Autoimmune Illness

A Case of Autoimmune Illness - SLE

A woman we’ll call Gail first came to see me about 8 months ago after being diagnosed with Lupus. Apparently, it had been coming on over the last year. Normally a high energy ‘doer’, she had been extremely fatigued, feeling like she ‘weighed 400 pounds’. Then a few weeks before our visit, around the time of a stressful holiday, she woke one morning with excruciating pain throughout her body. It was, she explained, as if her soft tissue was ‘singing’.

‘Lupus’ is short for ‘lupus erythematosus’, which is not a single disease entity, but actually a number of autoimmune diseases that attack various parts of the body. The name is a Latin term dating back to the 13th century referring to the red skin lesions that at the time where thought to look like the bite of a wolf.1

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Inflammation

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Homeopathy anti-inflammatory remedies provide perhaps the most sophisticated and specific form of inflammation treatment. Homeopathic anti inflammation medicine such as the nightshade Belladonna, Apis mellifica derived from the honeybee and Arnica Montana, a member of the sunflower family, are all widely used as homeopathic treatments for inflammation in the body.

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Focal Infections

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FOCAL INFECTIONS Back in the early 80’s when I was living in Japan there was a renowned acupuncturist who made quite a name for himself with his flamboyant manner and outspoken views. A medical doctor originally, he had a knack for the publicity and often challenged conventional western medical ideas.

I remember watching a TV show once where he was exchanging views with a western physician. In response to the suggestion that acupuncture was unsafe because the possibility of infecting the patient with unclean needles, instead of reassuringly stating that he was careful to use sterile needles and disinfect the skin at the insertion point - like acupuncturists are trained to do and how any other acupuncturist might have answered - he took out a needle from his breast pocket, licked it, rubbed it against the bottom of his foot, then stuck it in his arm while exclaiming, “That is what I think of all your germs!”

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Diathesis

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You don’t hear the word “diathesis” much these days. Diathesis in homeopathy remains important however. Derived from the Greek word ‘diatithenai’, meaning ‘disposition’ or ‘condition’, it is used to describe an innate tendency to become ill in a certain way. The dictionary defines it as, “A hereditary predisposition of the body to a disease, a group of diseases, an allergy, or another disorder.”

All sorts of diathesis are found in medical literature: scrofulous diathesis (glandular swelling), strumous diathesis (thyroid swelling), uric acid diathesis, tubercular diathesis, rheumatic diathesis, hemorrhagic diathesis, sthenic diathesis (excessive inflammation or reaction), scorbutic diathesis (scurvy), lithic acid diathesis (kidney stones) … to name just a few.

Another similar term, especially favored by homeopaths, is ‘constitution’. And it would be reasonable to ask what is the difference is between the two. Generally, they can be thought of almost as parallel to each other: the ‘constitution’ referring to a characteristic way of being in the world and the diathesis a characteristic way of becoming ill.

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Arthritis

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Perhaps more than any other problem, I am frequently asked about arthritis. “Is there anything you can do to help me with my arthritis?” “Is arthritis curable?” “Is arthritis related to diet?” “I’ve been told that arthritis is normal when you get to be my age, is that so?” An incredibly common disorder, it is found in people of all ages, varying both in type and severity. It is also one of many chronic disorders for which conventional drug therapy holds few answers beyond temporary alleviation of symptoms.

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