A Description of Homeopathic Miasms

June 2001 Miasms in Homoeopathy

THE CONCEPT OF MIASMS IN HOMOEOPATHY:A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY

TOM O'BRIEN

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"Useful to the physician in assisting him to cure are the particulars of the most probable exciting cause of the acute disease, as also the most significant points in the whole history of the chronic disease, to enable him to discover its fundamental cause, which is generally due to a chronic miasm. In these investigations, the ascertainable physical constitution of the patient (especially when the disease is chronic), his moral and intellectual character, his occupation, mode of living and habits, his social and domestic relations, his age, sexual function, etc., are to be taken into consideration."

(Aph. 5 Organon of Medicine - Samuel Hahnemann)

Summary:

This brief article examines the Hahnemannian concept of Miasms and describes the distinguishing characteristics of the four main miasmatic states, Psora (for more see PSORA 5) Psora, Sycosis, Syphilis and Tuberculosis, together with the proposition of emerging AIDS and Cancer Miasms. In addition, with reference to distinctions in the treatment of chronic diseases, a brief description of the main miasmatic remedies is included.

Introduction

Through ancient and modern history there has been a constant search for the causes of the acute and chronic disease. Hippocrates, along with others, taught that all diseases were caused by the susceptibility in the individual rather than one cause. In the Greek philosophy disease is caused by an interdependent set of circumstances which disrupts the natural ebb and flow of the pneuma (vital force) within the organism. In the Organon of Rational Medicine Samuel Hahnemann separated the origin of disease into two categories, the exciting and fundamental causes, and related

Tom O’Brien MSc Burren School of Homoeopathy 1


them very closely to the susceptibility of the physical constitution, as can be seen in aph. 5 quoted above

From the early days of his career Samuel Hahnemann experienced great success in the treatment in acute diseases but as early as 1816 he was becoming concerned because the constitutional health of his patients seemed to be slowly declining. His search for a deeper understanding of the processes that lie behind chronic disease was prompted because of the fact that even though he prescribed medicines according the similimum principles they were often less and less effective as the patient experienced relapse of illness. In 1828 he published 'The Chronic Diseases, Their Peculiar Nature and their Homeopathic Cure', commonly known as The Chronic Diseases, and this was followed in 1829 by its philosophical counterpart the 4th edition of Organon. In these works Hahnemann made public for the first time his theory of the chronic miasms, a concept that remains controversial to this day - even among homoeopaths.

Miasms as a concept of first cause.

The word 'miasm' is derived from the Greek word meaning taint. During the 18th century it was a common belief that miasms were impure airs or 'myres' that were partly responsible for the spread of disease. While Hahnemann may have subscribed in part to these theories, by the late 1790s he had realized that syphilis was an infectious blood disease that could 'mask' itself with the symptoms of other illnesses. Also, early in his career Hahnemann suggested that certain skin eruptions were being caused by microscopic "miasmic animalcule" ('little animals' - after the observations of 18 th

century Dutch naturalist, van Leeuwenhoek, who invented the microscope. In addition Hahnemann began to develop a materia medica and repertory for the treatment of chronic as well as acute illness, and postulated that miasmic taint was present not only in the individual who suffers a disease, but also in the generations of people who may follow from that time. It is these distinctions made by Hahnemann, between chronic and acute causation in illness which Little draws attention to as follows;

"It is sometimes thought that Hahnemann taught that all long-lasting diseases are caused by chronic miasms. This is not the total picture. In the Organon he mentions three classifications of long lasting disease,



those caused by continuing stress factors (disorders upheld by maintaining causes which by their nature are not necessarily true chronic disorders aph.73),

those caused by drug toxicity and faulty treatment (physician caused Aph.74.),

and those caused by infectious miasms (naturally caused Aph.78)."

