Healing with Homoeopathie

Author: Michael Frass, Martin Bündner (ed.) 

Reviewed by: Dr. Firuzi Mehta

568 pages, hardbound.
First English edition 2015

Publishers: Narayana Verlag, Germany
ISBN: 978-3-95582-077-0

Price: Euros 59.00

On first hearing about this book that dealt with homeopathy, intensive care and emergency    medicine, I was impressed, intrigued and keen to read it. Most people have the impression that homeopathy is only for slow conditions;, that one needs time to get results, etc. Our literature does talk about quick results in life-threatening conditions, but those are few and far between. To have a whole book dedicated to the use of homeopathy in such situations is a marvellous thing indeed. So when I was offered a chance to review this book, of course, I jumped at it.

Let me first talk a bit about the authors of the book. Both the editors of this book, Michael Frass and Martin Bündner have long-standing experience in emergency medicine and homeopathy. Michael Frass was head of the intensive internal medicine unit at the Medical University of Vienna and Martin Bündner has served in rescue and emergency medicine.

A total of 19 physicians have contributed their cases for compiling this book; a vast majority of cases are by Michael Frass and Martin Bündner.

The book has four main sections:

I     Introduction

II   Intensive Care Medicine

III   Emergency Medicine

IV   Materia Medica

The Introduction starts with a chapter that covers a brief understanding of homeopathic principles and how homeopathy is used in a clinical setting. The second chapter discusses the development and current status of Intensive Medicine. The next chapter further discusses the use of homeopathic treatment alongside intensive medicine. Another chapter in the same section discusses remedy production and quality control. An ICU remedy kit has been compiled, which comprises 60 remedies. The table given discusses the English description of the homeopathic source material, the contents, the pharmacological effect, the allopathic indications and the frequent homeopathic indications of the remedy. For eg.,

The next section, on Intensive Care Medicine, has chapters on Infectious diseases, Disorders of Haemostasis, Heart, circulation and blood vessels, Lungs, Kidneys, Gastrointestinal tract, Perioperative care and Toxicology.

The third section on Emergency Medicine has chapters on Traumatology, Cardiovascular emergencies, Lungs, Gastroenterological emergencies, Intoxication, Neurological emergencies, Psychiatric emergencies, Gynaecology and obstetrics, Urological emergencies and Thermal emergencies.

The last section has a Materia Medica which gives a brief idea of the clinical indications, general information with main symptoms, ameliorating and aggravating circumstances which play an important role in the selection of the right homeopathic remedy.

The book has a total of 145 cases, all of them with a detailed analysis. To give an idea of the type of cases covered, here is a picture from the Table of contents.

Each topic starts with a quick overview of the definition of the clinical entity, incidence, mortality, symptoms, latest diagnostic methods, imaging techniques, blood cultures, therapy and the general outline of the homeopathic treatment, giving details of randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies which have been made in an intensive care unit. Important rubrics from the repertory have been given and a differentiation between important homeopathic remedies given. This is followed by a critical commentary.

Cases then follow, starting with the anamnesis, the acute event, diagnosis, conventional treatment given and then the homeopathic treatment with rubric selection and progress of the case. Principles of classical homeopathy have been followed in most cases. This is again followed by an evaluation and a critical commentary.

The cases have been described in a clear and concise manner, highlighting the role of homeopathy in a situation where in many cases, conventional treatment was trying its best but the patient response was minimal. Most of the cases show remarkable and clear improvement in the patient’s condition after the homeopathic treatment was started. Some surgeries have been avoided and danger to life averted. Homeopathy has helped patients get weaned off life-support systems much earlier than otherwise possible.

The authors have discussed the difficulties of homeopathic treatment in an ICU set-up and the benefits of initial conventional life-saving and life-support methods. It is clear that the authors and editors have been balanced in their view point and there is no display of dangerous fanaticism.

This book shows how valuable our gentle but high-energy remedies can be in emergency situations in an ICU set-up. It would be wonderful if all ICUs would have the possibility of integrating homeopathy along with conventional medicine. After all, to benefit our patients; that isthe goal of any system of therapeutics, is to benefit the patients.

Reading this book will give hope and encouragement to young homeopaths that with hard work, acquiring knowledge of the Materia Medica and skill with the Repertory, even cases that look ‘difficult’ are manageable with our wonderful system of medicine, Homeopathy!

No review of mine is complete without a mention of the binding, paper quality, printing, etc. This book gets 9 on 10 in this department, simply because there are a couple of pages where some paragraphs have been wrongly repeated! Apart from that, wonderful smooth paper, good hardcover, excellent binding, good printing! No complaints. It was a pleasure to read this book. I think this book will encourage more homeopaths to venture into this arena of Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine.

