This is the open forum on essentials of practice organized in Excellence 2005 Seminar. The eminent physicians Dr.Diwan Harish Chand and Dr.Parinaz Humranwala answered to the delegates questions. We present this as we received many request from our subscribers and for those who missed the opportunity in participating the Excellence 2005.

Dr.Diwan Harish Chand and Dr.Parinaz Humranwala

Dr. Kalaivani: Sir, Please explai then availability of LM potencies in our shops

Dr.Diwan: LM potencies were first made commercially available in India by publishing company; may be simultaneously or little later on by Dr.Ramanlal Patal of Kottayam. There was at that time, I am talking on 60s there was first research unit before CCRH came into being at Kottayam and they were doing research on LM potencies, so therefore as far as practitioners are concerned Dr.R.B.Patel is almost pioneer for LM potency But big controversy arouse, because s my teacher Schmidt of Geneva was the first man who brought this to the notice of the noble profession.In 1955 or 1956 I think; he specially went to London to deliver the first lectures on LM potency- ‘’The Hidden Treasures Of The Last Organon’’, trailer on the last edition of the organon. And this was the first time the real nature of LM potency was known, because before that people were using from 1922 onwards, Dr. Boericke translation which was erroneous in number of ways and in LM potencies it were like plus potency and not really LM potency and the left of this knowledge was brought to the profession by my teacher. I will not talk more because he only said about the availabilities that there are certain controversy in his days. In 1967,at International Congress I brought together Dr. Schmidt and Dr.Patel to sort out because Dr.Patel has been using it in dry form also ordinarily as pills and powder. And where as the original directions are always been used in water. then only you can use it sophisticated. Now Dr.Patel is slightly modifying. I have this particular difficulty because 40-50 % of patients are not in Delhi and everyone is not well trained to do this kind so first it should be tried out in hospital areas where nurses do it. Of courses if there are any more questions we will answer.

Dr.Veera Balaji Kumar: Repetition of dosage has always been a problem some of the speakers today suggested an arbitrary repetition of medicine on arbitrary schedule. is it corrects? And what paradigm can offer a viable solution to this problem. Or already has it been worked out? Or is it insight of new paradigm when with which we can infer about the repetition of doses.

Dr.Veera Balaji Kumar

Dr.Diwan : I’ll give a brief answer and she’ll supplement it because women are supposed to have a better link with left half of the brain than the right. So they are now coming on tops.

Now, I’ll only illustrate with what Sir Georgia used to say! He was my teacher, He used to say that “ Acute diseases are like a big fire! You take a big piece of wood and put it in, it will consume soon. The chronic disease is a slow and smoldering fire! Even if you put this small piece of stick it’ll take a long time to be consumed. So therefore the potency you’re using is regardless.

Action of the remedy starts the moment it has touched the tongue. That’s the action! The rest is the reaction of the body. Somebody was talking from Srilanka. Dr.Chorea was the great grandfather of Homoeopathy in Srilanka. He said in one book Mercury has action of so many days In another book mercury has action of 40 to 50 days much longer than the other book says. What’s your opinion? I wrote to him that it is from the Mineral kingdom; it should’ve longer duration. However the action of remedy stops the moment it touches the tongue; the rest is the reaction of the body.

Dr.Parinaz: Vanakkam!. Chennai!!. Only two words I know in Tamil . So don’t ask me more about Tamil. As regards the question you’ve asked. There are certain parameters by which we go by; whether the case is acute or it’s chronic, the case has to be taken in it’s complete extent. Of course, there are situations when one is not able to spend that much time because the patient is not able to talk. You take help as much help from the relatives, you observe to your best and there after you prescribe ; I am generally the type of prescribing single dose followed by placebo. And the patient sees me generally in chronic case after 15 days. If I feel something needs urgent attention he’s called earlier. When this patient is given a remedy “A” and evaluate. How do I decide whether I am right with the remedy, or wrong, or I should go higher , or I should wait. I think it’s one of those Criteria which is very very important. Bearing in mind if your patient ‘s generals are better though his main symptoms are not relieved, do not repeat your remedy. Action is on and you’ll see the answer very shortly. Many-a-times, in an acute case, person who come in with very high fever, say for example I have given him Belladonna. This man comes back again next day, and says “ The fever has gone with in twenty four hours! What the antibiotic didn’t do, your medicine did!

But do you know! Doctor! After I could not go to work. I feel so weak! Your prescription is wrong; Belladonna took care of the fever, but didn’t reach where it’s supposed to reach though the patient is relieved. If you’ve not helped the patient at the level of the Generals, you are not really helping the patient. It’s very important. When a patient comes and tells us that headache gone: it is only means symptom has gone!. it doesn’t mean sickness is cured. In homoeopathy when we mean the sum whole, and don’t mean the part of the body. Over all how much better you feel? Then the patient says over all 50% I’m better , I think less fatigue I think more enthusiastic than before and I’m quite positive I’m going to get better fair enough; even a sentence like this is enough for me to wait. These are times when we wait 2 months, 3 months, 2 yrs, 3 yrs. so and so I know, we all of us here are of different school of thought and problems, what I say may not be easily palatable. But remember this is what we do, this is exactly the way we practice. In acute cases, there are times when you’ve got to repeat and then generally you prefer to do a pulsing potency in repetition if required, however when the first time patient come, I don’t immediately start with that I’d first given him whatever is the remedy given to the patient. And I won’t repeat that in the same dose preferably if that remedy is covering the part of symptoms that patient presents on that day and if that remedy is matching the speed of disease for eg. If the patient comes to me with 104 fever and his constitutional remedy is Calc.Carb. I’m not going to give Calc.Carb for the slowness of the economy of Calc.Carb. There in I may change my prescription. But this man came with Nat.Mur as his remedy. instead of shifting I am going to Bryonia, Aresenicum or x or y or z. I prefer to repeat my remedy again.

