Bill Giman wrote:
remedy, "AIDS" from the programs Materia Medica, explaining that AIDS is
not a disease>
Hi Bill, and Dr Schroyens,
MOST of the rubrics in Radar are "not a disease". They are just
indicators to use with good judgement - but they have a specific
*causative* or symptomology reason to be there.
Personally I would NOT like to remove the rubric AIDS, as there are a
lot of immune compromise diseases, and there is practically nothing in
the repertory to go by in trying to help the immune system to repair
itself. I feel this is an area that could use some expansion to indicate
what kinds of remedies have already helped which kind of immune
compromise disease. [Each has a different but typical cytokine picture.]
Some of these diseases are Th-2 skewed, some are TH-1 skewed -
they'd likely need different remedies (but who can say if we do not
record what works).
Depending what cytokines are out of balance we may later be able to
get even more specific on what remedies help the *symptoms* of a
specific cytokine imbalance - but meanwhile the closest we can get is an
"AIDS" or "FIP" or other disease-syndrome name each with a specific
*cause* (however complex).
For now the only indicators of the specific imbalance of cytokines
that occurs, are the symptoms the client gets, but those are varied
further by their constitutional type as they are weak or strong in
different areas. Yet they have the SAME cytokine imbalances.
Whether one supports that constitutional difference in disease
presentation with a remedy matching their constitutional-type is a
choice - but the disease is CAUSED by a common mechanism and the
cytokine imbalances are common per immune compromise disease as well -
even though the implementation varies with each individual as in any
other disease syndrome.
What's common here is the cytokine picture. It is different for EACH
immune compromise disease. There is a lot of research in
immunopharmacology still under way to try to get clearer cytokine
"pictures" of each disease. It is slow, but at least we know there is
such as thing, and that each disease is different.
For example in effusive FIP, the interferon is too high and the
interleukin-II is too low and so on. Yet in other immune compromise
diseases, interferon is too low. [So even allopaths now know that
dishing out interferon - the only readily available cytokine that is
manmade - "for any immune compromise disease" is a bad idea. Each immune
compromise disease syndrome has a specific typical cytokine picture.
The "AIDS" rubric is to my way of thinking a way that homeopathy
can get a headstart on immune compromise cytokine pictures. It would
list remedies that are known to address the AIDS cytokine picture, to
get that specific kind of cytokine imbalance back in balance. WHICH of
those potential remedies to use depends on the constitutional
implementation of the individual per their constitutional strengths and
weaknesses - as one wouidl find in the usual way via repertorizing and
MM....
However the rubric seems to me valid.
It addresses causation of disease rather than presentation of
end-symptoms. Is that not a high goal for us for inclusion in any
disease picture analysis?
Allopathy will eventually address these by supplying cytokines (when
they can make them) that are low for a disease. The point is that there
IS an internal chemical picture of each immune compromise disease - and
there IS thus a rationale to use specific remedies to address specific
cytokine imbalance pictures.
I work for the most part with immune compromise diseases, and
although I would potentially use an AIDS rubric with great care and for
the right reasons (causative issues) it is VERY helpful to know what
kinds of remedies did help the immune system previously for as specific
illness syndrome. I'd like to see a rubric for a lot more immune
compromise disease types.
AIDS is valid because although the symptoms that present are very varied
- the internal causes of AIDS are constant. The way the virus behaves is
typical in every case. It destroys specific aspects of the immune system
in specific ways. EACH immune compromise disease syndrome aLSO has a
typical action. This is within causation, at least at the physical level
after the vital force mistunement starts to affect the physical.
The common physical aspects of a specific immune compromise illness are
what this rubric would address, and they come BEFORE other more obvious
symptoms. I would not exclude this immune system rubric just because we
humans are less able to SEE what the immune system cytokine imbalances
are in AIDS or any opther immune compromise syndrome.
In my own work in immune compromise diseases, such as FIP, I do find a
wide range of remedies help the immune system to recover - however there
are some remedies that are used more often than others - and after about
350 cases, I feel that it is reasonable to consider these to be immune
system remedies associated with a specific causative organism - which
skews the cytokine picture a specific way through a specific mechanism.
For example with FIP, I see one set of remedies in more frequent use
than others and with feline leukaemias, I see another set - with some
overlap - where the symptoms of individual cases overlap.
So basically, although these immune compromise diseases have a wide
variety of syndromes that may show themselves according to where the
body is weakest or strongest - there still seems to be some sense and
some commonality in the remedy that gets at the cause - or at least at
the immune system picture. We need to remember that even though the
individual with AIDS or FIP or FeLV etc - shows very different
characteristics as part of the syndrome THEY individually display - the
*causative* issues and mechanisms and cytokine pictures for each of FIP,
FeLV, FIV, HIV etc are the same for the specific illness name.
In homeopathy we need to get at the cause just as much as at the
presenting symptoms. To me that justifies the rubric. From a causative
aspect, remedies found helpful in AIDS are justifiable in a repertory.
If anything I'd like to add rubrics listing remedies that got at the
cause of other immune compromise diseases. We need all the help we can get.
For example in effusive feline FIP, as far as I know, other homeopaths
are not getting any positive results. If one reads up on suggested
remedies - in veterinary homeopathy texts for example - some are
suggested "to try" (for example Apis) but those will not work. (They
never did.) So knowing what has worked to repair the *immune system*
damaged by a specific cause - regardless of symptoms, is of value, as it
gets at the maintaining cause of an immune compromise disease, and may
well point a new homeopath on a better path than they would find without
the rubric.
Namaste,
IRene
--
Irene de Villiers, B.Sc AASCA MCSSA D.I.Hom/D.Vet.Hom.
P.O. Box 4703 Spokane WA 99220.
www.angelfire.com/fl/furryboots/clickhere.html (Veterinary Homeopath.)
"Man who say it cannot be done should not interrupt one doing it."