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Jose Miguel
Mullen, MD, MD (H), MFHom. |
| HOMEOPATHIC
NEWSLETTER |
number ten
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Are Our Health Priorities Flawed? |
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Johnny (not his real name) came to my office with his mother.
He was smallish for 6. His features were sallow and he didn’t display the
joie the vivre one is used to see in kids that age. He was slow and
listless. His eyes were fixed nowhere in particular. He had circles under his
eyes. He was very thin. The expression in his face was one of suffering. He had
no appetite to speak of.
In a nutshell, this boy had chronic recurrent otitis media all year around,
though more frequently in winter, throughout most of his life. Each bout of ear
inflammation was “cured” with a course of antibiotics, only to re-appear
several weeks later, to again be “cured” with antibiotics; and so on again and
again.
His mother, seeing that her son was going nowhere fast, decided to try
Homeopathy (although she didn’t know clearly what it was), and brought her son
to my office.
Within a week of starting Homeopathic treatment, his mother reported, the child
became hungry, rapidly recovered weight and energy and stopped complaining
about his ears. He never had otitis again.
His mother told me that, in the following routine visit to the Pediatrician,
the good Doctor could only slowly shake his head in astonishment at the amazing
change this child had undergone. He simply couldn’t understand what had
happened to his little patient, why he looked so well, why he didn’t have
otitis again and why he didn’t need antibiotics any more.
Or take Carla (again, not her real name), a 57 year old lady who looked more
like 75.
Her features were grayish. The short walk from the waiting room to my office
left her out of breath, and she remained panting for several minutes after
being seated. It was hard for her to breathe. She also had a constant, weak and
ineffective cough that would exhaust her. She hadn’t smoked a single cigarette
in her whole life. Carla had been diagnosed as having severe bronchiectasis, a
progressive disease characterized by hardening and irregular dilatation of the
bronchi or breathing pipes. This disease hardens the lungs, makes respiration
difficult and favors the accumulation of mucus that gets infected all the time.
Carla would spend whole winters in the Hospital with inhalers, antibiotics,
corticoids, oxygen and Heaven knows what else. In the Hospital she would
regularly catch pneumonitis after pneumonitis (or inflammation of the lungs).
Each new winter, she confessed to me in her fist visit, was worse than the
previous one.
It took me two years of Homeopathic treatment and close supervision to make her
well. Some time afterwards she moved with relatives who lived in
Utah
. From there she sent me a postcard where she told me how
wonderfully she felt, and “how [she] enjoy long walks in the mountains,
something that [she] could never do
before!”.
The benefit these two patients obtained through Homeopathy is but an
insignificantly small sample of the results obtained with this modality of
treatment all over the world during the past 200-odd years.
Now, what would have happened if these two patients—and so many more like
them—would have chosen Homeopathy, instead of Allopathy, as their first line of
treatment?
How much suffering, caused both by their ailments and the side effects and
toxicities of the Allopathic treatments, could have they avoided?
It is a matter of everyday observation that Allopathic treatments very
frequently bring about an improvement of the patients’ diseases that almost
inevitably ends up in relapses. As years go by, this alternation of
improvements and relapses is usually accompanied by the appearance of a new
disease, and then another and another, all treated and improved by new
Allopathic treatments—although almost never cured.
Allopathy treats only diseases. It has been designed to do no more. Homeopathy,
instead, treats the imbalance of the Whole patient—which is the real source of
all diseases. And, if one only treats the patient’s disease instead of treating
the Whole patient, then the imbalance that brought about that disease in the
first place not only remains intact during and after the Allopathic treatment
but also continues to progress, because nothing remains static in Nature. This
worsening of the patient’s overall imbalance brings about the almost inevitable
reappearance of the original disease and, in time, also the eclosion of new
ones. Which in turn brings about a multiplication of Allopathic treatments,
each of which adds the misery of their respective unavoidable side effects and
toxicities to the increasing distress and decline of the patient.
