aphorism 42 etc./Joy

[David Little]

At 08:53 AM 6/13/2002 +0000, you wrote:

Dear Joy,

Acute and chronic diseases tend to repel (Org. aph. 36) or suspend one
other (Org. aph. 38) but do not form complex diseases. Kent wrote about
this in his writings and referred directly to the Organon. During a true
acute crisis the acute symptoms will repress the symptoms of the chronic
diseases. This has nothing to do with complex disorders where two chronic
miasms of nearly equal strength are active in the areas of the organism for
which they have an affinity (Org aph. 40). We see these acute and chronic
layers often.

Some so-called acute diseases, however, are only an intensification of
the chronic diseases not a true change in symptoms. In this case the remedy
for crisis-like acerbation and the chronic state are the same. For example,
a Pulsatilla patient may come with a acute-like ear discharge of yellow
creamy color, etc.. This is not a true change in symptoms. If the same
patient, however, comes with completely new symptoms like a Hellebores
seizure and the chronic symptoms are repressed they must be treated by the
exciting cause and active acute symptoms. After this the essential chronic
symptoms will arise.
True complex diseases only happens when two or three chronic infectious
miasms are active at the same time (aphorism 40). By miasms Hahnemann means
active psoric infection caused by mites, bacteria, fungi or herpes,
gonorrheal sycosis and syphilis. He is not speaking of miasms as an
inherited predisposition. These are real infectious chronic diseases spread
by contact from person to person. These people really had skin infections,
the gonorrheal discharges from the penis and vagina, and ulcerative
chancres! Most modern homoeopaths do not treat active venereal diseases
like gonorrhea and syphilis but Hahnemann did. I have seen this in the
cases in the Paris casebooks. If you worked in a front-line inner city VD
clinic and prescribed homoeopathic remedies then you would be treating the
same cases he was discussing in these aphorisms.

Under these conditions Hahnemann suggested to treat the strongest miasm
first (A). When it became weakened the next strongest miasm will become
more active. Then he would treat this miasm (B). When the symptoms of this
second miasm was weakened the remaining symptoms of the previous miasm
would become active again he would treat he would treat it (A). If there
was a third miasms of nearly equal strength that became active he would
treat it (C). Under these conditions Hahnemann would alternate two or even
three anti-miasmatic remedies by the symptoms over a longer period of time.
This is when the theory of layers (aphorism 38) and complex disease
(aphorism 40) come together because they are so closely related which one
transforms into the other depending on the dynamics. This is discussed in
the Chronic Diseases. Please see my post "Treatment of Chronic
Diseases/Christina" for more details. These two posts are closely
interrelated.

Now to answer the second question. Hahnemann was the beginning of
homoeopathy - not the end. As Hering said, we must all go further in the
practice of Homeopathy than Hahnemann while remaining true to the
principles he introduced. Since Hahnemann's time we have expanded the
materia medica greatly and discovered that there are many deep acting
multi-miasmatic remedies. These remedies have the power to treat more than
one miasm. This is something Hahnemann did not know. These remedies work
very well in complex miasms, especially those that are based on heredity.
We have ample cases that show that one deep acting anti-miasmatic remedy
can cure more than one miasm. Sometimes, one remedy will removed a number
of layers of miasms and complex diseases as the timeline reverses during
cure. This can only done when one such multi-miasmatic remedy fits all the
characteristic symptoms and time and circumstances.

Nevertheless, there are times where one must treat the active miasmatic
symptoms first. This is more common in acquired active miasms where the
infections are present. Much depends on the nature of the symptoms and the
types of remedies to which they point. Sometimes the characteristic
symptoms of a prominent miasm points to one remedy and the symptoms of the
less active miasms do not., At this time, one needs to address each miasm
in the order of its strengths. When the symptoms of the first miasm are
weakened the symptoms of the next strongest miasms will developing pointing
to its remedy.

So in today's homeopathy we have two approaches to complex miasms. The
first is treating the most active miasm first and then following the way in
which the layers of a complex disease unfolds. The second is the use of
multi-miasmatic remedies that suit all the symptoms. So we go by the time,
circumstances and symptoms. For example, I once had a case where the
patient was deeply affected by inherited syphilitic miasm and had acquired
sycosis through infection and suppression of a gonorrheal discharge. Both
miasmic syndrome where active at the same time but the sycosis was a bit
stronger. I treated him with Sulphur by the symptoms and it reinstated the
drip and then cured his suppressed gonorrhea. This is good old fashioned
homoeopathy.

The Sulphur did not affect his syphilitic miasm but it radically cured
his sycosis. This was a case of complex diseases that needed more than one
remedy. Then the inherited syphilis was next in line for treatment. The
second method is treating the complex miasms with remedies that have
multi-miasmatic powers. For example, I once had a patient who had inherited
sycosis, active TB miasm, and breast cancer that were all active at the
same time. I cured all these disease states with a few doses of Lachesis
over a period of months. In this case there was no need to treat the
complex disorder in layers.

There are few contemporary homoeopaths with experience in treating
active infectious miasms with homoeopathy. Few have ever reinstated a
suppressed gonorrheal discharge these days but the old homoeopaths did it
quite often. Few have treated active TB either. To do this one must
understand the original miasm theory and know how to apply it in a modern
clinic. Today we tend to speak of miasms as anything but chronic infectious
disease processes. Paris of the 1830s and 1840s was overwhelmed with the
soft tissue infections of psora, TB, gonorrhea and syphilis. Hahnemann saw
such cases daily.

Sincerely, David Little
---------------
"It is the life-force which cures diseases because a dead man needs no more
medicines."

Samuel Hahnemann

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David Little © 2000