This is a fundamental principle of Homeopathy is that it treats the patient as a whole and as an individual. There is no medicine for any particular disease, but there is a medicine for the patient suffering from the disease. ‘the individual, not the disease is the entity’ said the celebrated Sir William Osler.
The homeopath takes into consideration all the symptoms, that distinguish a person as an individual. Even a salesman of ready-made suits must try to fit the ready-made suit. Homeopathy enquires into the details of the patient’s past and family history, his appetite, thirst, bowel habits, sleep, etc., and most importantly his temperament.
It is increasingly acknowledged these days that the mind and body are interlinked. We now see the rapid rise of the holistic concept of disease with an emphasis on its psychosomatic aspect. Hahnemann recognized all this long ago and stressed that bodily and mental symptoms are to be taken together to form the portrait of the disease. The Homeopathics material medica is rich in mental symptoms and we especially use them in the selection of remedies.
The present problem of the patient is not usually an isolated occurrence. It is part of a sequence. The family history and the events through childhood are taken into account as homeopathy treats not only the present symptoms, but the entire sequence, thereby preventing the progress of the disease. Children under homeopathic treatment grow into more healthy adults, they find relief from the scourge of bad inheritance as well.
It has been said that the child is a father of the man. Thus, even in an infant, we can perceive the beginnings of future illness. The infant may perspire so much about its head during sleep as to soak a pillow. Perhaps the fontanelles are slow in closing. The child may be slow in walking and teething and develop the habit of eating mud and chalk. She looks fat, but there is no strength. She may develop enlarged tonsils. She catches colds very often and each cold further enlarges the tonsils. The menses occur too soon and are profuse. She feels cold all the time and lacks energy. Slowly a cough begins and there is the faintest trace of fever. There is a desire for cold milk and eggs. The cough further worsens and the evening fever becomes well-marked, the X-ray shows tuberculosis.
One can see that TB did not appear all at once; it has evolved from childhood. The signs of ill health were all there. They indicate the homeopathic medicine Calcarea carbonica. Had this remedy been given in infancy, the girl would not have developed the later troubles. But it is never too late. Even now Homeopathy will build up her health. In this way, many a problem child has been helped to normalcy by homeopathy.
Good homeopathy learns t perceive disease as a continually evolving process that begins in the womb and unless arrested and cured, end in the tomb. There are many measures to palliate and ease the patient, but the journey continues unless treated on homeopathic principles.
In fact, most, if not all curative therapies (including some forms of psychotherapy, meditation, etc. ) are (consciously or unconsciously) based on the “Similie” principle. The homeopath applies this principle scientifically and systematically using carefully tested medicines.
Sometimes in the course of homeopathic treatment, the history of past illness appears briefly in the reverse order, like a film being played backward. When this happens, we know that not only the present but also its cause in the past has been treated and the future is secure.
To a homeopath, the knowledge of anatomy, physiology, medicine, surgery, and gynecology is necessary since he has to examine the patient and come to a diagnosis. This will help him to know the natural course of the ailment and to manage the case well.
But his most important task is to understand the individuality of each patient fully and correctly, so that he may select the right remedy.
Dr Riffat Nawab Musab 