लाइलाज बीमारियों में कारगर है होम्योपैथिक चिकित्सा !!

लाइलाज बीमारियों एवं दर्द से मुक्ति पाने के लिये मनुष्य सदियों से प्रयत्नरत है। प्राचीन समय में बीमारियों से छुटकारा पाने के लिये लोग वैद्य-हकीमों, जादूगरों, शोमैनों और पुजारियों की शरण लेते थे। आधुनिक समय में बीमारियों के इलाज के लिये हालांकि अनेक आधुनिक औषधियों, आधुनिक किस्म की सर्जरी और अनेक चिकित्सा विधियों का विकास हो चुका है लेकिन अक्सर देखा जाता है कि उपचार की ऐलोपैथी की औषधियों एवं आधुनिक चिकित्सा विधियों बीमारियां दूर होने के बजाय गंभीर होती जाती है और एक स्थिति ऐसी आती है जब दवाईयां और इंजेक्शन निष्प्रभावी हो जाते हैं। कई बार ये दवाईयां खुद मर्ज से कहीं अधिक परेशानी पैदा करती हैं। इन दवाईयों के दुष्प्रभाव के कारण नयी बीमारियां पैदा हो जाती हैं। कई बार ऐलोपैथी रक्त स्राव अथवा दिमागी दौरे का कारण बन सकती हैं जिनसे रोगी की मौत तक हो सकती है। आज जब दर्दनिवारक दवाईयों के अंधाधुंध सेवन ने एक महामारी का रूप धारण कर लिया है वैसे में अनेक देशों में होम्योपैथिक चिकित्सा को दर्द निवारण एवं प्रबंधन की कारगर एवं दुष्प्रभावरहित पद्धति के रूप में लोकप्रियता हासिल हो रही है।डा। बिदानी बताते हैं कि कोई भी दर्द लाइलाज नहीं होता है। दर्द शरीर के किसी भाग में उत्पन्न किसी न किसी व्याधि का संकेत होता है और इसलिये दर्द को स्थायी तौर पर जड़ से दूर करने के लिये उस व्याधि या दर्द के कारण को ठीक करना जरूरी है। होम्योपैथिक चिकित्सा मरीज को दर्द से राहत दिलाने के साथ-साथ दर्द के कारण को दूर करती है। इसलिये किसी भी तरह के दर्द और रोग से ग्रस्त मरीज को जल्द से जल्द होम्योपैथिक चिकित्सा की मदद लेनी चाहिये।डा. बिदानी बताते हैं कि होम्योपैथिक चिकित्सा दर्द से प्रभावित क्षेत्र की मांसपेशियों को रिलैक्स होने में मदद करती है तथा शरीर में प्राकृतिक दर्दनिवारक तत्व के उत्सर्जन को बढाती है। इसके अलावा यह प्रभावित भाग में रक्त प्रवाह को बढ़ाती तथा वहां की स्नायुओं की कार्यक्षमता में सुधार लाती है। इसके परिणाम स्वरूप होम्योपैथिक चिकित्सा दर्द से तत्काल राहत दिलाने के साथ - साथ शरीर की हीलिंग रिस्पौन्स को स्पंदित करती है। डा. बिदानी का कहना है कि होम्योपैथिक चिकित्सा को प्रसव पीड़ा को नियंत्रित करने तथा सामान्य प्रसव सुनिश्चित कराने में काफी कारगर पाया गया है। कुछ समय तक होम्योपैथिक चिकित्सा नियमित रूप से लेते रहने पर दर्द धीरे - धीरे कम होता है और कुछ समय बाद दर्द इतना कम या नगण्य हो जाता है कि मरीज को सामान्य जीवन में कोई दिक्कत नहीं होती है। होम्योपैथिक चिकित्सा के साथ मरीज दर्द से राहत पाने के लिये एक्युपंक्चर के अलावा एक्युपे्रषर, योग एवं ध्यान, रेकी चिकित्सा आदि की भी मदद ले सकता है।

होम्योपैथिक चिकित्सा जैसी विभिन्न वैकल्पिक चिकित्सा प्रणालियों की मदद से लाइलाज बीमारियों से पीड़ित मरीजों को किसी दवाई की मदद के बगैर स्थायी तौर पर राहत दिलायी जा सकती है। होम्योपैथिक चिकित्सा कमर दर्द, गर्दन दर्द, आथ्र्राइटिस, ओस्टियो - आथ्र्राइटिस, गठिया, सियाटिका, कैंसर पीड़ा, सिर दर्द, माइग्रेन, इरीटेबल बाउल सिंड्रोम, साइनुसाइटिस, डिस्क समस्या, पेट दर्द, हर्पिज, न्यूरेल्जिया और डायबेटिक न्यूरोपैथी जैसे किसी भी तरह के दर्द का सफलतापूर्वक निवारण हो सकता है। इसके अलावा हाल के वर्षों में होम्योपैथिक चिकित्सा को कैंसर रोगियों को कष्टों से निजात दिलाने की एक महत्वपूर्ण तरकीब के रूप में माना जाने लगा है। मौजूदा समय में होम्योपैथिक चिकित्सा एक सम्पूर्ण चिकित्सा पद्धति के रूप में विकसित हुआ है।

टॉन्सिलाइटिस और होम्योपैथीक उपचार...

अक्सर लोगों की शिकायत होती है कि कुछ भी ठंडा पीते ही उनके गले में दर्द शुरू हो जाता है। उसके बाद खाना-पीना मुश्किल हो जाता है। ऐसा टॉन्सिलाइटिस की वजह से होता है। आधुनिक जीवन में टॉन्सिलाइटिस यानी गले की बीमारी प्राय: हर घर के कम से कम एक सदस्य खासकर बच्चों को जरूर परेशान करती है। लिहाजा घर के प्रत्येक सदस्य उसके इस रोग से उद्विग्न दिखाई पड़ते हैं। टॉन्सिलाइटिस होने पर टॉन्सिल्स (गलतुण्डिका) में यानी गले के दोनों ओर सूजन आ जाती है। शुरूआत में मुंह के अंदर गले के दोनों ओर दर्द महसूस होता है, बार-बार बुखार भी होता है। टॉन्सिल्स सामान्य से ज्यादा लाल हो जाते हैं। इसलिए जरूरी है कि सर्दियों में बच्चों का खास ख्याल रखा जाए।

