Healing with Homoeopathie

A young college-going girl came to me complaining of pain in her left foot due to ‘corns’. On examination, it was clear that this was a case of plantar warts. Plantar warts are sometimes difficult to distinguish from corns and callosities. Plantar warts usually have little black dots on their surface which are the ends of capillaries. Corns do not have them. Plantar warts are usually multiple as they spread to other parts of the foot, while corns are only found on weight-bearing areas. In cases of plantar warts, the striations on the skin go around the lesion unlike in corns where the striations continue across the top layer of the corn. Warts on other parts of the body grow outward, but on the foot, due to the pressure while walking, they grow inward and cause great pain.

She had a tendency to develop boils on the buttocks and in the groin region. This was worse from sweat and friction and would bleed on scratching. She loved sweets, fish, chicken and ice cream and was completely averse to tea. She perspired the most on the neck and her sweat had a sour odour. She slept on her abdomen.

She was a plump, cheerful, friendly girl and laughed a lot, very easily.

Knowing the propensity of Antimonium Crudum for corns and warts, I started by giving her Antimonium Crudum 30, three times daily for a week. She started improving and I continued with the same dosage for 2 more weeks, at the end of which her foot was showing distinct signs of improvement and she was pain-free. After a month I gave her a dose of Phosphorus 1M which I considered to be her constitutional remedy.

I didn’t see her for a number of months when she remained well; about a year later I called her for a follow-up photograph. She remains well and happy, her tendency to boils has also disappeared.

This was a very satisfying case, especially from the point of view of the speed of action of the Homoeopathic remedy. It took me by surprise!!

This young man came to me in the month of June 2007 with a complaint of warts which he had initially developed since about June 2006. Multiple warts had initially come up on the neck; later a couple of them arose on the scalp, followed by more warts on both upper eyelids and arms. They were approximately 50 in number. 6 months prior to coming for Homoeopathic treatment, he had all of them cauterized by a dermatologist. Within 2-3 months of the cauterization, they began to recur on the neck and by the time he came for Homoeopathic treatment, most of them had returned. They were asymptomatic but bothered him due to their appearance. There had been no history of any chemical exposure and there was no family history of warts either. Another problem for which he wanted treatment was generalised hair fall and flaky dandruff which made his scalp itch. He easily caught a cold from getting wet.

He enjoys meat and fish, loves sweet things including ice cream. He doesn’t feel thirsty. He sleeps on his back with his arms over his head.

He is the youngest sibling with two brothers and a sister. He had an arranged marriage 1 and 1/2 years back and has no problems. He loves nature – all animals, birds and plants. He has a pet dog. He used to be hot-tempered with violent anger but now thinks before reacting. He played professional cricket earlier; cricket was his passion. He believes in ‘karma’, destiny, spirituality. He’s not a materialist and is content with his life. He is helpful by nature, does some honorary work as well. He trusts easily and takes people at face value.

During the analysis and repertorization process, many other remedies covered his symptoms prominently, however, due to the main complaint of warts and the previous suppression by cauterization, I chose Medorrhinum as the remedy with which to start the case. I called him after 15 days so that I could take a photograph of his warts.

15 days later, at the follow-up, the warts on his scalp had already fallen off and those on his neck had started to itch. The photograph was taken and he was asked to report again after another fortnight.

He returned more than a month later with his neck looking smooth and wart-free. Most of them fell off during the night after the last follow-up. I had been just in time to click the first photographs!

This quick result surprised me as well and I decided to give him no further treatment for his hairfall and dandruff which remained to be cured. Fresh photographs were taken and are posted on this page. The scar marks seen on the 2nd photograph are remnants from the cauterization; the Homoeopathic treatment of the warts has left no scars.

I expect that the dose of Medorrhinum will continue to work in his system for a longer period and his hairfall and dandruff will reduce. He has been asked to report after 2 months. This post will be updated soon!