Dr. Anandhi: Normally now-a-days we come across one –sided disease, because all the patients who come to homoeopaths are being fully treated till whatever vital energy they have by Allopaths. So, these patients present with common symptom of the disease and not with a peculiar characteristic symptom and some patients still do not have 10 percentage of symptoms and we term them as one sided disease. What is your idea? Is it curable or what is your way of management in such cases.

Dr. Anandhi

Dr. Parinaz: As per the aphorism, we had, we have one- sided disease many a times, I would say 90-99% we fail to collect the adequate history. Even if the patient gives the history and if it’s not in the repertory that symptom is out because that symptom is not in the repertory. I would give you an example. Once when I was taking a case, a patient said he was afraid of white ambassador car. That’s not found in repertory. Then I said, why are you afraid of white ambassador car. He was rich man, he looked at me and said ‘you do not know income tax officials come in white ambassador car.
(Dr. Diwan comments” All ministers and government officials come in white ambassador”).

Dr.Parinaz: Can you can understand the basis of his fear? . My questioning needs understanding. something has happened in this man’s life, as a result of that so much fear.He has got office in ground floor with one-side mirrors. he has done up such; if he sees an white ambassador being parked near his office he escapes through the back door. This is the basic fear. The way you take up the case go very large extent is the way; you finally going to prescribe. Then taking a case more like a conversation than taking like a clerk. This is more important. Many a times, when patient comes to us, we have a prescribed form. My first advice to you is never use the prescribed form! Many colleges have it; even my college has it. Theoretically you are supposed to do it. but if go back to your clinic don’t use a prescribed form, use a blank paper because what initially looked to you like an apple suddenly becomes a car. Go exactly by what the patient is saying. Making it like a conversation.

If the case taking is corrected the so-called diseases, the one-sided diseases can be treated. We have plenty of cases of vitiligo coming to us, how show their spot; is there any pain? Is there any itching? They say nothing! But how is that you and I get results on Vitiligo also. It is absolutely with one side! What we need to unravel is; what goes behind it ;and what goes in front of it.You must know each and every layer. So, how will you taste the cake? You should taste it from top to bottom. That is the totality. So the mentals layers are important and the physical layers are also extremely important and they should not be neglected. If you see Kent he has given only few pages to physicals. So, going back to the question on one-sided diseases we have where there are diseases with only physical symptoms like diarrhea or headache for which largely we don’t take the proper history. The second category, the mental cases, the cases where there has to be a base below as a result of which the mental symptoms have arisen. Eg. Extreme grief will have it’s impact. That symptom will be in that particular way. In local disease we have purely surgical cases which we can leave out .In non-surgical cases we have eczema. Unfortunately in Homoeopathy we have to realize that when we fail in case, Homoeopathy has not failed but the Homoeopath fails.

Dr.Rani Supriya

Dr.Rani Supriya : Good afternoon madam! . Good afternoon Sir! I would like to ask as many Homoeopaths say single dose, how you can repeat it and what’s the further follow- ups if you can give it in higher potency or same potency.

Dr. Diwan: It has already been answered to a considerable extent about the repetition. I am sure: that Kent said, repeat the same medicine 2 or 3 times if there is improvement. But let me give a complete answer what I am being taught or I am doing. I say give the maximum potency as long as there is a long amelioration, Repeat it. If you have given Nat-mur- 200, for 3 months, if everything is going correct, continue the same potency and if it is getting shorter and shorter, go to the next potency. Some people say jump from this to this because it is helping. To come to the end of the ladder, say if you are going on increasing as 10M, CM etc., and if the patient is held you have to come to lower potencies.

Dr. Tagore: Action of Nux Vomica on constipation, actually in Lesser Writings Hahnemann speaks of only primary action but we are using Nux Vomica for constipation. What is your opinion?

Dr. Diwan: Never use the single symptom!. Very interesting explanation from Dr. Jeyasuriya from Srilanka who said if the person sat down like this and that: this will be the remedy, Alumina for soft stool, bashful stool of Silica, stool that comes down and goes back compare with Sanicula and Thuja . This will be absolutely wrong. For absolute constipation I take Nux vomica in night and Sulphur in morning etc., I will not say it as Allopathic but it would be a wrong way of treating because you are treating only one symptom. Unless you get some residue, what is going to be left .If you are taking some fine food, where are you going to get the residue? Constipation has many rubrics. If there is constipation in very old ages like me, there will be another remedy and if there is constipation and diarrhea there will be another remedy. So, you have to specify rather than go with Nux Vomica. Even, some times the patient says, Nux vomica, but that will not work out.

Dr. Tagore

Dr. Tagore: But actually Nux vomica secondary action…….

Dr. Diwan: You see, both primary and secondary actions all are given in Materia Medica. Hughes in the last part of 19th century has commented about the compilation of Materia Medica .He said it should be separated. We have pure proving, abstract proving, clinical provings and toxicological provings. They all are mixed up in material medica. If the rice water stool of Arsenic is mentioned, it is a very good remedy for cholera etc., but it is based on the toxicological symptom. I have read case after case, where people have died of Arsenic poisoning. He said the Materia Medica should differentiate what symptoms came out of proving, what symptoms came out of clinical proving and what symptom came out of toxicology. They all are mixed up and you have to sort it.

Continued... Next Issue
-Transcribed byDr.D.Maheswari