Again, this happens because Allopathy can only treat diseases. As mentioned
above, diseases are but manifestations or consequences of the patient’s overall
imbalance. And, since Allopathy has not been designed to treat imbalance, it
can only work on the consequence of that imbalance, that is, on diseases as
they occur—diseases that almost invariably re-appear as imbalance worsens.
If one wants to really help a patient, then, it stands to reason that one must
treat the cause of his or her problem, rather than its consequences. And the
cause of all diseases, again, is the patients’ overall imbalance. Which is why
the disease a patient is bearing usually vanishes when that patient’s balance
is restored—something that can be achieved by Homeopathy, but never by
Allopathy.
This doesn’t mean that we should throw Allopathy out the window. Not by a long
shot. Let us give credit where credit is due.
Allopathy can be extraordinarily useful in many circumstances.
Take as an example some vaccines. Diseases such as smallpox have been
eradicated thanks to them. Or consider the crown jewel of modern Allopathic
Medicine, the antibiotics. Antibiotics have saved countless lives—even though
they are totally useless to control the imbalance that brings about the
vulnerability that, in turn, attracts microorganisms in the same fashion that,
in a bullfight, the red capote of the
torero attracts the enraged bull.
In surgical diseases, Homeopathy cannot hold a candle to Allopathy. Take
hernias, for instance, or the surgical correction of defects of the heart and
great vessels, or the exquisite techniques of hand surgery. Or bone fractures.
Or acute appendicitis. And, of course, malignant solid tumors, that must always
be removed if in their early stages.
In many acute and life-threatening circumstances, Allopathy should also always
come first. Take as an example the life-threatening rapid succession of
epileptic fits that is called status
epilepticus, or the crop of asthmatic attacks known as
status asthmaticus, or severe peaks of high blood pressure, or coronary
episodes and many forms of heart disease, among others.
It isn’t that Homeopathy is not useful in many instances here, far from it. It
can be very useful indeed but there are problems, some of them insurmountable
or thereabouts. The first is that Homeopathic remedies take an unpredictable
amount of time to start working. They may start working at once, but they may
also take hours or days and even weeks or months to kick in. Another problem is
that the Homeopathic Physician in charge must decide with the greatest urgency,
and in a matter of a very few minutes, which of the 3,000 + Homeopathic
remedies currently in use is the one appropriate for any of these very acute
patients. And third, one would need a superb Homeopath to successfully choose
the right remedy in an instant because these very acute patients are often
incapable of furnishing information about what afflicts them due to the
severity of their problem. And these very acute patients simply cannot put up
with such unpredictability and delay, or with the possibility of finding the
right Homeopathic Physician at the right time.
Instead, Allopathic drugs useful for these and similar emergencies are few in
number, have very clear-cut indications and start working immediately in
practically all instances, whether the patient is cooperative or not. The same
can be said of surgical treatments. All facts that makes Allopathic treatments
invaluable for these very acute and life-threatening situations, despite of
their many side effects, toxicities and complications.
On chronic diseases, on the other hand, the usefulness of Allopathic treatment
is minimal or null—and also more and more so in the treatment of infectious
problems due to the resistance of bacterial populations and its inability to
control most viral diseases.
There are two aspects in each and every Doctor-patient encounter. The first is
the evaluation of the patient and of his or her disease or diseases, and the
second aspect is the consideration, and ulterior dispensation, of the treatment
most useful for that particular patient and whatever disease or diseases the
patient may be bearing.
When pondering which treatment is best, the Doctor outweighs what therapy
proffers that particular patient the maximum benefit at a minimum risk.
The benefit is how close that treatment can bring the patient to the complete
cure of his or her affliction. And the risk is how many—and how severe—are the
complications, side effects and toxicities that particular form of treatment
may generate in the patient.
The form of treatment chosen, then, should be the one in which the benefits
neatly surpass the risks.
Homeopathy is beneficial in many instances, indeed often curative once it
corrects the patient’s overall imbalance. To boot, it has virtually no
complications, no side effects, no toxicity, no allergy inducing potential and
no capacity of damaging embryos and fetuses—that is, in a successful treatment,
Homeopathy is all benefit and zero risk.
And consequently Homeopathy should be considered very seriously as the first
line of treatment to be used in many patients.