Not all cases of warts respond this quickly. Time to cure depends also on how deep-rooted different illnesses in the family are; more complex the illnesses, more the time the people in the family line take to respond even to the right remedy. Sometimes locating the right remedy takes time as well and remedies may need to be changed over a period of 2-4 months before the right remedy is prescribed. This case was more a case of serendipity for me as I had just finished reading ‘The Chronic Miasms’ by J. Henry Allen. This book lays emphasis on the treatment and eradication of deep-rooted miasms which are genetic taints of illness that get passed down the family line. It is a must-read book for every Homoeopath who wishes to attempt the cure of chronic diseases.

This 17-year-old patient came to be with a patch of eczema on the right hand. She had a history of eczema on the left ankle and the left wrist some years ago. She had been treated for those eczema patches and had developed scarring over the lesion on the left wrist. Her family now wanted her to have Homoeopathic treatment for the new lesion on the right hand. It had started with itching, followed by vesicle formation which gave out a non-sticky discharge. The lesion still itched, more so when dry. There was a family history of eczema from her father’s side. Her mother was diabetic. She had come to Bombay about 6 months ago and was living with her aunt and uncle.

She loved spicy and sour food and had an aversion to milk. She slept on her abdomen. She had her first menses at the age of 15 and said that recently her cycles were getting delayed by about 2-15 days and they lasted just 1-2 days. She had dysmenorrhoea which continued for 2 days.

She liked the company of friends and said she was social, though she appeared to be a quiet, soft-spoken person. She was particular about being on time. She was not easily angered and when she did get angry, cooled down fast and held no grievances. She wept easily and was scared of the dark and of ghosts. She was studying in Class XI in the science stream and had not yet decided on her future career plan. She enjoyed travelling, sewing and embroidery. She liked being in open air. She was the eldest child of her parents with a younger brother and sister who she said was even more quiet than her.

My first prescription on the 4th of February 2005 was Phosphorus. On the 14th of February, she reported that her eczema had increased and her periods which had started on the 1st, re-started on the 8th and continued till the 13th. Her eczema patch was oozing a watery and sticky liquid. I then gave her a dose of Graphites 30 to be taken in water. A fortnight later she was better but a month later, her eczema had increased again. I switched remedies and this continued until mid-March with not much improvement; Graphites helped her temporarily but did not help the improvement to go further.

In mid-March, her aunt was rather perturbed because her periods were very erratic. She had some spotting and then a scanty flow set in which just did not stop. I probed more into her history and she revealed that her periods had become scanty since over a year. Her eczema was also fluctuating.
On the 1st of April, I reviewed her case again and gave her Pulsatilla in a high potency as a single dose. On the 11th, she came for a follow-up and reported that her periods had finally stopped on the 6th, having lasted almost 23 days. After the Pulsatilla, her eczema had flared up for about 3 days and then grew progressively better. I repeated the dose of Pulsatilla again in mid-May. In June, she mentioned that her periods had settled into a 5 day flow. The active eczema lesion had cleared up almost completely and the scarring on the other wrist looked fainter according to her relatives, though I was not too sure about that.

I decided to terminate the treatment here as she was going back to her home in North India. She was asked to keep me informed and the last time I heard from her relatives (they are also patients) she was doing fine.

This 27 year young woman with a doctorate in Pharmacology consulted me in October 2004 with a complaint of migraines which had started about 1 year back, a few months after she was married. The migraines attacked her at least 2-3 times a month with each episode lasting 2 days even with analgesics. The headache was concentrated in the right occipital region and when severe, it would radiate to the front. The pulsating pain was brought on by even 5 minutes in the sun, by skipping meals, stress, noise and often by rich, oily food. The pain would get worse after an afternoon nap and was also worse on holidays if she overslept. Movements of the head and jarring aggravated her. She got some relief by hard pressure and by oiling her hair. She mentioned that she always felt a sensation of heat and swelling of the right side of her face along with the headache.

Her job is a rather stressful one and she has a lot of responsibility to handle along with long hours of work. Her mother suffered from osteoarthritis of the knees and her father had undergone an angioplasty.

She had a good appetite and thirst. She disliked sweet things and meat and loved chocolates, sour foods, esp. sour pickles. She took extra salt with her food. She happily ate bitter food like bitter-gourd (karela). Spices aggravated her, esp. in the morning.

