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 Jose Miguel Mullen, MD, MD (H), MFHom.
 HOMEOPATHIC NEWSLETTER

number two

Photo by Keith Sipes, Rocky Hill, Connecticut   Contents
Allopathy, Homeopathy, and Dogmatism
If you've been too long under the sun...
Is Homeopathy Scientific?
Profiles of Homeopathic remedies: Aurum metallicum
 
 Allopathy, Homeopathy, and Dogmatism

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According to Webster's Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Mechanicism is the theory that everything in the Universe is produced by matter in motion.
Vitalism, according to the same Dictionary and when referred to Biology, is he doctrine that ascribes the functions of a living organism to a vital principle distinct from chemical and physical forces.

In Medicine there is room for both approaches.

Some Doctors feel more comfortable when approaching patients from a mechanistic standpoint. They are the Allopaths. They treat their patients with drugs, surgery or radiations. Drugs are chemicals that interact with substances present in cells. This interaction brings about stimulation or inhibition of the whole cell. If this reaction happens in the sick tissues one speaks of therapeutic effect, if in tissues other than the sick ones, of side effects and toxicity, and if in those of embryos and fetuses teratogenic effects. Drugs can also trigger a berserk reaction of the immune system called allergic reaction. Surgery treats patients by means of implanting artifacts and removing or else repairing organs and tissues. Radiations are very strong and penetrating beams of rays that wither any structures they strike in their path. All of the above has been well researched, it is understandable and is well within the mechanist paradigm.

There are other Doctors who feel more comfortable with the vitalistic approach. For this purpose, they use methods that guide their patients' Vital Force to achieve a state of balance and harmony. Again here, when it comes to Homeopathy, everything is well researched, clearly understandable and well within the vitalistic paradigm.

Also according to Webster's Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, the second definition of dogma is a specific tenet or doctrine authoritatively laid down. One generally associates dogma with religions but, as we shall presently see, dogmatism can also be found elsewhere.

The right place of dogma is religion. Most religions are based on Revelation, that is, on something that has only been perceived by an exceptionally respectable and saintly individual. Revelation is then divulged and believed by the rest of the congregation. Religions tend to be authoritative with dogmas, and believe in them implicitly and verbatim, because nobody but the saintly seer has exactly perceived what a particular dogma is about.

Dogma is enforced, not only by the religious authorities, but also by the body of believers. Acceptance of a dogma implies that each believer's search for truth has ended. There is a considerably feeling of relief in not having to think or to doubt any more. Besides, feeling the closeness of others who believe the same thing brings about a feeling of warmth and of chumminess. Whenever anybody doubts, that person creates a ripple of uncertainty that forces believers to think and to re-evaluate their positions. And, as Dr. Carl Jung (1875-1961) once remarked "There is no effort most Human Beings will not undertake in order to avoid the effort of thinking". So, whenever a doubter appears in the fold, usually it is the fold itself that turns against the heretic with much more fury and contempt than the authorities of that religion.

Every time any Doctor approaches any patient, be it from the mechanistic or from the vitalistic stand-point, all those patients are perfectly visible by the Doctors, their voices can be heard and their words interpreted, their bodies can be smelled and palpated, their heart sounds can be listened to, etc.

Meaning that, no matter how patients are approached, those patients can be easily perceived by Doctors' senses, observed and studied firsthand without any difficulty whatsoever. In other words Medicine, be it mechanistic or vitalistic, is based on observation.

There is no mystery here, nothing that only one person can see while all the others are forced to believe because they cannot see it, no Revelation-and consequently no need for dogma.

So what we are talking about here is two different ways of arriving at awareness.
One belongs to the religious realm, requires faith and obedience and is based on Revelation. Revelation leads to dogma.

In the material and scientific realm, on the other hand, and that includes Doctors and sufferers, one reaches awareness following the path of observation, to then reach conclusions based on that observation.

It is extremely dangerous and destructive to base religion on observation, as it is to base science on dogma.

