Springtime for homœopathy in America

British Homoeopathic Journal July 1987. Vol. 76. pp. 107-111

Springtime for homoeopathy in America 42nd Congress of the LMHI, Washington, 1987 The cherry and magnolia trees were approaching full bloom as the 42nd Congress of the Liga Medicorum Homoeopathica Internationalis opened in Washington DC on 29 March 1987. The meeting was held, technically in Arlington, Virginia at the National Clarion Hotel, close to the Pentagon, and just across the Potomac River from Washington DC itself.

Opening A s usual, the proceedings opened with a reception on the Sunday evening, with the congress proper opening on the Monday morning. Following the official opening formalities, including welcoming speeches from Sandra Chase, Chairperson of the Organizing Committee and Fernando Risquez, President of the LMHI, there was a musical interlude, then Julian Winston of the US National Center for Homeopathy gave an illustrated talk on the history of homeeopathy in America. Finally, Maesimund Panos was installed as Honorary President of the Congress. Dr Panos is a figure much loved and respected by the younger generation of American hom~eopaths, for whom she represents a link between the former glories of American homoeopathy and its current resurgence (the membership of the American Institute of Homeopathy has recently risen above 100 for the first time since the 1940s).

Theory After the interval, the business of the congress was opened by Charles Kennedy (GB), speaking on the relevance of the Organon in 1987, demonstrating a convergence between the doctrine of homeeopathy and current trends in conventional medicine. Denis Demarque (France) then showed that, in important respects, Hahnemann anticipated the discoveries of Pasteur in considering the miasms to be living, transmissible disease-causing agents. However, Demarque also showed that large parts of Hahnemann's pathogenetic theories are obsolete and should be abandoned and that the miasms should be understood as modes of reaction rather than diseases per se.

Alain Horvilleur (France) then reflected on the development of his prescribing over 20 years in practice and his conversion to the Boenninghausen, as opposed to the Kentian, method of repetorization. The Boenninghausen method is scarcely practical without the use of a personal computer, and Dr Horvilleur spoke highly of the Homeorep program which is based on Boenninghausen, citing a striking case in which this program had come up with the remedy the rare medicine Rheum--on further talking tO the patient, she mentioned that she was in the habit of eating large amounts of rhubarb (Rheum is rhubarb). In the discussion at the end of this session, Dr Demarque was asked for his views on the constitutions of Nebel and Vannier (Carbonique, Phospborique, Fluorique) and the so-called Tuberculinique miasm--he replied that these concepts, though interesting, were up in the clouds and obsolete, adding that another traditional concept of French homoeopathy--drainage--is a basically allopathic idea. Jost Kunzli (Switzerland) opened the afternoon session with a communication on the hierarchical importance of prescribing symptoms, giving an essentially traditional viewpoint: 1) Rare, strange and peculiar. 2) Mental and emotional. 3) Generals. 4) Cause. 5) Locals. He discussed in some detail the various possible types of rareness, strangeness and peculiarity. Roger Morrison (USA) then presented a paper written in collaboration with George Vithoulkas, discussing the prognostic significance of acute illnesses supervening in the course of treatment of chronic disease. The presenting disease was discussed in terms of its type, severity and the frequency of spontaneous intercurrent acute diseases. The significance of various kinds of acute flare-up was then analysed in terms of the delay after treatment and type. Although perhaps over-elaborate, this paper was a useful, original contribution to the study of aggravations and their meaning and a salutary antidote to the bland assumption that any aggravation is good. By contrast, the following paper from Robert 107

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108 Schore (USA), on the interval between doses, greatly overburdened with interpretation the two cases presented. One of the cases, a febrile illness in a child, was said to illustrate the adverse effects of too frequent repetition, by the mother, of Arsenicum alb. 200. But other interpretations, including the possibility that what was observed was simply the natural history of the illness, and that none of the treatment had any effect, seem equally tenable. At one point Dr Schore made a diagnosis of 'probable meningitis' but did no investigations and prescribed no treatment---certainly a bold course of action! In discussion, Francisco Eizyaga (Argentina) flatly disagreed with Dr Schore, stating that he had never seen a deterioration from repetition of an indicated medicine.

