THEORY AND PRACTICE:  EVERY CASE IS NOT FOR PRESCRIPTION

THEORY AND PRACTICE:  EVERY CASE IS NOT FOR PRESCRIPTION

The theme of this article is to tell/advise the homeopathic practitioner not to make himself, so to say, a prescribing gun, to go on shooting homeopathic prescriptions on every case that comes his way. Nor should he try to do snapshot homeopathy, i.e. prescribing on one or two symptoms, or merely on the pathologic name of the disease; for the pathology without the personal symptoms does not guide to the indicated remedy; nor can the diagnosis of the pathology of the patient be always correct.

But my intention in writing this article is not limited to the above consideration only. I want to tell that all cases are not essentially for prescribing medicines, howsoever those cases might have been taken: i.e. completely and in full details.

I will start with some concrete examples:

Let’s take a case of constant headache that had been taxing an office employee for many months without any amelioration whatsoever. Symptoms were as under:

  1. Headache of daily occurrence from forenoon to sunset, or late in the evening.
  2. Headache would be in whole head, throbbing and pulsating, esp. temples.
  3. < jar of walking, stooping, shaking head.
  4. <sun.
  5. Feeling better by washing face in cold water.

Now this was an excellent case for homeopathy, with clear-cut modalities, sensations and location. But no homeopathic prescription solved the problem; allopathic painkillers had already been tried abundantly.

As good fate has it, one day, this patient found a nice piece of cloth, in a cloth market and bethought himself to get a shirt made from it. He always used to wear readymade shirts. He went to a tailor, and the tailor started taking his measures for the shirt. When he was going to measure his throat, the patient told him that it was 15 inches. But the tailor insisted to check it himself. On measuring, he informed him that it was 15 ½ , and that he would make it 16 inches. The patient objected that it would be very loose for him. The tailor said, “Sir, if you wear 15 inches collar, it will create pain in your head that won’t be settled by any medicine”. The patient got the clue. He started unbuttoning the collar when wearing 15 inches shirts and buying 16 inches shirts in future. From that day on his headache became a history of the past. So, we see that the tailor proved to be a better diagnostician than the learned doctors.

Now let’s discuss cases of constipation.

In my long practice of 38 years I never have singled out constipation as an idiopathic disease, and never, ever, dealt with it separately. It at best can be a symptom among may other symptoms, in a well-taken case. And if a person comes to me for this ailing symptom alone, I seldom treat him. After searching the causes for this condition, I would enlighten him on the subject and advise to cure (manage) his constipation himself with my devised program as to how he should live his life. For, verily, almost some 90% of one’s constipation is owing to one’s style of living. It is a wonder that many indigenous systems of medicines [Ayurvedic, and Greek (Unani) medicine] brand constipation as the mother of all diseases, while there is none such thing.

Constipation is a state of inertia of the intestine that can be the result of many factors. E.g.

  • General torpor of the intestinal system;
  • Dryness or dehydration of intestines, as during the month of fasting in the Muslim world.
  • Rapid osmoses of fluid nutrients from the intestines.
  •  Routine use of roughage-free or finely processed foods.
  • Lack of fluid intake habitually, owing to remaining in air-conditioned offices.
  • Sedentary living.
  • Owing to busy life, not responding to natural calls, or postponing the response thereto. 

Now in the light of the above how can we say that constipation is a disease? Whatever is curable among the above mentioned causes, will be successfully addressed by the constitutional remedy of the patient; the remaining would be rectified by the patient himself, by acting on the advised change of habits and the style of living.  

We will now discuss a case of chronic diarrhea, with the following symptoms:

  1. Daily colic waking the patient at 3-4 AM, cramping with urging;
  2. At last a forceful urge driving the patient out of bed;
  3. A noisy  diarrheic stool;
  4. Another similar motion after breakfast,
  5. Some more alvine evacuations till the afternoon.

This is a typical case of chronic morning diarrhea that drives the patient out of bed.  Treatment from both schools went astray. In homeopathy Aloes, Podo., Nat.Sulph., and Sulphur, inter alia,did not touch the case. No allopathic Anti- diarrheics worked either,or permanently alleviated the suffering.

On further investigation and questioning about the life-style of the patient, it transpired that he habitually took a glass of milk as last thing before going to bed.  This last item was forbidden totally, not to be consumed at any time for many months. From that day onward no colic occurred at night and no diarrhea at any time.

