HOMOEPATHIC DR.ZULFIQAR AHMED RAO
MSC.DHMS.RHMP(Specilize in Gastro,Kidney,Liver,obesity disease
Thursday, July 30, 2009
INTRODUCTION
HOMOEPATHIC DR.ZULFIQAR AHMED RAO
MSC.DHMS.RHMP(Specilize in Gastro,Kidney,Liver,obesity disease
Saturday, June 27, 2009
FEVER
FEVER
(See also Intermittent and Typhoid Fever.)
A rise in the temperature of the body; frequently a symptom of infection. A fever occurs when your temperature rises above its normal range. What's normal for you may be a little higher or lower than the average temperature of 98.6 F. That's why it's hard to say just what a fever is. But a "significant" fever is usually defined as an oral or ear temperature of 102 F or a rectal temperature of 103 F. If you're an adult, a fever may be uncomfortable, but it usually isn't dangerous unless it rises above 103 F. For very young children and infants, however, even slightly elevated temperatures may indicate a serious infection.
Causes of Fever
Infections are the most common causes of fevers. But there is a long list of other causes, which includes acute bronchitis, AIDS and HIV infection, autoimmune disorders, cancer, colds or flu-like illnesses, collagen vascular disease, rheumatoid diseases, ear infections, Hodgkin's disease, infectious mononucleosis, inflammatory bowel disease, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, leukemia, medications (such as antibiotics, antihistamines, barbiturates, and drugs for high blood pressure), neuroblastoma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, pneumonia, appendicitis, tuberculosis, and meningitis, periarteritis nodosa, regional enteritis, sore throats, strep throat, systemic lupus erythematosus, ulcerative colitis, upper respiratory infections (such as tonsillitis, pharyngitis or laryngitis), urinary tract infections, viral and bacterial infections, viral gastroenteritis or bacterial gastroenteritis.
Mechanism of Fever
Body temperature is set by the hypothalamus, which is situated at the base of the brain. It acts as a thermostat for the whole system. When something's wrong, the normal temperature is simply set a few points higher. The feeling of chilliness and shivering may start when the body tries to elevate its temperature. This phenomena is to generate heat. Profuse sweating may be felt when the temperature begins to return to normal. This mechanism helps to dissipate the excess heat.
Symptoms of Fever
Apart from the high temperature, symptoms like sweating, shivering, headache, muscle aches, lack of appetite, dehydration and general weakness may present, depending upon the cause of the fever. Very high fevers between the temperatures 103° and 106°F may produce hallucinations, confusion, irritability and convulsions.
Homoeopathy
Homeopathic Treatment for Fever
Homeopathy treats the person as a whole. It means that homeopathic treatment focuses on the patient as a person, as well as his pathological condition. The homeopathic medicines are selected after a full individualizing examination and case-analysis, which includes the medical history of the patient, physical and mental constitution etc.
Following homeopathic medicines have been found effective in many cases of Fever:
#Aconite. [Acon]
This remedy typifies a synochal sthenic fever, and corresponds to hyperaemia congestion and chill preceding inflammatory fever. Frequent chilliness is common in fevers calling for Aconite. There is redness of the face, great heat and oftentimes an outward pressing headache. A slight degree of delirium does not contra-indicate Aconite. The mental symptoms are all important; there is anxiety, and restlessness from the violent circulatory storm; there is dry skin, violent thirst, full bounding frequent pulse and sweating relieves. If it is brought on by exposure to dry cold winds or chilling of the body after overheat, especially when warm and sweaty it is well indicated. It suits the young and robust and has no relation to the weak and sickly. The never failing characteristics of mental anguish must be present. The attack of fever often terminates with a critical sweat. Veratrum viride. This remedy suits cases similar to Aconite, but it has more arterial excitement and no anxiety.
#Gelsemium. [Gels]
This remedy suits dull, stupid, apathetic conditions. The patient is dizzy and drowsy, the chill is partial; there is a full flowing pulse with an element of weakness in it. It corresponds especially to remittent types of fever and to fevers brought on by warm, relaxing weather. The fever is accompanied by languor, muscular weakness and a desire for absolute rest and is unaccompanied by thirst. Ferrum phosphoricum. This remedy stands midway between Aconite and Gelsemium in febrile conditions, and it may be differentiated from its neighbors by the pulse, which, under Aconite, is full and bounding and under Gelsemium soft and flowing, and by the mental symptoms, Aconite being marked by anxiety and Gelsemium by drowsiness and dullness. Baptisia. Hughes praises this remedy in simple continued fevers, where he believes it is specific. Gastric fever, he claims, will never run into typhoid if treated with this remedy. Pulsatilla has a thirstless fever, hot head, dry lips and chilliness all over, especially in the evening. Chilliness predominates with the remedy, there being but little heat.
#Sulphur. [Sulph]
An excellent fever remedy, it comes in after Aconite when the skin is dry and hot and there is no sweat; the fever seems to burn the patient up,the tongue is dry and red and the patient at first is sleepless and restless, but soon becomes drowsy. There are no blood changes; it is a chronic Aconite or a passive Aconite does to the arteries.
#Belladonna. [Bell]
This remedy is marked by erethism, violent delirium, headache, throbbing carotids and cerebral symptoms. Eyes red and glistering; the skin is hot and burning; the heat seems to steam out from the body; it may be followed by a profuse sweat which brings no relief. The characteristics are briefly: General dry heat with chills, little or no thirst, in fact, the patient may have a dread of water, cool extremities and throbbing headache. The fever is worse at night. The Nux vomica fever is characterized by great heat; the whole body is burning hot, the face is especially red and hot, yet the patient feels chilly when uncovering.
#Bryonia. [Bry]
Suits especially a quite form of fever; true, the patient may be restless and toss about, but is always made worse thereby. There is intense headache, dull, stupefying with a sensation as if the head would burst at the temples; sharp pains over the eyes, faintness on rising up, dry mouth and a tongue coated white in the middle. Cold, chilly sensations predominate in fevers calling for Bryonia, and there is much thirst for large drinks of water at rather infrequent intervals. The fever of Bryonia is unmarked by the violence, acuteness and general storm of Aconite or the decomposition and great debility of the acids. It is neither synochal nor so markedly asthenic in character, it is between the two and is dependent upon local affections, state of stomach, liver, chest, etc.
#Rhus toxicodendron. [Rhus-t]
A form of catarrhal fever, so-called, which is met with frequently calls for Rhus more than for any other remedy. It commences with weakness of the whole body with desire to lie down, soreness or bruised sensations in the limbs, aching of limbs and bones, great pain in back, restlessness, worse while lying still, sickness at the stomach, loss of appetite, repugnance for food, great thirst, dry tongue and mouth. It is useful on that borderland where febrile cases merge into a typhoid condition. Mercurius. Here the fever is characterized by weariness, prostration and trembling. It is slow, lingering fever, generally a gastric or a bilious, remittent fever. It is characterized by the following combination of symptoms which no other drug has: Profuse salivation, dry throat and great thirst for cold water.
Ferrum phosphoricum: This remedy stands midway between Aconite and Gelsemium in febrile conditions, and it may be differentiated from its neighbors by the pulse, which, under Aconite, is full and bounding and under Gelsemium soft and flowing, and by the mental symptoms, Aconite being marked by anxiety and Gelsemium by drowsiness and dullness.
Baptisia tinctoria: Gastric fever will never run into typhoid if treated with this remedy.
Pulsatilla pratensis: Thirstless fever, hot head, dry lips and chilliness all over, especially in the evening. Chilliness predominates with the remedy, there being but little heat.
Nux vomica: The Nux vomica fever is characterized by great heat; the whole body is burning hot, the face is especially red and hot, yet the patient feels chilly when uncovering.
Mercurius solubilis: Here the fever is characterized by weariness, prostration and trembling. It is a slow, lingering fever, generally a gastric or a bilious, remittent fever. It is characterized by the following combination of symptoms which no other drug has : Profuse salivation, dry throat and great thirst for cold water.
(See also Intermittent and Typhoid Fever.)
A rise in the temperature of the body; frequently a symptom of infection. A fever occurs when your temperature rises above its normal range. What's normal for you may be a little higher or lower than the average temperature of 98.6 F. That's why it's hard to say just what a fever is. But a "significant" fever is usually defined as an oral or ear temperature of 102 F or a rectal temperature of 103 F. If you're an adult, a fever may be uncomfortable, but it usually isn't dangerous unless it rises above 103 F. For very young children and infants, however, even slightly elevated temperatures may indicate a serious infection.
Causes of Fever
Infections are the most common causes of fevers. But there is a long list of other causes, which includes acute bronchitis, AIDS and HIV infection, autoimmune disorders, cancer, colds or flu-like illnesses, collagen vascular disease, rheumatoid diseases, ear infections, Hodgkin's disease, infectious mononucleosis, inflammatory bowel disease, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, leukemia, medications (such as antibiotics, antihistamines, barbiturates, and drugs for high blood pressure), neuroblastoma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, pneumonia, appendicitis, tuberculosis, and meningitis, periarteritis nodosa, regional enteritis, sore throats, strep throat, systemic lupus erythematosus, ulcerative colitis, upper respiratory infections (such as tonsillitis, pharyngitis or laryngitis), urinary tract infections, viral and bacterial infections, viral gastroenteritis or bacterial gastroenteritis.
Mechanism of Fever
Body temperature is set by the hypothalamus, which is situated at the base of the brain. It acts as a thermostat for the whole system. When something's wrong, the normal temperature is simply set a few points higher. The feeling of chilliness and shivering may start when the body tries to elevate its temperature. This phenomena is to generate heat. Profuse sweating may be felt when the temperature begins to return to normal. This mechanism helps to dissipate the excess heat.
Symptoms of Fever
Apart from the high temperature, symptoms like sweating, shivering, headache, muscle aches, lack of appetite, dehydration and general weakness may present, depending upon the cause of the fever. Very high fevers between the temperatures 103° and 106°F may produce hallucinations, confusion, irritability and convulsions.
Homoeopathy
Homeopathic Treatment for Fever
Homeopathy treats the person as a whole. It means that homeopathic treatment focuses on the patient as a person, as well as his pathological condition. The homeopathic medicines are selected after a full individualizing examination and case-analysis, which includes the medical history of the patient, physical and mental constitution etc.
Following homeopathic medicines have been found effective in many cases of Fever:
#Aconite. [Acon]
This remedy typifies a synochal sthenic fever, and corresponds to hyperaemia congestion and chill preceding inflammatory fever. Frequent chilliness is common in fevers calling for Aconite. There is redness of the face, great heat and oftentimes an outward pressing headache. A slight degree of delirium does not contra-indicate Aconite. The mental symptoms are all important; there is anxiety, and restlessness from the violent circulatory storm; there is dry skin, violent thirst, full bounding frequent pulse and sweating relieves. If it is brought on by exposure to dry cold winds or chilling of the body after overheat, especially when warm and sweaty it is well indicated. It suits the young and robust and has no relation to the weak and sickly. The never failing characteristics of mental anguish must be present. The attack of fever often terminates with a critical sweat. Veratrum viride. This remedy suits cases similar to Aconite, but it has more arterial excitement and no anxiety.