किस जगह होता है टॉन्सिलाइटिस:

मुँह खोलने पर जीभ की जड़ के पास देखने पर उपजिह्वा दिखाई देती है। यदि यह देखने में आए कि उपजिह्वा ठीक दोनों ओर फूली हुई है और लाल है, वहाँ लसदार सर्दी लगी है, तो समझ लें कि टॉन्सिलाइटिस हुआ है।इसे हिन्दी में तालुमूल-प्रदाह (तालुमूल-टॉन्सिल) और उस टॉन्सिल के प्रवाह को ही अँग्रेजी में टॉन्सिलाइटिस कहते हैं।

कैसे होता है टॉन्सिलाइटिस:

टॉन्सिलाइटिस दो तरह के इन्फेक्शन के कारण होता है। वायरल इंफेक्शन के कारण हुए टॉन्सिलाइटिस में खास इलाज की जरूरत नहीं होती। बैक्टीरियल इन्फेक्शन से हुए टॉन्सिलाइटिस को दवाई के सेवन से ठीक किया जा सकता है। आमतौर पर यह एक हफ्ते में ठीक हो जाता है। लेकिन इंफेक्शन ज्यादा हो तो इसे ठीक होने में अधिक समय लगता है।
प्रकार: - टॉन्सिलाइटिस दो प्रकार का होता है।

1. नया (acute)

2. पुराना (Chronic)

नए प्रकार के लक्षण - पहले दोनों ओर की तालुमूल ग्रंथि (टॉन्सिल) या एक तरफ की एक टॉन्सिल, पीछे दूसरी तरफ की टॉन्सिल फूलती है। इसका आकार सुपारी के आकार का हो सकता है। उपजिह्वा भी फूलकर लाल रंग की हो जाती है। खाने-पीने की नली भी सूजन से अवरुद्ध हो जाती है‍ जिससे खाने-पीने के समय दर्द होता है। टॉन्सिल का दर्द कान तक फैल सकता है एवं 103-104 डिग्री सेल्सियस तक बुखार चढ़ सकता है।जबड़े में दर्द होता है। गले की गाँठ फूलती है, मुँह फाड़ नहीं सकता है। पहली अवस्था में अगर इलाज से रोग न घटे तो धीरे-धीरे टॉन्सिल पक जाता है और फट भी सकता है।

पुरानी बीमारी के लक्षण - जिन व्यक्तियों को बार-बार टॉन्सिल की बीमारी हुआ करती है तो वह क्रोनिक हो जाती है। इस अवस्था में श्वास लेने और छोड़ने में भी कठिनाई होती है तथा टॉन्सिल का आकार सदा के लिए सामान्य से बड़ा दिखता है।

टॉन्सिल्स के प्रकार :

1. कैटेरल

2. फॉलिक्यूलर

3. सपयुरेटीव

कैसे बच सकते हैं गले के संक्रमण से:

- हमेशा साबुन से हाथ धोकर ही खाना खाएं।

- ठंडे पेय पदार्थों से परहेज करें।

- गर्म वस्तु खाने के बाद ठंडे खाद्य पदार्थ का सेवन न करें।

- बासी भोजन का सेवन न करें। अगर खाद्य पदार्थ ठंडा हो गया है तो उसे गर्म कर लें।

- ब्रश करने के बाद नियमित रूप से गुनगुने पानी से गरारा करें।

- तले खाने से परहेज करें।

- धूल व मिट्टी से बचें।

- गाजर के रस का छोटा गिलास दो तीन महीने तक पीएं।

- टॉन्सिल्स की सूजन में गरम पानी में नमक डालकर गरारे करने से आराम आ जाता है।

होम्योपैथिक चिकित्सा:
फॉलिक्यूलर टॉन्सिलाइटिस - एपिस मेल, बेलाडोना, कैलीम्यूर, मरक्यूरियसबिन आयोड, फाईटोलैक्का को नीचे की पोटेंसी फायदेमंद है।

हाइपरट्रो‍फाइड टॉन्सिलाइटिस - बेराइटाकार्ब, बेराईटा आयोड, बेराईटा क्यूर, आयोडिन, फैटॅलैक्का, कैल्केरिया कार्ब इत्यादि कारगर है।

साधारण औषधियाँ - बेराईटा, बेलाडोना, कैप्सिकम, सिस्टस, फेरमफॉस, हिपर सल्फर, हाईड्रैस्टीस, इग्नेसिया, कैलीबाईक्रोम, लैकेसिस, मरक्युरियस, लाईकोपोडियम, मर्क प्रोटो ऑयोड, मर्क बिन आमोड, नेट्रम सल्फ, एसिड नाइट्रीकम, फाईटोलैक्का, सालिसिया, सल्फर एवं एसिड सल्फर कारगर दवाएँ हैं।

क्रोनिक की अवस्था में 200 पोटेन्सी की उपरोक्त लक्षणानुसार दवा बारंबारता से दोहराव करने पर रोग का कुछ महीनों में शमन होता है एवं आरोग्यता आती है।

कई बार टॉन्सिलाइटिस के रोगी दवाइयां लेना शुरू तो करते हैं पर थोड़ा आराम मिलते ही बंद कर देते हैं। इससे फिर से तकलीफ बढ़ने का खतरा बना रहता है। टॉन्सिलाइटिस के रोगियों को तब तक दवाइयां लेनी चाहिए जब तक पूरा कोर्स न ख़त्म हो जाए। कई लोगों के साथ ऐसा होता है कि दवा लेने पर टॉन्सिलाइटिस कुछ दिनों के लिए दब तो जाता है पर वह दोबारा उभर जाता है। उनके साथ ऐसा बार-बार होता है।
हालांकि टॉन्सिलाइटिस लाइलाज बीमारी नहीं है, लेकिन अगर यह बढ़ जाए तो काफी परेशान कर सकती है। इसलिए जरूरी है कि कुछ बातों का ध्यान रखकर इस बीमारी से छुटकारा पाया जाए।
होम्योपैथिक दवाओं के टॉन्सिलाइटिस में प्रयोग से सर्जरी की आवश्यकता नहीं पड़ती है। कभी-कभी सर्जरी के बाद भी गले में खिंचाव का दर्द लिए रोगी मिलते हैं । अत: वैसे रोगी जो सर्जरी से बचना चाहते हैं या कम उम्र के बच्चे , डायबिटीज अथवा हृदय रोग से पी‍ड़ित रोगी जिन्हें टॉन्सिल्स हैं, एक बार होम्योपैथिक दवाओं का चमत्कार आजमा कर स्वस्थ हो सकते हैं।

डा. नवनीत बिदानी

होम्योपैथी तथ्य तथा भ्रांतियाँ !!

