On World Kidney Day, I want to share part of my journey through Homeopathy, spanning 2 long decades. I always wanted to be a Surgeon and never thought of Homeopathy as being beyond Charity. But in the First Prof itself, was hooked to Homeopathy for life.
Therefore, I was extremely determined to make a change and was too focused towards my goals. My cousin and childhood friend Shams, was very ill due to Nephrotic Syndrome. He was always being rushed to hospitals and doctors for some procedure or other. Keeping him in mind, I channelized all my energy, right from Internship days, towards treatment of Renal Failure.
In last 15 years, I must have consulted over several thousand cases of Renal Failure from different states. Strictly speaking, there were small number of actual cures, but there were real lot of patients who improved dramatically. Several hundred got completely rid of Dialysis, still more were relieved of their symptoms and dialysis was reduced. In several hundreds Dialysis and death were delayed for several years.
Now imagine if there were several such Homeopathic Nephrologists and they were able to pool the data of the patients suffering from Renal Failure, cured and improved. It would amount to several thousand cases. Due to rising incidence of Hypertension, Diabetes, use of Painkillers, the OPD’s of Tertiary care centres, all over India, are brimming with patients, year round. Here Homeopathy can step in as a savior of sorts. Treatment of Renal Failure alone is a huge burden on society and Government. In monetary terms too it would mean saving several hundred crores annually.
Isn’t that’s where Homeopathy can make a mark, where the scope of Modern medicine is limited. With Government spending so much on AYUSH, aren’t we supposed to come up with something concrete so as to establish veracity of Homeopathy and justify its role in National Health Policy. How else can we demand for equal remuneration as compared to practioners of Modern Medicine, until we contribute equally to the society and Nation.
I had the opportunity to share parts of the above mentioned study with the then Director and Head Of Nephrology of SGPGI, Lucknow. His first question was how to verify that these cases were actually of Chronic Renal Failure and not Acute. Thankfully there were few patients whose Case Record Number from SGPGI was present. A list of such cases where diagnosis was made by SGPGI Lucknow itself, was forwarded. He was amazed and had called for a collaborative Research Project with SGPGI, Lucknow.
Therefore, the most important part of any scientific study is the paperwork or evidence and unless we are Evidence Based Medicine, Homeopathy is useless. Therefore Homeopaths should make it a point to keep a soft copy or hard copy of all the patients they treat. Whether its an Ultrasound,Blood test or just a Photograph, Record Keeping is must.Keeping telephone numbers,addresses,Photo or video testimonial of the patient may be useful,though not useful as scientific evidence.
There are several more streams where Homeopathy can establish itself as the first line of treatment,apart from Nephrology or Renal Failure. Dermatology is one such branch. There are so many cases of Ringworm, Psoriasis, Vitiligo, Herpes, Lichen etc where patients were tired of using ointments and pills and a single dose of similimum, worked wonders.
Geriatric Medicine, Paediatrics, Dentistry, Gastroenterology, Orthopeadics,Psiachiatry and there are several other fields where Homeopathy can alone prove to work better than Modern Medicine. I remember Dr Adil Chimthanawala running a specialized Cardiology Hospital in Pune. Dr R P Patel and Dr S K Banerjee treated thousands of cases of Cancer. Dr Amar Nikam too has been treating seemingly incurable diseases in his Hospital utilizing Homeopathy exclusively. My mentor Dr Girish Gupta too had several research projects running parallel in his clinic on various disases.
Not only this data gives confidence to a student of Homeopathy, but it also establishes the competency of Homeopathy to tackle and treat diseases which were thought to be incurable therefore only to be palliated or where surgery was the only option.
But such specialized studies need to be repeated in all government hospitals. Let me clear it out that by specialization I mean thorough knowledge of a subject or topic, consulting huge number of patients of a particular disease or organ, ability to manage the disease and collection of data which can be reproduced and backed by evidence. Specifying further, one must have thorough knowledge of organ remedies but Individualisation is the only method to reach similimum in order to cure a case. Specialisation should not mean giving Chelidonium to all cases of jaundice.
I find students of Homeopathy disoriented, having no confidence and therefore they keep trying for selection in MBBS or BDS till even 2nd Professional, where they find better job prospects. Homeopathy is a relatively virgin field with immense opportunities and unlimited scope. We just have to learn to be able to harvest it.
Students especially of BHMS 2nd Professional and onwards, should be channelized to attend OPD’s more rigorously for at least 2 hours a day. There they should be able to learn to take up a case, able to completely examine them, individualise and repertories it simultaneously so that by the time they land into internship, they are able to treat a patient as well as any other doctor.
Meanwhile apart from going through all types of cases, at the same time they should be asked to focus on one topic or disease in particular so that they collect data and are well versed with management of something particular. For this we need specialized OPD’s in all Medical Colleges. Doctors who are focusing on treating a particular branch. Yes, we have all of it on paper, but it will require more effort in practice for that actually to happen.
For Homeopathy to flourish, efforts will have to be made right from beginning to groom students into able practioners of tomorrow. Data collection would create new vistas for research, increase patient inflow into Homeopathy, open up new avenues for Specialisation and therefore more subjects and seats for PG Studies.
About the Authors:
Dr Lubna Kamal, M.D., Asstt Professor, Department of Materia Medica, State Jawahar Lal Nehru Homeopathic Medical College, Kanpur.
Dr Mohan Singh, B.H.M.S., Ex S.R.F. C.C.R.H., New Delhi
A Clinical Study on 551 patients of Renal Failure entitled Chronic Kidney Disease : An Evidence Based Clinical Study of To Assess The Efficacy Of Homeopathic Drugs In Its Management, was presented by the above two authors in LIGA International Conference, held in New Delhi in December 2011.
Dr Amit Mehrorta M.D., Asstt Professor, Department of Materia Medica, State Jawahar Lal Nehru Homeopathic Medical College, Kanpur.
Posted Date: 11th March 2019