Unless, of course, there is a clear-cut indication that Allopathy should be
attempted first. But even then, Homeopathy should be associated to the
indicated Allopathic treatment in order to correct the imbalance that underlies
the disease the patient is bearing and also, if possible, to neutralize the
side effects and toxicities of the drugs, surgeries or radiations used.
Currently, though, and in the overwhelming majority of instances, patients will
choose to go first to their Allopathic Provider. And then they will continue
being treated with one drug after another and one surgery or course of
radiation after another, even if the results of such ministrations prove to be
less than satisfactory. Only a few will then consider switching to Homeopathy
when they find no relief with their Allopathic treatment.
In other words, most patients have been conditioned to search first for a
treatment that will not cure them and that will subject them to all kinds of
toxicities and side effects. And then, if and when that treatment proves
ineffectual, will some of them switch to a form of treatment that can cure them
without any risk of toxicity or side effects whatsoever.
Is such an approach correct or flawed?
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The Chronic Miasmas (VII):
Relationship Between Miamas and Diseases |
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We are conceived as the consequence of the fusion of two cells. This event
happens inside the body of a woman. Both the two fused cells and the body of
the woman are composed by cells that are made of incredibly complex organic
molecules that are constituted by simpler molecules which, in turn, are made by
atoms. These atoms, and the simple and complex molecules they give rise to, are
made of matter. And matter is the stuff Nature is made of.
The fusion of the two cells that eventually will become each one of us is
animated and organized by individualized Vital Force, and the body of the woman
in whom those cell divide and mature is animated and organized by her
individualized Vital Force.
All forms of life are formed, and thrive, as the consequence of the union
between Vital Force and the cells.
Health exists whenever there is harmony, that is, when the attachment of the
Vital Force to the cells is strong.This
strong attachment assures that cells work correctly, interact harmoniously with
each other and in a fashion that is beneficial for the Whole. Cells absorb
relatively simple molecules, and with them manufacture, and also renew, all the
simple and complex molecules they contain. In health/harmony, this manufacture
and renewal is correct and adequate.
In disease, harmony is replaced by imbalance. In imbalance, the bond between
the Vital Force and cells becomes strained. This strain weakens the attachment
between the Vital Force and the cells. In turn, this weakness
devitalizes the cells. Under these circumstances, molecules necessary
for the correct functioning of cells may not be manufactured adequately, and
cells usually don’t work harmoniously with each other. The Whole patient
suffers as the consequence of this state of affairs.
There is cooperation and also conflict in this interplay between Vital Force
and cells. Cooperation keeps each living organism and its trillions of cells
functioning and flourishing.But there is also conflict because Nature wants
molecules nice and simple in order to endlessly recycle them, while the Vital
Force needs them to be very complex in order to satisfactorily dwell within
them. Early in life the Vital Force has the upper hand through a very firm grip
but, as time passes and living organisms wear and tear with advancing age, the
bond becomes weaker, and Nature’s starts to prevail.
Eventually, the pull of Nature becomes so strong that cells begin to wither,
until a point is reached where the complexity necessary to remain united with
the Vital Force is there no more. At this point, the link between the Vital
Force and complex molecules ceases to exist and the living organism dies. After
death, the complex molecules of that living organism become simple again, and
are recycled.
Nature uses microorganisms for purposes of simplification. Microorganisms,
then, is the means Nature uses to simplify complex molecules. Microorganisms
are all over the place. We Humans have some 200 different strains of
microorganisms on our skin and within our cavities. Inside our large intestine,
for instance, there is well over one kilogram of microorganisms; and
microorganisms compose 80 % of our dry feces.
All those microorganisms live, thrive and reproduce within and around us,
patiently awaiting our death to start working. That is, when there is health
and harmony, and the Vital Force is strongly present everywhere, microorganisms
and us live in a state of entente cordial.
But when there is devitalization the microorganisms become active and start
degrading our complex molecules. Either when the devitalization is partial, as
it happens in tissues prone to infections or infestations, or when the
devitalization is total, as it happens in death.
