How to learn and teach homoeopathy: Guidelines to students and teachers

Dr V Krishnamurthy

A homoeo doctor consulted his senior for a case of cancer as to what he should give.  The latter says: First of all, give a dose of the cancer nosode carcinocin.  You should treat the constitution too; give Sulphur, Calc-carb or Lyco; anyone is good.  Then a remedy on totality-of-symptoms.  Thus, he washes off his hands.  He prescribes without seeing or listening to the patient.  Everywhere this is almost the same.  Constitutional remedy, totality of symptoms, miasm etc.–No one understands what these are.

The aspiring homoeopaths comfortably sits before the homoeo software-computer and types all the symptoms told by the patient–anger, restlessness, irritability, constipation etc. and he invariably gets a cpolycrest and it is utter failure.  Points to be kept in mind whether you are a student or professor:

It is not mere totality-of-symptoms but this should be read with Section 153 of the Organon which says that we must take rare-strange-peculiars only.  Thus, it is “totality-of-uncommon” symptoms which will be one or two only in any case.  Neither the Repertory nor Materia Medica alone is not sufficient.  A lateral thinking led the great Dr. Samuel Lilienthal to attempt another way and it is his work Homoeopathic Therapeutics.  The rape victim Nirbhaya of Delhi could have been saved with one dose of Crotalus-horridus-10M.  Septicaemia, traumatic haemorrhage.  These very two symptoms should at once bring to our mind the remedy Crotalus horridus-10M. [Why high potency?  The answer is given by another great author–Dr. W. A. Yingling.  In the introduction to his Accoucheur’s Emergency Manual; he says that with high potency there will be no need for repetition.  We should call Yingling and Lilienthal as our seniors; before these great authors, none in India is senior.]

See the following on page 912 of homoeopathic Therapeutics by Dr. Lilienthal:

Symptoms in Nirbhaya’s case are:

Septicaemia: Acon., Arn., Ars., Calend., Canth., Carbol-ac., Chin-arom., Chinin-mur. or sulph., Crot-h., Lach., Nit-ac., Rhus, Veratr-vir., Zinc.

–for the haemorrhages: Crot-h., Ergot., Kreos., Nitr-ac., Mur-ac., Fer-mur., Tarent-c., Tereb.

–for the adynamia: Mosch., Camph., Carb. v., Crot-h, Lach., Phos., Sil., Verat-abl., Verat-vir., Sulph.

Crotalus horridus alone is common to the above three lists, and one dose in 10M potency would have saved Nirbhaya.

The other way to learn materia medica is “Diseases of blood that threaten the life of the patient–the first remedy is Crotalus-horr. How can one think of any other remedy?

In all cases of diseases of blood that threaten the life of the patient–leucaemia (blood cancer), septicaemia, hepatitis b virus, haemophiia (bleeders), infective hepatitis, we first give Crotal-hor which is almost specific for these conditions.  The reader must note that we write almost specific and the specific.  That means nine out of ten cases will invariably call for Crot-h.

Merely uttering the words ‘constitution’ ‘totality-of-symptoms’ ‘miasm’ would not make any one a good practitioner.  If there is no Lilienthal nor Yingling, there can be no real homoeopathy.  A full-term pregnant woman was in a maternity nursing home and since all the fluid had gone, caesarean was to be performed and the next morning surgery was fixed.  When this case was referred to a senior homoeopath, he reacted: How can we prescribe offhand; we have to see the constitution, mind symptoms etc. etc.

On page 210 of the invaluable reference book The Accoucheur’s Emergency Manual by Dr. W. A. Yingling, we find the following in the chapter ‘Labor.’

Amniotic fluid gone, with, Bell.

Belladonna was given in 10M potency, one dose only and in the early hours of the next day it was natural childbirth. The attending obstetrician was astonished as to how this can happen.

As the Chief Guest of a homoeo college on their Annual Day Celebration, I talked about Calvin B. Knerr’s Repertory, Yingling etc.  After the speech was over the principal took me around the college; while in the library, he asked the librarian whether Knerr’s and Yingling books are there.  He replied ‘No.’ Lilienthal is found with one percent of homoeopaths and they never seemed to have turned its pages.

Points to note:

  1. When a woman around 18 years come for consultation and if all her complaints started around puberty, we must write the word chlorosis in the case sheet. On the other hand, a woman of about 40-50 years–if her complaints started around 42 years of while her menses was continuing, we must write the words Climacteric, Menopause, Critical period.  If the complaint started a few months after complete cessation of menses, the rubric to be taken is “Checked discharges, abandoning habitual secretions.’  See page 1005-1006 in Lilienthal’s Homoeo Therapeutics:

SUPPRESSION OF SECRETIONS.

Suppression of haemorrhage or abandoning habitual depletions: 25 remedies are given.  This list should be taken first for the above.

The homoeo software will not analyze and take you to the above rubric.  Those who have developed homoeo software have little or no knowledge about the various terms used exclusively in homoeopathy.  For example, if a person complaint of headache, dandruff, hair fall etc. the neophyte types all these words in the software; no! Not at all! When two or more complaints are found together in a patient above neck, we must press into service the word Congestion.  So also, if there is swelling, ulcer, itching–all in one leg, again we must not take these separately.  “Two or more complaints in one part–take the symptom ‘congestion.’

