Organon 6:5

[Soroush Ebrahimi]

Useful to the physician in assisting him to cure are the particulars of the most probable exciting cause of the acute disease, as also the most significant points in the whole history of the chronic disease, to enable him to discover its fundamental cause, which is generally due to a chronic miasm.

In these investigations, the ascertainable physical constitution of the patient (especially when the disease is chronic), his moral and intellectual character, his occupation, mode of living and habits, his social and domestic relations, his age, sexual function, etc., are to be taken into consideration.

Rgds
Soroush

[Rosemary C. Hyde, Ph.D.]

I had never focused on the distinction and possible meanings of "exciting cause" and "fundamental cause."
Am I correct in interpreting these terms as follows?:
Exciting cause = what happened fairly immediately before the symptoms began? Can "exciting cause" also = a modality after which a symptom generally manifests (e.g. cold damp weather)?
Fundamental cause= the miasmatic disposition manifested in the totality of the person? Or can the fundamental cause also be something in the person's distant past such as sexual abuse in early childhood?
I've always thought in terms of "cause" and "miasm." And I'm wondering if this aphorism should lead me to refine the structure of my casetaking to also look for possible multiple causes, proximate and distant.
There's no question but that knowing the "cause" (a cause, at least) of a symptom picture helps dramatically in finding the simillimum.
Rosemary

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[Soroush Ebrahimi]

Dear Rosemary
We have three causes:
- Fundamental
- Exciting
- Maintaining
Fundamental refers to our 'miasms' (in the new terminology) basically the after effects of various battles with micro-organisms which make us susceptible.
Exciting can be any event which when you do a time line of the patient's case it usually leads you to it.
Like 'never been well since ....'
Or events such as loss, anger, etc - Even happiness!
These open up rubrics such as Ailments from ....
Maintaining - these are related to mode of living covering accommodation, food, quality of air etc.
(If you live in a damp cellar, the chances of your chest complaint getting better is next to nothing!)
[That is why I try to find out for example if the patient takes any aspartame - it is not only exciting, it is maintaining too!]
Hope this is helpful.
I am glad that the re-visit of the Organon has immediately started to pay dividends.

Rgds
Soroush
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[Rosemary C. Hyde, Ph.D.]

Thanks, Soroush.
So basically what I've been doing is indeed consonant with what Hahnemann recommended. The terminology in the aphorism in this translation just made me wonder about other possible interpretations. Rosemary

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