 A fascinating article appeared in my inbox the other day, a guest writer for The Free Press Substack wrote an article titled, “The Humans Who Live as Lab Rats.” As the title implies, it’s a look into the people who are clinical trial “professionals.” How do conventional drug trials relate to homeopathy? Well, interesting you should ask. Samuel Hahnemann, the man who thought this whole homeopathy thing up, has been called “the Father of Experimental Pharmacology because he was the first physician to prepare medicines in a specialized way; proving them on healthy human beings, to determine how the medicines acted to cure diseases. Before Hahnemann, medicines were given on speculative indications, mainly on the basis of authority without experimental verification” (Whole Health Now). He was the first to make the provings of medicine a system (Ameke 2007). As noted in The Dynamics and Methodology of Homeopathic Provings (Sherr and National Center For Homoeopathy, 1994), Samuel Hahnemann wrote in his Organon of Medicine: “Therefore medicines, on which depend man’s life and death, disease and health, must be thoroughly and most carefully distinguished from one another, and for this purpose tested by careful, pure experiments on the healthy body for the purpose of ascertaining their powers and real effects, in order to obtain an accurate knowledge of them, and to enable us to avoid any mistake in their employment in diseases, for it is only by correct selection of them that the greatest of all early blessings, the health of the body and of the mind, can be rapidly and permanently restored.” The first remedy that Dr. Hahnemann proved in 1790 was Cinchona bark, or Peruvian bark, also known as quinine and known homeopathically also as China. (I think it’s important to note that Hahnemann had a history of malaria and therefore may have had a possible sensitivity to Cinchona bark (Morrell 2023)). It turns out this first proving wasn’t to learn about the medicine, it was to test a claim made by another that Cinchona was a tonic for the stomach. Hahnemann’s theory was that Cinchona “acts in malaria because in healthy people it can produce symptoms similar to intermittent fever” (Morrell 2023). He took the Cinchona and “produced in himself the symptoms of intermittent fever” (Morrell 2023). Hahnemann “took for several days four drachms of good cinchona bark twice a day; my feet, finger tips, & etc., first grew cold, I become exhausted and sleepy; then my heart began to palpitate, my pulse became hard and rapid; I had intolerable anxiety, trembling (but not rigor), prostration in all my limbs; then throbbing in the head, flushing of the cheeks, thirst and in short all the ordinary symptoms of intermittent fever appeared one after another, but without actual febrile rigor. In a word, even the special characteristic symptoms of intermittent fever, dullness of the senses, a kind of stiffness of all the joints, and in particular the disagreeable numb sensation which seemed to be located in the periostea covering of all the bones of the body, made their appearance. This paroxysm lasted two to three hours each time and returned when I repeated the dose, otherwise not. On leaving off the drug I was soon quite well” (Ameke 2007). That’s quite a discovery — to find that ingesting a substance can create the symptoms of a disease (in this case malaria) but not actually cause the disease itself. This is how homeopathy was born. This is how “like cures like” came to be. In the beginning of his experimenting, Hahnemann was using crude substances, though often using very small doses. However, in an effort to “make medicine more effective and to reduce the poisonous levels of many common medications that caused as much suffering as the disease being treated,” by 1801 he began diluting his medicines (Feissel 2016). From there, he began adding shaking or succussion to the dilutions and with that, homeopathy as we know it was developed. (For more information on preparing homeopathic remedies.) I have written about Cinchona/China a couple of times previously (Rufus update; Dehydration; Nobody needs; Sun), but let’s take a little closer look at this classic homeopathic remedy. When I think of homeopathic China, the first thing that comes to mind is dehydration and the ill effects thereof. Anytime there has been a loss of vital fluids: blood loss, diarrhea, vomiting, even breast feeding — all of these things take a toll on the body and one may benefit from a dose of homeopathic China. Additionally, a person suffering from prolonged strain or over-work. The second thing that comes to mind for me with China is periodic fevers. During these fevers, the skin may feel sensitive. They may have a red face. They may wish to be uncovered while feverish and they may feel a bit better after eating.
