“Is it the flu or is it EBOLA?” Important information regarding EBOLA Hemorrhagic Fever

“Is it the flu or is it EBOLA?” Important information regarding EBOLA Hemorrhagic Fever Compiled by Sally Tamplin MARH,DSH, PCH and Jacob Mirman MD, DHt, CCH

Ebola

The top US medical official, Thomas Frieden, has said that the Ebola challenge is the biggest since AIDS. Britain and the USA have implemented enhanced security screening measures at airports.The UN’s Ebola mission chief says the world is falling behind in the race to contain the virus. According to recent statistics 70% of cases are fatal.

The media is talking at length about this unprecedented, extremely serious, and most contagious disease sweeping across parts of desperately poor, under resourced West Africa since February 2014. It is seriously affecting the African economy, The World Bank says that billions of dollars could be drained from West African countries by the end of the year if the virus continues to spread. It is crossing country borders and now taking hold in densely populated areas.The World Bank has added $170 million to the $230 million it has already pledged in emergency assistance for countries battling to control the outbreak. The US government has already spent more than $100 million in response to the outbreak and the European Union has announced funding worth $180 million to help the governments of West Africa strengthen their health services. The Gates Foundation is committing $50 million to help step up efforts to tackle the deadly virus and purchase badly needed supplies. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan have donated $25 million to the CDC foundation. President Obama has announced that he is sending 4,000 US troops to Liberia to help fight the virus outbreak, the UK is sending a hospital ship and the UN security Council has declared the outbreak to be a threat to international peace and security.

Photo atul_ebola

The World Health Organization (WHO) says that it is the largest outbreak ever recorded and could be catastrophic in terms of lives lost. They have declared it an international health emergency. WHO has warned that Ebola infections could reach 5,000 to 10,000 new cases per week within two months if efforts to tackle the outbreak are not stepped up. There have been more than 9,191 confirmed cases and the virus has claimed 4,546 lives to date mainly in Guinea,Liberia and Sierra Leone, Liberia being the worse country affected. More than 200 of these victims are health care workers. Before the Ebola outbreak there was just one doctor available to treat 100,000 people in Liberia. Despite these large financial pledges the medical charity, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), has warned that the international response has been “lethally inadequate.” President Obama has announced that the world needs to act faster to halt the outbreak. An emergency meeting is about to go ahead between President Obama and the British, French, Italian and German leaders as the crisis escalates. A man traveling from Liberia to the USA recently died in a Dallas hospital, health authorities scrambled to find all those that he has been in contact with and two of his care givers have now tested positive for Ebola.

EBOLA, a severe viral infection, is described as one of the most deadly on the planet; it can prove to be fatal within days, so we felt it expedient to discuss the role of homeopathy in the current crisis and we are in the process of gathering homeopaths together to respond to this escalating situation. This web site offers free advice and help from professional homeopaths who have volunteered their time and expertise to assist in the control and treatment of this dreadful disease.

Ebola Virus concepts isolated

Homeopathy has always won its laurels in the resolution of acute, killer diseases so we would be remiss if we did not inform the public how homeopathy can help you and your loved ones if EBOLA ever comes to your neighborhood. The disease is currently spreading faster in Africa than the efforts that have been made can control it. The world has become a smaller place in respect to our ability to travel and move across the globe quickly by air, likewise we need to be mindful that infectious diseases also travel fast and can take hold in distant communities, so we do need to be prepared! There is also always the threat of bioterrorism. Homeopathic knowledge can help us become less fearful and help ourselves. There may come a time when we are on our own!

Ebola Virus

Currently medical authorities have no answer to this rampant killer; they report that it is an incurable virus and there is no vaccine currently available or specific antiviral treatment. There is some debate about using experimental drugs without medical trials. According to the news media EBOLA has a fatality rate of approx 70%.

Ebola Outbreak

Strict isolation, critical care barrier nursing, supportive comfort care and aggressive help with rehydration because of the loss of body fluids are the mainstay of conventional medical practice. Low blood pressure is a problem due to the excessive loss of bodily fluid through diarrhea and vomiting. Medical treatment may be helpful with complicating infections and patients have a better chance of survival if they receive early diagnosis and treatment.

The good news is that our homeopathic community has a lot more ammunition to offer. Homeopaths have well over two hundred years of documented successes and while EBOLA might be the disease label in this current crisis, homeopaths only look to symptoms and use their totality as a guide to the most useful remedies that can help each individual to rally and fight killer infections. Old homeopathic books talk about the 1918 Spanish Influenza characterized by bleeding from all parts of the body, just as EBOLA does in its most deadly form. Homeopaths are familiar with the remedies that can produce such symptoms and the remedies that can likewise cure, after all our cornerstone of practice is the premise that like cures like.

