|
Jose Miguel Mullen, MD, MD (H), MFHom. |
| HOMEOPATHIC
NEWSLETTER |
number seven |
|
|
|
Our Live-In Microorganisms and Us |
|
| |
In this Earth, the interaction of the Vital Force and matter
manifests itself as diverse forms of life.
Elementary forms of life (as opposed to complex forms of life, such
as plants, animals and Humans) can be divided into bacteria, some
strains of molds and parasites, viruses and the recently discovered prions. Bacteria and molds belong to the plant kingdom and parasites
to the animal kingdom. As far as I know, the jury is still out when
it comes to where viruses and prions belong.
Bacteria are other unicellular organisms are composed of one single
cell (we are composed by billions upon billions!). Molds and
parasites can be unicellular or multicellular ("Multicellular" means
composed by many interrelated cells).
Unicellular molds and parasites, as well as bacteria, are capable of
living by themselves in the open environment, that is, they can live
independent lives. Prions and viruses cannot live independently but
can only survive and thrive inside cells; whether those cells are
bacteria, molds or parasites, or else cells belonging to more
complex live structures.
Most complex multicellular organisms can be seen by the naked eye.
Unicellular organisms, viruses and prions are so small that they are
invisible to the naked eye, which is the reason why they are also
known as microorganisms.
Each independent unicellular organism has to cover pretty much all
the functions we carry out in our complexity, if in a much simpler
manner. That is, they have to eat, excrete, defend themselves from
destructive influences of the environment, thrive and reproduce.
Some can also move about.
Regarding how they eat, we must remember that these creatures are
very small and that they lack the space within to have a fully
developed digestive system like we have. Some absorb blobs of water
and nourishment from the environment and then digest them while
others direct the nutrients into a rudimentary mouth. And many do
spew up their digestive juices onto the environment and then absorb
those juices and the nutrients that have been degraded by them.
Unless killed by some destructive influence, these independent
unicellular organisms never die: when bacteria reach a certain size
they cleave, divide, and continue living as two new microorganisms.
This process is called division. Molds, on the other hand, prefer to
sporulate, that is, daughter cells bud out from the original one.
It has been estimated that independent microorganisms constitute
approximately nine tenths of the Biosphere.
In other words, out of every ten pounds of living matter in this
Earth microorganisms compose nine.
It has also been estimated that bacteria and molds were the first
forms of life to appear on Earth—and that ever since they have been
at odds with each other.
The problem here is that bacteria divide, and molds sporulate,
whenever they feel it is necessary for their individual survival,
without any consideration for anything else, and that they do so at
a fantastic rate. So eventually bacteria and molds collide with each
other in and for the same lebensraum.
In this unsought intimacy, molds are exposed to the action of the
digestive juices spewed by hungry bacteria in their vicinity. Molds
deeply resent being considered bacteria's hors d'oeuvre, so they
respond by secreting a substance that is lethal for bacteria
(sometimes molds secrete stuff that is toxic for other strains of
molds, too). As the consequence, bacteria die by the zillions and
molds proliferate and expand at leisure to fill the space left
vacant by the now defunct bacteria.
However, some hardy bacteria survive the molds' onslaught through
the preparation of an antidote that they share with each other and
with their offspring. So they start to proliferate again until
eventually they clash once more with the molds that, until then,
were budding and expanding leisurely. When the proliferating molds
meet with the new bacterial colonies they try the same bacterial
poison again, but now they can't hurt the bacteria because the
latter have become immune to it, so bacteria start eating the now
helpless molds with gusto. Until surviving molds learn to prepare a
new substance lethal for bacteria, discharge it and kill all the
bacteria in their vicinity, and so the cycle begins all over again.
And again and again, eon after eon. Until finally molds reach an
unstable state of entente with bacteria, and vice versa.
Aside from this war, and throughout the ages, both bacteria and
molds had to learn to survive extreme heat and freezing, solar
storms, draughts, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and any other
niceties Mother Nature felt like hurling at them from time to time.
So both forms of life ended up being pretty sturdy survivors.
Currently we have bacteria, and probably molds also, all over the
Earth, from the abysmal depth of the oceans to the highest mountain
peaks.
As other more complex forms of life began to appear on this Earth,
bacteria and molds started to colonize them, and to fight with each
other and with their newly acquired hosts until, here again, they
reached a state of entente suitable for everybody concerned.
It is estimated that we Humans are populated by some 200 strains of
bacteria and molds, which thrive on our skin and inside our body
cavities. These strains are our live-in microorganisms. In health,
they are usually at peace with each other and with us.
Here I am going to discuss only molds and bacteria, which constitute
virtually all of our live-in microorganisms, and how they interact
with us. I will deliberately leave out parasites, viruses and prions.
Parasites because in our country they are very rarely found in any
reasonably clean individual with ready access to potable water; and
viruses and prions because they have no independent existence.
From our Manichean and utilitarian standpoint we divide
microorganisms into "good" and "bad".
Examples of "good bacteria" are the Lactobacillus acidophilus and
the Streptococcus thermophilus, used to curdle milk into yogurt. An
example of a "good mold" is the Saccharomyces cerevesiaæ, better
known as brewers' yeast; an inexhaustible source of the B-complex
vitamins.
"Bad microorganisms", on the other hand, form part of the 200
strains that colonize us. We consider them "bad" because they can
attack us and, by doing so, lead us into illness and even untimely
death.
Now, complex or multicellular organisms are an unpleasant commodity
for Mother Nature, who likes things nice and simple, such as
molecules of oxygen, water, carbon dioxide and the like.
