50 Millesimal Potencies
NATIONAL JOURNAL OF HOMOEOPATHY 2000 Nov / Dec VOL II NO 6.
Compiled by:
T K Kasiviswanthan
'Nux-vom / Carb-v / Ipec / Nux-v / Sul / Plat / Aur-met

Hahnemann's Organon of Medicine forms the basis of Homoeopathic system of medicine. In all he wrote 6 editions. The 5th edition was last published in his lifetime in 1833, where he advocated the centesimal potencies. Yet he continued experimenting with further potentisation, and eventually he hit upon the 50 Millesimal potencies. He elaborated their use in his 6th Edition, written in 1842 informed his publisher, but not published.

In a footnote to Aphorism 247, 6th edition, Hahnemann says that "during the last four or five years, all difficulties alluded to in the Fifth edition, are wholly solved by my new altered but perfected method. The same carefully selected medicine may now be given daily and for months, if necessary in this way, namely, after the lower degree of potency has been used for one or two weeks in the treatment of chronic disease, advance is made in the same way to higher degrees, beginning according to the new denomination method taught herewith, with the use of the lowest degrees." These potencies are prepared differently from the centesimal potency.

About the need to develop this new potency, Hahnemann says in his footnote 155 to Aph 270, "With so small a diluting medium as 100 to1 of the medicine, if many succussions by means of a powerful machine are forced into it, medicines are then developed which, especially in the higher degrees of dynamization act almost immediately, but with furious even dangerous, violence, especially in weakly patients without having a lasting mild reaction of the vital principle. But the method of 50ML, on the contrary, produces medicines of highest development of power and mildest action, which, however, if well chosen, touches all the suffering parts curatively."
At present the fifty millesimal potencies have been developed upto 0/30 potency.

Need for this Potency
In Aphorism 246 Hahnemann says, "in chronic diseases a single dose of an appropriately indicated homoeopathic remedy will give slow progressive improvement and can accomplish naturally within 40, 50, 60, 100 days. But it must be a matter of great importance to the physician as well as patient that were it possible, this period should be diminished to one-half, one-quarter and even still less so that a much more rapid cure might be obtained.

"This he says can be happily effected if the remedy is carefully chosen and if it is given in this new potency dissolved in water and given in proper small doses with the precaution "that the degree of every dose deviates somewhat from the preceding and following in order that the vital principle which is to be altered to a similar medicinal disease be not aroused to untoward reactions and revolt as is always the case with unmodified and especially rapidly repeated doses." He says in the next aphorism 247 that if the succeeding dose is changed slightly every time, namely potentised somewhat higher, then the vital principle may be altered without difficulty by the same medicine (the sensation of natural disease diminishing) and thus the cure brought nearer.

In Aphorism 272, Hahnemann points out that a globule of potentised medicine placed dry on the tongue only few nerves are touched, whereas if crushed with sugar of milk and dissolved in good deal of water and stirred well before every administration will produce a far more powerful medicine for the use for several days. Every dose, no matter how minute touches many nerves. Thus Hahnemann has specifically advocated a liquid medium for dispensation of the remedy to the patient.

Advantages of using this Potency

1. Hahnemann says that this potency is more powerful but mild in action
2. In acute fevers, it may be repeated in short intervals
3. In chronic diseases this potency commencing from the lowest may be given daily and for months, if necessary, as against centesimal potencies where one has to wait carefully before repeating the same potency or higher one.
4. No fear of severe aggravation from medicine of the symptoms of the patient.
5. Dr R P Patel says that these potencies act better in certain diseases like Ipecac in asthma, and Lyco and Nux-vom in diabetes where indicated.
6. Where medicines of long action have to combat a malady of considerable or of very long standing, where no such apparent increase of the original disease ought to appear during treatment it does not so appear if the accurately chosen medicine was given in proper small, gradually higher doses, each somewhat modified with renewed dynamization ( ie 50ML) Such increase can appear only at the end of treatment when the cure is almost or quite finished." (Aph 161). Please note the fundamental difference between the two potencies; in centesimal potencies there is initial aggravation (as has been observed in many cases) and it may be severe if a high potency is given without proper assessment of the susceptibility of the patient. On the contrary Hahnemann asserts that by using fifty millesimal potencies the aggravation if any of the symptoms of the patient occurs only at the end or nearly of the cure. Vital force now recharged will be able to tackle this aggravation effectively.

Dr R P Patel has written a comprehensive booklet on this new potency titled "My experiments with 50 Millesimal scale potencies." He said that he experimented with this potency in a number of cases in different combinations to test its efficacy.

He standardized his procedure as under:-
Give 0/3 potency of the indicated medicine to start with till the patients improve; if the progress is at a standstill he goes higher to 0/4 and higher potencies till the stage when the patients do not have any symptoms. When the patient complains of aggravation he is asked to stop the medicine for some time and then he repeats the next potency. In some cases where the 0/30 potency is not acting, he has gone back to 0/3 or 0/6 potency of the same medicine with good results.

In most of the degenerative diseases with pathological or physiological symptoms he starts with 0/3 potency of the indicated medicine and has repeated the medicine for 6 or more months, if needed. In diabetes, Lyco, Phos, Nat-sulph, Nux-vom and Carbo-veg have been used in 0/3 potency repeated three times in liquid form ( ie two pills dissolved in one ounce of water and ten drops poured into a glass having ½ ounce of water and given TDS) with good results.( It is at variance with what Hahnemann advocates in his Organon)

Illustrative Cases
Case 1: Dr R P Patel
A child aged 8 months started vomiting and had diarrhea after a fall from the cradle for the past 10 days. Every hour stool with mucus and blood and hardly any faeces. The allopathic treatment proving of no avail, the child was brought to Dr RP Patel in a comatose condition. Nux-vom 0/6 one dose (2 pills) in one ounce of water, one teaspoon to be given every 5 minutes; after half hour the vomiting was under control but motions continued with 60-80 in number in a day, mostly bloody with mucus. The next day the child was better and Arnica, Aethusa, Arsenic, Ipecac and Camphor in 0/6 potencies were tried to control the diarrhoea. Though on the next day (13-11-59) the number of motions came down to 40, the child was worse in the evening and was in coma with icy coldness of the body and blueness of the face.