In religion only one person has been able to perceive something. If that person chooses to describe what he or she has seen he or she will have followers, who are unable to observe anything at the seer's level and who consequently will consider the words of the Master as the Revealed Truth. That needs faith. Let us suppose now for a moment that any follower, who lacks the capacity to see, starts describing things. The result will be chaos. Now is when the discipline of dogma comes in, for dogma is the only thing that can restore order and the status quo in such a situation. Dogma is also important when new facts or circumstances face a congregation. When this happens, the congregation will turn to the dogma and, through dogma, to their Revealed Truth; and will afterwards accept or reject those new facts or circumstances according to their dogma. To attempt to base a religion on observation, then, would be patently absurd as well as dangerous to the stability of the congregation and its collective beliefs.

As absurd and as destabilizing as basing the study of anything related to science on dogma. This is so because, and unlike what happens with religions, where only one can see and all the rest have to believe, what is needed in science is to use one's senses and brains. Despite of this, dogma has become a nasty parasite of science that can twist its development and even kill dissenters. Let me illustrate with some examples.

Dogma says that the Earth is the center of the Universe and that everything revolves around it. Perhaps that dogma has changed of late, but I am not aware of any modification.

Consequently, the results of observation of astronomical phenomena had to conform to this dogma. Scientists had to figure out a model where Earth is in the center. So they eventually came up with something they called the theory of the spheres. In this theory the Earth is indeed in the center, and each celestial body is embedded in a sphere. The spheres are concentric, one inside the other, like Russian dolls, and each sphere rotates this way and that, to conform to the movements of the planets and stars as seen from Earth.

Observation and evidence showed Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) that the center of our system is the Sun, not the Earth. His conclusion made wonderful sense. Among many other things, it unifies the rotation of all planets around the Sun in a most elegant and majestic fashion. But his observation and his conclusions clashed head on with dogma, so he was smart enough to remain mum. The wisdom of Copernicus' prudence became evident when Galileo (1564-1642) proclaimed that the Earth was not static in the center of the Universe, but that it actually moved around the Sun. He was asked to either recant or else to face death. He withdrew willy-nilly, mumbling under his breath his famous phrase "Eppur si muove" (it moves, nevertheless). Despite of his recanting, though, he was given a hard time for the rest of his life.

Less fortunate was Michael Servetus (1511-1553).
Dogma says that blood is a humor or something similar, and that therefore it doesn't circulate inside the blood vessels.
Servetus observed that blood is a liquid and that it circulates inside blood vessels. He published his finding in 1553, in his book Cristianisimi restitutio. Dogma also triumphed here. Servetus was less lucky than Galileo, though. He was executed by means of being burned alive, he and his books. Some of his books, hidden beforehand, survived.

The brothers Orville (1871-1948) and Wilbur (1867-1912) Wright were frequently reminded that dogma said that only birds and angels could fly. They were fortunate. They were able to destroy that dogmatic nonsense and survive unscathed.

Dogma says that God created a male and female of each species, which afterwards grew and multiplied.
Observation shows that DNA, present in all living cells, from bacteria to Humans, is very similar in all organisms, with small variations that correspond to the uniqueness of each species. The obvious conclusion of this observation is that all living organisms have one common ancestor.
Dogma is still fighting a losing battle to disprove the results of impeccable scientific observations and conclusions. Our civilization has generally evolved sufficiently as to not to kill, maim or excommunicate dissenters any more, so this real and present clash between dogma and scientific findings in this field remains at the level of a rather acrimonious and often sarcastic dispute. It goes without saying that those who believe that each species was created one at a time absolutely boycott those who dare to dissent.

Dogma says that the Allopathic approach is the one and only scientific Truth when it comes to diagnosis and treatment. This dogma is currently alive and strong in the Medical establishment.

So much so that one often hears Allopaths deride Homeopathy by stating that it doesn't adjust to any scientific method. What they actually mean is that Homeopathy does not adjust to the scientific method found useful for Allopathic purposes. Quite true, since Homeopathy approaches diagnosis and treatment from a totally different angle. This spiteful attitude is totally fallacious because it is based, not on observation and conclusions of results obtained through other Medical approaches, but rather on the dogma that Allopathy is the only Truth.

Homeopathy is ignored in most, if not all, Medical Schools. Physicians graduate not knowing what Homeopathy is about. However, their minds have been engraved with the dogma that Allopathy Medicine is the one and only True form of practicing Medicine.

