Capsicuum annuum Anhängsel

‡ Folgendes hat anthroposofische Einschlüsse ‡

The rich vitamin content of the Caps. fruits (vitamin C/beta-ascorbic acid) may well have a bearing on its former use, in substantial amounts, for reduced resistance to infections, marasm and dysentery, but for the use of Caps. potencies a vitamin substitution can hardly be considered. The chief active principle of Caps. is capsaicin. This is no true alkaloid, but an acid amide, a combination of vanillyl amide with dimethylnonenylic acid.

Capsaicin is a strong irritant for the skin and mucosa. It appears to stimulate first of all the sensory receptors, and particularly those for the sensation of warmth. Hence the characteristic burning of Caps. at any site where it comes in contact with tissues. This is followed by a reflector hyperemia and this again is characterized in that the expansion of the capillaries relaxation of the small vessels persists for a long time. The vessels can then no longer adapt themselves to cold stimuli, hence the general sensation of chilliness and great sensitivity to cold. The contrast with the saponine action of Dulc., where increased secretion stands in the foreground, is obvious.

As to the use of Caps. plasters as a derivative counter irritant for rheumatism, synovitis, chilblains and occasionally also for bronchitis and bronchiolitis, nothing further need be said. Lyon: alcoholism; relieves the dyspeptic symptoms with morning sickness and the craving itself. It is also maintained that Caps. has a calming and hypnotic action in the early stages of delirium tremens; the provings show trembling and disturbances of sleep, but no hallucinations. Possibly the alkaloid of which no details are known may play a part.

But it is capsaicin which is responsible for the main actions of Caps. Wherever this peppery principle passes the mucosa it produces a burning, hot sensation, and a dryness which in turn gives rise to spasms. On elimination through the urine the bladder is irritated until there is tenesmus, the urge to urinate is strong but ineffectual. A sharp burning passes along the urethra and concentrates particularly on the urethral orifice; if the irritation is continuous a state of near-paralysis arises. I have found Caps. particularly helpful for ectropium of the female urethral orifice which can bring with it a distressing irritation. A good indication is chronic urethritis, either non-specific or following gonorrhea, if there is more irritation than secretion: a small amount of creamy secretion is discharged with sharp burning and great urging and cramp-like erection, so-called chords. If the bladder is involved the severe tenesmus points to Caps. Caps. seems to be less indicated for the acute initial state of an infection, and rather more when the blood vessels and thus the mucosa are already lax from earlier attacks and a relapse of irritation and inflammation supervenes.

Sharp burning and tenesmus indicate Caps. also for hemorrhoids, particularly if they occur together with the same symptoms from the urinary passages. In such cases the symptoms of irritation are aggravated by the passage of stools. A small amount of slimy secretion, but sometimes also bleeding from the relaxed mucosa serve as a further indication. The old-established indication of Caps. for dysentery with violent tenesmus has been give a special note by the provings: after every stool there is thirst and if this is slaked with cold water intense shivering will follow. This latter modality is given as a general characteristic of Caps.: after cold drinks shivering starts between the shoulders, runs down the back and spreads over the whole body. That is but an example of the great sensitivity to cold: cold draft aggravates pain, cough and other complaints, and is anxiously avoided. In this one can see the lack of adaptability to cold on the part of the relaxed and widened capillaries and arterioles. A particular aggravation from cold wetness, as in the case of Dulc., has not been noted for Caps.

The irritation of the upper respiratory passages is characterized by dryness of the mucosa. The cough arising from this is explosive, shaking, it causes pain not only in the throat and chest but also in more distant parts, such as bursting headaches, pressing earaches, shooting pains into the extremities, especially along the sciatic nerve. Here again cold aggravates, and that applies also to a dry laryngitis with hoarseness. In general the attacks of coughing are also worse after lying down, at night, in bed. The provings also record dyspnea, a feeling of fullness and distension in the chest and constriction worse from movement. But Caps. has no indications for humid asthma like Dulc. On the other hand, a tendency of the dry hyperemia of the respiratory mucosa towards ulceration can be inferred from the following symptoms in Hahnemann's proving: "Me cough expels an evil-smelling breath from the mouth. The breath coming from the lungs on coughing produces a strange, repugnant taste in the mouth“. In fact, Caps. has been used successfully in bronchitis foetida and even for lung abscesses.

