Homeopathy Papers

Scope and Management of Cancer Cases in Homoeopathy

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Scope and Management of Cancer Cases in Homoeopathy : A 2-day-Seminar Dr. Sujit Chatterjee and Dr. Sunirmal Sarkar

Cancer forms one of the most intrigued and difficult to treat pathologies due to its fulminating nature in most cases. Surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy which are more widely used for the treatment, are hardly an answer to controlling the pace and pathology of this condition. It is the dream of every homoeopath to be able to successfully treat pathological cases especially cancer. But while doing so, many questions assail our mind with every case encountered. ‘Is this case treatable? Should I aim at cure or simply palliation? How do I prescribe the medicines and form the totality? Are there some remedies which come in handy for such cases? Should I allow chemotherapy and radiotherapy? How do I counter the side effects of chemo and radiotherapy?’ These are just a few difficulties faced by every homoeopath when handling cancer cases.

To this end, the other song arranged for two of its most experienced and senior consultants who have had considerable experience at handling cancer cases to share their expertise and knowledge among the homoeopathic fraternity. ‘Scope and Management of Cancer Cases in Homoeopathy’ was organized on the premises of the other song on 14th and 15th November with Dr. Sujit Chatterjee and Dr. Sunirmal Sarkar as the chief speakers in order to orient the homoeopaths on ways and means of treating cancer cases homoeopathically.

Dr. Sujit Chatterjee started by sharing his experiences from over 30 years of practice. Since allopathy and surgery cannot help the patient to a great extent, many patients resort to Homoeopathy and he was lucky to see atleast one cancer patient every week. He quoted, “It is the duty of every homoeopath to do his best even in cases where there is not much hope and provide whatever little relief one can.” He said that he was also unsuccessful in many cases, but every case was full of learning. He expressed his tribute and homage towards the patients he could not save.

He then showed a case of thyroid cancer which responded wonderfully well to Homoeopathy. The ultrasonography showed a well defined hypoechoic nodule with minimally irregular margins measuring 3.2 *0.9 *2 cm in the lower pole of the thyroid extending into the isthmus and a few cervical lymphnodes were noted in the USG. During the case-taking interview, it was apparent that he had tremendous fear about the disease and a lot of anxiety about his family. He was always worrying if he would completely recover. He had a deep love for nature. As most things in his case revolved around cancer, the remedy Carcinosin was given to him.

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(Complete Repertory, copyright @Roger van Zandvoort, from MacRepertory 8.2.01, Professional)

Carcinosin was given in plussing method.

(Plussing method – this is a method of repetition of doses which Dr. Chatterjee uses especially in chronic pathological cases. The patient is given increasing potencies of the same medicine – 30, 200 and 1M. Over the first day, he is asked to dissolve 4 pills or 1 drop of the 30th potency in about 60 ml of water. Ten strokes have to be given to the bottle and the patient has to then have about 1/3rd of the liquid medicine (about 20 ml). The amount of medicine depleted is to be replaced by water in the same bottle. And the patient is to repeat the dose twice more over the day. The same mode of repetition of doses is to be followed over next 2 days with the 200th potency first and then with 1M potency.)

Cancer is an acute state of a chronic disease so we have to manage the acute state. A better history was known to us after a few consultations. It was elicited that he suffered tremendous grief at the death of his brother due from pancreatic cancer. He also had lot of sadness owing to the fact that he had no son and a constant feeling that his house will be empty once all his daughters get married. This is famously labeled ‘empty nest syndrome’ as labeled by Dr. Sarkar, where a patient faces lot of sorrow as the children leave him and this typical of Ignatia. The patient was given Ignatia 30, 200 and 1M on the 6th September 2013.

After 3 months, he was emotionally calmer and what was most prominent in the totality was then only thyroid cancer so he was administered Thyroidinum 30, 200, 1M in December 2013 due to organ affinity with the thyroid. After Thyroidinum the cervical lymphadenopathy was no longer seen on the USG and the cystic nodules seen earlier had disappeared too. Subsequently in the later sonographies, the size of thyroid isthmus reduced too.

