GALL-STONE AND ITS COMPLICATIONS : VALUE OF HOMOEOPATHIC TREATMENT.
1. Dyspepsia at the Beginning.
We are going to review the field of Homoeopathic treatment of the different manifestations of gall-stone. It is only a few years ago this question was broached, not only because new remedies were proposed, but mainly because the French school could codify with precision and adapt in a sure manner in each well determined clinical case, some medicines used so long without any method. This should be for us a lesson of humility, because very often there was want of precision which hindered the homoeopath to obtain good results even using the more old remedies of the Materia Medica. It is a variable dyspepsia, with pain, sometimes early at the end of meals (Robinia type), sometimes late like that of an ulcer (Nux vomica or Anacardium), calmed after eating. But the characteristic of this pain is that the pain is due to indigestion of special foods : Fatty food, eggs, iced foods, chocolate etc.
Sometimes even the Aerophagia reveals latent gall stone. When a radiographic plate is taken there is seen a vertical dislocation of the stomach (Faroy) and twisted pylora may be later on the seat of an ulcer. Sometimes the ulcer may be on the duodenum. For all these manifestations it is necessary to treat the patient in a strictly homoeopathic manner. In these cases one must remember the value of Gratiola, Nux vomica, Ignatia, Kali carbonicum also of Argentum nitricum and also of the value of the ground remedies : Thuja, Lycopodium, Graphites with Nux vomica, Ignatia, Kali carbonicum which are also remedies of temperament. Some times Prandial Diarrhoea is seen, which is a symptom of colitis as well as of the affection of gall bladder.
This diarrhoea immediately after meals is seen in Argentum Nitricum, China, Natrum Sulphuricum (diarrhoea immediately after breakfast)
Alternate constipation and diarrhoea will indicate according to the case Chelidonium or Chionanthus or Nux Vomica, Iris Versicolor, Jugluns Cinerea.
2. Affections and Troubles of Duodenum.
The progress in radiography obtained since some years have shown the relation between the Duodenum and the Gall Bladder. This is very important. There are two cases : 1. There may be Duodenal Spasm or even Ulcer formed after chronic dyspeptic troubles or more or less repeated dyspeptic troubles. In this case it is frequently seen that there is coexistence of functional troubles of the liver and of the bladder or there may already be vesicular lesions : Cholecystitis, with gall stone revealed or not in gall bladder.
In this cases, the ground remedy may be according to the temperament of the subject either Thuja, or Natrum sulphuricum, or Lycopodium (to be used prudently) and often Phosphorus, the most important remedy of temperament of Cholecystitis.
2. There may be some radiographic symptoms denoting the existence of a vesicular inflammation, Cholecystitis and Pericholecystitis, causing secondarily periduodenitis. There is then the Adhesions. If they are old, and organised they play the most important part in some painful phenomena. They should be treated by Silicea (ground-remedy, high dilution 200 or M), followed by Thiosinamine (in high dilution according to Cahis of Barcelona) by Calcarea Fluorica, Fluoric Acid.
What is interesting to note according to our personal opinion is that numerous patients from 40 to 60 years of age who have a long and long series of dyspeptic and duodenal troubles with cholecystitis in the beginning or pericholecystitis and periduodenitis, have at the sametime a precancer state; their general condition becomes bad, they become emaciated, they have numerous new skin symptoms : naevi, multiple warts etc. Often without X-ray the diagnosis is uncertain. And even when there certainly is not cancer one dose of Micrococcin 200, does good to them; they put on weight. One Kg. within 10 days.
It seems that these patients have arrived at a cross road. Before them there are two divergent roads leading to the same point, the road sclerosis which leads to cirrhosis, and more or less advanced senility; the other road leads to cancer. The organism choses one or the other and according to our experience we may say that even in this stage we may help the patients not to fall in the one or the other danger. But if our remedies come late, one of the two roads are chosen and utilised and there remains no hope for complete cure.
3. Hepatic Colic.
It is not possible to deal with it here. Let us only mention here some very simple remedies specially from the vegetable kingdom, which will help us to get a rapid and favourable result.
A. The Pain Characteristics :
1. Dioscoria villosa and Colocynthis which oppose each other.
2. Bryonia, Belladonna, Atropinum sulph & Chamomilla, related to the two above.
B. Hepato-biliary insufficiency, concomitant or anterior to the crisis or which follows it will indicate.
3. China, Berberis, Chelidonium, Chionanthus in simple cases. 4. Carduus marianus, Hydrastis, Arsenicum album in more serious cases.
