue should be looked at. Are the lips cracked. Is the upper lip cracked or the lower or both. Are there vesicles around the mouth. Nat-m, Bry, Sep and Phos usually have cracked lips in acute diseases. Nat-m and R.T. usually have vesicles around mouth.

Is the tongue dry like Puls, bry etc. Is the mouth moist and is the tongue indented as we see in Merc. Are there fissures on the tongue. What is the colour of the tongue. Is it thick white as on Ant-c, puls and Ars. Is it mapped like Nat-m and Tarax. Is it dirty like chin or Nat-s. Is it yellow like in Chel and Nux-mos. Is the whole tongue covered or only a part of it. Phos has dryness only in the center of the tongue. It may also have a dark discoloration in the center of the tongue. Rhus tux has a triangular red tip, Kali-chlor may be white in the center and Caust on the sides, Verat-vir has a white discoloration with a red line right in the center, M.I.F. and Nat-p have a yellow base. Does the tongue tremble on protruding it as in gels and Lach etc.

10. Cause is very important specially in individualistic diseases and has been dealt in seperately.

-to be continued.
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[Julian Winston]

>

[snip the whole rest]

It seems OK in content, but sorely lacking in correct punctuation,
spelling, and consistency of remedy names.
Is this a rough in which these points can be overlooked?

I see lack of consistency in names. Rhus tox (Rhustux on one
occasion!) is abbreviated to "R.T." and names are sometimes
capitalized and sometimes not.

In general, I think that anything that goes to a beginning group
should have all the remedy names fully spelled out to get the group
acquainted with the homeopathic terminology. In work I have done I
usually in the first instance spell it out (Rhus toxicodendron) and
then say "often shortened to 'Rhus tox'."
Similarly, when there are so many Arsenicums out there, I tend to use
"Arsenicum album" and note that there are many others and "Arsenicum"
alone usually refers to the "album".

If you'd like me to do a grammar and punctuation edit, I'd be glad to help.

JW

[WilsonHomeopaths]

when teaching, my explanation of an acute illness is, a conditon which is
resolved by recovery or death.
sal
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