Unlike the influenza virus that can be quickly transmitted through airborne droplet infection (someone sneezing or coughing around you) the EBOLA virus is presently transmitted by actual contact with the body fluids of those who are infected and are showing symptoms. So exposure to infected saliva, sweat, vomit, diarrhea and blood can spread this virus. Up to three months after clinical recovery the disease may still be transmitted through sexual contact.

Medizin Global Arzt Ärztin

If you have been watching the news reports you will have noticed the very rigorous cross contamination procedures that the African medical treatment facilities have been implementing. Avoiding contact with infected body fluids is an absolute must, EBOLA is considered a level 4 biohazard and this is why so many of the reported EBOLA cases are from relatives and health care workers who have been infected whilst caring for a victim of this deadly virus or by exposure whilst burying a contaminated corpse. Doctors and nurses have succumbed to the infection and at the end of July the number one EBOLA physician for Sierra Leone lost his life. Africa has seen much civil war and atrocities in the recent past and many African people have little confidence in authorities and health care workers so relatives who should have been brought to the hospital have been cared for in the home and hence the disease has spread quickly. Now there is a situation where some African isolation hospitals are becoming overwhelmed and very sick, contagious people are being cared for in their homes and some victims are dying in the streets as they are turned away from overstretched medical facilities. Medical aid workers are having a hard time persuading people that they cannot give their loved ones the traditional burial that is customary in their culture; this involves washing the dead body.

This influenza web site is a treasure chest of information and we really want to stress that many of the remedies carefully researched and added to this web site may be key players in the treatment of EBOLA, as you read on you will notice that many reported EBOLA symptoms can look like those characterized by influenza and H5N1 Bird flu. This is why we felt it so important to talk about EBOLA here.

EBOLA FACTS

The virus is not new and was formerly known as, “The Zaire Virus,” it can be first traced back to 1976 when the Zaire Virus first appeared in rural Africa and was very virulent. Good detective work pointed to a Belgian nun working in the Congo. The nuns spread the virus amongst themselves and to their patients who visited the antenatal clinic established in a Catholic Mission, they were given injections and it is believed that the needle was the initial site of transmission. Outside the Catholic Mission the virus began to spread through the transmission of contaminated body fluids.

Stop ebola red and black

There are five identified ebolavirus subtypes and four are capable of human to human transmission. There have been a couple of dozen outbreaks since 1976 and all of those were contained. This current virus strain is close to the, “ Zaire Strain” and is almost as virulent. According to the CDC web site new evidence strongly implicates fruit bats as the reservoir hosts for the Ebola viruses. If you continue to read our web site you will learn that birds are the reservoir of the influenza viruses. Initial infections in humans result from contact with the blood or secretions of an infected bat or a wild animal that the bat has bitten. It is believed that the EBOLA virus is carried and spread through primates. In rural Africa, where this latest outbreak first began, it is common for the people to hunt and eat wild animals such as antelopes, chimps and also bats. The Guinea Health Minister Remy Lamah forbid consumption of fruit bats in the area afflicted with the epidemic.

Signs and Symptoms of EBOLA

Homeopaths pay particular attention to the symptoms that a patient presents; the totality is a signpost to be used to find the most suitable homeopathic remedy. As the patient’s presenting state changes a succession of different remedies may possibly be required to bring about full resolution of the disease. Homeopaths carefully watch and note all symptoms including those that affect the physical body and the mental and emotional states too.

Photo symptoms Ebola

According to the CDC early diagnosis is quite difficult in the initial stages of infection because symptoms such as headache, fever, vomiting and diarrhea can be indicative of many diseases including influenza. In fact the early stages of EBOLA can look just like the flu. The symptoms of EBOLA and other hemorrhagic fevers also resemble those of malaria and dengue fever.

Symptoms such as severe fever, headache, joint and muscle aches, weakness, diarrhea, vomiting, stomach pain, lack of appetite are seen in many suffers by the medical professionals who are treating this current outbreak of EBOLA.

Additionally some patients may experience a rash, red eyes, hiccups, cough, sore throat, chest pain, difficulty breathing and difficulty swallowing.

According to recent statistics half of all EBOLA cases are presently progressing to hemorrhagic symptoms, this means bleeding inside and outside of the body that cannot be stopped, in particular bloody diarrhea, and vomit, bleeding from the gums and the eyes. This generalized bleeding is present in many but not all cases of EBOLA and is probably caused by DIC, disseminated intravascular coagulation. In this condition the blood coagulation cascade is triggered, causing blood clot formation in blood vessels. The process uses up the clotting factors, rendering blood unable to clot. The inner lining of blood vessels also becomes compromised. The result is easy bleeding from the damaged vessels, which is unstoppable due to loss of clotting ability. Due to blood loss as well as other factors the vital organs are shutting down, the body is breaking down and death is imminent.

danger ebola

Symptoms may appear anywhere from 2 – 21 days after exposure to the virus, but according to the CDC 8 – 10 days are most common.

Lately there has been some discussion about this incubation time, some sources report that the incubation time may, in some people, be as long as 42 days.