#Gelsemium. [Gels]
This remedy suits dull, stupid, apathetic conditions. The patient is dizzy and drowsy, the chill is partial; there is a full flowing pulse with an element of weakness in it. It corresponds especially to remittent types of fever and to fevers brought on by warm, relaxing weather. The fever is accompanied by languor, muscular weakness and a desire for absolute rest and is unaccompanied by thirst. Ferrum phosphoricum. This remedy stands midway between Aconite and Gelsemium in febrile conditions, and it may be differentiated from its neighbors by the pulse, which, under Aconite, is full and bounding and under Gelsemium soft and flowing, and by the mental symptoms, Aconite being marked by anxiety and Gelsemium by drowsiness and dullness. Baptisia. Hughes praises this remedy in simple continued fevers, where he believes it is specific. Gastric fever, he claims, will never run into typhoid if treated with this remedy. Pulsatilla has a thirstless fever, hot head, dry lips and chilliness all over, especially in the evening. Chilliness predominates with the remedy, there being but little heat.
#Sulphur. [Sulph]
An excellent fever remedy, it comes in after Aconite when the skin is dry and hot and there is no sweat; the fever seems to burn the patient up,the tongue is dry and red and the patient at first is sleepless and restless, but soon becomes drowsy. There are no blood changes; it is a chronic Aconite or a passive Aconite does to the arteries.
#Belladonna. [Bell]
This remedy is marked by erethism, violent delirium, headache, throbbing carotids and cerebral symptoms. Eyes red and glistering; the skin is hot and burning; the heat seems to steam out from the body; it may be followed by a profuse sweat which brings no relief. The characteristics are briefly: General dry heat with chills, little or no thirst, in fact, the patient may have a dread of water, cool extremities and throbbing headache. The fever is worse at night. The Nux vomica fever is characterized by great heat; the whole body is burning hot, the face is especially red and hot, yet the patient feels chilly when uncovering.
#Bryonia. [Bry]
Suits especially a quite form of fever; true, the patient may be restless and toss about, but is always made worse thereby. There is intense headache, dull, stupefying with a sensation as if the head would burst at the temples; sharp pains over the eyes, faintness on rising up, dry mouth and a tongue coated white in the middle. Cold, chilly sensations predominate in fevers calling for Bryonia, and there is much thirst for large drinks of water at rather infrequent intervals. The fever of Bryonia is unmarked by the violence, acuteness and general storm of Aconite or the decomposition and great debility of the acids. It is neither synochal nor so markedly asthenic in character, it is between the two and is dependent upon local affections, state of stomach, liver, chest, etc.
#Rhus toxicodendron. [Rhus-t]
A form of catarrhal fever, so-called, which is met with frequently calls for Rhus more than for any other remedy. It commences with weakness of the whole body with desire to lie down, soreness or bruised sensations in the limbs, aching of limbs and bones, great pain in back, restlessness, worse while lying still, sickness at the stomach, loss of appetite, repugnance for food, great thirst, dry tongue and mouth. It is useful on that borderland where febrile cases merge into a typhoid condition. Mercurius. Here the fever is characterized by weariness, prostration and trembling. It is slow, lingering fever, generally a gastric or a bilious, remittent fever. It is characterized by the following combination of symptoms which no other drug has: Profuse salivation, dry throat and great thirst for cold water.
Ferrum phosphoricum: This remedy stands midway between Aconite and Gelsemium in febrile conditions, and it may be differentiated from its neighbors by the pulse, which, under Aconite, is full and bounding and under Gelsemium soft and flowing, and by the mental symptoms, Aconite being marked by anxiety and Gelsemium by drowsiness and dullness.
Baptisia tinctoria: Gastric fever will never run into typhoid if treated with this remedy.
Pulsatilla pratensis: Thirstless fever, hot head, dry lips and chilliness all over, especially in the evening. Chilliness predominates with the remedy, there being but little heat.
Nux vomica: The Nux vomica fever is characterized by great heat; the whole body is burning hot, the face is especially red and hot, yet the patient feels chilly when uncovering.
Mercurius solubilis: Here the fever is characterized by weariness, prostration and trembling. It is a slow, lingering fever, generally a gastric or a bilious, remittent fever. It is characterized by the following combination of symptoms which no other drug has : Profuse salivation, dry throat and great thirst for cold water.
Eczema / Allergic Dermatitis
Eczema / Allergic Dermatitis
The terms eczema and dermatitis are now used synonymously. They refer to a distinctive reaction pattern of the skin showing a combination of signs which depend on the duration of rash and type of eczema.
Eczema / Allergic Dermatitis - CAUSE
Based on the etiology, eczemas are divided into two basic groups:
1. Exogenous - This can occur due to contact with some irritant or allergen
2. Endogenous - This group contains all other types of which cause and mechanism is poorly understood. Many factors like heredity, hypersensitivity, fungal infection, senile changes, venous stasis etc are implicated in various forms of endogenous eczema.
Eczema / Allergic Dermatitis - MECHANISM - WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENS?
It is not very well understood. In acute stage of eczema, edema of the epidermis and intra-epidermal vesicles form. In chronic stage there is thickening and pigmentation of skin.
Eczema / Allergic Dermatitis - SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS
Acute Eczema
· Redness ans swelling, usually with ill defined margins
· Papules, vesicles, and more large blisters
· Exudation and cracking of skin
· Scaling of skin
· Itching in and around the lesion
Chronic Eczema
· All the above plus
· Thickening and lichenification ( a dry leathery thickening with increased skin margins, is secondary to rubbing and scratching and is most often seen in atopic eczema.)
· Fissures and scratch marks
· Pigmentation of the skin in and around the lesion
Eczema / Allergic Dermatitis - COMPLICATIONS
Super infection - most often with bacteria (staph-aureus) and yeast (candia). Super infection is encouraged by the use of local steroids.
Eczema / Allergic Dermatitis - HOW IT IS DIAGNOSED?
Usually eczemas are diagnosed clinically. Patch test and prick test may be required for allergens.
Eczema / Allergic Dermatitis - WHAT TO DIFFERENTIATE FROM?
· Simple pruritis
· Fungal, bacterial, and other infections
· Exfoliative dermatitis
HOMEOPATHIC TREATMENT & Medicines for Eczema, Allergic Dermatitis
Homeopathy offers very good treatment for eczema, but the approach used by homeopaths is very different from that of conventional treatment. Homeopaths usually do not give anything to apply topically. Instead they try to remove the basic disposition/sensitivity to develop such a lesion using internal medicine. This approach not only successfully removes the eczema but also removes the possibility of development of other hypersensitivity disorders like asthma after the eczema is cured. To find the proper remedy a homeopath collects all the past medical history of the person, his/her family history, his/her physical and psychological characteristics etc. All this information helps the homeopath to find a remedy which not only will remove the eczema but will also remove the disposition to acquire such diseases. As a note of caution I would like to add here that after a proper remedy is given the eczema may occasionally ( not often) show a mild flare up. This should not worry the patient as it is often considered a good prognostic sign by homeopaths.
There are many medicines in homeopathy that are used for this condition. ars-alb, bovista, dulcamara, graphites, lycopodium, mezereum, peteroleum, rhus-tox, sulphur, cicuta etc are some commonly used medicines. But which medicine will work in a particular case can only be judged by a trained homeopath.
The terms eczema and dermatitis are now used synonymously. They refer to a distinctive reaction pattern of the skin showing a combination of signs which depend on the duration of rash and type of eczema.
Eczema / Allergic Dermatitis - CAUSE
Based on the etiology, eczemas are divided into two basic groups:
1. Exogenous - This can occur due to contact with some irritant or allergen
2. Endogenous - This group contains all other types of which cause and mechanism is poorly understood. Many factors like heredity, hypersensitivity, fungal infection, senile changes, venous stasis etc are implicated in various forms of endogenous eczema.
Eczema / Allergic Dermatitis - MECHANISM - WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENS?
It is not very well understood. In acute stage of eczema, edema of the epidermis and intra-epidermal vesicles form. In chronic stage there is thickening and pigmentation of skin.
Eczema / Allergic Dermatitis - SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS
Acute Eczema
· Redness ans swelling, usually with ill defined margins
· Papules, vesicles, and more large blisters
· Exudation and cracking of skin
· Scaling of skin
· Itching in and around the lesion
Chronic Eczema
· All the above plus
· Thickening and lichenification ( a dry leathery thickening with increased skin margins, is secondary to rubbing and scratching and is most often seen in atopic eczema.)
· Fissures and scratch marks
· Pigmentation of the skin in and around the lesion
Eczema / Allergic Dermatitis - COMPLICATIONS
Super infection - most often with bacteria (staph-aureus) and yeast (candia). Super infection is encouraged by the use of local steroids.
Eczema / Allergic Dermatitis - HOW IT IS DIAGNOSED?
Usually eczemas are diagnosed clinically. Patch test and prick test may be required for allergens.
Eczema / Allergic Dermatitis - WHAT TO DIFFERENTIATE FROM?
· Simple pruritis
· Fungal, bacterial, and other infections
· Exfoliative dermatitis
HOMEOPATHIC TREATMENT & Medicines for Eczema, Allergic Dermatitis
Homeopathy offers very good treatment for eczema, but the approach used by homeopaths is very different from that of conventional treatment. Homeopaths usually do not give anything to apply topically. Instead they try to remove the basic disposition/sensitivity to develop such a lesion using internal medicine. This approach not only successfully removes the eczema but also removes the possibility of development of other hypersensitivity disorders like asthma after the eczema is cured. To find the proper remedy a homeopath collects all the past medical history of the person, his/her family history, his/her physical and psychological characteristics etc. All this information helps the homeopath to find a remedy which not only will remove the eczema but will also remove the disposition to acquire such diseases. As a note of caution I would like to add here that after a proper remedy is given the eczema may occasionally ( not often) show a mild flare up. This should not worry the patient as it is often considered a good prognostic sign by homeopaths.
There are many medicines in homeopathy that are used for this condition. ars-alb, bovista, dulcamara, graphites, lycopodium, mezereum, peteroleum, rhus-tox, sulphur, cicuta etc are some commonly used medicines. But which medicine will work in a particular case can only be judged by a trained homeopath.
DYSMENORRHOEA, Painful Menstruation, Menstrual Cramps
DYSMENORRHOEA, Painful Menstruation, Menstrual Cramps
This condition refers to the pain or discomfort associated with menstruation. About 80 percent of the time, cramps are part of the primary dysmenorrhea syndrome. Although not a serious medical problem, it’s usually meant to describe a woman with menstrual symptoms severe enough to keep her from functioning for a day or two each month. Symptoms may begin one to two days before menses, peak on the first day of flow, and subside during that day or over several days. The pain is typically described as dull, aching, cramping and often radiates to the lower back.
DYSMENORRHOEA, Painful Menstruation, Menstrual Cramps - Treatment & Homeopathic Medicines
#Cimicifuga. [Cimic]
The characteristic indication for this remedy in dysmenorrhoea is pain flying across the pelvic region from one side to the other. It is especially useful in rheumatic and nueralgic cases,and in congestive cases it may also be thought of along with Belladonna and Veratrum viride. Headache preceding menses; during menses sharp pains across abdomen, has to double up, labor-like pains, and during menstrual interval debility and perhaps a scanty flow. The resin Macrotin is preferred by many practitioners. The pains of Cimicifuga are not severe and intense nor felt with such acuteness as are those of Chamomilla.
