Casi CliniciDi F. L. Griffith (Edina, Missouri, USA)
Dell’autore, omeopata di paese negli anni d’oro dell’Omeopatia in America, sappiamo solo che si era laureato al Medical College of Missouri nell’88, insieme ad altri 21 medici. Niente biografia, niente foto, un comune medico che ha scelto l’Omeopatia, ama il proprio lavoro e lo difende dalle “eresie”. E, come altri omeopati giovani o esperti, descrive i propri successi terapeutici in una rivista scientifica stimata e aperta.
Traduzione a cura di Anna Fontebuoni
Biologa
Da oltre un anno leggo l’apprezzabile rivista The Homœopathic Physician. La leggo con grande scrupolosità e interesse. Mi pare indispensabile per qualsiasi omeopata puro e tutti coloro che pretendono di essere omeopati tenendo un piede su due staffe la dovrebbero consultare per rendersi conto che le loro cure non hanno nulla a che fare con l’Omeopatia. Si fregiano del titolo di omeopata, prestigioso agli occhi delle persone colte, ma purtroppo sono troppo ignoranti da conoscere i principi fondamentali della prescrizione omeopatica pura. “Usano l’Omeopatia fin quando gli serve, poi passano a qualcos’altro” e lo prescrivono nello stesso modo compiacente con cui avevano prescritto l’Omeopatia.
Le dirò, caro il mio dottor Mischia-tutto, che lei è una disgrazia per la nostra scuola e ho sentito medici convenzionali intelligenti e onorevoli definirla nello stesso modo. Ma da dove è venuto fuori? Mi pare di aver sentito il povero e onesto vecchio eclettico sospirare profondamente quando doveva riceverla. Negli ultimi anni ho cercato di perdonare tutti i dottori Mischia-tutto, ma è impossibile, la mia carità è infinita ma a questo punto il sentimento più caritatevole che provo per loro è il disprezzo. Navigano sotto bandiere false e ciò che cerchiamo di sostenere con tutte le nostre forze è considerato responsabile del loro lavoro pasticcione.
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In gran parte delle nostre università si insegna una forma di Omeopatia ibrida, di conseguenza molti medici che praticano come omeopati lo diventano dopo aver lasciato queste istituzioni. Io penso che qualsiasi omeopata studioso e intelligente debba seguire la legge di Hahnemann. E che debba eseguire un esame meticoloso e imparziale del paziente. Solo così saranno soddisfatte le nostre aspettative e otterremo risultati meravigliosi.
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Descrivo qui alcuni casi clinici, risolti in ottemperanza alla “legge”.
For over a year I bave read that valnable journal THE HOMEOPATHIC PHYSICIAN; I bave read it thoughtfully and with great interest. I cannot see how any pure homreopath can do without it, and the mongrel should take it in order to find out that he is not a homeopatb, or anything else, tbough be poses serenely under tbe protecting wings of Homeopathy. He is proud of the name, it gi yes him prestige among intelligent people, but the poor fellow is too densely ignorant to know the first principles of a pure homreopathic prescription. “He uses Homeopathy till be finds it fai1s, then be resorts to something else,” and he prescribes the something else about as intelligently as he did Homreopathy.
I will tell you, Dr. lIix-em-up, that you are a disgrace to our school, and I bave heard intelligent, honorable allopatbs say you al o disgrace their school. Then where do you belong? Methinks I hear
the poor honest old eclectic sigh heavily when he sees he has to receive you. I bave been trying for the past few years to excuse the Mix-em-up doctors, lmt it is impossible, my charity is drawn out to the finest point, and contempt is now the most charitable feeling I have for them. They arer;:ailing under false colors, aud that which we try so hard to uphold is held responsible for their bungling work.
Most of our colleges teach a very impure form of Homreopathy,
-consequently most of our doctors who become homreopaths must become such after leaving the colleges.
I believe any studious, intelligent homeopath will practice according to the law of Hahnemann.
All it reqnires is a thorough and impartial test. Oh ! what beauty there is in it, and how grandly it fulfills our expectactions!
I would like to report a few clinica! cases here, cases that were treated according to the law:
CASE I.-Mr. L– ret. fifty-four, merchant and stock dealer; tall, slender, black hair and keen eye, very wealthy, but is a physical wreck from business anxiety ; stomach revolts at the plainest kind of food. Distress in stomach after eating even a little ; sour stomach.
About a month ago was attacked violently with la grippe, and the wise old Quinine vendor was called in to assist in the killing.
After six days of closing,, the family had about given up all hopes of his recovery, but as a last resort they called in the homeopath.
