Homeopathic proving

A homeopathic proving is the method by which the profile of a homeopathic remedy is determined. The word 'proving' derives from the German word 'Prüfung' (meaning 'test').

Provings is carried out in a number of ways which depend on the group who is conducting the trial. This usually involves following Samuel Hahnemann’s protocols but may include extnesions such as a person taking the remedy and meditating on the effects. Most authoritative provings are done following a strict method which is laid down on pages 45-55 in Jeremy Sherr's book entitled The Dynamics and Methodology of Homoeopathic Provings, published by Dynamic Books.

A proving typically involves about 20 volunteers taking six doses of the remedy over two days. If symptoms occur then no further doses are taken. During this time, and for some time after, each prover keeps a diary recording all mental, physical and emotional symptoms that are experienced during the proving. At the end of the proving period the master prover will collate the symptoms from the diaries, excluding those symptoms which have been demonstrated to be symptoms that the prover experienced, before the proving commenced. This part of the process can be quite time comsuming. Finally the proving is published in its entirety. In order to give a full remedy picture it is normal for the provers to take the remedy at a range of potencies.

The Organon of the Healing Art

Original: Organon der rationellen Heilkunde -1810- by Samuel Hahnemann
The organon is the base of classical homeopathy.

Organon (lat. organum: Instrument) is a Greek word by its origin and literary means "implement, musical instrument, organ of the body" or "a tool" but in the new English lexis it has the meaning of "an instrument for acquiring knowledge; specifically: a body of principles of scientific or philosophic investigation". In this sense we can simplify the semantics of ORGANON merely to:

1. A method of scientific investigation,
2. An instrument of thoughts,
3. A system of logic,
4. Literary work.

The word Organon was used for the first time by the eminent Greek philosopher Aristotle (384-312 BC). Under the common title of the 'Organon' the work of Aristotle was summed up on the logic treatise. Francis Bacon (1561-1626 AD) wrote a book either on logical subject titled 'Novum Organum' (New Organon), probably referring to Aristotle's Organon; the book was in Latin language.

The Book

Hahnemann when first experienced the effect of Quinine (Cinchona)[5] wrote an article which was published under the title 'Medicine of Experience'.

After a long trial of medicinal experiments, whatever he have gained, he logically wrote his theory and practical experiences in the book form in the year 1810. Thus the first edition of his Homoeopathic science experience came in existence for the first time before the world. The title of the book was "Organon of Rational Art of Healing" and it contains 271 sections or Paragraphs. The second edition title was 'Organon of Healing Art' and it published in the year 1819 and containing 318 para or sections. The third edition published in the year 1824 and having 320 paragraphs or sections, but the title was the same. The fourth edition published with the same title in the year 1829, having 292 paragraphs or sections, but in this edition "Theory of Chronic Disease" introduced by the Hahnemann for the first time, which was a unique innovation.

The 5th edition was having the same title as previous one and was published in the year 1833, having 294 sections or para. In this edition for the first time the doctrine of Vital Force and drug-dynamization were introduced, which was taken a new approach to Homoeopathic science.

The Ground Plan of the Organon

The fifth edition of the Organon of Medicine is having Aphorism 1 to 294. The doctrine of Homoeopathy is discussed in the 1 to 70 Aphorism. This part is known as theoratical part.

The sub-division of the philosophy of Homoeopathy is below:

1.)The mission of Physician and Highest Ideal of cure aphorism 1 & 2
2.)Requisite knowledge of a physician aphorism 3 & 4
3.)Knowledge of disease apho. 5-18
4.)Knowledge of drugs apho. 19-21
5.)application of drug knowledge to disease knowledge apho. 22-27
6.)knowledge of choice of remedy, different modes of treatment, superiority of homoeopathic therapeutics apho. 28 to 70

Practical part begins from aphorism 71 to 294. In which the following sub-division is catagorised.

1.)Three points, which are necessary for curing apho. 71
2.)Classification of disease apho. 72-80
3.)Case Taking: recording of patient data apho. 83-104
4.)Knowledge of medicinal power, curative power and drug prooving apho. 105-145
5.)Most suitable method of employ medicine to a patient apho. 146-261
6.)allied support during treatment diet in acute diseases apho. 262-263
7.)Preparation of medicine apho. 264-271
8.)administration of medicine apho. 271-292
9.)Mesmerism 293-294

Thus is the plane of Organon of medicine 5th edition, which started from the beginning of "Medicine of Experience".

