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of articles, which both stated his position and charted the development of his ideas up to the point in 1810 when the first edition of the Organon was published. Significant among those were:
1792 The Friends of Health Part 1
Part 2 was added in 1795
In both parts the main themes are those of hygiene and diet, drawing perhaps on his expe- riences as a public health official. The other tenet, harking back to his long held belief, was that the main defence against illness was the maintenance of ‘a robust state of health’.
1796 Description of Klockenbring during his insanity
This was a report of a psychiatric case he treat- ed in 1793. Klochenbring was a high-ranking official who had become ‘insane’ due to over- work and stress (probably a mental breakdown in modern terms). In this he advocates a kind approach to mental patients rather than the prevailing brutal methods- “where there is no responsibility there can be no blame”. There is also emphasis of the importance of close observation of patients, not rushing into treat- ment. He observed Klockenbring for two weeks before prescribing anything.
Unfortunately it is not stated what remedy was used successfully, although the likelihood is that it was Stramonium.
1796 Essay on a new principle for ascer- taining the curative power of drugs with a few glances at those hitherto employed. This is the first occasion on which Hahnemann uses the term ‘homeopathy’ in print (but of course at the time he spelled it correctly!) The basic principle of his new method of treatment is clearly set out:
“One should imitate nature, which at times, heals a chronic disease by another additional one. One should apply to the disease to be healed, particularly if chronic, that remedy which is able to stimulate another artificially produced disease, as similar as possible, and the former will be healed-similia similibus-likes with likes”. After providing critical commentary on the existing methods of drug assessment, he advocates only two reliable methods, those of testing the action on healthy people or clinical observation of a drug’s action in disease, and attaching equal importance to each.
1797 Case of rapidly cured Colicodynia Hahnemann considered that the features and lessons of this case of colic were worth publish- ing. The relevant points were:
a) The complete failure of established treat- ment to cure, as the decision to treat for tapeworm (with Felix Mas) was taken on purely theoretical grounds
b) The rapid cure of the condition when the remedy Veratrum Album (at this stage in mate- rial dose) was selected on homeopathic princi- ples
c) The aggravation produced as a result of the patient self-prescribing on the basis of dou- bling the dose to get a greater effect.
1797 Are the obstacles to certainty and simplicity in practical medicine insur- mountable?
The important points here are that:
a) Patients will only comply with the instruc- tions of a doctor in whom they have faith
b) Diet and life style changes can be important,
but the doctor must not be too severe in the changes he orders unless they are really necessary, otherwise the patient will ignore his advice- don’t change diet for the sake of it
c) Different climates and weather do not stop correct medicines working
d) Keep treatments as simple as possible- don’t mix either treatment types or drugs together.
1801 The power of small doses of medicine in general, and of Belladonna in particular Belladonna is quoted only as an example in this article. The essence is that of increasing the effects by putting medicines into solution and the increased sensitivity of the sick to doses of any size, hence the smaller the dose the better
1805 The medicine of experience
This is very much the forerunner and summary of the Organon to come. The theme is explored via the salient points of:
a) Man’s ability to derive from nature the
means of curing disease
b) The importance of basing treatments on the
visible signs of disease, not on some
abstract theory
c) ‘Medicine is the science of experience’.
“The knowledge of disease, the knowledge of remedies and the knowledge of their employ-
ment, constitutes medicine” presages para- graph 3 of the Organon:
a) The importance of accurate case taking and
observation
b) The concept of similar and dissimilar dis-
eases, and how the body can deal only with
one condition at a time
c) There is no difference in the power of a med-
icine whether it is used internally or externally d) Best results are obtained by single means e) Mixtures introduce to the body both similar
and dissimilar artificial diseases, which will
interfere with each other’s actions f) The importance of diet and lifestyle
1808 On the value of the speculative sys- tems of medicine
This article is an indication that the practice of medicine based on theories was still alive and well at this time, much to Hahnemann’s dis- gust. He argues against the idea that everything must be explained theoretically before a treat- ment can be devised, and also stresses that the body is a dynamic entity, not a mere machine.
1809 Observations on the three current methods of treatment
As may be expected, this is severely critical of the current methods. Both ‘Treatment by Name’ and ‘Treatment by Symptoms’ incur Hahnemann’s contempt as standardising dis- ease and treatments under broad headings thereby nullifying any individualisation. ‘Treatment of Cause’ castigates the practice of calling one prominent symptom the disease, and hence regarding the removal of this symp- tom as cure.
During the time of the writing of these arti- cles Hahnemann was forced to move around Germany a great deal, which continued until he settled in Kothen in 1821. Five further editions of the Organon were produced. The 2nd (1819) and 3rd (1824) were essentially enlargements of the detail in the 1st. The 4th (1829) included the new theoretical advance of miasms. The 5th (1833) expanded existing concepts and the 6th (1842) introduced the LM potencies. But the fundamentals of 1810 never changed.
And the rest is history. I
References
Haehl R Samuel Hahnemann; his life and work Hahnemann C F S Lesser writings. Ed Dudgeon R E Handley R A Homeopathic love story
Low B Fifty plants that changed then Course of History Wenda Brewster O’Reilly Organon of the Medicinal Art 6th Ed Concise Oxford English Dictionary 11th Ed
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