This review was first published in June 2016 in the monthly Ezine — http://hpathy.com/book-reviews/homeopathy-in-intensive-care-and-emergency-medicine-by-michael-frass-martin-bundner-ed-reviewed-by-dr-firuzi-mehta/

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 This book review was first published at Hpathy.com in the November 2015 issue.

Author: Patricia Le Roux

Reviewed by: Dr. Firuzi Mehta

224 pages, hardbound.

First English edition 2015

Publishers: Narayana Verlag, Germany

ISBN: 978-3-95582-008-4

Price: USD 44.00

 
Patricia Le Roux (1953 – 2011) was a French pediatric consultant and homeopath, trained in homeopathy at the Faculty of Medicine of Marseilles in France where she also taught the subject. She died after a tragic accident in October 2011 and the world has lost a very good practitioner.

I had read several of her articles in the magazine Spectrum and was always impressed with the clarity of her thought and understanding of the remedies and cases she presented. When the Hpathy editor Alan Schmukler offered me a chance to review this book, I immediately agreed.

Children form a considerable percentage of any homeopathic practice since even lay people understand that homeopathy is a safe system of medicine and free of the toxic side-effects of the chemical drugs used in conventional medicine. Children, with their systems relatively unspoiled, show positive results to the correct homeopathic remedy very rapidly. We have all seen children who come to our practice, with chronic ailments, some more severe than others, which cause not just suffering to the little child, but anxiety and stress to their families as well. Conventional medicine truly has nothing much to offer in chronic conditions. With strong chemical drugs, the chronic ailment is at best suppressed and some other chronic ailment manifests very quickly. Meanwhile, the child and his family run from one specialist to another. They often come to us, disheartened with conventional medicine, and with hope in their eyes that maybe, just maybe, this ‘other’ form of medicine can help their precious little one.

With our homeopathic knowledge, we have the ability to positively modify the long-term health prospects of these little children, going so far as to diminish disease tendencies that run in the family gene pool. This is a big responsibility and also a privilege. We need to make utmost use of all resources at hand, to do the best work we can.

This book, Homeo-Kids, by Patricia Le Roux is a good addition to our libraries. The book starts with a brief summary of the basic principles of homeopathy which are then followed by her description of the remedies. Of the sixty remedies she has described here, many are polychrests commonly seen in our practice but there are also some less well-known remedies for children like Beryllium, Helium, Falco peregrinus and Chocolate. To make our work easier, she has grouped them into four main types: chilly, hot, slow and restless.

In describing each remedy, she gives a few lines of introduction about what the remedy is useful for. This is followed by describing the source of the remedy. A box of key words (main features) follows. The detailed description of each remedy is divided into two main parts: The Baby and The Child and each of these is described with the following sub-headings:

At home
At the clinic
Main clinical indications

This is followed by a brief conclusion about the remedy.

Patricia Le Roux has covered all the main features, keynotes and distinguishing characteristics of each remedy. Development issues faced by different remedies are discussed along with the pathophysiology seen in them. Key phrases are highlighted in bold, allowing a quick review for differentiation in the clinic when necessary. Physical issues and the emotional, mental and psychological aspect of each remedy are dealt with, giving a clear understanding of each remedy type. With this book, not only has Patricia Le Roux demonstrated her clear knowledge of classical methods, but she has also demonstrated her understanding of the relatively new approaches of Jan Scholten and Rajan Sankaran. With her immense clinical experience, she has been able to offer valuable tips for recognising remedies even in very small children who may not display typical signs or symptoms. There is a Remedy Index and an Alphabetical Repertory for ailments towards the end of the book.

With this book, we should be better prepared to recognise the remedies when we see them in practice. The reaction of the organism to the right remedy is phenomenal and hopefully, putting this knowledge to good use, we should be able to get far better results, truly easing the suffering of our little patients and creating better all-round health for our future generations.

You will remain with us in spirit, dear Patricia. Thank you for this wonderful book.

This review by me was first published in the October 2014 e-zine issue of www.hpathy.com

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In recent years, there has been renewed interest in Boenninghausen’s Therapeutic Pocket Book (TPB) that was first published in 1846. This repertory follows Boenninghausen’s premise that valuable modalities, sensations and findings of a remedy are capable of generalization. His TPB was valued greatly for its precise grading of symptoms but fell into disuse eventually probably due to the popularity of Kent’s philosophy and the apparent ease of use of Kent’s repertory. The value of the Therapeutic Pocket Book (TPB) was pretty much unknown to generations of homeopaths as homeopathic colleges focussed on Kent and his works while touching upon Boenninghausen’s works only cursorily.

