Introduction
One who practises the true healing art is thrice blessed, proclaims our master in the preface to the first edition of Organon. I have come a long way in my Homoeopathic journey and with the blessings of God and my teachers and forefathers, I had the will to stay steadfast on the right path through all the days of my healing mission. I had the privilege to bring forth and witness wonderful cures through Classical Homoeopathy which during those days were viewed with awe and adoration. It was never the magic of my hands, but rather it has always been the power of this divine art of healing. Many a disease that was stamped as incurable was cured by Homoeopathy through me. I strongly believe that these wonderful cures are an asset to the world of science in general, and to Homoeopathy in particular. I wish to share different perspectives of Homoeopathy I learned, with every man of science who in their hearts, like our master, has a burning desire to serve the suffering mankind. The secret of all those fascinating cures is the fact that I had chosen to strictly abide by the cardinal principles of this system, whether I was treating a least important acute disease or a pathologically advanced chronic disease.
Some presume that such cures are accidental. But accidents do not happen perpetually. I would urge you to believe that if I could cure, then every true Homoeopath can, provided he applies the original principles of Homoeopathy in every curable case. I know a few Homoeopaths who could achieve ideal cures through Homoeopathy. The credit definitely goes to the cardinal laws and principles of Homoeopathy. But rarely have there been any sincere efforts to do research and verify these cures with the science as taught by Dr.Hahnemann. Science without research is dead. It is about 250 years since Dr.Hahnemann revealed to us the secret of healing for which he alone holds the credit of scientific discovery and analysis. It's high time we march forward preparing ourselves and taking Homoeopathy to greater heights, when science is moving towards subjects such as Higgs boson, the subatomic energised particles, nano-science and technology, and start upholding the holistic approach of human body.
With great regret and disappointment I view the present status of Homoeopathy. Homoeopathy once enjoyed ideological existence, but the present scenario is institutional existence. And I have great apprehension about the future of Homoeopathy. Homoeopathy is based upon universal truths and when it is corrupted, depriving its true identity and spirit, deterioration sets in.
Homoeopathy would definitely scale new heights if at least a few are strong in their convictions and have the will and determination to challenge all non-homoeopathic aberrations. Centuries ago, our stalwarts could achieve wonderful cures with only a few medicines and potencies in their medicine chest. Just imagine how much more should we be able to do today with all the diverse range of medicines and potencies? Those who have not understood the true essence of Homoeopathy and have an inherent nature to take an easier path have brought the greatest discredit to this divine healing art by practising polypharmacy.
This is one of the biggest stumbling blocks in the progress and development of Homoeopathy. Little do they realise that by taking this deviant path they are denying the public the true benefits of Homoeopathy. Our master would never pardon such acts.
Dr. Hahnemann willingly shared each fact he discovered, in detail, and did not hold back any secrets which would help mankind alleviate its sufferings. Dr. Hahnemann has even mentioned the quantity of medicine that should be administered as a dose in Organon of Medicine and in 'The Chronic Diseases'. I would like my readers to ask themselves what Dr. Hahnemann meant by a dose. In the chapter 'Psora' of his great work 'The Chronic Diseases', Dr. Hahnemann explains that the first mistake out of the three a practitioner can commit is “to consider as too small the doses which I have reduced after manifold trials”. He further adds “nothing is lost if the dose is given even smaller than I have prescribed…” The quantity of medicines with which I made every cure was always the minimum, as taught by Dr. Hahnemann.
We read in our literature that the dynamic derangement starts first in the centre of man, i.e. in the will, emotion and understanding. So we understand that the pathology starts somewhere in the invisible interior before it proceeds to the visible material body. For every emotion, even for a trivial thought, diverse chemical changes occur in our body. Our body actually responds to every thought either in a positive or negative way. Advanced research has amply confirmed this and started to view each human body as a distinct embodiment. The French proverb, “There are no diseases, but only sick people”, explains the homoeopathic holistic approach.
Here, I would like to quote Plato’s profound remark in the Phaedrus, first uttered some 2,400 years ago, “For this is the great error of our day in the treatment of the human body, that physicians separate the soul from the body.” I can give numerous examples from my experience to prove the above. In this book I have mentioned a few such cases to illustrate this, like the case of a baby who totally refused to feed on its mother's milk who was emotionally disturbed; another case of infertility after an intense emotional trauma; and a case of chronic asthma in a lady who was harassed by her in-laws, among others.
