Chronic diseases of Hahnemann in the light of microecology

ABSTRACT

The management of Hahnemann's "chronic diseases" presents certain difficulties. In particular the difficulty of finding a suitable homoeopathic drug is noted. Bach's and Paterson's work on bowel nosodes opened a totally new way of looking at homoeopathy and chronic disease (miasms). Since theirtime the homoeopathic profession has done little to take their research further.Parallel to the work of Bach and Paterson continental bacteriologists and clinicians developed therapeutic concepts based on intestinal microbes. Their researchhas become internationally respected and is part of the new sciences of microecology (microbes vs. host association) and gnotobiology (germfree research on animals). Both these sciences allow for additional diagnostic and therapeutic insights that are relevant to homoeopathy. Althouth the non-lactose fermenters, as defined by Bach and Paterson, are important in chronic disease, other bacteria haveequal significance. The ecology of microbe and host as expressed in their qualitative relatedness, needs to be better understood. The author's effort over many years has been to correlate and integrate these moderne findings of bowel flora research and autogenous vaccines with his homoeopathic practice. It is suggestedthat, apart from the therapeutic benefits to be gained by this approach, modern faecal bacteriology analysis could become a useful monitoring tool to evaluate the response to medicines prescribed on homoeopathic principles