CONCEPT OF INCURABLE DISEASE, SUPPRESSION AND PALLIATION
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CONCEPT OF INCURABLE DISEASE, SUPPRESSION AND PALLIATION
by
Sarosh S R & Shafna Shamsudeen
HAHNEMANN’S CONCEPT OF PALLIATION, SUPPRESSION AND INCURABLE DISEASE.
In the antipathic or palliative method, a few symptoms of a case are arbitrarily picked up and drugs which have the capability of producing the opposite effects are applied. This leads to temporary alleviation of these symptom, but followed by recurrence or in some cases, aggravation of these symptoms.
Similar is the use of opium incase of insomnia and diarrhoea; purgatives in constipation; wine incase of prolonged debility; warm baths for a patient complaining of chilliness, etc. In all these cases, though in the primary action the patient enjoys a relief which has been accomplished in an easy manner, the patient experiences a greater suffering during the secondary action.
During this aggravated moment the physician gives a stronger dose of the remedy whereby an equally transient suppression is obtained. Thus the ever increasing quantities of the palliatives results in, either another more serious disease or, even danger to life, but never a cure of a disease.
In the footnote of aphorism 67, however, Hahnemann pointed out some exceptional circumstances, where use of palliatives appeared to be justified-
In the most urgent cases where the life is in danger and there is no time for the action of homoeopathic remedy, as in the case of sudden accidents occurring to a previously healthy individual, as in the case of asphyxia and suspended animation from lightning, suffocation, freezing drowning, etc. Here palliative (gentle electrical shock, strong coffee, gradual application of heat, stimulating odour, etc) is used as a preliminary measure to stimulate the irritability and sensitivity of the vital force. When this stimulation is affected, the vital force goes into its former healthy manner as here there is no disease, but merely an obstruction and suppression of the healthy vital force. To this category belongs various antidotes to sudden poisonings, eg: camphor and coffee for poisoning by opium, alkalies for mineral acids.
According to Hahnemann all chronic diseases of mankind when left to themselves or not aggravated by a perverted treatment, they evermore increase with years. During the whole man’s lifetime, they cannot be diminished by the strength even to the most robust constitution. Thus they never pass away by themselves, but increase and aggravate till the death of the individual.
But modern physicians of the common school and medical writers have laid down the rule and taught that, every eruption or itch is merely a local ailment of the skin in which the remaining organism takes no part at all, so it must be driven away from the skin as early as possible using local application. If the eruption is once more removed from the skin, everything is well and the person is restored and the whole disease is removed.
The physician thinks that the more quickly these eruptions are removed from the skin, the better. Then they dismiss the patient from their treatment as cured.
According to Hahnemann by such method of faulty treatment the disease become deep seated and also due to the long continued administration of crude drug, there is development of drug induced disease. Such suppressed natural disease get complicated with this drug disease, which is actually incurable or difficult to cure even with a most similimum homoeopathic remedy.
KENT‘S VIEW OF INCURABLE DISEASE
J.T.Kent detailed about the incurable disease in the chapter”Difficult and incurable case palliation of lectures of Homoeopathic philosophy”
According to Kent an incurable complaint will trouble any physician. In these case Allopathist has the means of putting the patient under the influence of many strong drugs and making them imagine that something is done to their benifit. But actually they do nothing other than injuary by using these strong. In Homoeopathy also there are some physician use the palliatives which are actually detrimental to the patient.
The physician who applies the single similimum remedy in potentized form under the law of cure, will easily be convinced that there is no other way of palliation that hold out any permanent hope for the patient.
For example, Opium will sometimes relieve pain, stop diarrhea, mitigate cough but never cues the patient. It only void the reaction, there by there is no possible development of symptom and thus the pain is stopped but the patient is not cured.
According to Kent there are circumstances in which we have to administre palliative drugs, but it should only done after clearly understood that a cure of such patient abandoned.
For example In consumption, cancer and in other wasting disease the remedy that is most similimum to the painful groups of syptom will ever give the most relief.
H.A.ROBERT’S VIEW OF–
LAW OF PALLIATION
According to H.A.Robert, a physician who trained in Homoeopathy, manifest much more confusion in the treatment of incurable disease than any other medical field. In these case and there by try to administer palliative measures and there by try to hide from the patient and also from the family. By means of such method they only produced harm to the patient. In the case of an incurable disease physician has to face much difficulty in interpreting the symptom, and there by in prescription also.
Law of similia is the fundamental law for palliation also. Palliative therapy using narcotics, sedatives etc suppresses symptom and there by destroy the vital force to show the true picture of disease which help us in evaluating our symptomatology . In such method narcotics and sedatives should be administer in ever increased dose as soon as the effect of previous dose is lost. By means of this, physician put the patient in a viscious circle instead of helping to live as many years as possible.
In the case of an incurable disease by the administration of similimum remedy patient get ameliorated for three or four days or longer period. But the symptom will reappear which call for the same remedy. In most of the case along with the old symptom new symptoms are appeared, because the whole organism is affected. In this condition we retake the case and administer the similimum corresponding to the current state.
For example
In a progressing case of cancer, there development of involuntary profuse urination after the intake of a calcarea group medicine. On careful study of the case we got five remedies of equal value, that is, Ars, Nat.mur, Puls, Causticum, Rhustox and also found that Causticum corresponds to the constitutional peculiarities of the patient. The Causticum 200 will give more relief to the patient.
Another situation which seems to require palliative therapy is ‘Insomnis’. If we consider it as a single symptom and try to treat it, then it is palliative approach. But consider it as part of his whole symptomatology and try to administer the similimum that will provide him natural sleep and comfort.
