Miasmen
Anhang
Vergleich:
Carsinosinum - Syphillinum - Tuberculinum – Leprominum
[Roger
Morrison]
Miasm is
staging a comeback. After nearly sinking into oblivion, H.’s concept is
receiving tremendous attention in many locations. Harry van der Zee published
his, Miasms during Labor describing the miasms in terms of Grof’s psychological
insights. Jeremy Sherr recently published his scholarly book, Dynamic Materia
Medica: A Study of the Syphilitic Miasm. Rudolph Ballentine’s new book, Radical
Healing deals mainly with miasm. And Rajan Sankaran has been slowly evolving
his concept of miasm for the past 10 or more years. Why this sudden rebirth of
interest in the concept that H. proposed 175 years ago?
A Little History
H.
published Chronic Diseases in 1828, bringing to the world his theory of miasm.
H. had been grappling with the question of the frequent failure of homeopathy
in chronic conditions. He writes, “Why, then, cannot this vital force,
efficiently affected through Homeopathic medicine, produce any true and lasting
recovery in these chronic maladies even with the aid of the Homeopathic
remedies which best cover their present symptoms…?” (Chronic Diseases) In other
words, H. was searching for the reason that chronic cases relapsed after
benefiting from homeopathic treatment. He says he began to consider this
problem in depth from 1817 or 1817 and after many years of thought and effort he
came to the discovery of miasm, “To discover this still-lacking keystone and
thus the means of entirely obliterating the ancient chronic diseases, I have
striven night and day, for the last four years, and by thousands of trials and
experiences as well as by uninterrupted meditation I have at last attained my
object. Of this invaluable discovery, of which the worth to mankind exceeds all
else that has ever been discovered by me, and without which all existent
Homeopathy remains defective or imperfect, none of my pupils as yet know
anything“. (Letter to Baumgartner) He felt he had unlocked a great truth.
Eventually in 1827 he revealed his theory to
Stapf and
Gross - his two closest students.
H. had a
special understanding of the word miasm. Miasm is understood to be a
derangement of the vital force that predates and is more fundamental than the
current illness the patient suffers from. The job of the physician is to try to
understand the whole of the true disease inside the patient - not just its
current manifestation. To do so he must “find out as far as possible the whole
extent of all the accidents and symptoms belonging to the unknown primitive
malady“.
H. felt
that there were 3 of these primitive maladies: psora, sycosis and syphilis. Of
these 3, he concluded that psora was the most fundamental. “The monstrous
chronic miasm of psora is immeasurably more widespread, and consequently more
significant…“. (Chronic Diseases)
H. believed
that the miasms were contagious and hereditary. Especially psora he believed to
be virulently contagious. “The itch disease is, however, also the most
contagious of all chronic miasmata, far more infectious than the other two
chronic miasmata…. The miama of the itch needs only to touch the general skin
(tender child). As soon as the miasma of itch for example
touches the
hand, in the moment when it has taken effect, it no longer remains local.
Henceforth all washing and cleansing of the spot avail nothing“. (Chronic
Diseases) After the itch appears on the patient, it is almost always suppressed
into the deeper parts of the patient. The symptoms that then occur were
considered by H. to be “secondary” psora.
It was H.’s
opinion that the external manifestation of itch (or other signs of infection in
the other two miasm) came about only after the patient was thoroughly diseased
by the miasm. He felt that the miasmatic infection was communicated almost
instantly to the whole vital force. “The nerve which was first affected by the
miasma, has already communicated it in an invisible dynamic manner to the
nerves of the rest of the body and the living organism has at once, all
unperceived, been so penetrated by this specific excitation that it has been
compelled to appropriate this miasma to itself until the change of the whole
being to a man thoroughly psoric…” (Chronic Diseases) Thus he believed that the
miasm is a dynamic, energetic entity.
After
laying forth these theoretic principles in his Chronic Diseases, H. then goes
on to describe in detail the symptoms of patients infected with each of the 3
miasms.
He
described in detail the known symptoms of syphilis and gonorrhea (which he
connected to figwarts). Then he gave a more in depth description of psora and
its main characteristics.
Today very few
homeopaths have bothered to read the full list of symptoms that H. ascribes to
psora that goes on for over 25 pages. Anyone who has made the effort will admit
that they cannot
keep even a
fraction of this extensive list of symptoms in mind. Some homeopaths (see H. A.
Robert’s Art of Homeopathy) tried to clarify the main symptoms of psora. Most
merely repeated H.’s lists.
