RADIUM BROMIDE


It was extremely interesting in comparing these reports, published twenty years apart, to notice the same symptoms developing in provers separated widely not only in time but space. No less interesting were clinical confirmations of drug symptoms first recorded twenty years previously.


The purpose of this brief paper is to concentrate our attention on a remedy, which, if prepared according to homoeopathic specifications and used only when indicated in accordance with our homoeopathic principle, will demonstrate its value invariably and inevitably.

The above remarks apply with equal force to every remedy in our materia medica, but in Radium bromide we have a valuable therapeutic agent as yet too little understood and too seldom used.

The earliest proving of this substance of which I can find a record was conducted by the late Dr. John H. Clarke in 1904.

The substance of this paper has been drawn from his monograph published by The Homoeopathic Publishing Co., London, and from a most excellent report of provings and clinical verification prepared by Dr. Wm. H. Dieffenbach, and published in The Homoeopathic Recorder of October, 1928.

It was extremely interesting in comparing these reports, published twenty years apart, to notice the same symptoms developing in provers separated widely not only in time but space. No less interesting were clinical confirmations of drug symptoms first recorded twenty years previously.

In his provings, Dr. Clarke used the thirtieth centesimal potency, while later provings were conducted with the 6x and 12x. Dr. Dieffenbach urges, as a result of his own experience as a prover, that no potency lower than the 12x be used in conducting a proving.

From the provings it would appear that Radium bromide produces its most definite effect on the skin and mucous membranes, producing intense itching and burning. This irritation is all but intolerable, and when relief is sought by scratching, the resulting soreness is almost as hard to endure as the itching. It also caused and cured scaly eruptions resembling eczema or psoriasis and greatly relieved a chronic dermatitis as the result of working with X-ray and radium, which had resisted treatment for several years.

Several provers noticed great relief from corns which had been troublesome for many years; on the muscles, fibrous tissues, cartilage and nerves, its action is manifested as myalgia, arthritis, neuralgia, etc. Its effect on the kidney was to produce an irritation of both the glomeruli and convoluted tubules, giving rise to faint traces of albumin in almost every prover, while in one case there appeared a few hyaline and granular casts. There was also a very definite effect on the male and female generative organs.

The chief modalities of this remedy are the general desire for, and > in, the open air; the > from continued motion; the > from extremely hot water (pruritis and skin eruptions); with < after five p.m., and while resting.

The MENTAL symptoms in a case requiring Radium bromide are very apt to resemble those of Pulsatilla or Sepia.

HEAD symptoms are apt to be right sided, or occipital, with decided > in the open air.

EYES: Symptoms of a mild conjunctivitis; > in open air.

NOSE: Red and shiny, irritation marked; crusts forming in nostrils; epistaxis, on exertion (clinical).

FACE: Acne; neuritis in trigeminal nerve (pains stabbing).

MOUTH: Nearly all provers complained of dryness in the mouth, with metallic taste.

ABDOMEN: Much flatus afternoon and evening.

STOOL: Frequent and light in color.

URINARY ORGANS: Increased urination; frequency; faint trace of albumin; increased output of chlorides; decreased output of phosphates.

MALE GENERATIVE ORGANS: Emissions with dreams.

FEMALE GENERATIVE ORGANS: Menses delayed. Several provers experienced decided relief from headache, which usually occurred during the menses.

COUGH: Dry, persistent, tickling < night in bed.

BLOOD: Increase in the polymorphonuclear neutrophiles.

BACK: Severe lumbo-sacral pain.

EXTREMITIES: Pain in muscles and joints, < on beginning to move, > after continued exercise.

SKIN: Eruptions, scaly, wart-like; itching intensely, < night; > very hot applications.

SLEEP: Restless; dreams vivid.

ANTIDOTE: Rhus venenata.

The following cases showed decided improvement soon after the oral administration of Radium bromide in potency.

CASE I. Mr. M.C., age 25 years. PAST HISTORY: Eczema in infancy. PRESENT ILLNESS: Verucca acuminata on penis, appeared in February, 1934. April 13, 1934. Rx Rad. brom. 30. Great improvement in four weeks. Entirely clear in three months. This result was obtained after the failure of Thuja and Nitric acid.

