Basic Principles in Treatment of Chronic Diseases (Combined Article)
Posted: Tue May 02, 2006 12:57 pm
Basic Principles in Treatment of Chronic Diseases
By Ardavan Shahrdar 2006
In this article, I am going to explain the basic principles in curing the chronic conditions. What is going to be discussed is actually the general principle in formation of chronic patterns and not just what is usually discussed in homeopathy. You will later see that the only basic law in homeopathy is 'Similia Similibus Curentur' and all which is discussed here is to guarantee the application of this law. This will be the basis for evaluation of the basic concepts of many different schools of homeopathy.
When a stressor acts on an organism, 3 events may happen.
1. Adaptation
2. Formation of defense mechanisms.
3. Death
In the first type of reaction, the organism have the power and knowledge of adaptation and returns to its healthy equilibrium, homeostasis. This may happen within seconds to few days.
In the 'third' event, the disturbance is so severe that the organism cannot perform any adaptive responses and dies.
If the stress is strong or partially known (psychologically, immunologically,…) to the organism but not to the degree that causes death, it begins to use its defense mechanisms. Defense mechanisms are actually palliative tools and do not result in cure. They can be mental (formation of obsessions, phobias, projections, reaction formations….) or physical in nature (granulations, sclerosis, indurations,….)
Defense mechanisms change the acute pattern of the original disturbed state to a chronic pattern. The original state actually persists in the mental and physical subconscious plane of the patient and, second by second, the organism pushes down the original state by maintaining the defense mechanisms. Always behind a chronic pattern is an acute state.
This repressed original state shows itself in acute flare-ups in chronic patients. Whenever there is a strong stress on the organism, the organism may become confused and failure of sustaining the defense mechanisms results in uncovering the original acute state what is called acute flare-ups.
Flare-ups are similar to the original state and are good indicators for understanding the original state hidden in the patient. Flare-ups may eventually lead to death of the patient in process of ageing or any conditions in which the imperfect adaptive responses cannot act. Actually the second type reaction changes to the third type.
Defense mechanisms may also lead to the death of the patient. The imperfect adaptation of defense mechanisms may result in severe structural changes which themselves weaken the adaptive force of the organism.
The organism is continuously escaping from the original state as it has the memory of the painful aspect of the original experience. But, if we push the organism to a similar original state without causing a shock, the sound adaptation mechanisms will begin and lead to complete adaptation and cure. This is what happens in real homeopathic treatment or deep psychoanalysis.
So chronic diseases are actually manifestations of persistent reaction of an organism to the underlying hidden acute original state and cure follows the activation of sound adaptive mechanisms (type 1) against the acute original state.
This is true both in psychological and biological stresses. Acute infectious states are examples of biological stresses. When Hahnemann, in treating the patients with history of Syphilis, prescribes Mercurius or its derivatives, he is actually prescribing on the basis of the primary stage of syphilis, Chancre disease. The 'dynamic' aspects within the chronic picture, if carefully observed, reflect the thematic components of the original state but usually with the problem of 'paucity of symptoms'. Knowing the symptoms of original state which is actually 'present' and is the target of the casetaking for choosing the simillimum, completes the image.
When the original state is infectious (miasmatic) in nature, the flare-ups may even appear as sporadic infectious states either because of uncovering of the original state or because of the formation of a specific susceptibility for a super-infection.
Recent researches on the link between chronic conditions and viral infections clearly show how an original infectious state leads to chronic patterns. If you study this link in a phenomenological way, you will be amazed about the clear qualitative and thematic link between the secondary manifestations of these chronic aspects and the primary infection. For example, in chronic fatigue syndrome (some types), Hodgkin's lymphoma, nasopharyngeal carcinoma,… which are related to EBV infection, you clearly see the thematic link of the dynamic picture of the so-called conditions with the primary infection of EBV infectious mononucleosis. In these patients, the prescription should be based on the primary infection which is the original state as defined above (miasmatic prescription).