#Caulophyllum. [Caul]
The dysmenorrhoea of Caulophyllum is essentially spasmodic in character; the pains are bearing down in character.It produces a continued spasm of the uterus simulating first stage of labor; the flow is mostly normal in quantity. The spasmodic intermittent pains which call for Caulophyllum are in the groins, a useful remedy in these spasmodic cases if given between the periods. to various part of the body. Magnesia muriatica is also a remedy which may be studied in uterine spasm. Gelsemium is similar in many respects to Caulophyllum. It is very useful remedy in neuralgic and congestive dysmenorrhoea when there is such bearing down. The pains are spasmodic and labor-like, with passages of large quantities of pale urine. It is one of the best given low in hot water. It will surely relieve the pains at the start.
#Belladonna. [Bell]
The congestive forms of dysmenorrhoea would call for Belladonna. There is pain preceding the flow and a sensation of heaviness as if everything would protrude from the vulva, relieved by sitting up straight. The pains come on suddenly and cease suddenly; the flow is offensive and clotted. The dysmenorrhoea is intensely painful, the vagina is hot and dry and the pains are cutting through the pelvis in a horizontal direction, not around the body, as in Platinum and Sepia. Veratrum viride has also been used with benefit in congestive dysmenorrhoea, in plethoric women, accompanied by strangury and preceded by intense cerebral congestion, also spasmodic dysmenorrhoea at or near the climacteric.These are conditions in which the old school knows only Opium, yet these remedies are far superior to that drug, often curing permanently while Opium is only palliative.
#Viburnum opulus. [Vib]
This remedy produces a sudden pain in the region of the uterus before menstruation and much backache during menses. In neuralgic and spasmodic dysmenorrhoea it has achieved considerable reputation. Dr. Hale considers it specific in this form of painful mensturation. Its chief indications seem to be in the character of the pains, which are spasmodic. Spasmodic dysuria in hysterical subjects also calls for Viburnum. Its keynotes, therefore, are bearing down, aching in sacral and pubic region, excruciating, cramp, colicky pains in hypogastrium, much nervousness, and occasional shooting pains in the ovaries. Like Sepia, Viburnum has pains going around the pelvis and also the empty, gone feeling in the stomach; but the bearing down is more violent, culminating in an intense uterine cramp. More indicated by clinical experience than by its pathogenesis.
#Xanthoxylum. [Xanth]
This remedy has about only one use in homoeopathic medicine, and that is in dysmenorrhoea and uterine pains. It is useful where the pains are agonizing, burning, extending down thighs along the crural nerves with a feeling as if the limbs were paralyzed, the mensturation is usually profuse and with it agonizing bearing down pains; chiefly leftsided are the pains of Xanthoxylum, though it also affects the right ovary. It corresponds closely to the neuralgic form of dysmenorrhoea. Hale says that the neuralgic element must predominate to have the remedy efficacious. Some further symptoms may be headache over the left eye the day before the menses, and it seems to correspond to women of spare habits and of a delicate, nervous temperament.
#Magnesia phosphorica. [Mag-p]
Perhaps no remedy has achieved a greater clinical reputation in dysmenorrhoea than has Magnesia phosphorica. The pains calling for it are neuralgic and crampy preceding the flow, and the great indication for the use of this remedy is the relief from warmth and the aggravation from motion. In neuralgia of the uterus Magnesia phosphorica vies with Cimicifuga. Uterine engorgements with the characteristic crampy pains will indicate the remedy. It has also been used successfully in membraneous dysmenorrhoea. We have very few remedies for this affection. Borax is one, but it is often unsuccessful, there seems to be no very special characteristic for it , unless it be the fear of downward motion which might exist in some cases. Hale mentions Viburnum, Guaiacum and Ustillago, besides Borax, for membraneous dysmenorrhoea. Their indications are chiefly empirical. Colocynth, a useful remedy in dysmenorrhoea, may be compared with Magnesia phosphorica. The symptoms of Colocynth are severe left-sided ovarian pains, causing patient to double up; pains extend from umbilicus to genitals.
#Pulsatilla. [Puls]
Dysmenorrhoea calls for Pulsatilla when the menses are dark in color and delayed; the flow will be fitful and the more severe the pains are the more chilly the patient will get. The pains gripe and double the patient up. It is perhaps more useful when given between the periods, and in congestive dysmenorrhoea, from wetting of the feet, it may be compared with Aconite, but in Aconite the discharge is bright red in stead of dark. Chamomilla and Cocculus are two remedies which run along side by side with Pulsatilla in dysmenorrhoea, and all need careful individualization. Chamomilla has also a dark flow, but it has such characteristic mental symptoms of crossness and incivility that it cannot be mistaken. It will relieve many cases (12X). Cocculus also has dark flow. It has a pain as if sharp stones were rubbing against each other in the abdomen from accumulation of flatus; the pains are worse at night, awaken the the patient and make her irritable. Menses come too early, sometimes nausea is an accompaniment. It also is said to be more efficacious given between the periods. The mental condition of Pulsatilla, if present, will always indicate the remedy. Further, if the pains shift about the indications of Pulsatilla are still stronger.
#Cocculus. [Cocc]
A most useful remedy in dysmenorrhoea and scanty, irregular menstruation . Uterine cramps. Profuse discharge of clotted blood and severe headache accompanied by nausea; a heaving up and down of the stomach as in seasickness. It suits cases on the borderland between the neuralgic and congestive types of dysmenorrhoea. Uterine cramps with suppressed irregular menstruation and a sero-purulent bloody discharge were favorite indications of Dr. Conrad Wesselhoeft. Gelsemium IX has also proved useful in the spasmodic form. Ignatia has dysmenorrhoea with menstrual colic or bearing-down in the hypogastric region, hysterical labor-like pains relieved by pressure.
This condition refers to the pain or discomfort associated with menstruation. About 80 percent of the time, cramps are part of the primary dysmenorrhea syndrome. Although not a serious medical problem, it’s usually meant to describe a woman with menstrual symptoms severe enough to keep her from functioning for a day or two each month. Symptoms may begin one to two days before menses, peak on the first day of flow, and subside during that day or over several days. The pain is typically described as dull, aching, cramping and often radiates to the lower back.
DYSMENORRHOEA, Painful Menstruation, Menstrual Cramps - Treatment & Homeopathic Medicines
#Cimicifuga. [Cimic]
The characteristic indication for this remedy in dysmenorrhoea is pain flying across the pelvic region from one side to the other. It is especially useful in rheumatic and nueralgic cases,and in congestive cases it may also be thought of along with Belladonna and Veratrum viride. Headache preceding menses; during menses sharp pains across abdomen, has to double up, labor-like pains, and during menstrual interval debility and perhaps a scanty flow. The resin Macrotin is preferred by many practitioners. The pains of Cimicifuga are not severe and intense nor felt with such acuteness as are those of Chamomilla.
#Caulophyllum. [Caul]
The dysmenorrhoea of Caulophyllum is essentially spasmodic in character; the pains are bearing down in character.It produces a continued spasm of the uterus simulating first stage of labor; the flow is mostly normal in quantity. The spasmodic intermittent pains which call for Caulophyllum are in the groins, a useful remedy in these spasmodic cases if given between the periods. to various part of the body. Magnesia muriatica is also a remedy which may be studied in uterine spasm. Gelsemium is similar in many respects to Caulophyllum. It is very useful remedy in neuralgic and congestive dysmenorrhoea when there is such bearing down. The pains are spasmodic and labor-like, with passages of large quantities of pale urine. It is one of the best given low in hot water. It will surely relieve the pains at the start.
#Belladonna. [Bell]
The congestive forms of dysmenorrhoea would call for Belladonna. There is pain preceding the flow and a sensation of heaviness as if everything would protrude from the vulva, relieved by sitting up straight. The pains come on suddenly and cease suddenly; the flow is offensive and clotted. The dysmenorrhoea is intensely painful, the vagina is hot and dry and the pains are cutting through the pelvis in a horizontal direction, not around the body, as in Platinum and Sepia. Veratrum viride has also been used with benefit in congestive dysmenorrhoea, in plethoric women, accompanied by strangury and preceded by intense cerebral congestion, also spasmodic dysmenorrhoea at or near the climacteric.These are conditions in which the old school knows only Opium, yet these remedies are far superior to that drug, often curing permanently while Opium is only palliative.
#Viburnum opulus. [Vib]
This remedy produces a sudden pain in the region of the uterus before menstruation and much backache during menses. In neuralgic and spasmodic dysmenorrhoea it has achieved considerable reputation. Dr. Hale considers it specific in this form of painful mensturation. Its chief indications seem to be in the character of the pains, which are spasmodic. Spasmodic dysuria in hysterical subjects also calls for Viburnum. Its keynotes, therefore, are bearing down, aching in sacral and pubic region, excruciating, cramp, colicky pains in hypogastrium, much nervousness, and occasional shooting pains in the ovaries. Like Sepia, Viburnum has pains going around the pelvis and also the empty, gone feeling in the stomach; but the bearing down is more violent, culminating in an intense uterine cramp. More indicated by clinical experience than by its pathogenesis.
#Xanthoxylum. [Xanth]
This remedy has about only one use in homoeopathic medicine, and that is in dysmenorrhoea and uterine pains. It is useful where the pains are agonizing, burning, extending down thighs along the crural nerves with a feeling as if the limbs were paralyzed, the mensturation is usually profuse and with it agonizing bearing down pains; chiefly leftsided are the pains of Xanthoxylum, though it also affects the right ovary. It corresponds closely to the neuralgic form of dysmenorrhoea. Hale says that the neuralgic element must predominate to have the remedy efficacious. Some further symptoms may be headache over the left eye the day before the menses, and it seems to correspond to women of spare habits and of a delicate, nervous temperament.
#Magnesia phosphorica. [Mag-p]
Perhaps no remedy has achieved a greater clinical reputation in dysmenorrhoea than has Magnesia phosphorica. The pains calling for it are neuralgic and crampy preceding the flow, and the great indication for the use of this remedy is the relief from warmth and the aggravation from motion. In neuralgia of the uterus Magnesia phosphorica vies with Cimicifuga. Uterine engorgements with the characteristic crampy pains will indicate the remedy. It has also been used successfully in membraneous dysmenorrhoea. We have very few remedies for this affection. Borax is one, but it is often unsuccessful, there seems to be no very special characteristic for it , unless it be the fear of downward motion which might exist in some cases. Hale mentions Viburnum, Guaiacum and Ustillago, besides Borax, for membraneous dysmenorrhoea. Their indications are chiefly empirical. Colocynth, a useful remedy in dysmenorrhoea, may be compared with Magnesia phosphorica. The symptoms of Colocynth are severe left-sided ovarian pains, causing patient to double up; pains extend from umbilicus to genitals.
