HOMOEOPATHS AND THEIR ATTITUDE TOWARDS MALARIA


For sometime in the past there has been raging a discussion on this important point in the leading Homoeopathic magazines. The subject is of extreme importance, particularly in Bengal as malaria here is endemic with seasonal outbreaks of epidemics. It is of interest to one who practices the art of Homoeopathic treatment conscientiously as the main question is not use of Quinine alone but whether it is to be used in its so called physiological rational way or in the Homoeopathic way, irrespective of the dosage question.


For sometime in the past there has been raging a discussion on this important point in the leading Homoeopathic magazines. The subject is of extreme importance, particularly in Bengal as malaria here is endemic with seasonal outbreaks of epidemics. It is of interest to one who practices the art of Homoeopathic treatment conscientiously as the main question is not use of Quinine alone but whether it is to be used in its so called physiological rational way or in the Homoeopathic way, irrespective of the dosage question.

One wonders, while going through the erudite discussions, why there has been so little talk on the effort and methods of prevention of malaria by this section of the Medical Public. Whether they believe in the miasm theory of malaria, or the parasite theory of malaria, and prevention of the factors therein indeed, namely, eradication of the marsh laden braken water with adequate control of the mosquito factor certainly would drive the scourge away, inspite of the susceptibility due to a damaged or devitalised Dynamis, which certainly is the cause of malaria.

At the outset it might be emphasized that this article is not meant to start the discussion afresh and the author would feel grateful to all if no discussion is again started on this. The author also apologises to all the eminent and erudite Homoeopaths if inadvertently he hurts in the following lines their feeling of behalf in Homoeopathy. He also wants to draw the attention to the fact that the following is only meant, as it appears to him as a collection of data in the field of malaria and invites their thoughts on these data and suggests, that adjustments may be made in the lines of treatment, according to the necessity of the individual practitioner. The factors of the data may be summarised in the following brief way.

(1) Homoeopaths do not treat malarial but the patient, whose dynamis is so deranged by an acute miasm as to give rise to disease symptoms of which intermittent fever with the four phases of chill, heat, sweat and apyrexia predominate as crude symptoms.

(2) Given an adequate knowledge of Drug Symptoms and knowledge of treatment of acute diseases as modified by the chronic miasm, with the opportunity for evaluation and analysis of these, all these patients are amenable to radical cure by the Homoeopathic mode of application of drugs.

(3) Quinine in the physiological does controls only the cruder symptoms of fever but never cures, as is seen by the repeated recurrences of fever with the consequent drug disease seen in the chronic cases.

(4) Arising out of the Govt: refusal of supplying quinine to the registered Homoeopathic practitioners, at a discussion of the Homoeopathic State Faculty, it was decided that it is definitely necessary for the homoeopaths to take the help of quinine during large epidemics of malaria, though in individual sporadic cases and in chronic cases homoeopathic mode of application of drugs should be adhered to. It may be added here that the duly qualified practitioners of the regular school practising homoeopathy who are also members of the Faculty, refrained from taking part in this discussion lest their opinion be considered biased.

(5) It is desirable to think of the above resolution particularly in the case of busy practitioners who might have to attend to ten to fifteen cases of acute malaria a day, whether evaluation and indivizualisation of these cases is possible till a genus epidemicus is found for the particular epidemic.

(6) The enforced adoption of the method of controlling fever by quinine may lead to a homoeopathic practitioners deterioration of his armamentarium, viz., the knowledge of Materia Medica, the end all and be all of all Homoeopaths.

J.N. Majumdar