When you go through these cases you will see that many scientific minds tried to figure out the cause behind these illnesses. But they miserably failed to find one, nor could they provide any relief. No instrument could detect the derangement that basically occurred on the vital plane. Through classical homoeopathic treatment I could cure numerous cases where the most modern treatment and the costliest medicines could not afford relief. I have successfully treated acute abdominal conditions, cancers, tumours, fibroids, osteomyelitis, fistulas, congenital defects, heart problems, blindness, deafness, Rh incompatibility, paralysis of different types, diabetes, hypertension, migraine, arthritis, insomnia, infertility and the list goes on and on. These names are not significant to a Classical Homoeopath, but I want you to understand the scope of Homoeopathy. We can cure every curable case whose symptomatic likeness has been recorded under a drug during its proving.
Kent points out that the physiology we learn today is not the actual physiology. Today, with the advancement in research and technology in every field of science, new and more convincing views have replaced the old ones. But the science of Homoeopathy has stood the test of time, unscathed. There has always been a lot of hue and cry over the scientificity of Homoeopathy, especially about the potentized medicines and their action on the human body. Before long, science will definitely catch up with the research conclusions that Homoeopathy had proclaimed years ago. I would like to conclude with a clarion call to all the fellow homoeopaths to uphold the cardinal principles of Homoeopathy and put this unique medical science on a high pedestal.
Thiruvananthapuram (Dr. K.J. Isaac)
5th January, 2017 D.M.S, M.B.S (Hom)
Organon of Medicine by Dr. Samuel Hahnemann - First Edition Published in 1810
Chapter 1
Classical Homoeopathy
When I was asked to pen my wonderful homoeopathic experiences into a book by my students, I had my own doubts and reservations because of the proliferation of polypharmacy in the homoeopathic world today. But the moment I decided to do it I was determined to include the words “Classical Homoeopathy” in the title of the book. 'Classical' means conventional or following the original or traditional standard. What Dr. Hahnemann has professed is the 'original' and in Classical Homoeopathy we are supposed to tread that path without any deviation, whatsoever.
Let me begin with a question. Have you ever come across a real homoeopathic cure personally or otherwise? A real homoeopathic cure will unmistakably follow the Hering's law of cure. If you are a homoeopathic practitioner you might have encountered it a few times. So, was the prescription Classical or was it in some other mixopathic form? Don't falter, be true to yourself. Being a homoeopath you would know that ours is a science based on pure scientific laws. A law holds true only if the conditions in which it is applied are true. This means that if you add or subtract any part of its constituents, it need not bring the desired result. Hence where the fundamental principles of Homoeopathy are disrupted the result cannot be a real homoeopathic cure. In a real homoeopathic cure, the prescription definitely would be a classical one. Long ago when I first saw a real homoeopathic cure for myself, I decided to take more interest in this amazing science.
Classical Homoeopathy simply means Hahnemannian Homoeopathy. It is a method of treatment incorporating all the principles laid down by Dr. Hahnemann, especially the three cardinal principles of Homoeopathy. Natural diseases are cured, through this system, by administering a proved drug selected on the basis of symptom similarity. Dr. James Tyler Kent in his 'Lesser Writings' says – “the homeopathic physician is one who prescribes the single remedy in the minimum dose in potentised form, selected according to the law of similars”. Single remedy is a medicinal substance taken as a single unit, irrespective of its ingredients, for proving and treating. One can get all the guidelines to practice Classical Homoeopathy by mastering two vital books of Dr. Hahnemann – 'Organon of Medicine' and 'The Chronic Diseases – Their Peculiar Nature and Their Homoeopathic Cure'. The latter incorporates the life experiences of Dr. Hahnemann and throws light on the burning zeal in his heart for alleviating human sufferings. The book explains ‘the theory of chronic diseases’, Dr. Hahnemann's last gift to the profession and the suffering humanity.