C. The following constitutional remedies may also be used.
5. Calcarea carbonica, Nux vomica, Lycopodium, Phosphorus, Cholesterin.
4. The cholecystitis and the stone of Choledochous canal.
a. Limits of homoeopathic treatment and of surgery.
Before giving indications on the treatment of cholecystitis, let us precise first of all what are here the limits of actions of homoeopathy and of surgery.
Chronic cholecystitis may lead towards sclero-atrophy. It is in this case specially the duodenum and even the pylora may be united together by adhesions, with the possibility of stenosis or pylora requiring surgical intervention. After clinical and radiographic examination of the stomach, intestines and gall bladder, the physician will judge if the lesions are very chronic inveterate. We homoeopaths will yield the place of homoeopathy to surgery.
Very rarely there will be hydrocholecystitis, the bladder increases in volume and distends behind a calculous obstruction. In some cases homoeopathy may cure and in some cases help of surgery should be taken.
Finally if the cholecystitis is suppurated, it should be operated except in cases treated early by homoeopathy where a resorption may be obtained. Our internal remedies, our compresses with M.T. of selected medicines will have an admirable effect, but if the time presses, if the general condition of the patient is grave and when a gangrenous cholecystitis is feared, it is necessary to take recourse to surgery immediately. Our therapeutic results obtained in most of the cases of simple cholecystitis is sufficiently good, but we must be prudent, impartial and believing in surgery.
b. Homoeopathy and Lithiasic Temperament.
But what is very important, is to recognise the lithiasic temperament, already described by Paracelsus and we should know how to treat it.
A- How strange is the diathesis that obliges numerous organisms to the necessity to form stones. The Salivary Lithiasis, tartars of the teeth, ranula (There are some persons who have too much tartar of the teeth, other have very little), renal lithiasis, biliary stones, patchiatic lithiasis; intestinal or stercoral lithiasis, lithiasis of muscular and conjunctive tissues etc. There is a General Tendency to Calculus; that tendency seems often to have some nearest points and evolution with the Tendency to Sclerosis. It is due, some says to Arthritism; to Psora say the disciples of Hahnemann. These different terms serve only to veiour ignorance, because still we do not know the why and how of the tendency to stone. It only appears that the persons who have it evolves in some cases more or less rapidly towards senility, sometimes in advance, as also seen to evolve in the same sense but still more rapidly, those who have the tendency to sclerosis or to fibrosis.
What are the habitual homoeopathic remedies of persons whose evolution is towards sclerosis? Thuja, Plumbum and its salts, Baryum and its salts, Aurum and its salts, etc…and Silica, and Iodium.
For those who have the tendency to from stones, Thuja Calcarea Carbonica, and sometimes Sulphur, Natrum Sulphuricum, Lycopodium.
But bile stones are somewhat different from other stones. We know that chemically it is due to the deposit of Cholesterin. Cholesterin is a normal product of the blood. It is diminished in tuberculous patients and its use in gross doses will help cicatrisation in this disease. On the contrary it is increased in the blood of the plethorics who have the tendency to obesity or persons having hepato-biliary insufficiency.
In persons suffering from hypertension an increase is also seen. In arteriosclerotic persons, persons suffering from Bright’s disease and in some cases of pregnancy etc. What is the exact part played by cholesterin? Nothing is yet known. However it is known that it is antagonistic to lecithin and one finds almost always these two substances in the same case. By the side of hypercholesterinemia there is lipemia which is important to take into account and the phosphorated fat, lipoids in excess in the blood of some subjects having insufficient liver and the tendency to fabricate too much organic fat co-existing then with the increase of the percentage of cholesterin.
Bernoville was a major lecturer in homeopathy, and he was active in Liga Medicorum Homeopathica Internationalis, and a founder of the le Syndicat national des médecins homœopathes français in 1932, and a member of the French Society of Homeopathy, and the Society of Homeopathy in the Rhone.
Fortier-Bernoville wrote several books, including Une etude sur Phosphorus (1930), L'Homoeopathie en Medecine Infantile (1931), his best known Comment guerir par l'Homoeopathie (1929, 1937), and an interesting work on iridology, Introduction a l'etude de l'Iridologie (1932).
With Louis-Alcime Rousseau, he wrote several booklets, including Diseases of Respiratory and Digestive Systems of Children, Diabetes Mellitus, Chronic Rheumatism, treatment of hay fever (1929), The importance of chemistry and toxicology in the indications of Phosphorus (1931), and Homeopathic Medicine for Children (1931). He also wrote several short pamphlets, including What We Must Not Do in Homoeopathy, which discusses the logistics of drainage and how to avoid aggravations.
He was an opponent of Kentian homeopathy and a proponent of drainage and artificial phylectenular autotherapy as well.