Multicellular organisms—all the more if they must eventually become
the abode of self-awareness and intelligence—force Nature to produce
more and more complex molecules: sugars, fats, proteins and
eventually nucleic acids; all distributed and orderly stacked into
macro-structures such as the epithelial, mesenchimatic and nervous
tissues.
Nature compromises with this complexity, but only willy-nilly. Her
side of the bargain is that these complex structures will have a
limited life-span and will eventually be degraded into their simple
components of oxygen, water, carbon dioxide molecules and the like,
more pleasing to Mom Nature.
Multicellular organism must first die in order to bring about
degradation from the complex into the simple. Mainly live-in
bacteria and molds—most of which are the ones we consider as "bad"
microorganisms—accomplish this degradation, which happens after the
death of complex life forms.
The important thing here is that this process of death and the
subsequent live-in microorganism-assisted degradation must proceed
correctly.
If death followed by degradation happens to a ninety something
year-old person, who has lived his or her healthy life to the full
and now dies peacefully, then the process of death followed by
degradation by bacteria and molds is carried out in the right
fashion.
If, on the other hand, this process of death followed by degradation
happens to an adolescent, who dies after struggling with a prolonged
and painful disease, then that process of death followed by
degradation is definitely carried out in the wrong fashion.
Most of the 200 strains that populate us live, thrive and reproduce
without giving us any hint of trouble, not even those that inhabit
our filthiest cavities. A few can potentially give rise to problems,
though, some very serious.
Take our mouth as an example of the abode of well-behaved live-in
microorganisms. Somebody once said (I don't remember who, but he was
an authority) that to cut your hand with a rusty can lying at the
bottom of a sewer is safer than to sustain a human bite. I'm sure
people would immediately stop kissing if hey had an inkling about
how absolutely contaminated our mouths are! The mouth has a constant
pleasant warm temperature and adequate dampness, plus plenty of bits
and pieces of foodstuffs to nibble at, so microorganisms within have
the perfect environment. The mouth is thus a matchless paradise for
bacteria and molds, many potentially very dangerous, which thrive
there by the millions upon millions. Yet, most of us live with all
those considerate, well-behaved and polite microorganisms day in and day
out without ever becoming aware of their existence. Of course, we
can argue that an intact mouth has the ways and means to contain
their aggressiveness and that can also tame them. Granted. But
consider what happens when a tooth is pulled out. What remains is a
traumatic, raw open wound way deep into the bone—one of the densest
bones, one of the less irrigated with blood and consequently one of
the less capable of defending itself. A fresh blood clot is usually
formed atop that open wound (another extremely appetizing morsel for
microorganisms). That is, here we have all the elements necessary
for a massive infection: an open traumatic wound deep into a very
dense bone, fresh blood clots and potentially deadly microorganisms
galore. Yet nothing happens most of the time. The area heals
uneventfully and then everything is well. Not even a visible scar
remains.
Now, to take a couple of instances of microorganisms that misbehave,
or that simultaneously behave and misbehave.
Take the case of a child's intact middle ear that becomes infected
(meaning that some of his or her live-in bacteria start to attack,
or else that several virus-infested cells go berserk).
Or take the lungs of a tubercular patient, slowly being destroyed by
mycobacterium tuberculosis. That patients spits out mycobacteria by
the thousands every time he or she coughs, yet often the spouse does
not get sick, despite of constant and intensive exposure. Here the
mycobacteria clearly misbehave in the patient, but becomes very well
mannered with the patient's spouse.
What happens here?
Why does the open sore left in a foul mouth after a tooth extraction
not get infected while the intact middle ear of a child does? Why
the same mycobacteria that slowly kills a patient leaves unscathed
the spouse that patient lives, eats and sleeps with, and is
constantly coughed upon?
Or, put differently, what makes bacteria remain inactive and what
puts them to work?
Death, of course, is the moment when the Vital Force and complex
matter part ways. At that time, our live-in microorganisms start
working in earnest to make our complexity simple and pleasing to
Mother Nature.
It is decay, then—or, if you prefer, devitalization, same thing—what
gives the microorganisms the order to start to work. Whether the
devitalization is total, that is, encompasses the whole individual
or else is only partial, that is, confined to one organ or
structure.
In this sense, we can consider death as total devitalization; and an
infection, or an infectious disease, as forms of partial devitalization, as an anticipation of death or, if you prefer, as an
incursion of death into life's territory. In the instance of an
infection or an infectious disease the whole live organism very much
resents this intrusion of death, and fights it with every means at
its disposal; elements such as pain, fever, inflammation, activation
of the immune system's response, etc.
Nothing untoward happens in a live organism if there is no
devitalization, as in the examples of a healthy and fully vitalized
mouth from which a tooth has been extracted, or that of the spouse
of the tubercular patient cited above. Consequently, microorganisms
will continue to pullulate and to thrive without attacking the very
tempting and vulnerable open wound in the healthy mouth or the lung
tissue of the healthy spouse of the tubercular patient.
In the case of the child with otitis media, only the ear is
devitalized. So microorganisms start to work and the child responds
with distress, pain, inflammation and fever; a distress, pain,
inflammation and fever produced not by the microorganisms'
onslaught, but rather by the reaction of the patient's live and
healthy organism to the microorganisms' attack.
The conclusion here is that health, or infection and untimely death,
ultimately hinges on an adequate vitalization, or lack thereof, of
the patient and of that patient's tissues. Onslaughts brought about
by "bad" microorganisms, and the patient's response to those
attacks, immune or otherwise, happens only after the process of
devitalization is in full bloom. In this sense, the immune reaction
follows the infection, and the infection happens as the consequence
of a partial devitalization of the patient.