होम्योपैथी एक पूर्णतः वैज्ञानिक चिकित्सा पद्धति है, जिसका उद्भव लगभग 200 वर्ष पहले हुआ। होम्योपैथी 'समः समं, शमयति' के सिद्धांत पर काम करती है, जिसका अर्थ है समान की समान से चिकित्सा अर्थात एक तत्व जिस रोग को पैदा करता है, वही उस रोग को दूर करने की क्षमता भी रखता है। इस पद्धति के द्वारा रोग को जड़ से मिटाया जाता है। इस पद्धति के बारे में अधिकतर लोगों में कई तरह की भ्रांतियाँ हैं, जिसका छोटा सा निवारण हम कर रहे हैं-

भ्रांति : होम्योपैथी पहले रोग को बढ़ाती है, फिर ठीक करती है।
तथ्य : यह अत्यधिक प्रचलित मिथ्या धारणा है। ऐसा प्रत्येक मामले में तथा हमेशा नहीं होता है, लेकिन यदि औषधियाँ जल्दी-जल्दी या आवश्यकता से अधिक ली जाएँ तो लक्षणों की तीव्रता में वृद्धि हो सकती है। जैसे ही औषधि को संतुलित मात्रा में लिया जाता है, तीव्रता में कमी आ जाती है। यही नहीं, जब कोई रोगी लंबे समय तक ज्यादा तीव्रता वाली एलोपैथिक औषधियाँ जैसे स्टिरॉयड आदि लेता रहा है और होम्योपैथिक चिकित्सा लेते ही स्टिरॉयड एकदम से बंद कर देता है तो लक्षणों की तीव्रता में वृद्धि हो जाती है।

भ्रांति : होम्योपैथी सिर्फ पुराने या जीर्ण रोगों में काम करती है।
तथ्य : यह सही है कि होम्योपैथिक चिकित्सक के पास अधिकतर मरीज अन्य पैथियों से चिकित्सा कराने के बाद थक-हारकर आते हैं। तब तक उनकी बीमारी पुरानी या क्रॉनिक हो चुकी होती है। वैसे इसमें सब तरह के रोगों का इलाज किया जाता है, सर्दी, खाँसी, उल्टी, दस्त, बुखार, पीलिया, टायफाइड आदि।

भ्रांति : होम्योपैथी धीरे-धीरे काम करती है।
तथ्य : यह अवधारणा गलत है, होम्योपैथी त्वरित प्रभाव उत्पन्न करती है। आमतौर पर यह माना जाता है कि यदि किसी रोग का इलाज अन्य पद्धतियों से नहीं हो पा रहा है तो होम्योपैथिक चिकित्सा अपनाएँ अर्थात लोग असाध्य व कठिन रोगों के लिए होम्योपैथी चिकित्सा की ओर अग्रसर होते हैं, इसलिए स्वाभाविक है कि इस तरह के रोगी को ठीक होने में थोड़ा वक्त तो लगेगा ही।

भ्रांति : होम्योपैथी में आहार संबंधी परहेज बहुत अधिक करना पड़ता है।
तथ्य : यह भी भ्रांति है कि होम्योपैथी में प्याज, लहसुन, हींग, खुशबूदार पदार्थ, पान, कॉफी, तंबाकू का परहेज जरूरी है। कुछ औषधियों के साथ ही आहार संबंधी परहेज आवश्यक है अन्यथा औषधि का असर कम हो सकता है।

भ्रांति : मधुमेह के रोगी होम्योपैथिक औषधि का सेवन नहीं कर सकते।
तथ्य : मधुमेह के रोगी इन गोलियों का सेवन कर सकते हैं, क्योंकि इनमें शकर की मात्रा अति न्यून होती है। इसके अलावा इन दवाइयों को तरल रूप में पानी में मिलाकर भी ले सकते हैं।

भ्रांति : होम्योपैथिक चिकित्सा पद्धति से हर रोग का इलाज नहीं हो सकता है।
तथ्य : अधिकतर लोग चिकित्सक से किसी न किसी बीमारी का नाम लेकर यह प्रश्न अवश्य करते हैं कि होम्योपैथी में इस रोग का इलाज है या नहीं। अभी भी यह धारणा है कि होम्योपैथी में कुछ ही रोगों का इलाज है जैसे- चर्म रोग, हड्डी रोग आदि। दरअसल यह एक संपूर्ण चिकित्सा पद्धति है। इसके द्वारा सभी रोगों का इलाज संभव है। कई रोगों में जहां अन्य चिकित्सा पद्धति में सर्जरी ही एकमात्र इलाज है जैसे- टांसिलाइटिस, अपेंडिसाइटिस, मस्से, ट्यूमर, पथरी, बवासीर आदि। इनमें भी होम्योपैथी कारगर है।

होम्योपैथी सहज, सस्ती और संपूर्ण चिकित्सा पद्धति है। ये औषधियाँ शरीर के किसी एक अंग या भाग पर कार्य नहीं करतीं, बल्कि रोगी के संपूर्ण लक्षणों की चिकित्सा करती है।

डा. नवनीत बिदानी

An Interview

This is an interview with Dr. Navneet Bidani which got published in September 2009 issue of Health Today Magazine.

Editor: Continuing our series of interviews with stalwarts of medical world, this time we are covering a young doctor Dr. Navneet Bidani who is practicing classical homoeopathy at Hisar in North India. He has expertise in treating patients with severe chronic disorders. A respected teacher & practitioner who specializes in Homoeopathic repertorisation & case taking. His special area of interest lies in treating paediatric & depressive patients.

