Read before the Annual Meeting of the International Hahnemannian Association, Philadelphia, July, 1926.
Ceanothus Americanus, also called New Jersey Tea or Red Root, belongs to the Rhamnaceae or Buckthorn family, a family or Shrubs or trees of bitterish and west to and beyond the Rocky Mountains. In this particular branch of the family the flowers have no petals, but the calyx and flower stems are colored like petals. The shrub itself is from one to two feet high above the dark red root. The ovate throat accompanying scarlet fever.
The preparations used by our school are dilutions of a tincture made from the fresh leaves.
Very little has been written about the remedy, but J.C.Burnett published a fragmentary proving and some clinical cases have been reported.
the outstanding conditions covered by the drug are enlargement and inflammation of the spleen and general left-sided symptoms. The symptoms show deep-seated pain and feeling of fullness in the left hypochondrium with inability top lie on that side, or in some cases, to lie down at all. In the case I shall report later the pain was also very severe on lying on the right side on account of the weight of the enlarged spleen. The mental condition is one of depression with fear of permanent disability.
There is right sided headache with pain in the splenic region (my case had left sided headache). The intestinal tract shows diarrhoea. The intestinal tract shows diarrhoea. The female sexual organs may have a profuse thick, yellow leucorrhoea. The female sexual organs may have a profuse thick, yellow leucorrhoea or early and profuse menses, but all these ailments are only accompaniments of the splenitis, and the pain in the left hypochondrium will be the guiding symptom to the remedy. In acute cases there is chilliness down the back, with loss of appetite and nervous excitement.
Dr.Erastus E. Case in his “Clinical Experiences” gives the following case:
Hypochondriacal;thinks she can never by any better.
Anorexia; nausea after eating.
Raises bloody or brown mucus from the pharynx in the morning.
Passes large amount of inoffensive flatus. Enlargement of the spleen.
Soreness, weight and full sensation of left hypochondrium; can not lie on left side.
Smarting sensation of skin over the spleen.
I have one case of my own to report. Miss A. H., age 55, English housemaid. In past years has been treated at different times for haemorrhoids, eczema of face, menorrhagia at menopause, with uterine fibroid and some rheumatism of right shoulder and right knee.
For some months during winter and spring of 1925, she was not been as strong as usual, and has grown thin, but on the whole has responded well to remedies. One symptom-shortness of breath on ascending-was complained of in April, and continued more or less.
Heart sounds were normal, except that the aortic second sound was a little snappy. In july, 1925, there was painless enlargement of the cervical and other lymphatic glands. Early in August there developed severe pain in the left hypochondrium, and a physician who was called in my absence diagnosed pleurisy, but could not understand why the pain was worse lying on the painful side. On my return home early in September I found the spleen very much enlarged and inflamed, so that the patient could not lie in either side.
An examination of the blood showed:
Hemoglobin 62 per cent.
Red Cells 3,864,000.
White Cells 50,800, of which 90 per cent. were small leucocytes: 7.5 per cent. polymorphonuclears.
The diagnosis of lymphatic leukemia was unmistakable and the prognosis hopeless.
However, with rest, nourishing diet, sunshine, Natrum muriaticum 45 m. for a remedy there was a very slow gain in comfort and strength, but no diminution in the size of the spleen. About the middle of October the pain and tenderness in the spleen returned. Ceanothus Americans 30x was given,four does at two hour intervals. Relief began after the first dose and was complete for three days. A slight return of the pain yielded to one dose of the remedy and the patient gained steadily for four months. All tenderness left the spleen, although it remained large, and the patient could lie on either side. A left-sided headache disappeared. There was gain in flesh and strength, so that the patient could easily walk half a mile.
The enlarged glands almost disappeared.
The blood showed marked improvement,as follows:
On September 30 the leucocytes were 93,600;
On December 11 there were 30,600;
On February 18 there were 14,200.
and in the same time the hemoglobin increased from 44 per cent. to 74 per cent.
How much of this general improvement was due to the Ceanothus, it is of course impossible to say. The thirtieth potency was given two weeks after Natrum muriaticum 45 m., which had seemingly caused some gain.
However, there is no doubt that Ceanothus removed the pain and tenderness in the spleen.
Later, when the symptoms of the disease-enlarged glands, growth of spleen, and increase of leucocytes-returned with renewed force, I gave Ceanothus 30x again with no result,but a severe pain in the left axilla, extending to the chest on deep inspiration, yielded to the 1000th potency.
