Dr. Shah, despite your busy schedule as the creator of “HOMPATH” Software and your work with patients, you’ve been kind enough to present your interesting cases to us and answer my many questions. Today I’d like to talk to you about heart attacks. Can homeopathy be effective here?
There are 4 remedies which work beautifully. Cactus 6C when attack is mild–give every 15 minutes. Second is Crategus when pain is very severe. Give 6C every 15 minutes until patient responds; later make it once hourly.
The third remedy is Lachesis when there is a choking feeling & desire to loosen the clothes. Give 30 potency hourly. Last is Carbo Veg 30C, mainly indicated in old people with tremendous desire for open air and better by burping (eructations). These are four remedies which can definitely relieve quite a few cases, based on my practice and observation of acute cases.
During Myocardial infarction there is a physiological crisis and you require medicine in lower potency or mother tincture to be repeated more frequently or until patient responds. I have helped with only low potency and it has produced desired results. Repeated every 5 to 15 minutes. The sensitivity and susceptibility are low in these cases; so, if you give high potency it could produce aggravation and complication.
If you know the constitutional remedy, you can give it in medium potency and it will win over the crisis beautifully and the patient will feel better.
Is there a special remedy for when the concomitant symptom is pain down the left arm / shoulder / hand, for instance, Latrodectus? What about Spigelia for sharp pains in the chest? What if the concomitant is nausea? Does Crataegus cover all these things?
Kalmia covers all symptoms expressed by you. Spigelia does cover sharp, sudden pain, but for Cardiac condition it has limited action. I have not much used Spigelia for cardiac condition. Usually it is for Migraine or similar problems.
In your experience, are heart attacks usually sudden or are their warnings?
Normally it comes suddenly after exertion or strain. You get different presentations like breathlessness, pain, discomfort or feeling of distention or gas in the stomach or ineffectual urging to pass urine or stool. If during attack one breathes deeply and coughs repeatedly, alternately the heart gets stimulated and you can avoid complications.
Do you work in a hospital?
Yes, I was attached to a 300 bed general hospital for nearly 10 years. I was the 1st one to start Homoeopathic Department in government allopathic hospital and I used to head the department.
More than 30% of the hospital staff was converted to Homoeopathy. The hospital gave me a chance to treat many rare clinical conditions and syndromes.
How did the hospital change after this? How was it different for the staff and the patients?
The staff started taking Homoeopathic treatment for themselves and family members and they referred many unsolved cases for Homoeopathic treatment.
When they saw results in OPD Patients and IPD patients which did not respond to the conventional treatment, they started switching to homoeopathy.
Myocardial ischemia and its related remedies.
Aconite
Sudden, acute, suffocative constriction of the chest, so distressing that he sweats from agony; flushed face. Intense anxiety with fear of death. Coldness, cold sweat; feeble pulse or full, strong and throbbing pulse; intense pain in all directions.
Argentum nit.
Angina pectoris, intense pain in chest and about heart, can hardly breathe. Irregular (intermittent) action of heart (with an unpleasant sensation of fullness), worse when noticing it, better when moving about in open air.
Cactus g.
Nervous excitability. Palpitation of heart in debilitated persons; feeling as though an iron band was around heart, preventing its motion, worse when lying on left side, full throbbing carotids, cold sweat on face and pulselessness.
Glonoine (nitroglycerine)
Great anguish in praecordial region. Sharp shocks and stitches in the heart. Labored action of heart, worse on stooping and lying on left side.
Naja t.
Sudden agonizing pain in heart; unusual beating of heart, audible to patient. Heat and uneasy aching with oppression in heart, inability to speak, with choking.
Phytolacca
Shocks of pain in cardiac region; angina pectoris; pain goes into right arm. Awakens with lameness near heart; worse during expiration; cannot get to sleep again. Pulse: small, irregular, with great excitement in chest especially in cardiac region; full, but soft.
Veratrum album
Angina pectoris; periodical attacks of pain in chest, or cutting, with excessive agony extending to shoulders. Skin cold and clammy. Cold sweat on the forehead. He sweats from agony. General prostration.
Calcarea ars.
Angina pectoris. Grasping pain in heart. Palpitation with heat of face. Every fourth beat of pulse omits. Rapid pulse along with pancreatic complaints.
Kalmia
Angina pectoris, wandering pains extending to the left arm with paroxysms of anguish about the heart and dyspnoea. Cardiac diseases of organic origin valvular insufficiency and hypertrophy and degeneration of the heart.
Kalmia’s most important symptom is pain going to left arm. Cratagus is more acute and severe as compared to Kalmia. Cactus also has severe pain, squeezing pain. Cactus works on heart directly and relieves the patient.
I will just end with a quote from Murphy’s Homeopathic Remedy Guide on Kalmia: “Heart’s action tumultuous, rapid and visable. Paroxysms of anguish around heart. Fluttering of heart with anxiety. Pains sharp, burning, shooting, stabbing radiating to left scapula and arm, take away the breath. Palpitations, worse leaning forward. insufficiency, aortic obstruction.”
I think we should warn the pharmacies to expect a run on Crataegus, Kalmia and Cactus! Thanks, Dr. Shah!