In addition one may compare those aspects of miasmatic taint which are enduring with those which are limited (or self-limiting) And equally, the an episode of venereal or non-venereal disease if treated appropriately, according to homoeopathic principles, should result in no taint remaining to progress during the individual's lifetime. Koehler (1986) offers a simple yet illustrative comparative frame:

(from Koehler, Gerhard, (1986) The Handbook of Homoeopathy)

Hahenmann's miasmic theory associated with chronic disease contained two venereal and two non-venereal miasms that might lead to life-long chronic disease. The two non-venereal miasms are Psora (the itch disease) and Pseudo-psora (the tubercle disease). The two venereal miasms are Sycosis (the fig wart diseases) and Syphilis (the chancre disease). He also gave details on how to uncover and treat miasmatic illness (Aph. 204-209) and hinted at the possibility of other chronic miasms being uncovered through research (Aph.103), the need for which he continued to emphasise in his writings It should be noted that, parallel to these theoretical observations, Hahnemann was developing his practice experience of delivering



treatment in ever-smaller amounts (potencies) (Organon 4th ed. onward) and the excellent results which followed. During Hahnemann's lifetime for example, the metal mercury was used in the treatment of syphilis. He soon found that Mercury in homeopathic potency worked much better on syphilis than the crude poisonous form and in his records he notes several permanent cures (Handley).



The Miasms & their chief characteristics

"The very earmarks of the various stagmata show their respective characters. The psoric itches, and appears unclean and unwashed. The syphilitic ulcerates, and the bony structure is changed. The sycotic infiltrates, and (the body) is corroded by its discharges." 1

Hahnemann's Chronic Diseases essentially defines basic types of physical and emotional imbalance; disease is a deviation from being in a state of internal and external harmony. In his Theory of Chronic Disease he initially indicated three discernible types of miasmic taint; Psora, Sycosis & Syphilis -

Psora"…the internal itch dyscrasia (the psora) is far the most frequent fundamental cause of chronic diseases." Aph. 206

Psora represents functional weakness.Hypertrophy, HypertensionBasic Principles: Deficiency

The skin is the largest single organ in the body and is intimately linked with the immune system. The doctrine of psora is a constitutional view of how the immune system responds to infectious diseases of the skin, especially when they are suppressed. The term itself, was not invented by Hahnemann. It is derived from the Greek and superficially equated with scabies although it has a more profound meaning.

"The terms, Psora and scabies (itch), are much older then Hahnemann and homoeopathy. To equate the modern term '"scabies acari" with the Greek naturalist's Psora and the itch diathesis is a grand mistake. The first recorded usage of "Psora agria" and "scabies jugis" was by the Alexandrine translators who had a much wider definition than the modern term for scabies acari. Many have attacked the Psora teachings and used the term, scabies, to try and debunk Hahnemann. Dr. Hahnemann was well aware of both the presence of mites and microorganisms as he included them as carriers of the primary infection of the psoric miasm. "2

The deficiency state is due to inadequate utilisation in the mineral metabolism. Suppression of skin eruptions activates the particular disposition, shifting to respiratory disorders or gastrointestinal disease.

1 See Bibliography, Herbert Roberts. P.2182 See Bibliography, Little



Sycosis

Sycosis represents imbalances resulting from infiltration and proliferation.Hypertrophy, HypertensionBasic Principle: Excess

Hahnemann named the gonorrhoea miasm Sycosis, after the Greek word for the "fig". He also appreciated that Sycosis, closely relate to sequealae of the gonorrhoeal infection, is perhaps the most 'stubborn' of the miasms to dispel.

"For it is hardly ever possible to destroy the whole of the many-formed sycotic miasma by the use of Thuja alone, just as a little as Sulphur alone can destroy psora or Quicksilver can destroy syphilis and its manifold sequel by itself alone."3

Others too, commented on the manifold characteristics of sycosis. Little, referring also to Kent says:

Hahnemann was well aware that there were two forms of gonorrhoea miasm, one acute and self-limiting in nature, and the other chronic in its tendency. Kent determined that there were three type of gonorrhoea of which two were infectious miasms and one was not. The first is a simple non-infectious inflammatory gonorrhoea while the second a self-limiting acute miasm that did not tend to produce a chronic syndrome. The third is an infection with the sycotic miasm, which has the potential to produce a chronic disease with secondary and tertiary states, especially when suppressed. The non-suppressed primary infection of sycosis has four phases, the initiatory, inflammatory, the receding, and the stage of gleet. All of these phases may be complicated with chronic sequels.4

The sycotic mode of reaction is provoked by gonorrhoea, chronic pelvic inflammations, cumulative sequelae of vaccination, injection of foreign protein, excessive food intake, blood transfusions, suppression of warts and cysts. The diagram which follows might be

3 One needs to note that the Masters didn't always agree with one another -vis. Kent when he writes about Syphilis: "Hahnemann made the mistake, and many homoeopaths have done likewise, of not distinguishing between chancroid and chancre, which fact accounts for some of his reports of cases cured very speedily with Merc. 30. The distinction between chancroid and chancre had not been made in Hahnemann's day. The cures with a dose of Mercury are not cures of the syphilitic miasm."