We all have a tendency to make short cuts and find easier ways for everything that we come across in life. History has it that at one time Homoeopathy flourished in the US during the late 1800s. If you are not familiar with this part of our history you should do a little bit of research on the history of Homoeopathy in the West. Everything was destroyed because of the slackness of the members of the homoeopathic fraternity, there, at that time. They tried to make Homoeopathy easier for the half-homoeopaths who were allopathic converts. Gradually these material-minded men made their way into the sanctums of homoeopathic organizations and completely destroyed whatever was left. All that remained as monuments of testimony were the pukka buildings which were once functioning as thriving homoeopathic hospitals. There were a number of general hospitals, women's hospitals, children's hospitals, mental asylums and orphanages which administered pure homoeopathic treatment. Can you imagine an over 1,000- bedded functioning Homoeopathic hospital anywhere in this world today? Let us remind ourselves of this tragic story of the downfall of Homoeopathy in the US and our students should take heed to this, lest the same fate will fall on us here as well.
What is the need for a classical method when there are other effortless ways to get the same results? The answer is simple - the results are never the same. They are either palliations or suppressions but never a real homoeopathic cure. All the cured cases that you can find in this book are the results of prescriptions made in strict conformity with the basic principles of Homoeopathy. Had I been lax with any of these, the results would have been different.
I have seen a number of homoeopathic practitioners following the first law ardently, but they fail to stick to the other two equally important laws while they dispense to their patients. Some are good enough to select the correct similimum, but due to lack of confidence in themselves and the system they tend to add a few partially similar drugs along with the main drug before the patient leaves their desk. Some even go to the extent of prescribing separate medicines for the different problems of the patient, like one for migraine, one for stomach, one for joints and so on. Such prescriptions compete with our allopathic counterparts. Some Practitioners, are wise enough to give a single remedy, but repeat it so often that it makes the poor patient a miserable prover. And some others, who are wiser still, give a single medicine but pour drops of dilution directly into the patient's mouth, scalding his tongue. Here they fail to understand the importance of minimum dose. I have heard many doctors comment on the concept of dose. They claim that dose is just the quantity of medicine given at a time and that there are no hard and fast rules for the same. It can range anything from medicated pills to drop doses. But if ours is a science and especially when our medicines dwell in the realm of energies, shouldn't there be a standard way to hit the target?
Dr. Hahnemann constantly stressed on the need to keep the dose minimum for he knew our way of thinking. He asks every homoeopath to cease to reason with a materialistic mind. When you want to enter a house, you gently knock at the door, just strong enough for the one inside to hear you. You don't bang at the door shaking the house to its foundation. Do you know what Dr. Hahnemann has written about the 'minimum dose' in Homoeopathy? It is defined as the smallest quantity of potentised medicine which is sufficient to evoke a reaction in a patient when administered to cure, palliate or prevent a disease. Dr. Hahnemann had painstakingly developed a process of preparation of medicines, peculiar to Homoeopathy, called 'Potentization', by which the indwelling forces or inherent powers of crude substances are highly enhanced to a prodigious degree. This process helped to reduce tremendously the material dose of medicines.
Witnessing the sufferings of mankind, resulting from the crude methods of treatment and large doses of medicines, Dr. Hahnemann was bent on reducing the dose of medicines to its optimum level. His efforts to this end resulted in the process of Potentization, various methods of administering medicines, plussing method to reduce the dose further in hyper sensitive patients and so on. It stretched further to the extent of effecting cure via medicines administered through olfaction in patients with various hypersensitivities (see footnote to §288). In the preface to the third volume of 'The Chronic Diseases' he explains a method of rubbing diluted medicine on to the skin of a patient (useful in comatose patients). To reduce the aggravation following drop doses, Dr. Hahnemann coined the concept of using sugar pills of standardised sizes and saccharum lactose as media of administering medicines.
In the footnote of § 285, Dr. Hahnemann even gives detailed instructions about the pellet size, proper method of medicating pills, administering medicines etc. He states that one poppy seed sized sugar globule imbibed with medicine (300th part of a drop of it) and put into a dispensing vehicle constitute a medicinal dose. And in case of a very sensitive patient, Dr. Hahnemann instructs that one single olfaction of a medicated pill put in a vial is sufficient. In the last chapter - 'The Medicines', of his book 'The Chronic Diseases', Dr. Hahnemann elaborates that about 200 such poppy seed sized pills weigh a grain. He defines homoeopathic dose to such accuracy. Dr. Hahnemann was a scientific genius, and he reached the concept of infinitesimal dose after many years of laborious research. He refined this science through research and discarded many initial findings when he recognized them as crude and gross. But many among us try to run backwards instead of marching forward by overtly depending on crude tinctures in treatment. If Dr. Hahnemann were alive today he would have further researched with the potencies and not with the tinctures. And I think we would look like fools before him whose wisdom has stood the test of time. Dr. Hahnemann's answer to our anxiety regarding minute doses given in his book 'The Chronic Diseases' is that 'it requires quite an effort to believe that such a prodigiously small dose could effect cure, even in complex cases.’
