Respiratory Allergies - Prevention
NATIONAL JOURNAL OF HOMOEOPATHY 1999 Sep / Oct VOL VIII NO 5.
Dr Lakshminarayanan
' Bell / Calc-carb / Cal-c / Phos

If the tendency to catch cold frequently is an allergic manifestation, the world is full of such people. It is said that asthma is but a sequel to a badly treated or neglected cold. I know a lady who got treated in a famous Nature Cure Hospital and became a life-long asthmatic with the most aggravating type of the disease. This lasted for over 30 years until cured by Homoeopathy but still left the patient a human wreck.

Borland referred to this cold catching tendency among children (Read `Children`s types`) while describing the Baryta-carb group of drugs. In this article he mentioned what he called an `American` practice of immunizing children against TB by giving TB from 1M to CM - two doses of each potency on successive days (four days in all). I adopted this for providing immunity against catching cold. Instead of TB, I used Bacillinum the unmodified tubercular lung tissue of Burnett. Boericke and Tafel actually market Bacillinum (Burnett) as a distinct medicine Bacillinum (Burnett). ? vp Further, this was given to all age groups among men and women preferring a time when the patient is improving after acute remedies.

The most outstanding and striking patient was an engineer, a Homoeopathic enthusiast, who took this prescription some 20 years ago, when he was 50y. He used to meet me over the years, generally courtesy calls, but he never discussed his case. Then he stopped coming for over 5 years. Suddenly he made an appearance this year (1999) and said that he had retired from his profession and was living contently in his native village and so had stopped coming to Hyderabad. He then surprised me by declaring that he had come to tell me that he has not had even a single episode of cold in all the years since he received my Bacillinum course. In those days I used to market a six-day course by beginning with Bacillinum 30 and going up to CM. (Now I give 1M to CM). We must remember that this patient was an elderly patient, not a child.

I must have given this course to a large number of patients during the past 40 years. In later days, I used to assure parents of young children with permanent mucus filled nose, that if they continued the treatment during two successive summers, not only their children could gorge themselves with ice-cream, but the mother could even dip the child in ice-cold water head down and still it would not catch a cold. May be a bit of hyperbole, but essentially a reliable prognosis.

Apropos of dipping the head in ice-cold water, we have a large number of women of all ages who dare not wash their hair, for fear of the most aggravating consequences beginning with paroxysms of sneezing and coryza, making their lives a double misery - either going without a head bath or hell-bent on taking one. I recall a case of two young Keralite boys, sons of senior IAS officer here, who could not be given a head bath for fear of the most fearful sneezing bouts. Their mother used to bring them after her husband was posted to Delhi and these boys I understand, are now settled in the USA, with no trace of their allergy; their mother died prematurely, but the father is still going strong here, even though superannuated long ago!

There is a straightforward prescription for this, which can be located in Kent's Repertory by a diligent search (for those who do not know).
PP: 233-234 has a rubric Washing head AGG This has 33 remedies, no black type-but italic and plain type equally placed.

Case 1:
Lady, about 30, Married, orthodox, had not had a head bath for 14 years (as of 1963 when she came to me), though her orthodoxy demanded a minimum of 2 washes per week on an average. On inquiring how she managed to keep her scalp from stinking and hair from getting matted, she said she used to dry clean her hair with finely ground rice-powder, rubbed in and her long tresses thoroughly and brushed frequently. Rx Bell 200 - 5 doses - one dose each as follows:

1. One hour before intended bath
2. Immediately before entering bath room
3. Immediately after coming out of bath room and one hour after bath and
4. Four hours later if symptoms were not fully relieved.

She felt much better from the very first course and repeated this procedure during succeeding baths and after a few prescriptions, lost her fears and symptoms and was normal in all respects.

Case 2:
Similar case of a married woman about 30, orthodox, who suffered each time she had a head bath. There is no need to narrate a string of cases to support this therapy. She was helped equally fast.