Over the centuries, homeopathic fundamentals have remained the same but homeopaths have constantly striven to make remedy selection easier and more accurate. A lot of new methods and schools of thought have arisen from these endeavours. The ideal method needs to be one that can reliably and reproducibly determine the required remedy. Most of the new methods have not been statistically evaluated.

Polarity Analysis (PA) was developed by Heiner Frei for a scientifically rigorous Swiss double-blind study with homeopathic treatment of hyperactive children. This study demonstrated a significant difference between high-potency homeopathic remedies and placebo. The main challenge in reaching this result was to improve the reliability of all the factors used to determine the remedy.

Polarity Analysis is a development of Boenninghausen’s concept of contraindications. PA is a working method for the Therapeutic Pocket Book and Heiner Frei’s book provides us with a practical introduction to it.

The book consists of 3 Modules and an Appendix.

Module 1 describes Polarity Analysis in detail. It shows how PA follows the founding principles laid down by Hahnemann and the practical methods of old stalwarts like Boenninghausen, Hering and Lippe. It explains the value and use of Polar Symptoms (those symptoms that can have an opposite aspect, an opposite pole) in improving the reliability of the remedy choice. The author clearly explains the kind of case-taking that is required for suitable Polarity Analysis to take place. The author has simplified our work for us by creating valuable checklists and questionnaires for acute and chronic ailments. The symptoms used for these lists are from the Therapeutic Pocket Book and use the same language as the repertory. No symptom with less than 10 remedies in it is used. The patients themselves need to mark out their symptoms on the questionnaire which the homeopath can then confirm. Since these lists are built with repertory language and are specific to the TPB, this eliminates the possibility of errors creeping in due to faults in interpreting a patient’s symptoms and then converting them to repertory language.

These checklists and questionnaires are given towards the end of the book. They are also freely downloadable from the author’s website, www.heinerfrei.ch

Heiner Frei lays down, in simple language, the rules to be followed for PA to be most effective. He also clearly describes the dosage he follows and how follow-up assessments are judged.

The method of Polarity Analysis focuses on the Polarity Difference and also emphasises the importance given to contraindications. However, these details cannot be explained satisfactorily in a review.

Highlights of Polarity Analysis:

• Mainly physical modalities are to be used, since they are the ones that are most reliable.
• At least 5 polar symptoms should be used.
• Characteristic symptoms during the ailment are to be used; not traits that are present even in health.
• Mental symptoms are to be left for later, when remedy coverage is checked in the Materia Medica.

The repertorization results are weighted in the following order of importance:

1. Absence of contraindications and size of polarity difference
2. Completeness of symptom coverage
3. Suitability of remedy in Materia Medica coverage.

Heiner Frei recommends the software program version V 2.6.0, 2012 of the Boenninghausen Arbeitsgemeinschaft (Boenninghausen Working Group). This software is preferred because it is the only one that uses the revised edition of the TPB that contains his final views on the grading of symptoms. A 30 day free trial version of this software is offered on www.boenninghausen.de

After describing the PA method in detail, Module 1 discusses the procedure to be followed in Acute Illness, along with case histories demonstrating the same.

Module 2 comprises procedure and case histories for Chronic Illness and for Mental Illness in Children and Teenagers.

Module 3 does the same for cases of Multimorbid Patients (those that have 3 or more complaints at the same time). Module 3 also has a section on Statistical Evaluation Studies of Polarity Analysis with and without checklists, comparing results with conventional homeopathic prescription methods. This is followed by a listing of the tools that are to be used for Polarity Analysis – the repertory, checklists, questionnaires and case logs.

Throughout the book, there are Quiz Questions which deal with the information covered till that point. These are very useful for clarifications and proper understanding of the topic. Answers to each Quiz are given in the Appendix at the end of the book.

My Impressions –

After a thorough reading which generated a lot of interest in this method, I downloaded the checklists and questionnaires from the author’s website www.heinerfrei.ch. I also downloaded the 30 day free trial version of the software offered at www.boenninghausen.de

This is not yet a true case study but for people following my posts on my website, I wanted to write about the great healing potential this remedy, Carcinosinum (58T) seems to have.

The basic Carcinosinum that we use is a remedy prepared from a single tumour – a breast tumour. This is the remedy of which Foubister made a detailed proving. Tinus Smits from Netherlands has used Carcinosinum (15T) with good results, better than those got from our regular single tumour Carcinosinum.

On a forum post at hpathy.com, there was a detailed discussion on the use of Carcinosinum (58T) http://forum.hpathy.com/forum/students-corner/carcinosinum/#p8599

Having my interest triggered, I ordered Carcinosinum (58T) in two potencies, 200c and 1M from Remedia Homoeopathic Pharmacy, in Austria.

I got the chance to use it after a few months of procuring it in a case of thrombocytosis and bone marrow fibrosis (that was secondary to the chemotherapeutic treatment for the thrombocytosis).