She hardly perspired in general but perspired quite a bit on the tip of her nose. She had a feeling of heat on her palms and felt as though she wanted to cool them. She slept more on her left side and was a light sleeper, easily disturbed by noise. If upset, she had great difficulty in falling asleep. She often woke due to starting in sleep as if falling or missing a step. She preferred a cooler climate, disliked crowds; as she said, “I like my space”.

She had a sensitive nature; was easily hurt by statements of others, but didn’t show it. She wouldn’t cry in the presence of anyone else. She was basically introverted and her ability to mix with new people was dependent on how they reacted to her. After an emotional upset, she would brood for days. She liked to maintain relations and hence tolerated a lot. She loved to read and used to paint earlier when she had more time.

Based on her symptom picture, I prescribed Natrum Muriaticum 200 as a single dose and she was given Bryonia 200 to use only when she felt her headache coming on.

At her first follow-up two weeks later, she said she felt happier, slept better and could handle stress better. She had used Bryonia once when she felt her headache coming on from loss of sleep and Bryonia had been successful in arresting it. At the end of a month, she reported that she had had no migraines. She had an episode of migraine in January 2005 when she also told me that she had pain in her knees as well for the last 2 years with swelling of the knees after exertion. Natrum Muriaticum was prescribed in a 1M potency. This prescription helped her further and she remained free of migraine episodes for the next few months.
I prescribed Sulphur 200 as an intercurrent remedy later and she remained free of migraines and knee pain. She later moved to London as her husband had a job-transfer and from what I heard from her family later (her mother and brother are also patients), she remains in good health.

This case appears a simple one with quick resolution. Not all cases respond so well; in fact, very few do. Her case history was uncomplicated making it easy for me to locate her remedy. In complicated cases, Homoeopaths often need much more time to find the right remedy and then the case may also need different remedies and intercurrents as the patient progresses. Not many patients are patient and switch doctors or therapies. In the long run, it is obvious that there are great benefits to being patient during Homoeopathic treatment.

Urticaria is an allergic condition manifesting on the skin in the form of red, raised, itchy blotches/wheals. The condition is also known as ‘hives’.The wheals can appear anywhere on the body, single or multiple, of different sizes. Urticaria can be brought about by exposure to cold, as an allergic response to an item of food/drink, or as a result of direct contact with an allergen (substance to which the body is allergic). Certain people are also allergic to chemical drugs.

At the base of urticaria, whatever be the cause, is an allergic constitution whereby the body reacts to the allergen with a stronger-than-necessary immune reaction. In conventional medicine, drugs are used to suppress the immune reaction; the allergic constitution is not modified. Unless the constitution changes, the allergic tendency remains and the chemical drugs have to be taken regularly; sometimes, in gradually increasing doses. The constitution rarely sets itself right by the body’s own efforts; Homoeopathic medicines are very useful here since they stimulate the body’s healing mechanism and set right the allergic constitution. After a suitable course of Homoeopathic medicines, the individual can remain free from medication and also from the troublesome allergy.

In 2002, a 55 year old gentleman came to my clinic. He had been a colonel in the Indian Army and had retired in 1998. He had been suffering from urticaria since the last 8 months and was taking an anti-histamine tablet daily. He had a chronic nose block and often had bouts of sneezing on waking in the morning. He was on thyroid medication as his thyroid functioning was below normal. He never wavered from his standard diet and was very particular about his health. Right from childhood, he had a disciplined upbringing and was the 2nd child with 5 brothers. He had strong faith in God with a strong sense of duty. His family came second, his ‘duty’ came first. He was extremely honest and particular about never doing anything wrong. He disliked quarrels and believed that the gates of communication should always remain open. Being a principled man, he hated anyone in his family going against his principles. He hardly had any personal requirements and liked peace and quiet. He read a lot of religious books and brooded on religious matters. He enjoyed reading poetry which often made him emotional. He was emotionally rather sensitive, particularly to the sufferings of others and to the sacrifices of others. He mentioned that his honesty and sincerity had often gone against him, demoralising him at times.