#Pulsatilla. [Puls]
Dysmenorrhoea calls for Pulsatilla when the menses are dark in color and delayed; the flow will be fitful and the more severe the pains are the more chilly the patient will get. The pains gripe and double the patient up. It is perhaps more useful when given between the periods, and in congestive dysmenorrhoea, from wetting of the feet, it may be compared with Aconite, but in Aconite the discharge is bright red in stead of dark. Chamomilla and Cocculus are two remedies which run along side by side with Pulsatilla in dysmenorrhoea, and all need careful individualization. Chamomilla has also a dark flow, but it has such characteristic mental symptoms of crossness and incivility that it cannot be mistaken. It will relieve many cases (12X). Cocculus also has dark flow. It has a pain as if sharp stones were rubbing against each other in the abdomen from accumulation of flatus; the pains are worse at night, awaken the the patient and make her irritable. Menses come too early, sometimes nausea is an accompaniment. It also is said to be more efficacious given between the periods. The mental condition of Pulsatilla, if present, will always indicate the remedy. Further, if the pains shift about the indications of Pulsatilla are still stronger.
#Cocculus. [Cocc]
A most useful remedy in dysmenorrhoea and scanty, irregular menstruation . Uterine cramps. Profuse discharge of clotted blood and severe headache accompanied by nausea; a heaving up and down of the stomach as in seasickness. It suits cases on the borderland between the neuralgic and congestive types of dysmenorrhoea. Uterine cramps with suppressed irregular menstruation and a sero-purulent bloody discharge were favorite indications of Dr. Conrad Wesselhoeft. Gelsemium IX has also proved useful in the spasmodic form. Ignatia has dysmenorrhoea with menstrual colic or bearing-down in the hypogastric region, hysterical labor-like pains relieved by pressure.
DYSENTERY
DYSENTERY
Severe, often bloody diarrhea, vomitting, fever; life-threatening if untreated. Dysentery is inflammation of the bowel resulting from infection. There are two kinds – dysentery caused by a bacterial germ (bacillary dysentery or shigellosis), and amoebic dysentery, caused by an amoeba called Entamoeba histolytica.
Dysentery is a more serious form of diarrhea, where the stools are tinged with blood and mucus. The diarrhea can be quite severe, characterized by colicky pains and frequent urging. Stools can be passed as often as fifteen to thirty times per day. The onset is typically sudden, accompanied by a high fever and thirst. The illness causes great fatigue and depletion of strength. Dehydration is a serious side-effect, especially if the person becomes too weak to drink enough liquids. In cases of amebic dysentery, the symptoms are quite mild, with constipation and diarrhea alternating, combined with some intestinal cramping and gas. The danger of an amebic dysentery is involvement of the liver, and can lead to hepatitis, cysts and abscesses. These liver problems can remain dormant for many years.
Dysentry - Treatment & Homeopathic Medicines
#Mercurius corrosivus. [Merc-c]
All the preparations of mercury act on the intestines, producing bloody stools with tenesmus, and, of course, all may be indicated in dysentery. Mercurius corrosivus is the one usually thought of in this affection, as its symptoms corresponds to many severe cases. In the first place we have severe and extreme tenesmus; this is the great characteristic of the remedy; it is something more than the never-get-done feeling of Mercurius solubilis, it is an intense, painful tenesmus,and at the same time there is much tenesmus of the bladder,the stools are scanty, of mucous shreds and blood and there is great burning at the anus. Mercurius solubilis corresponds more to sporadic cases, and is seldom indicated in malignant types, and in mild cases Mercurius dulcis is an excellent remedy where tenesmus and pain are slight. Capsicum has frequent small stools attended with tenesmus and burning in the rectum, but to have Capsicum well indicated the symptoms of shivering when the patient drinks should be present.
#Arsenicum. [Ars]
Arsenicum is a valuable remedy in dysentery. There are scanty stools, burning in the rectum, thirst, and after the stool there is great prostration, but there is not the tympanitic distention of the abdomen found under Lycopodium and Carbo vegetabilis; though the patient is restless and thirsty, water is borne badly. Stools which are undigested, slimy and bloody, indicate Arsenicum. Blackish brown, horribly offensive stools also indicate well the remedy. The tenesmus and burning of the anus and rectum continue after stool. If Arsenicum be well indicated its characteristic thirst and restlessness must be present.
#Cantharis. [Canth]
This remedy, which produces such an intense vesical tenesmus, also produces a like condition in the rectum. Its characteristics are bloody and slimy discharges which look like the scrapings of the intestines, which are nothing but the fibrous exudations from the disease. Tenesmus is marked, and always with Cantharis there is a painful urination, and there is present a colic-like pain doubling the patient up, being here similar to Colocynth, which has a number of the same symptoms. Thus both have the above symptom of being doubled up by pain, both have slimy and bloody stools, worse from eating or drinking; but under Colocynth the pains cease after stool and the patient is relieved by bending double. Cantharis has more inflammation, Colocynth more nervous symptoms. Colchicum is also similar, the tenesmus and constriction of anus following stool is more tormenting than the urging during stool; tympany also strongly indicates Colchicum. Kali bichromicum follows Cantharis when the scrapings become jelly-like. The thirst with Cantharis is unquenchable.
#Aconite. [Acon]
In the first stages of dysentery Aconite has proved a useful remedy, and it comes in especially well when the days are warm and the nights are cold. ,The stools are frequent and scanty with tenesmus, the skin is hot and dry and general Aconite symptoms are present. Ferrum phosphoricum comes in cases less acute than Aconite; there is more blood with the stool, but tenesmus contra-indicates the remedy. Mercurius follows both well. Belladonna is especially suitable to the dysentery of children and plethoric young persons. Cowperthwaite recommends the 3X.
#Sulphur. [Sulph]
For persistent or chronic cases of dysentery Sulphur is the remedy; the tenesmus continues, in fact there is a sort of tenesums all the time, the stools are slimy and there is frequent sudden urging to stool. Sometimes this condition is present without the tenesums. In Nux the tenesums ceases after stool and the pains are relieved for a short time; it is similar to Sulphur in its frequent urging, the stools are bloody, slimy, scanty and watery,and the patient is worse in the morning. Tearing pains down the thighs as an accompaniment of dysentery would indicate Rhus toxicodendron. Great offensiveness of stools and constriction of the anus would suggest Lachesis. Baptisia is useful where there is tenesums but no pain which indicates vital depression, offensive discharges are also present. It is especially useful in dysentery of old people with fevers. Aloes is also a useful remedy in dysentery. The stools are of a jelly-like mucus, and covered with blood and accompanied by griping in the epigastric region, the amount of mucus expelled is large, and, like Sulphur,it is useful in chronic cases. It is also a splendid remedy in purely inflammatory dysentery and follows Aconite well. Ipecac may be useful in cases where large quantities of mucus are expelled. In haemorrhoidal dysentery, which is really a phlebitis of the haemorrhoidal veins, Aloes and Hamamelis are the remedies.
Severe, often bloody diarrhea, vomitting, fever; life-threatening if untreated. Dysentery is inflammation of the bowel resulting from infection. There are two kinds – dysentery caused by a bacterial germ (bacillary dysentery or shigellosis), and amoebic dysentery, caused by an amoeba called Entamoeba histolytica.
Dysentery is a more serious form of diarrhea, where the stools are tinged with blood and mucus. The diarrhea can be quite severe, characterized by colicky pains and frequent urging. Stools can be passed as often as fifteen to thirty times per day. The onset is typically sudden, accompanied by a high fever and thirst. The illness causes great fatigue and depletion of strength. Dehydration is a serious side-effect, especially if the person becomes too weak to drink enough liquids. In cases of amebic dysentery, the symptoms are quite mild, with constipation and diarrhea alternating, combined with some intestinal cramping and gas. The danger of an amebic dysentery is involvement of the liver, and can lead to hepatitis, cysts and abscesses. These liver problems can remain dormant for many years.
Dysentry - Treatment & Homeopathic Medicines
#Mercurius corrosivus. [Merc-c]
All the preparations of mercury act on the intestines, producing bloody stools with tenesmus, and, of course, all may be indicated in dysentery. Mercurius corrosivus is the one usually thought of in this affection, as its symptoms corresponds to many severe cases. In the first place we have severe and extreme tenesmus; this is the great characteristic of the remedy; it is something more than the never-get-done feeling of Mercurius solubilis, it is an intense, painful tenesmus,and at the same time there is much tenesmus of the bladder,the stools are scanty, of mucous shreds and blood and there is great burning at the anus. Mercurius solubilis corresponds more to sporadic cases, and is seldom indicated in malignant types, and in mild cases Mercurius dulcis is an excellent remedy where tenesmus and pain are slight. Capsicum has frequent small stools attended with tenesmus and burning in the rectum, but to have Capsicum well indicated the symptoms of shivering when the patient drinks should be present.
#Arsenicum. [Ars]
Arsenicum is a valuable remedy in dysentery. There are scanty stools, burning in the rectum, thirst, and after the stool there is great prostration, but there is not the tympanitic distention of the abdomen found under Lycopodium and Carbo vegetabilis; though the patient is restless and thirsty, water is borne badly. Stools which are undigested, slimy and bloody, indicate Arsenicum. Blackish brown, horribly offensive stools also indicate well the remedy. The tenesmus and burning of the anus and rectum continue after stool. If Arsenicum be well indicated its characteristic thirst and restlessness must be present.
#Cantharis. [Canth]
This remedy, which produces such an intense vesical tenesmus, also produces a like condition in the rectum. Its characteristics are bloody and slimy discharges which look like the scrapings of the intestines, which are nothing but the fibrous exudations from the disease. Tenesmus is marked, and always with Cantharis there is a painful urination, and there is present a colic-like pain doubling the patient up, being here similar to Colocynth, which has a number of the same symptoms. Thus both have the above symptom of being doubled up by pain, both have slimy and bloody stools, worse from eating or drinking; but under Colocynth the pains cease after stool and the patient is relieved by bending double. Cantharis has more inflammation, Colocynth more nervous symptoms. Colchicum is also similar, the tenesmus and constriction of anus following stool is more tormenting than the urging during stool; tympany also strongly indicates Colchicum. Kali bichromicum follows Cantharis when the scrapings become jelly-like. The thirst with Cantharis is unquenchable.
#Aconite. [Acon]
In the first stages of dysentery Aconite has proved a useful remedy, and it comes in especially well when the days are warm and the nights are cold. ,The stools are frequent and scanty with tenesmus, the skin is hot and dry and general Aconite symptoms are present. Ferrum phosphoricum comes in cases less acute than Aconite; there is more blood with the stool, but tenesmus contra-indicates the remedy. Mercurius follows both well. Belladonna is especially suitable to the dysentery of children and plethoric young persons. Cowperthwaite recommends the 3X.
#Sulphur. [Sulph]
For persistent or chronic cases of dysentery Sulphur is the remedy; the tenesmus continues, in fact there is a sort of tenesums all the time, the stools are slimy and there is frequent sudden urging to stool. Sometimes this condition is present without the tenesums. In Nux the tenesums ceases after stool and the pains are relieved for a short time; it is similar to Sulphur in its frequent urging, the stools are bloody, slimy, scanty and watery,and the patient is worse in the morning. Tearing pains down the thighs as an accompaniment of dysentery would indicate Rhus toxicodendron. Great offensiveness of stools and constriction of the anus would suggest Lachesis. Baptisia is useful where there is tenesums but no pain which indicates vital depression, offensive discharges are also present. It is especially useful in dysentery of old people with fevers. Aloes is also a useful remedy in dysentery. The stools are of a jelly-like mucus, and covered with blood and accompanied by griping in the epigastric region, the amount of mucus expelled is large, and, like Sulphur,it is useful in chronic cases. It is also a splendid remedy in purely inflammatory dysentery and follows Aconite well. Ipecac may be useful in cases where large quantities of mucus are expelled. In haemorrhoidal dysentery, which is really a phlebitis of the haemorrhoidal veins, Aloes and Hamamelis are the remedies.
