Levels of Health
a useful tool to help decide just how chronically ill a person is and what is the prognosis for their recovery
The theory of Levels of Health is a useful tool to help decide just how chronically ill a person is and what is the prognosis for their recovery, it was first coined by Prof George Vithoulkas.
Nobody in health care, whether homœopathic, allopathic or other therapies can legally lay a claim to bringing about a “cure” of a particular ailment. That is not to say that nobody abides by this, there are many claims of cure out there. Curing a particular ailment and then manifesting a different one is not really cure unless the whole organism has raised their level of health. See my previous post on philosophy of cure.
Philosophy of Cure
Many distinguished homœopaths have written about the philosophy of disease and its cure. Hahnemann wrote in his book “Chronic Diseases” in the early 1800’s that he and others had witnessed that when a disease is suppressed – that is the presenting symptoms are taken away, the disease goes deeper into the body. The …
The theory as put forward by Vithoulkas, describes 12 levels, comprising of 4 groups (A, B, C, D) of 3 levels each.
The main diagnostic to determine which level of health a person is in depends on the answer to the question - “when did you last experience a fever?” You may be surprised to know that not having had a fever for years is a sign of chronic ill health. A system that is burdened by low grade systemic inflammation is not healthy enough to mount an episode of acute fever. In this situation, the person would be considered to be in a low level of health (Group C or D). Under correct homœopathic treatment it is possible to bring the body to a state where it can produce an episode of high fever, above 38.5C, this is a good sign that your level of health is improving.
A reasonably healthy person (Group A) may experience an episode of high fever each year where they may feel very unwell for a day or two. Their immune system has mounted the reaction necessary to bring about healing and then they are “over it” and able to get on with their life.
Someone with a lesser level of health (Group B) may experience multiple episodes of fever throughout the year. If each time these episodes are dealt with via the administration of drugs such as antibiotics, there is risk that the level of health may be further reduced. This is because the fever is being suppressed by the drugs and actually works against the immune system. A correctly prescribed homœopathic remedy will work with the body to find equilibrium again. If this is followed up with further homœopathic treatment, to address this tendency to produce frequent acutes, the level of health may be increased, resulting in a more resilient organism.
Vithoulkas also classifies certain diseases as being in different levels of health. This is determined by the depth and extent of disease within the body.
In Group A you expect to see more self limiting disease that the body is capable of dealing with on its own, perhaps sinusitis, conjunctivitis, influenza, PMS, etc. In Group B we start to see the appearance of frequent infections in deeper organs such as cystitis, hepatitis, pneumonia, asthma, bronchitis, etc. Group C we see more chronic diseases such as ulcerative colitis, rheumatoid arthritis, epilepsy, MS, etc. In the lowest Group D more severe disease occurs such as progressive autoimmune conditions, severe autism, genetic diseases, metastatic cancer, schizophrenia, etc.
In the upper levels of health, it is much simpler to treat a person and they are more likely to present with a clear remedy picture. This makes choosing a homœopathic remedy much easier. As the level of health drops, it will require more time and more remedies to bring about healing.
In the lower levels of health, a sequence of remedies is required, each given one at a time, the reaction to the remedy determined and the next remedy carefully chosen. It may take many years to raise the level of health from this point.
Homœopathy works on the principle of like cures likes. A remedy is homœopathic when it matches the symptom picture displayed by the person. In today's arena of chronic disease and suppression of symptoms with chemical drugs, there is not one remedy to treat a whole person. The correct remedy is the correct sequence of remedies.
“The ideal treatment should not simply eliminate the symptoms while the overall health deteriorates. Instead, it must aim at enhancing the action of the immune system in its own direction by strengthening the symptoms generated by it. This way the immune system becomes stronger after getting rid of the disease and the overall health becomes better.”
Spiros Kivellos, Seema Mahesh and George Vithoulkas
Bibliography
Vithoulkas G: A New Model for Health and Disease; IACH; 2018
Vithoulkas G: Homoeopathy, Medicine of the New Man; B. Jain Publishers; 1985
Vithoulkas G: Homeopathy, Medicine for the New Millennium; 29th Ed; IACH; 2019
Vithoulkas G; The Science of Homeopathy; B. Jain Publishers PVT. LTD; (1980) Reprint edition 2002
Vithoulkas G; The Science of Homeopathy; IACH; 7th Ed; 2014
Vithoulkas G and Woensel, Evan; Levels of Health, The second volume of The science of Homeopathy; IACH; 2010
Vithoulkas G; Levels of Health, The second volume of The science of Homeopathy; IACH; 4th Ed 2022
Spiros Kivellos, Seema Mahesh and George Vithoulkas; Assessing Human Health-Correlation of Autoimmune Diseases with Chemically Suppressed Acute Infections of Patient’s Past Medical History Pages 31-38; Journal of Autoimmune Diseases and Rheumatology, Synergy Publishers; DOI: https://doi.org/10.12970/2310-9874.2017.05.06 https://synergypublishers.com/downloads/jadrv5a6/
That is extraordinary. Will take a bit of thinking to understand. thanks Jayne
Louisa
This was very enlightening to me. I’ve never really thought of “illness” in these terms, but it makes perfect, perfect sense! Our world has become so used to a one size fits all method of dealing with illness, which many of us realize is part of what is keeping us ill or actually making us ill. How often have I heard, the cure is worse than the disease? This essay also confirms to me the need for early intervention (or in some cases, none at all). It’s time we rethink our entire method of treating illness.