4 See Bibliography, Kent



said to be illustrative of how, following an earlier (generational or inter-generational) exposure and suppression of the gonorrhoeal infection, those aspects of sycotic miasm might manifest themselves in other forms and again become suppressed through inappropriate treatment to further root this miasmatic state.

Syphilis

Syphilis represents organic lesions with ulceration and tissue destructionDystrophy, DystoniaBasic Principle: Destruction

Syphilis is a comparatively modern disease and, writes Roberts, it is the basis of many constitutional troubles. The disease itself was well-rooted and established as endemic in the population5. Kent comments on the stages of the disease before suppression may result in a syphilitic miasm, thus;

5 See Bibliography, Roberts



"The general course of syphilis is:

Primary Stage. 1st. Chancre. 2nd. Buboes (Boils)Secondary Stage. 3rd. Skin affections, maculae and others eruptions.

4th. Ulcers in the throat. 5th. Loss of hair.

Tertiary Stage. Nerve and bone affections.

The disease may be suppressed in the first stage and remain latent for some time."6

Should a suppression or inheritance cause the appearance of the syphilitic miasm then its character may be differentiated in a number of ways. In overview, Roberts adds,

"It has been said that the patient afflicted with the syphilis taint suffers from structural changes; yet the emotional sphere in the purely syphilitic patient is not seriously affected. For this reason, in the syphilitic person we find less subjective symptoms; there is little of the super sensitiveness and less desires cravings and longings than the psoric patient; the mental sphere has not been so much invaded, for the syphilitic stigma is not so thoroughly established through untold centuries of time as the psoric, and because it is not so thoroughly a part of the very essence of man's spirit we have a far better chance to eradicate the dyscrasia."7

Congenital and acquired syphilis will trigger this mode of reaction. There may also be a family history of malignant tumours, blood disease, degenerative nervous disease, psychosis, alcoholism, and suicide.

6 See Bibliography, Kent7 See Bibliography, Roberts



Psora, Sycosis, Syphilis: Synopsis of Mental & Emotional Miasmic Reactions

(from Koehler, Gerhard, (1986) The Handbook of Homoeopathy)



Tuberculosis

Hahnemann introduced the idea of the miasm in 1829. At that time he mentioned psora, sycosis, and syphilis. Later in his life he found that some cases of disease carried a symptom picture that appeared to be Psora, and yet did not depend exclusively on an external skin eruption for their development. He observed that this disease was infectious in nature and possessed primary, latent, and secondary symptoms as well as inherited aspects. He decided that it was caused by a miasmic agent with a distinct aetiology so he separated its symptoms from Psora and made a new classification called the Pseudo-psora, or what has come to be known as the TB miasm.

Modern medical research has established that the stress caused by poor social conditions, poor nutrition, acute infectious diseases, and heredity produce stresses in the immune system which greatly increasing the susceptibility to TB infection. The incidence of TB, far from declining, is exploding exponentially all over the western world, and there is a clear-cut association between the presence of the disease and poverty. One of the more disturbing trends is the rapidly growing resistance of this bacteria to antibiotic treatment. The most common form of the disease appears in the lungs although it may also spread to other parts of the body.

In Hahnemann's time the disease also grew to epidemic proportions as 'consumption'. David Little remarks that ' Hahnemann looked on pseudo-psora as a heightened form of the psora because it over stimulates the vital force, the endocrine glands, and the nervous system much in the same manner'. A constitution with the inherited TB miasm is especially susceptible to acute miasms that affect the eyes, ear, nose, throat, glands, and respiratory tract. Those with a TB constitution often experience dangerous complications to the common acute miasms of childhood, such as measles, mumps, and chickenpox. Pseudo-psora is very destructive to the bodily structures as well as the inner organs and mucus membranes.