This progression of devitalization ® infection ® inflammatory and
immune response is either completely ignored, or else looked
askance, by our Allopathic colleagues.
For Allopathy there is only infection ® inflammation and immune
response. For Allopathy, when it comes to infections and infectious
diseases, all that matters is the randomly attacking microorganisms,
the response to that attack, immune and otherwise—and the
extermination of as many microorganisms as possible, whether they
are culprits of the infection or not.
Things such as "Vitalization" or "Devitalization" simply don't exist
in Allopathy, because Allopathy lacks the means to deal with them.
The population in general, and Doctors in particular, have feared
microorganisms for a long time, and have attempted to combat them
with every means at hand.
At first, Doctors used bloodletting, setons and other suchlike
atrocities, all with the purpose of "purifying" and "cleansing"
patients, and so stimulating the patients' capacity to defend
themselves.
Then, in the 1910's or thereabouts, in came the theory of "septic
foci", that is, the areas where the dastardly microorganisms find a
comfortable abode within us. The solution proposed by this
aggressive School was the immediate removal of those septic foci and
all of the microorganisms therein, thus cleansing the patient. The
septic foci in question were the tonsils, the teeth, the gall
bladder and the whole large intestine. Many succumbed to the sirens'
songs of the proponents of the supposed dangers of their septic
foci, sacrificed their contaminated organs in the altar of
cleanliness and lived uncomfortably ever after, not having added an
ounce of benefit to their health.
All of these niceties became eclipsed in the 1920's with the advent
of chemotherapy, a still to be fulfilled therapeutic ideal whereby
drugs kill microorganisms while sparing the patient.
First came the organic mercury and arsenic compounds used for the
treatment of syphilis (that neither cured the disease nor spared the
patients), and then the sulfa drugs.
The latter are still in use, but only as a very humble second to the
antibiotics.
Antibiotics made their triumphal appearance in the 1940's.
Most if not all antibiotics used against bacteria are obtained from
molds, directly or indirectly.
Those used against mold infestations are obtained from molds and
also from several other sources. Anti-mold antibiotics are as a rule
less effective, and much more loaded with side effects and toxicity,
than those used against bacteria.
Antibiotics were trumpeted as the greatest leap forward in the
History of Medicine and, for some, of Mankind. Here we finally had
drugs that could kill microorganisms galore and thus cure many until
then incurable infectious diseases. To boot, and in the same
bombastic vein, antibiotics were also supposed to produce little or
no untoward side effects in the patients who received them.
The fear felt for so long toward microorganisms became arrogance—not
surprisingly, since fear and arrogance are but the two sides of the
same coin—and this newfangled conceit made us believe that finally
the world would become rid of the disgusting microorganisms and
therefore made finally safe for Humankind.
Antibiotics became popular overnight and started to appear
everywhere: in candy and chewing gum, in drinks and in toothpastes.
Even today, antibiotics are part of the fodder of the poultry and
cattle that we eat; and, from the cattle, they pass to the milk our
children and we drink and to the dairy we consume.
Soon, however, treating Physicians and Scientists alike found that
many patients treated with antibiotics would regularly develop
diarrheas, allergies (some very severe and even deadly), malaise,
lack of appetite and mysterious yeast infections, as well as other
very serious reactions.
Take as an example of the latter Streptomycin and
Dihydrostreptomycin, that aside from killing many bacteria also
attacked the 8th cranial nerve and left a host of patients deaf or
with severe vertigo; or Chloramphenicol, capable of cleansing the
blood-producing bone marrow.
Also, Physicians and Scientists soon started to notice with dismay
that microorganisms were becoming resistant to the action of the
antibiotics. Doses had to be increased again and again in order to
obtain any therapeutic results, till finally the antibiotics were
not effective at all.
And so started a mad dash between antibiotics and bacterial and mold
resistance. A race where antibiotics were only a leap ahead of
resistance. It may be that microorganisms could be winning this race
because nowadays, and as far as I know, there are strains of
staphylococci and of mycobacteria tuberculosis that are resistant to
all known antibiotics.
Scientists discovered that, in bacteria, resistance was caused by
something they called plasmids. Plasmids are fragments of genes that
bacteria that survive an antibiotic onslaught produce and share with
each other and with their offspring, thus effectively immunizing all
against the effect of that particular antibiotic or sulfa drug.
I am not familiar with the mechanism of the molds' resistance to
antibiotics, so I won't discuss it here. Suffice to say that, here
too, antibiotic treatment has created many resistant strains.
How could such a brilliant therapeutic discovery become so mired?
Did something go amiss here?
Actually nothing. What happens is that antibiotic therapy didn't
bring about anything new under the sun, as far as the struggle of
bacteria vs. molds for lebensraum. Antibiotics became just another
familiar element in their ancestral rules of engagement.
Let me explain.
Remember, several paragraphs above, when I mentioned that molds
would secrete substances toxic to bacteria in order to avoid
becoming the latter's hors d'oeuvre? Well, those substances are
actually antibiotics. In fact, all antibiotics used nowadays to
combat bacterial infections are either secreted by molds for
purposes of killing bacteria, or else are chemical modifications of
those substances. So nothing new here. The same old mold-generated
bacterial poisons, only that now they are coming from another
source. And, when those substances kill the sufficient quantity of
bacteria, then molds grow at their leisure into the space left
vacant by the now defunct bacteria, as they have always done (so now
you know where the yeast infections after you're treated with an
antibiotic come from, since yeast is a form of mold).
