In this disease, which resists the efforts of the old system. Homoeopathy has won brilliant and undying triumphs. Its success in the prevention and cure of Cholera, and other violent diseases has contributed greatly to its rapid spread in every part of the world. A Parliamentary return, dated May 21, 1855, entitled Cholera, testified that by the Homoeopathic treatment of Asiatic Cholera in hospital, the death-rate was 16.4 per cent. while, according to the aggregate statistics of the other (Allopathic) hospitals, it was 59.2 per cent. ( In an article some years ago, entitled Cholera in the Metropolitan Hospitals, the Lancet states, It is a melancholy fact to record, but at the time of our last visit no case of undoubted cholera had recovered.).
Cholera is always more or less prevalent in India, and there its Homoeopathic treatment has made great strides amongst the Native practitioners and students.
The hospital of Cholera furnishes a beautiful practical illustration of the worth of that fundamental principle of Homoeopathy, namely, that we must ascertain the powers of medicines by testing them upon the healthy body, before they can be properly applied to the removal of disease. Possessed of this knowledge, a medical man can treat a perfectly new disease, or one with which the is totally unacquainted, the symptoms of which correspond with those of any medicine previously so tested. Thus Hahnemann, from a mere description of the symptoms of Cholera, and before he had seen a single case, selected from his Materia Medica those very remedies which have been so triumphantly successful in the hands of his disciples.
DEFINITION.-Malignant Cholera, a disease (often epidemic), dependent on a bacillus, and communicable from one person to another, usually through the medium of the water supply, is generally ushered in by premonitory painless Diarrhoea, and accompanied by sudden prostration, tremors, dizziness, spasm of the bowels and limbs, faintness, profuse serous (rice-water) or bloody alvine discharges. Vomiting, burning heat at the stomach, coldness and dampness of the whole surface of the body, cold tongue and breath, unquenchable thirst, feeble rapid pulse, extreme restlessness, oppressed breathing, albuminous or suppressed urine, blueness of the body, sunken and appalling countenance, peculiar odour from the body, collapse, and finally unless reaction comes on death (Aitken).
CAUSE.-It is made out with reasonable certainty that the germ of Cholera is the comma-shaped bacillus isolated and described by Dr. Koch. For a fuller discussion of the history, nature, and treatment of Malignant Cholera, Diarrhoea, and Dysentery, by Dr. J.H. Clarke. All are agreed in regarding the disease as a most serious one. In India and other Asiatic countries it is especially sudden and fatal. Instances of death taking place in two, three, four, or more hours are extremely common. The experience gained during former visitations of Cholera teaches us that it seizes the poor in a far greater proportion than the rich, that the most potent conditions favourable to its spread are poverty, over-crowding, filth, intemperance, and impure water; and that as we prevent the accumulation of filth, foul air, and other causes of general disease, and supply the people with wholesome food and pure water, so we render inoperative the powerful agencies by which this dreaded disease chiefly spreads. ( For a fuller discussion of the history, nature, and treatment of Malignant Cholera, see Homoeopathic World, vol. xxviii. pp. 197, 201, 293, etc. also Cholera, Diarrhoea, and Dysentery, by Dr. J. H. Clarke).
EPITOME OF TREATMENT-
1. Premonitory Diarrhoea.-Rubini’s Camph. ( Rubini’s Camphor consists of equal parts by weight of Camphor and Spirits of Wine, 60 degree O.P.).
2. Invasive stage.-Rubini’s Camph., or Aconite (strong tincture in drop-doses).
3. Fully-developed Cholera.-If Camph. be insufficient-Arsenicum, Verb- Alb., Cup-Ac., Ipecac., Ammon-Sulph.
4. Collapse.-Arsenicum, Aconite, Carbo V.
5. Typhoid Conditions.-Phosphorus, Arsenicum, Carbo V., Ac-Nit., Cup-Ac.
6. Convalescence.-China., Ac-Phosphorus
7. Prophylactic.-Camph., Cup-Ac.
GENERAL INDICATIONS.-Camphor, at frequent intervals, directly the first symptoms of Cholera-Diarrhoea, chilliness, and spasmodic pains in the abdomen-are noticed. It is often sufficient to cure the disease immediately in that stage. Should the disease have much advanced before the use of Camph. administer.
