Pathology is the study of disease, encompassing its causes, mechanisms, and effects on the body. It plays a crucial role in diagnosing, monitoring & managing diseases including cancer, infection, & genetic disorders. Pathologists analyze samples like blood tissues, bodily fluids to identify abnormalities and provide crucial information for patient care and treatment. Main concepts:
- Study of diseases– Pathology investigates the nature of disease, origin, progression, how they affect the body’s structure & function.
- Diagnosis & Monitoring- Pathologists use various techniques, microscopic examination of tissue and cells, biochemical analysis of body fluids, genetic testing to diagnose diseases & monitor their progression.
- Guiding treatment – Pathology findings help doctors determine appropriate treatment, strategies and assess the effectiveness of interventions.
- Informing prognosis- Pathology can provide insights into the likely course of a disease & help predict patients’ outcome.
Pathology serves as a bridge between basic science, clinical medicine, providing essential information for understanding, diagnosing & managing diseases.
In simple terms, a study that deals with changes in the tissues from the diseases is known as Pathology.
Every true physician must have knowledge of Pathology [Section 3 Organon of Medicine Samuel Hahnemann].
The relationship between Pathology and Homeopathy is ambiguous to many practitioners and students of Homeopathy.
The Homeopathic drug provings are conducted on healthy humans to elicit all possible symptoms which a drug can produce. These provings are not conducted to the extent of eliciting and inducing pathological changes in the provers as Hahnemann and his followers regard a prover as an individual human being as a guinea pig .
The pathological changes and findings in the patients of a given diagnosis will be the same but the symptoms manifested by one patient will be different from others, bringing out finer, individualistic.
Thus it is clear that pathology is of less importance in homeopathic prescription. However, Pathology does not affect various aspects of homeopathic therapy.
- TREATMENT: Pathology guides us to select the time of treatment either curative or palliative.
Dr. Kent’s words …By means of physical diagnosis the physician may find out changes in organs and determine if the patient is incurable…… .
It is clear that the more advanced the pathology, greater the tissue changes the more incurable the patient.
2. POTENCY: Many times one has to take into consideration the pathological changes in selection of the homeopathic medicines.
Usually lower potencies are prescribed when there are advanced pathological changes.
3. PRESCRIPTION: At times the prescription can be based on pathology. Examples on the basis of pathological findings :
- Leucocytosis →Pyrogenium
- Positive hypersensitivity (prick) test to dust symptoms. Asthma after inhalation of dust →Pothos foe.
- Positive bacterial infections → Pyrogenium , tuberculinum
- Congestion, inflammation → Belladona
- Enlarged spleen with pain →Ceanothus
- Influenza (+)tve → Influenzium
- Raised eosinophil count with dyspnoea → thyroidinum
Asthma → lachesis
- Albuminuria → Terebinth
- Urinary Tract Infections → Pyrogenium, tuberculinum
- PATHOLOGICAL TERMS IN REPERTORIES:
Hydrothorax, Astigmatism, Fistula, Glaucoma – Kent’s Repertory.
2. CONSTITUTIONAL TENDENCY:
Dr. Boger feels that some pathological conditions such as warts, moles, polypi etc. tend to show constitutional tendency. Hence, become characteristic of the patient and should always be considered for the remedy.
Homeopathic prescription cannot be based on pathology as provings were not conducted to the extent of eliciting the pathological changes, but at times pathology do help us in the solution of the remedy.
