Acute diseases
Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2009 6:28 am
Dr. Hahnemann divided acute diseases into three types - individualistic, sporadic and epidemic. Here are some thoughts on the treatment of acute diseases-
1. Individualistic acute diseases: These are acute conditions that affect one particular person because of a particular cause. Thus a person overeats and upsets his digestion. A person gets injured, another has a fight and can not sleep, yet another is suffering from disappointed love and so on. All these affect one individual at a time. When dealing with individualistic cases we must tackle the cause before anything else. Our prescription should cover the cause.
2. Then we have the sporadic diseases. These diseases are usually related to atmospheric changes. There is a sudden change from warm to cold or cold to warm and people sensitive to such changes come down with fever or with cold. In such diseases apart from considering the symptoms of the case we consider the kind of atmospheric changes that have taken place. Thus for example if the days are warm and the nights are cold we may consider remedies such as Dulc. If we have wet cold weather we may consider Rhodo, Rhus Tox etc. If it is dry warm Ant-c, Carbo-veg, Lach etc. So in sporadic cases we consider not only the symptoms but also the changes in the weather. We try to find a remedy that covers the symptoms as well as the weather changes.
3. Epidemic diseases: These are diseases that appear epidemically. Infectious diseases, diseases due to bacteria, viruses etc. come under this category. Here cause plays no role. Thus for example there may be an epidemic of influenza and a person says his problem started after he overate in a wedding. We just ignore that. In epidemic diseases we take the cases of a few patients and put them together as if they all belong to one person. From this group of symptoms we find a group of remedies that covers the epidemic. After that our work is easy by just asking a few questions we can arrive at our remedy. Thus for example after doing fine repertory work we realize that the medicines for this epidemic are Pulsatilla, Ars- Alb, Phosphorous and Merc. Then we don't have to worry about what to give. By just asking about thirst and looking at the tongues and observing the mental state we can come to a conclusion. Thus Pulsatilla will be thirstless even though she has a dry mouth, not to mention the fact that she will be mild. Ars- alb will look anxious and prostrated; there may be thirst for small sips of water. Phosphorous will need large quantities of cold water. Merc-Sol. will have a moist tongue with salivation and perspiration etc.
So while taking an acute case we mentally categorize the patient as regards to the kind of acute disease he is suffering from (Individualistic, sporadic, epidemic) and then our line of action will be based on that decision.
Nowadays we hear strange things- some say that we should leave acute diseases alone and not treat them. Others say we should leave diseases like measles and chickenpox alone and not treat them etc. They also claim this is what Hahnemann taught. This is not true. Dr. Hahnemann says we can leave one or two trivial symptoms or mild acute diseases alone or treat them by diet. Here he is talking about individualistic diseases. He never told us to leave acute diseases alone. In fact at times it can be very dangerous to delay the treatment of acute diseases.
1. Individualistic acute diseases: These are acute conditions that affect one particular person because of a particular cause. Thus a person overeats and upsets his digestion. A person gets injured, another has a fight and can not sleep, yet another is suffering from disappointed love and so on. All these affect one individual at a time. When dealing with individualistic cases we must tackle the cause before anything else. Our prescription should cover the cause.
2. Then we have the sporadic diseases. These diseases are usually related to atmospheric changes. There is a sudden change from warm to cold or cold to warm and people sensitive to such changes come down with fever or with cold. In such diseases apart from considering the symptoms of the case we consider the kind of atmospheric changes that have taken place. Thus for example if the days are warm and the nights are cold we may consider remedies such as Dulc. If we have wet cold weather we may consider Rhodo, Rhus Tox etc. If it is dry warm Ant-c, Carbo-veg, Lach etc. So in sporadic cases we consider not only the symptoms but also the changes in the weather. We try to find a remedy that covers the symptoms as well as the weather changes.
3. Epidemic diseases: These are diseases that appear epidemically. Infectious diseases, diseases due to bacteria, viruses etc. come under this category. Here cause plays no role. Thus for example there may be an epidemic of influenza and a person says his problem started after he overate in a wedding. We just ignore that. In epidemic diseases we take the cases of a few patients and put them together as if they all belong to one person. From this group of symptoms we find a group of remedies that covers the epidemic. After that our work is easy by just asking a few questions we can arrive at our remedy. Thus for example after doing fine repertory work we realize that the medicines for this epidemic are Pulsatilla, Ars- Alb, Phosphorous and Merc. Then we don't have to worry about what to give. By just asking about thirst and looking at the tongues and observing the mental state we can come to a conclusion. Thus Pulsatilla will be thirstless even though she has a dry mouth, not to mention the fact that she will be mild. Ars- alb will look anxious and prostrated; there may be thirst for small sips of water. Phosphorous will need large quantities of cold water. Merc-Sol. will have a moist tongue with salivation and perspiration etc.
So while taking an acute case we mentally categorize the patient as regards to the kind of acute disease he is suffering from (Individualistic, sporadic, epidemic) and then our line of action will be based on that decision.
Nowadays we hear strange things- some say that we should leave acute diseases alone and not treat them. Others say we should leave diseases like measles and chickenpox alone and not treat them etc. They also claim this is what Hahnemann taught. This is not true. Dr. Hahnemann says we can leave one or two trivial symptoms or mild acute diseases alone or treat them by diet. Here he is talking about individualistic diseases. He never told us to leave acute diseases alone. In fact at times it can be very dangerous to delay the treatment of acute diseases.