A synopsis of signs and symptoms8.

(From Koehler, Gerhard, (1986) The Handbook of Homoeopathy)

8 See Bibliography, Koehler



Modern Miasms

Several generations of Homeopaths have now taken up the work n the chronic miasms that Samuel Hahnemann began in 1828. Certain editions and corrections were made by the likes of Baron Von Boenninghausen, Constantine Hering, & James Tyler Kent to mention a few. The syndromes related to the chronic miasms Psora, Tuberculosis, Sycosis and Syphilis, have all expanded and the symptomatology increased, and the work continues, with the case being argued and developed for cancer, AIDS and even the ill-health sequelae of vaccination as distinct miasmic reactions.

Cancer

Despite the fact that most people now view most cancers as treatable, if detected early enough, and the great silence which once accompanied a diagnosis of cancer is gone forever, the combination of chemotherapy and surgery has not held back the disease complex in any way. Projected figures in the United States say that 50% of all adult males and one-third of all adult females will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. The emerging view among many practitioners of homeopathy is that cancer in its multiple guises constitutes a miasm of the modern age.

In the history of homoeopathy also, many of the otherwise eminent practitioners viewed cancer cure as a dismal prospect. Under the heading; Why is cancer incurable, Kent (Lesser Writings) remarked:

"It is true that in some cases (of cancer) there are hold-over symptoms enough to lead to the remedy, but in most cases there is nothing discoverable but the malignant growth and its associated features of hardness, stinging pains, ulceration, enlarged glands and the tendency to involve the surrounding parts in its own development. A neophyte could say that such a growth is malignant, without the aid of a microscope. Then, in most cases, the paucity of symptoms is the present state of the situation."9

It is the absence of symptoms, particularly the differentiated 'mentals' oh homeopathy, coupled with the presence of gross pathology that led to Kent's readily admitted experience of few cancer successes;

" The cancer is the ultimate. The symptoms from the first are the outward image of the patient. If they have been suppressed or changed by drugs that are not homoeopathic, there is nothing left

9 See Bibliography, Kent



for the homoeopath to do and the surgeon can do no better. Palliation and prolonging life are not curing…. Pathological conditions, as also the patient, are incurable when there are no signs and symptoms, and so long as there are no signs and symptoms these remain incurable. In proportion as the pathology progresses the signs and symptoms decrease." While it must be held as a tenet of classical treatment principles that any remedy will assist in the treatment of cancer if it is the similimum for the total 'picture', the remedy carcinosinum, first prepared by Foubister 50 years ago10, has gradually found its place in the homeopath's armamentarium, chiefly as a nosode, used to treat a genetic predisposition to cancer. Bailey11, argues for a place of note in the use of the nosode in the treatment of the Cancer Constitution1, while acknowledging that one of the reasons homeopaths have been slow to realise a clear constitutional description is that 'individuals of markedly differing personalities belong to the one type, making it difficult to characterise the mental picture'. Because 'genetics' alone cannot account for the onslaught of the cancer epidemic, other aspects of mental and physical toxicity and environmental stress have contributed to a symptom picture finding use for remedies such as cadmium sulphuratum, Conium, Arsenicum, Phytolacca, and Hydrastis. In short, although there is growing weight of experience to corroborate the emergence of a distinctive cancer miasmic taint, whether or not this is so, Carcinosinum manifests a constitution which is, as Sankaran12 points out, striking in its symptomatology blend:

10 See Bibliography, Foubister11 See Bibliography, Bailey (p.1)12 See Bibliography, Sankaran



AIDS

AIDS could be said to provide a logical development in the history of medicine. The collapse of the immune system from an overload of toxic interference in the form of pharmacotherapeutics. The search for the 'magic bullet' by conventional medicine has rebounded on this occasion, since none of the medical drugs being used can unambiguously transform the course of the disease, proving palliation rather than cure. Jonathan Stallick observes that 'if AIDS is the latest product of this process, then we can only recoil in dread at what the next step could be'.13

Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome was first diagnosed in the early 1980's as a clinical phenomenon. When eventually the presence of HIV was detected in most (but not all!)14 sufferers, the virus was considered to be guilty of cause by association. Not everyone agrees with the findings. In his thesis about the causal link between AIDS and syphilis, Harris coulter remarks that the 13 See Bibliography, Stallick, (p.2) 14 See Bibliography, Coulter



dispute over the illness is the continuation of a quarrel as old as bacteriology. " Louis Pasteur's nineteenth century feud with Antoine Bechamp was the beginning of a continuing clash between those who stress the overriding significance of the bacterium, virus, or 'germ' as the disease 'cause', and those who emphasise that no microbe infects every person exposed to it."15

The experts say HIV causes AIDS. Coulter disputes this and links the syndrome to the miasmic, immunosuppressive sequelae of inappropriately treated syphilis, adding that "The immune system cannot be suppressed and undermined indefinitely without a price being paid. AIDS is the last stop on the line. The chickens have come home to roost." In effect he holds the view, as do others, that as a consequence of bad therapeutic management, the life-force is assaulted and a new miasm is emerging from the AIDS-Syphilis Syndrome.

The homoeopathic treatment of those who have immuno-suppressed systems is drawing attention to those medicines traditionally employed with the syphilitic miasm, namely Mercurius, Arsenicum album, Sulphur and Nitricum Acidum. Again, while caution must be applied to the idea of using specifics, hope is now present that the therapeutics of homoeopathy applied in a principled way can provide a life-force enhancing alternative to conventional treatment.

15 See Bibliography, Stallick (p. 9) 1 Bailey, P. (1998) Carcinosinum. A Clinical Materia Medica.



Vaccinosis

Vaccinosis is the gereral term used to describe chronic disease caused by vaccines. Richard Moskovitz, an American Homeopathic Physician who researches the efficacy and impact of vaccination through reports of disturbing case histories has developed a clear position of scepticism of the process: "Vaccines have become sacraments of our faith in biotechnology in the sense that :

1) their efficacy and safety are widely seen as self-evident and needing no further proof; 2) they are given automatically to everyone, by force if necessary, but always in the name of the public good; and 3) they ritually initiate our loyal participation in the medical enterprise as a whole. They celebrate our right and power as a civilization to manipulate biological processes ad libitum and for profit, without undue concern for or even any explicit concept of the total health of the populations about to be subjected to them. "

Among the many indications of ailments following vaccination is the notion that the patient expresses, of 'never been well since..' This syndrome can often be trace backward to a specific drug treatment or immunization. If the aetiological aspects but there are few symptoms to complete a picture, a homoeopathic preparation of the vaccine may antidote its worst consequences and move the individual toward cure or bring out the older symptoms so that a more complete remedy may be chosen. Also the great anti-sycotic Thuja is employed in this form of treatment when indicated by the totality of symptoms. In fact one, has to wonder if the following rubric may not prove in future to be a most useful form of assistance to treatment in completing a cure which the otherwise well-selected constitutional cannot achieve because of the effects of vaccination:

Murphy - Diseases

VACCINATIONS, ailments, after (38)

2 acon, 2 ant-t, 2 apis, 2 ars, 2 bell, 1 bufo, 2 calc, 3 CARC, 1 crot-h, 1 echi, 1 graph, 1 hep, 1

kali-chl, 2 kali-m, 1 lac-v, 3 MALAND, 2 merc, 1 merc-s, 3 MEZ, 2 ped, 2 per, 1 phos, 1 plan,

2 psor, 1 puls, 1 rhus-t, 1 sabin, 1 sarr, 3 SARS, 1 sep, 3 SIL, 1 skook, 3 SULPH, 1 syc-co, 3

THUJ, 3 TUB, 3 VAC, 2 vario



Summary of Chief Miasmatic Remedies

"All chronic diseases of mankind, even those left to themselves, not aggravatedby a perverted treatment, show, as said, such a constancy and perseverance,that as soon as they have developed and have not been thoroughly healed bythe medical art, they evermore increase with the years, and during the whole ofman's lifetime; and they cannot be diminished by the strength belonging evento the most robust constitution. Still less can they be overcome andextinguished. Thus they never pass away of themselves, but increase and areaggravated even till death. They must therefore all have for their origin andfoundation constant chronic miasms, whereby their parasitical existence in thehuman organism is enabled to continually rise and grow."