Aconitum.-Dr. Hempel found this remedy eminently useful, during the first invasion of the disease, in restoring the pulse and rousing the vital reaction generally. The 1x, or strong tincture, should be given. Our own experience with Aconite during an epidemic, when we prescribed it in several cases of Diarrhoea with great pain in the bowels, coldness of the body, and cadaverous appearance, fully confirms the foregoing statement. As an illustration of the value of Aconite in Cholera, we mention the following facts from our own practice. Some years ago we prescribed, for a patient at a little distance, Aconite in a low dilution for severe pain in the abdomen. The medicine produced such striking results in his own case, that, having a large portion to spare, he gave doses of it to his friends when they suffered in a similar manner. Finding the remedy so useful in relieving acute pain, he asked us to give him a supply of it to keep in readiness. At this time Cholera broke out in the village, and, although he did not know the name of the remedy, he gave it to as many as he found suffering from Cholera, taking the pain in the abdomen as the indication for its use. Death from Cholera occurred in the village, but in every instance patients who had Aconite quickly recovered.
Arsenicum.-Cramps, Suppressed urine, and sudden extreme prostration, the last symptom being more marked than the profuseness of the discharges. A dose every thirty to sixty minutes.
Veratrum.-Excessive Vomiting and Diarrhoea, with Cramps.
Cuprum.- Cramps, with vomiting and a cyanotic condition.
The remedies most suitable in COLLAPSE and in the TYPHOID CONDITION into which Cholera patients often pass, have already been indicated. For detailed symptoms, see the Materia Medica, and the section on Enteric fever.
ACCESSORY MEANS.-Absolute rest in the recumbent posture, from the very commencement of the Diarrhoea. A hopeful and cheerful state of mind should be fostered; a presentiment of death being unfavourable.
The sick-room should be warm but well-ventilated; and the heat of the body maintained by friction, hot bottles, etc. Ice and iced water may be given freely; no food, much less stimulants; enemata of warm milk often repeated, though rejected, are beneficial. The return to ordinary diet should be slow. Evacuations, bedding and clothing should be disinfected. See Section on Nursing.
PREVENTIVE TREATMENT.-When Cholera is epidemic, Rubini’s Camphor should be taken once or twice a day, in doses of two or three drops on sugar. The simple diarrhoea which often precedes Malignant Cholera should be promptly met. Dr. J.H. Clarke says that if the person is much exposed to the disease one drop of Cuprum Acet. 3x should be given night and morning in a little water. Camph., Arsenicum, or Aconite may be prescribed according to the indications.
SANITARY AND HYGIENIC MEASURES.-The following excellent advice has been given, and should be adopted on the earliest indications of Cholera-
The house should be well aired, especially the sleeping apartments, which should be kept dry and clean.
All effluvia arising from decayed animal or vegetable substances ought to be got rid of; consequently, cesspools and dustholes should be cleaned out, and water-closets and drains made perfect.
All exposure to cold and wet should be avoided, and on no account should any one sit in damp clothes, particularly in damp shoes and stockings. Care should be taken to avoid chills or checking perspiration. Clothing must be sufficient to keep the body in a comfortable and even temperature.
Habits of personal cleanliness and regular exercise in the open air should be cultivated; also regularity in the periods of repose and refreshment; anxiety of mind and late hours should be avoided.
The diet should be wholesome, and adapted to each individual habit. Every one should, however, be more than ordinarily careful to abstain from any article of food (whether animal or vegetable) which may have disordered his digestion upon former occasions, no matter how nutritious and digestible to the generality, and to avoid all manner of excess in eating and drinking.
Raw vegetables, sour and unripe fruits, cucumber, salads, pickles, etc. should not be allowed.
Wholesome varieties of ripe fruits, whether in their natural or cooked state, and vegetables plainly cooked, may be taken in moderation, by those with whom they agree.
45. Diphtheria.
DEFINITION.-A specific, contagious, and sometimes epidemic disease, dependent on the growth of a specific bacillus in the throat (Klebs-Loffler), and the poisoning of the system by its toxins, in which there is exudation of lymph on the lining of the mouth, fauces, and upper parts, of the air passages, or, occasionally, on an abraded portion of the skin, attended with general prostration, and sometimes remarkable nervous phenomena.
LICENTIATE OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS; MEMBER OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS; LICENTIATE IN MIDWIFERY, LONDON AND EDINBURGH, ETC. PHYSICIAN TO THE READING AND BERKSHIRE HOMOEOPATHIC DISPENSARY.
Author of "The Stepping Stone to Homeopathy and Health,"
"Manual of Homoeopathic Treatment". Editor of "The Homoeopathic World."