DIARRHEA / DIRRHOEA
DIARRHEA / DIRRHOEA
Diarrhoea means there are frequent, loose or liquid stools. There may be a gripey abdominal pain (colic) which is less after a stool is passed.
Acute diarrhoea - comes on suddenly and lasts a short time.
Chronic diarrhoea - affects someone over a long period of time.
Some people pass frequent, small solid stools with a sense of urgency. This is not true diarrhoea and occurs when the rectum is irritable as in the irritable bowel syndrome or inflamed as in colitis.
What causes diarrhoea?
Too much fluid is passed (secreted) from the blood-stream into the bowel, for example in gastroenteritis. This is how some laxatives work.
The bowel moves its contents through too quickly and too little fluid is passed back into the bloodstream. This is one way in which anxiety produces diarrhoea.
More liquid is drunk than the bowel can cope with - this seldom happens, but is one way in which drinking too much beer can cause diarrhoea.
What causes acute diarrhoea?
Food poisoning
Gastroenteritis (see separate leaflet on the prevention and treatment of travellers’ diarrhoea)
Anxiety
Sometimes treatment with an antibiotic
Alcohol (to excess)
What causes chronic diarrhoea?
When diarrhoea goes on for a long time, the most likely cause is irritable bowel syndrome. It is called a ‘functional’ condition. This means that the bowel produces stools which are looser or more frequent than normal, although the bowel is not diseased.
Diarrhoea - Treatment & Homeopathic Medicines
#Arsenicum. [Ars]
That excellent and truly homoeopathic work on diarrhoea by Dr. J.B.Bell contains the indications for some one hundred and forty remedies in this complaint. The following are perhaps the more often indicated. Arsenicum, it may be said, is always thought of in diarrhoea. Given a case of diarrhoea, and two remedies always come to mind, namely, Arsenicum and Veratrum, and immediately the distinguishing features of these are gone over much in this way:
Arsenicum. Stools in small quantities. Restlessness, anguish and intolerance of pain. Thirst for small quantities and often. The prostration and weakness are out the stool, of all proportion to stool.
Veratrum album. Profuse stools. No restlessness, anguish, intolerance of pain. Great thirst for large quantities of cold water. Great prostration follows not more, however,than profuseness warrants.
The two remedies are easily distinguished, and it would it seem to be the height of imbecility to alternate them. The grand characteristics of Arsenicum in diarrhoea , therefore, are:
1. The small quantity. 2. The dark color. 3. The offensive odor. 4. The great prostration following.
Another grand feature is the burning in the rectum, which almost amounts to a tenesmus. The stools of Arsenicum are dark yellow, undigested, slimy or bloody ; they are often dark green and very offensive; they are worse at night and after eating or drinking. China, Ferrum and Arsenicum all have undigested stool coming on after eating. Among the principal causes of the diarrhoea calling for Arsenicum, and one which would be an additional indication, is chilling of the stomach by cold food, ice water or ice cream. It is also the remedy for diarrhoea from tainted food and so-called ptomaine poisoning. It hardly seems possible that Arsenicum with these characteristics could be misprescribed.
#Veratrum album. [Verb]
The characteristics of Veratrum album are no less well marked than are those of Arsenicum. They are as follows:
1. A profuse watery stool, forcible evacuated. 2. Pain in the abdomen preceding stool. 3. Great prostration following stool. 4. Cold sweat , coldness and blueness of the body generally.
The stools of Veratrum are watery, containing therein flakes, and are commonly called rice-water discharges. Preceding the stool is a severe pinching colic in the abdomen , and this pain is apt to continue during the stool. Nausea,too, is often an accompaniment. Cramps in the feet and legs may also be present.
Jatropha has a profuse watery discharge, evacuated with great force, and the patient is cold as under Veratrum; but with Jatropha a great quantity of wind escapes. Cuprum is also similar in many respects to Veratrum. Here the cramps are very severe and extend to the chest; it has the vomiting and purging of Veratrum, but not the cold sweat. Among the prominent general symptoms of Veratrum is the great thirst for very cold water in large draughts.
From personal experience I believe Veratrum acts better in the higher potencies in diarrhoea ; in the lower potencies it may produce unfavorable results from too sudden stoppage of the discharges, while in the higher potencies, 12th,30th etc., its acts tuto, cito et jocunde.
#Cinchona officinalis. [Cinch]
Arsenicum and Veratrum in a certain case having been excluded, perhaps the next remedy coming to mind is Cinchona. Indeed, it may come to mind at once if the diarrhoea be a painless one. Cinchona, Podophyllum and Phosphoric acid have painless stools. Or, if the stool be undigested, it will come promptly to mind along with Podophyllum and Ferrum, which is a very efficient remedy in painless diarrhoea. The characteristic Cinchona diarrhoea is a painless one, of a cadaverous odor. It is slimy, bilious, blackish and mixed with undigested food; it is worse at night and after eating , with a rapid exhaustion and emaciation, and this exhaustion, emaciation and debility at once distinguish the remedy from Phosphoric acid, which is similar, lacking the debility , but having the following:
1. Rumbling in abdomen. 2. Perspiration of the whole body. 3. Thin watery painless stools. 4. Much thirst.
The Cinchona diarrhoea is worse after eating , here resembling Ferrum and Arsenicum . If it be caused or made worse by fruit, it is an additional characteristic indication for its use. It is a great favorite in summer diarrhoeas, also Iris versicolor, when there is much sour vomiting. Cinchona has a similar thirst to Arsenicum, the patient drinks little and often , but it lacks the burning to Arsenicum. Diarrhoeas coming on after attacks of acute illness areoften met by Cinchona. It also corresponds to the chronic diarrhoeasof aged persons.
#Sulphur. [Sulph]
The diarrhoea of sulphur is very characteristic. It has changeable stools, yellow , watery, slimy, and in scrofulous children may contain undigested food. It is worse in the morning about four or five O'clock, when it wakens the patient and drives him out of bed in great haste. For these early morning diarrhoeas we have a number of remedies. Bryonia is one , but the stool of Bryonia comes on after the patient has been up a while and has moved about, here presenting the worse-from-motion symptom of that drug. Natrum sulphuricum is another; it has morning stool associated with a great deal of flatus, and it comes on usually as soon as the patient stands on his feet in the morning, or sometimes during the forenoon. Rumex crispus is another and it has exactly the same symptom as Sulphur, but it is usually associated with cough. Podophyllum is another and perhaps the most similar to Sulphur in this respect. It hurries the patient out of bed and it has changeable stools,but it is more apt to continue throughout the day and is associated with soreness in the liver. There is with Sulphur a tendency to rectal soreness, there is itching and soreness at the anus, the stools being acrid and excoriating.
Phosphorus has a morning painless stool and so has Dioscorea, but the colicky pains of this remedy starting from the umbilicus and radiating to all parts of the body should be easily distinguish. Petroleum has early morning stools associated with emaciation. They differ from Sulphur in occurring also throughout the day. Kali bichromicum has also a watery gushing stool coming on in the morning and followed by tenesmus. The stools of Sulphur are offensive and the odor of the stool follows the patient about as if he had soiled himself.The stools often alternate between constipation and diarrhoea, and if haemorrhoids be present it is an additional good indication for Sulphur. A diarrhoea of mucus streaked with blood, preceded by colic, is also often found under the remedy.
#Aloes. [Aloe]
Aloes is a remedy whose chief action is on the rectum. It produces a constant desire to stool, and the passages are accompanied with a great deal of flatus. The great characteristic of the drug feeling of uneasiness, weakness, and certainly about the rectum; there is a constant feeling as if stool would escape, the patient dares not pass flatus for fear of the escape of faeces. This condition is met with in children sometimes, they pass faeces when passing flatus. Aloes resembles Sulphur, Thuja and Bryonia in having an early morning stool; like Sulphur wakens the patient and hurries him out of bed to the toilet. It is worse from eating but it seldom continues during the day. The weakness of the sphincter ani is also found under Phosphoric acid, where we have also stools escaping with the flatus. The Aloes patient will also pass stool when urinating. Haemorrhoids which are characteristically swollen and sore accompany the Aloes stool. The stool themselves are yellow and pasty or lumpy and watery, and before the stool there are griping pains across the lower part of the abdomen and around the navel. These pains also continue during stool and passage usually relieves them. The essentials are:
1. The lumpy, watery stool. 2. The intense griping across the lower parts of the abdomen before and during stool, leaving after stool. 3. The extreme prostration and perspiration following.
#Croton tiglium. [Crot]
Croton tiglium is one of the great homoeopathic remedies for diarrhoea , which might readily be imagined from the prompt action of the drug in the minutest doses of the crude substance in the intestinal canal. Its characteristics are a yellowish, watery stool pouring out like water from a hydrant, and especially associated with nausea and vomiting and aggravated by eating and drinking. There are a number of drugs which are very similar to Croton tiglium and they may be mentioned here. The first is Elaterium. This is a remedy for frothy, copious, forcible diarrhoeas preceded by cutting in abdomen, chilliness, prostration and colic. They are always gushing and may be olive-green in color. The second is Gratiola; this has a gushing watery diarrhoea coming out like water from a hydrant; the stools are yellowish green and frothy and there is associated with them a cold feeling in the abdomen. The third is Jatropha.
This has a profuse, gushing, watery diarrhoea; but here there is much wind and flatulence and great prostration. The fourth is Gamboge. This has a stool expelled "all at once", with much relief following. Stools thin and watery. The characteristics of the stool of Croton tiglium are:
1. The yellow, watery stool. 2. The sudden expulsion. 3. The aggravation from drink and food; and to this we may add the quite common accompaniment of nausea, preceded by a little pain in the abdomen.
#Rheum. [Rheum]
One symptom always leads to the thought of this drug, and that is sourness of stools and of the whole body, though Rheum is not only remedy for sour stools nor are sour stools the only indication for Rheum; indeed, they may be wanting in sourness and Rheum still be the remedy. For sour stools, besides Rheum, we have notably Calcarea carbonica, Magnesia carbonica and Hepar. Magnesia carbonica is said to follow Rheum well, and, besides sourness, it has the frothy, green, frog-pond scum stool, and it is especially suitable to infants when the stools are of the above character and accompanied with discharge flatus and much crying. Debility is also characteristic of the remedy.
Characteristic among the symptoms of Rheum, besides the sourness, is a griping colic often followed by tenesmus. In color, the stools are brown and frothy, and usually sour; they are worse from motion and after eating. Chilliness during stool is also characteristic. The continuance ;of the colic after the stool also suggests the remedy.
#Podophyllum. [Podo]
Podophyllum, as we have seen, has an early morning diarrhoea. The stools are watery, yellow, profuse,forcible and occur without pain any time from three o'clock to nine in the morning, and a natural stool is apt to follow later in the day. It occurs, too, immediately after eating resembling cinchona and Colocynth, and it has still another resemblance to Colocynth in its colic, which is relieved by warmth and bending forward. Following the diarrhoea of Podophyllum is a sensation of great weakness in the abdomen and rectum, this weakness o;f the rectum being a great characteristic of the remedy. The rectum prolapses before the faeces are evacuated; here it differs from the prolapses which would call for Ignatia, Carbo vegetabilis and Hamamelis.