Most graduates don't have it clear in their minds what Homeopathy is. Take this anecdote as an example: a patient of mine needed surgery, so I dispensed her Arnica 30 CH to ease her pre- and post-operative distress. The Surgeon went ballistic. He told the patient "You can't take that! Chinese herbs interfere with surgery!"

Homeopathy is not welcome in most Hospital settings. Which is a pity, considering how useful it would be to complement both Homeopathy and Allopathy for the benefit of in-patients. All the more because Homeopathy is at least as useful as Allopathy in many instances (such as in most patients suffering from chronic diseases), and even more helpful in some (such as in many patients bearing viral diseases, where the usefulness of Allopathy is very limited). To boot, Homeopathy virtually lacks side effects and toxicity and is very inexpensive.

If this one and only Truth dogma did not exist, Homeopathy would be taught in Medical Schools.

As far as the Doctors, whose minds wouldn't have been polluted by dogmatism, their first reaction would be one of curiosity what does Homeopathy have to offer? followed by perplexity is this serious? Let's find out followed by more perplexity. Homeopathy has been around for the past 200-odd years all over the world. If it is quackery, could it have fooled seven consecutive generations of patients, including people as sensate and as well advised as are the members of the British royal family, the Mahatma Ghandi and so many others? More perplexity. I don't understand how it works. Like cures like, increasing capacity with decreasing doses, Research based in making healthy people ill makes no sense to me. Next a question Does it work? Followed by footwork onto Homeopathic Physician's offices and Homeopathic Hospitals, all the latter unfortunately only abroad; for there are currently none in America. In all of these places, interested Allopaths would find that Homeopathy does indeed work wonderfully in a variety of patients afflicted by divers diseases, that in many instances it works much better than Allopathy, and that Homeopathy has limitations, too. Then would come the inevitable thought How could we integrate Homeopathy with Allopathy? How would patients fare with such an integration?

And just imagine how much in-patients would benefit, and how Hospitals' costs would plummet as the consequence of such integration.
 
 
 If you've been too long under the sun...

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...despite of all you have heard ad nauseam regarding the thinness of the ozone layer and all the rest, and are now suffering the consequences of your excessive and reckless exposure to the mercies of Old Phœbus, and consequently your skin is scorching and/or on your head is bursting, here are a few remedies you may find helpful. Some are more useful for sunburn, some for sunstroke and some for both.
Again here, remember to use potencies of 12 CH or higher (i.e., 13 CH, 14 CH, etc.). Also re-member that, in Homeopathy, we measure our remedies in potencies instead of using milligrams and the like, as Allopathic Medicine does.

In case of sunburn or sunstroke consult immediately your doctor  or any other qualified health care provider.

Belladona.- Useful for the acute phase of both sunburn and sunstroke.

The patient is agitated and his or her skin is hot, dry and red. Pupils are dilated and the mouth and throat are red and dry, although the patient is thirstless. The patient complaints of throbbing and burning all over. There may be fever of sudden onset that can be high and accompanied or not by delirium. The latter may be violent, and the patient may have to be restrained. There may also be seizures.

There is little or no swelling.

Apis mellifica.- Useful mainly for sunburn.

There is swelling and redness in the skin; although the redness here is rosy, instead of the vermilion hue usually associated with Belladona.

The pain tends to be stinging and burning, instead of burning and throbbing.

Eyelids may be swollen and red, and there may be complaints of piercing pains in the face.

Here, too, there is no thirst, although the patient may become thirsty when having a chill, something that usually happens in the evening.

Urine may become scant and burn when voided; particularly at the end of urination.

The patient feels worse when exposed to any kind of heat, and better when uncovering, exposing him or herself to cool air or taking a cold bath.

Cantharis.- Useful mainly for sunburn, that can be very severe and accompanied by blisters.

There may be unendurable burning and itching of the blistered skin, that becomes raw and smarts when the patient scratches and breaks the blebs. Raw surfaces may easily become infected.

There may be fever and delirium, that can be severe.

There is constant urgency to urinate. Urine can be bloody, and may be voided drop by drop amidst cutting and scalding pain.

