Aphorism 74

Aphorism 74 explanation

Formation of artificial chronic disease.

 

Having classified acute diseases, Dr. Hahnemann goes further to tell about chronic diseases, he initially takes up artificial chronic disease whose characters are -

1. Most commonly met chronic disease. 

2. Produced in allopathic treatment by prolonged use of - violent heroic medicines in large and increasing doses, by the abuse of Calomel, Corrosive sublimate, Mercurial ointment, Nitrate of silver, Iodine and its ointments, Opium, Valerian, Cinchona bark and Quinine, Foxglove, Prussic acid, Sulphur and Sulphuric acid, perennial purgatives etc. Venesections, shedding streams of blood, leeches, issues, setons, etc. 

Due to these assaults either the patient dies or the organism in order to save itself does any one of the following - 

1. Deprive some part of its irritability and sensibility, or exalt these to an excessive degree, or

 2. Causes dilatations contractions, relaxations or indurations.

 3. Even total destruction of certain parts, and develop faulty organic alterations here and there in interior or exterior. 

#In first footnote Dr. Hahnemann mentions a possible case of plethora which showed itself in a healthy woman, several days before her monthly period, with a feeling of certain fullness of womb and breasts, but without inflammation.

# In second footnote a note on method of Brousseau is mentioned -

 Brousseau was the founder of Physiological school, which believed diseases arise due to physiological disturbances i.e. due to increase or decrease of energy thereby diseases were classified as - 

1. Asthenic variety diseases were thought to be due to decrease of energy like paralysis, anaemia, sleepiness; thereby it was treated by supplementation of food and different minerals. 

2. Sthenic variety - diseases were thought to be due to excess of energy as in epilepsy, insomnia; thereby it was treated by blood-letting, hunger diet or fasting. 

Dr. Hahnemann says that in this method of treatment no medical men can see anything medically helpful. Whereas, real medicines even if chosen blindly and administered to patient may at times prove beneficial in a given case of sickness being accidentally homoeopathic to the case; but by using venesection or hunger diet nothing could be gained rather much is lost. 

Thinking that majority of diseases depends on local inflammation which occurs due to lodgement of blood in a particular part is a fallacy, as; in real inflammation, the most quickest and surest cure is found in medicines which are capable of taking away dynamically the arterial irritation upon which the inflammation is based - without least loss of fluid and strength. Same procedure of blood-letting is applied in inflammatory fevers and much amount of irreplaceable blood is lost. Although haemostatic mechanism of body is at work but it gets so weakened that blood produced by haemopoeitic system may be of same quantity but not of same quality.

 Winding up this footnote, Dr. Hahnemann says that it is impossible to imagine that plethora would take place with. such rapidity, and cure lies in frequent venesection, although an hour before the onset of chill and fever, the pulse of patient was quiet. He says that no healthy or sick man ever had too much blood as thought by the physicians; rather the sick man lacks strength else his vital energy would have prevented development of disease so, this type of malpractice is cruel and irrational based on groundless absurd theory.

As per this aphorism vital energy could generally form any of the above mentioned three things to protect itself by sacrificing the part. Many physicians are of the view that miasm, which Dr. Hahnemann says to be the fundamental cause of diseases are also three. So, by taking help of knowledge of modern pathology, the above mentioned three things can be stated as -

 1. Deprive some part of its irritability and sensibility, or exalt these to an excessive degree, i.e. Functional change. 

2. Cause dilatations contractions, relaxations or or indurations i.e. Structural change. 

3. Even total destruction of certain parts, and develop faulty organic alterations here and there in the interior or the exterior i.e. Destructive change.

 These above mentioned changes are thought to be corresponding to the three miasms - 

1. Psora corresponds to functional changes.

 2. Sycosis corresponds to structural changes. 3. Syphilis corresponds to destructive changes.

 In this way by knowledge of pathology regarding reaction of cell towards a stimulus they are of the view that disease progresses from Psora to Sycosis to Syphilis. By following the clause of reversal of symptoms in observation number eleven by Dr. Kent they say that when cure proceeds miasm should change from Syphilis to Sycosis to Psora. But this is not what Dr. Hahnemann intended to teach, when he calls miasm as the fundamental cause of diseases. If miasms are fundamental cause of diseases that is to say miasms are the father and mother of diseases from which the disease come. Now, when my father and mother have not changed since birth, whether I was in kindergarten, in college or anywhere, then how can father and mother of disease change! Frankly speaking what they mean to say is the state not miasm as states may change not the real cause. So, before proceeding to read anything on homoeopathy, it is better to know the fundamentals and see whether the other person is sticking to it or not. For better conception of miasms, one may perceive theory of chronic diseases which Dr. Hahnemann had written after twelve years of pure experimentation.