His allopathic treatment still continues but he has started concurrent homeopathy to prevent rapid degradation of his condition.

I have judged Carcinosin to be his remedy. I can say that there has been some amount of improvement in energy levels and the wild fluctuations in his counts are now a rare occurrence. However, his Haemoglobin that was remaining at around 8 or 8.5 gm% improved only marginally to settle at around 9.5 or 10 gm% despite his taking weekly erythropoetin injections as well. His ESR too has remained in the range of 80-100 since a long time now.

Since improvement seemed stuck at this level, I decided to give the Carcinosin (58T) a try. (I have already used Carcinosin 15T for him).

It is early days yet and only 3 weeks have passed since the dose of Carcinosin (58T) 200c was given. However, his recent reports show the Haemoglobin to have jumped from 10.3 gm% to 11 gm% and the ESR has come down to 49. Energy has been very good as well.  This makes me feel very positively towards this Carcinosin 58T and I hope, that there is a lot of improvement in the cards for this patient, even for his platelets and bone marrow fibrosis.

I hope to be able to continue to post about his improvement and about any more Carcinosinum (58T) cases that I may have.

More than a year has passed since I made the blog post on the use of papaya leaf juice for curing dengue.

Time for an update!

During this period, I have myself needed to use papaya leaf juice for what was probably dengue. I did not undergo the blood test for dengue but all the symptoms pointed to it. My Complete Blood Count showed a drop in platelets, a drop in the White Blood Cell count and a raised Haemoglobin count; all of which pointed to probable dengue. 5 days of papaya leaf juice followed. I took it twice a day for 3 days and then once a day for 2 more days. The fever was gone by day 1 of the Papaya Leaf juice therapy, probably because I was already taking homeopathy for it.

Making papaya leaf juice

We (my husband was a BIG help at this time – I felt incredibly weak) used 2 leaves at a time, getting fresh leaves everyday. After washing the dust off the leaves, we would break off small bits of the leaves, removing the bigger veins. Once this was done, we found it best to put them into a grinder, running it for just 2-3 seconds, just so that they were finely chopped. Then we put them into a damp muslin cloth; (adding a sprinkling of water to them, so that it got easier to squeeze. When we tried it completely dry, we were unable to get any juice out.) Then holding it over a bowl, we would squeeze it as best as we could to get the juice out. About 2 desert spoons of juice is enough. It’s bitter like hell, but worth it! At the end of 5 days, I almost missed it!

Some say that the leaves have to be from a ‘female’ tree or a fruit-bearing tree. I don’t know what tree was used for the leaves I got. Some said the leaves have to be young and tender; I used whatever was available – a few times I got young tender small leaves, some times I got big dark green leaves. I think all of them work. Many of the studies I read mentioned no specific type of tree or leaves.

Over this year, I have recommended this method to several patients suffering from Dengue – this has worked every time. So it’s best to find and keep in mind where your nearest papaya tree grows! Just in case!!

(Also published on the author’s other blog – www.firuzi.hpathy.com)

Reviewed by Dr Firuzi V Mehta

B. Jain Publishers (P) Ltd.

ISBN 978-81-319-1913-2

First Edition: 2012

Paperback

Pages 439

Price INR 449/=

Dr Subrata K Banerjea is a homeopathic physician of international repute, a lecturer and an author with clinical practice both in England and India. Coming from a family of several generations of homeopaths, Dr Banerjea has written a number of books imparting his remarkable knowledge especially focussing on miasmatic prescribing.

This book is a collection of 74 cured cases described in detail and 101 short case stories.
The detailed cases cover the different body systems: Cardio-vascular diseases, Dermatological diseases, ENT diseases, Endocrinological disorders, Gastro-intestinal diseases, Gynaecological diseases, Uro-genital diseases, Neoplastic diseases, Neurological diseases, Psychiatric disorders, Respiratory diseases, Rheumatological diseases and Urological diseases. The short case stories are interesting to read since they highlight the reasons for the choice of the remedy.

In recent years, there has been a lot of confusion about case taking methods. Several homeopaths have developed their own methods of analysing the case and selecting the right remedy. There are differences in interpretation of the Organon of Medicine, sometimes in accordance with the needs of an individual method. Apart from difficulties in remedy selection, there are ever prevalent issues of potency selection and repetition which are always subjective for different practitioners who claim excellent results with even drastically differing methods.

Homeopaths have often resorted to creating their own favoured methods but often, what seems to work for one does not work for the other. A multitude of cases of homeopathic cures are published in the many homeopathic journals every year but only a few of such cases give a complete understanding of the author’s methods.