Glonoinum.- Extremely useful mainly for sunstroke. It follows Belladona well.

The whole body throbs with every heartbeat. The patient feels as if all the blood had rushed to the heart or the left side of the chest, and from there to the head. Headaches are throbbing and unbearable, and may be followed by mental confusion and unconsciousness. Pain may beat in the patient's head in sync with the pulse. Long sleep may relieve the headaches, and stimulants and local heat may worsen it.

Every jar makes the head feel as if it would burst. This is the reason why Glonoinum patients need to sit immobile for hours if necessary, usually with legs crossed, elbows in knees and face resting in hands. Their need of remaining motionless is such that they don't want to be talked to and, if they need to answer, they will whisper their answer through their teeth and so remain as still as possible as they talk
The patient's face may be purple or bright red.

Natrum carbonicum.- Useful for the chronic effects of sunstroke in patients never well since having suffered it.
Summer heat brings about weakness, and the patient's head hurts in the heat of the summer and also after the slightest mental exertion.

(Bibliographic information obtained in part from the Materia Medicæ of Drs. Kent, Boericke and Vijnosky; and from the Repertories of Drs. Kent, Boericke and Murata).
 
 
 Is Homeopathy Scientific?

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A treatment is said to be scientific when found to be useful, and when that usefulness can be repeatedly verified.

The only way of finding out about usefulness is through Research.

The best definition I know of Research is that it consists in asking Nature a question in a language Nature understands, and then interpreting Nature's answer to that question.

Obviously, questions are phrased differently according to each Researcher's outlook.

Allopathy, being mechanistic, considers that health is a situation of balance between matter and energy, and that diseases trigger imbalance in any organ or tissue. This localized imbalance is what causes diseases. If left untreated, diseases may become generalized and put a patient's life in jeopardy.

The Research question here, then, is addressed at diseases, how those diseases affect or alter matter and energy in a particular organ or tissue, and how the treatment under study may interfere with the alterations brought about by the disease. The purpose of this form of Research is to find a chemical, or a form of Surgery or radiation that may bring under control or eradicate a certain disease, and so cure it.

The subjects in whom these studies are carried out are bacteria and cells in culture, animals and Humans ill with the disease under study.

To sum up, in Allopathy the main priority is to cure diseases. There is also a lot of interest in preventing them. For reasons of space, I will deal exclusively here with lines of Allopathic Research planned with the aim of curing diseases.

Homeopathy, being vitalistic, is interested in the relationship between the Vital Force and the Whole individual. It considers that there is health, balance and harmony when this relationship is good but that, when the relationship is bad there is an overall state of imbalance. An overall state of imbalance brings about a loosening of the grip the Vital Force may have on a particular organ or tissue. The devitalized organ cries for help and this cry is interpreted as distress by the patient and as a disease-syndrome by the Physician. The Homeopathic cure consists in finding a remedy capable of correcting the patient's overall imbalance. This correction allows the Vital Force to regain a good grip on the ill organ and tissue. A strong grip restores balance and harmony in the Whole patient and so the disease afflicting him or her will simply vanish.

The Research question here is addressed to the overall patient's imbalance, how it has been brought about, and how Homeopathic remedies can correct it. But since in Homeopathy like cures like, the remedies capable to correcting any particular form of imbalance must be the same ones capable of producing it.

Which is why Homeopathic Research is carried out in healthy male and female Human volunteers, and why the purpose of the study is to alter their balance (and thus make them sick) by administrating them the remedy under study. Ill individuals are not used in these studies. This is so because, as Dr. Hahnemann, the creator of Homeopathy, correctly pointed out, it would take a "master observer" to be able to discriminate the changes brought about by the progress of the disease from those triggered by the remedy being tested.

Homeopathy doesn't use bacteria, cells in culture or animals for its experiments.

To sum up, what we intend in Homeopathy is to correct the overall imbalance that produces all kinds of diseases. We regard an individual disease as an electrician would an overheated fuse. We won't touch the disease/overheated fuse, but will work to correct the imbalance of the whole installation that causes the fuse to overheat. We know that the disease ailing the patient (or the excess heat in the fuse, if you wish) will dissipate once the whole patient becomes balanced.