I found him so, weak he could scarcely speak. Stupe(ying headache, hot head, cold feet and hands, extremely nervous, entire inability to sleep, night or day, except perhaps a moment at a time, then his eyes would be half open. Great burning at anus. Redness and burning at orifice of urethra. Ears very red. One dose Sulph.200, dry, followed by S. L. in ‘Yater ever_y hour when, awake. They did not have a chance to give a dose of the S. L. for nearly three hours, he having slept two and a half hours,. and awoke feeling wonderfully better, and gradually improving; a few days later he was troubled with chills which were stopped with Nux-v.30, three doses thirty minutes apart.
During all these days he had a violent cough, with profuse expectoration of thick, yellow, purulent materia!. One thing extremely peculiar about the congh was its regular periodicity, coming on about nine A. M., and stopping about one P. M. every day. He never coughed any except between those hours. I consulted Lippe’s Repertory (as I do in all cases), and found on page 183, “Cough at same time every day, Lyc., Sabad.” One day, about three hours after the worst paroxysm he had had, I gave one dose of Sabad60, dry, followed by my friend S. L. Will you believe me, dear Hahnemannians, when I tel1 you he never coughed again ? This was as great a surprise to me as to the patient and the other members of bis household. The stopping of such a cough with so much expectoration between the paroxysms seems incredible.
I am indebted to Dr. A. A. Whipple, of Quincy, 111., far valuable assistance in the treatment of this case.
CASE II.-M r. N., ret. thirty-six years. Chill at seven À. M.1
every other day. Before chill, boneache and thirst; during chi11 thirst, headache, eyeache, aching all over; chill begins in back:; nausea between chill an fever ; fever lasts all day ; ex-• tremely weak.
Patient had been suffering so much from chills for severa!
days that some of my friends persuaded bim to try Homreop athy. I was called and found him with the above symptoms, but with no faith whatever in me. He said, “Doctor; I dlon’t believe your sugar will cure such chills as I have. I am going to give you one trial to please rny friends, and if you fail, I shall use Q,uinine, although that drug nearly kills me.’’ As I was to bave but one trial with this gentleman, I was extremely thankful for so p]ain a set of symptoms. A.li Hahnemannians know with what: confidence I poured a few pellets on his tongue from my bottle of Eupat-perfol.cm. That was nine days ago, and he has taken nothing ,but S. L. since that dose of Eupat- perfol. either bas be had any more chills.
Just such grand results encourage me in my determination to practice pure Homreopathy.
CASE III.-vVas called five miles into t.be country to see an old la<ly who was suffering with excruciating pains in right side of abdomen ; most intense in region of right ovary.
Moving was unbearable. She was lying on the painful side. Her lips were very dry, and she was drinking large quantities of water. I will say here that she had sent for a squirt-gun doctor, but he was out, and I went instead. She begged me to inject Morphine, but I would not. She had called in ber friends to see ber die, but sbe did not die. Oae dose of Bry.12m, dry on the tongue. Before we could give her a dose of S. L. she was asleep.-the first sleep for forty-eight hours. She woke after about three hours’ good sleep. From that time she went on to rapid recovery. If five thousand Hahnemannians had to prescribe for that case there would have been five thousand prescriptions of Bryonia. If all the old-school doctors in the country liad to prescribe for her tbere would have been no two alike, except, perhaps,
they would all bave squirted Morphine into ber.
A.11 our cases are not such grand. successes, but when we fail we take the blame on ourselves and not lay it on Homreopathy, asso many do. I find grand old similia similibus equal to al1 emergencies, and the results are most gratifying, indeed.
For over a year I bave read that valnable journal THE HOMEOPATHIC PHYSICIAN; I bave read it thoughtfully and with great interest. I cannot see how any pure homreopath can do without it, and the mongrel should take it in order to find out that he is not a homeopatb, or anything else, tbough be poses serenely under tbe protecting wings of Homeopathy. He is proud of the name, it gi yes him prestige among intelligent people, but the poor fellow is too densely ignorant to know the first principles of a pure homreopathic prescription. “He uses Homeopathy till be finds it fai1s, then be resorts to something else,” and he prescribes the something else about as intelligently as he did Homreopathy.
I will tell you, Dr. lIix-em-up, that you are a disgrace to our school, and I bave heard intelligent, honorable allopatbs say you al o disgrace their school. Then where do you belong? Methinks I hear
the poor honest old eclectic sigh heavily when he sees he has to receive you. I bave been trying for the past few years to excuse the Mix-em-up doctors, lmt it is impossible, my charity is drawn out to the finest point, and contempt is now the most charitable feeling I have for them. They arer;:ailing under false colors, aud that which we try so hard to uphold is held responsible for their bungling work.
Most of our colleges teach a very impure form of Homreopathy,
-consequently most of our doctors who become homreopaths must become such after leaving the colleges.
I believe any studious, intelligent homeopath will practice according to the law of Hahnemann.
All it reqnires is a thorough and impartial test. Oh ! what beauty there is in it, and how grandly it fulfills our expectactions!