The success of a treatment hugely depends on the timely repetitions. The patient's feedback, close observations, correct inferences and sufficient patience on the part of the physician will help to avoid undue repetitions. For repetition, we must be guided by the nature of the medicinal substances, the corporeal constitution of the patient, the type and magnitude of the disease and so on. The golden rule is “so long as there is amelioration, never repeat”. During subsequent visits, a physician should analyse each case by going through all the symptoms enumerated in his notes one by one to find out if the patient complains of any new symptoms or worsening of the old symptoms. If there is none and there is improvement in the disposition and the mind, the prescribed medicine is acting positively and should be allowed to continue its action. Today there are only very few homoeopaths
who wait and observe the case in this manner after giving a dose of medicine. At this juncture, I remember my guru, Dr. B.K. Bose who once waited for six days after giving a dose of Calc phos 200 in a case of Typhoid. But during his long experience, Dr. Hahnemann noticed that there was some underlying cause due to which the patients treated on the basis of law of similars had recurrence of health issues after some time. After years of meticulous research he came to the conclusion that the obstacle in the permanent cure of chronic diseases was 'Chronic Miasms'. This led him to postulate the 'Theory of Chronic Diseases'. A Classical Homoeopath should be well versed with this theory and all the principles laid down in the Organon of Medicine for successfully treating chronic diseases.
Now if Homoeopathy is true and if Dr. Hahnemann could do wonders by following the principles, shouldn't we also be able to do the same? Well, my experience testifies that we also can. Contrary to the popular criticism worldwide, I assure you, ours is undoubtedly a scientific system. The common man has become more vigilant and cognizant of health. Apart from a few who still are after 'showy treatment', the majority has turned their heads toward real holistic treatment methods that will give them lasting cures.
The basic defect preventing the progress of the system lies in the pedagogy as described by late Dr. J.N. Kanjilal in his book – 'Writings on Homoeopathic Education'. In the book he has detailed every defect that prevails in the Homoeopathic education system. I strongly recommend that this book should be included in the PG syllabus and also the directions given in this book should be followed a standard guideline by the authorities chairing the Homoeopathic education system. He talks about all the discrepancies that exist in this system in general and suggests methods to rectify them. He explains: (a) how the lack of knowledge and understanding of the principles and lack of faith in this system of healing have crippled its followers over the years, (b) how the teachers in the institutions fail to demonstrate to the future torch bearers the vital importance of proper case taking, analysis, single remedy, minimum dose and non-interference with the manifest curative action, before they leave the institutions of training (c) how to formulate a proper curriculum, the correct method of teaching students and about the books that will help them get acquainted with this science in the proper manner and (d) what the students should be taught first, and in which order, starting from the concept of man as a whole, Organon of Medicine, Materia Medica along with Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry, Pathology, Practice of Medicine, Obstetrics, Surgery, among others, and finally Analysis and Repertorising, Homoeopathic Diagnosis(miasmatic) and ending with the Remedy Selection. However, care should be taken to ensure that the focus on the principles is not lost, from the beginning to the end.
Finally when the students leave their alma mater they should be bubbling with confidence and pride for being part of this divine system. This will happen only if they see in the clinics what they are taught in the classes. What they are taught through the clinics will stay with them forever even if they tend to drift away from the teachings they received in the classes. If we compromise and liberalize the required standards of this education system, it will eventually jeopardise the future of this science.
I wish to share my anxiety with you my professional brethren, that if we don't untie the knots before the day ends we might not get a second chance to set things right. Let me conclude by quoting what our master had written as preface to the first edition of 'Organon of Medicine' “I must warn the reader that indolence, love of ease and obstinacy preclude effective service at the altar of truth, and only freedom from prejudice and untiring zeal qualify for the most sacred of all human occupations, the practice of the true system of medicine. The physician who enters on his work in this spirit becomes directly assimilated to the Divine Creator of the world, whose human creatures he helps to preserve, and whose approval renders him thrice blessed.”
x x x
Definition of Homoeopathy as given by Dr. W.E.Boyd, MD., M.A., M. Brit., I.R.E “Homoeopathy is a therapeutic method which assumes that a deviation from the fundamental mean within reversible limits can be restored to normal by means of stimuli, usually applied in the form of drugs, only subphysiological doses of which are necessary because of hypersensitivity in disease and whose action is always directed toward normal by virtue of altered receptivity of tissue to stimuli in disease.”