The Sixth edition titled "Organon of Medicine", published in the year 1921, having 291 para or sections. A treatise on Organon of Medicine is more added.

It is presumed that Hahnemann was influenced with the word Organon, because its meaning had some practical relationship with his discovery of Homeopathic medical science.

Classical versus non-classical homeopathy

Hahnemann's formulation of homeopathy is often referred to as classical homeopathy. Classical homeopaths take a detailed patient history, often lasting more than one hour, base their prescription also on incidental or constitutional symptoms, and administer one remedy at a time at infrequent intervals (typically, not more than once a month).

By contrast, clinical or non-classical homeopathy treatments can involve more than one remedy at a time. For example, some multi-remedy homeopathic formulations are marketed for specific medical conditions. Some formulations use a 'shotgun' approach of the most commonly indicated single remedies in mixture form. Other formulations are proprietary mixtures marketed for specific diagnostic criteria.

Miasms as a cause of disease

Another important component of homeopathy is the concept of "miasms". Hahnemann hypothesized that certain illnesses leave behind some residual damage, or miasm (Greek for "stain" or "imbalance"), which is postulated to be responsible for chronic diseases, and is said to be passed on genetically. There are three types of miasms in homeopathy:

i.)"syphilis", resulting in damage to the brain, nerves, and bones, resulting in deafness, insanity, alcoholism, etc.
ii.)"sycosis", a term used in homeopathy to refer to suppressed gonorrhoea, damaging the mucous membranes and genital tract, producing sensitivity to damp weather and storms
iii.)"psora", damaging the skin, resulting in many types of internal disease states

Hahneman developed his miasm hypothesis because he was concerned about the failures of his homeopathic remedies to produce lasting cures for chronic diseases. By 1816, Hahnemann had noticed that "…the non-venereal chronic diseases, after being time and again removed homoeopathically … always returned in a more or less varied form and with new symptoms."

To explain this, Hahnemann introduced his miasmatic hypothesis. Hahnemann's miasm theory was first published in 1828 in his book, The Chronic Diseases, their Nature and Homoeopathic Treatment.

Hahnemann hypothesized that the miasm of psora underpinned most chronic diseases. The word "miasm" is related to an old medical concept known as the "miasma theory of disease", where the term "miasma" represents "pestiferous exhalations". Hahnemann described this in Note 2 to §11 of the Organon: "…a child with small-pox or measles communicates to a near, untouched healthy child in an invisible manner (dynamically) the small-pox or measles, … in the same way as the magnet communicated to the near needle the magnetic property."

According to Hahnemann, miasmatic infection causes local symptoms, usually in the skin. If these are suppressed by external medication, the hidden cause goes deeper, and manifests itself later as organ pathologies. In §80 of the Organon he asserted psora to be the cause of such diseases as epilepsy, kyphosis, cancer, jaundice, deafness, and cataract.

According to Hahnemann, the body can become susceptible to "morbific noxious agents" that cause disease. Homeopaths try to prevent disease, starting with the first symptoms, which can be displayed long before an acute disease appears. However, Hahnemann recognized that sometimes a large group of people are beset by the same acute disease simultaneously, perhaps because of wars, floods, and famines and other causes, and an epidemic ensues. Hahneman advocated administering one or even a few remedies to a population to prevent a threatened epidemic. According to Hahnemann, when an epidemic begins the homeopath can produce an appropriate remedy for each individual patient from a small collection of remedies.

However, the miasm theory was not widely accepted. Even in his own time, many followers of Hahnemann, including the American homeopathy pioneer Constantine Hering, made almost no reference to Hahnemann’s concept of chronic diseases and the miasm hypothesis. Today, some homeopathic practitioners find Hahnemann’s theory difficult to reconcile with current knowledge of immunology, genetics, microbiology and pathology, as it seems to ignore the importance of genetic, congenital, metabolic, nutritional, and degenerative factors in sickness. The miasm theory also fails to differentiate between the multitude of infectious diseases. However, most insist that the key elements of Hahnemann's miasm theory are valid. For instance, most of them believe that the fundamental cause of disease is internal and constitutional (i.e. the susceptibility to becoming ill), and that it is contrary to good health to suppress symptoms, especially skin eruptions and discharges. They also accept Hahnemann's concept of latent psora, the early signs of an organism’s imbalance, which indicate that treatment is needed to prevent the development of more advanced disease.