Now we’ll pry into another field, quite unwonted for the follower of homeopathy. But no nook or corner of therapeutics should be unwonted for a true physician. Nothing that can benefit his patients should be an anathema for an unbiased healer. A patient of mine, a sweet lady, 65 by age, is my all time patient, since she lives next door to my clinic, so she is virtually my indoor patient. I’m available to her and her family at any time. She suffers from diabetes for 20 years or so. Lately hypertension has been added to it. For these major ailments she is under allopathic specialists. Mine apportionment is her arthritis and other day-today ailments. From mid of July to mid of September here is very oppressive weather in Pakistan. Humidity is almost 80%. Such patients suffer much in such weather. From the last week of July to the end of August she suffered from an oppressive sort of depression, with the presentiment of sure death. From 6 o’clock in the evening till 8 to 9 she would wear a deathly pale complexion with fear of death large written on her countenance.  Her fingers of right hand constantly on the brachial pulse of her left hand; and calling me daily to check her BP. The blood pressure was never more than 130/70, with normal pulse. She would feel comfortable lying in A/C (cold) room. No remedy impressed her. Sometimes, only for 3 to 4 times in one and a quarter month, Aconite might have slightly appeased her sufferings. No other remedy worked. We can detail her symptoms as under:

  1. Stomach, sinking (location+Sensation)
  2. Heart, weakness or sinking (Location+Sensation) [the patient couldn’t differentiate the location of her sinking feeling, hence both the locations were considered]. 
  3. Death, sensation of (Mental symptom)
  4. Death, presentiment of (ditto)
  5. < Evening (Modality)
  6. > Becoming cold, in A/C room (Modality)
  7. Eructation (Concomitant).

Isn’t it a well taken case? But no remedy worked.  First five remedies that came out were:

  • Merc.Sol.,
  • Phosphorus,
  • Veratrum Alb.,
  • Lyco.,
  • Acon.

Now to re-evaluate the case along all its ramifications became imperative. The most possible cause, it dawned upon me, could be no other than her medication, under which influence she is cringing for decades. These, at present, were:

  • Sulphonylurea, ( brand name, Getril) 4 mg. twice daily;
  • Metformin   ( brand name, Neodipar), thrice daily, 500 mg. + 850mg. + 500mg.
  • An Anti-hypertensive.

The second mentioned medicine was in rather very heroic doses. I felt that the poisoning of this medicine should be searched for first. Luckily I got the relevant information very easily, and I would like to share it with my readers.

“In recent years, there’s been some concern over the risk of vitamin B12 deficiency in people who take metformin. Vitamin B12 (also known as cyanocobalamin or cobalamin) plays many important roles in the body, such as keeping your blood cells and nervous system in tip top shape. There’s also some evidence that vitamin B12 may help prevent heart disease and possibly even Alzheimer disease….. Elderly people are often at risk for deficiency as well, due to problems with absorption from the gastrointestinal tract..

According to some studies, between 10% and 30% of people who take metformin on a regular basis have some evidence of decreased B12 absorption… the journal Archives of Internal Medicine,155 Chinese people with Type 2 diabetes taking metformin were identified as having a B12 deficiency, regardless of factors such as age or body weight. The study found that the longer a person had been taking metformin and the higher his daily dose of the drug, the greater his risk of developing B12 deficiency.

The authors of the study advocate consideration of vitamin B12 deficiency screening for people who take metformin. …Also, if you have any of the symptoms of B12 deficiency mentioned above, particularly those related to neuropathy (numbness, pain, or tingling in your hands or feet), be sure to let your physician know. He or she can check the level of vitamin B12 in your blood.

Vitamin B12 deficiency can be treated with either oral, injected, or inhaled forms of B12. Some people, such as strict vegetarians or the elderly, may need to take supplements or receive injections on a regular basis. B12 is found in most multivitamin supplements, so it doesn’t hurt to take a multivitamin as a safeguard.” … From : Metformin and Risk For Vitamin B12 Deficiency, by Amy Campbell

I decided to put my patient on a vitamin combination orally with few injections of  Vit. B12. This decision was made in the evening; I selected carefully the best combination, with relatively mega doses of Vit.B complex. One tablet was given with the dinner that evening. Next day the paroxysm of depression did occur at the usual time, but passed away just so soon. For the next day I advised the patient to take the vitamin tablet with the lunch instead of dinner. From that day on, till today, (almost 10 days) her evening blues have totally disappeared. The B12 injections were started 3 days later.

This is a very instructing case. A very persistent case of serious looking malaise, seeming definitely as a cardiac disease; defying all treatment, and the patient going down day by day, was miraculously recovered only by vitamins; no medicine. 

Let us draw few conclusions:

  • When a bird can be captured without shooting, never shoot.
  • Never label a disease chronic, unless you root out chronic habits.
  • Never consider any therapeutic field as a ‘no go area’ for yourself as a homeopath, where you can benefit your patient, without prescribing homeopathic medicine; may it be the bewitching field of micronutrients.
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