However, a few of those strains, in the course of eons, have became
domesticated and are useful for us—pretty much in the same fashion that some
wolves evolved into dogs. Examples of these domesticated microorganisms are
Lactobacillus acidophilus, Streptococcus
thermophilus and Saccharomyces
cervesiæ.
To sum up.
Whenever the Vital Force bonds with matter there is life. When the bond is
strong there is health/harmony. Whenever the bond becomes strained there is
imbalance/devitalization/disease and when it vanishes there is death. After
death—and also when there is an infection or infestation—some microorganisms
begin to degrade our complex molecules into simple ones.
And when the bond between Vital Force and matter doesn’t exist there is only
Nature and its beloved simple molecules.
Disease and devitalization, then, are interchangeable terms.
In disease, the bond that unites the Vital Force to particular organs or
tissues, or to the Whole individual, becomes strained. Straining of the bond
weakens it, and this weakness brings about devitalization. Straining and
devitalization, in turn, are produced by generalized or localized imbalance.
And imbalance is the stuff miasmas are made of.
Straining/devitalization/imbalance/miasma make affected organs and tissues work
sluggishly and well below par.
In most of us, the bond between the Vital Force and diverse organs is stronger
in some instances and weaker in others, a fact that is not obvious in health,
but that becomes very evident when the bond becomes strained because imbalance
has set in.
Also, weakness of the bond that exists between the Vital Force and diverse
organic structures varies from imbalanced person to imbalanced person. Which is
the reason why, in different individuals, some organs seem to be more prone to
become devitalized and subsequently ill than others are.
Devitalized tissues scream for help. This cry, that is manifested by the
symptoms and signs that are characteristic for each organ and tissue, is
acknowledged as distress by the patient and as a disease-syndrome by the
Physician.
Devitalization is brought about my imbalance, and imbalance has a strong
tendency to progress if left unchecked. If not corrected promptly in the organ
that first cried for help there will be a domino effect, a cascade of
disasters. Imbalance will devitalize other organs, one by one, until finally
the Vital Force will desperately cling to structures essential for life in
order to keep the patient alive and functioning, albeit precariously. And once
imbalance finally devitalizes those vital organs, then the patient will face
certain death.
Imbalance/devitalization/distress/diseases can affect the mind or the body. In
the first instance diseases are called mental and they range from anxiety to
schizophrenia. In the second instance, they are called physical diseases.
Physical diseases can be divided into functional and organic. In functional
diseases the patient feels distress, but an observer can find no apparent
lesion to account for that distress. Organic diseases are those in which a
lesion is present and evident to an observer. In functional diseases the
devitalization is minimal and, in organic ones, considerably more severe.
Often, if functional diseases are not attended promptly, they will end up
becoming organic.
Diseases can likewise be separated into acute and chronic. Acute diseases have
a strong element of suddenness, whereas chronic diseases need a longer time,
sometimes years, to become evident and to develop. Here again, in Homeopathy we
believe that neglected acute diseases will often end up becoming chronic.
To sum up, the straining of the bond between the Vital Force and the patient,
ultimately caused by imbalance and miasma, brings about a mental or a physical
distress/disease. Diseases usually start as functional that, if poorly treated
or if left unattended, can become organic. The bond can become strained
suddenly in acute diseases or slowly in chronic diseases. And, if a disease
affecting an organ if left unattended, in time another organ will cry for help,
and then another, until finally only the structures essential for life will
remain functioning with varying degrees of efficiency—or deficiency.
Diverse tissues can react to devitalization/imbalance/miasma through an
inflammation, a tumor, or degeneration.
There is also another chapter. It deals with what happens when devitalization
affects the immune system.
When the response is inflammation, the affected tissue goes into attack/defense
mode. This kind of response may be directed toward microorganisms or toward one
or several of the complex molecules that are part of the organism. In the
latter instance, imbalance has altered the organism to the point that it
considers some of its own complex molecules as a threat for its survival, and
consequently endeavors to destroy or neutralize them.
Let me start with inflammation as a response to invasion by microorganisms.
Microorganisms are awaiting our death to start their work of simplification.
