Neurinoma

As opposed to what is generally thought, Homeopathy is a well-defined scientifically based system of approach, with its own research methodology, based on data from clinical experimentation with remedies on the healthy man, which can be reproduced at any time, as it has been done across ages.
Homeopathy aims at finding a remedy that encompasses the totality of the patient's individual characteristics, administering to him/her the substance that was able to awaken in the healthy volunteers symptoms similar (homeo) to those to be attacked, stimulating the body to react against its infirmity.

Based on the homeopathic filosophical conception, the primary origin of any disease is in the imbalance of the vital force, understood as a fundamental form of energy responsible for life and organic balance maitenance. Therefore, health imbalance essence lies in an unmaterial level (energetic) in which our psiquic forces interact (thoughts and feelings) and that portraits the inner factors to which each person is susceptible.

To act in this unmaterial nature of men, Homeopathy uses remedies in infinitesimal doses, which undergo the pharmacotechnical process called potentization (dilutions and successive vigorous shaking), through which one seeks the release of vital energetic powers present in the substances, based on the universal concept that "every substance is condensed energy". This way, the homeopathic remedy awakens an organic vital reaction opposite to the present imbalance symptoms, acting as a guide of the inner healing process. We believe that, in the future, Phisics will measure this kind of subtle energy (energy or vital force), as it has done in the past with electricity, the magnetism, the radiations, etc.

Each homeopathic remedy, experimented in the healthy person, resulted in a series of symptoms (mental, general or local), which must be equal to the sick person symptoms, so that we can bring him/her to the healthy state. Therefore, it's essential to know the objective and subjective signs and symptoms of the patient, so that we can find the remedy most similar to them. That's why the homeopathic practitioner is interested in individual particularities, what may be odd for someone who does not understand the homeopathic model.

So, it is necessary to have a thorough interview, in order to understand the totality of symptoms characteristic of the individual, known in the form of being and reacting against the surrounding environment and people. Everything related to the patient expresses his/her vital force state, from imaginary and fantastic content, passing through dreams, sensations, feelings and thoughts, up to general and physical characteristics that characterize the person. The homeopathic practitioner hopes that the physical and moral pains are expressed in an spontaneous, sincere and detailed manner, so that doctor and patient can have a mutual understanding to develop the team work in the pursuit of the correct medicine.

So, it's fundamental to the patient, and to those who follow him up, the constant observation of his way of thinking, feeling and acting, trying to understand the underlying causes of the illness and renewing in him the inner dialogue in practising the greek thought: "know yourself". We must highlight that the human being deeper understanding is a hard and gradual process, which depends on the effort of each person in the task of self-analysis, because, generally speaking, it's in the conflicts content that one finds the desencadeante factor for the instalação of most of the infirmities.

As to the local and physical symptoms, with which we're more familiarized, we should notice all the particularities which make them characteristic of each individual (modalizations): kind of pain or sensation; localization and irradiation; period and time it came up; factors leading to enhancement or aggravation; simultaneous symptoms or sensations; etc.

As to general symptoms, which represent the body general characteristics or that relate to the various symptoms, making them better or worse, we should focus on the following modalities: positions or movements; temperature, climate or year season; atmospheric and weather conditions; food and drinks; transpiration, eliminations, evacuations; etc.

The great importance given by Hahnemann to the mental symptoms, that is, to the characteristics related to thinking and feeling, character and morale, shows his thorough understanding of diseases, for tackling a subject that only now starts to be accepted by Medicine (psychosomatic). These are the most difficult symptoms to be reported, because they constitute a more important sphere of individuality and denounce our limitations and weaknesses, that we try to hide at all cost as a defense.
When it comes to choosing the medicine, the Unitary Homeopathy tries to encapsulate in one single medicine the totality characteristic of the symptoms, aiming to find the susceptibilities that make him sick through the deep knowledge of the individual. We should highlight that Homeopathy is not innocuous, which means that it may cause serious damage to the body when not well-applied. That's why one should avoid taking medicine in an abusive way or without accurate criteria.