In such a scenario, Dr Banerjea’s book comes like a breath of fresh air. Dr Banerjea has outlined the structured approach that he follows and has even referenced the information wherever relevant. All through the book, there are references to the relevant aphorisms of the Organon of Medicine from which he has sourced his methods which are in perfect resonance with classical homeopathy. Due to his practice both in India and England, he has experience with patients of widely differing backgrounds, cultures and ethnicities. Despite these differences he has concluded that all patients will respond to careful enquiry that will then ensure the most correct prescription. Dr Banerjea lays great emphasis on a thorough case taking and this is clearly visible in all the cases described in his book.

As we read the book, Dr Banerjea’s method becomes clear in our minds. His approach for every case includes:

M Miasmatic totality
T Totality of symptoms
E Essence which includes temperament, posture, behaviour
K Keynotes which should cover peculiar and rare symptoms

Priority is given to ascertaining the cause of symptoms.

Dr Banerjea describes the differences in approach that are needed for cases with and without clarity of symptoms. He highlights how a head to foot miasmatic assessment of the case is done. This is a very welcome aspect of the book since the topic of miasms is often confusing for both students and practitioners. Homeopaths with no clear understanding of miasms often ignore them and this often leads to superficial prescribing and hence recurrence of ailments or progression of the disease.

Each of the 74 cases illustrated in the book gives an in-depth explanation of how the miasmatic analysis is done for the case and how the remedy covering the miasmatic background.is chosen to cover the miasm.

Today most homeopaths have patients who are already on conventional medicine treatments. With the suppressive action of allopathic drugs, the symptom picture of the patient is modified to a great extent and the original unmodified picture that we need for homeopathic prescribing is often missing. Dr Banerjea describes how he treats such patients initially which results in the possibility of weaning off the allopathic drugs so that clear symptoms arise for the further in-depth homeopathic treatment.

Dr Banerjea gives details about his remedy dispensing method in water which has the advantage of avoiding aggravations and permits strong dynamic penetrating action.

Of great interest is the fact that he often allows his remedy to work undisturbed for a number of months especially in chronic cases. He emphasises his belief, that we never gain anything by premature repetition.

Each of his 74 cases begins with

Presenting Complaints
Investigations before and after the treatment
Case analysis, Miasmatic diagnosis and Basis of the final prescription
Remedy Reaction
Prescription chart giving detailed follow-up and treatment at each step.

The cases are accompanied by images of the medical reports and photos of the patient especially in skin ailments. One drawback is that the print of the reports is often too small to be read, but this is remedied by the free CD that comes with this book. Every case in the book is followed by a reference to the location of the details of the case in the accompanying CD.

A few negatives for the book – paper quality could have been better and the first two pages could have been better printed to look less like photocopies! A few typographical errors have crept in at different places in the book.

Overall, however, it is an excellent presentation of good homeopathic cures that will boost the confidence of homeopaths to use the classical method for all cases, even ones with deep pathology. A book well worth the price.

As Dr Banerjea writes in his Preface, this book is a celebration of what Homeopathy can do!

(First published in The Homoeopathic Heritage, Vol. 39, No. 03, June, 2013 & published at hpathy.com in July 2013)

Author: Liz Lalor

Reviewed by: Dr. Firuzi Mehta

First Edition 2011

Published by B. Jain Archibel S.P.R.L.
Printed in India
ISBN: 978-2-87491-016-6
Hardbound
No. of pages: 851
€ 38.00 | US$ 50.00 | £ 32.00 | INR 2650.00

Having completed one reading of all 851 pages of Liz Lalor’s book ‘Homeopathic Psychiatry – Understanding The Use And Meaning Of The Delusion Rubrics In Case Analysis’, I am now wondering how I can create a concise write-up about this book. It is not as simple as I thought it would be, for the simple reason that the book is more complex than it appears at first glance. For those who will read the book, it attempts to bring a deeper understanding of the Delusion rubrics in the Mind section of our repertories.

The author, Liz Lalor, has a background in Psychology and she brings her 30 years of counselling experience into this enormous and painstaking work. For too long, the important Delusion rubrics have been either neglected from a lack of understanding or misused by being taken literally or completely misinterpreted.

The book undertakes a psychoanalytic study of the meaning and application of Delusion rubrics in homeopathic case taking and case analysis. Liz Lalor emphasises the fact that it is necessary to properly understand why a constitutional remedy profile needs the psychological delusions that it has. With this understanding, we can recognise the remedies our patients need with greater ease. Different remedies have their own different needs of maintaining a certain delusion. Once we identify the psychological behavioural patterning that is inherent within the remedy profile, this insight can be used to identify the Simillimum.

In the beginning of this book, she has laid down four necessary requirements for the use of the Delusion rubrics. She clearly demarcates when the Delusion rubrics are to be used in comparison with similar non-delusion Mind rubrics.

