Case 3: The Uprooted Asthmatic
NATIONAL JOURNAL OF HOMOEOPATHY 2005
Dr Sushma
'Ars-alb / Lyc

Master JA, 5yr 6mths came to us on 18th Oct 2005.

Chief Complaint
Recurrent Colds1 and cough3. Cough  Vomiting. No Breathlessness. Allergic to food colours. < dust, cold drinks, evening3  HS, lying down. > warm drinks. Feels hot. Earlier the frequency was once in 3 months and would last for 5 days in 2003, in 2004 same frequency but the attack would last for 10 days. But when he came to us he had this cough which was persistent since July. Since he was not better with oral medication, he was put on Asthalin and budecort inhaler 2 puffs QDS.
Diagnosis: Cough Asthma

Patient As A Person
Height: 46". Weight: 22 kg. Birth Weight: 3.5 kg.
Teeth: Normal. Bites nail.
Perspiration: Profuse³, Scalp³, Palms¹.
Appetite: Normal THIRST: 6 glasses/day
Craving: Chicken, chocolate, egg, milk, sweets.
Stool: 1/d. Satisfactory.
Urine: Normal.
Mother's Obstetric History: Morning Sickness +, Burping³, Flatulence³. Had fibroid, hence planned LSCS done.
Sleep: Normal. Sleeps prone (on abdomen). Talks occasionally.
Thermal: Monsoon aggravates. Fan: S++, W+. Covering: S-, W+. AC: S 2+.
Bathing: Luke warm water. HOT PATIENT.

Past History: NAD.
Family History: GrFa-DM, Great GrMo, GrMo, Uncle-Asthma, Mother-Fibroid.

Life Situation And Mental State Born on 30/03/2000. Only son in a joint family at the up market Napeansea Road in Mumbai Earlier used to live at, in a big joint family, which has now broken up and their family unit comprising grandparents, parents, paternal uncle have shifted to Bandra in 2003. It is a very dusty and developing locality with construction all around and the child has been continuously ill since 2 yrs.

Emotional State: Irritable³,when does not get his way and that time shouts. Otherwise he is quiet, Shy³. cannot show his affections,. Happy by himself, even when left alone. Loves coloring, watching TV.

During the interview he was constantly rubbing the eyes, hiding his face, giving a coy smile. When questioned would look at the mother or ask her what to answer. Fear of water³, Lizards³. Perfectionist¹. Obstinate.

Rubrics

1.     RM 1114 Shy³

2.     RM 1043 Fastidious

3.     RM 1086 Obstinate

4.     RM 1052 Fear of water³

5.     RM 0536 Craving Chicken

6.     RM 0547 Craving Sweets

7.     RM 0539 Craving egg

8.     RM 0536 Craving Chocolate

9.     RM 0544 Craving milk

10.  RM 0360 Hot patient

11.  RM 0262 Cough < evening³

12.  RM 0257 Cough < cold drinks

13.  RM 0267 Cough < lying down.

14.  RM 0278 Cough > warm drinks

Plan
Acute: Ars-alb.
Constitutional: Lyco

Reasons: Hot patient. Fastidious (though not very marked yet rarely seen in a very young child which makes it characteristic), Timid, yet obstinate when contradicted, Happy with own company. Craving Sweets, Craving Chocolate, The characteristic aggr in evening3 and better warm drinks. Here again we are not sure if the illness is due to missing the joint family or the dusty environment. We put our bet on intrinsic factors because of the strong family history and the environment, as the child had no overt emotional symptoms. It also fitted the Lyco trait of aloofness with few deep attachments. The acid test would be the response to Lyco.

Intercurrent: Tub-b 1M- frequent respiratory attacks often require a anti-tubercular remedy to clear up the case.

Treatment And Follow Up

Conclusion: All these 3 cases have been treated in our clinic with single doses of medicine and a phenomenal response. The right similimum does of course work like magic, which is the most favourite word of our patients use when feel well in just a few days. But more importantly, I find that repetition often interferes in the healing process and vitiates the susceptibility.

We are more and more using not only less and less repetition, but less and less high potency, unless called for. Even for fresh attacks we try to watch with a new Saclac and see if the susceptibility holds up. Of course in pathological cases like HIV-AIDS, we find we need to repeat much more, as the susceptibility is vitiated and needs to be normalized. We will put up those cases too. We can also include earlier failures, which a retake allowed us to find the correct remedy which gives good response. To add authenticity to the cases we will give the Registration no of the case and surname, so that at any point of time these cases can be traced and shown to anyone visiting the clinic.

We invite others too to contribute on these lines. We are going to put up these type of cases in a new section on njhonline.com: SURE SHOT HOMOEOPATHY, where we will not only add 1 case DAILY but also give subsequent monthly or quarterly follow-ups. This should make the section authentic, pro-active and alive.