Homeopathy at its Best

PS Krishnamurty

Salimashraf Publishers, Hyderabad, India, 2002

Price: Rs. 475, US$.30.00 (postage extra)

This collection of articles recreates the legend of a mystical link between the disciple and founding masters. In chapter 1 we read ‘Although nearly fifty thousand homeopathic practitioners come out every year in India from medical colleges, the majority of them are practicing allopathy… because it is difficult to practice homeopathy… and the teaching staff are using allopathic therapy in their private practice because they were not thoroughly taught homeopathic technology in their studies’. Perhaps it is the very absence of such a technology that makes homeopathy so difficult. Maybe there is still a need for a unified view on posology or a uniform, clear view of miasms?

Dr Krishnamurty discusses potency selection, describing it as ‘a veritable Pandora's box… There are few riddles in homeopathic philosophy like the potency problem. The erudite physicians in homeopathy should solve these successfully and provide convincing answers to the future generations…’ If erudite physicians are yet to solve the riddles and offer therapeutic guidelines, it is difficult to demand of graduates that they should practice homeopathy at its fullest.

He recommends withdrawing all allopathic medication (even in diseases like epilepsy), cure with single monthly doses of a high potency, learning remedy relationships and cycles, prescribing on the totality including miasms and mind, repertorising, summoning the vital force etc. ‘When the remedy does not hold good as a simillimum it cannot work from centre to circumference… in such dangerous prescribing even when relief is given to the patient, it is only palliative, suppressive and stimulates the disease process from periphery to the centre depending upon the resistance of the body, i.e. the vital force’. He considers homeopathy capable of causing iatrogenic adverse effects, although it has long been considered a safe method suitable for use by children and pregnant women. A bad prescription simply meant failure or a limited response, but according to Krishnamurty poor homeopathic practice now spells true danger.

A miasm for Krishnamurty is ‘Any syndrome which is caused by a noxious agent and which is progressive in its sway over the body is proper to be classified as a chronic miasm. In addition to the three miasms of Hahnemann, tuberculosis, filariasis and amoebiasis of the tropical countries come under that group. But there are complications: ‘Psora may take a filariasis and keep itself under latency and produce a mixed miasmatic picture which becomes difficult to deal with…To study the totality of a miasm on the human body is more difficult than to study the effect of a drug’.

There is a useful chapter on epidemics. Many could benefit from his extensive experience of encephalitis, dengue, malaria, influenza, typhoid fever, plague, etc, for example the use of Eupatorium 200 in Dengue fever. There is also an interesting report on the 1968 influenza outbreak in Madras treated with Influenzinum (30, 200 and 1 M) and used quite successfully as a prophylactic. Krishnamurty goes on to discuss cataract including an uncontrolled clinical trial of Cineraria for cataract, and clinical proving of the sarcode Cataractinum. A small scale proving of osteoarthritis nosode is also presented.

Following an inspiring quotation from Gandhi on homeopathy, there are helpful comments on the treatment of breast cancer pain with Conium, Natrum mur, Thuja, Scirrhinum as indicated. A list of rare remedies for cancer pains includes Calcarea acetica, Acetic acid, Oxalic ac, Citric acid and Euphorbium.

I was disappointed that a book entitled ‘Homeopathy at its Best’ does not clarify important issues like posology or include principles and therapeutic guidelines that can help to make homeopathy a practical solution to disease. It should give students self-confidence and help to develop a passion and inspiration; teach them about the purpose of repertories as an aid to memory, the books they should have during consultation, or study at home. Instead it tends to undermine the confidence of students.