Chapter 2
A Trip Down Memory Lane
In India during the early 1950s, there were very few regular medical courses in Homoeopathy. The Calcutta Homoeopathic Medical College was the first Homoeopathic College in India, being established in 1881. At the time of India's independence, the scope for Homoeopathy in Kerala was minimal, and there were no recognized colleges in the state. In a recently independent India we faced a severe shortage of doctors on hand. The positive impact of homoeopathic medicines during the second cholera pandemic (1829–1851) was a turning point for the system, as many allopathic doctors got converted to Homoeopathy. Henceforth, there were two groups of Homoeopaths – followers of Hahnemannian Homoeopathy (Classical Homoeopathy) and doctors practising polypharmacy, mostly half converted allopaths.
Today, the awareness about Homoeopathy among laymen in the treatment of various complex clinical conditions, including pathologically advanced cancer, is increasing in India. But unfortunately, the term ‘Classical Homoeopathy’, for many, has stooped down to merely a phrase to draw people's attention. Irrespective of all the advancements, we should never deviate from the basic philosophy of Homoeopathy. Practitioners prescribing multiple drugs and new patent medicines manufactured by Homoeopathic pharmaceuticals are in fact functioning totally against the fundamental principles of Homoeopathy. It is high time we sit up and take corrective measures without fail.
Tryst with Homoeopathy
Traditionally my family had strong faith in the homoeopathic method of treatment. It all started with the curing of a troublesome hiccough of my great grandmother by a homoeopath, just by giving one dose of a medicine. Although she was treated by many doctors of other streams of medicine, there was no relief and she had difficulty in taking food and drinks for many days. My grandfather was amazed by this rapid cure with such a small dose of medicine. He expressed his eagerness to study Homoeopathy and the doctor gave him a small book on Homoeopathic Materia Medica and a medicine chest. He started practising Homoeopathy after an in-depth study of the system. This passion of my grandfather was transmitted to my father. Subsequently, the torch of Homoeopathy was handed over to the later generations of which I was the first to acquire formal education from a renowned homoeopathic medical college in Calcutta. My son, Dr. Jose Isaac followed my footsteps and one of my grandsons, Dr. Isaac Jose is also a well-qualified homoeopath.
When I expressed my desire to study Homoeopathy from Calcutta Homoeopathic Medical College to my father, he was quite apprehensive in sending me to a far off place in Eastern India. I am grateful to my father for fulfilling my wish and giving me an opportunity to learn Homoeopathy from a reputed institute. This was a decisive turning point in my life and from here I started my journey towards ‘Classical Homoeopathy’.
Prized moments from alma mater
From my hometown, it was a long and arduous three-day train journey to Calcutta. At the Calcutta Homoeopathic Medical College, the strength of our batch was about 70, out of which 42 were from Kerala! Most of students us went to study Homoeopathy there because at least one of our family members was a homoeopathic practitioner. We formed a Kerala Homoeopathic Students Association, a vibrant group in our college.
Homoeopathic colleges in the 1950s generally offered part-time courses and the Calcutta Homoeopathic Medical College was the only one that offered a Diploma in Medicine and Surgery (D.M.S), a regular four-year course with six months internship. The curriculum included Anatomy with separate classes for dissection, Physiology and all the other allied medical subjects. One major roadblock we faced was that most of the homoeopathic books were out of print in India.
Among the community, the college had a good reputation. With fully fledged 120 bedded IP department and regular classes for each subject, Classical Homoeopathy was strictly followed inside the college both in theory and practice. During the early days of independence, India went through severe poverty and a vast majority of OPD cases were of gastrointestinal problems. All the doctors gave only single medicine in minimum dose to each and every patient and asked them to come after one or two weeks. They were not given blank tablets or placebo pills! The patients had strong faith in the minute doses of medicines and strictly followed the directions given to them.
Dr. Mahendra Singh was one of my closest friends in college. A true leader in every sense, he worked for the welfare and upliftment of Homoeopathy even from our college days. Just three months before his demise, he came to my house with his son and we had dinner together. I never thought that it was our last meeting. He was a father figure to my son, Dr. Jose Isaac who was acquainted with him through the Central Council of Homoeopathy, Delhi.