It should
be noted that H. and other great homeopaths saw the miasms as a living,
spiritual force. They described especially the Psoric miasm as something malign
and almost consciously destructive of mankind. At other times, homeopathic
authors have declared that the miasms could not have existed if man was not
already himself evil. “Psora is the underlying cause and is the primitive or
primary disorder of the human race. It is a disordered state of the internal
economy of the human race. This state expresses itself in the forms of the
varying chronic diseases, or chronic manifestations. If the human race had
remained in a state of perfect order, psora could not have existed. The
susceptibility to psora opens out a question altogether too broad to study
among the sciences in a medical college. It is altogether too extensive, for it
goes to the very primitive wrong of the human race, the very first sickness of
the human race, that is, the spiritual sickness…” (
But let’s
return to H. and his Chronic Diseases. After laying forth the symptom lists
which would lead us to suspect that a patient is either psoric, sycotic or
syphilitic, H. tries to give us clues as to how to cure the miasm in the
patient. The therapeutics were quite simplified for sycosis and syphilis. H.
states that Thuja is specific for sycosis (that is any patient who is sycotic
should be cured by this remedy). Likewise he felt that Mercurius was specific
for syphilis. However for psora he gives a much more extensive list of remedies
which he called, “antipsorics”. This list of remedies is essentially all of the
remedies found in Chronic Diseases except for Thuja and Mercurius. The remedies
he detailed as antipsorics were:
Agar. Alum. Am-c. Am-m. Anac.
Ant-c. Ars. Aur. Aur-m. Bar-c.
Bor. Calc. Carb-an. Carb-v. Caust. Clem. Coloc. Con. Cupr. Dig. Dulc. Euph.
Graph. Guai. Hep. Iod. Kali-c. Kali-n.
Lyc. Mag-c. Mag-m. Mang. Mez. Mur-ac. Nat-c. Nat-m. Nit-ac. Petr. Ph-ac. Phos. Plat. Sars. Sep.
Sil. Stann. Sulph. Sul-ac. Zinc
From
perusing this list one can easily see that of the 90 some remedies then in use
in homeopathy, many were not included here. These were the remedies which H.
either felt applied to the
“various
acute miasms” (such as Belladonna for Scarlet Fever) or he was uncertain as to
which miasm they applied.
These
undesignated remedies included:
Acon. Ambra. Ang. Arg-n.
Puls. Rheum. Rhus-t. Ruta. Samb. Spig. Spong. Squil. Staph. Stram. Sulph-i. Tarax. Verat.
Verb.
(It is
interesting to note that many of the remedies on this list are considered by
Sankaran as falling into the acute or the typhoid miasms - thus confirming H.’s
excluding them from the chronic miasm list - but more on that later).
H.
instructed to use one of these antipsorics when the case had the features he
had described for psora. Unfortunately, H. never stated explicitly whether a
remedy could belong to more than one miasm - though no remedy is listed as
relating to more than one. Nor did he ever state that the remedies he had
listed as antipsoric were the complete list. Nor did he ever suggest that any
other remedies could apply to the sycotic or syphilitic miasm than Thuja and
Merc. respectively. These missing statements have left the understanding of how
to use the miasmatic concept in some confusion.
One might
suppose that homeopaths throughout the world would have embraced H.’s discovery
and proclamation about the miasms with joy. This was not the case. Perhaps it
was the difficulty in understanding the nature of the psoric miasm from the
long list of symptoms that prevented its use. Certainly many did not see any
practical application of the discovery. Thus the result was that the majority
of the homeopathic world either shrugged their collective shoulders or thought
the 75 year-old master was past his prime.
Hering:
“What important influence can it exert whether a homeopath adopts the theoretic
opinions of H. so long as he holds the principle of the master and the materia
medica of our school. What influence can it have whether a physician adopts or
rejects the psoric theory so long as he searches for the most similar medicine
possible?” This attitude more or less summed up the majority opinion: simply
search for the simillimum and forget the rest.
Boenninghausen:
“And yet the much reviled and ridiculed theory of the 3 miasms laid down by the
founder of our Homeopathy is nothing else than a consequential application of
the doctrine of anamnesis of chronic disease, as this is most plainly laid down
in aphorism 5 and 206 of the Organon (5th edition). It is therefore totally
incomprehensible how this has been so overlooked, unless other, by no means
praiseworthy motives, have been brought into play. For all the fair phrases
about the exact obedience to the fundamental principles of homeopathic Therapy
cannot deceive the experienced practitioner and persuade him that he may at all
times select the most appropriate remedy by means of whole sheets of images of
the disease in which there is nothing therapeutically characteristic”.
“I do not
wish to deny by any means that there may be perhaps beside the 3 above
mentioned anamnestic indications, and beside the medicinal diseases, one or
another additional miasm to which may be ascribed a similar influence upon
health. Nevertheless such a miasm has not so far proved by means of
demonstrative documents and it must therefore be left to future investigation”.
(Allg. Hom. Zeit Vol. 65). Thus Boenninghausen makes two points: First he says
that long lists of symptoms often do not help us to find the simillimum -
something is missing which for him (and H.) is the knowledge of the miasm of
the patient and of our remedies. Second he explicitly states that there may be
other miasms beside the original 3 mentioned by H. which he leaves for future
investigators.
