The patient is infected but does not yet know it.APHORISM 5
§ 5
Useful to the physician in assisting him to cure are the particulars of the most probable exciting cause of the acute disease, as also the most significant points in the whole history of the chronic disease, to enable him to discover its fundamental cause, which is generally due to a chronic miasm. In these investigations, the ascertainable physical constitution of the patient (especially when the disease is chronic), his moral and intellectual character, his occupation, mode of living and habits, his social and domestic relations, his age, sexual function, etc., are to be taken into consideration.
COMMENTARY:
An aid to physician in curing sickness is the causes of disease which is different in acute and chronic disease. In acute disease it is exciting cause and where as in chronic disease it is fundamental cause or miasm. Along with fundamental cause (and also most cases of exciting cause) other factors such as his moral and intellectual character, his occupation, mode of living and habits, his social and domestic relations, his age, sexual function, etc., are to be taken into consideration because all these modifying factors are estimated in conducting a proving, in healthy persons also.
An
“exciting cause” is the factor that triggers a person’s sickness in
a healthy individual. The homeopathic literatures like materia medica, repertory
etc is full of “exciting causes”. Understanding exciting cause help us
find the right remedy.
Exciting causes can be physical, mental, or emotional.
Exciting causes can be physical
We can get sick from not taking care of ourselves and getting too cold, hot,
damp,
or wet—just as grandma warns us when we were a child! Lifestyle causes, such as
eating or drinking too much, or not getting enough sleep, can lead to disease.
Vaccination can also cause problems, which can respond well to homeopathic
treatment. All of these physical stressors are indications for certain
homeopathic remedies. War, famine ,inundation etc may also contribute acute
disease. A well-taken case will reveal whether or not there is an exciting
cause that should be considered in the selection of the remedy.
Emotional and mental causes can be crucial in remedy choice as well. We’ll find listings for ailments from excitement, grief, jealousy, anger, and even excessive joy! Too much of anything, even good things, can disrupt the harmony of the vital force and lead to disease.
So it is essential for a homeopath to understand the nature of the exciting causes of acute diseases as well as the underlying fundamental cause of long lasting diseases, which is usually due to the chronic miasms.
Acute diseases are self-limiting disorders which have rapid onsets. They have a prodromal period, a period of progress and a period of decline, if not so severe as to cause the patient's death Measles, scarlet fever, whooping cough, smallpox, etc., are examples of acute miasms.
Lets take the study of infectious disease in modern concept and apply it here
Periods of infectious disease
Infectious disease tends to progress in broadly similar manners, passing through a number of roughly defined periods typically occurring in the following temporal order:
Expression of these periods varies with patient. Note that though this order is typical, it may be circumvented and/or derailed via either:
medical intervention
the occurrence of mortality
as a consequence of an individuals immune response
The patient is infected but does not yet know it.
The length of the period of incubation is dependent
on individual variations of host (individualization) and pathogen
characteristics.
For many pathogens an infected individual can spread
disease to others prior to realizing that they are sick.
Beginning of symptoms: The prodromal period is a short interval in some diseases following the period of incubation. Following are characteristic of this period
It is the beginning of appearance of symptoms
The patient is starting to get sick.
Period of illness [illness phase]
The period of illness, of course, is the time of greatest symptomatic experience (the patient is sick).
The peak of illness intensity is called the acme.
Period of decline [decline phase]
The period of decline occurs as pathogen
replication is brought under control either by host immune response or
through outside intervention.
A subsidence of symptoms is experienced during this
period.
That is, the patient is getting better.
With the period of convalescence the pathogen
replication has been stopped.
This cessation of pathogen replication occurs either by
the killing of all pathogens present.
The body regains its pre-illness strength.
Generally acute disease has following stage as against infectious disease mentioned above they have a
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prodromal period, |
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a period of progress and |
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a period of decline, if
not so severe as to cause the patient's
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Prodromal period |
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Period of progress, |
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no period of decline. Fundamental cause |
Many of these acute diseases are actually acute exacerbations of the chronic
states latent within the constitution that have been brought forth by exciting
factors. The nature of chronic miasmic disease is slow and insidious in its
onset and gradual in its progression. These negative transformations
gradually increase until they bring on complex pathologies that eventually are
the cause of premature old age ,diseases and death. The chronic miasms are
the effects of infections that are not self-limiting. Such infections cause
considerable damage to the immune system, the vital force, and the
constitution. Hahnemann taught that the susceptibility to the exciting factors
lies in the fundamental cause – the chronic miasms.