In Homeopathy we treat the patient by considering the following:
- Clinical condition and underlying pathogenesis.
- Identifying the general and peculiar symptoms in mind and body to know what is characteristic.
- Look for the cause and effect
1. Clinical condition and underlying pathogenesis.
This is a case of a 65-year-old male, with a carcinoid tumor who had the main presenting symptom: Loose motions with frequent ineffectual desire to pblock stools, stools at least 10-12 stools a day. He also had bronchial asthma, intermittent attacks of high blood pressure (200/100 mmHg), Parkinson’s disease with trembling and vertigo with difficulty in walking, loss of balance.
He is having multiple diseases (Hypertension, Bronchial Asthma and Parkinsons) along with cancer. For me, the thought that each of these diseases will require a different remedy crossed my mind and Dr. Samuel Hahnemann’s principle of giving one remedy at a time seemed difficult.
After studying each of these diseases in detail I developed clarity. To my surprise the clinical presentation of Carcinoid tumor fit in all the diseases the patient had. The following details came up when I studied carcinoid tumors.
| A brief description of Neuro-endocrine cancer/ Carcinoid tumor:
Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are neoplasms that arise from cells of the endocrine(hormonal) and nervous systems. Carcinoid syndrome is a group of symptoms caused by a NET releasing large amounts of serotonin and other chemicals into the blood. It most commonly occurs with NETs of the small intestines that have spread to the liver (liver metastasis). The signs or symptoms of carcinoid syndrome include: ● Gastrointestinal symptoms- Diarrhoea ● Respiratory disease like bronchial asthma with wheezing and difficulty in breathing. ● Heart damage (carcinoid heart disease) – Valvular heart disease with fast or irregular heartbeat which may lead to changes in blood pressure (hypertension or hypotension). ● Circulation disturbance – Flushing of the skin, mainly the face and neck ● Neurological disease like Parkinson’s disease. |
This was a eureka moment for me. If we treat the neuroendocrine tumor properly, the bronchial asthma, hypertension and Parkinson’s disease will also be taken care of.
His main presenting symptom was – loose motions watery, frequent, ineffectual, 10 to 12 times in a day.
They were profuse, and dehydrating. In the last 2-3 months the patient would suddenly faint and would be rushed to the hospital ICU. As soon as he was given IV fluids, within half an hour he would regain consciousness and say that there is nothing wrong with him.
After 2-3 such episodes of fainting it was seen that the patient had low sodium levels and was not able to narrate his complaints. When asked to narrate he would just say, “I have this complaint” When asked “What complaint?” He would say ”I’m not getting that word to tell you what I am having..”
He was not able to remember words to describe his complaints. Based on the following rubrics he was given the remedy Nux Vomica 200 and other potencies on which he did exceedingly well. The patient’s diarrhoea reduced drastically and he never had collapse episodes again. His sodium levels remain normal. He lived for two years without any chemotherapy. His memory came back.
We all know Nux vomica for the symptom- frequent ineffectual desire to pblock stools. But to see the mental picture, the physical picture and the pathogenesis of dehydration to fit in the same remedy gave confidence. This is how we have to integrate all three aspects while prescribing in pathological cases – Physical symptoms, mental symptoms and pathogenesis.
- Identifying the general and peculiar symptoms in mind and body to know what is characteristic.
We saw cases during the seminar on how to find the general and peculiar symptoms in the body and mind. Following is a case example for mental general and peculiar.
Case:
A patient with gallbladder cancer said he already had a congenital cyst on his gallbladder for many years, but recently after a very difficult situation he started developing symptoms and ultimately the benign cyst turned into a malignant tumor. The situation was that his parents were very ill and he gave up his job, business and focused on taking complete care of his parents.
When asked what he felt due to it, he said that it was satisfying that he fulfilled his duty towards them. So I asked him then what was the difficulty in it, why did you develop complaints? He feels that today’s children do not seem to fulfil their duty towards parents. They don’t take care of their parents, they feel the parents are old and a burden to them. That is what bothers him.
He feels they lack morals and ethics. Similarly, another situation is when he used to run a stationery shop and a small child who brought crayons from him came back with his mother complaining that he sold a broken crayon box to the child. However the child was telling the mother that he broke the crayon and they were not broken when he brought it, and the mom was telling the son to shut up .
The patient says, “I felt very bad. Firstly, I have done no wrong, why am I being shouted at? Without any of my wrong doing I am suffering. Secondly, I felt what kind of value system is the mother giving this young child? She is telling her child to tell lies. She is not teaching her son good morals or ethics.”
So here in both situations – fathers health and the child with crayons, the patients main sensitivity is values, morals and he is very conscientious about fulfilling his duty. He felt the mother was not doing her duty properly. So we see Conscientious about his duty and a feeling that others are neglecting their duty and he also feels he is suffering without any wrongdoing from him.
The remedy is Naja Tripudians.
This is how we find the general pattern and see characteristics in the mind too.
3. Look for cause and effect
In homoeopathy we give a lot of importance to the cause of cancer. Even though 5 patients may have stomach cancer, each patient will have the problem from a different cause. One patient will have it because he has prolonged acidity, another because he had some grief, another because he was alcoholic and had a very bad lifestyle.
Based on that, our remedy changes. All of us do give importance to the cause but what is important is not just the cause but the combination of what is the first effect along with the cause. Therefore when a patient came to me with stomach cancer and said : I developed this cancer after I came to know that my daughter has been diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, it was very sad news for me. I felt so bad. I used to be in the hospital with her during treatment while she was going through all this, and after a few days I started to have pain in my stomach with vomiting. They investigated this. After 4 to 5 months of coming to know about my daughter’s cancer I myself developed stomach cancer.
Now one way is to look for the rubric
But the more importantly, you should not only look for the direct diagnosis but you should look for the 1st symptom. So you ask- because of this grief what was the first initial symptom you developed before the diagnosis?
The patient says ”I started having involuntary sighing. Even today I am not able to breathe fully.” If we look at the rubric- Grief with sighing. One of the remedies is Ornithogalum.
Then we see that Ornithogalum is also specific for stomach cancer. The patient had good symptomatic relief from this remedy.
From this case we learn that the combination of the pathology, the cause, and the first symptom, is very effective.
So, to treat cancer we need to consider the pathology and the history and the chronology of development of symptoms. What was the first symptom, cause, underlying pathogenesis of each symptom and from where is it coming. If there are different diagnoses, find the general pattern which underlies these diagnoses. Ultimately, we need to find the general and peculiar pattern.