Podophyllum has proved useful in the diarrhoea of dentition when cerebral symptoms are present. Sometimes a headache will alternate with the diarrhoea. This also occurs with Aloes. The stools of Podophyllum are often undigested; and here the remedy touches China and Ferrum, which are the great remedies for undigested stools. A deposit of mealy sediment further indicates the remedy in diarrhoeas of children. Podophyllum and Mercurius have some symptoms in common; both affect the liver both affect the liver, both have a tongue taking the imprint of the teeth, but the stool of Mercurius is accompanied by straining. The great characteristics of Podophyllum may be thus summed up: 1. Early morning stools. 2. Watery, pasty yellow or undigested stools, forcibly expelled. 3. Painless. 4. Weakness in the rectum following stool. Podophyllum also resembles Calcarea carbonica and Phosphoric acid in many respects; the rapid debility and exhaustion distinguish it from the acid, and the absence of general Calcarea symptoms from the acid, and the absence of general Calcarea symptoms from CALCAREA. It is especially useful in the obstinate diarrhoeas of unhealthy infants in the 3x dilution.
#Mercurius. [Merc]
Straining at stool is the great characteristic of Mercurius, and this is more marked under Mercurius corosivus than under the solubilis. The former is the great homoeopathic remedy for dysentery. It may be remarked, in passing, that the allopaths have recently discovered this application of Mercurius corrosivus. The stools of Mercury are slimy and bloody, accompanied by a straining and tenesmus which does not seem to let up; so we have what is characteristically described as a never-get-done-feeling. There is accompanying, much hepatic soreness, flabby tongue taking imprint of the teeth, and before the stool there is violent urging and perhaps chilliness. Bayes praises Mercurius in a diarrhoea of yellow or clay-colored stool. A sickly smell from the mouth is characteristic of the remedy, and if the ready perspiration so characteristic of Mercurius be present the choice is easy. Prolapsus of the rectum may follow the stool.
#Calcarea. [Calc]
Calcarea should never be overlooked in any intestinal trouble; as we have seen, it is one of the great remedies for sour stools, and for undigested stools. It is one of our best remedies for chronic diarrhoea, its symptoms produced by the provers are very few, yet prescribed for its general symptoms it has proved very useful, for it is just in a genuine Calcarea patient that one usually finds diarrhoea.Diarrhoes occurring during dentition in infants with open fontanelles call for Calcarea. Calcarea phosphorica, too, is a very useful remedy in these diarrhoeas, but the diarrhoea of Calcarea phosphorica is distinguished by being a spluttering diarrhoea, forcibly expelled, but watery, greenish, or undigested, and with a great deal of offensive flatus. Calcarea carbonica is more suited to fat children. Calcarea phosphorica to those who are old and wrinkled. Both of these remedies, as well as Silicea and Sulphur, come in most frequently in the diarrhoeas of scrofulous and rachitic children. In the Calcarea carbonica patient there is usually a ravenous appetite, and, as in Phosphoric acid, the stools do not seem to weaken. This is especially true of another of the Calcareas, Calcarea acetica. Prescribe for the patient instead of the diarrhoea at all times,but more especially if Calcarea be given.
#Phosphorous. [Phos]
Phosphorous is especially a remedy for chronic forms of diarrhoea. It has green mucous stools worse in the morning, often undigested and painless. The stools pass as soon as they enter the rectum,and contain white particles like rice or tallow. Apis has a sensation as if the anus stood open, and the involuntary escape of faeces in Phosphorous reminds also of Aloes. Chronic,painless diarrhoea of undigested food call sometimes for Phosphorus. It is profuse and forcible and aggravated by warm food, and the patient often vomits; in fact, one of the characteristics of Phosphorous is the vomiting of what has been drunk as soon as it becomes warm in the stomach. With the diarrhoea there is a weak, gone feeling in the stomach, and perhaps burning between the shoulders. The frog spawn, or sago, or grain of tallow stool is most characteristic of the remedy.
#Argentum nitricum. [Arg]
Argentum nitricum is quite similar to Arsenic in many ways. The stools are green, slimy and bloody,like chopped spinach in flakes. Aconite has a green stool like spinach. With the stool there is a discharge of flatus and much spluttering, as in Calcarea Phosphorica. The stools are worse from any candy, sugar, or from drinking. The sudden attacks of cholera infantum in children who have eaten too much candy will often be removed by Argentum nitricum. The children are thin, dried up looking, and it seems as if the child had but one bowel and that extended from the mouth to the anus. Another characteristic of Argentum nitricum is its use in diarrhoea brought on by great mental excitement, emotional disturbance, etc.
Gelsemium is one of the most prominent remedies for diarrhoea produced by fright or fear; it appears suddenly and the stools are yellow and papescent. Opium has diarrhoea from fright and so has Veratrum album. Pulsatilla, too, may be indicated in diarrhoea from fright; the stools are greenish yellow and changeable. Dulcamara has diarrhoea from changes in the weather or in temperature, as in those employed in packing house who change frequently from hot to cold, or diarrhoea in the mountains where the midday is hot and the nights excessively cool.There are a number of minor remedies for diarrhoea , but these very minor remedies become of major importance when they are closely indicated.
Diarrhoea means there are frequent, loose or liquid stools. There may be a gripey abdominal pain (colic) which is less after a stool is passed.
Acute diarrhoea - comes on suddenly and lasts a short time.
Chronic diarrhoea - affects someone over a long period of time.
Some people pass frequent, small solid stools with a sense of urgency. This is not true diarrhoea and occurs when the rectum is irritable as in the irritable bowel syndrome or inflamed as in colitis.
What causes diarrhoea?
Too much fluid is passed (secreted) from the blood-stream into the bowel, for example in gastroenteritis. This is how some laxatives work.
The bowel moves its contents through too quickly and too little fluid is passed back into the bloodstream. This is one way in which anxiety produces diarrhoea.
More liquid is drunk than the bowel can cope with - this seldom happens, but is one way in which drinking too much beer can cause diarrhoea.
What causes acute diarrhoea?
Food poisoning
Gastroenteritis (see separate leaflet on the prevention and treatment of travellers’ diarrhoea)
Anxiety
Sometimes treatment with an antibiotic
Alcohol (to excess)
What causes chronic diarrhoea?
When diarrhoea goes on for a long time, the most likely cause is irritable bowel syndrome. It is called a ‘functional’ condition. This means that the bowel produces stools which are looser or more frequent than normal, although the bowel is not diseased.
Diarrhoea - Treatment & Homeopathic Medicines
#Arsenicum. [Ars]
That excellent and truly homoeopathic work on diarrhoea by Dr. J.B.Bell contains the indications for some one hundred and forty remedies in this complaint. The following are perhaps the more often indicated. Arsenicum, it may be said, is always thought of in diarrhoea. Given a case of diarrhoea, and two remedies always come to mind, namely, Arsenicum and Veratrum, and immediately the distinguishing features of these are gone over much in this way:
Arsenicum. Stools in small quantities. Restlessness, anguish and intolerance of pain. Thirst for small quantities and often. The prostration and weakness are out the stool, of all proportion to stool.
Veratrum album. Profuse stools. No restlessness, anguish, intolerance of pain. Great thirst for large quantities of cold water. Great prostration follows not more, however,than profuseness warrants.
The two remedies are easily distinguished, and it would it seem to be the height of imbecility to alternate them. The grand characteristics of Arsenicum in diarrhoea , therefore, are:
1. The small quantity. 2. The dark color. 3. The offensive odor. 4. The great prostration following.
Another grand feature is the burning in the rectum, which almost amounts to a tenesmus. The stools of Arsenicum are dark yellow, undigested, slimy or bloody ; they are often dark green and very offensive; they are worse at night and after eating or drinking. China, Ferrum and Arsenicum all have undigested stool coming on after eating. Among the principal causes of the diarrhoea calling for Arsenicum, and one which would be an additional indication, is chilling of the stomach by cold food, ice water or ice cream. It is also the remedy for diarrhoea from tainted food and so-called ptomaine poisoning. It hardly seems possible that Arsenicum with these characteristics could be misprescribed.
#Veratrum album. [Verb]
The characteristics of Veratrum album are no less well marked than are those of Arsenicum. They are as follows:
1. A profuse watery stool, forcible evacuated. 2. Pain in the abdomen preceding stool. 3. Great prostration following stool. 4. Cold sweat , coldness and blueness of the body generally.
The stools of Veratrum are watery, containing therein flakes, and are commonly called rice-water discharges. Preceding the stool is a severe pinching colic in the abdomen , and this pain is apt to continue during the stool. Nausea,too, is often an accompaniment. Cramps in the feet and legs may also be present.
Jatropha has a profuse watery discharge, evacuated with great force, and the patient is cold as under Veratrum; but with Jatropha a great quantity of wind escapes. Cuprum is also similar in many respects to Veratrum. Here the cramps are very severe and extend to the chest; it has the vomiting and purging of Veratrum, but not the cold sweat. Among the prominent general symptoms of Veratrum is the great thirst for very cold water in large draughts.
From personal experience I believe Veratrum acts better in the higher potencies in diarrhoea ; in the lower potencies it may produce unfavorable results from too sudden stoppage of the discharges, while in the higher potencies, 12th,30th etc., its acts tuto, cito et jocunde.
#Cinchona officinalis. [Cinch]
Arsenicum and Veratrum in a certain case having been excluded, perhaps the next remedy coming to mind is Cinchona. Indeed, it may come to mind at once if the diarrhoea be a painless one. Cinchona, Podophyllum and Phosphoric acid have painless stools. Or, if the stool be undigested, it will come promptly to mind along with Podophyllum and Ferrum, which is a very efficient remedy in painless diarrhoea. The characteristic Cinchona diarrhoea is a painless one, of a cadaverous odor. It is slimy, bilious, blackish and mixed with undigested food; it is worse at night and after eating , with a rapid exhaustion and emaciation, and this exhaustion, emaciation and debility at once distinguish the remedy from Phosphoric acid, which is similar, lacking the debility , but having the following:
1. Rumbling in abdomen. 2. Perspiration of the whole body. 3. Thin watery painless stools. 4. Much thirst.
The Cinchona diarrhoea is worse after eating , here resembling Ferrum and Arsenicum . If it be caused or made worse by fruit, it is an additional characteristic indication for its use. It is a great favorite in summer diarrhoeas, also Iris versicolor, when there is much sour vomiting. Cinchona has a similar thirst to Arsenicum, the patient drinks little and often , but it lacks the burning to Arsenicum. Diarrhoeas coming on after attacks of acute illness areoften met by Cinchona. It also corresponds to the chronic diarrhoeasof aged persons.
#Sulphur. [Sulph]
The diarrhoea of sulphur is very characteristic. It has changeable stools, yellow , watery, slimy, and in scrofulous children may contain undigested food. It is worse in the morning about four or five O'clock, when it wakens the patient and drives him out of bed in great haste. For these early morning diarrhoeas we have a number of remedies. Bryonia is one , but the stool of Bryonia comes on after the patient has been up a while and has moved about, here presenting the worse-from-motion symptom of that drug. Natrum sulphuricum is another; it has morning stool associated with a great deal of flatus, and it comes on usually as soon as the patient stands on his feet in the morning, or sometimes during the forenoon. Rumex crispus is another and it has exactly the same symptom as Sulphur, but it is usually associated with cough. Podophyllum is another and perhaps the most similar to Sulphur in this respect. It hurries the patient out of bed and it has changeable stools,but it is more apt to continue throughout the day and is associated with soreness in the liver. There is with Sulphur a tendency to rectal soreness, there is itching and soreness at the anus, the stools being acrid and excoriating.