HC Allen
(not Timothy Allen who edited Allen’s Encyclopedia) took H.’s ideas very much
to heart who wrote a 3 volume work entitled, The Chronic Miasms. This work was
to be the first of a series of nearly religious writings and ideas about miasm.
Allen gives and alternate list of symptoms which correspond to the 3 miasms and
an alternate list of the remedies which apply. Thus we see that there was no
uniformity in the view about what symptoms constitute a psoric or sycotic or
syphilitic constitution. There was thus no uniformity about which remedies
belonged to which miasm. Boenninghausen states, “… it is on the other hand not
to be denied that this circumstance has given an additional difficulty to our
practice, as we have not so far any certain signs by which we can distinguish
certainly the domain of the one miasma from that of the other“. (Allg hom Zeit
Vol 65.). Thus theoretic squabbling became the norm. The 1st aphorism was
effectively thrown out of the window as homeopaths argued abstractly about many
facets of miasms.
For example
a fierce debate sprang up about tuberculosis. Some adherents said it was psora
combined with syphilis. Others argued just as certainly that it was sycosis and
syphilis. Almost no one dared to suggest that there might be a miasm that H.
missed. Like many of H.’s other ideas, his pronouncements about miasm became
almost gilded in bronze. No one was allowed to alter or add to his lists of
symptoms or remedies.
There were
some few who tried to improve upon H.’s work on the miasm. For example
Boenninghausen wrote extensively about sycosis, adding many characteristic
symptoms of the miasm (such as the well know characteristic: fixed ideas) as
well as many new remedies to the antisycotic list (incl. Anac. Ant-c. Puls.
Sil. and many others).
Thus we can
see there has been almost no general agreement about the need for the miasmatic
concept nor the characteristics of the various miasms.
Remedies:
The creators of our repertories were those most known for their knowledge and
experience in homeopathy. By looking at the remedies they list for each miasm
we can hope to learn what they thought and how they used H.’s important
discovery. And yet when we look at several important repertories we are struck
by the differences and inconsistencies we find. Below are the rubrics for
sycosis and syphilis from
Generalities;
SYCOSIS: Agar. Alum. Alumn. Anac. Ant-c. Ant-t. Apis, Aran.
Dulc.
Euphr. Ferr. Fl-ac. Graph. Hep. Iod. Kali-c. Kali-s. Lach. Lyc. Mang. Med. Merc. Mez. Nat-s. Nit-Ac.
Petr. Phyt. Puls. Sabin. Sars. Sec. Sel. Sep. Sil. Staph. Sulph. Thuj.
Generalities;
SYPHILIS:
Kali-ar. Kali-bi. Kali-chl. Kali-i. Kali-s. Lach. Led. Merc. Merc-c. Merc-i-f. Merc-i-r. Mez. Nit-ac. Petr. Ph-ac. Phos. Phyt.
Sars. Sil. Staph. Still. Sul-i. Sulph. Syph. Thuj.
When we
examine these two rubrics we see that fully 22 of the 89 remedies listed are in
both rubrics (underlined). Furthermore, compared to H.’s original 48
antipsorics, 31 are listed as either antisycotic or antisyphilitic by
Boenninghausen’s
repertory:
Generalities;
Constitution; PSORIC: Ant-c. Bar-c. Brom. Calc. Calc-p. Carb-an. Carb-v. Cupr.
Graph. Hep. Iod. Kali-i. Lyc. Nat-c. Nat-m. Nit-ac. Petr. Psor. Sil. Sulph.
Tub.
Generalities;
SYCOSIS:
Generalities; SYPHILIS: Am-c. Aur. Carb-an. Cinnb. Iod.
Kali-ar. Kali-i. Kali-s. Merc.
Nit-ac. Phyt. Sars. Sil. Syph. Thuj.
Here we see
there are only 8 remedies double categorized in two miasms - somewhat more
consistent than in
Knerr’s
repertory:
General;
Constitution; PSORIC : Ars-i. Calc. Graph. Hep. Kreos. Psor. Sulph.
General;
Constitution; SYCOTIC: Aran. Aster. Med. Nat-p. Nat-s. Nit-ac. Sars. Thuj.
General;
Constitution; SYPHILITIC : Ars. Asc-t. Aur. Benz-ac. Clem. Cor-r. Crot-h. Cund.
Euph. Ferr-i. Fl-ac. Guai.
Kali-bi. Kali-i. Merc. Merc-c. Merc-d. Merc-i-r. Mez. Nit-ac.
Petr.
Ph-ac. Phos. Phyt. Sars. Sil. Still. Sulph. Syph. Thuj.