A section on Rubric Categories follows, where she identifies the five stages that a patient will progress through in case-taking and then she uses these stages to group the Delusion rubrics accordingly. This is an important part of the case analysis process, because recognising the psychological stages helps in finding the Simillimum by narrowing down the remedies being considered. In explaining the Delusion rubrics in each different category, she analyses and describes numerous remedies, making the Delusion rubrics come alive for the reader.

The latter part of the book has the Case Companion to Homeopathic Psychiatry, where she presents twelve cases from her practice and takes her readers step-by-step with her, explaining the process of identifying the Delusion rubrics and using them to arrive at the Simillimum.

This book does not make for easy reading – it requires time and concentration to process everything that Liz Lalor writes and for the book’s full impact to be felt. In fact, I need a second reading and look forward to whatever new insights a repeat reading will bring to this complex subject.

So what has this book brought to me? It has brought me the realisation of how I have often neglected the Delusion rubrics. Reading this book has brought me several ‘VOILA!’ moments where understanding and clarity have dawned suddenly and I have identified remedies for some patients whose cases have seemed stuck. I can see that correct application of Liz Lalor’s work will be very helpful in homeopathic practice.

As regards printing quality, B. Jain Archibel deserve congratulations. Paper quality, binding and print are all very good. It has been a pleasure to read this book.

Published at hpathy.com in November 2012

Second Edition 2010 (The first edition was published in 2007)

Reviewed by Dr. Firuzi Mehta 
Published by B. Jain Archibel s.p.r.l.
Printed in India
ISBN: 978-2-87491-006-7
Hardbound
No. of pages: 1702
€ 45.00 | US$ 60.00 | INR 2,600.00
 
When I received this book to review, I was excited since I had loved reading Dr. Ahmed Currim’s ‘Collected Works of Arthur Hill Grimmer’ and I knew what an excellent compilation it was. I have great respect for Dr. Currim’s work which obviously stems from his love of homeopathy.

‘J.T.Kent Unpublished Materia Medica’ begins with the interesting story of how the editor, Dr. Ahmed Currim, managed, in 1980, to retrieve 2 volumes of almost unknown notes of Materia Medica that Dr. Kent had given in 1895 to his students in Chicago at the Hering Medical College. Later, in 1985, Dr. Currim came across another, similar, 3 volume set of lecture notes that Dr. Kent had given to his students in 1893-94. Some years later, Dr. Currim acquired an old volume of notes on Materia Medica that Dr. Kent presented at the Dunham Medical College in 1901-02.

Having acquired these priceless notes which showed the progression of Kent’s thinking in Materia Medica from 1893-1902, Dr. Currim decided to edit, correct, classify and present these invaluable hidden treasures to the profession. This book is the result. It contains notes on several remedies not found in any of Kent’s already existing works like Materia Medica, Lesser Writings and Gypser’s Minor Writings. It also contains new pictures not known before of many of the regular well-known remedies, thereby widening our understanding of these remedies.

One hundred fifty five remedies have been discussed in this huge tome of 1,702 pages. They have been nicely set for ease of reading with important features set in bold type. Each remedy description begins with a section discussing general action of the remedy, followed by the Generals; then the order of sections follows the usual trend of chapters seen in Kent’s repertory: Mind, Vertigo, Head and so on.

What makes this book so special is the intermingling of tips on dealing with conditions, remedy comparisons with finer points for differentiating remedies, general hints on case management, explanation of symptoms and brief miasmatic explanations with suggestions on miasmatic prescribing. Small cases have been described off and on throughout the book which helps in deepening our understanding of the remedies and imprinting the remedy pictures on our minds. The potencies used have been mentioned, which again helps to highlight Kent’s thinking process. At some places, details about translation errors from the actual provings are included, which helps in clarification and correction of actual symptoms. Dr. Currim’s viewpoints and notes from his own valuable experience have been added as Editor’s Notes throughout the book.

Despite being a record of symptoms, the book makes for interesting reading throughout, since it is scattered with numerous little golden nuggets of valuable information which add an extra dimension to our mental images of remedies.

The quality of printing, binding and paper do not disappoint. The paper is smooth though thin, which it had to be, otherwise it would have consumed two or more volumes! A few insignificant typos have crept in, which considering the vastness of the work, can be easily overlooked.

The contents of the book display Kent’s vast knowledge and experience, hence this book serves as a valuable addition to our homeopathic literature, and will be useful to all homeopaths who strive to constantly better themselves.

Published at hpathy.com in September 2012

Fourth Edition
250 pages
ISBN code 978-81-319-0341-4
B. Jain Publishers (P) Ltd.
Rs.295.00
Reviewed by Firuzi Mehta
 
This book has been written by a dermatologist, Dr. Ramji Gupta and a homeopathic physician, Dr. R.K. Manchanda, thus providing a good balance between disease descriptions and homeopathic remedies indicated for them.