He disliked sweet things, preferred a salty taste. In the past, he had suffered from Bell’s palsy, herpes zoster of the ear and Pott’s spine (tuberculosis of the spine).

Going by his acute urticaria symptoms, Urtica Urens 30 was prescribed as an SOS medicine, so that he could reduce his use of the anti-histamine. Based on his case-history, a single dose of Aurum Metallicum 1M was prescribed. He was asked to continue Eltroxin for his hypothyroid state for the moment.

When he returned back after a fortnight, his urticaria was about 25% better in intensity and he had taken 5-7 doses of the SOS medicine. After a further month, the potency was stepped up to Aurum Metallicum 10M (again a single dose). During further follow-ups, he mentioned that his chronic nose block was much reduced and the need to use the SOS medicine also reduced drastically. The paroxysmal morning sneezing bouts were very rare. His sleep was much deeper and he felt more relaxed on waking.

After 4 months of starting treatment, he stopped getting any episodes of urticaria. He was asked to reduce Eltroxin to alternate day doses instead of daily ones. He stopped treatment soon after and returned back after 4 years, informing me that his urticaria had never recurred; however, he was still taking Eltroxin on alternate days.

One of the biggest misconceptions about Homoeopathy in the minds of people is that it is a slow form of medicine for acute diseases and is only good for chronic diseases. THIS STATEMENT IS ONLY PARTLY CORRECT. Homoeopathy is certainly one of the best forms of medicine for all chronic diseases, however, even in acute diseases, Homoeopathy can act SWIFTLY and GENTLY leading to a rapid cure.

Let us first understand what acute and chronic diseases are. Acute diseases are a deviation from the original state of health with a rapid onset, rapid progress, and a definite duration. If not treated, they can end in either death or recovery. Eg., most infections like malaria, typhoid, the common cold, pneumonia, gastroenteritis etc., are acute diseases. Chronic diseases, on the other hand, are deviations from the original state of health with a usually slow, imperceptible onset, slow but sure progress, and indefinite, long duration which end only with death, if not treated. All the degenerative diseases of the modern day like cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, etc., are chronic diseases.

It is generally proclaimed by the medical profession that most chronic diseases cannot be cured but can only be controlled by medication, or if cure is to be attempted, it is to be done with surgery by the removal of unwanted tissue or the replacement of malfunctioning parts. Will this be a real cure? Why has the unwanted tissue arisen in the first place? Why has the normal functioning of the body parts gone astray? The unwanted tissue like the growths of cancer and the malfunctioning organs or parts are not ‘the disease’ but they are the outcome of the disease process, an unseen process which has gone on for a long time in the body, much before the visible signs/outcome of the disease could manifest.

Hence, it becomes clear, that to really cure such a chronic disease, we need to deal with and treat the underlying disease process and not just the outcome of the disease process. If the underlying disease process is not treated, after a brief respite, the disease will rear its nasty head up again, resulting in new growths and new manifestations. Targeting the diseased cells and thereby trying to achieve cure is NOT the solution to a chronic disease.

No one can deny that there is a Life Force within each living cell and it is this Life Force that makes us a unity, and keeps our body functioning harmoniously with its millions of cells. This Life Force is dynamic and invisible and can be affected not only by physical factors of the environment, but also by other dynamic, invisible forces like stress, grief and anxiety. These inimical forces of our day-to-day living, after a period of time, bring about a derangement in the normal functioning of our Life Force. Once this happens, it is but a matter of time until visible malfunctioning in the state of health develops. In other words, the derangement of the normal Life Force leads to the underlying disease process which in turn, leads to the visible manifestations of disease, be they just functional signs and symptoms or more serious and dangerous structural changes in the health of the individual.

No two individuals are the same; it hence follows that no two individuals will have the same derangements in health from the same identical causative factors. Each individual has his or her own immune status, own tolerance levels to environmental and other dynamic influences, own in-born weaknesses and strengths. A highly complex interaction of all these factors takes place before an individual gets sick and hence the manifestations of the sickness are also highly individual in character.