Managing acute states is an important part of treating cancer patients. This patient then developed acute cough, which was suffocative by nature, more during and on waking up from sleep and with yellow expectoration. Considering the acute totality with the underlying chronic state of thyroid cancer, he was given Spongia 30 in plussing method, to which he responded very well, his cough slowly easing away to disappear completely within a few days.

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(Complete Repertory, copyright @Roger van Zandvoort, from MacRepertory 8.2.01, Professional)

 

The recent follow up is that the patient is doing extremely well, the reports being almost normal, the swelling having disappeared. His general state of health is progressively improving and he is settled mentally. With each follow up his current totality is explored with an aim to eliciting the sensation (where earlier he was only at the level of name and fact).

Dr. Sunirmal Sarkar was the next speaker for the day. He demonstrated the use of observation in cancer to come to a similimum in cancer through various cases. He said that a CT scan cannot detect a tumour lesser in size than 5mm, and a tumour of 1 cubic mm contains more than one billion cancer cells. Thus by the time cancer is detected on investigations, it has probably spread causing metastasis. Also, he said that the primary causes of leukemia are radiation and chemotherapy as mentioned in the Harrison’s book of oncology.

Following radiotherapy several million cancer cells still remain in the body, said as stated by researchers. Secondary growths may still occur. You can say that cancer is a result of a decade of malformed cellular growth. So curing cancer means a bio-travelling in the past and digging into the past history. As rightly said by Sherlock Holmes “to solve a puzzle go behind the puzzle (i.e into the past history)” and as Churchill has nicely said the “more you look behind, the more you can march forward.”

Dr. Sarkar said that cancer is a result of breakdown of body’s self defense mechanism by toxins from bacteria, mutation by viruses in cell mechanism, alteration in DNA strands, destruction of cell metabolites by free radicals, cellular excitation through the hormone estrogen, inhibition of the cellular signaling systems by toxins in tobacco. Many women consume oral contraceptive for years, the hormones from which are passed in urine and dissolved in soil. A few causes of cancer include : Xenoestrogen (foreign estrogen), interference in electromagnetic fields, mental trauma, melancholy and affects constitutional disposition leading to mitochondrial malfunction resulting in diseases genes, faulty diet and lifestyle.

Dr. Sarkar then showed a case of cholangio carcinoma, for which Whipple’s procedure was done with poor prognosis. The patient was suffering from obstructive jaundice. When he came to the clinic on 4th June, 2012, his total bilirubin was 21.8. He came in walking supporting his back with his hands and had to sit down thrice while covering a short distance from the door to the chair meant for patients, due to the pain in lumboscaral region. This formed a very important observation for Dr. Sarkar, who had to ask only a question if he had a history of piles and constipation, to which the patient replied yes. The patient did very well with Aesculus and in his reports on 18th July, 2012, his total bilirubin had dropped to 4.6. There was an obvious regression of mass on CT scan too. Thus observation and knowledge can go a long way to relieve the suffering in such pathological cases.

Reference:

Aesculus – Boericke’s Materia Medica

The action of this drug is most marked on the lower bowel, producing engorged hemorrhoidal veins, with characteristic backache, Torpor and congestion of the liver and portal system, with constipation. The back aches and gives out and unfits the patient for business.

Region of SPINE FEELS WEAK; back and legs give out. BACKACHE AFFECTING SACRUM AND HIPS; WORSE WALKING OR STOOPING.

 

Proceeding with the presentation, Dr. Chatterjee shared a case of a female having Non-hodgkins lymphoma which he first saw in 2003. When the patient came to Dr. Chatterjee, she had para-aortic and retroperitoneal lymphadenopathy and diffuse lymphadenopathy at many places with mediastinal mass. She had already taken three cycles of chemotherapy. She was very attached to her family and was extremely dependent on the doctor, treating him almost like a family member. The current state showed that she felt that her grandchildren to whom she was very attached earlier, felt like a burden to her. The rubric taken for this was :

mind; SADNESS; aversion to see her children from sadness; children to whom he is devotedly attached become burdensome (1) : 4KALI-I.Kne

(Complete Repertory, copyright @Roger van Zandvoort, from MacRepertory 8.2.01, Professional)

 

She was given Kali-iod after which she improved at a general and emotional level, but her swelling showed a consistent increase. Here, Dr. Sujit resorted to the advice of late Dr. J J Vyas, a former oncologist at Tata Hospital, Mumbai, who had reported through research that chemotherapy works very well for cases of small cell cancer like lymphomas and blood cancer whereas it is not so effective in other cancers. So she was given chemotherapy and Kali-iod was continued for her in LM potency. During the course of treatment, her husband on whom she was quite dependent emotionally passed away, however the patient dealt quite well with the situation.