Among my batch mates, Dr. Saha, who hailed from Bengal, was the topper of our batch and later on became a professor in Calcutta Homoeopathic Medical College.
Two of my classmates Dr. P.K. Esso and Dr. K.Z. George became Directors in the Department of Homoeopathy. Dr. Esso was my best friend, who hailed from Punaloor in Kerala. A few other classmates I remember include Dr. Burman who was also a singer; Dr. Susi Alexander and her brother from Perunthalmanna, Kerala whose father was a well-known Homoeopath. I also fondly remember Dr. Appukkuttan, Dr. Sebastin and Dr. K.S. Prakasam who studied in D.N.De Homoeopathic Medical College.
Gurus par excellence
The illustrious teachers of the Calcutta Homoeopathic Medical College instilled the spirit of Homoeopathy and loads of confidence in me. During my four-year course there, I was inspired by the passion and knowledge of teachers such as Dr. B.K. Bose, Dr. R.G. Ghoshal and Dr. G.N. Sinha. Dr. B.K. Bose in particular was the backbone of the college, who spent all his family wealth for the growth of Homoeopathy and the College. These brilliant teachers who had post graduate degrees in medicine were tutored by some of the stalwarts in Homoeopathy like Dr. J.T. Kent.
The other distinguished teachers who taught me were: Dr. B.N. Chakravarthy, an expert in Materia Medica, whose eloquent lectures on medicines echoed Farrington's lectures on comparison of medicines; Dr. B.K. Sarkar, who was also the principal of D.N.De Homoeopathic Medical College, gave us a deep insight into the philosophy of Organon; Dr. R.G. Ghoshal taught Practice of Medicine, with an onus on the Homoeopathic perspective of diseases; Dr. J.N. Sarkar was our Gynaecology expert, who treated many infertility cases successfully; Dr. P.C. Paul lectured on Materia Medica, while Dr. H.P. Saha was our pharmacy lecturer. Dr. Kanjilal authored “Writings on Homoeopathic Education”, published in 1982 in which he strongly recommends teaching Classical Homoeopathy in colleges.
Dr. B.K. Bose – My Inspiration
I consider myself honoured to be a student of a great Homoeopath and teacher, Dr. B.K.Bose, who gave me deep insight into the homoeopathic style of Kent. His l i f e long commitment and his missionary zeal for Homoeopathy influenced me a lot. He was my role model.
Dr. Bose took his M.D.D.O degree from Kansas City University. While studying there, he got acquainted with the forefather of Modern Homoeopathy, Dr. James Tyler Kent, and became his student.
Dr. Bose possessed a unique personality; being very fastidious, punctual and scheduled, with a booming voice to match. Though he belonged to a rich family he always preferred to travel in a tram, even at the ripe age of 80s. He attended every OP, without fail, reaching exactly at 8 am. Whenever a student asked any doubt, he used to reply in a loud voice “Go and read”. These words echo in my ears even today. In those days there was scarcity of printed books, but my guru was magnanimous to lend me his books.
Dr. Bose disliked allopathic system. Dr. B.C. Roy was an eminent allopathic doctor of those days. The personal physician of the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, he was known as the best diagnostician in India. Even then, Dr. Bose used to challenge Dr. Roy and cure the cases which were not relieved under his treatment. But neither of them held any grudges against each other and maintained the medical ethics to the highest degree.
Once a student's brother, afflicted with Typhoid fever, was brought to Dr. Bose. Despite being treated in an allopathic hospital, his condition deteriorated and he became unconscious. When his parents brought him, Dr. Bose listened to their story, and observed the boy for some time who was lying motionless. He prescribed one dose of Calc phos 200 and went off. He patiently waited for six days without interfering. Each day during the IP rounds, he would keenly observe the boy, who showed no signs of movement. When we tried to suggest another medicine, he would answer in his booming voice “wait”. Six days later, his condition began to improve and before long he got cured. Truly, this was the most inspiring cure that I saw as a student.
Two years before his demise, I visited my Guru and walked him through my career as a practitioner and a teacher. I was contended to see my Guru, who was 80 years old at that time, ecstatic, with his face glowing with happiness.