It's crucial to observe the appearence of any significant change after taking the medicine, at all levels, writing down its specific characteristics, when it appeared, duration, intensity, etc. There may be aggravation reactions, old symptoms coming back, benign fever episodes, elimination reactions (through the skin, secretions or natural vias), indicating that the body is making an effort to find its balance and, thus, this should be respected. Generally, these reations are short and followed by a general improvement in the patient's picture. The appearance of new annoying symptoms, that did not exist before, besides the intense and long-lasting aggravations, must be reported to the doctor.

With these enlightenings, we hope to help in the understanding of basic aspects to those who look for help in Homeopathy, familiarizing them with various concepts and conducts of the conventional therapeutic model.

Bear in mind that a cure does not mean the disappearance of a symptom itself; it requires the sick person to achieve an optimally stable equilibrium physically, emotionally as well as psychologically:
"In the healthy condition of man, the spiritual vital force (autocracy), the dynamis that animates the material body (organism), rules with unbounded sway, and retains all the parts of the organism in admirable, harmonious, vital operation, as regards both sensations and functions, so that our indwelling, reason-gifted mind can freely employ this living, healthy instrument for the higher purpose of our existence." (HAHNEMANN, Organon, § 9)

SCIENTIFIC RATIONALITY OF HOMEOPATHIC MODEL
By Dr. Marcus Zulian Teixeira

Homeopathic practitioners' therapeutic model has often been criticized, mostly by individuals who don't know the basic premises of Homeopathy. The most recurrent jargon is that Homeopathy "does't have a scientific evidence".

Remember that the hallmarks of Homeopathy are the principle of similarity and the experimentation on the human and healthy individual. In this article, the focus of the researches is on the study of the Law of Similars; after being confirmed by the present scientific methodology, it brings together Homeopathy and the modern episteme.

It's important to emphasize that the homeopathic model is essentially experimental, deriving from careful observation of the drugs effect in the human body. Based on such evidences, SAMUEL HAHNEMANN has developed the treatment by similitude. In paragraphs 63 and 64 of his masterpiece, Organon of the Rational Art of Healing (Organon da arte de curar), HAHNEMANN stipulates the drugs action mechanism, sistematizing it: "every drug causes a certain change in the human health state through its primary action; and to this medicine primary action, the body opposes its conservation force, called secondary action or reaction, neutralizing the initial disturbance".

By noticing that this "secondary action" could be used as a healing reaction, as long as it had been oriented in the right direction, HAHNEMANN has proposed a therapeutical model that would use the medicines producing symptoms similar to the natural disease, in its primary action in the body, with the intent of awakening an organic reaction to null this artifitial disease and, consequently, through the similarity with the original illness symptoms, also neutralize it. That's how the therapeutic principle of similitude appeared: "every remedy capable of awakening certain symptoms in the healthy person is capable of healing these same symptoms in the sick person".

Based on this, HAHNEMANN started making experimentations with a series of substances in individuals considered "healthy", taking notes of all the symptoms (primary) to help him create the Homeopathic Medical Matter. When finding patients with symptoms similar to the experimented drugs, he applied these drugs to the sick people, in order to awaken a secondary and healing reaction in their body, aiming at healing them.

Thus, the homeopathic therapeutic principle application implies in stimulating a homeostactic and healing reaction, oriented by the primary action of the drug that caused in the "healthy" volunteer symptoms very similar to the original illness symptoms.

By making the link with the present scientificism, and making use of the Modern Pharmacology, we find endless reports, both in pharmacological abstracts and scientific publications, that describe a secondary reaction in the body in response to a drug primary stimulus, confirming what has been stated by HAHNEMANN. This body secondary action, meaning that it keeps the organic homeostase, is so-called rebound effect or paradoxal reaction, according to the present scientific rationality.

To illustrate the abovementioned, let's take drugs classically used to treat angina pectoris, promoting, initially, pain reduction as a primary effect, and awakening, as a secondary action or rebound effect, after discontinuing the medicine or irregular treatment, the exacerbation of the thoracic pain, in both frequency and intensity, in some cases with no response to any kind of therapy. Drugs used to control arterial hypertension can lead to a rebound arterial hypertension, as a secondary reaction to the primary stimulus. Cardiotonic agents, employed in the treatment of cardiac insufficiency, after the administering interruption, resulted in hemodynamic rebound, with the risk of causing severe cardiac problems. Remedies used to reduce cholesterol have increased rebound and blood cholesterol significantly.

