The Corona Virus Crisis and Homeopathy

We have been getting a lot of calls from our patients and clients, our friends and relatives, our students and our Facebook followers asking our advice on the use of homeopathy to prevent the Corona virus infection. This has become even more urgent for them since the cases are rising globally and the WHO has now declared it a pandemic.

Social Media To further compound the confusion, there are messages circulating on WhatsApp and Facebook about the efficacy of a homeopathic remedy Ars alb 30C as a preventive for this disease.The Department of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of the Government of India has suggested the use of this remedy as a preventive. The previous epidemics and pandemics of cholera and influenza had seen the most effective use of homeopathy both as a preventive and as treatment with the least mortality rates compared to conventional medicine. The experts at the ministry arrived at this remedy as the probable preventive by studying the symptoms produced in the patients in Wuhan and finding the homeopathic remedy that had similar symptoms (on the principle of like cures like).

Genus Epidemicus In theory what a homeopath would do to decide a preventive remedy is to find what is called the genus epidemicus. (The treatment of any epidemic in homeopathy is by using a remedy called the Genus Epidemicus.) The totality of symptoms of a given epidemic corresponding to the nature of the epidemic disease can be obtained after observing at least about 20 patients in your locality and recording the symptoms of each one. Thus the pathognomonic symptoms of the epidemics are identified. The genus epidemicus, then, is the homeopathic remedy that has symptoms most similar to the symptoms of all the patients of that epidemic pooled together.

Pitfalls However, the symptoms were pooled from patients suffering from the effects of the COVID-19 infection in Wuhan in China. The weather, environment, food habits, physical and emotional states of people living there are different from those of people living in other countries like India, or the USA or Italy or Iran. Hence, in practice, this remedy could be a preventive in Wuhan, but it may not be as useful for people in other countries where the epidemic has spread. Also the virus is reported to have undergone mutations. So the symptoms of the disease could have changed and Ars alb may no longer be the remedy to be used as a preventive.

Panic While the notification about the homeopathic remedy was circulated by the ministry in good faith, one human factor that was not considered was PANIC. We have seen panic buying and hoarding of toilet paper, hand sanitizers, bread, water and many other items by people all over the world as a response to the spread of the virus. There have been newspaper reports of people getting physical over the last packet of toilet paper in malls and people even stocking up on masks that are actualy considered to cause more harm than be a preventive!

Indiscrimate Use In such a scenario, we can’t imagine people sticking to the recommendation of just three doses of Ars alb 30C, once a day, and then to repeat the same after a few weeks. In their desire to get well, I am sure people would not stop at just three doses. They would continue to take the remedy for prolonged periods just because they are scared that the recommended dose may not be enough. Ars alb is a homeopathic remedy that is used for a variety of illnesses that affects mankind- from the common cold to gastritis, eczemas and prosiasis and even deep seated diseases like gangrene and certain cancers. In fact, in the epidemic of cholera in the 1800s, Ars alb was one of the remdies that worked wonders. However, we dread to even imagine what effects the indiscriminate and unsupervised use of this remedy could have on the human body.

Is it a Hoax? The pandemic is very much real. It is not a part of some outlandish conspiracy theory. You can’t will it away or hope that the virus will die in Spring as the weather turns warm. Well, it didn’t in Singapore which has a warm tropical climate. You canot say that it is milder than the flu and won’t be as severe. The statistics have proved otherwise. The death toll has been rising the world over.

Our Advice Please visit your regular homeopath. He knows your history and body type very well and should have figured out your Constitutional medicine by now. The constitutional medicine is prescribed keeping in view your physical and mental state and it works to strengthem your Reticulo Endothelial System (Immunity), your Endocrinal System (Hormones) and the Nervous System. This should be the best remedy in your particular case to help strengthen your resistance and keep you healthy. At the same time, the most sensible thing to do is to follow the general guidelines given by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) for the prevention of this disease.

Conclusion History has witnessed the role and scope of homeopathy in epidemics and in viral diseases in particular, where conventional medicine has a limited role to play. While many homeopathic remedies are indicated for the treatment of the symptoms of COVID-19, it would be foolish to rely on Facebook and WhatsApp forwards to indiscriminately take some homeopathic remedy without supervision. It is also extremely irresponsible of practitioners to make blanket statements about their experience and cure of this disease with homeopathy, unless they have treated a large number of cases.

For homeopathic consultation for your symptoms you may visit Homeopathic Healing or send an e-mail to office@drvaishnav.com to meet the Homeopathic Specialists.

Disclaimer: A detailed history followed by constitutional treatment by a good and qualified homeopathic practitioner is necessary to treat the complaints that appear due to any disease. The homeopathic remedies mentioned in this post are for informational purposes only. The information contained on this site is general in nature and is not meant to substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other health care professional. None of the statements on this site are an endorsement of any particular product, or a recommendation as to how to treat any particular disease or health-related condition. It is not advisable to resort to self-medication for any disease.

This article on the Swine Flu may also interest you.