Q. Why did you choose Homoeopathy?
I come from a family of Homoeopaths. My grandfather was the first qualified homoeopath from Hisar. He with his great efforts made homoeopathy known to the people of Haryana and India. My father is having a vast experience of 40 yrs of practicing homoeopathy & he is still practicing. My house was thus a focal point for a lot of discussions on homoeopathy and I was exposed to it from a very young age. I used to see my father & my grandfather discussing cases & their homoeopathic treatment & from their discussions I came to know what Homoeopathy is & what are its benefits? These lively discussions and debates got me deeply interested in Homoepathy & I decided to become a Homoeopath.

Q. Where did you get your homoeopathic education?
I completed my Bachelor of Homoeopathic Medicine & Surgery (BHMS) from DS Homoeopathic Medical College, Pune University. However I believe learning is a continuous & cumulative process and still continues to read books and study my patients. I learn something new from each & every patient that I treat. The fascination just never ends! The implications, the need for a better understanding, it just goes on and on; and the odd thing is that the more you study homoeopathy, the less you're sure of your knowledge.

Q. What’s your basic approach in finding a remedy for your patients?
Homoeopathy is based on "nature's law of cure". For a classical homoeopath to take a case, it is not merely the asking of several questions that matters, it is the observations which matters more. To feel what the patient feels, to become that person, to step into their shoes and to find the "disposition" of the patient. Each case is uniquely different, so it's best to just be empty inside so that the patient has room to enter. Hahnemann says that during the case-taking we should keep silent. It took me some time to understand that he meant silent internally. So case taking is like a meditation. It is essential to finish by asking for every detail of the whole person, from head to toe. Never assume you know it all-you must ask!
Homoeopathy is about finding the right tune. Resonating in this tune is making things happen and move.
Understanding rubrics is the first step towards a successful selection of remedy. One must be thoroughly familiar with the stock of rubrics so far as their meaning is concerned. Once we decide on one of these rubrics, we must confirm its accuracy with the patient. Then we take it in a case analysis. Never assume you have a correct interpretation of the symptom without confirmation from the patient - that is, never ever interpret from your own imagination. The next step is the use of the rubrics in metaphorical way, in expanded sense. For this we must look to the surroundings, keep our eyes and ears open during our day to day conversations with people. One should proceed from meaning to expressions. Merely collecting expressions and finding their equivalent rubrics is of help but to some extent only because the expression may amount to any one of several rubrics or more than one rubric. Likewise one rubric may have a variety of expressions. So, we must have a thorough knowledge of how to differentiate the rubrics which seem to have a somewhat similar meaning. You take envy and it might be jealousy, you take selfish, it might be egotistic, you take indifference to children, it might be aversion to the family. We must know that there are rubics differing in shades of meaning and it may need all our intelligence, care & contemplation to fully realize these shades of meaning.
Once you finished up with the repertorization work comes the selection of a medicine. The analysis chart shows you number of indicating remedies but which one will be the similimum? Here your understanding of materia medica comes into play, how will you differentiate remedies? I start from the individualization of the substance. When I study a remedy I ask the following question first: ‘What is there strange, unusual, and bizarre in the substance that makes the homoeopathic remedy, which makes it different from all other remedies we know?’ Compared to the modern tendency where the question is: ‘What does this remedy have in common with one or more other remedies?’ I ask the opposing question: ‘what is characteristic in this remedy that makes it different from all other remedies?’

Q. What else influences your case-taking?
Emotions play a prominent role in shaping up of the personality. They seem to play a crucial part in the genesis and healing of serious disease such as cancer and other illness. Any kind of unexpected shock, for instance can have a devastating effect on health and/or the immune system - until it is resolved and healed in any of a number of ways. A similar mechanism seems to be true for living in fear and panic, so one of the first tasks at hand in a successful healing journey may be working at reestablishing the greatest possible measure of inner peace and confidence. I have my patients make a timeline with all the major traumas in their life, whether mental, emotional, physical, financial, or whatever. Any event that causes lasting symptoms will need to be treated eventually. We start with the most recent trauma first and work backwards, every time treating the Never Well Since (usually a mental or emotional trauma that triggered the onset of symptoms).

Q. As you mentioned the role of emotions & psychology in your case-taking method, can you elaborate over this psychology part?
During the course of our lives, and those of our patients, we find that the past formative years, from childhood to adulthood, have played an undeniably important role both in our psychological formation and our physical well-being. When we take into accounts the mental, emotional and the physical traits of a patient, and then adds the hereditary physiological, emotional and mental characteristics, a more complete, accurate and total picture of the whole person becomes clear.
Research indicates that feelings and experiences change us even at a cellular level. Mind and body constantly interact and influences one another. Physicians therefore must be conversant with biological, psychological and sociological factors, since holistic medicine accepts that all these systems influence one another.
Many of us are carrying repressed memories of unhealed emotional wounds or traumas from childhood and sometimes from past lives. As long as these things are repressed within you, they will be activated from time to time, pulling you out of present or simply preventing you from being present. The ego will be constantly on alert to protect you against a recurrence of these painful experiences. And if the ego is on alert, it will keep you in the world of the mind. These emotions and memories need to be allowed to surface into the light of consciousness for healing and release. When this occurs, we can say that the past is released from you and you are released from the past. This allows you to deepen and settle into the present moment.”

Psychological disorders pose one of the biggest health challenges today. According to one study in India one out of five suffers from psychological disorders. The trend is rising. And the reasons are not far from us. Our society is changing fast and the demands are challenging. These demands call for in-depth acceptance and constant adjustments. Everything happening at personal, social, professional or day to day life has profound psychological impact. Job stress and poor interpersonal skills at both social and family level are beginning to show its effect. Modes of communication are rising but true communication is lacking. More and more people feel misunderstood, alone and unwanted. Emotions are unsatisfied and mind management skills are lacking. Result is obvious! Psychological complaints are rising alarmingly.
In many homoeopathic treatments, the characteristic emotional and mental traits of the patient himself give the most useful leads towards the selection of the most effective medicine, sometimes without focusing on the nature of the clinical illness.