Phosphorus has a morning painless stool and so has Dioscorea, but the colicky pains of this remedy starting from the umbilicus and radiating to all parts of the body should be easily distinguish. Petroleum has early morning stools associated with emaciation. They differ from Sulphur in occurring also throughout the day. Kali bichromicum has also a watery gushing stool coming on in the morning and followed by tenesmus. The stools of Sulphur are offensive and the odor of the stool follows the patient about as if he had soiled himself.The stools often alternate between constipation and diarrhoea, and if haemorrhoids be present it is an additional good indication for Sulphur. A diarrhoea of mucus streaked with blood, preceded by colic, is also often found under the remedy.
#Aloes. [Aloe]
Aloes is a remedy whose chief action is on the rectum. It produces a constant desire to stool, and the passages are accompanied with a great deal of flatus. The great characteristic of the drug feeling of uneasiness, weakness, and certainly about the rectum; there is a constant feeling as if stool would escape, the patient dares not pass flatus for fear of the escape of faeces. This condition is met with in children sometimes, they pass faeces when passing flatus. Aloes resembles Sulphur, Thuja and Bryonia in having an early morning stool; like Sulphur wakens the patient and hurries him out of bed to the toilet. It is worse from eating but it seldom continues during the day. The weakness of the sphincter ani is also found under Phosphoric acid, where we have also stools escaping with the flatus. The Aloes patient will also pass stool when urinating. Haemorrhoids which are characteristically swollen and sore accompany the Aloes stool. The stool themselves are yellow and pasty or lumpy and watery, and before the stool there are griping pains across the lower part of the abdomen and around the navel. These pains also continue during stool and passage usually relieves them. The essentials are:
1. The lumpy, watery stool. 2. The intense griping across the lower parts of the abdomen before and during stool, leaving after stool. 3. The extreme prostration and perspiration following.
#Croton tiglium. [Crot]
Croton tiglium is one of the great homoeopathic remedies for diarrhoea , which might readily be imagined from the prompt action of the drug in the minutest doses of the crude substance in the intestinal canal. Its characteristics are a yellowish, watery stool pouring out like water from a hydrant, and especially associated with nausea and vomiting and aggravated by eating and drinking. There are a number of drugs which are very similar to Croton tiglium and they may be mentioned here. The first is Elaterium. This is a remedy for frothy, copious, forcible diarrhoeas preceded by cutting in abdomen, chilliness, prostration and colic. They are always gushing and may be olive-green in color. The second is Gratiola; this has a gushing watery diarrhoea coming out like water from a hydrant; the stools are yellowish green and frothy and there is associated with them a cold feeling in the abdomen. The third is Jatropha.
This has a profuse, gushing, watery diarrhoea; but here there is much wind and flatulence and great prostration. The fourth is Gamboge. This has a stool expelled "all at once", with much relief following. Stools thin and watery. The characteristics of the stool of Croton tiglium are:
1. The yellow, watery stool. 2. The sudden expulsion. 3. The aggravation from drink and food; and to this we may add the quite common accompaniment of nausea, preceded by a little pain in the abdomen.
#Rheum. [Rheum]
One symptom always leads to the thought of this drug, and that is sourness of stools and of the whole body, though Rheum is not only remedy for sour stools nor are sour stools the only indication for Rheum; indeed, they may be wanting in sourness and Rheum still be the remedy. For sour stools, besides Rheum, we have notably Calcarea carbonica, Magnesia carbonica and Hepar. Magnesia carbonica is said to follow Rheum well, and, besides sourness, it has the frothy, green, frog-pond scum stool, and it is especially suitable to infants when the stools are of the above character and accompanied with discharge flatus and much crying. Debility is also characteristic of the remedy.
Characteristic among the symptoms of Rheum, besides the sourness, is a griping colic often followed by tenesmus. In color, the stools are brown and frothy, and usually sour; they are worse from motion and after eating. Chilliness during stool is also characteristic. The continuance ;of the colic after the stool also suggests the remedy.
#Podophyllum. [Podo]
Podophyllum, as we have seen, has an early morning diarrhoea. The stools are watery, yellow, profuse,forcible and occur without pain any time from three o'clock to nine in the morning, and a natural stool is apt to follow later in the day. It occurs, too, immediately after eating resembling cinchona and Colocynth, and it has still another resemblance to Colocynth in its colic, which is relieved by warmth and bending forward. Following the diarrhoea of Podophyllum is a sensation of great weakness in the abdomen and rectum, this weakness o;f the rectum being a great characteristic of the remedy. The rectum prolapses before the faeces are evacuated; here it differs from the prolapses which would call for Ignatia, Carbo vegetabilis and Hamamelis.
Podophyllum has proved useful in the diarrhoea of dentition when cerebral symptoms are present. Sometimes a headache will alternate with the diarrhoea. This also occurs with Aloes. The stools of Podophyllum are often undigested; and here the remedy touches China and Ferrum, which are the great remedies for undigested stools. A deposit of mealy sediment further indicates the remedy in diarrhoeas of children. Podophyllum and Mercurius have some symptoms in common; both affect the liver both affect the liver, both have a tongue taking the imprint of the teeth, but the stool of Mercurius is accompanied by straining. The great characteristics of Podophyllum may be thus summed up: 1. Early morning stools. 2. Watery, pasty yellow or undigested stools, forcibly expelled. 3. Painless. 4. Weakness in the rectum following stool. Podophyllum also resembles Calcarea carbonica and Phosphoric acid in many respects; the rapid debility and exhaustion distinguish it from the acid, and the absence of general Calcarea symptoms from the acid, and the absence of general Calcarea symptoms from CALCAREA. It is especially useful in the obstinate diarrhoeas of unhealthy infants in the 3x dilution.
#Mercurius. [Merc]
Straining at stool is the great characteristic of Mercurius, and this is more marked under Mercurius corosivus than under the solubilis. The former is the great homoeopathic remedy for dysentery. It may be remarked, in passing, that the allopaths have recently discovered this application of Mercurius corrosivus. The stools of Mercury are slimy and bloody, accompanied by a straining and tenesmus which does not seem to let up; so we have what is characteristically described as a never-get-done-feeling. There is accompanying, much hepatic soreness, flabby tongue taking imprint of the teeth, and before the stool there is violent urging and perhaps chilliness. Bayes praises Mercurius in a diarrhoea of yellow or clay-colored stool. A sickly smell from the mouth is characteristic of the remedy, and if the ready perspiration so characteristic of Mercurius be present the choice is easy. Prolapsus of the rectum may follow the stool.
#Calcarea. [Calc]
Calcarea should never be overlooked in any intestinal trouble; as we have seen, it is one of the great remedies for sour stools, and for undigested stools. It is one of our best remedies for chronic diarrhoea, its symptoms produced by the provers are very few, yet prescribed for its general symptoms it has proved very useful, for it is just in a genuine Calcarea patient that one usually finds diarrhoea.Diarrhoes occurring during dentition in infants with open fontanelles call for Calcarea. Calcarea phosphorica, too, is a very useful remedy in these diarrhoeas, but the diarrhoea of Calcarea phosphorica is distinguished by being a spluttering diarrhoea, forcibly expelled, but watery, greenish, or undigested, and with a great deal of offensive flatus. Calcarea carbonica is more suited to fat children. Calcarea phosphorica to those who are old and wrinkled. Both of these remedies, as well as Silicea and Sulphur, come in most frequently in the diarrhoeas of scrofulous and rachitic children. In the Calcarea carbonica patient there is usually a ravenous appetite, and, as in Phosphoric acid, the stools do not seem to weaken. This is especially true of another of the Calcareas, Calcarea acetica. Prescribe for the patient instead of the diarrhoea at all times,but more especially if Calcarea be given.
#Phosphorous. [Phos]
Phosphorous is especially a remedy for chronic forms of diarrhoea. It has green mucous stools worse in the morning, often undigested and painless. The stools pass as soon as they enter the rectum,and contain white particles like rice or tallow. Apis has a sensation as if the anus stood open, and the involuntary escape of faeces in Phosphorous reminds also of Aloes. Chronic,painless diarrhoea of undigested food call sometimes for Phosphorus. It is profuse and forcible and aggravated by warm food, and the patient often vomits; in fact, one of the characteristics of Phosphorous is the vomiting of what has been drunk as soon as it becomes warm in the stomach. With the diarrhoea there is a weak, gone feeling in the stomach, and perhaps burning between the shoulders. The frog spawn, or sago, or grain of tallow stool is most characteristic of the remedy.
#Argentum nitricum. [Arg]
Argentum nitricum is quite similar to Arsenic in many ways. The stools are green, slimy and bloody,like chopped spinach in flakes. Aconite has a green stool like spinach. With the stool there is a discharge of flatus and much spluttering, as in Calcarea Phosphorica. The stools are worse from any candy, sugar, or from drinking. The sudden attacks of cholera infantum in children who have eaten too much candy will often be removed by Argentum nitricum. The children are thin, dried up looking, and it seems as if the child had but one bowel and that extended from the mouth to the anus. Another characteristic of Argentum nitricum is its use in diarrhoea brought on by great mental excitement, emotional disturbance, etc.
Gelsemium is one of the most prominent remedies for diarrhoea produced by fright or fear; it appears suddenly and the stools are yellow and papescent. Opium has diarrhoea from fright and so has Veratrum album. Pulsatilla, too, may be indicated in diarrhoea from fright; the stools are greenish yellow and changeable. Dulcamara has diarrhoea from changes in the weather or in temperature, as in those employed in packing house who change frequently from hot to cold, or diarrhoea in the mountains where the midday is hot and the nights excessively cool.There are a number of minor remedies for diarrhoea , but these very minor remedies become of major importance when they are closely indicated.
Cataract
Cataract
A cataract is a cloudy or opaque area (an area you cannot see through) in the lens of the eye.
Causes of Cataract
The lens of the eye is normally clear. If the lens becomes cloudy, the condition is known as a cataract. Rarely, cataracts may be present at or shortly after birth. These are called congenital cataracts. Adult cataracts usually develop with advancing age and may run in families. Cataracts develop more quickly in the presence of some environmental factors, such as smoking or exposure to other toxic substances. They may develop at any time after an eye injury. Metabolic diseases such as diabetes also greatly increase the risk for cataracts. Certain medications, such as cortisone, can also accelerate cataract formation.
Congenital cataracts may be inherited. The gene for such cataracts is dominant (autosomal dominant inheritance), which means that the defective gene will cause the condition even if only one parent passes it along. I families where one parent carries the gene, there is a 50% chance in every pregnancy that the child will be affected. Congenital cataracts can also be caused by infections affecting the mother during pregnancy, such as rubella. They are also associated with metabolic disorders such as galactosemia. Risk factors include inherited metabolic diseases, a family history of cataracts, and maternal viral infection during pregnancy.