Homeopathic Research is carried out through experiments called Provings.

First we prepare Homeopathically a product of any origin by means of triturating or diluting and then shaking it, thus transforming that product into a Homeopathic remedy.

Then we administer that remedy, every day, until the healthy volunteers experience changes. The trial is discontinued immediately at this point, and every single change experienced is carefully recorded.

The sum total of changes found in Provings, whether normal (i.e., desire for fruit, fear of thunderstorms, coldness, etc.), or pathologic (heartburn, numbness, palpitations, insomnia, etc.), will then become the profile of the remedy. Each of the changes, whether normal or pathological, are known as symptoms.

Dr. Hahnemann strongly recommended that the person in charge of a Proving should become a prover him or herself, and thus personally experience the changes brought by the remedy.

Aside from Provings, information about Homeopathic remedies also stems from two other sources, namely, personal characteristics of patients who respond to treatment and changes brought about by intoxications with material doses of the product used to prepare the Homeopathic remedy.

Evidence obtained from these two sources may be useful. Sometimes. But the most important thing when deciding a treatment is always the profile of the remedy as found in the Provings.

The evaluation of a Proving is perforce totally different from that of an Allopathic experiment.

In Allopathic Research, the experiment takes place outside the Researcher. Objective changes found in the experiment must afterwards be brought into the mind of the Researcher where it becomes subjective knowledge. Subjective knowledge must be a mental replica of the experiment, as exact and as unbiased as possible. Most of the provisions present in an Allopathic Research protocol are aimed at preventing distortion along the path each bit of information has to follow from the experimental field through the Researcher's senses and into the Researcher's mind. Statistical evaluation is also indispensable here, because it is the only way a Researcher can know whether the changes found in the experiment were caused by the experimental procedure or by random chance.

Much of the minutiae so indispensable in an Allopathic Research protocol can safely be dispensed with in Provings. Here there is no way to confuse changes due to the remedy with those due to chance, after having experienced those changes in oneself. In Homeopathy, Research happens inside the Researcher from beginning to end. There is no trip here between outside objective evidence through senses into inner subjective knowledge. All knowledge gathered in the experiment is subjective, obtained by means of becoming aware of the changes each prover perceives within him or herself along the experiment, and immediately registered by the prover's mind. That awareness is immediate and exact, and not the replica of anything objective. Here the mind of each prover can register many changes simultaneously, unlike what happens in Allopathic Research where only one change or variable can be studied at a time. This immediate awareness also allows each prover to understand the changes that are happening in the other provers. Let me give you an example: You remember clearly how you felt the first time you held your firstborn child in your arms. And consequently you know, and intuitively understand, what every other male feels in such a situation.

Each prover knows that the changes he or she is experiencing during the Proving are due to the remedy and not to chance. Pretty much like the new father knows perfectly well that what he feels when holding his child for the first time is mainly to love, clumsiness, perplexity, fear and confusion, but not chance.

Statistical evaluation poses a problem in the evaluation of Homeopathic experiments. Two, actually. The first problem is related to the nature of the Homeopathic experiment, the second with shortcomings of statistical methods.

A statistical evaluation is superfluous in a Proving due to the very nature of the experiment. One can harbor doubts when intellectually attempting to interpret the results of an Allopathic experiment, wonder if results are valid or due to chance, and need a statistical evaluation to clarify the matter. On the other hand a prover, like a first time father, knows darned well that what he is becoming aware of happening inside is the real thing, and not something due to chance. All the more when seeing similar changes in other new fathers or provers.

Secondly, I don't know of any statistical method capable of simultaneously evaluating several inter-related variables in the same experiment. All the methods I know of are good to adequately evaluate only one variable or change per experiment, and that only if the experiment is well behaved.

And a Proving means a lot of changes, or symptoms, or variables, all happening at the same time during the same experiment. For instance, in the case of the polychrest Lycopodium clavatum, over 400 symptoms can well appear in each Proving.

Once properly studied, a remedy is administered to patients who suffer from an overall form of imbalance similar to that found in the Provings of that particular remedy.

So far, we have learnt about the profile of approximately 3,000 + remedies in this fashion.

Some have been thoroughly researched, and are called polychrests. Others have been insufficiently studied, and are known as small remedies.

