Susceptibility and Miasmic Influences
Dr Samuel Hahnemann introduced the idea of miasms into his homoeopathic medical system. He had achieved good successes with his remedies but reached a plateau, a point beyond which patients relapsed or their sickness re-appeared in a similar or different guise. This obstacle resulted in his theory and practice of miasmatic treatment. He postulated that there was something in the inheritance of a person that pre-disposed them to certain types of ailments. He named three - Psora, Sycosis and Syphilitis - the inflammatory, the proliferative and the destructive.
Later others were added by his followers, including the Tubercular and the Carcinogenic. Accordingly to their symptoms each remedy is attributed to one or more of the miasms. Sulphur is the number one psoric remedy, Thuja is the number one Sycotic remedy and Mercury is the number one Syphilitic remedy. Besides this, each miasm has its own nosode remedy manufactured from the disease product and attentuated in the manner of homoeopathic pharmacy. The three original nosodes are Psorinum, Medorrhinum and Syphillinum, shortly followed by Carcinocin and Tuberculinum. proceeding along these lines, each dis-ease syndrome has a nosode; ie Pertussin to whooping cough; variolinum to smallpox etc.
Nosodes are prescribed by proffessional homoeopaths for deep-seated, chronic conditions that fail to yield or relapse under well-chosen constitutional remedies. They are also prescribed sometimes on the basis that a patient has not been well since a particular dis-ease episode that has altered their vitality and susceptibility.
Susceptibility is a keynote of homoeopathy and one of its intriguing charms. What is susceptibility? It is like a resonance between a patient and a substance or the flavour of a substance. The stronger the susceptibilty the more the reaction to the less of the substance and the greater the match. Mild susceptibilities to many substances exist in many people. Therefore a majority of people are mildly affected by many substances and their flavours. But a strong match, a strong resonance is more specialised and its affects deeper and longer lasting.
