Miasmatic Approach In Epidemic Diseases

Author:
Dr Aparna,  BHMS, MD
J.S.P.S. Government homoeopathic medical college
Department of Organon of Medicine

Those diseases  in which  many persons are attacked  with  very similar suffering from the same cause  , nothing but epidemic diseases, these diseases generally become infectious { contagious} when they  prevail among thickly  masses of human begins.
Then arises fever, in each instance of peculiar nature , which when left to itself terminates in a moderate period of time  in death or recovery. The calamites of war, inundations, floods,  etc are the exciting causes.
In  acute, miasmatic eruptional  diseases , three different important  moments are to be done:

First : The time of infection;
Secondly: The period of time during which the whole organism  is being penetrated  by the disease infused until it has developed within; 
Thirdly: The breaking out of the external ailment; whereby nature externally demonstrates the completion  of internal development  of the miasmatic malady throughout the whole organism.
Small pox, cowpox, measles etc nevertheless will complete their course within , and the fever  peculiar to each will break out  with its small pox , cowpox measles after few days , when the internal disease had  completed itself.
We may plainly see that after the contagion  from without , the malady connected with it in the interiors of the whole man  must be developed  that is, the whole interior  man must first have become  thoroughly  sick  of small  pox, measles or scarlet fever  before these various  eruptions can appear on the skin.

Intermittent   fevers appear almost  every year  in a somewhat  changed form since Hahnemann have learned to cure chronic diseases  and maladies  by a Homoeopathic extirpation of their psoric source.  
Hahnemann have found the epidemically current intermittent fevers  almost every year different in their character and in their symptoms  and they therefore require  almost every year a different medicine for their specific cure,

One year they require Arsenic,  another  year Belladonna,  ,another year Anti crud, or Spigelia, Aconite with Ipecac , alternating with  nux vomica,  Sal Ammonicum;  Here  , Opium , Cina,  alone  or in alternation with Capsicum ; With these they were cured in few days.
At the beginning of treatment of epidemic intermittent  fever, the  homoeopathic physician is most safe , in giving every time an attenuated dose of Sulphur or in appropriate cases, Hepar Sulphuris in a fine pellet or by means of smelling ; With all the patients in intermittent fever, Psora is essentially involved in every epidemy  therefore an attenuated dose of sulphur or hepar sulph is necessary at the beginning of every treatment of epidemic intermittent fever and makes the restoration of patient more sure and easy.

The great epidemic diseases small pox, measles,  purple rash, Scarlet fever, Whooping cough, dysentery  and typhoid  when  they complete  their course especially without a judicious  Homoeopathic treatment  leave the organism  so shaken and irritated  that  with many  seen that the psora  which  Was  before slumbering and latent now awakens quickly either into itch  like eruptions  or into other chronic disorders, which then reach a high degree in a short time  if they are not properly treated in an antipsoric  manner.

Epidemic and sporadic fevers  therefore as well the miasmatic acute diseases, often need an antipsoric  assistance , which usually found in Sulphur, if the patient had not used shortly before  a medicine  containing  sulphur , in which case  another  antipsoric  suitable to this particular  case will have to  be used.

We observe a few diseases that always arise from one and the same cause  e.g  miasmatic maladies  , hydrophobia, venereal disease, the plague of levant , yellow fever, small pox, cow pox , measles  and some others  which  bear upon them  the distinctive mark of always remaining diseases of a peculiar character; and  because they arise from a  contagious principle  that always remains the same,  they also always retain the same character  and pursue same course , excepting as regards some accidental circumstances , which however do not alter essential character.

These few diseases, first  { the miasmatic } therefore term specific  and  when necessary bestow on them distinctive appellations.
Hahnemann emphasizes the need for examining each epidemic or sporadic disease as an independent new disease  which has never occurred in the past. He insists that the totality of each epidemic  or sporadic disease must be traced thoroughly by observing the phenomenon in all its aspects or phases. The  only exception here are diseases like small pox, measles etc where contagion remains the same.
In cases of epidemic diseases which are acute in nature , Psora must be investigated for the symptomatology  of  its entire sphere of activities , in a more minute manner, because  in these miasms, one person may manifest only one portion of symptomatology ,  2^nd , 3^rd, persons  exhibit different portion of symptoms  and so on  which also  only forms an incomplete picture of the entire  manifestation which together  constitutes  the complete  totality of symptoms  and that represents the entire range of these miasms, especially that of psora, which can be determined  from the observation  of a number of individual patients  affected by them.

Without   complete  survey  and the composite picture of these symptoms  , the medicines, which are capable of curing them , homeopathically cannot be discovered.
Medicines   discovered  by the complete survey  be the true remedies of several  patients suffering from such chronic miasms.
In epidemics of intermittent fever, the first attacks have been left uncured  or if the patients  are   weakened by wrong or allopathic medicines then the  latent psora which  is unfortunately  present  in many individuals in its  latent state , become developed  and takes on the periodicity and to all appearance  plays the role of this  epidemic intermittent fever, so  that the medicine , which is usually  not a antipsoric that would have been effective in first episode is no  longer suitable and unable to help.

References: The Chronic diseases: Their peculiar Nature and  their Homeopathic cure by  Samuel Hahnemann.