In 2007, CT showed a mild hypermetabolism in the enlarged cervical lymph nodes at level 2 and 5, however the cervical lymph node biopsy showed no lymphoma. There was no indication of active disease elsewhere in the body on CT. Her swelling had completely gone she was doing excellently well in terms of appetite, sleep and energy. She is still doing extremely well and in regular contact for whatever acute she gets. Thus this case gave us an insight that if chemotherapy is taken in appropriate cases, the only thing we have to know is in what cases it will really help.

Another case which gave a great insight and knowledge was a case of cancer of ovary, stage 4 with left pleural effusion and ascites and multiple peritoneal nodules. The level of CA-125 was 1248. The patient had undergone 1 cycle of chemotherapy. When she approached Dr. Chatterjee, she was so frustrated that she begged to him with folded hands that she wanted to die and did not want to suffer any more side-effects from chemotherapy which in her case constituted profound weakness, frequent vomiting and involuntary stools.

She was given one dose of Uranium nitricum before her second chemotherapy session, after which she did not have any of earlier symptoms. Her appetite improved and she developed hope to live. Now she is enjoying life and said that she is no longer suppressing her emotions like she did earlier. The doctors treating her at Tata hospital had given up any hope in her case. She underwent a surgery to remove her uterus and ovaries and was doing quite well. She led an almost healthy, regular life for the next 4 years.

This is an important lesson as to how our medicines help nullify the side-effects of chemotherapy, helping the patient to respond well to the therapy. Dr Sujit also shared his proving of Uranium nitricum, the symptoms of which were a feeling of being depressed and hopeless in a difficult situation, feeling that there is nobody to help, mentally and physically exhausted and tired, delusion about to die, beyond control or chaos, dreams and fear of major incurable terminal illness, of being about to die or that he got shot from behind in a war and a feeling that his daughter should not miss him. Dreams of blocks, religiousness and responsibility. Themes of heaviness or lightness, constructive or destructive, gigantic energy, weakness, enjoyment, surprise, standing above.

Actinides, Dr. Sujit said are very important for treating cancer cases, as there is multiple of one person, seeing multiple images of self or friends ‘dreams of multiple, fighting against clone’. Proving of Plutonium nitricum by Jeremy Sherr has dreams of multiple births and that there was a large dog with multiple heads. The proving was done keeping in tune with the thought process that if radioactive substances can cause cancer, they can cure them as well. Dr. Sujit recommended a dose of Uranium nitricum 30 before and after chemotherapy or to be administered in LM potency in cases of frequent chemotherapy sessions. Similarly Cobalt met and Radium brom help nullify the side effects of radiation.

Dr. Chatterjee then shared a case of a man who was suffering from leukemia who aspired to become an education minister so that he could inculcate good education and a lot of principles and values in the students. He said that besides education, it was also important for the students to learn values like sharing their lunch with fellow students, sharing their books, not discriminating between the rich and poor, as these are values which far outweigh money. He spoke a lot about moralities and ethics. Besides, he also had a strong feeling of betrayal.

This is an indication of actinides where they want to help everyone in general, strong urge for performance, high performers and a lot of responsibility for them to hold together. Since there was very little knowledge about actinides at the time, Dr. Chatterjee gave Aurum met 200, 1M, 10M in plussing method followed by Kali mur 3X and Nat mur 3X, 3 tablets twice a day. Potassium and sodium are very important constituents for any cell to function well.