Q. What’s changed for you in the past 3-5 yrs.? How your views on remedies have changed over the years?
I have practiced homoeopathy for the past eight years, and it never ceases to amaze me, the power of the minimal dose. At the same time, I'm often frustrated, knowing the right remedy picture will help solve a difficult case and sometimes not being able to find the right combination of clues to fit together the puzzle to attain a cure or significantly help a case. It has now been well over eight years of practice and at no time since then, has respect for Homoeopathy lessened. As practice increased, the time for individual study of each case was not available and snap diagnoses were generally the rule, but, even so, the results were such as to justify the choice of Homoeopathy as regular practice, and, when time permitted, there was no more delightful pastime than search for the indicated remedy. The joy of successful application of the correct simillimum was always greater than that of an operation completed without technical error. When such operation resulted in improved condition there was always a keen sense of success almost at hand, but this was never to be compared with the intense satisfaction that followed the exhibition of the correct remedy in an annoying symptom complex, for in the latter case the forces of nature seemed to be released and health was on a higher plane afterward, which can seldom be said of even the most successful operation.

Q. You always give advice to your patients regarding diet & eating habits. What’s the role of diet in homoeopathy?
Ans: Many people are surprised when they consult me to find out how in depth I go in my investigation of their eating habits, and food preferences. I do go in depth, because I feel that the way people eat, in addition to being important to their health, gives valuable clues as to what remedy they need. If I have to decide between two remedies, which seem to be equally indicated, I look to the food preferences to verify which way to go, because the food likes and dislikes are so characteristic of an individual, and are often very difficult to influence. I have learned that just telling people what to eat and how to make their diets healthier does not often work, unless the individual is very highly motivated to make the changes. Most people who drink soft drinks know that they are not good for them, yet they are powerless to overcome this habit. A dose of Medorrhinum can help modify this food craving. Patients who have an aversion to fruit, even though they know they should be having several servings each day, cannot make this switch until they have received their Carcinosin, Pulsatilla or Phosphorous (it can be other remedies as well). After the indicated remedy the client starts eating better, which correspondingly helps their health improve.

Q. Dr. Bidani you have studied extensively temperaments of children & number of your articles had even got published in international journals, how do you judge a temperament of a child in your clinic?
Children are born with unique behavioural styles that influence their development from the womb until death. Each child is unique, and has a different way of looking at and interacting with the world. A child’s personality is determined by the interaction of temperament traits with the environment. By understanding temperament, we homoeopaths can very easily get to know the personality of the child which thereby helps us in selecting the exact constitutional medicine & then a Homoeopath can work along with the parent in improving the personality of a child rather than trying to change his or her inborn traits. If I had to describe YOUR temperament, I would take into consideration all aspects of your personality, including your physical appearance, your social habits, your psychological reactions and other people’s perception of your strengths.

Q. Are the patients you see in your clinic the patients you study in the homoeopathic literature?
As a practitioner you expand with the expansion of knowledge. 60% of cases fit the appropriate keynotes, but there is so much suppression that 40% of your cases leave nothing but confusion for the homoeopath and he or she must go on the essence alone. They have no 4pm to 8pm aggravation; they like eggs or don't like eggs, or don't know what they like. It's strictly essence. They'll offer you no physical keynotes to help you. You must completely understand the essence of the remedy to prescribe. People are so suppressed that their vital force can't display an intelligent group of symptoms. You take a case and they look like five polycrests. There are no formulas. You're challenged constantly.

Q. How would you react to the continuous attack on Homoeopathy be it by Lancet or Media?
Homoeopathy is never more nor less than demonstrable truth and the truth never be wholly lost, even though it may be neglected or misunderstood or misapplied, but always, sometime, somewhere, it will raise its head and demand recognition. The persistence of the philosophy of Samuel Hahnemann throughout the many years of ridicule by the older school is evidence that the truth is here embraced.

Q. Who have been your homoeopathic mentors?
James Tyler Kent & Vithoulkas. They are the one who changed entirely my way of thinking & prescribing. I really recommend Paul Herscu if you want to work with children.

Q. What are the most important books in your practice?
Materia Medica & Repertory by James Tyler Kent, Materia Medica Viva & Essence of Homoeopathic Remedies by George Vithoulkas, Portraits of Homoeopathic Materia Medica by Catherine Coulter & last but not the least Children’s Types by Borland.

Q. Are you going to write a book one of these days?
Well, there are two projects in the pipeline. Firstly I am writing on the body language & Homoeopathy & the other one is on Emotions & Homoeopathy. But I am not in any hurry as I want to give the best not only from theoretical point of view but also a practical approach based on experience.

Q. How has homoeopathy helped you on a personal level?
From my own experience of taking remedies I can say that they have expanded my consciousness and accelerated my growth. But the interesting thing is that interacting with patients also expands a physicians own growth.

Q. What advice do you have for new homoeopaths?
Our responsibility is to continually evolve intellectually, experientially, and spiritually. I don't think we can be successful homoeopaths if we don't have real compassion and insight. My recommendations are to keep the constitutional remedy as a constant goal. Look for key emotional and characteristic general symptoms that point directly to remedies. Then apply a comparative materia medica approach to the remedy possibilities. Give the constitutional remedy and then maintain caution around too much extraneous prescribing. Observe how well a patient under the action of the right constitutional can resolve acute flare-ups of symptoms with minimal intervention. Approach constitutional prescribing with a sense of adventure and watch the amazing responses and rewards of this fascinating homoeopathic realm.

Dr. Bidani thank you for your thoughts and time, we hope to hear more and more about you and your work.

Dr. Navneet Bidani can be contacted at:

Dr. Bidani’s
Centre for Homoeopathy,
DSB-199, Red Square Market,
Hisar-125001. Haryana.
INDIA
Mobile No. +91-9416336371
Website: www.drbidani.co.nr
E-mail: drbidani@gmail.com

Psoriasis and Homoeopathy

Psoriasis is an immune-mediated, noncontagious, genetic disease manifesting in the skin and/or the joints. Psoriasis is a, lifelong skin disease.

Causes of Psoriasis
These are unknown but it is believed to have a genetic component. Most researchers agree that the immune system is somehow mistakenly triggered, which speeds up the growth cycle of skin cells. A normal skin cell matures and falls off the body's surface in 28 to 30 days. But a psoriatic skin cell takes only three to four days to mature and move to the surface. Instead of falling off, the cells pile up and form the lesions.