I would like to report a few clinica! cases here, cases that were treated according to the law:
CASE I.-Mr. L– ret. fifty-four, merchant and stock dealer; tall, slender, black hair and keen eye, very wealthy, but is a physical wreck from business anxiety ; stomach revolts at the plainest kind of food. Distress in stomach after eating even a little ; sour stomach.
About a month ago was attacked violently with la grippe, and the wise old Quinine vendor was called in to assist in the killing.
After six days of closing,, the family had about given up all hopes of his recovery, but as a last resort they called in the homeopath.
I found him so, weak he could scarcely speak. Stupe(ying headache, hot head, cold feet and hands, extremely nervous, entire inability to sleep, night or day, except perhaps a moment at a time, then his eyes would be half open. Great burning at anus. Redness and burning at orifice of urethra. Ears very red. One dose Sulph.200, dry, followed by S. L. in ‘Yater ever_y hour when, awake. They did not have a chance to give a dose of the S. L. for nearly three hours, he having slept two and a half hours,. and awoke feeling wonderfully better, and gradually improving; a few days later he was troubled with chills which were stopped with Nux-v.30, three doses thirty minutes apart.
During all these days he had a violent cough, with profuse expectoration of thick, yellow, purulent materia!. One thing extremely peculiar about the congh was its regular periodicity, coming on about nine A. M., and stopping about one P. M. every day. He never coughed any except between those hours. I consulted Lippe’s Repertory (as I do in all cases), and found on page 183, “Cough at same time every day, Lyc., Sabad.” One day, about three hours after the worst paroxysm he had had, I gave one dose of Sabad60, dry, followed by my friend S. L. Will you believe me, dear Hahnemannians, when I tel1 you he never coughed again ? This was as great a surprise to me as to the patient and the other members of bis household. The stopping of such a cough with so much expectoration between the paroxysms seems incredible.
I am indebted to Dr. A. A. Whipple, of Quincy, 111., far valuable assistance in the treatment of this case.
CASE II.-M r. N., ret. thirty-six years. Chill at seven À. M.1
every other day. Before chill, boneache and thirst; during chi11 thirst, headache, eyeache, aching all over; chill begins in back:; nausea between chill an fever ; fever lasts all day ; ex-• tremely weak.
Patient had been suffering so much from chills for severa!
days that some of my friends persuaded bim to try Homreop athy. I was called and found him with the above symptoms, but with no faith whatever in me. He said, “Doctor; I dlon’t believe your sugar will cure such chills as I have. I am going to give you one trial to please rny friends, and if you fail, I shall use Q,uinine, although that drug nearly kills me.’’ As I was to bave but one trial with this gentleman, I was extremely thankful for so p]ain a set of symptoms. A.li Hahnemannians know with what: confidence I poured a few pellets on his tongue from my bottle of Eupat-perfol.cm. That was nine days ago, and he has taken nothing ,but S. L. since that dose of Eupat- perfol. either bas be had any more chills.
Just such grand results encourage me in my determination to practice pure Homreopathy.
CASE III.-vVas called five miles into t.be country to see an old la<ly who was suffering with excruciating pains in right side of abdomen ; most intense in region of right ovary.
Moving was unbearable. She was lying on the painful side. Her lips were very dry, and she was drinking large quantities of water. I will say here that she had sent for a squirt-gun doctor, but he was out, and I went instead. She begged me to inject Morphine, but I would not. She had called in ber friends to see ber die, but sbe did not die. Oae dose of Bry.12m, dry on the tongue. Before we could give her a dose of S. L. she was asleep.-the first sleep for forty-eight hours. She woke after about three hours’ good sleep. From that time she went on to rapid recovery. If five thousand Hahnemannians had to prescribe for that case there would have been five thousand prescriptions of Bryonia. If all the old-school doctors in the country liad to prescribe for her tbere would have been no two alike, except, perhaps,
they would all bave squirted Morphine into ber.
A.11 our cases are not such grand. successes, but when we fail we take the blame on ourselves and not lay it on Homreopathy, asso many do. I find grand old similia similibus equal to al1 emergencies, and the results are most gratifying, indeed.
Caso clinico 1
Sig. L, di 54 anni, commerciante al dettaglio e all’ingrosso. Alto, magro, capelli neri e occhi penetranti, molto ricco, ma distrutto fisicamente dall’ansia per gli affari, lo stomaco si rivolta persino davanti al cibo più semplice. Stomaco scombussolato dopo aver mangiato anche poco; acidità di stomaco. Circa un mese fa ha avuto un violento attacco di influenza ed è stato chiamato ad assisterlo un vecchio e saggio venditore di chinino. Dopo sei giorni di cura, la famiglia aveva abbandonato ogni speranza e come ultima risorsa aveva chiamato l’omeopata.