Aetiology The next session opened with a bloc of three theoretical papers from the Vienna School of Homoeopathy. In the first of these, Leopold Drexler (Austria) discussed the general approach of this school and its views on aetiology and constitution. In chronic cases low potencies (4-6x) are used, for psychological and spiritual problems 30x upwards, and when there is a high degree of similitude the LM potencies are favoured. Jutta Gnaiger (Austria) then discussed the time dimension of symptomatology, distinguishing causa occasionalis, causa excitans and causa fundamentalis. Helga Lesigang (Austria) then presented some cases illustrating the importance of these various aspects of aetiology in prescribing. Alfredo Eugenio Vervloet (Brazil) had discussed aetiology in an earlier session, stating that 'disease is a unitary reaction of the organism to a complex of factors' and distinguishing between the causa fundamentalis, which is of genetic and immunological origin, and the causa occasionalis, which may be of microbiological origin. Continuing this theme, Flavio Dantas (Brazil) divided hom~eopaths into those who believe there are no diseases, only sick people :and those who do accept the existence of disease entities. He also pointed out that the methodology available to Hahnemann for the elaboration of his theories o f chronic disease was inadequate by modern standards, ending with a strong call for the incorporation of modern aetiological and pathogenic concepts into homoeopathy.

physagria and Colocynthis, especially their use in psychiatry, and these themes were discussed in a number of papers which followed. Alexandre Machado (Brazil) delivered (at high speed!) a very full discussion of Staphysagria-its pharmacognosy, habitat, chemistry and pharmacology, as well as its pathogenetic symptoms. Nicholas Nossaman (USA) compared the Kent rubrics of Staphysagria and Colocynthis. Cesare Cremonini (Argentina) illustrated the schematic method of remedy study used by the Cordoba Centre for Homceopathic Medical Studies with a discussion of Colocynthis. This method employs the concept of 'minimum syodrome of maximum value', but also the unfamiliar concept of 'miasmatic escape symptoms'. Subrata Banerjea (India) presented the pathogeneses of Staphysagria and Colocynthis in the form of a parable based on an (unsuccessful) disarmament summit between 'President Staph' and 'Comrade Colo'--entertaining, but more appropriate for elementary teaching of hom0eopathy than an international congress. At a more sophisticated level, Fernando Risquez (Venezuela) read a valuable paper which started with a discussion of the psychosomatic problem in western philosophy and went on to discuss the semantics of Kent's repertory, showing that Kent used 'common sense' language and calling for a more sophisticated, post-Freudian use of language, illustrated by some psychotherapeutic case histories. Jacqueline Barbancey (France) pointed out the rather different images of Staphysagria to be found in different materia medicas and discussed some psychiatric histories from her extensive experience. Jugal Kishore (India) drew out some of the finer features which distinguish Staphysagria and Colocynthis and gave a number of case histories including one in which ascites due to a carcinoma of the ovary was effectively palliated by

Colocynthis.

Provings

Staphysagria and Colocynthis

A number of provings were reported, these included: Thallium by Eugenia Pulido, (Mexico), Propolis--bee's resin, which has a long history of medical use and has recently been proved, in the 30c, by E. Urban (W. Germany), and a very useful double-blind proving of Mag. fluor. 30x carried out by Franz Swoboda (Austria), using the method described by the same author in previous papers in the British

One of the other congress themes was Sta-

Homceopathic Journal.

Volume 76, Number3, July 1987 Case reports There were also quite a number of case reports. A m o n g the most impressive and well-documented were those delivered by Diwan Harish Chand (India), which included a case of chronic renal failure on dialysis for some six months which responded dramatically to Arsenicum alb. 6, 30 and 200; and those of Francisco Eizyaga (Argentina), which were particularly well-documented and illustrated the effectiveness of his method of repeated low potencies (6c) in advanced and even terminal conditions. A. U. Ramakrishnan (India) reported two cases of haemophilia which apparently responded dramatically to homceopathy. Unfortunately, no family history or laboratory investigations to support the diagnosis were presented, nor was the response documented in any objective way. Dr Ramakrishnan then went on to assert that A I D S should be treated with the same remedies as are used in haemophilia, because haemophiliacs often get AIDS. This line of reasoning is not homoeopathy, and such loose and undocumented assertions are potentially damaging. S. R. Wadia (India), a veteran Fellow of the Faculty of Homceopathy, presented two bladder cases. K. H. Illing (W. Germany), M. L. Agrawal (India), and David Flores Toledo (Mexico) also presented collections of case histories. In the discussion there was further debate on repetition of the dose and plussing. As usual, this produced more heat than light--this one will run and run!