Risk factors to trigger Psoriasis
Emotional stress
Injury to the skin
Some types of infection and reactions to certain drugs
Stress can cause psoriasis to flare for the first time or aggravate existing psoriasis.
Injured or traumatized areas. This is known as the "Koebner phenomenon." Vaccinations
Sunburns
Scratches can all trigger a Koebner response. The Koebner response can be treated if it is caught early enough.
Certain medications, like antimalarial drugs, lithium and certain beta-blockers, are also known to cause people's psoriasis to flare.
Other triggers may include weather, diet and allergies.
Triggers will vary from person to person and what may cause one person's psoriasis to flare may produce no reaction in another individual.

Types of Psoriasis
There are five types of psoriasis.
Plaque: Most common form of the disease
Guttate: Appears as small red spots on the skin
Inverse: Occurs in armpits, groin and skin folds
Pustular: White blisters surrounded by red skin

Erythrodermic: Intense redness over large areas

Plaque Psoriasis:

The most common type of psoriasis is called plaque psoriasis. It is characterized by raised, inflamed (red) lesions covered with a silvery white scale. The scale is actually a buildup of dead skin cells. The technical name for plaque psoriasis is psoriasis vulgaris (vulgaris means common). Plaque psoriasis may appear on any skin surface, though the knees, elbows, scalp, and trunk are the most common locations.

Guttate Psoriasis:

Guttate psoriasis is characterized by small red dots (or drops) of psoriasis. It often appears on the trunk, arms and legs. The lesions may have some scale. Guttate psoriasis frequently appears suddenly following a streptococcal infection or viral upper respiratory infections. There are also other events that can precipitate an attack of guttate psoriasis: tonsillitis, a cold, chicken pox, immunizations, physical trauma, psychological stress, illness, and the administration of antimalarial drugs.

Inverse Psoriasis:

Inverse psoriasis is localized in the flexural surfaces of the skin, e.g., armpit, groin, under the breast, and other skin folds. Typically, it appears as smooth inflamed lesions without scaling and is particularly subject to irritation due to rubbing and sweating.

Erythrodermic:

Ordinarily erythrodermic psoriasis appears on the skin as a widespread reddening and exfoliation of fine scales, often accompanied by severe itching and pain. Swelling may also develop.

Pustular Psoriasis:

Pustular psoriasis is characterized by pustules (blister-like lesions of noninfectious pus) on the skin. The pus consists of white blood cells in the skin. It is not an infection, and it is not contagious. It may be localized to certain areas of the body, e.g., hands and feet, or it can be widespread. It tends to go in cycles of: 1) erythema (reddening of the skin), 2) formation of pustules, and 3) scaling of the skin.

Special Conditions of Psoriasis
Conception, Pregnancy and Psoriasis
Psoriasis, in and of itself, does not affect the reproductive system of a woman or a man. Some women report their psoriasis improves or worsens during pregnancy.
Psoriasis often changes because of pregnancy.
In the postpartum phase, psoriasis usually gets worse, most often within four months of delivery.

Psoriatic arthritis
Psoriatic arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disease of the joints and connective tissue, was first described in 1818 by a French physician, Baron Jean Louis Alibert,
About 10 percent to 30 percent of people with psoriasis also develop psoriatic arthritis, which causes pain, stiffness and swelling in and around the joints. Both genetic and environmental factors seem to be associated with the development of arthritis. The immune system plays an important role.

Signs and Symptoms
Psoriatic arthritis causes stiffness, pain, swelling and tenderness of the joints and the tissue around them. Movement of the joint(s) may be difficult.
Some cases of psoriatic arthritis cause deterioration of the spine and deformity of the joints, leading to disability.

It can develop slowly with mild symptoms, or it can develop quickly and be severe.

Major symptoms include-
Generalized fatigue
Tenderness, pain and swelling over tendons
Swollen fingers and toes
Stiffness, pain, throbbing, swelling and tenderness in one or more joints
A reduced range of motion
Morning stiffness and tiredness
Nail changes; for example, the nail separates from the nail bed and/or becomes pitted and mimics fungus infections
Redness and pain of the eye, such as conjunctivitis
The disease can develop in a joint after an injury and may mimic a cartilage tear.
Muscle or joint pain can occur without joint inflammation.
Tendonitis and bursitis may be prominent features.
Swelling of the fingers and toes can suggest a "sausage-like" appearance.
Psoriatic arthritis affects the distal joints in fingers or toes. The lower back, wrists, knees or ankles also may be affected.

Therapeutics:
Synthetic Repertory- SKIN - ERUPTIONS - psoriasis
alum.-1 am-c.-1 ambr.-1 ant-t.-2 ars.-2 ars-i.-3 ars-s-f.-1 ars-s-r.-1 aur.-1 aur-ar.-1 bell-p.-1 berb-a.-1 borx.-1 bry.-1 bufo-1 calc.-2 calc-s.-2 canth.-2 carb-ac.-1 carb-v.-1 chin.-2 chrys-ac.-2 chrys-ac.-2 cic.-1 clem.-2 cor-r.-1 cupr.-1 dulc.-1 gali.-1 graph.-2 hydrc.-1 iod.-1 iris-2 kali-ar.-2 kali-br.-1 kali-c.-2 kali-p.-1 kali-s.-2 led.-1 lob.-2 lyc.-3 mag-c.-1 mang.-2 merc.-2 merc-c.-1 merc-i-r.-1 merc-k-i.-1 mez.-2 naphtin.-1 nat-m.-1 nit-ac.-2 nuph.-1 petr.-2 ph-ac.-1 phos.-2 phyt.-3 pix-1 psor.-2 puls.-2 rad-br.-1 ran-b.-1 rhus-t.-2 sars.-2 sep.-3 sil.-2 staph.-1 stel.-1 still.-1 sul-i.-1- sulph.-2 tell.-1- teucr.-1- thuj.-1 thyr.-1 tub.-1 x-ray-1

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Nothing fixes a thing so intensely in the memory as the wish to forget it. Most Bombay Serial Blasts evacuees will learn to move past their tragedy, but many will continue to experience storms of the mind.
Military combats, sexual abuse, divorce, bombings, fires, beatings- these experiences can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder, in which the sufferer relives the event over & over to devastating effect, sometimes many years after the fact. The WHO estimates that 20 percent of people exposed to a disaster show some kind of mild or moderate mental disorder soon after the event, with the number dropping to about 15 percent within a year, 3-4 percent will experience more severe problems.
PTSD has been an officially recognized illness since 1980 & it may be defined as the development of significant anxiety after exposure to extreme trauma, defined as an event associated with either actual or threatened death or injury to oneself or another. Individuals experience associated symptoms of detachment & loss of emotional responsivity. The patient may feel depersonalized and unable to recall specific aspects of the trauma, though typically it is re-experienced through intrusions in thoughts, dreams, or flashbacks, particularly when cues of the original event are present. Accordingly, patients often actively avoid stimuli that precipitate recollections of the trauma and demonstrate a resulting increase in vigilance, arousal and startle response.

