Philosophy of Cure
is related to direction of disease
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 homœopathic materia medica relates many examples of case histories where a skin eruption was suppressed by topical means and produced a deeper condition such as deafness or mania.
The hierarchy of disease was expounded by Kent a bit later when he put forward his “Direction of Cure” from up down, inside to outside. What does this mean? It means when a remedy is given, the body heals first on the upper part of the body; for example a skin condition may start to heal on the upper part of the body, the arms, while skin lesions come out on the legs. From inside to outside means from an organ deeper to an organ more to the surface.
This is to say that if a skin eruption is made to go away by the application of topical creams and ointments, it drives the disease deeper into the body. The classic hierarchy is skin - lungs (asthma) - joints (rheumatism) - heart - brain. This is very simplified and there are many different pathways. Professor George Vithoulkas has written about other scenarios in his books. I firmly believe that the increasing incidence of senile dementia in the modern age, is a result of a life time of taking suppressive drugs, the brain is the last seat of action of the body.
Homœopathic treatment looks at symptoms of a disease to match those symptoms with a remedy that is known to produce those symptoms. Once this “layer” is treated, another “layer” becomes apparent and another remedy is chosen to match these symptoms, and so on until the person feels truly well. In this manner, occasionally a person is taken back to symptoms that are associated with a disease that may have been experienced in the past. This is then resolved with the appropriate remedy and “cleared” from the system.
When symptoms have been “masked” by a suppressive drug, this process of matching a remedy to what the body is trying to relate becomes very difficult indeed and significantly lengthens the time required to bring about true healing and balance to the body, as well as to the mental and emotional spheres. Drugs also create their own “layer” of disease in the body. So the original condition is made worse by the action of the drug for now there are two dis-eases to be treated.
Homœopathic treatment is a wholistic treatment that takes into consideration the entire medical history of a person as well as the particular way they interact with world around them. It is a process, one remedy will seldom help to overcome a life of dis-ease. A remedy is chosen like a piece in a jigsaw, eventually once all the pieces (different remedies) are put together, one by one, the picture becomes clear.
Bingo! Great post!
Nicely put thank you Jayne!