Aurum metallicum (included in this Newsletter), for instance, is a polychrest.

When obtaining a Homeopathic History, the overall profile of each individual patient (meaning the sum total of the profiles of the patient + of the patient's disease + of the patient's circumstance) is matched against the profile of Homeopathic remedies researched mainly by means of Provings.

The patient is then prescribed a remedy the profile of which best matches his or her profile, following the Homeopathic Principle of like cures like. If the treatment is successful, that remedy will bring the patient into balance. In most instances, this new found balance will make the patient's disease disappear.

I suppose what I have described so far is enough to conclude that Homeopathy is scientific.

At the beginning I mentioned that a correct treatment, aside from being useful, must be repeatedly verified.

I would like to briefly discuss repeatability here.

Dr. Hahnemann created Homeopathy over 200 years ago. He proposed the principle of like cures like, invented the method of succussing (that is, of triturating or diluting and then shaking) to prepare Homeopathic remedies, conducted Provings in himself, friends and patients and also dispensed Homeopathic remedies to patients whose imbalance resembled those found in Provings.

Ever since, all over the world, and with monotonous and very enjoyable regularity, Homeopathic Physicians find results that range from improvement to complete recovery every time a patient receives the remedy that corresponds to his or her profile.

 
 
 Profiles of Homeopathic remedies: Aurum metallicum

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Caution - This remedy should be prescribed, and its effects should be followed up, only by experienced Homeopathic Physicians, Sometimes, Homeopathic remedies may produce a momentary aggravation before improvement starts. In Aurum patients, such an aggravation may lead to suicide.

Aurum is the gloomiest remedy of the whole Materia Medica. It feels unloved, forsaken, and crushed by guilt. Its self-esteem is close to zero.

Aurum patients live shrouded in dejection, and believe that their lives have no sense whatsoever. The latter brings about a feeling of failure. Aurum will do everything within its power to eliminate its awareness of senselessness and failure. It constantly erodes whatever remains of Aurum's self-love, -respect and -confidence.

Aurum is unable to find happiness or sense in everyday endeavors, even though it strives to do everything perfectly. So Aurum will aim, again and again, at the most altruistic and impossible goals, and will use all of its immense energy and will power to attain them.

Aurum will inevitably fall short. When such a thing happens, all that stupendous energy back-lashes against the patient. Negative and destructive now, and fed by the ever present awareness of failure, that energy will blast to smithereens the last shreds of Aurum's self-respect and -esteem with a vengeance. The patient will feel guilty, totally unworthy of love and happiness, and a total failure-and will believe very strongly that his or her life really has no purpose or sense whatsoever. Suicide, always lurking close to the surface, is often attempted during these moments of abject despair.

Typically, Aurum patients are hyper-responsible and extraordinarily goal-oriented hard workers, highly esteemed by their superiors, pillars of church and society and wonderfully responsible family members.

One day, though, and to everybody's surprise and consternation, Aurum may jump out of a high story window.

Such is Aurum's craving of happiness and love that it will never forgive or forget those who become an obstacle in the attainment of their precious joy. And egos of Aurum patients are so fragile that they will become devastated and frenzied by contradiction.

Their self-directed fury and destructiveness will also target many of Aurum's organs and systems. This tendency is particularly noticeable in their heart and bones, primary targets of diseases that afflict Aurum patients. It is as if Aurum would wish to destroy everything in its physical body, including the bony frame that gives the body its shape and distinctive appearance as well as the heart, always starved for love and recognition.

Moods swing wildly between moroseness, frantic striving, self-directed fury, crushing guilt and dejection. These devastating swings happen secretly, though, because Aurum patients are incapable of sharing their true feelings for fear of rejection.

Instead, these patients will always display an outward appearance of being strong, energetic and on the go until the moment when, without any warning and for no apparent reason, overwhelmed by their inner conflicts and demons, they will suddenly jump out of a window and kill themselves.

(Data for this section was obtained in part from the Materia Medicæ of Drs. Kent, Boericke and Vijnosky).
 

 

Edited by Jose Miguel Mullen, MD, MD (H), MFHom.,
Homeopathic Physician.