Concept of Memory
When humans take in new information- whether it’s a phone number, or seeing someone killed- the memory is “labile” at first, or chemically unstable.
But at some point within the next six hours, a flood of proteins produced by the brain moves the memory from short-term to long-term imprint.
The brain’s wiring changes each time something goes into long-term memory, but not all memories are equal. “You remember the day of your wedding better than three Tuesdays ago when there was nothing important going on.”
Emotional memories activate a second process that ups their intensity. This is called a “gain switch”. With PTSD, this gain switch just gets turned way up after trauma. So now what happens is that people are just overwhelmed by their emotional memories.
Studies have shown that emotionally arousing events cause stress-related hormones such as adrenaline to be released by the brain’s amygdale, which is involved in emotional learning and memory. PTSD may develop when the event is so emotionally powerful, and so much adrenalin is released, that the “gain-switch” is set too high.
Then, each time the traumatic experience is recalled; the amygdale releases yet more hormones & intensifies the stressful memories even more.
People who have experienced or witnessed a trauma can suffer such fear, helplessness and horror that they’re crippled by nightmares, flashbacks, outbursts of anger and hyper-vigilance and arousal, and constantly on the lookout for danger. Some try not to think about it, or avoid anyone who reminds them of the trauma. They can become withdrawn & so emotionally & psychologically numb they no longer can feel love or other intense feelings the way they did before.

Homoeopathic Approach
Healing from that kind of trauma may require long-term counseling along with well indicated constitutional homoeopathic remedy. It is important that patients be given time to describe their experience & the impact it has had on them, their family, and their outlook. Occasional empathic silence may be as helpful for the treatment alliance as verbal reassurance.

Rubrics worth considering:-
Kent’s Repertory (Mind)

1- Absorbed, buried in thoughts:
2- Anger, irascibility:
3- Anger, irascibility: Ailments after anger: Vexation etc.
4- Anger, irascibility: Ailments after anger: With anxiety:
5- Anger, irascibility: Ailments after anger: With Fright:
6- Anger, irascibility: Ailments after anger: With silent grief:
7- Anger, irascibility: Former vexations, about:
8- Anger, irascibility: Past events, about:
9- Antagonism with herself:
10- Anxiety: Chagrin, after:
11- Anxiety: Conscience, of (as if guilty of a crime)
12- Anxiety: Vexation after:
13- Brooding:
14- Complaining: Offenses, long past:
15- Death: Desires:
16- Death: Thoughts of:
17- Delirium: Blames himself for his folly:
18- Delirium: Sorrowful:
19- Delusions, imaginations, hallucinations, illusions: Accused, thinks she is:
20- Delusions, imaginations, hallucinations, illusions: Alone: That she is always:
21- Delusions, imaginations, hallucinations, illusions: Arrested, is about to be:
22- Delusions, imaginations, hallucinations, illusions: Friendless, that he is:
23- Discouraged:
24- Disgust:
25- Dullness, sluggishness, difficulty of thinking and comprehending: Chagrin, from:
26- Dullness, sluggishness, difficulty of thinking and comprehending: Emotions, from:
27- Dullness, sluggishness, difficulty of thinking and comprehending: Mortification, after:
28- Dwells: On past disagreeable occurrences:
29- Dwells: Recalls old grievances:
30- Escape, attempts to:
31- Fear: Betrayed, being:
32- Forsaken feeling:
33- Frightened easily:
34- Grief:
35- Grief: Ailments, from:
36- Grief: Ailments, from: Cannot cry:
37- Grief: Silent:
38- Helplessness, feeling of:
39- Honour, effects of wounded:
40- Indifference, apathy etc.
41- Lamenting, bemoaning, wailing etc.
42- Loathing: Life:
43- Love: Ailments, from disappointed:
44- Love: with silent grief:
45- Moaning, groaning
46- Mortification, ailments, after:
47- Remorse:
48- Sadness, mental depression:
49- Sadness, mental depression: Alone, when:
50- Sensitive, oversensitive:
51- Sentimental:
52- Suicidal disposition: Thoughts:
53- Thoughts: Persistent:
54- Unfortunate, feels:
55- Unreal, everything seems:
56- Weary of life:
57- Weeping, tearful mood, etc.:
58- Weeping, tearful mood, etc.: Admonitions, cause:
59- Weeping, tearful mood, etc.: Mortification, after:
60- Weeping, tearful mood, etc.: Vexation, from:



Therapeutics:
Though Homoeopathy works on the Principle of Individualization i.e. the medicine can vary from person to person depending upon the onset, duration, progress, location, sensation, modalities & concomitant symptoms but there are number of remedies which we can label as stress or depressive remedies.
To name a few:-

1- Aurum Metallicum
It covers the classic situation in which one person dies after many years of a happy marriage, and the other partner dies within a few months. The surviving partner will say, “I lost the sunshine in my life,” meaning they lost all purpose in life. Aurum will also help senior citizens in nursing homes where loneliness and a lack of purpose often bring an “Aurum state” of emptiness and despair. Aurum also covers physical and emotional pain as well as the desire to commit suicide. They have a loathing of life and want to avoid other people, but they get revived when you convince them to go out for a little walk. They often have feelings of guilt (“maybe I should have been nicer, now that he or she is gone, I regret not telling him more that I loved him”). Another trigger for an Aurum state is financial loss, as in sudden stock market crash, many people lose all they had saved in just one day and they commits or attempts to commit suicide. Aurum can also help other family members affected by financial loss, for example a star student who can no longer afford to go to the prestigious college she always hoped and dreamed of.