When a tissue is devitalized, microorganisms are incapable to discern between
total devitalization, or death, and devitalization of a particular organ or
tissue. So they become active, start degrading complex molecules and, by doing
so, trigger an inflammatory response.
Inflammation can also happen as a reaction against some complex molecule that
forms part of an organ or tissue of the patient, and that the imbalanced
organism considers as a threat for its survival. Such a molecule can be present
in bone, cartilage, muscle, joints or other organs and structures. The
unfortunate consequence of this abhorrent reaction is that often the organ or
tissue that contains that pariah molecule becomes inflamed and suffers and, in
some instances, may even be destroyed. This becomes particularly dangerous,
even life threatening, when the molecule in question is, for instance, in the
kidneys.
In inflammatory diseases, the affected area swells because swelling allows
defense proteins and cells to permeate more easily into the devitalized area.
Inflammation brings about an increase in temperature, because increased warmth
allows defense mechanisms to work more effectively. There is also redness, due
to the dilatation of blood vessels, a dilatation that allows the transport of
more defense elements to the region. Finally there is pain, due to the
compression and irritation of nerve endings.
This process can be rapid, as it often happens in acute inflammations, or else
can progress slowly and insidiously, as it happens in chronic inflammatory
processes.
A localized inflammation may bring about a generalized repercussion, manifested
by fever and diverse forms and degrees of malaise, pain and weakness.
When the response to devitalization is a tumor, susceptible tissues respond by
enlarging. Enlargement is mainly the consequence of an increase of the
reproductive rate of the cells of a particular organ or tissue. Usually only
one part of any particular organ produces a tumor, rather than its totality.
In so-called benign tumors the rate of cell reproduction, though increased, is
orderly. These tumors bring about problems because the increase of their cell
mass enlarges those organs and makes them heavier, and also because they
displace, and sometimes irritate, adjacent structures.
So-called malignant tumors—or cancers—are an entirely different kettle of fish.
Here cells reproduce more often than they should, as it happens in benign
tissues. But at this point any similitude ends because in cancers the cells
reproduce in an anarchic and chaotic fashion, and they invade adjacent tissues
aside from displacing them. Malignant tumors can also send cell colonies to
distant organs and structures, something benign tumors never do.
In degenerative diseases, entire clumps of cells of important organs die for
some reason or another. So many cells die that others of the same kind cannot
adequately replace them. The organism responds to this hecatomb by filling the
space left vacant by the deceased cells with cheaper packing materials.
Prominent among inferior packing substances is fibrous or scar tissue, composed
by specialized cells and the tough fibers they produce.
Packing materials allow organs where cells have died to somehow maintain their
shape, although these packing materials are inert as far as performing that
organ’s specific function. However this packing, and the subsequent maintaining
of that organ’s shape, allows the few surviving cells to keep on working. How
well will a vital organ work after massive cellular death and replacement by
packing tissue will depend on the quantity of cells that have been killed and
not replaced. For instance, extensive damage of liver cells replaced by fibrous
tissue, a problem commonly known as hepatic cirrhosis, will bring about a very
poor liver function afterwards.
Unlike what happens in inflammatory and tumoral diseases, where the union
between the Vital Force and the tissues strains but, on the whole, does not
break, here the bond actually snaps as many cells die. The Vital Force
compensates by filling the area left vacant by the dead cells with live packing
cells.
There is also another group of diseases that appear when the bond between the
Vital Force and the immune system become progressively strained.
Diseases here range from allergies and allergic diseases to asthma, to plasma
cell dyscrasias, to multiple myeloma and to lymphomas and leukemias. (Yes, I
know that plasma cell dyscrasias, multiple myeloma, lymphomas and leukemias are
currently classified as being cancers; but I consider them to be increasingly
severe clinical manifestations of immune system imbalance and that consequently
they belong here).
Of course, none of the above happens in isolation.
Nothing is compartmentalized in Whole living Human Beings.
Mental diseases have physical repercussions. Inflammation is where one finds mainly an inflammatory reaction. In a tumor there is mainly an
excessive proliferation of cells. And so on and so forth.