Adult cataracts are generally associated with aging. They develop slowly and painlessly, and vision in the affected eye or eyes slowly gets worse. Visual problems may include the following changes: difficulty seeing at night Seeing halos around lights, being sensitive to glare, vision problems associated with cataracts generally move towards decreased vision, even in daylight. Adult cataracts are classified as immature, mature, and hypermature. A lens that has some remaining clear areas is referred to as an immature cataract. A mature cataract is completely opaque. A hypermature cataract has a liquefied surface that leaks through the capsule, and may cause swelling and irritation of other structures in the eye.
Most people develop some clouding of the lens after the age of 60. About 50% of people aged 65-74, and about 70% of those 75 and older, have cataracts that affect their vision. Most people with cataracts have similar changes in both eyes, although one eye may be worse than the other. Many people with this condition have only slight visual changes, and are not aware of their cataracts. Factors that may contribute to cataract development are low serum calcium levels, diabetes, long-term use of corticosteroids, and various inflammatory and metabolic disorders. Environmental causes include trauma, radiation exposure, and too much exposure to ultraviolet light (sunlight). In many cases, the cause of cataract is unknown.
Symptoms of Cataract
Cloudy, fuzzy, foggy, or filmy vision Loss of color intensity Frequent changes in eyeglass prescription The glare from bright lights causes vision problems at night, especially while driving Sensitivity to glare from lamps or the sun Halos around lights Double vision in one eye Decreased contrast sensitivity (the ability to see shades, or shapes against a background)
Homoeopathy
Homeopathic Treatment for Cataract
Homeopathy treats the person as a whole. It means that homeopathic treatment focuses on the patient as a person, as well as his pathological condition. The homeopathic medicines are selected after a full individualizing examination and case-analysis, which includes the medical history of the patient, physical and mental constitution etc.
Following homeopathic medicines have been found effective in many cases of Cataract:
Homeopathy can give bwenefit if cataract is diagnosed earlier. Many scientific studies have been done on this context that proved the efficacy of homeopathy on cataract. It is noteworthy that John Burdon – Cooper, the Scottish ophthalmic surgeon, expressed the efficacy of CMS eye drops in 1938. Also, Powell mentioned his success with CMS eye drops and other homeopathic remedies in the treatment of cataract. A paper published in British Homoeopathic Journal claims 60% success in both arresting and curing cataract with CMS eye drops. An animal experimentation in Philadelphia, USA has also confirmed the effectivity of this drug in prevention and treatment of cataract. Other than these, Sir Stewart Duke – Elder, Tichner, Hammer, Kent, Boericke, Clarke and others claimed the valuable results on homeopathic efficacy. Recently, Govt. of India’s Central Council for Research in Homeopathy has published the efficacy of CMS eye drops. On the positive side of homeopathy it does not have any side effects. A benefit without surgery will obviously be a boon to all of us.
Usually prescribed homeopathic drugs with their indications
Brynia alba: Cataract with stitching, tearing pain, pain worse by motion and better by rest, dryness of mucous membranes of the eyes, cataract with glaucoma.
Calcarea carbonica: Cataract with dimness of vision as if looking through a mist, sensitive to light, lachrymation in the early morning and open air.
Calcarea fluorica: Flickering and sparks before eyes; spots on the cornea; cataract with conjunctivitis.
Calcarea iodata: Cataract with lachrymal gland affection; conjunctivitis with enlarged eye lids.
Cannabis sativa: Cataract from nervous disturbances and abuse of alcohol and tobacco; patient feels deeply approaching blindness.
Causticum: Cataract with motor disturbances; inflammation of eyelids, sparks and dark spots before eyes, vision impaired as if film were before eyes.
Conium maculatum: Fear of light and excessive lachrymation; dim vision worse artificial light; sweat on closing eyes.
Euphrasia: Cataract with watering of eyes; acrid discharge from the eyes; cataract with blisters on cornea.
Natrum muriaticum: Cataract of incipient stage; cataract with headache; pain in eyes when looking down; dry mucous membranes of eyes; muscles of the eyes are weak and stiff pain in eye associated with pain in back of neck 6CH, 12CH, 30CH and higher.
Phosphorus: Cataract with Sensation as if everything covered with a mist or dust; sensation as if something pulled tightly over eyes; green halo about the candlelight; patient sees well by shading eyes with hand; letters appear red; cataract due to abuse of tobacco.
Pulsatilla Cataract with inflammation of eyes; thick, profuse, yellow discharge; lids inflammed and agglutinated.
Rhus toxicodendron: Traumatic cataract; photophobia associated with profuse flow of yellowish pus; eye painful when turning it; old injured eye.
Secale cornutum: Cataract of incipient stage; senile cataract; cataract especially in old woman.
Sepia: Black spots in the field of vision; cataract with pulsating headache; pain in the eyes aggravates morning and evening.
Silicea: Cataract in office workers; aversion to light; especially daylight; light produces dazzling and sharp pains through eyes; pain in eyes worse when closed; vision confused and letters run together on read.
Sulphur: Burning ulceration of margins of lids with cataract; first stage of ulceration in the cornea From lower 6CH to higher potencies.
Thiosinaminum: cataract of old age; cataract of carcinogenic origin
A cataract is a cloudy or opaque area (an area you cannot see through) in the lens of the eye.
Causes of Cataract
The lens of the eye is normally clear. If the lens becomes cloudy, the condition is known as a cataract. Rarely, cataracts may be present at or shortly after birth. These are called congenital cataracts. Adult cataracts usually develop with advancing age and may run in families. Cataracts develop more quickly in the presence of some environmental factors, such as smoking or exposure to other toxic substances. They may develop at any time after an eye injury. Metabolic diseases such as diabetes also greatly increase the risk for cataracts. Certain medications, such as cortisone, can also accelerate cataract formation.
Congenital cataracts may be inherited. The gene for such cataracts is dominant (autosomal dominant inheritance), which means that the defective gene will cause the condition even if only one parent passes it along. I families where one parent carries the gene, there is a 50% chance in every pregnancy that the child will be affected. Congenital cataracts can also be caused by infections affecting the mother during pregnancy, such as rubella. They are also associated with metabolic disorders such as galactosemia. Risk factors include inherited metabolic diseases, a family history of cataracts, and maternal viral infection during pregnancy.
Adult cataracts are generally associated with aging. They develop slowly and painlessly, and vision in the affected eye or eyes slowly gets worse. Visual problems may include the following changes: difficulty seeing at night Seeing halos around lights, being sensitive to glare, vision problems associated with cataracts generally move towards decreased vision, even in daylight. Adult cataracts are classified as immature, mature, and hypermature. A lens that has some remaining clear areas is referred to as an immature cataract. A mature cataract is completely opaque. A hypermature cataract has a liquefied surface that leaks through the capsule, and may cause swelling and irritation of other structures in the eye.
Most people develop some clouding of the lens after the age of 60. About 50% of people aged 65-74, and about 70% of those 75 and older, have cataracts that affect their vision. Most people with cataracts have similar changes in both eyes, although one eye may be worse than the other. Many people with this condition have only slight visual changes, and are not aware of their cataracts. Factors that may contribute to cataract development are low serum calcium levels, diabetes, long-term use of corticosteroids, and various inflammatory and metabolic disorders. Environmental causes include trauma, radiation exposure, and too much exposure to ultraviolet light (sunlight). In many cases, the cause of cataract is unknown.
Symptoms of Cataract
Cloudy, fuzzy, foggy, or filmy vision Loss of color intensity Frequent changes in eyeglass prescription The glare from bright lights causes vision problems at night, especially while driving Sensitivity to glare from lamps or the sun Halos around lights Double vision in one eye Decreased contrast sensitivity (the ability to see shades, or shapes against a background)
Homoeopathy
Homeopathic Treatment for Cataract
Homeopathy treats the person as a whole. It means that homeopathic treatment focuses on the patient as a person, as well as his pathological condition. The homeopathic medicines are selected after a full individualizing examination and case-analysis, which includes the medical history of the patient, physical and mental constitution etc.
Following homeopathic medicines have been found effective in many cases of Cataract:
Homeopathy can give bwenefit if cataract is diagnosed earlier. Many scientific studies have been done on this context that proved the efficacy of homeopathy on cataract. It is noteworthy that John Burdon – Cooper, the Scottish ophthalmic surgeon, expressed the efficacy of CMS eye drops in 1938. Also, Powell mentioned his success with CMS eye drops and other homeopathic remedies in the treatment of cataract. A paper published in British Homoeopathic Journal claims 60% success in both arresting and curing cataract with CMS eye drops. An animal experimentation in Philadelphia, USA has also confirmed the effectivity of this drug in prevention and treatment of cataract. Other than these, Sir Stewart Duke – Elder, Tichner, Hammer, Kent, Boericke, Clarke and others claimed the valuable results on homeopathic efficacy. Recently, Govt. of India’s Central Council for Research in Homeopathy has published the efficacy of CMS eye drops. On the positive side of homeopathy it does not have any side effects. A benefit without surgery will obviously be a boon to all of us.
Usually prescribed homeopathic drugs with their indications
Brynia alba: Cataract with stitching, tearing pain, pain worse by motion and better by rest, dryness of mucous membranes of the eyes, cataract with glaucoma.
Calcarea carbonica: Cataract with dimness of vision as if looking through a mist, sensitive to light, lachrymation in the early morning and open air.
Calcarea fluorica: Flickering and sparks before eyes; spots on the cornea; cataract with conjunctivitis.
Calcarea iodata: Cataract with lachrymal gland affection; conjunctivitis with enlarged eye lids.
Cannabis sativa: Cataract from nervous disturbances and abuse of alcohol and tobacco; patient feels deeply approaching blindness.
Causticum: Cataract with motor disturbances; inflammation of eyelids, sparks and dark spots before eyes, vision impaired as if film were before eyes.
Conium maculatum: Fear of light and excessive lachrymation; dim vision worse artificial light; sweat on closing eyes.
Euphrasia: Cataract with watering of eyes; acrid discharge from the eyes; cataract with blisters on cornea.
Natrum muriaticum: Cataract of incipient stage; cataract with headache; pain in eyes when looking down; dry mucous membranes of eyes; muscles of the eyes are weak and stiff pain in eye associated with pain in back of neck 6CH, 12CH, 30CH and higher.
Phosphorus: Cataract with Sensation as if everything covered with a mist or dust; sensation as if something pulled tightly over eyes; green halo about the candlelight; patient sees well by shading eyes with hand; letters appear red; cataract due to abuse of tobacco.
Pulsatilla Cataract with inflammation of eyes; thick, profuse, yellow discharge; lids inflammed and agglutinated.
Rhus toxicodendron: Traumatic cataract; photophobia associated with profuse flow of yellowish pus; eye painful when turning it; old injured eye.
Secale cornutum: Cataract of incipient stage; senile cataract; cataract especially in old woman.
Sepia: Black spots in the field of vision; cataract with pulsating headache; pain in the eyes aggravates morning and evening.
Silicea: Cataract in office workers; aversion to light; especially daylight; light produces dazzling and sharp pains through eyes; pain in eyes worse when closed; vision confused and letters run together on read.
Sulphur: Burning ulceration of margins of lids with cataract; first stage of ulceration in the cornea From lower 6CH to higher potencies.
Thiosinaminum: cataract of old age; cataract of carcinogenic origin
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