When a second stress of different nature is added to a chronic patient, two events may happen. The second stress may superimpose a different original state which may also lead to an independent chronic dynamic pattern. Or, it may just act as a common stressor and result in an acute flare-up or exacerbation of the underlying original malady leading to acceleration of the existing chronic disease. That's why, the state which is revealed after cessation of acute infectious states (acute miasms) is also helpful to know about the underlying original state. Sporadic infections, as mentioned above, are themselves great indicators to the original infection.
In summary, an imperfect adaptation results in chronic patterns and cure follows activation of perfect adaptation against the original hidden state. Usually in chronic progressive conditions, this original state is an infectious state. The original infection may not be found in the personal history of the patient and may be hereditary in nature. So sometimes the original state found in personal history is actually the 'first flare-up'. Hopefully this error does not lead to mistakes in case analysis as the qualities of the first flare-up and the real original state transferred from the parents are the same. In a pragmatic way of speaking the term 'original' here is termed qualitatively.
To summarize, chronic diseases are actually the persistent reaction of organism to an unresolved original state by defense mechanisms. The organism which is unable to adapt completely has chosen defense mechanisms which are unable to clear the condition. The sum of defense mechanisms and the minimal dynamic symptoms related to the original state constitute the picture of chronic disease.
Defense mechanisms may be also provoked during provings. If the stress of the proving itself is severe, the organism may use secondary defense mechanisms which are somehow related to the primary action of the remedy but are not considered as primary actions. The best homeopathic treatment in chronic diseases follows prescription of the simillimum based on similarity of pure remedy symptoms (related to its primary action) and the pure symptoms of the patient (related to the original state symptoms). Some may say that this original state is related to the past but this is not true. The original state is always present but the picture is persistently, second by second, distorted by defense mechanisms.
Here you see that not everything which is studied in the provings is a pure symptom and not everything which is observed in the patient is a reliable sign or symptom to be used for choosing the simillimum. Throughout history of homeopathy, those systems of analysis which were somehow finding a way to use these pure features were able to increase the efficacy of homeopathic treatments.
The problem is that it is not always easy to find the pure picture related to its original underlying state in the patient. In the chronic diseases, especially those with a hereditary nature, the features related to defense mechanisms are dominant features in the patient and mask the original symptoms.
There are two ways to unmask the original state 'phenomenological study' of patient's personal and family history and the 'epidemic study' of natural diseases.
In phenomenological study of patient's personal and family history we should pay attention to the following features:
1. How did the chronic pattern begin? What was the acute-like original state preceding the formation of chronic pattern?
2. What is the quality of sporadic acute diseases in the history of the patient?
3. What is the quality of the flare-ups that seem to be related to the original state?
4. What are the similarities between patient's and his parents, brothers, sisters dynamic aspects?
All of these data should be consistent with the partial dynamic symptoms of the patient that escape from the defense mechanisms in the chronic picture. You should build the pictures like a puzzle. Concomitant features help us to understand the hidden relationships in unobvious similarities between related flare-ups. Acute sporadic (not epidemic) infectious diseases also reflect the quality of the original state as they are based on the specific susceptibility created by the underlying miasm their dynamic qualities are the same.
Here you see that 'totality of symptoms' does not simply mean quantitative sum of all the symptoms and signs of the patient in a basket! Actually the totality of the symptoms of the original underlying state should be considered. This is actually 'what is to be cured in diseases' as stated by Hahnemann.
In complicated cases, there may be more than one chronic pattern related to different original states. In these cases, all 4 items mentioned above should be considered separately for each dynamic aspect. Considering the differences in quality of flare-ups and the present dynamic features helps us to differentiate between different dynamic patterns. Later in next articles you will clearly see these differentiations in the treatment of multimiasmatic cases.