This is so because in every inflammation one finds cells that die and others
the multiply in excess, in every tumor there are dead and inflammatory cells
present and in every degenerative process there are inflammatory cells and
others that proliferate in excess. And in all there are elements of anxiety,
anger, fear, uncertainty, discouragement, grief, concern and even despair.
Most if not all of the above runs absolutely counter the teachings and practice
of Allopathic Medicine.
This is so because Allopathy ignores that imbalance is at the root of every
form of pathology, and that imbalance is firmly ensconced in a miasma.
For Allopathy, each disease is pretty much a universe in itself, enclosed
within its own bubble, that must be controlled individually through short- or
long-term treatments, all of which treatments carry side effects and toxicity.
To boot, not a few of those Allopathic treatments also diminish the quality of
life of the patients who receive them.
Lacking the necessary understanding about the crucial importance of imbalance
and miasmas as factors underlying every form of pathology, Allopaths run from
disease to disease as they attempt to cure the patient. This, without realizing
that each disease is the consequence of the straining of the bond between the
Vital Force and the organ where that particular disease surges.And
that imbalance constantly progresses if left unchecked. And that, if abandoned
to its own devices, imbalance will strain the bond between the Vital Force and
one organ after another till the Whole patient becomes disarranged beyond
repair. Which is the reason why whatever disease is under exclusive Allopathic
treatment will likely flare up after each treatment and also why, in time, new
diseases are likely to appear in other organs and tissues to keep company with
the original one.
Homeopathy, on the other hand, can control imbalance and therefore make miasmas
disappear—and with them, many diseases are bound to disappear too. With no side
effects or toxicities to bother the patient, and with an evident improvement of
the patient’s quality of life during and after successful Homeopathic
treatments as an extra added bonus.
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Profiles of Homeopathic remedies: Nux Vomica |
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Strychnos nux vomica, a.k.a.
poison nut, a tree that grows in
Asia, is the
source of the Homeopathic remedy Nux vomica.
One should consider Strychnos nux vomica a misfit, misplaced or displaced tree because, if we are to judge by the effects of
the remedy Nux vomica, this tree should have been native of the northern shores of the Mediterranean sea, preferably
Greece or Italy.
Nux tends to be an extrovert, an open book.
Every emotion is plainly displayed in his or her features, speech and gestures for
the entire world to see. It is ludicrous to watch a Nux attempting to hide something, but he or she will get mad and
yell at you if you laugh at his or her efforts—these people are very touchy in
matters dealing with ridicule. Then Nux
will become compunctious and apologize.
Nux is loud and a show off, and loves to be the
center of attention. He or she eats, loves, enjoys life and works with
tremendous gusto. Consequently he or she eventually ends up drained, in need of
stimulants and complaining of digestive upsets.
Nux may be a hypochondriac, and likely to take every
drug, remedy and nostrum within reach.
Nux is a wonderful friend and a tolerable enemy for,
even though explosive at times, he or she is always loving, caring and
forgiving in the long run. All you have to do is to appeal to his or her
heart—always within easy reach—and then friendship flows again and everything
bad is forgiven and forgotten.
Unless,
of course, you have been heedless enough to disturb a particularly sensitive
spot once too often; in which instance Nux can become a formidable and unforgiving foe.
Nux is impatient, the kind who will tear off a stuck
button in the shirt he’s unbuttoning if unable to do so at once. And then will
curse and yell to summon his wife’s prompt aid.
And
there will she go, still once again, needle and thread in hand, sighing and
shaking her head in despair at the husband she happened to marry. But with eyes
asparkle and the corners of her mouth curved upwards in an irrepressible smile
as she sews on the button while she hears her husband grumble complaints and
apologies in the background.
Nux is likely to end up successful—in his or her own
company or business, and in his or her own terms. Nux has an iron will power. His or her eyes are unswervingly fixed
on accomplishment and success. No obstacle is allowed to stand between him or
her and attainment, be that obstacle Human or otherwise. In this quest is
perhaps where all the greatness and sordidness of Nux stand in full starkness.