Remember also what I told you in the same paragraph, regarding the
substance surviving bacteria share with each other and their
offspring to make all of them immune to antibiotics? Well, those
substances are the plasmids.
The damage caused by this war between antibiotics and microorganisms
has been extensive.
We have created strains of super-microorganisms resistant to every
known antibiotic, strains that certainly didn't exist before the
onset of the antibiotic wars.
We have produced a host of patients damaged by the action of
antibiotics, and also many other patients who are currently
harboring microorganisms that are resistant to the action of every
known antibiotic.
Since antibiotics don't kill all microorganisms, but only those
sensitive to them, with these treatments we have profoundly
disturbed the status quo that should exist among the 200 or so
strains of our live-in microorganisms. And this has created
problems. Let me illustrate this with an example, that of several
street gangs that live together more or less peacefully in some
inner city. When one of those gangs is eliminated, all the others
fight to fill the turf left vacant by the vanished gang. The fight
will likely be savage until finally the most aggressive gang
prevails. Something similar happens when some strains of our live-in
microorganisms are exterminated. The strongest surviving strain will
occupy the space left vacant and that strain, very aggressive now,
will bring about severe diarrhea as well as other problems to its
host, some quite serious.
There is a recent paper, published this year in the Journal of the
American Medical Association, written by Velicer CM, et al. and
entitled "Antibiotic use in relation to the risk of breast cancer" (JAMA
291 (7): 827-835, Feb 18, 2004). In this excellent and very well
documented paper the number of patients studied is high, the number
of individual courses of antibiotic treatment prescribed is much
higher, and the statistical evidence is irrefutable. The paper shows
that there is indeed a relationship between the increase of the
incidence of breast cancer and the length of time those breast
cancer patients were treated with antibiotics.
In other words, there is an increase of the incidence of breast
cancer in patients whose live-in microorganism population has been
decimated through prolonged antibiotic use. Do we have the right to
assume, then, that our live-in microorganisms, our smallest brethren
in life, may be quietly protecting us from cancer, and perhaps also
from many other diseases, if left undisturbed?
Such a possibility would be both elating and very disturbing.
Elating because it would show to what an extent our live-in
microorganisms might be protecting us in wonderful ways and thus
enhancing our health. But this evidence is also very disturbing
because it makes us wonder about how much damage we may be doing to
ourselves by indiscriminately destroying our live-in microorganisms.
This, of course, is definitely not a waiver to avoid habits of
hygiene such as bathing and brushing our teeth.
Soap makes fat become soluble in water. When we wash with soap, the
excess of the now water-soluble fat and of microorganisms on our
skin is easily rinsed away together with dirt and dead skin cells.
When we brush and floss our teeth, what we do is to remove tartar
and food remains, neutralize the slightly acidic mouth's milieu and
refresh our breath with the toothpaste's mint extract.
These habits, however, have absolutely nothing to do with the
deliberate and systematic annihilation of the bacteria and mold
flora of our skin and mouth through the use of antiseptics,
bactericidals and antibiotics; even when those microorganisms pose
no threat whatsoever.
The use of each new antibiotic indefectibly leads to the appearance
of microorganisms resistant to it.
If we continue to use antibiotics at our current rate, we will
predictably—and sooner rather than later—end up in a scenario where
all microorganisms will become resistant to all antibiotics.
Ever since the 1950's we've been pushing this scenario farther and
farther into the future, but for how long will we be able to
continue pushing it off there? How long will it be before we ran out
of new antibiotics? The only viable solution for Allopathy's current
situation is to use fewer antibiotics and thus delay as much as
possible the creation of more antibiotic-resistant strains of
microorganisms.
Yet, the vast majority of antibiotics are prescribed to patients who
really need them. To decrease the quantity of antibiotics prescribed
would mean to put many lives in jeopardy.
So what is there to do? To continue to rely blindly on the
appearance of one new antibiotic after another is chimerical. Nature
doesn't have an infinite supply of antibiotics, and there is only so
much Pharmaceutical laboratories can do to twist the chemical
formulas of the known ones. When it comes to the treatment of
infectious diseases, Allopathy is currently in a loose-loose
situation and steadily progressing toward a checkmate. We already
have at least two strains of bacteria that are resistant to all
known antibiotics as heralds of the disaster that looms ahead.
Allopathy should urgently start searching for a new approach in the
treatment of infectious diseases
Now, what would it happen if Homeopathy were to be this new approach?
I mentioned above that a sick organ is a devitalized organ, and that
a sick person is a devitalized person. I also said that
microorganisms, as harbingers of death, do not attack unless they
detect devitalization.
Homeopathy is able to bring Whole patients into balance. By doing
so, it allows the patient's Vital Force to get a firm grip on all of
his or her devitalized organs and tissues. And microorganisms will
not attack, or immediately cease to assail, adequately vitalized
organic structures.
This is not theory and rhetoric. It is a matter of everyday
observation in Homeopathy.
We Homeopaths are used to seeing children with acute otitis media,
for instance, needing one course of antibiotics after another and
never getting fully well, who suddenly become sound and healthy
after a successful Homeopathic treatment, to the point that they
don't need to use antibiotics any more.
The same can be said of patients suffering from tonsillitis, strep
throats, upper respiratory infections, urinary tract infections and
many other infectious diseases.
And, in each and every instance, Homeopathically cured patients
suffer virtually no side effects and no toxicity of any kind because
of the treatment, no induction of allergies and no damage to embryos
or fetuses in those who are pregnant. What's more, these patients'
live-in microorganisms are not bothered by the Homeopathic treatment
in any shape, form or fashion, and so can continue to thrive—and to
protect us, if that's what they do—unhindered.