Back to provings… One can participate in formal provings of new, unproven remedies, or, one can conduct their own proving — just to see what happens*. To learn more about how homeopathic provings are conducted:
Homeopath Jeremy Sherr did a blinded, placebo-controlled pilot study to see if homeopathic proving symptoms were a result of local, non-local or placebo process (Walach et al. 2004), if you're interested in taking a look at that. I'm so thankful for Dr. Hahnemann's curiosity and perseverance that led us to have this miraculous system of healing still in place all these years later. Julia Coyte, CHom Classically Practical homeopath #wellnessawaits * “It is true that a small number of provers do not emerge unscathed. Usually these sufferings do not last long, but on rare occasions I have known problems to last for months or even years. This serves to remind us that conducting a proving is no light task and should be undertaken with full care and responsibility” (Sherr and National Center For Homoeopathy, 1994). Reference list:
Ameke, W., 2007. History of Homeopathy, Its Origin & Its Conflicts. B Jain Pub Pvt Limited. European Committee for Homeopathy, 2014. Homeopathic Proving Guidelines [online]. European Committee for Homeopathy, n.d. Provings [online]. The European Committee for Homeopathy. Feissel, J., 2016. Hahnemann’s History of Potentization. The American Homeopath [online], 22–28. Hahnemann, S., n.d. Materia Medica Pura, Volume 1. Memphis, USA: General Books LLC. Integrative Medicine Institute, Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine and Heel GmbH, 2014. A Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled, Homeopathic Drug Proving Using a Crossover Design [online]. clinicaltrials.gov. Morrell, P., 2023. Hahnemann’s First Provings. - Peter Morrell [online]. homeoint.org. Provings.info, 2023. Provings Info [online]. www.provings.info. Sherr, J. and National Center For Homoeopathy (U.S, 1994. The dynamics and methodology of homeopathic provings. West Malvern, England: Dynamis Books. The Field Provings, 2023. Provings [online]. The Field Provings. Walach, H., Sherr, J., Schneider, R., Shabi, R., Bond, A. and Rieberer, G., 2004. Homeopathic proving symptoms: result of a local, non-local, or placebo process? A blinded, placebo-controlled pilot study. Homeopathy: The Journal of the Faculty of Homeopathy [online], 93 (4), 179–185. Whole Health Now, n.d. Samuel Hahnemann, 1755 - 1843, Founder of Homeopathy [online]. www.wholehealthnow.com.
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Rufus’ dollops had literally dropped to nothing for a while. Then there would be another and we repeated the Aloe and they would disappear again. Then, they just kept coming, regardless of what we tried. A package was waiting every morning and sometimes 1 or 2 more times during the day and evening. A change had occurred, though, that could be helpful to finding another remedy. His stools became lienteric. From Merriam Webster: "containing or characterized by the passage of undigested or partially digested food — used of feces or diarrhea." We were literally getting ready to walk out the door for a few days away, so I took a quick look at Murphy’s repertory which shows a couple of possible remedies that fit the idea of both his loose/easy stool as well as lienteric stool. I left 4 bowls of food in the fridge for the dog sitter to give him, each with China officinalis wedged into some pieces of meat. There has not been a dollop since. Not the usual morning offering nor the evening drop off. And, I think he looks a little happier about life. He seems to be sleeping less. He comes to sit by us in the day rather than staying by himself. But, we've been here before… so, stay tuned! I am hopeful but not certain. Cinchona officinalis (or, China officinalis, AKA China, or Peruvian Bark) — from which we get quinine is also the first homeopathic remedy to be “proved” by Samuel Hahnemann. He devised his theory of “like cures like,” then he tried it on himself. Thus he “proved” his theory. (Look for an upcoming article on this topic.) At it’s worst, the Cinchona patient is “despondent, gloomy, has no desire to live, but lacks courage to commit suicide” (Allen 2017, p. 100). Could Rufus have been in that state? Dunno. “Gloomy” could certainly be a word attributed to his disposition recently. Cinchona also has “drawing or tearing; in every joint” (Allen 2005, p. 100). We know he has this going on. You can see it and hear it when he stands up or drops down. Cinchona is an excellent remedy for the elderly, the weak or the recuperating. We believe Rufus to be on the older side. (He has been with us for 5-1/2 years and the vet estimated he was 4 or 5 at that time.) Cinchona is part of the 3rd line Banerji Protocol for Malnutrition with loss of weight (Banerji and Banerji 2013, p. 131). That could fit old Rufus. His harness seems pretty loose these days despite our not altering his diet. When he first joined our family, he was only 85 pounds (and was missing a great deal of his fur, plus mange, plus fleas and yeast infections — I had forgotten how unwell he used to be!) Though the vet recommended a chicken and rice diet for him, we quickly learned that rice was not his friend and he has been grain free ever since and last we checked, he was about 130 pounds. But, there is absolutely no question that he was malnourished upon arrival here. Bone broth has been an amazing thing for this lovely beast and I credit that, along with cell salts and well chosen homeopathic remedies, for getting him back to health. Homeopathy is definitely not an exact science and it is not at all unusual to need to zigzag your way through a case. I hope we are at the end of Rufus’ dollops, but in the event that we are not, I am prepared to follow his symptoms to make sure that his remaining years are as pleasant as possible — for him, and for us! Julia Coyte, CHom classicallypractical.com #wellnessawaits. #homeopathycanhelp Allen, H. C., 2017. Keynotes : rearranged and classified with leading remedies of the materia medica and bowel nosodes including repertorial index. Noida, U.P., India: B. Jain Publishers (P) Ltd.
Banerji, P. and Banerji, P., 2013. The Banerji protocols : a new method of treatment with homeopathic medicines. India: Pratip Banerji. |
Julia Coyte, CHomI am passionate about homeopathy and I love sharing this passion. Having a working knowledge of homeopathy shouldn't be kept a secret. If people have the ability to help themselves, their children and their friends when they have minor ailments, life just gets better for everyone. That is the purpose behind Ruminating on Remedies. Archives
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