Bryonia. [Bry]
When there are stitching pains in the right hypochondriac region, **Bryonia is the first remedy to be thought of, though for these pains we have other remedies, such as **Chelidonium and Kali carbonicum. Under **Bryonia the liver is swollen, congested and inflamed; the pains in the hypochondriac region are worse from any motion, and better from lying on the right side, which lessens the motion of the parts when breathing. It is one of the chief remedies for jaundice brought on by a fit of anger. **Chamomilla has this symptom, but the **Chamomilla patient gets hot and sweats, while the **Bryonia patient is apt to be chilly, though he appears hot. There is a bitter in the mouth and the stools are hard and dry, or, if loose, papescent and profuse and associated with a colic. **Berberis has stitching pains from the liver to the umbilicus. **Chelidonium is distinguished by the character of the stools.
**Bryonia is pre-eminently a gastro-hepatic remedy, and has pain in right shoulder, giddiness, skin and eyes slightly yellow. Hughes says it hardly reaches true hepatitis.
Mercurius. [Merc]
This remedy has much sensitiveness and dull pain in the region of the liver; the patient cannot lie on the right side. The liver is enlarged. The skin and conjunctiva are jaundiced. The stools are either clay-colored from absence of bile, or yellowish-green bilious stools passed with a great deal of tenesmus. There is a yellowish white coated tongue which takes the imprint of the teeth and there is a foetid breath, loss of appetite and depression of spirits. **Leptandra has aching and soreness in the region of the liver and is especially indicated in the lazy livers of city men; but is distinguished from **Mercurius in the stools, which are pitchlike and black, accompanied with no tenesmus, but rather a griping and the pains of **Leptandra are dull, aching and burning in the posterior part of the liver. The character of the diarrhoea will also distinguish **Mercurius from Magnesia muriatica, which is useful in the enlarged livers of puny and rachitic children. **Mercurius is the remedy for jaundice arising from abuse of quinine when fever is present. It is a splendid remedy for “torpid liver.” It suits well simple jaundice in children. Cowperthwaite believes that, as a rule, **Mercurius dulcis 2X is the most effective preparation of mercury in catarrhal jaundice.
Podophyllum. [Podo]
The principal use of **Podophyllum is in liver affections. Primarily, it induces a large flow of bile, and, secondarily, great torpidity, followed by jaundice. It is indicated in torpid or chronically congested liver, when diarrhoea is present. The liver is swollen and sensitive, the face and eyes are yellow and there is a bad taste in the mouth. The tongue is coated white or yellow and the bile may form gall stones. There is a loose watery diarrhoea, or if constipation be present the stools are clay-colored. It somewhat resembles **Mercurius; it is sometimes called “vegetable mercury.” There are a number of drugs having the symptom that the tongue takes the imprint of the teeth, namely; **Mercurius, Podophyllum, Yucca, Stramonium, Rhus and Arsenic.
Another symptom of **Podophyllum is that the patient constantly rubs the region of the liver with the hand. Functional torpor of the portal system and the organs connected there with indicates **Podophyllum. There is constipation, clay-colored stool, jaundice and langour.
Chelidonium. [Chel]
The liver symptoms of **Chelidonium are very prominent. There is soreness and stitching pains in the region of the liver, but the keynote for this drug in hepatic diseases is a pain under the angle of the right shoulder blade, which may extend to the chest, stomach, or hypochondrium; there is swelling of the liver, chilliness, fever, jaundice, yellow coated tongue, bitter taste and a craving for acids and sour things, such as pickles and vinegar. The stools are profuse, bright yellow and diarrhoea; they may be clayey in color. It is remedy to be used in simple biliousness and jaundice, and in hepatic congestion or inflammation the character of the stools will distinguish **Bryonia. Taken altogether, **Chelidonium is perhaps our greatest liver remedy; it causes the liver to secrete thinner and more profuse bile than any remedy; it is a useful remedy to promote the expulsion of gall stones, and to prevent their formation. It was Rademacher’s great remedy for gall stones, and Cowperthwaite finds it his best remedy. In simple catarrhal jaundice it is often all sufficient. It affects the left lobe of the liver much less than does **Carduus marianus.
Professor of Materia Medica in the University of Michigan Homeopathic Medical College. Member of American Institute of Homeopathy. In addition to his editoral work he authored or collaborated on: Boericke and Dewey's Twelve Tissue Remedies, Essentials of Homeopathic Materia Medica, Essentials of Homeopathic Therapeutics and Practical Homeopathic Therapeutics.