Spotlight Malaria and Its Ramifications Malaria
NATIONAL JOURNAL OF HOMOEOPATHY 1994 Sep / Oct Vol III No 5.
Balakrishnan E.
Cases.
` Podo / Cham / Puls.

Malaria is playing havoc in certain parts of our country. To quote a recent press report (Times of India dated 24th Nov. 1994) - Palamu district -

The district toll due to cerebral malaris as risen to 40. The latest outbreak has created a panic since the malaria unit is not well equipped. Five years ago the Govt. stopped the supply of MLO which kills the malarial mosquito larva. About 4 truckloads of DDT bags have not been brought to Daltongunj from the Tata Railway yard where the consignment is exposed to Natures vagaries since 1993. The Civil Surgeons office has always deferred its transportation on the plea of shortage of funds! alleged hospital sources."

The callous and ruthless behaviour of the administration in attending to such important public matters is seen above. Epidemics of this nature can be averted by the administration with the cooperation of the public by attending to hygiene. Prompt measures to maintain public health and hygiene is a must.

Homoeopathic treatment of Malaria:

Homoeopathy unlike other systems of medicines treats the sick person and not the sickness. Our success lies in Individualization.

The occurrence of chill and the timing, the periodicity, concomitants, modalities and other details of the fever like paroxysm and sweat etc. all these are utilized and cure ensured.

Given below is a list of drugs with their prominent characteristics. Note that the indicated drug should be given only after the paroxysm is just over in the apyrexial stage.

Editor: Since we have many articles on treatment of malaria, in this article we have excluded the remedies discussed elsewhere. 1)Eupatorium-Perf:

Violent ache. Bone breaking pains. The muscles of chest and limbs feel bruised, sore aching.

Aggr:
Worse - cold air
Periodicity - 7-9 a.m. 3rd or 4th day 
Better - vomiting of bile.
Morning shivering. Shivering runds down the back and spreads to the extremities. There is violent thirst but the shivering is worse from drinking so that the patient fears drinking cold water.
During chill he wants covering and clothing needs to be piled on.
At the close of the chill there is vomiting - first the contents of the stomach and then bile. This vomit occurs before the onset of fever mostly or before the fever subsides. When the fever starts and hear stage is on, he seems to burn all over as through with electric sparks.

Sweat relieves all the symptoms except the headache. Sweat is scanty.

2) Natrum Mur:

Exact periodicity - Chill - morning around 10-11 A.M. everyday, every 2nd day, every 3rd day or 4th day ... chill beginning in the extremities.

During the entire attack there is thirst for cold drinks. The patient is not relieved by heat but wants cold drinks.

Fever and intense heat relieved by sweat but wants cold drinks.

Fever and intense heat relieved by sweat and headache also passes away.

Dreadful headaches. Bursting, compressing, throbbing and hammering. The head feels as if the skull would be crushed in.

Natrum-mur not only removes the tendency to intermittents but restores the patient to health and takes away the susceptibility to colds and the periodicity.

Children born in malarial region are likely to go into marasmus. They have a voracious appetite, an unappeasing hunger eating much but all the time emaciating - emaciation from above downwards. Nat-mur is the drug of choice.

When we find malarial cachexia in children and find them thin, thirsty, hopeless and poorly nourished, emaciation descending worse or abdomen - think of Natrum-mur (in the words of Boger).

3) Aranea Diadema:

When the patient presents ill defined symptoms of malaria with enlarged spleen and the constitution tainted with malarial poisoning, living in marshy places we have in Aranea-diadema a deep acting remedy. This is a remedy for the constitution favorable to malarial poisoning; all symptoms charactrized by exact periodicity and coldness. All the symptoms including fever are worse during damp weather or from cold. Most often the spleen is enlarged.

CEREBRAL MALARIA:

In the treatment of malarial fevers, severe complications do set in at times with severe headache, convulsions, hyperpyrexia with delirium and coma. Closely resembling hyperpyrexia, gastro-intestinal disorders may also be present. In cerebral malaria, hemiplegia, convulsions, delirium, hyperpyrexia and coma are common.

Some of the more prominent drugs are - Agar, apis, Cicuta, Gels, Hell, Natrum-mur, Phos, Pyrog, Sepia, Sulph, Tarent, Tub, Verat-v, (Refer, KR 1282 - cerebrospinal fever, KR 1288 - chronic intermittent fever).

Often in fevers there is mixed infection. In such cases a dose of Pyrogen 200 clears up the case. A review then will help select the proper similimum.

In intractable malarial cases, Echinacea few drops doses in water for a few days helps to clear the picture.

Similarly with Natrum-sulph. Besides giving the indicated drug, giving daily 2 - doses of Natrum-sulph low for a few days helps to avert major critical situations, splenomegaly, cerebral malaria etc.

Cases of Malaria treated with Quinine come up with a lot of other complaints. Such cases should be given Sepia (Farrington). Another remedy needed to remove the bad effects of Quinine is Ars-alb (Farrington).

PROPHYLACTIC TREATMENT:

Use of Chin-sulph 3X or Ars-alb 3X for a few days can be prophylaxis in patients visiting an endemic area.

A CASE:

A 14 year old school student, had two episodes of malarial fever the first in Sept. 94 for a week duration and the second in October 1994 which lasted for ten days.

On both the occasions, he was given allopathic treatment - Primaquin 7.5 mg 1 BD for 14 days, Resochin 1BD for 10 days and Tab Perinorm 1BD for vomiting.

Although the fever subsided, the boy was not well enough to attend school and continue his studies due to various complaints. Therefore, he switched to homoeopathic treatment on 25th October 1994 and presented with the following complaints -

Mild temperature, maximum reaching for 100 degrees. Complete loss of appetite and huger. Feeling sleepy all the time. Severe coryza in the morning. Frequent micturition every hour, to an extent that he could not concentrate on his studies even at home. Hot (3+) - needs fan at full speed all the while.

TREATMENT GIVEN:

Pulsatilla 1000 - three doses given 12 hourly. He improved very well and had no complaints subsequently.

It appears that abuse of quinine had brought about the said ailments, although the paroxysms have subsided (Reference - KR pg. 1282 - Abuse of Quinine - Puls (3) and Phatak Pg. 93 - Abuse of Quinine - Puls (3).

TWO MARVEL CASES OF DR. S.P. KOPPIKAR

(Where facts appear stranger than Fiction)

Case 2: A patient with chronic malarial fever approached a homoeopathic physician during one of his paroxysms. The physician asked for the symptoms to which he showed frantic irritability.

Chamomilla 200 was prescribed which cured the patient of malaria.

Case 3: An inveterate case of chronic malarial fever was not responding to any of the medicines prescribed. By chance during one of the visits, the attending physician noted the paroxysm of the fever. The patient had severe chill with fever and the patient was blabbering many things loudly.

Loquacity during fever - the only drug - Podophyllum

Podophyllum 200 cured the case with no recurrence of attacks.

The above two cases have been narrated by one of our masters - Dr. S.P. Koppikar.

Dr. E. BALAKRISHNAN
Bombay 400 052.