But over the next decade. Rx Bell was followed by Calcarea-carb 200 (very rarely 1M in recent cases) during a head bath followed by Calc-carb in between. This helped almost every woman and child but an odd case did come up which failed and > on Rhus-tox (KR again). This Rx is remarkable and the success indelibly etched in my memory, because the two kerala boys and their mother benefited so immensely - the mother was relieved of her over-whelming anxiety when the boys could now drench themselves with gay abandon. The special value of this case lies in the fact, that the culture of a traditional Keralite required a whole bath for men, women, boys and girls every day, and no skimpy wash leaving out the head. The long tresses of the women, oiled and wetted every day had to be dried daily.

Just one last case of recent vintage 4-10-99. Mrs B, 44, married, sinusitis since 4 years < by head bath but > at seashore; sense of obstruction nostrils; post-nasal drip of mucus; severe pain on forehead above eyebrows < by bending head forward and > bending backward. Avoids cold drinks; fond of eggs; perspires more on the face.

1. Rx Calcarea-carb 200 5 doses 12 hourly
2. Belladonna 200 in bottle to be used before and after next head bath.

11.10.99
Head bath on 7.10.99 with no symptoms at all. But she still has to clear throat by hawking mucus, nasal obstruction < after waking from sleep (day or night); also heaviness and pain in neck persist; new record of symptoms. General > wet and cold weather, pain in throat using voice for long.

Calc-c 200 - 3 doses once a day and to continue using Belladonna for head bath. Last report over telephone on 26.10.99 revealed no symptoms after head bath and sinusitis symptoms much >. This is just a case on record, the latest in a long series.
Yes, Belladonna and Calcarea-carb are useful additions to Homoeopathic therapeutics for patients in India.

Ancillary Treatment:

1. Use the hair drier in the bath room before coming out (for those who use a drier)
2. Wrap the head, with the hair bunched, in a thick absorbent towel before coming out and dry the hair fully at leisure with the towel (for the traditional women).
3. Keep a charcoal fire going before bath, expose the loose stresses to smoke generated by sprinkling incense (dhoop) on the charcoal fire, as drying with the towel is in progress.

But Homoeopathy makes life so much easier for these sensitive persons.

There is a growing number of Indians going abroad as tourists spending 2 to 4 weeks travelling in Europe and extending to USA. As is well known, the climatic variations in the European continent and USA are very large. But what concerns the Homoeopath is the ultra-sensitive patient who has bought a tourist ticket. These patients will not be under the control of the physician in India and will have to medicate themselves. I recall a few cases where a husband and wife couple made these trips and, to my pleasant surprise, made it successfully using very few drugs and doses of medicines prescribed. May be the environmental conditions there are cleaner in comparison to India with only the climate i.e. low temperatures - as the variant. The aftermath was as expected; when they came back, many or at least a few of their symptoms recurred but by and large, they had less number of episodes. It will suffice if just one recent case is cited.

Case 3:
Patient Ms. PRS, 26, married, with children, was a sinusitis patient whose allergies were varied and special. She was under treatment from 17.9.98. Both her sinuses were affected; sneezing and coryza on waking in the morning < open air and entering warm room, A/C room and cold things of any kind. Uses blanket to cover herself in bed; desires warm bath and hot food; sea food < urticaria; same with eating cashews and walnuts; averse sweets and milk, but likes and takes curds; averse fried foods and sweets; desires salt things, thirst below normal; sweat scanty even on exertion; sneezing wakes her up > sea shore; catches cold readily since 2 years, progressively getting worse.

Rx Baryta-mur 30-7 doses once a day.
21.9.98 sneezing fully > from first dose only. Cough since 3 days; expectoration easy, sleep not disturbed, warm drinks >. Has decided to go abroad for a few weeks to Europe. Phosphorous 200 - 3 doses 12 hourly.

21.9.98 Much >
Rx 1) Phos 200 2) Phos 1M in bottles for use in her travels if cough < 3) SL for daily use.

8.10.98 Returned to Hyderabad: Did very well in England where she even ate ice cream, being very fond of it, and ice, taking Phos each time symptoms <; she even ate sea-food without urticaria. All symptoms < since return to India.

Over the last one year she consults me at long intervals and is always > with Phos, she had Psorinum once. Her thin sunken cheeks filled out, looks chubby. Her last prescriptions were Arsenic-alb. She has no more sinusitis. Only change of temperature < sneezing, for which she had Ars-alb 1M last on 25-8-99.