Lo trovai tanto debole da non riuscire neanche a parlare, con un’incredibile cefalea, capo bollente, piedi e mani freddi, nervosissimo, incapace di dormire di notte o di giorno, tranne che per qualche momento e a occhi semiaperti. Forte bruciore anale. Rossore e bruciore dell’orifizio dell’uretra. Orecchi molto rossi.
Gli somministrai una dose a secco di Sulphur 200ch, seguita da Saccharum lactis in acqua ogni ora quando era sveglio. Non fu in grado di assumere quest’ultimo per tre ore perché si addormentò; al risveglio si sentì molto meglio e migliorò gradualmente.
Pochi giorni dopo fu colto da febbre, che riuscii far calare con Nux vomica 30ch, tre dosi a distanza di trenta minuti una dall’altra.
Mentre era malato soffriva di una tosse violenta, con abbondante espettorazione di materiale purulento giallo e denso. Una peculiarità della sua tosse era la periodicità: ogni giorno iniziava circa alle 9 di mattina e cessava alle 13. Non tossiva mai al di fuori di questo intervallo. Consultai il Repertorio di Lippe (come faccio sempre) e trovai a pag. 183 “Tosse alla stessa ora tutti i giorni, Lyc, Sabad.” Un giorno, tre ore circa dopo il peggior parossismo che avesse mai avuto, gli somministrai una dose a secco di Sabadilla 60ch, seguita dall’amico Saccharum lactis. Ci credete, cari hahnemanniani, che non ebbe mai più un colpo di tosse? Fu una grande sorpresa per me, per il paziente e per tutti i suoi familiari. L’arresto di una tosse del genere con così tanta espettorazione fra parossismi sembra incredibile.
Ringrazio il dr. A.A. Whipple di Quincy, Illinois, per la preziosa assistenza nel trattare il caso.
Caso clinico 2
Sig. N, di 36 anni. Brividi febbrili alle 7 di mattina a giorni alterni. Prima dei brividi, dolori alle ossa e sete, durante i brividi sete, mal di testa, dolori agli occhi, dolori ovunque; i brividi iniziano dalla schiena; nausea fra i brividi e la febbre; la febbre dura tutto il giorno; estremamente debole.
Il paziente era talmente provato che alcuni miei amici lo convinsero a provare l’Omeopatia. Lo andai a visitare e trovai i sintomi descritti sopra, ma nessuna fiducia nelle mie capacità. Mi disse: “Dottore, non credo che il suo zucchero riuscirà a curare questi brividi. Le concedo un tentativo per fare piacere ai miei amici e se fallirà, userò il chinino, anche se è un medicinale che mi dà molti problemi”.
Disponendo di un’unica possibilità, fui molto grato di poter riconoscere personalmente i sintomi che presentava. I colleghi hahnemanniani possono ben capire con quanta fiducia gli versai in bocca qualche granulo di Eupatorium perfoliatum 200ch. Sono trascorsi 9 giorni e da allora non ha preso nient’altro che Saccharum lactis eppure non ha più brividi.
Sono questi grandi risultati che mi incoraggiano a proseguire con determinazione nella pratica dell’Omeopatia pura.
Caso clinico 3
Un giorno fui chiamato in campagna a 10 chilometri da qui per visitare una signora anziana che soffriva di dolori atroci alla parte destra dell’addome, più intensi nella regione dell’ovaio destro. Non riusciva nemmeno a muoversi e stava distesa sul lato dolente. Le labbra erano molto secche e aveva sete di grandi quantità d’acqua. Ammetto che la signora aveva chiamato un medico che conosceva, ma era fuori sede e andai io. Mi pregò di iniettarle della morfina, ma io non lo feci. Aveva fatto venire i suoi amici perché la vedessero morire, ma non morì. Le misi sulla lingua una dose a secco di Bryonia 72M e prima ancora di somministrargliene una di Saccharum lactis, si era addormentata, per la prima volta da 48 ore. Da allora migliorò rapidamente.
Se 5000 medici hahnemanniani avessero dovuto fare una prescrizione per questo caso, tutti e cinquemila avrebbero prescritto Bryonia. Se tutti i medici convenzionali del Paese avessero dovuto fare una prescrizione per lei, non ce ne sarebbero state due uguali, tranne forse che tutti le avrebbero iniettato la morfina.
Non tutti i nostri casi riscuotono un tale successo, ma quando falliamo ci prendiamo noi stessi la responsabilità e non la scarichiamo sull’Omeopatia, come fanno molti medici. A mio parere il vecchio grande similia similibus è adatto a tutte le emergenze, e i risultati sono sicuramente gratificanti.
da: The Homoeopathic Physician, 1890 Apr; 10 (4): 185-187
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9711539/pdf/homoeopathphys134246-0041.pdf