There are patients, however, who will still need antibiotics. In
them, it is prudent to associate antibiotic treatment with
Homeopathy.
This is so because Homeopathy's therapeutic action will vitalize the
organs and tissues that are ill, thus blunting the attack of
microorganisms. And, through its vitalizing action, Homeopathy will
also enhance and modulate the patients' inflammatory and immune
response.
Both actions would allow these patients to respond considerably
better to the antibiotic treatment, and thus to get well
sooner—plus, in all likelihood, to need considerably less or no
antibiotic treatment in the future. Here again, this is something we
see every day in our practice of Homeopathy.
By thriving unhindered, our live-in microorganisms may well be
rendering us the service of assisting us to live a healthier
life—as, after our death, they will render Mother Nature the service
of quietly disposing of our remains.
And, by using Homeopathy, we could limit considerably, or eliminate
altogether, any harm we can do to them.
|
|
|
|
Homeopathic
Treatment of Insect Bites |
|
| |
Spring and summer are beautiful and very welcome in the Northeast,
particularly after our long, cold and dreary winters. All of Nature
seems to explode in a profusion of life, warmth, greens and flowers.
Unfortunately, pesky insects are also part of the equation.
These creatures are a nuisance and their bites are itchy, sometimes
painful and occasionally dangerous. The bottom line here is to never
overlook an insect bite, particularly if it doesn’t clear up in a
day or so, and/or if the redness around it is sudden and/or
excessive, or if it persists, swells or spreads. If such a thing
happens, call your Doctor immediately. Also call the Doctor if the
patients becomes shocked after a bite, that is, if he or she starts
loosing consciousness, his or her sweat becomes cold and clammy, the
pulse shoots up and breathing becomes labored.
Never scratch an insect bite if at all possible. Scratching may
bring about momentary relief, but at the cost of a potential
infection. Your fingernails—never too clean to start with—peel off
the superficial layers of the skin as you scratch. The tissues
surrounding the punctured area are already inflamed and weakened by
the bite so, with the protective superficial layers peeled off by
your scratching, the whole area becomes an excellent portal of entry
for potentially dangerous microorganisms.
Instead of scratching, it is recommended to wash the bitten area and
its surroundings with water and soap and then cool it, or else cover
it with a mixture of oatmeal and cold water. This brings about a
measure of mitigation that can sometimes be considerable. It is
recommended to wash off and renew the oatmeal coating as often as
necessary to bring about relief. Of course, the patient should make
sure beforehand that he or she is not allergic to soap and/or to
oatmeal.
It is also recommended that the patient remove the stinger as soon
as possible.
Following is a list of Homeopathic remedies that have proven to be
useful in the treatment of insect bites. However, none of these
remedies are a substitute of Medical attention if the bitten area
looks ugly of if the patient becomes shocked as the consequence of
the bite.
The potencies recommended vary from remedy to remedy, as also does
the frequency of administration. For this reason I shall write, by
the remedy's name, the recommended potency and frequency of
administration.
Apis mellifica 12 CH, to be administered three times a day for up to
five days as needed, if the area surrounding the bite becomes pink
red and swollen, and extends into surrounding tissues. This area
tends to hurt like a bee sting and is very sensitive to touch. Cold
applications relieve the discomfort elicited by the bite. Apis is
virtually the remedy of choice for insect bites in the outer corner
of the eyebrows.
Arnica montana 12 CH, two or three times a day for up to five days
as needed, for bee and wasp bites. It helps if the discomfort
elicited by the bite has a bruise-like quality and if the patient
prefers to remain alone.
Cantharis 200 CH daily for up to 3 days as needed, is very useful in
the treatment of gnat bites, and also in the treatment of insect
bites that exhibit great local inflammation, burning and that often
develop blisters.
Carbolicum acidum 12 CH recommended for bee stings, particularly if
there is shock within 10 minutes or so after the bite. Needless to
say, an ambulance should be called in immediately and the patient
should undergo CPR.
Ledum palustre 30 CH or 200 CH once. Ledum is considered the remedy
of choice for puncture wounds—and insect bites are punctures.
Itching becomes burning after scratching. The lesions are relieved
by cold applications. Ledum is also an excellent adjuvant in the
treatment of erysipelas of the face produced by insect bites
(Erysipelas are infections that happen under the skin and that
produce redness, swelling, inflammation, fever and much distress).
Magnesia phosphorica 12 CH recommended daily up to 5 days as needed,
when large patches appear after the bite. These patches become red
only when scratched.
Natrum muriaticum 12 CH or 30 CH recommended daily for up to 5 days
for bee stings and their ill effects. There is itching and burning.
It helps if the patient has greasy skin.
Staphysagria 12 CH recommended weekly for those unfortunates who
attract mosquitoes like a magnet.
Urtica urens 12 CH recommended daily for up to 5 days as needed.
Very useful in insect bites (particularly bee stings) if they itch,
hurt and swell as if after exposure to stinging nettles. The itching
can be very severe and is worse at night. Itching also worsens as
the bed warms up and by heat in general.
(Data has been obtained from the Materia
Medicæ of Drs. Hahnemann, Vijnovsky, Boericke and Kent and from my
own experience).
|
|
|
|
cancernism, The chronic miasmas (IV):
Cancernism |
|
| |
As we saw in previous Newsletters, the keyword for Psora is
vulnerability, for Sycosis aggrandizement and for Syphilis ulcer.
The keyword for Cancerinism is clinging.