Case series Anita Davies (GB) gave a useful account of her management of the hyperventilation syndrome based on one month's data from her diagnostic index. The five most commonly prescribed remedies were Natrum mur., Sepia, Pulsatilla, Phosphorus and Calc. phos. A n o t h e r interesting series was presented by the father and son team of A l o k and R. S. Pareek (India) who described two of their series of 36 cases of non-malignant gall bladder disease showing good results from Cholesterinum 3x combined with the indicated medicine. These cases were backed up with good radiological and ultrasound evidence. Marcello Bignamini (Italy) presented a retrospective analysis of 139 cases of idiopathic headache treated in the period 1984-6. A very full analysis of the patients and treatment was presented, with a comparison of the results of uni-

109 cist and pluralist treatment, the group receiving unicist treatment responding better. Charanjeet Ghooi (India) from Bhopal described her experience of the Union Carbide plant disaster of 1984. The main symptoms were in the conjunctivae, respiratory system and late jaundice, and the main remedies used were reported. Dr Ghooi believes that the toxin was, as officially claimed, methyl isocyanate, possibly contaminated with phosgene. This view was hotly disputed by Prakash Vakil (India) who claims that chlorine was the culprit. Laurence Badgeley (USA) made the first contribution to what will certainly be one of our major future challenges by presenting a personal series of 18 patients suffering from A I D S or A R C (AIDS-associated complex). Remedies were prescribed on the basis of the vascular autonomic signal; this technique, originated by Nogier, is based on the effect that a vial of the indicated medicine has on the radial artery, when held close to the patient. The most commonly prescribed medicines were Typhoidinum, followed by Badiaga, Mercurius, Phytolacca and Cyclosporine. Unfortunately the responses of selected patients only, rather than the full data-set, were reported. Non-clinical research q?he research session opened with three impressive papers from the Boiron team. The first of these, presented by Jean Boiron (France) himself, was a further study on arsenic excretion. The study was 'blind' on rats, with the radionuclide 73As used as a tracer and potentized water control. The results showed a statistically highly significant increase in urinary and faecal arsenic excretion with a lowering of blood levels in the active treatment group, compared to control. The strongest effect was observed with dilutions corresponding to 10 -14, with 14x showing a stronger effect than 7c. Philippe Belon (France) then reported a further study based on the Human Basophil Degranulation Test (HBDT), showing that the degranulation of basophils of patients sensitive to D. pteronyssinus can be inhibited by Histamine in potency. In this experimental system there are peaks of activity at 6 and 14c. Finally, Elisabeth Hariveau (France) showed that Acetylsalicylic acid 5c taken by healthy volunteers causes a statistically significant promotion of platelet aggregation, compared to placebo. Bernard Poitevin (France) presented a carefully conducted study which showed, using

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110 sophisticated indices of macrophage activity, that oral Silicea 5 and 9c has effects on the activity of peritoneal macrophages in the mouse (silica is cytotoxic to macrophages). A paper based on these studies has now been published in the European Journal of Immunology. Max Tetau (France) showed that pretreatment with Mercurius corrosivus in potency protects the kidneys of mice from the toxic effects of subsequent treatment with the same substance, and that this effect has circadian and circumannual rhythms. H. Lernout (France) presented an in-vitro study showing Copper sulphate in potency to protect lentil seedlings from the subsequent effects of the same substance. A. M. Binsard (France) described, and illustrated with some beautiful scanning electron microscope photographs, an improved globule with better absorbancy, regularity and shorter dissolution time. Anais Atmadjian (France) talked about the effects of potentized substances on various neurotransmitters, unfortunately no original material was presented, and this paper was criticized in the following discussion for making unwarranted extrapolations from the in-vitro to the clinical situation. Gerhard Resch (Austria) presented two papers, one on behalf of Professor Gutmann and the other in his own right, on structural and physico-chemical aspects of potentization. He introduced the concept of the whole system hierarchy, developed by the British physicist David Bohm, and presented some interesting thermoluminescence data. As usual Resch's contribution was fascinating and well-illustrated--on this occasion with engravings by the Dutch artist M. C. Escher. A prize for the best-illustrated talk would have had only two contenders-Resch and Mme Binsard, with her scanning EM images. In discussion, Resch said that he did not foresee, in the immediate future, a physical method to detect 'potency energy'. Clinical research

The final session was largely concerned with clinical research, it opened with Peter Fisher (GB) who analyzed the objectives of clinical research in homeeopathy, classifying these into defence, development and basic research, and discussed the various possible trial designs: one remedy/one disease, open-ended (i.e. free choice of medicine), and single-patient (n= 1) trials, and discussed the design of provings. Bruno Brigo (Italy) presented an excellent double-blind, placebo-controlled study of the

homeeopathic treatment of migraine, in which the prescriber had a choice of 12 medicines, all in the 30c. A detailed breakdown of the patient group was given, and there was a highly significant improvement on homoeopathy compared to placebo. Natrum tour. and Silicea were the most frequently prescribed medicines. Farokh Master (India) reported a 36 patient placebo-controlled study of treatment of Broca's aphasia due to stroke. The homoeopathic patients appeared to do much better than those receiving placebo. Unfortunately assessment was only in terms of general impression, and not of defined parameters, and there was no statistical analysis. The most-prescribed medicine was Bothrops with, surprisingly, Chenopodium second. Veterinary