If Knerr
has eliminated even more of H.’s original 48 antipsorics, leaving only 4 of the
original remedies. He adds 3 new remedies, of which two were not included by
Boenninghausen. Furthermore, Knerr lists only 8 antisycotic remedies, 3 of
which are not mentioned by Kent or Boenninghausen. He similarly adds 9 remedies
as antisyphilitic which are not listed in Kent or Boenninghausen and does not
list 7 of Boenninghausen’s 15 antisyphilitic remedies at all.
The 3
repertories only concur about 4 antipsoric, 4 antisycotic and 8 antisyphilitic
remedies.
Thus we can
see that there is almost no agreement about which remedies apply to which
miasm.
With all of
this confusion about the meaning of miasms and the remedies that can apply to
the miasms, it is little to be wondered that homeopaths stayed away in droves.
Most practitioners
could not
name more than a handful of remedies that clearly pertained to a specific
miasm. In my own training in homeopathy, we paid very little attention to the
miasm of remedies except
in glaring
cases (that is, if the patient had a history of gonorrhea and recurring gleet
or warts, we would strongly consider Med., Thuj. or Nat-s.). But of those
frequent cases to which Boenninghausen refers as “whole sheets of images of the
disease in which there is nothing therapeutically characteristic” we did not
use and did not know of the tool of miasm. And this was generally true of most
homeopaths from the time of
In 1944 the
renowned Mexican homeopath F. Ortega put forward his concept of miasm. He
maintained the concept of H.’s original 3 miasms (something nice about 3). However
he attempted to make a clear and simple delineation of the mental and physical
characteristics of each miasm, He described the main characteristics of the 3
constitutions in this way:
Psora = inhibition
Sycosis = excess
Syphilis = destruction
The benefit
of this simplified view of the miasm was that the main thrust of the patient
and his constitution could readily be identified much of the time. Thus the
practitioner could readily categorize his patient into one of the groups. The
concept became widely accepted.
There were
many inconsistencies with this concept. For example, the remedy Aur-m-n. had
generally been considered as antisyphilitic was famous for excessive tumor
growth (i.e. sycotic).
The remedy Mercurius
(which is antisyphilitic) is often found to be inhibited in its expressions
(psora) where
Perhaps
more importantly, we still had no clear idea of what constituted a miasm - that
is no clear definition of miasm. And once again we are hampered by the fact
that no consistent agreed upon list exists for which remedies belong to the
miasm.
Vithoulkas
further intellectual progress: there is no reason (echoing the words of
Boenninghausen) that we are limited to 3 miasms. He states that rather than
postulate that tuberculosis is a combination of two miasms, why should it not
represent a 4th chronic miasm. Further, Vithoulkas points out that the first
step should be a clear definition of miasm.
“Based upon
what has been said thus far, we can now present a definition of miasms: A miasm
is a predisposition toward chronic disease underlying the acute manifestations
of illness:
The work of
each successive homeopathic scientist brings further clarification of the basic
concept brought forward by H. Thus.
By the time
of Vithoulkas’ writings we had 3 characteristics for miasm:
Infectious - a miasm must be contagious.
Hereditary - a miasm or the susceptibility to a
miasm must be transmissible from parent to child.
Nosode - a nosode must be obtainable from the
miasmatic disease.
Vithoulkas
stated clearly and for the first time that Tuberculosis was a separate miasm
since it fit all of these criteria. He gave us a means for discovering new
miasms. However he considered miasm as mainly a way of looking deeply at our
science but did not consider the miasm to have tremendous clinical application
except in cases where the miasm was obvious - and not always
then. Thus
by the end of the 1980’s we were pretty much where Hering left us: What
difference does it make since we have to choose the similimum by the symptoms
any way?
Most modern
homeopaths in Europe and
Sankaran:
in the 1990’s made some logical and yet revolutionary steps in the
understanding of miasm. He created a new paradigm for miasm. Specifically he
made 3 rather astonishing postulates:
1) Each
remedy is assigned to a specific miasm and only one.
2) Each
miasm was given extremely clear and tight defining characteristics -- both
physical and mental -- which are readily identifiable in the homeopathic
interview.
3) Each
patient has only one miasm evident at any time.
The value
of these postulates, if correct, is clearly enormous. Most importantly from a
practical standpoint, the ability to eliminate from consideration all but the
remedies assigned to the miasm of our patient is of inestimable value. Just as
we can eliminate all warm-blooded remedies when a patient is very chilly, we
can limit the field of inquiry by knowing the miasm. Furthermore, by knowing
the miasm, we can understand the emphasis of both physical and mental symptoms
for each remedy.
In doing
this, Sankaran and his coworkers assigned to date nearly 250 remedies to
specific miasms - each remedy being assigned to only one miasm. For details of
Sankaran’s work on miasms, refer to his books, System of Homeopathy and Insight
into Plants.
So where do
we stand today in our understanding of miasm? Many homeopathic authorities have
proposed new miasms - exactly as Boenninghausen predicted.