Consider a patient with severe pain, if we consider it as a singleentity then it will leave to the wider use of narcotics. But it will provide only a temporary relief to the patient and by the administration of narcotics nothing is got other than induction a drug addiction or drug induced disease. If we consider the pain with its location, type of pain, steady or intermittent, with modality and all other concomitant and thermal peculiarities, then it is said to be complete. If we administer remedy on this basis it will provide more comfort in general than with the narcotics.
Robert.T.Morris made two valuable statement in 1893, which are very important in today itself , that is,
1. Opium is a drug which stupefies the physician who gives it more than it does the patient who takes it.
2. A drug which greatly relief the distress of the physician, who, without it, would be compelled to something rational for the relief of the patient who has put confidence in him.
According to H.A Robert one of the most difficult problems that a physician has to meat is a case with alternating group of symptoms which occur in different seasons of a year. For example, summer diarrhoea and winter rheumatism .In this case if we only consider the presenting symptom group only and try to administer the similimum, it does not cure the patient even though the most trivial symptom may disappear. Here we palliate the one part of symptomatology in an alternating group. Here only by careful examination for several week or month we can obtain the true picture of the disease and on the basis of that, administer the similimum considering the alternating group of symptom for the cure of the patient.
It is difficult to meat a case with remedy covering all the phases. In an emergency situation or in a situation which we fail to find out other method we can palliate the condition by considering the pronounced and characteristic symptom presented by the patient at that time. Here the remedy serves as a palliative in incurable state than as a curative one in curable disease.
The incurable disease is source of great anxiety to every physician. But those who follow the law of similia can give quicker relief to the suffering individual with single remedy in potentised form than massive dose of narcotics and sedatives.
According to H.A.Robert, Homoeopathy plays an important role in the traumatic condition also. Usually a patient having a mechanical injury with severe pain, take narcotics or sedatives from ordinary medicine. Homoeopathy has a group of vulnerable medicines like Arnica, Hypericum, Ledum , Nat.sulph, Rhustox, Ruta, etc. which not only remove the pain but also prevent congestive, suppurative or gangrenous process and there by promote healing. By the use of narcotics and sedatives there is deadening of pain which later invite structural changes.
Homoeopathic physician has substitute for narcotics even in surgical cases. Such remedies are similimum partially to the symptomatology of patient and partially to the immediate cause of distress. By such remedies patient will go through the mental and physical distress very happily.
According to H.A.Robert the same law of cure can be applied in both curable and incurable disease. Never administer sedatives or narcotics in the case of a curable disease as it cloud the whole condition. In the case of an incurable disease and in a seemingly incurable disease, we must not put any limitation on the possibilities of the similimum remedy, because in many of such case also health can be restored by using similimum remedy.
SUPPRESSION
It is the vital force which keeps the normal function of our body in a harmony, the state of equilibrium, the perfect health. The external forces
which allow the vital energy to work undisturbly and also external forces
which have great influences in inhibiting its normal functioning. When the normal function in inhibited the immediate reaction is a lack of harmony and a suppressed functioning of the vital force, so that disease conditions are produced with the attendant symptom and irregular functions of the body.
Some of these external features that suppress the normal functioning of vital energy, and through vital force the normal functioning of the body include, such condition as shock, fright, fear, excessive joy, intense unsatisfied longing for mate or offspring, unrequited love, grief from loss of family or friends , business apprehension and worries disappointed ambition, extreme fatigue or exhaustion. We often see cases where these suppressing emotions not only affected profoundly this particular individual, but also extend their influence to the next generation through the effect on a nursing mother.
The palliative effects of medicines in physiological form is also suppression, the result being first a palliation and then suppression or an actual aggravation of the first condition. The physiological doses always have a primary and secondary action. This can be illustrated by the use of opium in cough and diarrhoea, also coffee producing axhilaration as primary effect and the secondary effect being on aggravation of the first condition or on entirely different group of symptoms of deeper significance.
By the image of homoeopathic drugs in physiological dose also there will be suppression of the natural expressions of disease. We should always allow the vital force to express itself in its own chosen way when it is deranged. Only when it shows itself clearly and without interruption in its natural development we get a clear picture of the diseased state; and the administration of physiological medicine at such time changes the whole picture, suppressing one symptom after another until there is no expression of the true condition of the patient.
Though the immediate effect of this method of treatment is suppression, its long continued use drives the vital energy to express itself in some other form, usually in a deeper and more vital organ.
Examples:
Use of opium and its derivatives, at first suppresses the cough but soon develops into a chronic state of night cough. Prolonged use and the patient soon develop fever, night sweats and a general hectic condition.
Opium in diarrhoeas produced constipation, then fever and a tendency to delirium.
Child with cholera infantum received opium, and the next day developed hydrocephalus
Use of salicylates and coaltar derivatives in rheumatic and allied states troubled the central organs, especially the heart.
Articles for the relief of pain such as aspirin, suppresses the danger signal of pain and renders it to appear in an exaggerated form in some other organ or in the same organ.
External applications for removal of skin manifestation suppresses them, and longer they are suppressed the more likely they are to affect the nervous and mental manifestations, striking at the very seat of life and reason
Suppression of natural secretions of body like perspiration by medicinal powders, menses by cold bathing etc, blocks the elimination of waste matter through natural channels and these wastes are taken up in other parts of the body in an attempt to eliminate these, which is much harmful.
Removal of disturbing organs by surgical means, also forbids the expression of vital force through its chosen organ. By cutting them off, only the end product is removed and nothing is being done to set the vital force in order and prevent further disease manifestation.
Thus suppression is the source of many functional disturbances and also the direct cause of many constitutional diseases