When we're little, we are dimly aware of our individuality as being
part of our parents. As we grow up, we displace our center of
gravity from parents and suchlike figures into ourselves.
Cancerinics are powerless to bring about such a shift. This
inability causes them to cling to someone or something throughout
their lives.
Cancerinics desperately cling to their job or to their spouses or
children. Or to their parents. Or to pets, money, status or
position. Or to jewels or valuables. Or to a house, a ranch or some
other kind or property.
Or to power. Take Neville Chamberlain, for instance. He became Prime
Minister of Great Britain in 1937. He was deceived by Hitler, in
their 1938 Munich meeting, into believing that there would be “peace
in our time”. After Hitler unleashed WW II, Chamberlain was forced
to resign in May 1940. He died of cancer six months later, November
9, 1940 (Data obtained from several bibliographical sources. Among
them, William Manchester’s “The last lion, 1932-1940”. Little, Brown
and Co., Ed. Boston, 1988. Page 513). And Chamberlain was not, by
far, the only politician or statesman to develop a malignant solid
tumor after power was yanked off his or her grasp.
The above are the main elements cancerinics cling to. They are the
only thngs capable of providing sense and meaning to their lives.
The center of gravity of cancerinics, then, never quite shifts to
themselves as they grow up into adulthood; rather, it remains on
their parents or else is transferred to other things and/or people
cancerinics need to attach to.
For cancerinics, then, outside things and/or people, precious to
them, have more value than the cancerinics themselves. Those things
and/or people are the only elements that give sense and meaning to
the cancerinics’ lives—in absolute terms. It is either that or
nothing.
Cancerinics love others more than they love themselves, but only
insofar as those others—or those objects or situations—give sense
and meaning to their lives.
Cancerinics will go to any extreme in order to maintain a status quo
of clinging and dependency. Nothing will be allowed to threaten the
bond of dependency lest it may be strained, damaged and even
perhaps—Goodness forbid!—destroyed.
This attitude usually makes the cancerinic very rigid and averse to
change.
Cancerinics will go to any extreme, will grovel, will even stunt
their own self-development, in order to retain and/or appease the
object of their dependency. Which is the reason why cancerinics tend
to be so meek, to never complain and to perpetually swallow their
anger and their sadness.
And all cancerinics ask in return for this abject devotion is the
certainty that their subjugation will last forever.
This extreme self-debasement sours cancerinics, and makes them feel
ensnared. Such a situation of progressive and suffocating entrapment
creates a dilemma between remaining dependent and breaking free. The
latter leads to fear of forsakenness and its twin byproducts,
sadness and resentment.
The very hint of forsakenness, in turn, leads to panic and again
into dependence.
The vicious circle dependency/clinging ® entrapment
® desire for
freedom ® forsakenness
® panic ® dependency/clinging again, fosters
guilt and confusion. Plus the need to atone, through physical
suffering and/or punishment, for the terrible sin of wishing to
break free, to become self-reliant.
This concatenation of feelings, added to envy towards those who
don’t need to cling, provoke still more conflict. It makes the
cancerinic impatient and angry.
In turn, impatience and anger seriously interfere with the niceness
indispensable to be accepted into dependency (“What will the person
I so desperately cling to say if he or she learns that I’m angry?”
or “Will the object or situation I so desperately need to cling to
be taken away/snatched from my grasp if I’m angry?”, followed by the
terrifying “What if he or she rejects or forsakes me?” or “What if
the object or situation I so desperately need is not mine any
more?”).
It is small wonder that cancerinics negate any vestige of anger and
irritability, and bury those feelings into some dark recess, deep
inside.
No matter how deeply buried and supposedly forgotten, however, these
negative emotions will bear heavily, and quietly grow and gnaw in
their secluded abode.
Every once in a while, those hidden feelings will hurl a devastating
hint of their existence, which the cancerinic will rapidly repress.
In time, anger, impatience and their satellite feelings will seep
into, and poison, the entire cancerinic’s life.
Cancerinics will carefully avoid every opportunity to enjoy
themselves.
There is always the lingering possibility that mirth may distract
cancerinics from their immediate and constantly reinforced
submissiveness to the object so dear to them, and/or from the
cancerinic’s quest for security.
There is also the possibility that joy may vex fate or bring about
bad luck.
Again here, the main thing is not to rock the boat.
And so cancerinics will go through life dutybound, displaying with
pride a stoic smile and a stiff upper lip; finding in their
exquisite secret suffering one of their very few satisfactions.
Consider, within this context, a 42 years old extremely rigid
cancerinic male suffering from gastric leiomyosarcoma I saw only
twice (Leios, smooth, myo, muscle, sarcos, flesh, and
oma, tumor. A
malignant tumor of non-epithelial tissues; in this instance, a very
malignant solid tumor of the stomach muscle wall, quite resistant to
every form of treatment).
Among other things, he told me he loved to ski, but that he had
given it up several years ago, when he married. He was still in good
enough shape to re-start skiing if he wanted. Ever since his
marriage, though, he had devoted himself, with ferocious
single-mindedness, to the sole purpose of providing for his family
by means of overworking.
I asked him if anybody in his family objected to his skiing. Nobody
did.
I encouraged him to continue his Allopathic treatment, referred him
to a counselor and started Homeopathy and imaging.
Both the counselor and I encouraged him to start skiing again. Both
of us failed.
Our permissiveness, plus the absence of suffering of the
Homeopathic/psychological treatment so confused this man that he
quitted after the second visit. He went back into continuing
Chemotherapy treatment alone. I never saw nor heard about him again.
