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Heart Problems?
by author Stephen Malthouse, MD

A man has his first heart attack. In the emergency department, the physician observes his overwhelming fear of impending death and gives him two pellets of homeopathic Aconitum under his tongue. The patient describes his chest pain as a fist squeezing his heart, and, as the IV is put in, the doctor gives him homeopathic Cactus grandifora, which relieves his pain promptly. Later that night in the coronary care unit (CCU), the patient awakens with shortness of breath and rapid violent palpitations. There is pain in the region of the heart, a dry cough and a sense of suffocation. The nurse quickly administers a dose of Spongia tosta and repeats the dose again in 15 minutes. The patient’s symptoms are completely relieved.

Sounding a bit far-fetched? Homeopathy in the CCU? Well, that’s what is happening at the Pareek Hospital and Research Center in Agra, India. Homeopathy has been integrated with conventional allopathic care for heart attacks, angina and other vascular diseases in the coronary care setting of a modern hospital. And why not? Homeopathy is not just a medicine for chronic or long-standing diseases. It has a history of excellent use in sudden acute illnesses as well.

Nitroglycerine, the well-known heart medicine, was originally a homeopathic remedy. Another remedy, Lactodectus mactans, is perfectly suited to relieve unstable angina when the chest pain extends to the arm, forearm and fingers with numbness. Homeopathic remedies are remarkably quick-acting and have the potential to augment the use of modern medical drugs in emergencies.

How do they work? A substance that can cause disease in a healthy person can actually cure those same symptoms when made into a medicine by repeated dilution and vigorous shaking (succussion). So, for example, if nitroglycerine in large doses can cause the onset of heart pain in a well person, then it can be used in microdoses to cure a sick person with the same pain. In general, homeopathic preparations are so diluted that no molecules of the initial substance are left. For this reason, even poisons can be used in homeopathic doses without risk. Aconitum in large amounts can cause great fear of death, so microdoses can relieve this fear in an emergency. Overdoses of Cactus grandiflora can cause chest pain "as if the heart is grasped by an iron fist" (or sometimes "a tight wire encircling the chest") in a healthy person, so it can relieve just this type of angina in a small dose. This illustrates the principle of "like cures like" that is fundamental to homeopathic medicine.

The homeopathic pharmacopeia contains more than a thousand heart medicines that must be individually selected for each patient, so prescribing had best be left to a skilled professional. Although the Canadian medical system is not quite ready to utilize homeopathy in the coronary care unit, patients with heart and blood vessel problems or a strong history of heart disease in the family can benefit in an outpatient setting. Preventive care is important. Often both prevention and treatment require an extensive homeopathic interview (at least one hour) to determine the characteristic features of the patient’s complaints, past history, family history and even personality traits.

Research has shown that there is more to heart disease than simply cholesterol levels and hypertension, although these too must be taken into consideration when treating homeopathically. It is possible to reverse the changes of arteriosclerosis or hardening of the arteries with a comprehensive program that includes meditation and emotional healing. Homeopathy contributes by stimulating the patient’s defence system to protect and strengthen the entire person–and that, of course, includes the heart. This is holistic medicine at its best.

Dr Malthouse practises classical homeopathy in Victoria, BC and is the current president of the Canadian Complementary Medical Association.

Source: alive #232, February 2002