Gave Carbo-veg in 0/6 in water 1 teaspoonful every 2 minutes and after 3 doses every 10 minutes. Child passed a grassy green stool after half an hour .On this symptom Dr Patel changed the prescription to Ipecac 0/6 every 15 minutes and continued up to 3 AM The child did not have any vomiting or loose motions thereafter. The same medicine repeated every 3 hours and then to 8 hourly the next day. The medicine in the same potency was continued up to 18-11-59 and Sac-lac thereafter and by 21st the child had a normal stool and child was discharged with SOS of Ipecac of 0/6 pills in case there was vomiting or diarrhoea. Grassy green stool is a characteristic symptom of Ipecac and it cured the child when it was indicated, though it was not effective earlier when given.

Case 2: Dr R P Patel
A lady 86 yrs old was into a coma since past 12 years. First she complained of a pain in abdomen and then after 2 or 4 hours she fainted and then went into a coma for one day. Last time the attack was very serious. She is very irritable by nature and eats chillies in plenty. These attacks are precipitated after she takes some such hot (spicy) food; while complaining of her pain in the abdomen she has a sensation of a ball in it rolling from one side to another. She also has headache often.

Nux-vom 0/30 one dose in one ounce of water a teaspoon every 10 minutes. The medicine was selected on the basis of mental symptoms and craving for spicy things, By evening she was better and started talking. Next day felt better still and as she complained of slight gastric pain. Nux-vom 0/30 one dose was given; the medicine was repeated one dose at bed time for several months and other acute medicines in the same potency were given on the symptoms. Sulphur 0/30 was given for headache, it being complementary to Nux-vom. One more month she was given one dose of 0/30 of the same medicine at bed time. She was all right with occasional dose of Nux-v.

Case 3: Dr Sujit Chatterjee
A Keralite woman, Mrs N, consulted for her breathlessness from which she was suffering for the past 6 years. She said "I feel very lonely and do not feel like mixing with my neighbors, because they are not of my caste. They are a bit dirty and not up to the level and standard of any Keralite".

Following Rubrics Selected
Sensation of isolation
Egotism, self esteem
Delusion, being noble
Delusion, of superiority
Delusion, is a great person
Haughty
Casting off, people against her will
Delusion, diminished everything in room is, while she is tall and elevated.

Platina comes up and she was given 1M one dose. After 15 days the patient reported that her asthma was slightly better. But her skin symptoms, which were earlier suppressed by allopathic medicines surfaced. She had an extensive eczema of left leg since 35 years. Since return of eczema was a good sign. Dr Chatterjee waited for 6-7 weeks for further relief in her asthma. As there was no further improvement he repeated Platina1M again and waited for one more month; but her condition was the same and her eczema was worse with lot of ulceration, blackish skin and pus.

At this stage the doctor decided to try LM potency and the patient was given LM0/3 of Platina once a day for 2 weeks. After 15 days she reported that her breathlessness was better and there was a lot of oozing from the eczema. She was then given the remedy in ascending potencies from LM 0/3 to LM 0/12 depending on her situation and progress. Within 4 months she was free from her asthma and eczema; she was followed up for 2 more years. The patient has been free from any complaint.

Case 4: Dr Sujit Chatterjee
Mrs L, consulted in 1992 for her multiple sclerosis. She could not even turn from one side to other while lying on the bed. She could not move on her own, or her face, nor talk. She was very weak and absolutely bed-ridden, with swelling in her legs. When the doctor met her the first time she was weeping and she asked when she would be able to attend her office. The history revealed that her childhood was very happy and she was supporting her whole family by her job. She had five sisters and she did not want to trouble her parents for their education, marriage etc and felt herself responsible for them. Hence she used to work very hard all 7 days in a week. She was very attached to her family and her younger brother stayed with her. He married a girl whom he loved, on the very day that the patient and parents wanted to get him engaged to another girl. The patient was very upset and shocked as her brother did not tell her about his love affair earlier.

She loved classical music and traveling and she was also religious.
The Following Rubrics Were Chosen To Arrive At The Similimum

1. Weeping while meeting people:
2. Industrious: Occupation ameliorates;
3. Travel desire to
4. Ailments from disappointment.
5. Delusion, has lost the affection of friend (brother)
6. Delusion, she has neglected her duty.

In view of her deep pathology, Dr Chatterjee decided to give her the similimum Aurum-met in LM potency; started with LM 0/3 three times a day. After 15 days her condition was status quo; Sac-lac was given for 10 days, whereafter her husband reported that there was some improvement. She had a dream in which someone was beating her husband for which she protested. As she was still in contact with her sub-conscious self LM 0/3 was repeated 2 times a day for 2 days and after that her swelling of legs was better and sleep and appetite improved. She continued to improve and the medicine was given in ascending potencies whenever required up to LM 0/14 and she was able to move easily; she was happy and had good appetite. At the time of reporting the case in '97, the patient was still under treatment.

Sources

1. Organon of Medicine- Hahnemann, 6th Edition
2. My Experiments with 50ML potencies- Dr RP Patel
3. Fifty Millesimal Potencies-Hahnemann Publishing Co, Calcutta
4. Where the LM potency solved the cases- Dr Sujit Chatterjee, Homoeopathic Links, 2/97