Nux has no patience for large organizations. He or
she usually is too openly competitive, has scant political ability, and is definitely
not a pyramid climber. And to stab backs while climbing is usually abhorrent to
Nux.
O,
and please don’t bother to compete with a Nux. It is an unpleasant experience, likely to make your blood pressure and your
cholesterol rise needlessly.And don’t
attempt to pass him or her on the road, either, for you’ll notice that he or
she will start accelerating in order to get ahead of you—Nux can become exasperating sometimes.
When a Nux
dies, you will see lots of mourners at his or her wake. It is hard to say
good-bye forever to somebody so spontaneous and friendly, who has had such a
magnetic personality and who has always been so helpful.
You
will also notice that those who have known the deceased are alternatively
smiling and crying. Crying because his or her departure is a real loss and
everybody will miss him or her grievously. And smiling because, even though
rarely a paragon of virtue, Nux has
always been a character to remember. Someone always naughty and nice with a
magnetic and often boisterous personality, an endless source of amusing stories
and anecdotes and not rarely also the originator of pranks, some outrageous.
And,
if the departed Nux is a male, and if
you look around carefully, you are likely to find, back in the last row, ar
least one lady who would rather not be seen, who is not a known relative of the
deceased, and who’s crying her heart out.
Nux loves dearly his or her home and family, to which
he or she is authentically committed and devoted, aside from being fiercely
protective. He or she loves being at home, and knows no better place where to
relax and recharge batteries.
Nux can be as jealous as Othello and bound to be
faithful to his or her spouse, but only insofar as said spouse satisfies him or
her sexually.
Nux will provide plentifully for his or her family
although, curiously enough, he or she is able to communicate only superficially
with his or her dear ones.
Nux is generous. He or she may grumble, complain and
cry aloud at having to depart with his or her hard earned money, but will
eventually yield. It is difficult for Nux to say no.
Inevitably,
Nux will become the favorite target
of every civic, charitable and religious organization. He or she will gladly
deal with them, chair many and dole out to most—plus attending to his or her
business.
The
result of so many activities and so much fun is increasingly severe and
inescapable tension and stress. There is simply no time or energy for everything.
Nux attempts to be everything for
everyone and to have a finger in too many pies, but instead ends up hurting him
or herself.
Nux knows only too well that he or she should exercise
regularly, but the darned thing takes a time he or she doesn’t have available
for such pursuits. Plus lots of moving and shaking and sweating and huffing and
puffing. So exercising is frequently left for mañana. Unless we are dealing with a young Nux, in which case he or she will exercise to look fine and trim
and fit and so pleasantly impress members of the opposite sex, to whom he or
she is passionately addicted. And, if Nux
is older and something of a hypochondriac, he or she will exercise devoutly in
order to ward off heart problems and other similarly horrible terrors.
Nux has a tendency to overeat and overdrink,
particularly heavy and spicy foods, particularly in good company.
In
other words, Nux’s does everything
necessary to develop hypertension and heart disease. Plus adult-onset diabetes
and other similar ailments.
And
Nux plentiful sex doesn’t usually
relax him or her either because here, as everywhere else, Nux has to outexcel and outperform everybody else and will
consequently overdo it—aside from feeling forever persecuted by guilt because
of the many pecadilloes he or she is
committing.
Understandably,
Nux is always tired, and will attempt
to push him or herself further by means of taking all kinds of stimulants,
including too much alcohol, tobacco and caffeine.
And
when tired, Nux becomes exquisitely
sensitive to odors, bright lights and noises, which annoy him or her to
distraction.
All
of the above while suffering from all kinds of digestive upsets. For Nux has his or her digestive apparatus
tied in knots. Literally. Something that becomes uncomfortably and even
painfully evident for him or her during the ceremony of defecation.
Meantime,
his or her loving family worries to death and drags Nux to the Doctor, and then worries some more because of how
half-heatedly Nux follows the
Doctor’s orders and indications.
Nux’s family, and also his or her friends and
relatives, will voice their concern and thus annoy Nux with their dirges.
So
Nux will yell at them to shut up and
let him live his or her life as he or she sees fit.
