– SUDARSHAN SR ,
Since about a decade, there has been a resurgence in homoeopathy, at least in quantity if not in quality. The main reason for this is of course the efficacy of homoeopathy. But an important contributory factor has been the abundance of books and journals on homoeopathy. There are books for the layman, for the novice in homoeopathy, for the para-medical personnel, for doctors of other systems and for the highly experienced homoeopathic physician. So, when a new book is sought to be added to this profusion of books, there has to be some justification.
When i first began my practice in homoeopathy, it so happened that many more cases of acute diseases came to me than chronic ones, and among these acute aliments the ones that really taxed me were the fever cases. It is known to every homoeopath that in selecting the correct remedy in fevers, it is not usually the particulars of chill and heat that are important, but the concomitant symptoms, and these have to be hunted out in the repertory. The Boger-Boenninghausen Repertory has one chapter devoted to fever and the concomitant symptoms, but I found that the lists of remedies in that repertory were quite different from those listed in Kent’s Repertory. I therefore decided to write a repertory of fevers for my own use. But I later found that just repertorising was not enough, and that a good materia medica was essential. I therefore wrote a materia medica comprising important fever remedies by compiling all that was of use in other authoritative books on materia medica. This proved to be of immense use to me in my practice, and it seemed to me that it might prossibly be of use to other homeopathic physicians also, at least by saving them the labour of going through the tomes of repertory and materia medica.
This book does not deal with malarial (intermittent) fevers because it appeared to me that no book can be more informative about this disease than H.C. Allen’s Therapeutics of Fever.
It need hardly be stressed that it is not the fever that is important, but the patient. The repertory therefore begins with the mental symptoms, the generalities and the desires and aversions, which are of more use in selecting the remedy than monenclature of the fever. The materia medica portion does not deal with the remedies Calc. Lyc. Psor., Sil., and Tub., as the symptom picture of these remedies can be found in any authoritative book on materia medica. The repertory lists only those remedies that are really of use of fevers.
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Fever or rise body temperature above the normal is not only a most frequently observed sign of disease, but is also the most common reaction of the body to anything inimical to it.
The temperature of the average healthy human being is maintained within a narrow range, varying from 97°F to 99.5°F. There are daily fluctuations, the highest temperature occurring around midnight, and the lowest around 4 a.m. , while the evening temperature is always higher than the morning temperature. In women , the temperature rises by about 1°F at the time of ovulation. While the exact mechanisms responsible for the production of fever are still undiscovered, it is known that the hypothalamus region of the brain plays a major role in controlling the temperature.
Classification of temperature:
Normal range:
Mouth : 97°F to 99.5°F
Rectum : 97.5°F to 100°F
Axilla : 96.5°F to 97.5°F
Sub-febrile temperature : 99.5°F to 100.4°F
Slight fever : 100.5°F to 101.1°F
Moderate fever : 101.2°F to 102.2°F and to 103°F in P.M.
High fever : 102.3°F in A.M. to above 104°F in P.M.
Hyperpyrexia : Above 105°F
A rise in body temperature by 1°F in adults is usually accompanied by:
a. increase in pulse rate by 8-10/ min.
b. increase in respiratory rate by 2 to 2-1/2 cycles/min.
Home remedies are sometimes more accurate, im speaking simple illness.