Homoeopathy respects the uniqueness of the individual and the Homoeopathic treatment of a person’s chronic disease is begun after a detailed case history which takes into account not only the person’s past and present medical history but also the life history, emotional and intellectual characteristics of the individual to be treated. The focus of treatment is not on the diseased organs and tissues, but on the underlying disease process which has resulted in the creation of the diseased organs and tissues. Homoeopathic medicines never suppress the immunity but attempt to get the immune system functioning at the optimal level so that the Life Force which has been deranged in its functioning, can get back its normal functioning again. Once the Life Force is functioning normally, the diseased organs and tissues can gradually get back their own normal functioning.

It can thus be understood from the above paragraphs that setting an individual on the path of health in a chronic disease is not an easy short-term matter. Setting right underlying disease processes can take time, depending on how long the process has gone on before the patient has sought treatment. There is no standardized treatment for any of the chronic diseases, but in each case, the treatment has to be individualized to suit that particular patient who is an individual in his own right. Only if treatment is undertaken at depth, only if the underlying causes are dealt with, can real cure be achieved. Everything else is only temporary palliation.

June 2005.

In recent days, a controversy has arisen regarding the validity of Homoeopathy, following “The Lancet” journal publication of a Swiss study which says that Homoeopathy has no more effect than a placebo. For information of readers, a placebo is a pill or tablet without any medicinal value, given just to please a patient, as it usually has a beneficial effect on the patient’s mind. According to this recent controversial study, meta-analysis was carried out on 110 previous studies of double-blind trials in Homoeopathy, and similar analyses were carried out with placebos and with conventional medicine. Their findings stated that while conventional medicine trials showed distinct results, the trials on Homoeopathy did not fare any better than the placebo trials.

Truth needs no defence, and the patients who have seen the clear benefit of Homoeopathic treatment in their own cases or in the cases of their loved ones, will certainly not give any value to this study, however, in the interest of staving off wrong information and wrong findings, we do not wish to remain mute witnesses to this entire drama.

There are several points which are to be raised here.
Firstly, let us understand what a double-blind trial is. Giving an example in simple terms, in a double-blind trial, if there are 100 patients, 50 of them will receive placebo and 50 will receive the chosen medication, the patients will not be told what they are receiving, and the scientist/doctor who is administering the medicine will also not know whether it is placebo or medicine, only the controller of the trial will have a record of who gets what. The results are then analyzed. Now such trials are perfect for conventional medicine, because they have specific medicines for a particular diagnostic condition, hence it is apt to see how the chosen medicine fares for that condition in a trial. In Homoeopathy, we do not treat diseases based on their medical diagnosis, but remedies are chosen based on the individualizing features of each case, hence 100 patients of, say, high blood pressure, may probably need 100 different remedies, each patient receiving a remedy to suit him/her best. Once this is understood, it is easy to comprehend that the double-blind trial method is simply not suitable for a study of Homoeopathy. If the efficacy of Homoeopathy needs to be analyzed, it has to be done on cases which are under Homoeopathic treatment, according to the laws of Homoeopathic practice where the remedies have been chosen for each patient according to their individuality.

The second point which needs to be cleared is about the Homoeopathic medicines themselves, where sceptics time and again, have stated that in the highly dilute state, there can be no medicinal activity left. Let us make it clear, that the manufacture of Homoeopathic medicines is not just a process of dilution, but a process of dilution with potentization at each step along the way. Potentization involves strong vibrations being imparted to the medicinal liquid, whereby medicine releases energy into the diluent liquid and the diluent liquid then carries the energy which later on gets imparted to the patient. As further proof, spectrophotometry analysis of high potencies show distinct differences from a plain non-Homoeopathic solution. Recently, the Bio-Medical Instrumentation Department of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), in Mumbai, have created an instrument called Medical Analyser, which is able to show distinct effects of Homoeopathic remedies even in the higher potencies, and though the instrument is in its early days, it has also been able to identify the remedy in some tests. We of the Homoeopathic fraternity, look forward to participating in further studies with the Medical Analyser, in collaboration with BARC.