When you get first ranking students, or double graduate, double Ph.Ds as a patient, write the word plethora/plethoric in the case sheet.  Similarly, if you get a 5-10-year child, who is performing music in the stages write the words precocious/precocity.  In laymen’s parlance it is called child prodigy.)

  1. Another golden rule: In the case of mind affected patients try to select the remedy on his physical symptoms; in the case of bodily complaints, try to select the remedy on mind symptoms.  Dread of bathing, laughing are common symptom in any insane patients.  These are to be ignored.
  2. When a patient is having gastritis, bronchitis as well as chronic cystitis, write in your case sheet the word “Mucous membranes, inflammation”. See Kent’s Repertory–Generalities: Mucous Membranes, inflammation.
  3. Another great author–Dr. Calvin B. Knerr’s Repertory. A fourth month pregnant woman comes to me with scan report which shows only two months growth.  Her O & G doctor told her that it is to be terminated.  Our golden reference book Knerr’s Repertory:  PREGNANCY; foetus, arrests development: Secale.  We have so far cured a dozen cases of retarded growth with one dose of Secale Cornutum-10M, telling the patient that is one-dose treatment in homoeopathy.
  4. Drop the symptom in Lilienthal and you get the remedy right away as if you dropping the coin in the slot of the weighing machine to get your weight. Seven cancer patients were cured with one dose of Lycopodium on the symptom: “during the pain she must talk about and weep, > in open air.’
  5. We ask those around the patient to forget the rest reports etc. and tell me in verbatim what does the patient talk or does. If their reply is “Doctor, during pain he gets up walk and weeps’ it is straightaway one dose of Lycopodium-10M.  [See Lilienthal’s CARCINOMA–]
  6. Remember Section 84 of the Organon is clear on case taking: The patient tells the history of his complaints.  The relatives describe his complaints, his behavior, and everything they have notices about him.
  7. To expel dead foetus just one dose of Cantharis or Pulsatilla or Cimex in 10m potency, will do it naturally. See Knerr’s Repertory, Pregnancy, to expel dead foetus.  The practitioner should keep these at his finger tips and he will soon become a world-renowned homoeopath!

Last but not the least, is the reference book for diagnosis and differential diagnosis.

Section 153 tells us that we should prescribe on uncommon symptoms of a disease.  For this we should know what are common symptoms.  That takes us to Diagnosis and Differential Diagnosis.Homoeopathy is an offshoot of allopathy.  The best reference books (Yingling, Knerr, Kent, Lilienthal, Wilkinson) were compiled around the year 1936.  So also, The British Encyclopaedia of Medicine (13 volumes) was published around the same period.  This 13-volume Encyclopaedia is a must for any aspiring homoeopath to get success in practice.  Otherwise it will be a ship in midsea without a compass.

An actual case solved with this Encyclopaedia is given below:  A patient complained of lumbago, diabetes and migraine.  Sometime one or two complaints will also be alternating with each other.

In the index to the British Encyclopaedia, we find the following:

Migraine, gout associated with (Vol. 6, page 45)

Lumbago, gout causing (Vol. page 43)

In volume 6, we read the following there:

Page 44-45:  glycosuria is occasionally fond in gouty persons,

Page 45 – Dr. Allbutt noted the occurrence of gout, migraine, and eczema in different members of the same family, as a form of irregular gout.

Page 43 – Gout, being a general and constitutional disease has manifestations other than articular; it may give rise to . . .lumbago is perhaps the commonest form. . .

How to find out if gout is in the family of the patient.  We ask whether in his blood relations (a) anyone lost their eyesight at any age; and, or (b) whether any one had abdominal complaints for more than two years resisting the best treatments.  If the answer is in the affirmative, we must take the rubric gout, constitutional.
See Calvin B. Knerr’s Repertory— “Stages of Life and Constitution, gouty: APIS., Aspar. BENZ-AC., CALC., CALC-P., CAPS., CARBN-S., CHAM., COLCH., Crot-h. GUAJ., LED., LITH-C., LYC., MAG-C., MENY., Sabin, URT-U.

To confirm one of the above remedies my book PULSE DIAGNOSIS comes to our help.  See the pulse of the patient and compare the remedies given for the patient’s pulse with the above list and you can easily confirm one remedy.  That is homoeopathy practice.  If a homoeo practitioner hesitates to buy Knerr’s Repertory and British Encyclopaedia (available with me at Rs15,500=00) let him not practise homoeopathy.  Govt. homoeo college principals and professors would not spend that much amount for their college library and the students are left in lurch.

Dr. V. Krishnamurthy
Phone: 9789069362.  E-mail: JAYKRISH1966@GMAIL.COM

1 Comment

  1. One of the best articles of homoeopathy I have ever read. I would request you sir, to explain in-depth “how have you reached to such a mindset in your Homeopathic practice?” & “What advise will you give to those passionate neophytes if they want to learn the case analysis in this style?”

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