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------------- Dr. kamal ------------------------------------------
Dear Dr B,
Thanks for your prompt response. I have gone through that, and
here are my observations (this is a fair discussion, I think):
1. Remedy selection based on social/mental aspects are granted
as the most appropriate approach, and that is commendable. However,
the peculiar rubric with single remedy (fear of pneumonia) is questionable.
This symptom is found only in Allen, and no confirmation has ever
been reported by any other authority so far. (I searched it in Encyclopaedia
Homeopathica software).
2. During the outbreak of any deadly disease, people are scared
about the supposedly "deadliness" of the disease, merely
by its name. As such, to capture the mental state, rubrics like
"Fear of disease", "Fear of Infection", "Fear
of death", etc. seem to be more appropriate. Consideration
of the singular rubric with only one remedy to consider the mental
state of people during an epidemic may not be a sound approach.
3. Pathogenesis of Chelidonium encompass, among others, the characteristic
"biliousness"; even in Pneumonia - bilious vomiting is
the concomitant of the chest affection (Clarke). Do SARS patients
represent such hepatic disorder? I am not sure.
Considering the high fever, dry cough, breathing difficulty, myalgia/
muscular stiffness, headache, etc. Bryonia seems to me more as the
prophylaxis for SARS.
Kindest regards.
Dr Kamal.
------------ Dr. B's Reply ---------------------------------------
Thanks again Dr. Kamal. Sometime after putting up the second part
on this article, I added a small note to that discussion that all
the medicines listed in the article were primarily selected on the
basis of physical signs and symptoms. From the group of remedies
so selected, Chelidonium was picked up because it not only covers
the symptoms very well (high fever, dry cough, respiratory embarrassment
and difficulty, muscular weakness, confusion of mind, bodyache,
nausea, vomiting etc) but also had this specific fear of pneumonia.
For the other medicines it was noted after the initial analysis
that they all had a very strong streak of fear (of disease, of infection,
of death), hence confirming their utility in the current scenario.
I do agree that this symptom is not given at too many places and
there are hardly any known cases of its use but if Kent and Allen
have mentioned it, there must have been some data for it. Also Phatak's
repertory contains only clinically verified symptoms and medicines.
It also lists this symptom. So, if I have to begin my work, I would
prefer to start with Chelidonium. If it fails, then I would move
to other remedies.
Regarding the biliousness. Yes Sars patients, in later stage, do
manifest gastric disorder like nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea. I
have not been able to confirm the nature of vomiting though. Also,
I think 'absence of a symptom' can not be a criterion to rule out
a medicine, if other criteria fit in properly. No patient can give
ALL the symptoms of any given medicine.
Lastly, I would like to say that what I have written is my personal
analysis, based on my understanding of the current symptoms, my
knowledge of materia medica and repertory, and my clinical experience.
I do not claim to be absolutely right with this analysis. My effort
is just to make the homeopathic community think further into this.
Your ideas about the prophylactic and indicated remedies may differ.
We can not say who is right and who is wrong until we get to test
our analysis in the field. But at least, we can get everyone's opinion
on this.
I invite further comments on this.
Dr. Manish Bhatia
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