Till now, I have discussed the importance of unmasking the original state in the process of case analysis. You should find out the quality of the underlying original state. The patient is persistently reacting to the original state to which he/she was once unable to adapt. Actually the original state is not a state related to the past. It is always present in the patient even if the first primary infection or first flare-up happened years ago. It is like a dynamic state in the mental and physical semiconscious and subconscious level of the patient. When the patient was once infected with Syphilis, the dynamic fresh primary state of the patient is always present in the patient. We should not be distracted from this fresh primary picture by all the manifestations resulted from the defense mechanisms themselves. It is always the primary state of Syphilis which should be considered as the target of simillimum. If you cure the present underlying state, there is no need for
such an ugly building to be built on the surface.
In a mental example it is easier to get the concept. The state induced in a patient following sexual abuse in childhood, may persist throughout the whole life of the patient. The patient may react to the underlying torture by developing different type of reactions and defense mechanisms like hatred of men, floating anxiety, obsessive thoughts about dirt, hypochondriasis,….. The patient may have forgotten about the painful aspect of the original state (state following the sexual abuse) or she may have even forgotten the whole story (denial). But she is actually suffering from that original state inside herself. If you overcome the defense mechanisms and push the patient toward the original state but not causing a shock and help the patient to feel the quality of the original state again, sound adaptation begins and the painful state fades away and there is no need for such superficial manifestations. In re-experiencing the quality of the original state, the type 2
mechanisms (as mentioned in the first article) change to type 1.
The same is true regarding infectious states which are the most important states leading to chronic diseases. If you push the patient to re-experience the quality of the pure dynamic aspect of the original infectious disease, the patient will adapt to what he was once unable to adapt. Medicinal diseases induced by remedies are great tools for inducing a dynamic state similar to the original state Similia Simillibus Curentur!
Above, I mentioned that one of the ways you can unmask the original state in your case analysis, is to study the beginning of the chronic pattern, the preceding states, quality of the sporadic acute diseases of the patient, the flare-ups and the family story. Another important tool is using the data of epidemic analysis of natural diseases the infectious states.
In most of the chronic patients, the underlying original state is an infectious state. Even the cases in which the causation seems to be a mental stress, the considered original state is actually the first flare-up of a latent infectious state. The quality of the first flare-up and the original state are actually the same, so in case of presence adequate peculiar symptoms in the first flare-up, the simillimum chosen is actually the main simillimum simillimum for the infectious state. To know the type of this underlying infectious state, the knowledge of infectious diseases is necessary. In the case in which the primary infectious state of the patient is not clear (being unremembered or hereditary and latent), if you find out the type of the underlying infectious disease, you can simply prescribe according to the primary state of that infectious disease.
Hahnemann was also trying to do this according to the knowledge of infectious diseases in his time. When he talks about prescription of Thuja and Nit-ac in treatment of Sycosis, he actually prescribes according to the primary state of Sycosis (co-infections of HPV and HSV-2). He prescribed Merc and the related derivatives in chronic patients with history of Syphilis. Merc is actually the simillimum for the primary state of Syphilis, Chancre disease, as termed before. In non-venereal chronic diseases, he was searching for an underlying infectious disease which he phenomenologically defined as Psora. Hahnemann was a master of infectious diseases of his own time. To revise the concepts of chronic diseases we should also be the masters of natural diseases of our time 'disease' in a dynamic sense of meaning as was used by Hahnemann and not as meaningless definitions for collections of symptoms and pathological findings.
If you find the underlying infectious disease, you can complete the image of 'what is to be cured' and push the patient to re-experience the quality of the hidden state. The process of re-experiencing may be accompanied by a temporary acute state similar to the primary state of the hidden infection. This is neither an aggravation nor a discharge system. It is just a transient re-experiencing. As eruptions, discharges, suppurations,… are common sign and symptoms in primary states of infectious diseases, these features are sometimes considered as healing mechanisms by mistake.
The only basic principle in homeopathy is 'Similia Simillibus Curentur'. If you understand the image of the dynamic diseases of the patient hidden inside, the rest is simple prescribe the simillimum! In the chronic diseases not related to the errors in diet and life style, this hidden dynamic disease is an infectious disease (a miasm).