To
then remember how much he or she loves and needs them all, feel terribly guilty
and sorry for the outburst and apologize, and then even perhaps yield and
follow the Doctor’s orders—for a few days, anyway.
Bibliographic info here and the following section has been
obtained from the Materia Medicæ of Drs. Kent, Boericke and Vijnovsky, from the
Repertories of Drs. Kent, Boericke, Murata and Boenninghausen and from my own
experience.
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Oh, my Goodness, it’s the croup! |
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Croup comes in two sizes: mild and severe. Mild croup can be controlled at
home, but severe croup requires immediate hospitalization. This mild/severe
classification becomes useful only after talking with your Pediatrician. If
unable to reach your Doctor, better decide the degree of severity on your way
to the Hospital.
Croup is infrequent, but it pays to be prepared. During the next visit to your
Pediatrician, ask whether you must first phone him or her, or if you can go
directly to the Emergency Room in the event of croup. Ask your HMO the same
question. If you’re told to phone the Pediatrician first, make sure that
someone is on call 24 hours a day. Then ask what equipment you must have at
home for croup, and how to use it.
From a Homeopathic standpoint, all that is needed are 3 sippy cups and 3
remedies. Label the sippy cups “Aconitum”, “Spongia” and “Hepar”. Also, obtain
Aconitum napellus at a 200 C potency, Spongia tosta at a 200 C potency, and
Hepar sulphur at a 200 C potency, all in pellet form.
In the event of croup, place a few pellets of each remedy in each of the sippy
cups and add tap water. Cover the cups and shake a few times. The whole
procedure won’t take more than one or two minutes if you have everything handy.
Don’t bother to shake until the pellets dissolve because that makes no
sense—the purpose of shaking is only to dissolve in the water the remedy
imbedded in the pellets Prepare the remedies as your spouse is calling the
Pediatrician or getting everything ready to go to the Hospital. Once you have
the remedies ready rush to be bathroom with the little one, close the door and
open the hot water shower faucet to fill the bathroom with steam. Stay there
several minutes, administering the remedies until there is improvement, unless
the croup is so severe that you have to rush to the Hospital or call an
ambulance.
Administer the remedies one at a time, one sip every minute or so as needed.
DON’T CHANGE REMEDIES TOO FAST. SWITCH ONLY WHEN YOU FEEL THE REMEDY YOU ARE
ADMINISTERING IS NOT WORKING WELL.
If the clinical picture is not clear, the sequence recommended is Aconitum
Napellus
->
Spongia tosta
->
Hepar sulphur
->
Aconitum Napellus
->
Spongia tosta
->
Hepar sulphur
If the clinical picture is clear, though, it is better to administer each
remedy according to the symptoms as described below.
Aconitum napellus. Sudden and dramatic appearance of shortness of breath in the
middle of the night, usually after a chill from exposure to cold, dry wind.
There may be high fever. Uncontrollable terror, fear and anxiety. Patient
thirsty and restless. Hoarse, dry, barking, croupy cough that worsens after
midnight. There is shortness of breath. The patient may bring up blood when
coughing. Child grasps throat in pain every time he or she coughs. Painful
inspirations with shallow breathing. Respiratory membranes dry. Patient may
worsen with the slightest motion or jar, or in a warm room.
Spongia tosta. Larynx dry, burning, constricted. Patient hoarse. Difficulty
drawing breath, as if a plug were sticking in larynx and air would find it hard
to penetrate through the remaining space. Cough sibilant and dry, sounds like a
saw driven through a pine board; cough better after eating or drinking warm
things, worse when inspiring and before midnight. Great dryness of the
respiratory membranes.
Hepar sulphur. Cough generally deep, suffocative and rattling, usually before
dawn. It can be triggered or worsened when any part of the body is uncovered,
or from ingesting anything cold. The patient may spring out of bed scared and
anxious, crying for help, unable to catch his or her breath. There may be some
relief when the patient rises and bends his or her head backwards.
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Edited by Jose Miguel Mullen, MD, MD (H), MFHom.,
Homeopathic Physician.
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