Another strange observation in the proving has led to the frequently successful use of Caps. for impending mastoiditis: a swelling over the petrous bone behind the ear which is painful on touch. That was probably only an intercellular inflammation of the type which has been seen in one case described in the literature of lethal poisoning from Caps.; there the swellings appeared on the cheeks, ears and back of the neck after papular eruptions had changed into vesicles. One can merely guess why the tympanum and the petrous bone should be sites of preference for the action of Caps. The lax, spongy mucous membrane attached directly to the periost of the mastoid and with a wide capillary bed may well be predisposed for the irritating action of capsaicin.

The widening and relaxation of the capillaries through Caps. may persist and leave circumscribed areas of redness on the cheeks, the nose or ears. The dilatation of the small blood vessels remains even under the influence of cold, hence the red areas on the face present a contrast to the chilliness and frostiness of the Caps. type. Relaxation of tissues generally is characteristic of the constitutional type. Hahnemann already noted that Caps. was less suitable for persons of a tense fibre. The cold, flabby type with circumscribed redness of the cheeks has been described by later authors as sluggish, indolent, fat--probably with some measure of poetic license. It certainly is not a stipulation for the effectiveness of Caps. in the well-defined pathological conditions in which mostly low potencies are used.

Stiffness and pain in muscles and joints and along nerves also appear frequently in the provings; they are said to be worse when starting to move, better with continued movement, similar to Dulc. Caps. has, however, been little used in this direction.

A number of mental symptoms have also come out in the Caps. provings: changeable mood, peevish, sullen, timid, indifferent; also offish and even obstinate, carping, taciturn, withdrawn; fearful and sentimental. One prover states that such moods were not over persons or moral issues, but over lifeless objects, having no relation to ordinary causes or events. From this wide scale of unease towards the environment, home-sickness has been picked out as a particular indication for Caps.; not exactly a complaint for which our medical aid is very often demanded. I do not know whether any remarkable successes have been scored with Caps. in this field. And when some authors phrased the indication "home-sickness with red cheeks" one really does not know whether they wanted to make a laughing stock of themselves or of the homeopathic materia medics.

Caps. annuum, paprika

Difficulty in coming upright, proliferation of the herb, and a strong flowering process, pendant flowers and elongated fruits ( these are also features of the paprika plant. The abundant foliage is a glossy dark green, and the leaves are happiest in the hot sun. The light-colored, shallow flowers shelter from the light, nodding, and the fruits, their color ranging from yellow to red and purple and even almost black, are half hidden in the shade of the leaves. These fruits are not just swelling like those of the tomato; they are bloated, blown up, not juicy but downright airy fruits. They have taken hold of the airy element and made it part of themselves. More than that, they also incorporate the fire-qualities of high summer, qualities of vital importance to a child of the tropics. The forces of astralization which have by now become familiar to us in our study of the Solanaceae, take hold of the etheric, vegetative element with air and fire. It is not surprising, then, to find a specific substance containing nitrogen in this plant. This substance, capsaicin, makes the fruit hot to the taste and gives it its vesicant properties, producing blisters similar to burns. It will energetically fire metabolism, and produce inflammation. Being one of the Solanaceae, Caps. also acts on the astral body in muscular rheumatism, when it is gripping the muscle as in spasm; Caps. annuum will relax this grip and thereby relieve pain.

The fruit contains much vitamin C and provitamin A (carotene), so that it is of particular dietary value if eaten raw.

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