One of the most difficult topics in homeopathy is the idea of miasms.
Miasma were first described by Samuel Hahnemann in his Book “The Chrnoic Diseases” in 1810. After a period of practice success in treating acute disease, Hahnemann began to find more difficulty in his patients suffering from chronic disease. What had been immediate improvements when treating acute infections became a long and drawn out process with many ups and downs, and many seeming setbacks.
Over time, a pattern to these setbacks was noticed. Hahnemann postulated three deeper chronic patterns of disease, or miasms, that afflicted patients.
The first and most common was named Psora. It was defined as an itching disease and was identified with the vast majority of chronic diseases such as leprosy and cancer. It was normally removed by the body developing an itch disease, such as scabies or psoriasis. The suppression of itches via topical lotions was responsible, in Hahnemanns view, for the vast majority of chronic disease.
The second Miasm was called Sycosis. It was identified with the Figwart disease (not Gonorrhoea as is commonly assumed) a sexually transmitted infection common in Hahnemanns time. In a chronic form it was responsible for a number of symptoms of excessive growth, such as skin groths and tags, as well as a number of urinary issues.
The third miasm was Syphilis. It was identified with the disease we also call syphilis today, and was held to be responsible for a number of symptoms of diseases such as ulcerations, insanity and destructive tissue changes in its chronic form.
Upon identifying which miasm or miasms a patient suffers from, the doctor can administer the appropriate anti-miasmatic remedy. Miasma ultimately are curable conditions, but treating them requires a small amount of knowledge about thier nature. This will be elaborated in my next blog post.
Take care of yourselves!
Sources:
Hahnemann, S. The Chronic Diseases. 1810. Available online at http://books.google.ca/books?id=wxw4AAAAMAAJ&oe=UTF-8&redir_esc=y
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