This is the fourth edition of the book, the first of which was published in 2005. Right from its inception, it has been a good book to have; now it comes to us in an improved version with errors corrected, more photographs added and in general, it has become a more valuable book for homeopaths.

We say that as homeopaths, we don’t need a diagnosis for treatment. Why then the need of such a book? Homeopaths often see patients who come for the treatment of skin disorders; often after the patients have done the rounds of dermatologists and have not found lasting relief. Sometimes patients are aware of the dangers of suppressing skin ailments and make their way to a homeopath.
Homeopathic colleges provide a cursory introduction to dermatology which in no way prepares a homeopath to confidently deal with what he/she sees in practice.

Though homeopathy does not treat a disease diagnosis, it is essential that homeopaths know what ailment they are dealing with. Knowing the diagnosis is important for good judgement and case management during the course of treatment. Different skin ailments have different manifestations, phases of activity and phases of remission – the homeopath has to be well versed with these possibilities – a remission phase should not be happily considered as cure!

The book begins by providing the general principles of homeopathic treatment and goes on to elaborate the miasmatic concept of skin diseases. It discusses the structure and function of the skin as an organ and defines the terminology used for skin lesions.

Different skin disorders are dealt with in well-organised chapters – Hereditary Disorders, Nutritional Deficiencies, Metabolic Disorders, Diseases due to Physical Agents, Bacterial Infections, Fungal Infections, Viral Infections, Diseases due to Arthropods, Diseases of the Hair, Diseases of the Sebaceous Glands, Diseases of the Sweat Glands, Diseases of the Nails, Disorders of Pigmentation, Allergic Disorders, Auto-Immune Disorders, Skin Tumours, Miscellaneous Disorders.
There are separate chapters on Tuberculosis and Leprosy, two of the common scourges of Indian society. There is a separate chapter elaborating homeopathic medicines used commonly in dermatology, with the description of the remedies in relation to the skin. A final annexure classifies different skin diseases according to their miasmatic status.

Plenty of positives – The book feels good in terms of paper quality and readability.
As regards content, the book has many good photographs of different skin conditions, good descriptions of most of the common dermatological conditions seen in practice and a decent listing of homeopathic remedies, with some chapters enabling close differentiation between remedies.

Just a few negatives – the index is decent, but could have been a bit more comprehensive, making searches easier. A few typos have crept in, which will hopefully get corrected in later reprints. It would have been good to have finer differentiation between remedies for all the different skin conditions within.

All in all, a practical and useful book for homeopaths who deal with patients having skin conditions.

Published at hpathy.com in April 2012.

The present weather and environmental conditions have triggered a spate of illness in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai. The most prevalent is viral fevers and flu, accompanied with coughs, colds, sore throats and even tummy upsets. The present virus/es doing the rounds seem to be quite strong and are affecting a wide number of our population; however, those with strong immunities are able to throw off the illness in a few days. There have been several cases of the specific Swine Flu but we must remember that it is now no longer the dreaded illness it was supposed to be a couple of years ago – it is now as good or bad as any other seasonal flu. The other illnesses going around are malaria and dengue.

Today, I wish to talk about Dengue. It is another dreaded illness, caused by viruses that are transmitted by mosquitoes. The danger of dengue lies in its ability to reduce the platelet count in the body drastically, thereby triggering bleeding, internal or external which may lead to death. Conventional medicine has no treatment/cure for the dengue itself – the treatment is only supportive and aims to support the system and relieve symptoms (not cure) until the dengue runs its course. In this article, I will be describing a method which removes this danger of reducing platelets in a safe, gentle and cost-effective manner – almost a type of home remedy which has also been scientifically proven but is not used in most cases, probably due to ignorance of this method by the medical profession.

First let us talk about how Dengue presents in our system. Dengue is an illness that occurs in tropical and sub-tropical climates. Symptoms are headache, fever, weakness, severe joint and muscle pains, swelling of glands and rash. The triad of fever, rash and headache (and other pains) are characteristic of dengue. The acute phase of the illness – fever and pains – lasts for 1-2 weeks. In most cases, Dengue follows a benign, non-dangerous course. It tends to be more severe in people who already have weakened immune systems. Dengue haemorrhagic fever is a more severe type of the illness where there may be petechiae (small red or purple splotches of bleeding under the skin), bleeding from the nose and gums, black stools (indicative of an internal bleed), or easy bruising – all possible signs of haemorrhage. This can become life-threatening and can result in Dengue Shock Syndrome.