Visit Minutus Library at http://www.minutus.org/library/articles.asp
Kind regards,
Ardavan
---------------------------------
Talk is cheap. Use Yahoo! Messenger to make PC-to-Phone calls. Great rates starting at 1¢/min.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
By Ardavan Shahrdar 2006
In this article, I am going to explain the basic principles in curing the chronic conditions. What is going to be discussed is actually the general principle in formation of chronic patterns and not just what is usually discussed in homeopathy. You will later see that the only basic law in homeopathy is 'Similia Similibus Curentur' and all which is discussed here is to guarantee the application of this law. This will be the basis for evaluation of the basic concepts of many different schools of homeopathy.
When a stressor acts on an organism, 3 events may happen.
1. Adaptation
2. Formation of defense mechanisms.
3. Death
In the first type of reaction, the organism have the power and knowledge of adaptation and returns to its healthy equilibrium, homeostasis. This may happen within seconds to few days.
In the 'third' event, the disturbance is so severe that the organism cannot perform any adaptive responses and dies.
If the stress is strong or partially known (psychologically, immunologically,…) to the organism but not to the degree that causes death, it begins to use its defense mechanisms. Defense mechanisms are actually palliative tools and do not result in cure. They can be mental (formation of obsessions, phobias, projections, reaction formations….) or physical in nature (granulations, sclerosis, indurations,….)
Defense mechanisms change the acute pattern of the original disturbed state to a chronic pattern. The original state actually persists in the mental and physical subconscious plane of the patient and, second by second, the organism pushes down the original state by maintaining the defense mechanisms. Always behind a chronic pattern is an acute state.
This repressed original state shows itself in acute flare-ups in chronic patients. Whenever there is a strong stress on the organism, the organism may become confused and failure of sustaining the defense mechanisms results in uncovering the original acute state what is called acute flare-ups.
Flare-ups are similar to the original state and are good indicators for understanding the original state hidden in the patient. Flare-ups may eventually lead to death of the patient in process of ageing or any conditions in which the imperfect adaptive responses cannot act. Actually the second type reaction changes to the third type.
Defense mechanisms may also lead to the death of the patient. The imperfect adaptation of defense mechanisms may result in severe structural changes which themselves weaken the adaptive force of the organism.
The organism is continuously escaping from the original state as it has the memory of the painful aspect of the original experience. But, if we push the organism to a similar original state without causing a shock, the sound adaptation mechanisms will begin and lead to complete adaptation and cure. This is what happens in real homeopathic treatment or deep psychoanalysis.
So chronic diseases are actually manifestations of persistent reaction of an organism to the underlying hidden acute original state and cure follows the activation of sound adaptive mechanisms (type 1) against the acute original state.
This is true both in psychological and biological stresses. Acute infectious states are examples of biological stresses. When Hahnemann, in treating the patients with history of Syphilis, prescribes Mercurius or its derivatives, he is actually prescribing on the basis of the primary stage of syphilis, Chancre disease. The 'dynamic' aspects within the chronic picture, if carefully observed, reflect the thematic components of the original state but usually with the problem of 'paucity of symptoms'. Knowing the symptoms of original state which is actually 'present' and is the target of the casetaking for choosing the simillimum, completes the image.
When the original state is infectious (miasmatic) in nature, the flare-ups may even appear as sporadic infectious states either because of uncovering of the original state or because of the formation of a specific susceptibility for a super-infection.
Recent researches on the link between chronic conditions and viral infections clearly show how an original infectious state leads to chronic patterns. If you study this link in a phenomenological way, you will be amazed about the clear qualitative and thematic link between the secondary manifestations of these chronic aspects and the primary infection. For example, in chronic fatigue syndrome (some types), Hodgkin's lymphoma, nasopharyngeal carcinoma,… which are related to EBV infection, you clearly see the thematic link of the dynamic picture of the so-called conditions with the primary infection of EBV infectious mononucleosis. In these patients, the prescription should be based on the primary infection which is the original state as defined above (miasmatic prescription).