CASE II: Mrs. G., age 34 years. Wasserman 4 +. PRESENT COMPLAINT: Pruritis vulvae. Duration five days; < when heated and when in bed at night. July 2, 1935. Rx Rad. brom. 30. Itching entirely gone in two days.

CASE III. Mrs. E., age 38 years. PRESENT COMPLAINT: Macular eruption on legs, itching extreme, > hot water; burning after scratching. Great swelling of the extremities accompanied with eruption. After trying Ars. and Rhus ven., the former without any effect, and the latter followed by definite but brief relief, on March 16, 1934, Nat. sulph. 50M. was prescribed on the basis of a sycotic constitution and other suggestive symptoms. This prescription produced decided and beneficial results, but required repetition on an average of every four weeks. In April, 1935, there was a decided aggravation of the entire condition. The eruption spread all over the body.

April 28, 1935. Rx Rad. brom. 30, followed by speedy disappearance of the eruption, and relief of all symptoms.

Dec. 30, 1935. Slight recurrence of eruption. Rx Rad. brom. 200.

June 17, 1936. Another slight recurrence. Rx Rad. brom. 200. Prior to receiving this remedy, the patient suffered from severe dysmenorrhoea; she is now free from pain during her menses.

CASES IV and V. PRESENT COMPLAINT: Eczema on palms of hands, the type that forms deep cracks and bleeds easily. One was of several months duration, the other of several years. Both were cured by Rad. brom. 200.

CASE VI. This case received Radium iodide because her symptoms suggested the inclusion of the iodine rather than the bromine radical.

Mrs. E., age 28 years. PRESENT COMPLAINT: Sadness and mental depression, alternating with moods when she was bright and vivacious. Acne vulgaris, duration ten years. Menses one to two weeks late. Swelling and extreme soreness of mammae for one week before menses. Sebaceous cyst above crest of ilium on the right side. April 20, 1936. Rx Rad. iod. 10M. This was followed by marvellous improvement in her complexion; her menstrual cycle became normal; the cyst enlarged rapidly, then opened and discharged its contents on being subjected to gentle pressure, and is now reduced to about one-sixth of its previous size.

Do not forget Radium in a case where Rhus ven., Sepia, Puls., Sulph., Psor., Petr. or Nat. sulph. seem indicated but fail to perform; above all, remember the amelioration in the open air, from continued motion, and from hot water or hot applications.

TORONTO, CANADA.

DISCUSSION.

DR. GRIMMER: Dr. Campbell has brought out all that is known in our literature about Rad. brom. in a fine condensed way. There are a few points I can add clinically. I have been using it off and on for quite a number of years in selected cases. He is absolutely right for those skin symptoms that he has mentioned, and in the neuralgic and painful symptoms it sometimes will be a blessing to go on with your patient. It has the aggravations that you might think of in Mercury, Gold, and so forth, and I have had cases where I gave those remedies without any effect; Syphilinum also; I have given all those remedies that had relief from motion; or getting out of bed and walking, and slightly relieved while walking.

Rad. brom., after the failure of some of these well indicated homoeopathic remedies, will take hold of that patient and cure him. A funny thing about one of these patients that had such a symptom was that she was wearing a radium dial watch. That was one of the things, I think, that might have interfered with our homoeopathic remedies. I am satisfied it will do that. I have tried it time and time again in a number of cases. Dr. Trevino had that experience when he was in my office one time.

He had periodic headache that came on, and Natrum mur. relieved them for a little while, but they kept coming on. He lost weight, and was getting worried about himself. Finally I noticed he was wearing a radium dial watch. I took his watch off and gave him Phosphorus. Phosphorus is one of the best antidotes. Dr. Trevino was entirely cured. Needless to say, he didnt wear his radium dial watch after that. I think if you will look into that you will be delighted at some of the results you will get.

One other point that I want to pass on for your observation, clinically– there is nothing much brought out about it in the provings — I have had three cases, I wont say they were cancer, but they have all the earmarks of cancerous tongue. The tongue had tremendously large black, dilated veins, with some soreness, but not a great deal. Three cases similar to that originated from an injury. A parasol point had run through her neck and lanced the tongue. She had been sick for years, and had been getting worse.

D M Campbell