Foubister proposed a cancer miasm in the
1950’s.
In the late 1980’s Vakil proved the remedy
Leprominium.
Sankaran has proposed 4 new miasms - bringing the
total of miasms currently discussed to 10.
He also
added and defined 3 new miasms bringing the total to ten. Here is the list as I
see it at present. The name in parenthesis is the person who first proposed the
miasm as a separate entity:
Acute miasm (H.) - also called the Rabies miasm
by some.
Typhoid (Sankaran)
Malarial miasm (Sankaran)
Ringworm miasm (Sankaran)
Psoric Miasm (H.)
Sycotic miasm (H.)
Cancer miasm (Foubister)
Tubercular miasm (Vithoulkas)
Leprosy miasm (Vakil)
Syphilitic miasm (H.).
How do we
know that the remedies specified for each of these proposed miasms actually
belong?
Here the
answer is strictly pragmatic and experiential. Since a miasm cannot be seen
with a microscope nor identified by any laboratory test, it is necessarily an invention.
No prover ever volunteered the information, “I am feeling quite syphilitic
since I began proving this remedy“. Therefore the distinctions of the miasm are
useful only if they have clinical relevance - that is if they help us to find
the correct similimum. In a sense, it does not matter if the proposed miasm is
“real”. If the definition of the miasm is clear and easily determined by all
trained observers in the patient, and the remedies can be more easily
identified by this grouping or categorization, then the concept is useful. The
proof, as they say will be in the pudding.
How can
there be so many miasms that were missed for so many years?
Probably
the answer lies as usual in language and terminology. For example, many of the
remedies that H. considered as part of the acute miasm are now placed in the
typhoid miasm by Sankaran and his coworkers. And the remedies of the Tubercular
miasm were likewise grouped in the psoric and other miasms. It seems to be more
a process of differentiating useful distinctions than unknown characteristics.
The
question then becomes, “Are these refinements and further differentiations
useful?” Or is it just further theorizing?
The answer
to that question must be made in the clinic - as with all ideas and
observations. For my part, I have been working with Sankaran’s miasmatic
observations and categorizations for the past 5 years. I can state that my
results have improved substantially during that time. I consider this work to
be the greatest contribution to our science of the past 20 years - that is
since the pioneering work of Vithoulkas.
Below is a
rather shorthand summary of the characteristics of the miasms and the most
important remedies for each miasm. I should note that these ideas are founded
on Sankaran’s approach but supplemented by my own experience - so please take
the mistakes below as my own and give the credit for the original concept to
Sankaran as his due.
Acute Miasm
Originally,
these remedies were used during acute illnesses such as scarlet fever, pneumonia
and delirium. Later it was found that they are useful in chronic conditions
where the sensation of the patient is identical to the sensation of an acutely
ill patient. The patient feels as if he were reacting to a sudden, unexpected,
life-threatening situation (illness, attack, accident, etc). The patient is in
an almost “primitive” state usually accompanied by great fear and child-like
reaction. There is no compensatory mechanism except fight or flight. He seeks
reassurance and protection. Often mania states require remedies from the acute
or typhoid miasm. Severe phobia disorders also frequently fit within this
miasm.
Known
Remedies f the Acute Miasm
Acon. Arn.
Nosode:
Lyss. Morb. Diph.
Typhoid Miasm
Also known
as the subacute miasm. Remedies in this miasm were originally used for typhoid
fever - that is high, unremitting fever often associated with prostration from
violent diarrheas or other infections. The infections are slightly less rapid
in their onset (like descriptions of Bry.) than the remedies in the acute
miasm. Now we find these remedies can be useful in a variety of chronic
conditions such as colitis, Crohn’s disease, collapse states, psychosis. In
this miasm who have acute or recurring psychotic breaks have good prospects
from homeopathic treatment.
Feels
himself to be in an urgent, life-threatening situation requiring his full
capacity to survive. Many means to return to a secure position: Violence,
scheming, flight, lying, etc.
Willful
children who demand their desires so strongly that parent’s cave in often
require remedies from this group. The patient’s goal is to conserve every
resource to combat the threat. Thus materialism and business struggles are a
strong component. The feeling is, “If I can just get through this crisis, I
have it made and I can rest“. He seeks rest and a secure position.
Known
Remedies of the Typhoid Miasm
Abel.
Acet-ac. Aeth. Ail. Anan. Arge. Asc-t. Bapt. Benz-ac. Bry. Carb-a. Carb-v.
Carne-g. Cham. Dor. Euphr.
Polyst.
Podo. Pyrog. Rheum. Rhus-t. Sacch. Sul-ac. Thyroid. Verat. Viscum.
Nosode:
Typhoidinum.