When Fate mandates that the cancerinics’ patiently braided bond of
submission/dependence is to be severed, or when there is even a hint
that such a thing may happen, cancerinics become overwhelmed by a
sudden uncontrollable surge of shock and panic.
The terrible feelings of anger, resentment, sadness, envy, guilt and
their satellites, so carefully hidden and repressed that by now are
almost totally forgotten, burst forth in all their formidable
ripeness. The subsequent stress is unendurable.
Some 6 months to 2 years afterwards cancerinics will likely develop
a clinically detectable solid malignant tumor somewhere.
Allopathic Doctors believe that malignant solid tumors cause the
imbalance suffered by cancer patients.
Homeopathic Physicians consider that the malignant solid tumor
appears as the consequence of activation of the patients’ chronic
cancerinic miasma—or, to put it differently, that a malignant tumor
appears at the time when the cancerinic patient’s latent cancerinism
becomes manifest.
Another feature I have almost invariably found in cancerinics is
their inability to adequately react to bacterial infections and the
like.
How many times have I heard, from the surviving spouse of a cancer
patient “You know, Doctor, my husband/wife was always so healthy!
This horrible thing came as such a shock to everybody. He or she was
never sick, not even one day in his/her life, before being stricken
with cancer!”
This inability to react when bacteria, fungi or viruses trespass
into the patient makes dreadful sense within the context of the
cancerinic miasma.
Cancerinics will nip in the bud any form of rejection towards other
persons, objects or circumstances—even bacteria and viruses—no
matter how dangerous. Their immune system, like everything else in
the cancerinic’s Wholeness, needs to be meek and nice to outsiders
and to please, in order to be accepted and become able to cling.
And so cancerinics will accept viruses, bacteria, etc. with their
characteristic submissiveness ® gratitude ® resentment.
Consequently, cancerinics will never feel sick because to feel sick
is the reaction of the patient’s immune system to any foreign form
of invasion. The cancerinic’s immune system is forbidden to
recognize pathogenic microorganisms as dangerous, and to fight
against them. Like everything else in a cancerinic’s life, bacteria
and the like need to be pleased. Therefore, when pathogenic
microorganism intrude there will be no reaction of any kind.
It is generally accepted that some cells may eventually mutate and
become malignant in all of us at some time or another. These cells
are recognized as abnormal, and quietly destroyed and disposed of.
The cancerinic’s stifled immune system won’t recognize malignant
cells as perilous, either.
Those cells will therefore have carte blanche to grow at will, and
eventually to metastasize and kill the patient.
(From Chapter 4 "The chronic miasmas" of my
book "Understanding Homeopathy and Integrative
Medicine").
|
|
|
| Profiles of Homeopathic
remedies: Lachesis Muta |
|
| |
The remedy Lachesis muta is prepared with the venom of the
Trigonocephalous lachesis a.k.a. Lachesis muta, commonly known as
sururcucú. This 6-foot long, extremely poisonous reptile lives in
the Brazilian jungles.
Most snakes are shy. When disturbed, they will strike and then
immediately withdraw to hide, whether they have bitten their target
or not. Not so the surucucú. This arrogant and aggressive snake will
not hide, bur rather vigorously chase its victim in order to bite
and kill it, be that victim animal or Human, no matter how fast or
how far away the victim may run. Brazilians have developed a very
healthy respect towards the creature.
The arrogance, vigor and aggressiveness of the surucucú are
transmitted intact to the Homeopathic remedy prepared with its
venom. Lachesis muta is a remarkably arrogant, vigorous aggressive
and passionate remedy—in every aspect of its personality, including
the sexual sphere.
As it happens with several other remedies, Lachesis does not receive
all the love it needs to completely develop.
Insufficient love generates poor self-esteem, -confidence and
-respect.
Shy unloved people agonize seeking within the reason why they are
not sufficiently loved, and will ask, "What is wrong with me that I
am not loved?"
Arrogant unloved individuals feel as insecure about themselves—and
also as love-starved—as the shy unloved ones. But, unlike the shy
ones, they will always blame others for their predicament, and will
project onto those others their poor self-respect, -esteem and
-confidence. They will ask, "What is the matter with them that they
don't love me?" Blinded by their arrogance, they will consider
others unworthy of respect and regard them as inferiors and will
despise instead of loving them. Also, their lack of self-confidence,
coupled with their arrogance, will make them project their
insecurities into their environment, rather than searching within
themselves for the source of their self-debasement.
It takes quite a bit of self-respect, -confidence and -esteem to
consider others as equals, to love and to respect them, and
subsequently to trust them.
As already mentioned, the arrogant and insecure Lachesis projects
onto others everything mean and negative he or she has within. Such
a perspective makes Lachesis immediately suspicious of other
people's motives and intentions. Now, everything in Lachesis is
impulsive, torrential and passionate, so suspiciousness is as
immediate and extreme as it is unavoidable. From this excessive
suspiciousness to unbridled jealousy there is only a tiny little
leap.
Lachesis' jealousy is as fierce as it is extravagant. It is also
unmotivated because it erupts from its own inexhaustible reservoir
of suspiciousness and not from any objective evidence.
Lachesis hurls this insane jealousy outwards without any control
whatsoever. The devastating damage brought about by this jealousy
becomes evident in the anxiety, scorn, anger, fury (that can be
murderous), irritability, impulsiveness, resentment, malevolence,
guilt, envy, confusion, mood changes, despair, destructiveness,
conceit, discontent, egotism, meanness, malice, slyness, hatred and
fears so characteristic of this remedy.
