When can I join Business?
NATIONAL JOURNAL OF HOMOEOPATHY 1999 Sep / Oct VOL VIII NO 5.
Dr Staish Kumar Rana
'Sulph

Allergy can be defined as "An altered or exaggerated susceptibility to various substances or physical / immaterial agents which are harmless to great majority of individuals." It is an acquired hypersensitivity to a substance that does not normally cause a reaction.

In Homoeopathy, allergy is increased susceptibility to external influences, which a common man sometimes longs to enjoy without any trouble whatsoever. In aphorism 117, Dr Hahnemann has named it "Idiosyncrasies". In lectures on Homoeopathic Philosophy, Dr Kent has defined well the allergies, illustrating with very good examples.

Hay fever, Allergic rhinitis and bronchial asthma are some of the respiratory allergies well known to the medical world.
A clinical case from my OPD, regarding Respiratory allergy is discussed here. I would welcome comments from the learned readers of the NJH family. The name etc. has been mentioned with the due permission of the patients.

Case
Aman, 16 year, son of a Commission Agent of Kapurthala, was brought to me on 14-9-95 with a complaint of constant sneezing and fluent coryza with confirmed allergy to dust, strong smells and all kinds of perfumes, which he just loved. He had been under treatment for last five years with little or no relief. The parents were worried, as he was the only son, and the youngest of four children in the family. Also, his father was of the opinion that he should complete SSCE and join in the business, but the hurdle was his allergy to dust, which even prevented him to visit his father's commission shop in the Grain Market. Due to the recurrent sickness he also lagged behind in his studies.

Chief Complaints: Irritation in the nose < in presence of dust, dusty weather, dusting by the servant in his presence even for a second or cleaning the floor; followed by incessant sneezing and profuse watering from the nose. This is usually followed by blocked nose, difficulty in breathing and wheezing in chest without any expectoration.
The whole episode is attended with great anguish and desires for open cool air, which relieves, to some extent, the blockage of nose and difficulty in breathing.

Physical Generals:
Sleep: Great need of sleep. Can sleep any time when free. Occasionally worse after sleeping for long.
Thermals: Decidedly hot patient with strong aversion to take bath even when healthy. compelled to use perfumes to mask the bad odour of perspiration, although it aggravates his complaints many folds.
Desires: Likes both hot and cold drinks. Special attraction for sweets, candies, sugars.

Observations: The patient is extremely extrovert, friendly and talkative without being shy. Loves to lie down; even sits in the chair with a lying posture. Father observed that the reading room allotted to him is always in disarray. The one in which he studies is always messed up, patient only cleans that part of it which he uses and leaves the rest of the portion; no one (including himself) can locate a book in the event of need or reference. The bed, according to his father, is always in a mess. Very careless.

Past History: Late learning to talk and walk, but dentition was in time. At the age of three, small eruptions with fever appeared, but subsided after application of an ointment and some injections. Eruptions with oozing and bad smell when he was five. At the age of eleven, he started sneezing badly one day in the morning, which continued for days together. Since then he is under allopathic treatment.

Family History:
Mother: Asthma, diabetes.
Father: Scabies off and on,
P Grand Father: expired after a prolonged fever with shuddering. 
Eldest Sister: Developed allergic dermatitis four years back.

1st Prescription:
15/09/1995 - Sulphur 200 was administered, along with Placebo 1 TDS, with instruction to avoid exposure to perfumes for the time being and no other restrictions except medicines for the probable expulsions from the system. In case of diarrhoea, skin eruptions, itching or fever, occurring, following the intake of this medicine, to be treated with the dilutions prepared from the SOS medicines provided (Sac Lac).

Follow Up:
Neither the patient nor any one from the family reported for about 15 days. Once while passing by the patient's house. I stopped by to ask about the patient - I was told that it was terrible since taking the medicine- severe eczematous eruptions, lot of itching resulting in restlessness, but there was rare or mild bouts of sneezing. The patient was afraid to take medicine any more. He was consoled that there was nothing bad with the prognosis of his disease and the eruption that came out were a sign of sure cure. Patient started afresh taking the medicine he had earlier refused / was afraid to take. The eczematous eruptions took some days to heal and the skin was normal. There was a decided relief in the respiratory allergy. Now the dusting by the servant does not affect him much.

12/10/95 - Sac lac BD/15 days was given just to wait and watch the further action of Sulph 200.

29/10/95 - The patient reported that he had abandoned the use of scents / perfumes not because of the severe allergy he was suffering but because of the improvement in the quality of the sweat. Now the sweat was bearably offensive. Also, as the father reported, he often visits their shop in grain market without any problem. I advised the parents to let the patient take the medicine (Sac lac) regularly up to the next change of season i.e. the next harvesting season of wheat, so as to check if there were any reoccurrence and prescribed Sac lac one dose daily for two months.

Under the influence of single dose of Sulphur 200 and the follow-up with the sacred Sac lac for the last four years I have never heard that Aman is sick. The young guy is presently doing business with his father and there is not even a trace of the previous taint of Allergic Bronchitis / Allergic Rhinitis etc.

Author's Comments:

1. There are so many difficult names of diseases erupting every day in this world but for Homeopathy there is none but the individual who is sick.
2. There is no need to repeat the same medicine in the same or higher potency in all cases showing improvement by the way of expulsion or homeopathic aggravation or permanent relief.
3. There is no hard and fast rule to refer a repertory, especially when a case is crystal clear like the above one.
4. When the remedy fits the case, there is no need of any anti-miasmatic remedy, because the similimum remedy in itself is anti-miasmatic.

Editor: Again a rapid, through not so gentle care but definitely proving Hering's law of cure.