When a second stress of different nature is added to a chronic patient, two events may happen. The second stress may superimpose a different original state which may also lead to an independent chronic dynamic pattern. Or, it may just act as a common stressor and result in an acute flare-up or exacerbation of the underlying original malady leading to acceleration of the existing chronic disease. That's why, the state which is revealed after cessation of acute infectious states (acute miasms) is also helpful to know about the underlying original state. Sporadic infections, as mentioned above, are themselves great indicators to the original infection.
In summary, an imperfect adaptation results in chronic patterns and cure follows activation of perfect adaptation against the original hidden state. Usually in chronic progressive conditions, this original state is an infectious state. The original infection may not be found in the personal history of the patient and may be hereditary in nature. So sometimes the original state found in personal history is actually the 'first flare-up'. Hopefully this error does not lead to mistakes in case analysis as the qualities of the first flare-up and the real original state transferred from the parents are the same. In a pragmatic way of speaking the term 'original' here is termed qualitatively.
To summarize, chronic diseases are actually the persistent reaction of organism to an unresolved original state by defense mechanisms. The organism which is unable to adapt completely has chosen defense mechanisms which are unable to clear the condition. The sum of defense mechanisms and the minimal dynamic symptoms related to the original state constitute the picture of chronic disease.
Defense mechanisms may be also provoked during provings. If the stress of the proving itself is severe, the organism may use secondary defense mechanisms which are somehow related to the primary action of the remedy but are not considered as primary actions. The best homeopathic treatment in chronic diseases follows prescription of the simillimum based on similarity of pure remedy symptoms (related to its primary action) and the pure symptoms of the patient (related to the original state symptoms). Some may say that this original state is related to the past but this is not true. The original state is always present but the picture is persistently, second by second, distorted by defense mechanisms.
Here you see that not everything which is studied in the provings is a pure symptom and not everything which is observed in the patient is a reliable sign or symptom to be used for choosing the simillimum. Throughout history of homeopathy, those systems of analysis which were somehow finding a way to use these pure features were able to increase the efficacy of homeopathic treatments.
The problem is that it is not always easy to find the pure picture related to its original underlying state in the patient. In the chronic diseases, especially those with a hereditary nature, the features related to defense mechanisms are dominant features in the patient and mask the original symptoms.
There are two ways to unmask the original state 'phenomenological study' of patient's personal and family history and the 'epidemic study' of natural diseases.
In phenomenological study of patient's personal and family history we should pay attention to the following features:
1. How did the chronic pattern begin? What was the acute-like original state preceding the formation of chronic pattern?
2. What is the quality of sporadic acute diseases in the history of the patient?
3. What is the quality of the flare-ups that seem to be related to the original state?
4. What are the similarities between patient's and his parents, brothers, sisters dynamic aspects?
All of these data should be consistent with the partial dynamic symptoms of the patient that escape from the defense mechanisms in the chronic picture. You should build the pictures like a puzzle. Concomitant features help us to understand the hidden relationships in unobvious similarities between related flare-ups. Acute sporadic (not epidemic) infectious diseases also reflect the quality of the original state as they are based on the specific susceptibility created by the underlying miasm their dynamic qualities are the same.
Here you see that 'totality of symptoms' does not simply mean quantitative sum of all the symptoms and signs of the patient in a basket! Actually the totality of the symptoms of the original underlying state should be considered. This is actually 'what is to be cured in diseases' as stated by Hahnemann.
In complicated cases, there may be more than one chronic pattern related to different original states. In these cases, all 4 items mentioned above should be considered separately for each dynamic aspect. Considering the differences in quality of flare-ups and the present dynamic features helps us to differentiate between different dynamic patterns. Later in next articles you will clearly see these differentiations in the treatment of multimiasmatic cases.
Till now, I have discussed the importance of unmasking the original state in the process of case analysis. You should find out the quality of the underlying original state. The patient is persistently reacting to the original state to which he/she was once unable to adapt. Actually the original state is not a state related to the past. It is always present in the patient even if the first primary infection or first flare-up happened years ago. It is like a dynamic state in the mental and physical semiconscious and subconscious level of the patient. When the patient was once infected with Syphilis, the dynamic fresh primary state of the patient is always present in the patient. We should not be distracted from this fresh primary picture by all the manifestations resulted from the defense mechanisms themselves. It is always the primary state of Syphilis which should be considered as the target of simillimum. If you cure the present underlying state, there is no need for
such an ugly building to be built on the surface.