A. H. Westerhuis (Holland) gave a paper entitled 'Like master like dog', describing various 'dog types' and their homoeopathic treatment. Annette Prollius (W. Germany) recounted some experiences of the hom0eopathic treatment of seagulls caught in an oil slick in the North Sea. Other papers

Dr Ahmed Currim (USA) recounted the amazing saga of his quest for Kent's own, personally corrected, copy of the 2nd edition of his Repertory (the 3rd edition was published posthumously). This book was stolen from Dr Pierre Schmidt by a certain Dr K. C. Mittal, who then vanished in India, pursued by Interpol! Eventually, Dr Currim tracked Mittal down and recovered the book, but not before it had been extensively mutilated. Dr Currim pointed out a number of differences between Kent's own working repertory and Kent's Final General Repertory edited by Chand and Schmidt. In the ensuing discussion Diwan Harish Chand (India) took up a number of Dr Currim's points, stating that there will never be a repertory with no errors, Dean Crothers (USA) described the use of the computer program Xtract which is based in the database program dBaseII, and has been developed by the Rhus toxicodendron study group (associated with Homeopathia Europea) to make additions to Kent's repertory. Charles Elliot (GB) discussed the contribution to the materia medica of the C o n i f e r a e - which include such major remedies as Thu]a, and less well-known medicines including mere-

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bers of the Juniperus, Abies and Cupressus genera. He concluded by mentioning the sea remedies Medusa, Squid and Stingray. Cyril Smith (GB) read a paper hypothesizing that the basis of 'potency energy' is highly coherent electromagnetic oscillation 'remembered' by the medium. Much of Dr Smith's talk was devoted to showing slides of a patient said to be hypersensitive to electromagnetic fields. Unfortunately, no attempt had been made to control these observations, although it would have been relatively easy to do this. Marcel Jenaer (Belgium) described his supportive therapy in cancer treatment, this includes the use of potencies of a number of novel substances, including DNA, Interleukin 2 and Epidermal Growth Factor. Prakash Vakil (India) discussed phase-of-themoon modalities, starting from Boger's Times of the remedies and moon-phases, he has added considerably to the rubrics on the basis of case experience. D. P. Rastogi and R. K. Manchanda (India) discussed the use and interpretation of single rubrics from Kent's Repertory, detailing 36 cases where successful prescriptions had been made on the basis of single rubrics. Harris Coulter (USA) presented evidence collected in the course of researching his recent book on DPT vaccination, pointing to a wide range of insidious health problems occurring in perhaps 5% of children receiving Pertussis vaccination.

has implications for the treatment of AIDS, The session devoted to psychiatry, chaired by Jacqueline Barbancey, was potentially valuable but sadly was poorly attended.

Satellite meetings Some of the most useful business of the Congress was conducted in small satellite meetings. In one of these David Taylor-Reilly and Morag Taylor (GB) presented some further results from their recently published hayfever study. These were largely concerned with specific IgE levels, which were found to have risen in all the responders, whether they received active Grass Pollen 30c or placebo. Although the rise was greater in the active than the placebo group, the difference was not statistically significant. In another session Pascal Seguin (France) summarized some interesting results obtained by Prof. Claude with specific anti-tissue antibodies (given in suppository form!). This work

Conclusion Following the stormy Extraordinary General Assembly the previous evening, the congress closed with calls for reconciliation from Jost Kunzli and Matthias Dorcsi (Austria). Dr Dorcsi made a gesture which the Faculty of Hom0eopathy might consider emulating by presenting, to the American Institute of Homeopathy, a cheque to allow a young American hommopathic doctor to study in Vienna. Overall, this was a stimulating and moraleboosting meeting. Our friends at the American Institute of Homeopathy merit our thanks and congratulations for all the hard work they put into its organization, PETER FISHER

Proving methodology One of the most interesting sessions of the whole congress was the research meeting chaired by the grand old man of research in hommopathy~ and Secretary for Research of the LMHI, Jean Boiron. This meeting was entirely devoted to discussion of proving methodology, The theme was introduced by Elisabeth Hariveau who surveyed the literature on proving methodology. In the course of the discussion (which lasted all afternoon) quite a high degree of consensus emerged, it was agreed that proving is of fundamental importance, that it should be carried out on the largest scale possible, double-blind, with informed consent but without the volunteers knowing the name of the drug. The British contingent particularly favoured two-stage provings with an initial screening stage to identify sensitive subjects, and adoption of the so-called N = 1 method recently described in the orthodox medical press. David Taylor-Reilly called for 'Proving the Proving' to validate the method. A notable dissenting voice was that of Eugenia Pulido, who Laid that, in her provings, 80-85% of the subjects developed symptoms and that she was able to distinguish placebo symptoms from remedy symptoms by their character.