Malarial Miasm
In malaria,
the situation is still less severe. There is suffering but not in immanent
danger for his life. Instead he finds himself repeatedly accosted by highly
uncomfortable conditions. These conditions leave him weak and vulnerable
between the attacks. He is partially crippled by the condition causing him to
be dependent on those around him. His forward progress is arrested as he deals
with these harassing attacks. For chronic conditions, the remedies of the
malarial miasm feel they are facing recurring attacks from life - they feel
stuck in a situation where nothing goes right and he is never truly well. He
can do little more than complain or act out. Often feels miserable and make
those around them miserable from their negative outlook (intermittent
fevers/recurring hemorrhoids/recurring or allergic
asthma/migraines/neuralgia/rheuma).
Known
remedies of the Malarial Miasm
Am-m. Ang. Ant-c. Aur-m-k. Berb. Bol. Cact. Caps. Cedr. Chel.
Sarr. Spig.
Sumb. Verb.
Nosode:
None.
Ringworm Miasm
Ringworm
and fungal disorders are annoying but not at all life-threatening. These
conditions often get better very slowly but slip back in at the first
vulnerable moment. It is a constant effort to combat the condition. The theme
for ringworm miasm is struggle against an external object but feeling optimism
# pessimism. Often repeatedly uses the word, “trying“.
The feeling
is that he must try and try and yet he never quite gets there though never
quite gives up.
Known
Remedies of the Ringworm Miasm
Act-s.
All-s. Calc-f. Cal-sil.
Calc-s. Dulc. Fagus. Goss. Mag-s. Opunta vulgaris. Pseudotsuga. Rhus-v. Sars. Tarax. Teucr. Upas.
Vero. Viol-t.
Nosode -
Ringworm nosode.
Psoric Miasm
The theme
for psora according to Sankaran is struggle against an external problem but
with a feeling of optimism. Paradoxically, since many of the remedies and
characteristics of psora have been differentiated into other miasms, few
remedies are left in this category. Many have noted the similarity between
Sankaran’s description of this miasm and his description of the ringworm miasm.
Known
Remedies of the Psoric Miasm
Calc.
Cupr-met. Ferr-met. Graph. Kali-c. Lyc. Nicc-met. Sulph. Zinc-met.
Nosode:
None.
Characteristic: produces irritation,
inflammation, and hypersensitivity; physical constitution: tends to make the
organism toxic,
Skin unhealthy, perverts the functions of the digestive
and eliminative organs. Temperament is full of pseudo-scientific,
philosophical, political, religious ideas.
Self expressive, talkative, self deceptive and
may think they are full of genius yet seem foolish and impractical to others.
Pain: itchy, crawling, tickling, and burning.
Discharges: fairly scanty, irritating, itchy;
Skin: dry, rough, unhealthy, every little
injury becomes infected and the lesions are itchy and have scanty pus
Sycotic Miasm
Gonorrhea
is a condition that is not life-threatening but is shameful and embarrassing.
The remedies used to combat gonorrhea and gleet also treat the ailments of
suppressed gonorrhea. All of the diseases that respond to this group of
remedies are fixed and intractable: They do not go away but they do not
progress. The patient spends a great deal of time trying to cover up or
compensate for the illness. Thus we have the well-known characteristic of the
sycotic miasm: secretiveness. The patient is often riddled with guilt and
insecurity. Inferiority complex is a common finding in this miasm. The physical
conditions often center around the urinary or genital tract. Common is asthma,
tumors and neoplasms, eczema, genital herpes.
Known
Remedies of the Sycotic Miasm
Arg-met.
Borx. Bov. Calc-br. Cann-i.
Caul. Croc-s. Dig. Gels. Kali-bi. Kali-br. Kali-s. Lac-c. Lac-del. Nat-s. Pall-met. Puls. Sabad. Sang. Sil. Thuj.
Nosode:
Medorrhinum
Characteristic: infiltrations, indurations, and
over growth; physical constitution: causes heavy bones, water retention, over growth
of tissue and slow metabolism.
Pessimistic, a hard realist, skeptical,
secretive, suspicious, jealous and has fixed ideas and hidden self disgust.
Pain: sudden, intense, spasmodic, crampy and
colicky;
Skin: full of warts, flecks, moles, growths, dark
discolorations with over growth of hair.
Pungent, brine-like, fishy odors with watery
greenish or dirty brown discharges;
Cancer Miasm
A diagnosis
of cancer, it is obvious that the condition is life threatening. The patient
and the family feel there is almost no hope but yet they do not give up. They
search high and low for a new drug trial, a new surgery, or even a farfetched
alternative like homeopathy. The feeling is one of desperation, of holding on
to hope with the fingernails. The patient who needs a remedy from this miasm
feels he must carry out his life perfectly - one failure of duty, one lapse in
cleanliness, one cheat of the proper diet and all will be lost. Perfectionism
and the need for control with the feeling of being strained to one’s very limit
are the normal presentation. Physically the cancer miasm is often found in
patients with a history of cancer but many other physical ailments can be
produced. Anorexia nervosa is often treated by remedies of this miasm. Tumors
of any sort, neurological disorders such as multiple sclerosis are often found
in this miasm.
