Scope and limitations of different modes of employing medicines

Master Hahnemann described the following 4 different modes of employing medicines [treatment].

1. Allopathy
2. Homoeopathy
3. Antipathy
4. Isopathy

Allopathy
The word meaning Alloeos-disimilar, heterogenous & pathos means suffering.  According to  Hahnemann, Allopathy is the mode of employing medicines for diseases, in which medicines are given, whose symptoms have no direct pathological relation to the morbid state, consequently are neither similar nor opposite, but quite heterogeneous to the symptoms of the disease.

Hahnemann again defines it as “The Allopathic or heteropathic which, without any pathological relation to what is actually diseased in the body, attacks the parts most exempt from the disease, inorder to draw away the disease through them.

They have no fixed principles, their mode of treatment with mixtures of unknown medicinal substances for disease and directed towards some material objects completely at variance with nature and experience, with a bad result.  This mode of treatment has no particular inventor.  It originated from empirical methods.  They study human organism from a materialist viewpoint.  Being guided by the materialistic view of disease, allopathy attempts to kill or remove the causative organisms inorder to cure disease.  They treat the result of disease.  They use material dose for killing bacteria and also the treatment of several disease.  They concentrate attention to the parts of the organism and misses the whole.  They studied the action of drugs through animals & lab experimentations.  Their drugs have never been tested and proved on healthy human beings.  They treats dieses by their names and  common symptoms.  They also try to found out specific remedy for specific disease.  But they use medicine in large dose, which are dangerous for life.  Many drugs each of a prominent symptoms are mixed together and administered.

The allopathic treatment attacks the body in the least diseased parts that have no direct pathological relation to the disease to be used.  They use violent purgatives to treat itch exanthema does not cure the skin disease but only adds another trouble to the patient.  The massive dose of medicine of generally unknown nature a morbid state and ruins the patients constitution.  Cure is never effected but as aggravation occurs.

From different observations it is very much clear that this mode of treatment cannot cure disease, rather palliate, suppress or complicate treatment in the long run.  Thus the disease become more worse than before and become incurable as daily experience shows.

Homoeopathy
Homoeos – similar pathos – suffering.  Based on axiom similia similibus curantur which means like cures likes.  Homoeopathy is a method of curing the diseased person by employing medicine which have been tested in healthy individuals & has the power & tendency to produce an artificial morbid state most similar to that of the cure of disease.  We the Homoeopaths believe on the dynamic concept of life.  Homoeopathy regards disease per se as primarily a dynamic derangement of vital force by some morbific noxious agents causing disagreeable sensations & functions, which are expressed outwardly through signs & symptoms.  For them no two cases of the same disease are exactly alike.  Each case has its own individuality, and selection of remedy is based on this individuality.

Another one is our holistic concept of disease; from this we treat the patient as a whole, not the particular disesed part.  According to this system diseases are nothing but the dynamic derangement of the vital force.  Homoeopathy regards bacteria, parasites etc as the end products of morbid vital process.  Treatment not dependent on physiological & pathological discoveries but depend on the drug provings on healthy human beings.  The basis of prescription is the totality of symptoms.  The scope of Homoeopathy lies in treating the actual morbid vital force, neither its causative agents, not its ultimate.  Only one single simple medicine in minimum close is used for the treatment of diseases.

Homoeopathic therapeutic law of cure is absolutely scientific by the process of observations, inclusions, deductions and experimental verifications.   Homoeopathy treats the diseased person, not the disease itself.

Antipathy / Enantiopathy / Palliative mode of treatment
It is based on the axiom contraria contraris curantur, which means opposite cures opposite.  Here the mode of treatment by administration of medicine, which produce an exact opposite condition of the sym of disease.  Founder of this Galen.

Examples

1. Opium for pains, diarrhoea & sleeplessness.

a. For pains large dose of opium is given which benumbs the sensibility and administer the same remedy in case of diarrhoea it puts a stop to the peristaltic motion of intestine and make it insensible and opium produce stupefied comatose sleep.

2. Purgatives for constipation.

3. Cold water for burning.

4. Warm baths for chilliness.

5. Wine for debility.

Palliation is needed in the following cases:
Only in the most urgent cases, where danger to life and imminent death allow no time for the action of homoeopathic remedy.  In sudden accidents occurring to previously healthy individuals – for eg: in asphyxia and suspended animation from lightening, from suffocation, freezing, drowning etc.

By this method of treatment physician gain patients confidence by deluding him momentary amelioration.

Defects:   It is an extremely faulty symptomatic treatment where the practitioner devotes his attention in merely one sided manner to a single symptoms, consequently relief for the totality of the disease what patient desires, cannot be expected.

After the transient amelioration by antipathic employment of medicine of chronic affection, and invariable relapse and aggravation follows in every case without exception.  During the Primary action of medicine disease is palliated and as soon as the action over, disease relapses during Secondary action with greater intensity.

This method of treatment subsequent aggravation by employing stronger close of medicine at each time.  Due to prolonged repeated use of ever – increasing dose of antagonistic medicine, a serious disease is added to old one.  It is dangerous to life and often quick death follows, such treatment never cure disease of long standing.

Isopathy
The fourth mode of employing medicine in disease.  This is based on the axiom Equilia Equilibus Curantur which means same cures the same.  It is a method of curing a given disease by the same contagious principle produces it.  Mr. M. Lux found his so called made of cure by identicals & Idem, he was a veterinary surgeon in Leipzig. Eg: cure of frostbite by snow.

Limitations
In Isopathy, cure has been effective only in selective cases where there is symptom similarity. So cure is an accidental occurrence, It is an incomplete system  all sorts of disease can’t be treated by this.

From the above discussions Homoeopathy is the only curative mode of treatment of disease because:

1. It is based on Nature’s Law of cure.
2. It treats the disease by totality of symptom produced in Patients remove disease in whole extent.
3. Proved medicines are used.
4. No chance of drug disease due to small quantity of medicine.
5. Permanent & perfect cure occurs.

Hahnemann says that homoeopathic way must e the only proper one of the three modes of employing medicine in disease; it is the only direct way to mild sure, permanent cure without doing injury in another direction and without weakening the patient.  The pure homoeopathic mode of cure is the only proper way, the only way possible to human skill, as certainly as only on straight line can be drawn bet two given points [Aphorism 54].