The third point raised in the Swiss study, was that whatever benefit people claim to receive is due to the holistic approach, the detailed talking and the sympathetic approach that Homoeopathy adopts. However, there is no question of this sort of approach being used in cases of infants and animals, where despite the lack of ‘talking’, Homoeopathy always shows great results.

Homoeopathy has been in existence for over 200 years and has been growing by leaps and bounds especially in recent decades, and will continue to grow so long as patients continue to benefit.

September, 2005.

A migraine is an intense, incapacitating headache, accompanied by other symptoms, that occurs repeatedly in some persons, occurring in episodes or ‘attacks’. It can affect both sexes but is more common in females. The nature of attacks varies between persons and from time to time in the same person. Attacks may last from 4 hours to 72 hours in some individuals.

Symptoms of a classic migraine attack may appear as follows:
Some sufferers have a warning ‘aura’, which is often visual in nature, flashing lights, zig-zag lines etc. Some people may get other warning symptoms like tingling of the side of the head or face, etc. The pain may be throbbing or pulsating, often affecting one side of the head. It may be accompanied by nausea or vomiting.

It is believed that constriction, then dilatation and inflammation of blood vessels that go to the scalp and brain result in migraine headaches. Vision disturbances occur when blood vessels narrow. Headache begins when they widen again.

Attacks may be triggered by:
· Tension or stress. Emotional problems are probably the most common reason for migraine attacks, but headaches don’t necessarily coincide with emotional upset. They often occur on weekends when stress is decreased.
· Menstruation.
· Use of oral contraceptives.
· Consumption of alcohol or certain foods.
· Bright lights or flickering lights.
· Lack of sleep or too much sleep.

The risk of developing migraines increases with a stressful life style, be it at the home or at the office, a family history of migraines, smoking or excess alcohol consumption.

Hence it is important to cut down the stress in your life. Practicing relaxing techniques, Yoga, meditation are of benefit. During a severe attack, rest is essential but in between attacks, exercise is essential to maintain a general level of fitness. Exercise (including deep breathing exercises) also works as a stress reliever. Two key points for reducing pain with acupressure are the web between the forefinger and thumb (squeeze there until you feel pain) and under the bony ridges at the back of the neck (use both thumbs to apply pressure there). Foods like nuts, chocolates, cheese, excess salt may trigger headaches. No particular dietary restrictions are necessary unless you find that a certain item of food triggers your headaches.

Homoeopathy has a holistic approach to a human being and hence is well suited to curing a person who suffers from migraines. The Homoeopath will take a detailed history of the individual that will encompass his mental, physical and emotional profile along with the main problem. Treatment will then be instituted, aiming at bringing in greater balance at all levels, thus making the person better adapted to life’s stresses and strains. Immune levels are improved, and the person is put on the road to cure.

Nowadays Noise Pollution has become rampant in our society, and most of the time we put up with it, partly because we have no idea about what steps can be taken to control it. We tolerate the discomfort others put us through, but it is necessary to be aware of what influence noise has on our bodies, apart from the basic nuisance of having to listen to unwanted noise.

EFFECT ON HEARING: The ability to hear is one of our most precious gifts. Without it, it is very difficult to lead a full life. The damage done by noise depends mainly on how loud it is and on the length of exposure. The frequency or pitch can also have some effect, since high-pitched sounds are more damaging than low-pitched ones. Initially, loud noise tires out the inner ear, leading to temporary hearing loss. However, with continual noise exposure, the ear will lose its ability to recover from temporary hearing loss, and the damage will become permanent. Permanent hearing loss results from the destruction of cells in the inner ear-cells which can never be replaced or repaired. Such damage can be caused by long-term exposure to loud noise or, in some cases, by brief exposures to very loud noises.