Known
Remedies of the Cancer Miasm
Agar. Anac. Anh. Arg-n. Ars. Asar. Bar-ars. Bel-p. Calc.ars. Calc-n. Caus. Con. Ferr-ars. Ign. Kali-ars. Kali-n. Nat-ars.
Nit-ac. Op. Physos. Ruta. Sabin. Staph. Tab. Viol-o.
Nosodes:
Carcinocin, Scirrhinum
Tubercular Miasm
The feeling
of the miasm relates to the ever encroaching and eventually fatally suffocating
infection. The patient rebels, struggles, longs for freedom from his condition.
He hurries to live his life even as he intuits that it is burning away from
him. He feels the walls closing in upon him. His loved ones cannot be trusted.
He suffers from respiratory conditions, persecution complex, deformative
arthritis.
Abrot.
Acal. Apis. Aran. Ars-i. Atrax. Bals-p. Bruc. Brom. Calc-i. Calc-p. Cere-b.
Cimic. Cist. Coc-c. Coff. Dros. Elat. Euon. Ferr-i. Ferr-p. Fl-ac. Gins.
Iod. Kali-p. Lat-m. Mag-p.
Myg. Myristica. Myrt-c. Nat-p. Olnd. Phel. Phos. Pix. Rumx. Salx-n. Samb.
Seneg. Succ-a. Tarent. Ther. Ust. Verb. Vespa.
Nosode -
Bacillinum. Tuberculinum (in all its preparations). BCG vaccine.
Characteristic: Pseudo-psora tends toward
tubercles, fibrosis and suppuration; physical constitution: produces pipe stem
bones, narrow chests, sunken cheeks and sparkling eyes.
Pseudo-psora (TB miasm) is romantic, erotic,
social, extroverted, cosmopolitan. Erratic, optimistic, yet dissatisfied and
always wants to change places, jobs, mates, etc.
Pain: neuralgic, sharp, piercing, twisting,
stitching; Skin: translucent, fine, smooth, bruises easily, and its lesions
bleed easily and exude excessive pus.
Pseudo-psora has pussy, purulent, yellow,
bloody, musty discharges;
Leprosy Miasm
Lepers have
suffered enormously through history. The condition is slowly progressive and
eventually leads to death. However, even more disturbing to the patient is the
reaction of those around him. He is reviled by his friends and community. Where
they looked at him with affection they now feel loathing. This results in a
desperate state of self-disgust and self-hatred. He feels contempt with his
condition and towards himself or others. He desires to tear, mutilate or bite
himself. He suffers from suicidal thoughts or impulses, depression, morbid
obesity.
Known
Remedies of the Leprosy Miasm
Agraph. Aloe.
Ambra. Androc. Arist-cl. Aur-s. Aza. Bar-i. Bar-s. Cere-s. Cic. Coca. Cod. Com. Cur. Cycl. Fum. Grat.
Hom. Hura. Hydr. Hydrocotyle. Indol. Kola. Lac-d. Laur. Led. Mand. Meph. Oci-s. Rhus-g. Sec. Sep. Skat.
Sol-t-ae. Spiraea.
Nosodes -
Leprominium. Psorinum.
Syphilitic Miasm
Syphilis
was an inexorable death sentence in the pre-antibiotic era. The condition is
utterly destructive - physically +/o. mentally. Extreme nihilism marks the
patient in the uncompensated state.
The
diseases are destructive of bone and tissue leading eventually to death. The
patient reacts to his illness or his perceived life situations as though under
a death sentence. He is prone to feelings of violence and revenge. Suicide or
homicidal feelings are common. Destructive addictions often. Physical
conditions include advanced cardiac conditions, aortic disease, aneurysm,
alcoholism.
Known
Remedies of the Syphilitic Miasm
Alum. Anag.
Aur-met. Cench. Clem. Crat. Echi. Elaps. Hepar. Hydrocotyle. Lach. Lath. Lept.
Merc. Orig. Osm-met. Naja. Plat. Plb-met. Plut. Psil. Still.
Nosode -
Syphilinum
Characteristic: tends toward granulation,
degeneration and ulceration; physical constitution: causes congenital defects,
asymmetrical bony structure, deformed teeth and the classic bulldog face.
Syphilis has a mixture of madness and genius
with a deep sense of irony that leads to obsessions. with death and destruction. They become guilty, self destructive, and
end in idiocy, insanity or suicide. Pain: seem lacking for the condition
present or are deep, aching, agonizing, and esp. < at night.
Skin: brownish red, or coppery color spots,
eruptions that do not itch, and a tendency toward easy ulceration.
OffenSIVE, foul, putrid, smelly
discharges.
