The Liquid Halogen-an Overview

Dr Medha V 

Abstract– This article is about the Halogen group remedy, Bromium. Apart from the clinical aspect here I present a bird’s eye information about the areas which are not much known to the Homoeopathic practitioners, like identification, preparation and storage of the drug.

Bromine is the only liquid non-metallic element at room temperature. It is a member of the halogen group and the third-lightest halogen.

BROMIUM (Bromine)

Chemical symbol-Br

At.no.-35

At.wt-79.92

Synonym-Bromine

The name comes from the Greek word ‘bromos’, which means ‘nasty smell ’ referring its sharp and disagreeable smell. It was Isolated independently by two chemists,Carl Jacob Lowig (in 1825) and Antoine Jerome Balard (in 1826),

Description –A dark reddish-brown, heavy, mobile, corrosive liquid which gives off intensely irritating brown fumes.Soluble in water;freely soluble in most organic solvents.

Identification-
The vapors of bromine give an orange yellow color to filter paper moistened with solution of starch.Bromine is soluble in few drops of carbon disulphide or chloroform forming a reddish solution.Addition of a saturated solution of phenol to an aqueous solution of bromine yields a white precipitate.

History and authority-proved by Hering in 1838

Preparation

  1. Mother solution-

Drug strength- 1/100

Bromium in saturated aqueous solution (drug strength 1/332)330ml

Purified water 670 ml

To make one thousand milliliter of mother solution

  1. Potencies

3x and higher upto 5x with purified water  ,6x and higher with dispensing alcohol.

Storage– Bromium and all its preparations below 4x should be kept in glass stoppered bottles well closed, in a cool place.Handle with great care as it causes severe burns and blisters when brought into contact with the skin. Solutions and potencies upto 5x should be stored in a dry cool place protected from light and preferably should be prepared fresh for use.

Drug Picture of Bromium

Work has come to an end- They have difficulty coming to terms with the fact that they might never work again, they have to let go of their jobs due to various reasons like illness or old age.

Letting go of work-mostly their problem starts when they have reached the age of retirement. They want to do something and when they can’t find anything their hands and fingers get restless, they bite their nails, pick at the skin around the nails.

Letting go of duty ;guilty-They feel guilty that they are not doing their work or being ‘naughty’ or ‘wrong’. Giving rise to compulsive fumbling movements with their hands.

Letting go of control  :instincts ,sex, adultery –They are intense and passionate in everything they undertake. May be very sexual, or very emotional or aggressive or selfish. They know how strongly they are being led by their instincts and they fear that they will harm other people because of it this in turn make them guilty.

Escaping from failure-They think they are being prosecuted ,either by people or by ghosts.so they escape, far away from their place where everyone knows they have done wrong.

Letting go of control   : psychotic-In extreme case they go psychotic . They feel terribly guilty, sit silently, starring into space. They have delusion that god wants to punish them.

Expressions

Fear- of failure, criticism, opposition, anticipation, alone, stroke, dark, ghosts, water

Dreams-paralysis, unsuccessful efforts, paralysis, anger, death, heights, fights, dead people, funeral, travel

Delution- someone looking over their shoulder, fasting, going insane, travelling, ghosts, things jumping up and down on the floor in front of them.

Irritability-quarrelsome, angry, shouting

Mental-confused, forgetful, imbecile

Mood-sensitive ,gloomy, indifferent

Its principle action is its tendency to cause induration and enlargement of glands of the body. Marked effect seen in larynx and trachea .Scrofulous children with enlarged glands. Tendency to spasmodic attacks. Left sided mumps. Profuse sweats and great weakness.

Warm blooded person; complaints after being overheated

Blondes with light blue eyes, fair fine hair, red cheeks and pink delicate skin.

Aphonia and hoarseness from being overheated.

Left-sided complaints

Person who are allergic to dust-hay fever from dust, handling old books from shelf

Agg- dust, overheating

Amel-seashore

References-

  1. Homoeopathic Pharmacopoeia of India. Government of India Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Second volume (second edition).
  2. Group study in Homoeopathic Materia Medica by Dr J.D. Patil, M.D
  3. Homoeopathy and the Elements by Jan Scholten
  4. VERMEULEN F., Synoptic Materia Medica 1 (vml2), Encyclopedia Homoeopathica

Dr Medha V MD Part I
Department of Homoeopathic Pharmacy
Father Muller Homoeopathic Medical College and Hospital
Mangaluru

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