Homoeopathy makes great strides
The undergraduate and post graduate courses in Homoeopathy were turning points in institutional development which helped to upgrade and standardise the homoeopathic medical system. Post independence, Mahatma Gandhi's view (page 236) on Homoeopathy as a people-centric and economic medical system has immensely influenced the formation of AYUSH. Support from the Government and the formation of the Department of AYUSH contributed greatly to the advancement of alternative medicines in the State of Kerala.
After getting D.M.S from Calcutta, I started my career as a lecturer in Dr. Padiyar's Royal College of Homoeopathy in Kochi. In 1960, five of us from the Calcutta Homoeopathic Medical College were appointed as Medical Officers in five dispensaries started by Government of Kerala. Together we laid the foundation for Homoeopathy in Kerala.
In 1975, the Health Minister of the state, Sri. N.K. Balakrishnan and a MLA from Trivandrum, Sri. G. Kuttappan, were under my treatment and I was able to convince them and the authorities of the Government of Kerala about the necessity of starting a Homoeopathic medical college in the Government sector. As a result, Government Homoeopathic Medical Colleges in Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram were sanctioned. I was the founder Principal of the Government Homoeopathic Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram, an institution now spread across 11 acres of land with a built-in area of 100,000 square feet. It was a 100-bedded hospital and an average of 500 patients thronged the OPD every day.
When the Government of Kerala established separate departments for Homoeopathic colleges & hospitals, I was appointed as the first head of the department for Colleges (Principal & Controlling Officer) in the state.
Kerala now occupies the foremost place in the development of Homoeopathy in India. Until recently Kerala was the only state having independent medical departments in the colleges as well as separate wards in the hospitals like male, female, paediatric, cancer care etc. There are five colleges in Kerala - two government
colleges and three government aided colleges. Each government college has 50 undergraduate seats and 18 postgraduate seats specializing in three homoeopathic subjects. Today, the Homoeopathy Department, under Health and Family Welfare, Government of Kerala is rendering health care through 611 dispensaries, 13 district hospitals and 17 taluk hospitals. 325 Homoeopathic dispensaries were started till 2010 under National Rural Health Mission Scheme in the state and 29 SCP (Special Component Plan) dispensaries in scheduled caste and tribal areas.
Speciality clinics and other projects in Kerala
- Mother and child care centre - Kannur District Homoeopathic Hospital, Sangeetam for treatment of female infertility.
- Endocrine disorders- Idukki Homoeopathic Hospital, Muttom.
- Mobile health centre for endosulphan victims at Kasargode
- Geriatric care centre, Alappuzha District Homoeopathic Hospital.
- Sadgamaya project: Adolescent health care and behavioral management programme, to help adolescents.
- Seethalayam project: To take care of women’s mental, physical and social health.
- Ayushman Bhava project: AYUSH holistic centres for prevention and management of lifestyle diseases.
- RAECH: Project of Rapid Action Epidemic Control cell Homoeopathy- epidemic control measures are being initiated under the supervision of RAECH by distributing preventive medicines, conducting medical camps, health awareness programmes and seminars throughout the state wherever epidemics break out.
As stated by Dr. Garth Boericke in his book “A Compend of the Principles of Homoeopathy”, Dr. Hahnemann was a saint who saw a world without pain and suffering. He further adds that Dr. Hahnemann stood for “the untrammelled practice of Homoeopathy at the bedside of the sick, for its recognition and application by the State, for the free dispensing of medicine, for an independent professor's chair in all the universities, for the establishment of dispensaries and hospitals, or at least wards in hospitals, for the appointment of homoeopathic physicians to posts of honour and emolument, if otherwise capable.”
Dr. Hahnemann was a Visionary, who visualised a future where Homoeopathy would be held as the most accepted system of treatment, reaching a level at par with every other branches of medicine and standing second to none in the field of medical research.
I am overwhelmed to watch the growth of Homoeopathy in the length and breadth of the state of Kerala with scores of homoeopathic hospitals, presence of dispensaries in almost every panchayat that dispense free medicines and numerous on going state sponsored research projects. Yet, we have a long way to go to achieve Dr. Hahnemann's vision.
(Photo) The inscription on Dr. Hahnemann’s monument at Pere La Chaise in Paris -
“Standing between the inorganic And the organic World
Uniting them for benefit of the sick; Earning their gratitude, Looking towards eternity
Samuel Hahnemann, Benefactor of mankind”