Samuel HahnemannChronic Diseases

Eugenio Candegabe has given us an insight which is useful in helping to appreciate that symptoms are an expression of, as he terms it, 'a vital phenomenon, as dynamic and three-dimensional as the world we live in." To characterise any one homoeopathic remedy as only anti-psoric, anti-sycotic, or anti-syphilitic, is limiting the understanding of that expression in a uni-dimensional views. All of the medicines used in homoeopathy carry a 'band-width' of medicinal properties, which is only better understood in the practice of the discipline. For example of Lycopodium he says, "Lycopodium's aversion to company could be considered to be psoric when it reflects his feelings of incompetence, sycotic when seen as a way of hiding his weakness in order to muster his forces and win some victory, and decidedly syphilitic when coupled with a feeling of complete failure, total indifference to everything, and weariness of life."

The Use of Anti-Miasmatic Remedies

All of the deeper acting remedies have been credited with anti-miasmatic properties, ever since Hahnemann recognised the relationship between psora and Sulphur. While any remedy in homoeopathy chosen according to the principle of 'similia similibus curentur' can therapeutically address the deficiencies, excesses and destructive aspects of the diseased



state, it is both possible and desirable to treat on a miasmatic level by employing remedies that are similar to the miasm, as well as the symptoms. Indeed for a period in his own practice in Paris, Hahnemann appears to have held the view that it was necessary to treat virtually every chronic case with Sulphur at the outset, to deal with the predominance of psoric miasma is encountered.

The list that follows therefore is not an attempt to limit the possibilities of understanding the uses of remedies, but just an outline of significant remedy- characteristics in the context of miasmic expression of chronic illness, and while it contains some of the major remedies such as Calcarea Carbonica, Sulphur and the rightly-praised Lycopodium, it is important to remember that those infrequent remedies, sometimes referred to as 'small', may in their own right constitute the similimum which is of equal importance to any of the polycrests, when it is chosen and applied according to the symptom totality.

List of most commonly used Anti-miasmatic remedies

Nosodes

The advent of Hahnemann's Doctrine of the Miasms caused great interest in the chronic diseases and their anti-miasmatic remedies. One of the direct consequences of the publication of The Chronic



Diseases (1828) was the development of the use of miasmic organisms as potentized homeopathic remedies for the treatment and prevention of disease. The five major miasmatic nosodes are Psorinum, Medorrhinum, Syphilinum, Tuberculinum and Carcinosin (which came much later). Hahnemann seemed to be unhappy at the notion of using disease products or constituents for the treatment of illness. In footnotes to Aphorism 56 in the 6th ed. Organon, following criticism of the palliative method of treatment, "Contraria contrariis" further wrote:

- A third mode of employing medicines in diseases has been attempted to be created by means of Isopathy, as it is called - that is to say, a method of curing a given disease by the same contagious principle that produces it. But even granting this could be done, yet, after all, seeing that the virus is given to the patient highly potentized, and consequently, in an altered condition, the cure is effected only by opposing a simillimum to a simillimum. - To attempt to cure by means of the very same morbific potency (per Idem) contradicts all normal human understanding and hence all experience. Those who first brought Isopathy to notice probably thought of the benefit which mankind received from cowpox vaccination by which the vaccinated individual is protected against future cowpox infection and as it were cured in advance. But both, cowpox and smallpox are only similar, in no way the same disease. In many respects they differ, namely in the more rapid course and mildness of cowpox and especially in this, that is never contagious to man by more nearness. Universal vaccination put an end to all epidemics of that deadly fearful smallpox to such an extent that the present generation does no longer possess a clear conception of the former frightful smallpox plague.

- Moreover, in this way, undoubtedly, certain diseases peculiar to animals may give us remedies and thus happily enlarge our stock of homœopathic remedies.

- But to use a human morbific matter (a Psorin taken from the itch in man) as a remedy for the same itch or for evils arisen therefrom is ---- ?

- Nothing can result from this but trouble and aggravation of the disease.