In the use of psiquiatric drugs (ansiolitic, sedatives or hypnotic, antidepressant, antipsychotic, etc.), it has been observed that the body keeps the organic homeostase, promoting symptoms opposite to the ones expected in its primary therapeutic use. Neurological remedies, used in their primary action to avoid convulsions, disordered movements or muscle contractions, show as a secondary reaction or rebound effect, after the medicine suppression, exacerbation of the same symptoms. Anti-inflammatory drugs, used primarily to suppress the inflammation, generate secondary replies in the body, increasing the blood concentration of the inflammation mediators. Anti-coagulant drugs, used due to their primary effect in the blood thrombosis prophylaxis result in thrombosis complications as a secondary or rebound effect. Diuretics, used primarily to decrease volemia (edema, arterial hypertension, ICC, etc.), as a rebound effect, result in the increase of sodium and potassium retention, with consequent increase in volemia.

Medicine used for dyspepsia (gastritis, gastroduodenal ulcers), such as anti-acids and antagonists of receptor H2, after the primary effect of acidity reduction, result in the acid rebound increase and worsening of the gastroduodenal ulcers. Remedies used in bronchial asthma, like inhaled bronchodilatants and corticosteroids, make broncoconstriction get worse, as a secondary response of the body to the suppression and discontinuity of the treatment.

In addition to the many evidences found in the modern scientificism about Homeopathy basic principles, let me completememt the report with the use of conventional drugs based on the homeopathic model. Using the body secondary reaction as a form of treatment (homeopathic principle), the homeopathic physician administered a biphase contraceptive (anovulatório) in patients with functional sterility, unable to ovulate and become pregnant. After halting the drug, it has been observed the ovulation in approximately 25% of the patients, among which 10% got pregnant. Other modern drugs could be used following the homeopathic method of treatment, on the condition that they produced in the "healthy" individual the same symptoms one aims to treat in the sick individual, despite the use of a "partial similitude", different from the global and individualized similitude used by Homeopathy.

In this brief report, I have mentioned some modern scientific rationality evidences, found in the masterpiece Semelhante Cura Semelhante - O princípio de cura homeopático fundamentado pela racionalidade médica e científica. I believe this can function as a basis for future homeopathic studies in the academic and scientific spheres, so that we can get together and contribute to the Medical Art enhancement.

As to the clinical double-blind trials, that statistically demostrate the homeopathic remedy effectiveness in reference to the placebo use, disputed by many colleagues who follow the "medicine based on evidences", I mention two metanalyses that scientifically prove the homeopathic remedy superiority in relation to the placebo.

Dr. Marcus Zulian Teixeira
www.homeozulian.med.br

• KLEIJNEN, J., et Al. Clinical trials of Homeopathy. British Medical Journal, 1991, 302: 316-323.

• LINDE K. et Al. Does plow the clinical effects of homeopathy placebo effects? The goal-analysis of placebo-controlled trials. Lancet, 1997, 350 (9081): 834-43.

In the polemic theme of the job of the high homeopathic dilutions (minimum), countless doses jobs have been confirming the effectiveness of the same in alive beings, as the references that are followed:

• BASTIDE, M. et Al. Immunomodulatory activity of very low doses od thymulin in mice. Int. J. Immunotherapy, 1987, 3: 191-200.

• DOUTREMEPUCH, O. et Al. Platelets aggregation on whole blood after administration of ultra low dosage of acetylsalicylic acid (WING) in healthy volunteers. Thrombosis Research, 1987, 47: 373-377.

• DAVENAS, F. et Al. Human basophil degranulation triggered by very dilute antiserum against IgE. Nature, 1988, 333: 816-818.

• BASTIDE, M. Signals and Images. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic, 1997, 299p.

Bibliographical reference:

• Teixeira, Marcus Zulian. Similar Similar Cure - The principle of homeopathic cure based by the medical and scientific rationality. São Paulo: Editorial Petrus, 1998, 463 P.

• Teixeira, Marcus Zulian. The similitude in modern pharmacology. British Homeopathic Journal (1999) 88, 112-120.