Philosophy and Treatments

Homeopathy regards diseases as morbid derangements of the organism, and states that instances of disease in different people differ fundamentally. Homeopathy views a sick person as having a dynamic disturbance in a hypothetical "vital force", a disturbance which, homeopaths claim, underlies standard medical diagnoses of named diseases.

Homeopathy is based on the 'principle of similars', first expressed by Hahnemann as similia similibus curentur or 'let likes cure likes'. This is opposite to the 'principle of contraries' which was central to the Galenic medicine in which Hahnemann had been trained. The 'law of similars' is an ancient medical maxim, but its modern form is based on Hahnemann's hypothesis that a constellation of symptoms induced by a given homeopathic remedy in a group of healthy individuals will cure a similar set of symptoms in the sick. Symptom patterns associated with various remedies are determined by 'provings', in which healthy volunteers are given remedies, of varying concentrations, and the resulting physical and mental symptoms are compiled by observers into a "drug picture".

The law of similars is more of a guiding principle than a scientific law. It is not built on a hypothesis that can be falsified. A failure to cure homeopathically can always be ostensibly attributed to incorrect selection of a remedy.

There are many methods for determining the most-similar remedy (the simillimum), and homeopaths sometimes disagree. This is partly due to the complexity of the "totality of symptoms" concept. That is, homeopaths do not use all symptoms, but decide which are the most characteristic. This subjective evaluation of case analysis relies on knowledge and experience. Finally, the drug picture in the Homeopathic Materia Medica is always more comprehensive than the symptoms exhibited by any individual. These factors mean that a homeopathic prescription can remain presumptive until it is verified by testing the effect of the remedy on the patient.

Hahnemann tested many substances commonly used as medicines in his time, such as antimony and rhubarb, and also poisons like arsenic, mercury and belladonna, to discover what symptoms they produced in healthy individuals. Homeopathy uses many animal, plant, mineral, and synthetic substances. Examples include natrum muriaticum (common salt), lachesis muta (bushmaster snake venom), opium, and thyroidinum.

Other homeopathic remedies involve dilution of the agent or product of the disease. These are the so-called "isopathic remedies", and include nosodes made from diseased tissue, and sarcodes made from healthy tissue. Rabies nosode, for example, is made by diluting the saliva of a rabid dog. Apis mel., another homeopathic remedy, is made from the venom of the Western honey bee, and is used to treat bee stings and fever induced by viral infections.

Today, about 3000 remedies are used in homeopathy; about 300 are based on comprehensive Homeopathic Materia Medica information, and about 1500 on relatively fragmentary knowledge. The rest are used experimentally in difficult cases based on the law of similars, either without knowledge of their homeopathic properties or through speculative knowledge independent of the law of similars. This modern approach also harks back to the ancient 'doctrine of signatures,' which Hahnemann rejected as uncertain guesswork.

Modern efforts to further develop homeopathy

The constant efforts by homeopaths to develop new treatments are driven by many different forces. For example, some are tempted to use an isopathic, or disease-associated agent as a first prescription in a 'stuck' case when the beginning of disease coincides with a specific event such as vaccination. Also, it is common to try a chemically-related substance when a remedy that was well-indicated fails. A good example of this is the use of bowel nosodes, which were introduced by the British homeopaths, Edward Bach (1886–1936), John Paterson and Charles Edwin Wheeler in the 1920s. Their use is based on the variable bowel bacterial flora thought to be associated with persons of different homeopathic constitutional types. Though receiving more attention today, the bowel nosodes are rarely used outside British homeopathy.

More recently, homeopathy has embraced substances based on their elemental classification (the periodic table or biological taxonomy).This approach may create convenient systems for grouping remedies and classifying the ever-burgeoning Homeopathic Materia Medica, but its usefulness is questioned by some purists on the basis that it involves speculation about remedy action without provings.

Some modern homeopaths are exploring the use of even more esoteric substances. These are known as "imponderables", because they do not originate from a material but from electromagnetic energy or other energy presumed to have been "captured" by a substance like alcohol or lactose. The captured "energy" can be in many forms, such as X-rays, Sol (sunlight), Positronium, Electricitas or even light collected using a telescope (for example, from the star Polaris). Recent ventures by homeopaths into even more esoteric substances include Tempesta (thunderstorm), and Berlin wall