Despite treatment, the patient was not improving. So, Dr. Sujit changed his prescription to Californium mur. Muriaticum is chlorine which has a theme of betrayal and Californium has a special affinity for leukemia. Thus Californium mur 252 isotope 30, 200, 1M was given in plussing method thrice a day for three days followed by Kali mur 3x and Nat mur 3x for a month. Californium was selected due to it being extremely radioactive, and causing immune system damage, still birth and its special affinity for blood cancer. Since actinides can cause cancer, they can cure it as well. In the follow-up the patient was doing much better, his reports showed significant improvement. The same prescription was continued. The BCR/ABL kinase domain mutation analysis was 1.23% in 2012 which dropped to 0.15 % in 2014 which is considered as moderate as per the reference range.

Dr. Sarkar says that in cancer cases, it is sometimes vital to take help of science of toxicology. Therefore the drugs used in toxicology which produces cancer are used homeopathically to cure cancer, e.g. Cisplatin, which is a combination of Platinum + Sodium chloride, a chemotherapy drug is used homeopathically to treat ovarian cancer. Paclitaxel again a chemotherapy drug which is prepared from plant extract of Taxus buccata, which belongs to the family of Thuja, and is used in cases of peripheral neuropathy in cancer patients. Thus if the patients has symptoms of Thuja, peripheral neuropathy and rumbling in the abdomen like Natrum sulph, Taxus buccata is indicated for the case and it has to work.

Dr Sarkar shared a case of a hypersensitive lady who suffered from frequent headaches and had taken too much of analgesics. She proved every medicine she took and it is was very difficult to manage and treat her case. He then referred to a rubric in Kent’s repertory under generalities :

Generalities; IRRITABILITY; when too much medicine has produced an over-sensitive state and remedies fail to act (2) : 2ph-ac., 3Teucr

(Complete Repertory, copyright @Roger van Zandvoort, from MacRepertory 8.2.01, Professional)

 

Dr. Sarkar then shared a case of a 54-year-old lady suffering from hepatocellular carcinoma. The oncologist refused for any kind of chemotherapy or surgery as he was of the opinion that nothing would help. She was a known case of diabetes and was on insulin. To alleviate her pain, she used to take half a tablet of morphine every four hourly for pain. She complained of pain in the legs, abdomen and chest with severe constipation, so much so that she had not passed stool for the past ten days. She felt extremely tired to do even her daily tasks. She had lost a lot of weight and had lot of backache with desire and amelioration from massage. Despite her pains, she kept a smiling face.

She has a history of jaundice and had underwent cholecystectomy. She was a very strong and adamant person. She is not expressive emotionally and closes up very fast. She was averse to men, mostly because her father did not respect her mother. She is not close to her father but was on good terms overall. She had dreams of someone chasing her and someone peeping into the bathroom while she was having a shower. She liked fruits.

Her initial interview was done on skype as the patient could not walk and was on the wheel chair all the time. In her follow up, mere 45 days later, she came walking into the consulting room. Agrimony was given to her indication being masked troubles anxious and worried internally but cheerfulness externally, unutterable pain, and will rarely share. Agrimony is a concealed personality like Staphysagria but Staph has withdrawal phenomena after anger or insult Staphysagria will not talk for two three days but Agrimony will do everything with a smiling face.

Dr Sarkar gave a glimpse of his knowledge of the plants which are useful in cancer. Agrimonia eupatoria is to be used when mental symptoms are predominating, smiling while talking, raising voice while answering and they hide their bitter relationships. Agrimonia contains 11 neoplastic constituents, effective for bone cancer . It helps relieve pain in cancer.

Another remedy he talked about was Allium sativum. Dr B N Chakravorty very frequently prescribed Allium sativum for ulcerative colitis & Crohn’s disease, colitis with pathological flora and also for tuberculosis. He used it for lip cancer cases, and found that 184 patients were treated with local application of Allium sativum. It is good for breast cancer in a fleshy women craving for meat and who are thirstless. Also used in prostate cancer in a patient who has dribbling of urine but free flow of urine while passing stool. Anger ameliorated eating.

Andrographis peniculata (Kalmegh) is more potent than Paclitaxel in breast cancer. Useful in cases of multi drug resistant tumor where it promotes phagocytosis & prevents metastasis. Used for trophoblastic tumors.

Arctium lappa was a drug used by Dr. Burnett as a pessary. It is used in cancer of prostate; Sabal serulata is used only in inflammation of prostate while Arctium is used for hypertrophy and tumor of prostate. Also used for oedema associated with cancer and lymphoma. As proven by the Kawasaki medical school, Arctium contains anti-mutagenic factor called Burdock factor which controls cancer.