EFFECT ON OTHER BODY SYSTEMS: Excessive noise can not only destroy the ability to hear, but may also put stress on other parts of the body. Affecting the heart, noise can cause quickened pulse rate, increased blood pressure and a narrowing of the blood vessels. Over a long period of time, these may place an added burden on the heart. People exposed to noise sometimes complain of nervousness, sleeplessness and fatigue. Excessive noise exposure also can reduce job performance and may cause high rates of absenteeism. People living near airports, railway tracks, busy roads, or other noise-emitting facilities consider sleep disturbance as the most deleterious effect of noise. The data suggest that these noises might affect mood, well-being, and performance the next day. Sleep disturbances are suspected to contribute eventually to the development of chronic health disorders. Most reviewers agree that the effects on sleep depend on the physical characteristics of the noises as well as on individual and situational factors. Noise may also put stress on the body by causing the abnormal secretion of hormones and tensing of muscles. Noise causes the release of different stress hormones. The part of the brain called hypothalamus receives input from, and sends signals to, other parts of the brain, and it produces hormones that stimulate or inhibit the release of other hormones from the anterior pituitary. The pituitary hormones, in turn, stimulate or inhibit the adrenal gland to secrete its hormones, one of the major adrenal hormones being Cortisol. The whole complex interaction of the Hypothalamus, Pituitary and Adrenal Glands is very important and in medical terms, we call it the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis of the body. The effects of longer-lasting activation of the HPA-axis, especially long term increase of cortisol, are manifold: immune suppression, insulin resistance (e.g. diabetes), cardiovascular diseases (e.g. hypertension and arteriosclerosis), catabolism (e.g. ostoeporosis), intestinal problems (e.g. stress ulcer) etc. Even worse may be the widespread effects of other hormones outside the hypothalamic system, which have the potential to influence nearly all regulatory systems, causing other medical conditions as signs of disturbed hormonal balance.

EFFECT ON CHILDREN: Compared to earlier years, the lives of children are getting noisier and noisier. Noise levels of the environment, like road traffic, railway sounds, aircraft, etc., have increased considerably. Noise levels at school have also increased dramatically, where more and more use of mikes and amplifiers is being made to reach out to a large number of students. Outdoor leisure activities of children and toys have also become more noisy. Even at home, a large number of households encourage TV sets remaining on for a major part of the day. All this contributes in creating an almost permanently noisy atmosphere for children.
Children possess less well-developed coping responses, and are often less able to control their environments, and as a result effects of noise seem to be more harmful to children in many ways. Aggressive behaviour and hyperactivity seem to be, in part, a consequence of this everlasting noise exposure that children face today.
The information available on noise-induced effects on the fetus shows hearing impairment associated with exposure to high occupational noise levels during pregnancy. On-going research indicates that growth retardation of the child may also be associated with extensive occupational noise exposure of the pregnant mother. It cannot be excluded, but is seems unlikely, that environmental noise causes fetal abnormalities. This may however, be due to lack of proper methods to ascertain this possibility.
Babies who are born pre-term, have to cope with their environment with immature organ systems, especially, the auditory, visual and central nervous systems, which are the last systems to mature. These last stages occur, in part, during the time the pre-term child is in the incubator or neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Studies need to be conducted to evaluate thoroughly, what effect excessive noise might have on the developing auditory system which would be more vulnerable to hearing impairment.
Where children are concerned, sleep is very important for good health, and studies do show that sleep patterns get disturbed from exposure to noise. As children grow, it has been found that there is a considerable difference in the blood pressures of those exposed to road traffic noise and those not exposed. However, where aircraft noise is concerned, studies show that children adapt to aircraft noise without any major ill effects, this adaptation is not seen in cases of road traffic noise exposure.
Development of reading skills seems to be affected adversely in school children with a long-term exposure to high levels of traffic noise from either aircraft, road or railway traffic. Long term noise-exposed children also seem to suffer from difficulty in concentration and difficulty in focusing their attention, esp. when someone is speaking to them. This perhaps occurs because children learn how to ignore sound stimuli as a way to cope with long-term noise exposure. Unfortunately, this tuning out process may over-generalise so that children learn to tune out not only noise, but also relevant other auditory signals, such as speech.
In families where noise is a part of daily living, parents too seem to be less attentive to their children. This could affect the confidence levels of children as well. Some studies showed that children highly exposed to environmental noise for prolonged periods of time are less motivated when placed in situations where task performance is dependent on persistence. Prolonged exposure to uncontrollable noise seems to induce feelings of helplessness and behavioural patterns which also reflect helplessness. As the child continues to struggle unsuccessfully with an uncontrollable stimulus, it eventually learns that it is helpless to do anything about the situation, as manifested by feelings of hopelessness and reduced persistence. However, personal character traits of a child modify this to a significant extent.
Where teenagers are concerned, studies have concentrated only on the effects of noise causing noise-induced hearing impairment. Listening to music through head phones certainly causes hearing impairment at loud volumes.