The entanglement of these powerful and frequently conflicting
passions and fantasies inevitably drag these patients into
imbalance. Eventually, this imbalance makes them vulnerable to a
host of diseases, both acute and chronic.
Not everything is negative in Lachesis, however.
This remedy can be very cheerful and extremely sensitive. It will
startle at the slightest noise. Learning about horrible events and
stories can also hurt it.
Lachesis is also very romantic, will suffer by frustrated or
unrequited love and hide somewhere to sigh and weep quietly, and to
daydream with nostalgia about Byronic loves.
All very nice and sweet and tender until jealousy rises its ugly
head. Then, this entire idyllic panorama rapidly becomes a perfect
hell.
Many years ago I had the fortune of meeting a very wise man. One of
the things he taught me was that the passions of hatred and jealousy
are like an acid, that the first thing it corrodes is the vessel
that contains it. And Lachesis produces a lot of this acid.
Now, the only way the organism has of getting rid of noxious
substances, such as this acid, is through its discharges. And I
wonder if this is the reason why Lachesis finds such an immediate
and pronounced relief when it excretes or secretes.
This is particularly noticeable in female Lachesis patients during
their menstrual cycles. They will invariably tell you how they feel
more and more tense and unhappy as the month progresses, and how all
that tension seems to vanish as soon as they start to menstruate.
This menstrual relief is felt all over the Lachesis patients. Even
their sexual appetite increases during their menstruations.
This relief through discharges also explains why menopause can be so
devastating in Lachesis patients. In fact, many a Lachesis patient
will tell you that she has never been well since her menopause.
There is a time when we are unable to discharge, and that is during
sleep, a time we are dead to the world.
Small wonder, then, that sleep aggravates Lachesis. Upon awakening,
whether this happens in the morning or in the middle of the night,
Lachesis patients will tell you that they feel worse than when they
went to sleep. Usually this aggravation is what awakens the patient.
This situation has given rise to the Homeopathic aphorism that
states that Lachesis "sleeps into an aggravation".
Snakes dislike to be grabbed or caressed, or having other beings
around them. Lachesis doesn't like to be touched, grabbed nor to
have others very close, either.
Slight touch is intolerable anywhere, including the hair. Lachesis
also dislikes the pressure of clothes, and actually abhors pressure
on his or her neck and/or waistline.
Lachesis also needs its space. Get close to a Lachesis patient, peek
over his or her shoulder when busy reading, writing or whatever, and
you'll soon see that patient starting to squirm with discomfort and
eventually asking you to go somewhere else.
For some strange reason, the left side of Lachesis gets ill more
often than the right.
Often, symptoms start on the left side and from there migrate to the
right.
Like most snakes, Lachesis is lethargic in winter and active in
summer, though they will tell you that they dislike the heat,
particularly if damp.
And how will Lachesis describe his or her complaints!
The loquacity of this remedy is uncontrolled, although at first the
patient may appear laconic due to his or her suspiciousness. Bu as
soon as suspiciousness thaws away, the patient will overpower you
with a torrent of words gushed out at full speed. He or she will
talk uninterruptedly for minutes on end and jump from subject to
subject, although keeping some kind of coherence in his or her
discourse. He or she will often hesitate in mid-sentence, look
perplexed for an instant and ask "Where was I?" only to restart the
spiel talking about something totally unrelated to his or her
previous tirade.
One of the main tenets in Homeopathy is to never interrupt a
patient. The Physician must make an exception here. These patients
must be directed with clear and pointed questions unless one wants
to be drowned in a deluge of facts, opinions, feelings and outlooks,
most of which have nothing whatsoever to do with the purpose of the
patient's visit.
Another characteristic of this remedy is its need for cold
foodstuffs and drinks. This is not a preference but a necessity.
If Lachesis swallows a warm or hot drink when suffering from an
inflamed throat, for instance, chances are that he or she will
literally choke on it.
Sick areas of the skin show a very characteristic mottled bluish
appearance. Lesions covered by skin showing these changes are
improved by Lachesis—including breast cancer.
Lachesis patients lack control over their suspiciousness and
jealousies, and all other negative feelings these twin impulses
bring in their wake.
Lack of self-control, plus the intensity of all their negative
feelings, will make Lachesis patients believe that they are under
the domination of some overpowering and malignant entity, and will
fear that their uncontrollable impulsiveness, guided by this
overpowering entity, may force them into suicide, usually brought
about by drowning. In order to protect themselves, these patients
will seek refuge in superstition or in some impetrative religion.
They will be superstitious and also develop extrasensory perception,
again in an attempt to communicate with and to ward off, or at least
to have a modicum of control over, all the evil that lurks within
and controls them.
And so will Lachesis go on with their lives as they grow old,
something that they hate. Lachesis is not known for maturing
gracefully. In point of fact, they will go to any extreme, no matter
how absurd and ridiculous, in a spurious attempt to delay, or at the
very least dissimulate, the ravages of inevitable aging.
Relentlessly pursued by their invisible demons and overpowered by an
uncontrollable jealousy that, like some malignant vortex, drives
them deeper and deeper into a bottomless chasm of imbalance as years
go by, untreated Lachesis patients eventually become a plaything of
everything that is negative and harmful.
Until finally they are driven into loneliness, perversions of every
kind, insanity, addictions and eventually suicide.
(Data has been obtained from the Materia
Medicæ of Drs. Hahnemann, Vijnovsky, Boericke and Kent and from my
own experience).
|
|
|
|
Edited by Jose Miguel Mullen, MD, MD
(H), MFHom.,
Homeopathic Physician. |
|
|