Asparagus officinalis inhibits sarcoma, leukemia, lung and breast cancer. Baptisia – Eli Jones says that in terminal stages of cancer Baptisia should be prescribed with prostration, fetid smell & dirty yellow tongue. Carica papaya contains pepsin which is a protein, any person who cannot digest meat, egg any kind of protein which produces acidity, heart burn eructations. Papaya has abundance of cancer fighting lycopene, it is a key in the intermediate in the biosynthesis of many carotenoids such as beta carotene and xanthophylls which are all anti cancerous. It is also useful in colon and gastric cancer.

Dr. Sarkar added by saying that we can use potentised chemotherapy drugs in 3C and 6C potency which is physiological and will do no harm t the body. It is important to know allopathy pharmacology to develop confidence in your system of medicine. One should be aware of the weakness and strength of modern medicine as well as your own science. We should have the best knowledge of our armament to fight any disease.

Important in cancer cases is to control the spread, give relief to the suffering patient and nullify the side effects of chemotherapy and radiation. To do his may involve the use of more than one remedy or approaches, but what matters is to have a timely solution to the endless agony and to remedy to this otherwise inevitably fatal condition.

 

About the other song:

About ‘the other song: International Academy of Advanced Homoeopathy’:

‘the other song’ is a world class premium medical centre which puts good health and well being at the core of an academic culture dedicated to complete patient care. Situated in Mumbai, this institute is one in its kind where a team of 35 doctors headed by Dr. Rajan Sankaran (the pioneer of the Sensation Approach in Homoeopathy) come together and practice Homoeopathy. At the Academy, the students and practitioners are trained in advanced Homoeopathic practices, using new methodologies in combination with the traditional approaches, all with the use of state-of-the-art technology. The Academy is also a meeting point for different schools of thought in Homoeopathy, where renowned homoeopaths – national and international are invited, to share their knowledge and experience so that there is a constant flow of ideas on a common platform.

 

About the speakers:

Dr. Sujit Chatterjee, is a classical homoeopath practicing in Mumbai for last 27 years. His knowledge of converting patients understanding into rubrics is unique. He has also conducted provings of several known as well as new remedies such as Chocolate, Camphora, Pipal (Ficus religiosa), Banyan (Ficus indica), Uranium nitrate. He has also made a brilliant use of the 50 millesimal potency in his practice. Dr. Sujit is a senior consultant and an esteemed faculty member at the other song, and has rich and varied clinical experience of treating several cancer cases to great results.

Dr. Sunirmal Sarkar is one of the busiest Homeopathic Practitioners in the city of Kolkata, seeing not less than 100 patients per day. His determination and his passion for Homoeopathy is unmovable. Having learnt under Guru’s of Homoeopathy like Dr. Dubey, Dr. P. C. Paul & alike; he is an authority in Indian drugs & rare drugs. He is a teacher in the Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine and Health Sciences, Arizona, USA; & an ex-professor at NIH (National Institute of Homoeopathy), Kolkata. He is specializes in all types of cancer cases, seeing atleast 25 cancer cases per day. He has explained his concepts and approaches in his well received book ‘Just You See’.

About the author

Sneha Thakkar

Dr. Sneha Thakkar, M.D (Hom) has had rich experience in treating varied
cases homeopathically in her practice over the past decade. Keen observation, patience and persistence are the key values she adheres to professionally and personally. Her homoeopathic knowledge has been enriched working along renowned homoeopaths like Dr. Rajan Sankaran, Dr. Sujit Chatterjee, Dr. Jayesh Shah and Dr. Shekhar Algundgi at ‘the other song’ clinic and academy, Mumbai. She also has specialized clinical training in the fields of pediatrics and dermatology. An avid reader and an articulate writer, she has authored and helped edit many publications for different homoeopathic journals. Currently based in Toronto, Canada, she has also been associated with the Ontario College of Homoeopathic Medicine, in the capacity of lecturer and clinic supervisor.

About the author

Ruchita Shah

Dr. Ruchita Shah, B.H.M.S.

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