According to the National Institute of Occupational Health, continuous exposure to noise levels above 90 decibels can produce adverse auditory and non-auditory health effects. If we want to reduce the chances of these adverse health effects happening to ourselves and to our loved ones, it is essential that every one of us protests whenever someone exposes us to high noise levels and it is our duty, in turn, to see that we do not expose someone else to our noise.

A kidney stone is a solid piece of material that forms in the kidney out of substances in the urine.
A stone may stay in the kidney or break loose and travel down the urinary tract. A small stone may pass all the way out of the body without causing too much pain. A larger stone may get stuck in a ureter, the bladder, or the urethra. A problem stone can block the flow of urine and cause great pain. The presence of stones can lead to urinary infections and also kidney damage in the long term. Stones vary from the size of a grain of sand to a golf ball, and there may be one or several.

Signs to watch out for are:
· Episodes of severe, colicky (intermittent) pain every few minutes. The pain usually appears first in the back, just below the ribs. Over several hours or days, the pain follows the stone’s course through the ureter toward the groin. Pain stops when the stone passes.
· Frequent nausea with severe pain.
· Traces of blood in the urine. Urine may appear cloudy or dark.

Several factors increase the risk for developing kidney stones, including inadequate fluid intake and dehydration, reduced urinary flow and volume, certain chemical levels in the urine that are too high (e.g., calcium, oxalate, uric acid) or too low (e.g., citrate), and several medical conditions. Anything that blocks or reduces the flow of urine (e.g., urinary obstruction, genetic abnormality) also increases the risk.

Preventive measures:
– Drink about 15 glasses of fluid, mostly purified water, every day. It is important that you pass about 2 litres of urine per day.
– Avoid milk and milk products if you have had a calcium or phosphorus kidney stone.
– Avoid excessive sweating.
– If your stones are calcium oxalate stones, restrict your intake of oxalate rich foods like beans, beets, chocolate, grapes, green peppers, spinach, strawberries and tea.
– Some studies have found that a daily intake of 10 mgs of magnesium supplementation reduces stone recurrence by almost 90 %. The best food sources of magnesium are green leafy vegetables, whole grains, nuts and dried beans. Meat, milk and other starches are moderate suppliers. Because refined foods have the least, magnesium intake has dropped since we now eat more refined and processed foods than ever.
– Activity helps, as people who are inactive tend to accumulate a lot of calcium in the bloodstream. Activity helps to pull calcium back into the bones, where it belongs.
– Be cautious of a high protein diet, as protein tends to increase the presence of uric acid, calcium and phosphorus in the urine, which could lead to the formation of stones in some susceptible people. Cut down on meat in case of uric acid stones.
– Consumption of large amounts of Vitamin C – in excess of 3 – 4 grams a day – can increase oxalate production and increase the risk of stones.

Homoeopathy has very good medicines to help make the stones smaller and help them to pass out from the urinary tract. During an acute episode of renal colic where the stone is trying to pass, painkillers and anti-spasmodic medication may be necessary if the pain is too severe. Homoeopathically, medicines like Colocynthis, Magnesium Phosphoricum, Pareira Brava, Ocimum Canum, Berberis Vulgaris, Sarsaparilla, etc may be used during the acute stage of renal colic. The choice of medicine will depend on the symptoms the patient has at that point in time. After the stones have passed, Homoeopathic medication can help prevent recurrence by suitably modifying the susceptibility of the patient. Such treatment will be directed towards correcting a uric acid diathesis and tendency to stone formation by taking into account personal factors of the individual patient.