Homeopathy Papers

Options for Homeopathic Treatment

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Written by Myrna Quintero

Dr. Myrna Quintero outlines the basic approaches to treating patients homeopathically, and suggests when each should be used.

In Homeopathy, once you’ve carried out the clinical dossier, and, in order to choose a treatment, the physician can use:

  • The stages of similarity
  • Other approaches

They do not exclude each other because you can use both at the same time.

The stages of similarity have essentially a biological basis and the other approaches are based mainly in time.

1- Stages of similarity

  1. a) Pathogenesis
  2. b) Etiology
  3. c) Toxicology
  4. d) Biotypology
  5. e) Cellular Tropism
  6. f) Miasma
  1. Pathogenesis of a medication are the symptoms that pure

experimentation brings.  Pure experimentation is one of the principles of Homeopathy.This aspect is indispensable to take into account for prescribing. It is also known as the Constitutional remedy.

  1. Etiology is used mainly in acute cases. For example if we have an abscess caused by Staphylococcus, one can indicate the homeopathic remedy Staphylococcinum which reinforces the action of another medication chosen by another stage of similarity.
  2. By the known Toxicology of a substance through the symptoms in cases of poisoning or in cases of fortuitous or intentional intoxication.
  3. Biotypology. Diverse biotypology classifications exist, but the most used one has 3 types: the Carbonic (fat, spongy); the Phosphoric (thin, high, narrow thorax) and the Fluoric (asymmetric). There are homeopathic remedies that have an affinity for some of these three types.
  4. By Cellular tropism: Medications exist with affinity for tissues, organs or systems like Lycopodium for the liver, Aesculus and Sepia for the portal system, etc.
  5. Miasmatic. Miasm is the ground a person brings at birth; an inherited, chronic state that predisposes the individual to suffer in a certain way. Three very well defined miasmas exist:

1: Psora – when the symptoms shows defect or hypofunction

2: Sycosis – where the symptoms express excess or hyperfunction

3: Syphilis – where symptoms reveal perversion or dysfunction

In chronic cases it is recommended to apply the miasmatic focus.

For the miasmatic focus several steps must be followed:

  • Each patient’s symptoms are classified as psoric, sycotic or syphilitic or the combination of these miasms.
  • Next we take into account only the symptoms (already classified) of the miasm prevailing NOW. That is what is active now that makes the patient suffer in this moment. This is called the patient’s current state.
  • We seek in a homeopathic repertory the chosen symptoms in order to find the remedies that best cover those symptoms.
  • We check these remedies in a Materia Medica, choose one, and then decide which dynamic-dilution to administer.

Other Approaches

  1. a) Constitutional
  2. b) The patient’s current state
  3. c) The break out symptom
  4. d) Intercurrent remedy, in an emergency
  1. The constitutional remedies agree with the patient´s physical constitution, personality and mental characteristics. They are indicated in nutritional and hereditary diseases, as well as in degenerative and chronic processes. They are also called antimiasmatic.

Examples: Arsenicum album is tense, restless, ambitious, inclination to hypochondria, pessimism and with a special attention for order and cleaning.

Calcarea carbonica usually is slow and methodic, fat, spongy with big head in relation to the body. Heavy, frightened, hates physical activity. Fear of darkness, of diseases, of animals. They suffer depression and anxiety.

  1. The patient´s current state has several possibilities: it can be
  • a chronic process
  • an acute phase of a chronic process or
  • an acute process.

If the current state is a chronic process that the patient had for a long time, then the current state becomes also the past , so it is recommended to use a constitutional remedy if possible.(if the circumstances allows it).

If the current state is an acute process or an acute phase of a chronic process, we carefully take the characteristic symptoms and choose the remedy.

Examples:

A patient with a peptic ulcer disease that is not in an active or acute phase

Acute phase of a chronic process: Patient with peptic ulcer disease that comes to a crisis

Acute process: Patient that comes because he/she has an acute tonsillitis  (no matter what other chronic diseases he /she may have).

  1. c. Break out symptom. Usually it is an important mental symptom, as the loss of a beloved person or an infectious disease.

Example: A woman under treatment with a constitutional remedy, for example Lachesis, whose husband dies and in this situation she begins to have symptoms of Natrum muriaticum.

  1. Intercurrent remedy in an emergency. In this case, we take the characteristic local and general symptoms.

Example: Patient with a duodenal ulcer who has a wound from an accident.

As we pointed out previously, the classifications do not exclude each other.

References

  • Cremonini C L. Conferences. Havana, Cuba. August 2000.
  • Vannier, Léon. La Typologie et ses applications thérapeutiques.

Ed. G.Doin & Cie. Paris. 1955

  • Yasgur J. Yasgur’s Homeopathic Dictionary and Holistic Health Reference. 4th Van Hoy Publishers. Greenville,PA. 1998
  • Sanchez Ortega P. Introduction to Homeopathic Medicine. Theory and Technic. Mexicana Press, 2nd.Ed. (1997). ISBN 970-92000-0-3 (In Spanish).
  • Hahnemann S. Chronic Diseases Treatise. Firma Press. Asturias, Spain, 1991 (In Spanish)
  • Sanchez Ortega P. Translation and Definition of mental symptoms of Barthel´s Synthetic Repertory. Mexican Homeopathy Medical College Ed., A.C. 1998 (In spanish)
  • Allen H. Chronic Miasms . Roy and Co. Bombay, India. Reedic.1960. (In Spanish)
  • Grimmer H. Miasms and Remedies. Homeopathic Heritage 20 (1995) 415

About the author

Myrna Quintero

Myrna Quintero M.D. is a specialist in the research fields of Gastroenterology and Homeopathy. She works at the Department of Nature and Traditional Medicine, Institute of Gastroenterology, Havana, Cuba. She is the Titular Researcher; 2nd Degree Gastroenterology Specialist; Master in Bioenergetics and Natural Medicine; Diploma in Homeopathy from Mexico and from Institute François Lamasson (Brasil).

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