The doctrine of Miasm-a Quest

In search of answers on Hahnemannian doctrine of Miasms iam including the responses from two prominent Homoeopathic teachers.Iam grateful for their valuable reply.

Response from David Little.David Little renowed teacher and expert in Homeopathic education.Has been a student of Homœopathy since the early 1970s.He started HOE, Homeopathic Online Education in 1999. For the last seven years, HOE has provided an in depth homoeopathic course to students all around the globe.

Thu, 05 Oct 2006
Dear Dr. Rajiv,
Hahnemann's miasms are the inherited and acquired affects of unresolved infections.These are collective diseases of common cause and similar symptoms that affect homogeneous groups. For this reason, he taught that there are acute, half-acute and chronic miasms. Acute miasms are quick acting self limiting acute infections such as measles, mumps, smallpox, etc. They reach their crisis quickly and end in either recovery, or partial recovery based on damage or death. Half-acute miasms are also self limiting and reach their crisis over a longer period of time than the acute diseases. Hahnemann's example of such a disease was rabies or the lyssin miasma. Chronic miasms are life long infections that are not self limiting by nature. This includes endemic diseases like malaria and universal diseases like syphilis. The endemic diseases are based on zoological and environmental hosts so they are limited in range. The universal miasms are spread human to human, and for this reason they are global in nature. This states lead to a great number of recorded and unrecorded auto-immune and immuno-deficiency disorders that produce a number of degenerative chronic diseases. This study makes Hahnemann the founder of modern epidemiology. Hahnemann introduced psora (skin infections caused by mites, bacteria, fungi and viruses), sycosis (HPV and gonococci), and syphilis (spirochetes). The chronic miasms also include tuberculosis,chronic hepatitis, HIV-AIDS, etc. The unresolved affects of these chronic miasms are passed on to then next generation. In some cases like syphilis and HIV-AIDS the infections may be congenital. In other cases the affects are passed on dynamically and produce states which are similar to the original infection in the ancestor. For example, children born of tubercular parents often manifest TB-like system such as difficulty gaining weight, fevers, coughs, swollen glands, free flowing pus infections, etc., as well as a heightened susceptibility to acquiring TB infections. All of the chronic miasms are marked with primary, latent and secondary stages that progress to chronic degenerative states that are considered very hard or impossible to cure by orthodox medicine. There are many more "metaphysical explanations" of what the miasms are but I have chosen to present the "clinical view" introduced by Hahnemann, Hering and Boenninghausen. This is because I find this view the most practical in actually treating infectious diseases and their sequels in patients suffering from these serious states. Acute infections are still carrying away far too many persons, rabies is still all too prevent, serious skin infections are rampant, venereal diseases are at epidemic levels, and TB and malaria is still killing 1,000, 000s. Once we understand this clinical view of these miasms then we can look deeper into the underlying states such as constitution, temperament, predispositions, susceptibility, infection, suppression, mutation, degenerative states and study the deeper proximate cause, which lay in individual and collective moral, mental and physical causes and the stresses of rapid civilization. It is important to study the symptoms of the chronic miasms so that one become familiar with their characteristics. This aids one in understanding the nature of the disease state and its potential progressions and helps one to organize the symptoms in homogeneous groups. This helps one to understand where the case is going and what symptoms are likely to develop as the symptoms reverse according to Hering's law, etc. At the same time it is important to get a sense of the miasmic characteristics so that one can observe them in the remedies of the materia medica. This is much better then relying on the lists of anti-miasmic remedies found in various works. This method can be applied to miasms that have been recorded after Hahnemann's times such as chronic hepatitis, HIV/AIDS, etc. The method can also be used on endemic miasms such as malaria, etc. Them method for this study is the group anamnesis based on a number of individuals suffering from the same miasma. This leads to a homogeneous group of remedies that then can be tested in the clinic. Although the miasmic characteristics may not always lead directly to a remedy they are important in understanding causation, constitution, temperament, predisposition, susceptibility, suppression, mutation and the stages of development of degenerative diseases. They are often very useful when their are obstacles to the cure by constitutional remedies caused by miasms. By understanding the miasms in the background we get a clearer idea of what chronic intercurrent remedies might be suitable to removed blocks in the case. It is also important to recognize the symptoms of obstruction to the cure which include - when well chosen remedies do not act or no longer hold; when well chosen remedies are followed by no progressive changes in the symptoms; when the fragmented symptoms of several constitutional remedies appear yet no one remedy really suits the case, etc. These are often indications for the chronic intercurrents (psora-sulph, hepar, etc.), sycosis (thuj, nit-ac, nat-sulph, etc), syphilis (merc, etc) and the chronic nosodes (psor, med, tub, syphlinum). Such symptoms are also associated with the cancer diathesis and carc., etc. It is important to study the miasmic syndromes as presented by Hering, Kent, Allen, Banerji, Patel, etc, so as to get an understanding of the fundamental postulates of the method of classification. Of course, Sankaran and others also have their contemporary views. I think it is important, however, to understand the basic principles introduce by Hahnemann in the Chronic Diseases and Organon. There are many new more metaphysical presentations, which may add some insights, but without knowing the more grounded epidemiological view of Hahnemann, these can leave one's understanding ungrounded the clinical sense. I hope this offers you some insights.

Good luck in your studies,
Sincerely, David Little

Response from Dr.Luc on Miasmatic classification of Rubrics.He is Considered one of the foremost contemporary Homeopaths and renowned international lecturers and authors in Classical Homeopathy .

Wed, 4 Oct 2006

Dear friend

In the future I am revising this part of the Miasms greatly. You must remember that some words need to be defined first very well to see to what miasm they belong. In fact next month in the US I am giving a seminar of two days entirely dedicated to a revision of miasms.
For instance
Anxiety is psora, Fear is Sycosis and anguish is syphilitic. As you see it needs to be defined and we need to take in account the intensity of the symptom too


Regarding absent minded:

I agree with Psora and for particular things Sycosis (Like Thoughts disappearing while speaking)
Psora has greed and hoarding capabilities so therefore avarice is mainly Psora (sycosis just spend!)
Carried desire to be=Psora for sure
Cheerful: mainly sycosis but psora can be too
Love for dancing: Sycosis mainly
Fastidious: For all these rubrics, one has to ask, WHAT IS TRHE MOTIVATION behind this behavior. Is one fastidious because there is anxiety about the future, about making mistakes? Or anxious about catching germs? It would be Psora. Or is one fastidious to the point that now delusions (everything she touches is contaminated) it becomes sycosis. As you see the intensity counts too.

Hatred: syphilitic
Secretive: in first place sycosis
Timnidity: in first place Psora

I wish I had more time to explain you but foremost one must Define first the rubric, second see what the motivation is of the person and third have an idea about the intensity.

Warm regards
dr luc