The virus is contracted from the bite of a striped Aedes aegypti mosquito that has previously bitten an infected person. Direct transmission of the virus cannot occur – it needs the person-mosquito-another person route. The mosquito flourishes during the rainy season but can breed in water-filled flower pots, plastic bags and cans all the year round. After being bitten by an infected mosquito, there is an incubation period that ranges from 3-15 days before the signs and symptoms are manifest. It starts with chills, headache, pain behind the eyes and upon moving the eyes and low backache. Aching in the legs and joints occurs in the initial hours. The temperature rises high rapidly (upto even 104 or 105 degrees F) with relatively low pulse and low BP. The eyes redden. A pale pink rash or flush comes over the face and disappears. The lymph node glands in the armpits and groin may swell. The fever and other signs last 2-4 days followed by a rapid drop in temperature and profuse sweating. Then there may be a day with no fever and a feeling of well-being. A second rise in temperature follows along with the characteristic rash that spreads from the extremities throughout the body except the face. Palms and soles may be bright red and swollen.

Typical dengue is fatal in less than 1% of cases and complications usually arise in those with weakened immune systems or in those who have taken aspirin and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. The acute phase lasts 1-2 weeks and recovery takes several weeks and is accompanied by weakness.

Dengue haemorrhagic fever is accompanied with respiratory and abdominal symptoms like sore throat, cough, tummy pains, nausea, vomiting. Shock can occur after some days due to the haemorrhagic complications with sudden collapse. This form of dengue has significant mortality.

As mentioned earlier, conventional medicine treatment is purely symptomatic, aiming to relieve the symptoms while the course of the dengue lasts. Rest is important as is the need to keep the body hydrated. Pain relievers are often given to ease the headache and joint pains. Patients often take over-the-counter medications by themselves but it is important not to randomly take aspirin and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs as these can worsen the situation in dengue and cause bleeding complications. For patients whose platelet counts drop alarmingly, transfusions of platelets are given.

General Precautions:
Empty stagnant water from containers, old tyres, trash cans and flower pots. This helps to eradicate the mosquitoes that carry the virus. Avoid getting bitten by mosquitoes by wearing long pants and tops/shirts with long sleeves. The Aedes aegypti mosquito is a daytime biter with peak biting time around sunrise and sunset.

Homoeopathic Treatment:
The remedy Eupatorium Perfoliatum is useful as a preventive. Please consult a homoeopath for proper potency and dosage instructions as they may vary for different patients with different susceptibilities. For those in whom dengue symptoms manifest, treatment with homoeopathic remedies is possible and very effective. Recovery is quick and the general weakness is lessened. There are remedies which even treat the haemorrhagic form of dengue.

Effective Home Remedy: PAPAYA LEAF JUICE
Now I come to the important home remedy which I want to spread awareness about. Papaya leaves play an important role in treatment and prevention of haemorrhagic complications. Studies conducted in different countries like Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Austria have all found it effective. They have found that papaya leaves have substances responsible for the release and/or production of platelets. The leaves are high in complex vitamins that help bone marrow to rapidly produce new platelets.

Normal platelets have a life span of about 5-10 days in our body. The body replenishes them as required. During the active phase of the virus in the body, the virus reduces the body’s ability to manufacture platelets. Hence the platelet count starts to drop. Usual normal platelet count varies from 1,50,000/cmm – 4,50,000/cmm. A platelet count below 1,00,000/cmm is alarming and requires attention. If the count drops below 30,000/cmm, it prevents clots from forming and spontaneous bleeding can start which is dangerous and requires hospitalization.

Leaves from a fruit bearing tree are to be used. The stem and thick veins should be removed. Wash with clean water and crush/grind. Squeeze by hand to extract the juice which has to be consumed fresh. Some sources recommend 10 ml twice a day for adults and 5 ml twice a day for children between 5 and 12 years. Crushing two leaves in a tablespoon of water and drinking the strained juice for two consecutive days has also been found effective. The platelet count rises within a few hours of taking the papaya leaf juice. It is better to take the papaya leaf juice early in the illness. When given early, patients recover quickly, thus preventing the need for hospitalization. In the final stages, when multiple organ failure has occurred, benefit is minimal.

Benefits of papaya leaf juice:

• Improves platelet and white blood cell counts.
• Normalises the clotting profile.
• Improves liver function and repairs the damage done to the liver due to the dengue virus.

So stay healthy and if dengue does occur, treat it safely, gently and surely!

References:

1. www.medicinenet.com
2. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/8/31/nation/9402609&sec=nation
3. apjtb.com/zz/aug/18.pdf
4. http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2010/07/25/fea02.asp
5. http://www.allnaturalhealththerapy.com/food-for-healing/papaya-leaves-extract-cures-dengue-hemorrhagic-fever.php