Notwithstanding any of the above, however, it seems that shortly after Hahnemann published his chronic disease theory, Hering performed the first proving of Psorinum on himself. It was Hering's idea to use miasmic agents as a potentized remedy. He is responsible for greatly expanding the materia medica of homeopathy and adding seven (7) new categories of potentized remedies16.

1. The use of poisons taken from insects, snakes, and other venomous creature (Animal poisons).

2. The use of remedies made from miasmas (Nosodes).

3. The introduction of potentized miasmas and morbid secretions taken directly from the patient's body (Auto-nosodes).

4. The use of homologous organs, tissue and secretions (Sarcodes).

16 Lectures on the Theory & Practice of Homoeopathy, R.E. Dudgeon, B.Jain Publishers (P) Ltd, Lecture VI, Isopathy, pages 141-175



5. The use of potentized miasmic products nosodes for the prevention of infectious diseases (Nosode Homeoprophylaxis)

6. The use of chemical and nutritional elements innate to the human organism (Chemical and elemental relationships)

7. The use of potentized genus groups as curative and preventatives remedies for individuals, groups, and habitats. Hering suggests potentized seed of weeds or dangerous plants to eradicate and destroy those plants and potentized insects or animals to remove and prevent infestations of dangerous species (Isodes).

Hering also acknowledged that he never succedded in curing, only ameliorating diseases with their own morbid products. Significant in this context is their use as intercurrents. The proper use of a nosode, drug or vaccine in potency is homoeopathic when integrated into proper constitutional case management.

Selecting a remedy

"What do we require in order to take a case? Knowledge of Material Medica and Repertory, of miasms, psychology and pathology? In fact we are required to be fools, to know nothing. That is why Hahnemann wrote that disease requires individualisation. It actually demands nothingness which is freedom from prejudice, and sound senses."

The Spirit of Homoeopathy R. Sankaran, P. 34

Ultimately, the miasmatic significance of the symptoms in the case will become apparent in receiving the case - by virtue of the unfolding of the person's story. The medical history, with details of vaccinations, suppressive drug treatments, hereditary factors, etc., will give an indication of the predominating miasms in the patient's past and present, but more importantly, it is the mental attitude, hopes, desires and ambitions, that will reveal the extent of the influence of a given miasm on the person himself.

In other words the decision to describe a certain case as psoric, sycotic or syphilitic will inevitably depend as much on 'meaning' of the symptoms in the context in which they occur, as the deficiencies and excesses, which accompany them. Candegabe offers the following comment:

"…it follows that a group of apparently sycotic symptoms, such as meticulous attention to detail, amelioration by occupation and intolerance of contradiction, will not by itself convey the picture of a remedy, unless the symptoms are expressed in terms of the fundamental cause." (.17)



Conclusion

This brief article examined the Hahnemannian concept of Miasms and describes the distinguishing characteristics of the four main miasmatic states, Psora, Sycosis, Syphilis and Tuberculosis, together with the proposition of emerging AIDS, Cancer and Vaccinosis Miasms. While Homeopathic medicine represents the second-most widely used modality in the world, modern allopathic medicine with all of its technological armory has chosen for now to dismiss its message. This, despite the fact that when one considers the evidence, Samuel Hahnemann provided a comprehensive descriptive epidemiological framework long before the emergence of that specialism. If one investigates modern epidemiology one finds that there are six categories of infections; bacterial, fungal, rickettsial, chlamydial; viral and parasitical. Surveyed from a homoeopathic point of view, these diseases fall easily into Hahnemann's classification of the acute and chronic miasms. According to David Little, The grand epidemic diseases that have affected the worldwide population for 100's of years are still psora (skin infection and their sequels), pseudo - psora (TB), sycosis (gonorrhoea), syphilis, AIDS and certain cancers. Cancer is a final state, which may be caused by viruses, carcinogenic substances, and mixed miasms or a mixture all three combined. Cancers such as leukaemia and Hodgkin's Disease are specific cancer miasms as they are related to viruses. Most fungal infections of the lungs find a perfect "soil" for their development in those suffering from TB miasm. Sexual disease such as venereal chlamydia, genital candidiasis, genital warts, trichomoniasis all find their perfect soil in the sycotic taint.

The concept and its application continues to remain far-reaching in its use and in its potential.

___



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A Description of Homeopathic Miasms

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