In a mental example it is easier to get the concept. The state induced in a patient following sexual abuse in childhood, may persist throughout the whole life of the patient. The patient may react to the underlying torture by developing different type of reactions and defense mechanisms like hatred of men, floating anxiety, obsessive thoughts about dirt, hypochondriasis,….. The patient may have forgotten about the painful aspect of the original state (state following the sexual abuse) or she may have even forgotten the whole story (denial). But she is actually suffering from that original state inside herself. If you overcome the defense mechanisms and push the patient toward the original state but not causing a shock and help the patient to feel the quality of the original state again, sound adaptation begins and the painful state fades away and there is no need for such superficial manifestations. In re-experiencing the quality of the original state, the type 2
mechanisms (as mentioned in the first article) change to type 1.
The same is true regarding infectious states which are the most important states leading to chronic diseases. If you push the patient to re-experience the quality of the pure dynamic aspect of the original infectious disease, the patient will adapt to what he was once unable to adapt. Medicinal diseases induced by remedies are great tools for inducing a dynamic state similar to the original state Similia Simillibus Curentur!
Above, I mentioned that one of the ways you can unmask the original state in your case analysis, is to study the beginning of the chronic pattern, the preceding states, quality of the sporadic acute diseases of the patient, the flare-ups and the family story. Another important tool is using the data of epidemic analysis of natural diseases the infectious states.
In most of the chronic patients, the underlying original state is an infectious state. Even the cases in which the causation seems to be a mental stress, the considered original state is actually the first flare-up of a latent infectious state. The quality of the first flare-up and the original state are actually the same, so in case of presence adequate peculiar symptoms in the first flare-up, the simillimum chosen is actually the main simillimum simillimum for the infectious state. To know the type of this underlying infectious state, the knowledge of infectious diseases is necessary. In the case in which the primary infectious state of the patient is not clear (being unremembered or hereditary and latent), if you find out the type of the underlying infectious disease, you can simply prescribe according to the primary state of that infectious disease.
Hahnemann was also trying to do this according to the knowledge of infectious diseases in his time. When he talks about prescription of Thuja and Nit-ac in treatment of Sycosis, he actually prescribes according to the primary state of Sycosis (co-infections of HPV and HSV-2). He prescribed Merc and the related derivatives in chronic patients with history of Syphilis. Merc is actually the simillimum for the primary state of Syphilis, Chancre disease, as termed before. In non-venereal chronic diseases, he was searching for an underlying infectious disease which he phenomenologically defined as Psora. Hahnemann was a master of infectious diseases of his own time. To revise the concepts of chronic diseases we should also be the masters of natural diseases of our time 'disease' in a dynamic sense of meaning as was used by Hahnemann and not as meaningless definitions for collections of symptoms and pathological findings.
If you find the underlying infectious disease, you can complete the image of 'what is to be cured' and push the patient to re-experience the quality of the hidden state. The process of re-experiencing may be accompanied by a temporary acute state similar to the primary state of the hidden infection. This is neither an aggravation nor a discharge system. It is just a transient re-experiencing. As eruptions, discharges, suppurations,… are common sign and symptoms in primary states of infectious diseases, these features are sometimes considered as healing mechanisms by mistake.
The only basic principle in homeopathy is 'Similia Simillibus Curentur'. If you understand the image of the dynamic diseases of the patient hidden inside, the rest is simple prescribe the simillimum! In the chronic diseases not related to the errors in diet and life style, this hidden dynamic disease is an infectious disease (a miasm).
Visit Minutus Library at http://www.minutus.org/library/articles.asp
Kind regards,
Ardavan
---------------------------------
Talk is cheap. Use Yahoo! Messenger to make PC-to-Phone calls. Great rates starting at 1¢/min.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]