The role of Homoeopathy in preventative medicine. (Background thoughts for the 2013 Mallorca Seminar)

A strict interpretation of the symptom similarity relationship of homoeopathy does not allow for the use of homoeopathic remedies for prophylaxis, for it is obvious that in order to prescribe a homoeopathic drug we must have symptoms. These do not make their appearance until a disease is esta­blished. It has been found however that certain Homoeopathic remedies do exert a prophylactic action. Certain symptoms can be anticipated through knowledge of pathology, and assumed to take a known course. A remedy which can mirror and cause the symptoms, can be given with every chance of benefit e.g., prophylactic administration of ‘Belladonna’ in Syndenham’s smooth scarlatina.(page 115, foot note 17, Organon by Hahne­mann) .

A brief look through the casebooks and writings of homoeopaths through the 18th and 19th century, show that practitioners made big use use of of inadvertent preven­tive medicine in their daily round of practice due to the abortive effects of the clearly prescribed remedy.

• The use of ‘Variolinum’ in small-pox—(Clarke’s Dictionary of Materia Medica, p. 1503).
• The use of ‘Thuja’ as prophylactic against small-pox —(Dictionary of Materia Medica, p. 1402).
• The use of ‘Sarracenia’ as prophylactic against small­pox—(Dictionary of Materia Medica, p. 1109).
• The use of ‘Malandrinum’ as prophylactic against small-pox (Dictionary of Materia Medica, p. 390).
• The use of ‘Camphor’ in cholera (Hahnemann’s Lesser Writings).

The facts show that homoeopathicdrugs exert  prophylactic action in certain acute infectious diseases.

Homoeopathy is opposed to the METHOD of applying the principle of vaccination as being a violation of sound, natural principles of medication and can and will cause serious injury to the living organism. It has been proved experimentally and clinically that such methods are unnecessary, and that the results claimed by their advocates can be attained more safely more rapidly and more thoroughly by the administration of Homoeopathically indicated medicines in sub-physiological doses, through the natural channels of the body, than by introducing it forcibly by means of material doses from hypodermic insertion.