2- Ignatia Amara
There is no better remedy to mend depression from a broken heart and betrayal, especially if it is still acute (fresh in the person’s mind). The Ignatia person reacts in her depression with sighing, sobbing and just sitting there immobilized, as if struck by a lightning. “Why me?” they ask in vain, left by a lover in whom they put all their emotional bank balance. “How could he do this to me?” They are very sensitive to the behavior of their lover, as if their very survival depends on that one person. An Ignatia person may also have psychosomatic symptoms such as sighing, choking, a stiff neck, and a globus hystericus . They often weep for help and attention.

3- Natrum Muriaticum
If there are too many heartbreaks, the person turns to silent grief, never crying except perhaps when alone listening to classical music. She doesn’t want to talk about her depression (except maybe with her very best friend). She feels worse when people try to console her because she just wants to be left alone. These people are easily offended, never forget what was done to them, and often dwell over the painful event, sometimes with great vindictiveness. Rather than committing suicide, they tend to crusade for a worthy cause as this improves their moods.

4- Phosphoric Acid
The person who needs it feels that her life is flat and all the sparkle has gone out of it. She is so depressed that she is indifferent to everything, even her own family, friends and activities she usually enjoys. She lies in bed with her face to the wall and the phone unplugged. She suffers from spaciness, a great loss of memory with difficulties finding the right word, drowsiness during the day and insomnia at night. This Phosphoric acid state is mainly found in teenagers who have homesickness (it’s absolutely the greatest remedy for these teenagers away from home for the first time), or in patients broken down from nerve strain after a longtime chronic illness like Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

5- Sepia
The patient basically is worn-out, physically, mentally and emotionally. It can be from a particularly difficult pregnancy or from an arduous delivery. To the amazement of the family, the Sepia patient can be so depressed that she feels indifferent to her family, even her newborn baby. “Leave me alone,” they say, “I am utterly exhausted. I need a vacation, far away from the whole family, to be able to replenish my energy.” The poor Sepia patient has always been very dutiful but this attitude is precisely what brought her into a state of exhaustion and depression (“I’m having a nervous breakdown,” she may say). Now she feels that everyone wants a piece from her, her children, husband, and friends, and she can’t cope with the demands anymore. She may even say, “Shoot me because death must be better than this.”

6- Staphysagria
The main idea characterizing Staphysagria is suppression of emotions, particularly those centering around romantic relationship. Staphysagria is often given acutely for the physical effects of suppressed anger. Staphysagria anger is often so well suppressed that it is not only unexpressed; it is not even felt. She is a person who feels her problems belong to her alone. She would never presume to be a burden to others. Imagines insults. Great indignation about the things done by others or by himself, grieves about the consequences. Believes he will lose his fortune, his wife will leave him. Ailments from reserved displeasure. Very sensitive to what others say about her.

Homoeopathy has many more great remedies for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder like Arsenicum Album, Causticum, Calc. Carb, Nitric Acid, Nux Vomica, Pulsatilla, Thuja etc. each for a different set of symptoms & a different causative factor. Do you see now that homoeopathy is far superior to any Western drug because it is tailored to the patient? So, if you are ever depressed, run to your homoeopathic physician with your kind of stress or depression and he will find your remedy for sure.

Precautions while taking Homoeopathic Medicine.

If you are going to take homeopathic treatment then please do consider the following points as guidelines to take homeopathic medicines.

• Do not touch the homoeopathic medicines; do not take on to your palm before taking it, as handling of medicines reduces the potency of the medicines. It also spoils the medicines by exposing it to unhygienic conditions. Always take the medicines by using the cap of the medicine bottle or a plain paper. If you are going to use a paper then see to it that it does not contain any print. As ink can also spoil the medicine.
• The half an hour rule: Do not eat or drink anything half an hour before and after taking the medicines. That means if you wish to take medicine at 12 o'clock then do not consume anything from 11.30 to 12; take the medicine on 12 o' clock and then till 12.30 do not consume anything. The only exception to this rule is water. Drinking water is permissible after or before five minutes of taking the medicines.
• Addictions: Do not smoke, chew tobacco, and drink alcohol while you are taking homoeopathic medicines, as it may have nullifying effects on the medicines.
• Coffee? A debatable topic when it comes to homoeopathy. With recent research studies it has been explained that if you follow: not to have anything half an hour before and after the medicine rule then coffee does no harm even if you are taking homoeopathic medicines BUT for some homoeopathic medicines coffee acts as an antidote; as there are medicines prepared by using coffee in the crude as well as in the roasted form. That is why your homoeopath will be a right person to guide you whether coffee will do or not along with the homoeopathic medicines you are taking.
• Onion, garlic, ginger and other strong smelling substances: Once you are following the half an hour rule then you can eat raw onion, garlic, ginger, and other strong smelling substances along with the homoeopathic medicines.
• Other dietary restrictions: It is not mandatory for homoeopathic treatment to follow certain dietary restrictions exceptionally for homoeopathic medicines. BUT for diseases like bronchial asthma, allergic rhinitis, gout, or the disease which the intensity of which increases after taking a certain food items you need to follow the dietary restrictions for some period till you start responding to the homoeopathic line of treatment. Once you respond curatively to homoeopathic line of treatment there is no need to keep on the dietetic restrictions. That is the actual cure what homoeopathy gives.
• Other medications:
  Allopathic: if you are a blood pressure, diabetes, epilepsy patient and if you are taking certain medicines for longer period of time then it is not advisable to stop the medicines abruptly as you may encounter problems if you do that. Once you start responding positively to homoeopathic treatment, then your homoeopath will advise curtail down of your medicines.

Why Use Homoeopathy?

• Homoeopathy is extremely effective. When the correct remedy is taken, results can be rapid, complete and permanent.
• Homoeopathy is completely safe. Even babies and pregnant women can use Homoeopathy without the danger of side effects.
• Homoeopathic remedies can also be taken alongside other medication without producing unwanted side effects.
• Homoeopathy is natural. Homeopathic remedies are normally based on natural ingredients.
• Homoeopathy works in harmony with your immune system, unlike some conventional medicines that suppress the immune system.
• Homoeopathic remedies are not addictive - once relief is felt, you should stop taking them. If no relief is felt, you are probably taking the wrong homeopathic remedy.
• Homoeopathy is holistic. It treats all the symptoms as one, which in practical terms means that it addresses the cause, not the symptoms. This often means that symptoms tackled with Homeopathy do not recur.