The
etiology of a disease, the constitutional temperament of the patient, and the
totality of the signs and symptoms are 3 factors that form a complete picture
of a disease. In homeopathy we often speak of the totality of the symptoms as
the basis of selecting a remedy, but sometimes we forget to include the
causative factors, miasms, and the physical constitution of the individual.
The
physical signs of a person is fundamental to the treatment of chronic disorders
because the constitution and temperament shows the effects of the inherited
miasms. We must get beyond relying solely on the personal or family history to
uncover miasms. The miasms are present in the very symptomatology of the
client. The syndromes produced by the miasms point to the fundamental cause
even if it can not be traced in the case taking to a specific etiologic factor.
Classifying
Miasmic Rubrics
This list
of rubrics goes on and on but I hope these few examples give an idea of how the
symptomatology of the miasms is present in the symptoms of the case. It is
these symptom pictures that clue the homeopath into which miasms are present
within the constitution of the individual. Thus the etiology points to the
symptoms and the symptoms point to the etiology. This is how the homeopath
understands which miasmic layers are dormant, latent and active. All of these
factors point to the proper anti-miasmic remedies, which more often than not,
are not the nosodes. For example, while taking a case history a client reports
that he used to be friendly, outgoing, loved to travel, and had many girl
friends (Tubercular miasm), but for the last few years he has changed his
lifestyle and become more conservative. Most of his friends have not noticed
how much he has changed except that he seems to have settled down. Some people
think that he has changed for the better. This is because he is trying to hide
the fact that he feels as if he is losing his clarity of mind (Sycosis) as well
as his feelings for others (Sycosis).
On investigating
the changes in this person's temperament further the homeopath finds that he
caught gonorrhea due to his cosmopolitan lifestyle (acquired Sycosis) which led
to a change in his perceptions (new layer). He was treated with antibiotics
which immediately "cured" his symptoms (suppression) but he has felt
contaminated from that time (Sycosis and Syphilis). On inquiry we find that
since then (never well since) he has suffered with feelings of guilt (Sycosis),
loss of short term memory (Sycosis), has become angrier, suspicious and
introverted (Sycosis). He used to love to have people around (TB miasm), but
now he doesn't like visitors, especially strangers (Sycosis). He is especially
bothered because he is having difficulty expressing himself and finding the
correct words (Sycosis), whereas he used to be quite articulate (Psora and TB
miasms). He used to be mentally carefree (TB miasm), but now his mind has
become more fixed and obsessive (Sycosis). His joints and muscles are becoming
more painful and rigid (Sycosis) and he has developed a fishy order from his
arm pits and genitals (Sycosis). His general constitution is tall, thin, with
pipe stem bones (inherited TB miasm), but since he became ill, he has gained an
unhealthy weight around his hip, abdomen and thighs (Sycosis) and became chilly
(Sycosis). His skin is fairly pale and translucent (TB miasm), but as of late,
he has been developing a few dark spots and warty flecks (Sycosis)
As we can
see from this that this gentleman's innate constitution is affected by the
inherited TB miasm but this has been suppressed by an acquired sycotic
syndrome. The TB miasm has affected has basic temperament and helped stimulate
the excesses in his lifestyle that brought him to an infection with VD. The TB
miasm is now dormant because it has been repressed by the active miasmic
symptoms related to the gonorrhea and its suppression. The transformation of
his innate temperament from an out going, social, cosmopolitan (TB miasm) into
an suspicious, fixed, private man with feelings of guilt and loss of confidence
(Sycosis) are the most important symptoms in his case. We can see that the totality of his active
symptoms are definitely Sycotic so we must search for a remedy for his condition
from the antisycotics.
A person who
prescribes by miasms might think that Medorrhinum should be used but all the
symptoms point clearly to Thuja. Thuja will remove this sycotic layer and the
individual will become his old tubercular self again. Now his case should be
retaken and his innate constitutional remedy should be sought among the
remedies that reflect the Pseudo-psoric maism. This will remove the excesses of
the TB miasm from his personality and prevent him from doing the kinds of
things that caused him to acquire the gonorrhea in the first place!
Understanding how the constitutional remedies relate to the miasms is a
fundamental part of the materia medica of chronic disease. This is what H. was
pointing at when he published The Chronic Disease in 1828 and introduced the
idea of categorizing deep acting remedies by the chronic miasms. This is an
integral part of our homeopathic heritage and should not be forgotten if we are
to cure the most complex forms of chronic disease. I hope this article on the
classical miasms will prove helpful to those students of Homeopathy who wish to
follow in the footsteps of Samuel H.. Homeopathy is a gift from the Most High
as well as the summation of several generations of hard work by many
individuals. This article is dedicated to those who have gone before, those who
are practicing now, as well as those who are coming in the future. After all,
as H. pointed out, Homeopathy is De Medicina Futura.
Vorwort/Suchen Zeichen/Abkürzungen Impressum