Areca


Areca signs and symptoms of the homeopathy medicine from the Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica by J.H. Clarke. Find out for which conditions and symptoms Areca is used…


      Areca catechu. Fruit: Areca-nut, Betel-nut. *N. O. Palmeae. Trituration of the nut, and triturations and solutions of the alkaloids, Arecoline and Tenaline.

Clinical

Helminthiasis. Myopia. Salivation. Tapeworm.

Characteristics

The Betel-nut is in very common use in the East as a masticatory for sweetening the breath and hardening the gums. It is also used as a source of catechu, but the true catechu is an extract of *Uncaria gambir of the Leguminosae. The chief medical use of the *Areca nut has been in helminthiasis in dogs, but it is not altogether without danger. Some animals to which it was administered experienced in five minutes great difficulty of breathing, slight cough, and fell down on one side, and some died. The dose given for this purpose is one grain to each pound of the dog’s weight. The *Hydrobromate of Arecoline has been used to cause contraction of the pupil. It acts more promptly and more energetically than *Eserine, but its duration of action is shorter. According to Ricapet it surpasses *Pilocarpine as a salivatory. It arrests the heart’s action in diastole in poisonous doses, and in non-toxic doses increases the amplitude of the pulsations without increasing their frequency. It promotes the contractibility of the intestines, and as a teniafuge it requires no additional laxative. It should be given in pills coated with gelatin or keratin. According to F. Hobday (quoted in *Amer. *Homoeopathy., xxiv. 123), Tenaline is a much safer and more certain anthelmintic than *Arecoline. He advises a dose of one minim of the solution to the pound-weight of the animal, either given pure or with a little water. It is not to be given hypodermically.

John Henry Clarke
John Henry Clarke MD (1853 – November 24, 1931 was a prominent English classical homeopath. Dr. Clarke was a busy practitioner. As a physician he not only had his own clinic in Piccadilly, London, but he also was a consultant at the London Homeopathic Hospital and researched into new remedies — nosodes. For many years, he was the editor of The Homeopathic World. He wrote many books, his best known were Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica and Repertory of Materia Medica