According to USA Today, August 17, the prodrome symptoms are as follows:

Days 5 – 9 : Fatigue, headache, fever, chills Day 10: High fever, vomiting blood, rash, and passive behavior Day11: Bleeding from the nose, mouth, eyes and anus Day12: Seizures, internal bleeding, loss of consciousness, death

While there are some survivors many succumb to the virus. The reasons are not yet fully understood. It is known that patients who die usually have not developed a significant immune response to the virus at the time of death. Patients obviously have a better chance of recovery if they receive professional nursing care and rehydration therapy.

Homeopaths have always paid attention to the constitution of their patients, Louis Pasteur in the twilight of his life declared that the disease was nothing and the constitution of the individual was everything! Careful homeopathic remedy selection, according to the totality of symptoms, and unique to the individual is the key that opens the door to healing. The remedies do not heal they are simply a catalyst for change. When we are out of balance a carefully selected remedy can wake up our innate healing ability, commonly homeopaths refer to it as “the vital force.” It is our own innate healing ability that can bring us back to health.

Homeopathic Remedies for EBOLA

Pic pestle mortar flowers

We want every reader to understand that it is important to treat the individual, not the disease and to pay special attention to the totality of symptoms. Please note that many remedies documented on this web site for influenza like symptoms may be suitable for a patient suffering from EBOLA like symptoms so please do read and use all of the resources that are offered on this site. Some of the homeopathic remedies that have been described on this web site since its inception have a hemorrhagic symptom picture this is because when we first began researching influenza we were particularly concerned with H5N1 Bird Flu.

rooster

Half of all victims of this disease die and many bleeding symptoms are observed, (Current H5N1 statistics: WHO confirmed cases 2003 – 2014 /650 cases and 386 deaths) In our research for this flu web site we were particularly interested in the role of homeopathy during the 1918 pandemic – ( H1N1 strain) which also presented with many hemorrhagic symptoms.

Understanding more about homeopathic remedies

photo flu kit

Remedies come from many different sources. Most are derived from plants, but animal products, minerals, metals and some poisons, which have been used medicinally for generations, are also used. The homeopath has thousands of remedies to choose from, and new remedies, appropriate to our life and times, are being researched as we write. Homeopathic remedies are prescribed according to the Law of Similars. The law states, “That which makes sick shall heal.” This means that the symptoms caused by an overdose of a substance are the symptoms that can also be cured by a small dose of that same substance.

Photo - Ebola Onion Remedy

As an example, we know that when we cut up an onion most people experience an acrid runny nose, soreness in the throat and stinging, runny eyes. A homeopath may suggest Allium Cepa, this is the homeopathic remedy made from the onion for the individual who has a cold and sore throat with these symptoms. Therefore, homeopathy uses medicines prepared from natural substances that are similar to the illness. The name homeopathy is actually derived from two Greek words meaning “similar and suffering.” The Law of Similars has been a part of medical practice since the time of Classical Greece, but homeopathy, as we know it today was first formulated over two hundred years ago by Christian Samuel Hahnemann.

pic Hahneman

A well-chosen homeopathic remedy acts as a signal, which energizes or stimulates the body’s self-healing powers, mobilizing the defense systems and working on all aspects of the body, mental, emotional and physical. We could liken it to the jump leads that have to be used when the car has been left out in the cold weather because the battery is flat!

The remedy simply acts as a catalyst. The body heals itself; but the well-chosen remedy awakens the vital force or chi, which has at some point become stuck.

In classical homeopathy, which is what we are advocating, only one remedy or signal is used at a time. Just as a television reproduces only the program to which it is tuned, a sick person is very sensitive to, or is tuned into, the correct remedy, and only a minute stimulus from the right remedy is required. This is sometimes called the principle of the minimum dose .The idea is to cure with the minimum amount of intervention.

Generally there are two ways of preparing substances. Plants are macerated and soaked in a mixture of alcohol and water; this becomes known as the “mother tincture.” The mixture is diluted by adding one drop of the tincture to 99 drops of alcohol and water; it is then succussed (the container is repeatedly struck against a hard, elastic surface.) This is then called the 1C potency; the C stands for centesimal because the substance is diluted one part in one hundred. The process is repeated by taking one drop of the 1c mixture, diluting it with 99 drops of alcohol and water, and succussing it. This is then called the 2C potency. Each progressive dilution and succession yields the next higher potency.

Some remedies are made by decimal dilution. This means that one drop of the “mother tincture” is diluted by adding one drop of the tincture to 10 drops of alcohol and water, and then it is succussed. This is now called the 1X potency; the X stands for decimal because the substance is diluted by one part in 10.

Minerals and nonplant substances are diluted initially by trituration, this means grinding up with lactose, or milk sugar. The ratio of one part in one hundred or one part in ten is repeated. This process is usually repeated up to 3C or 3X, at which stage the lactose/mineral mixture can be dissolved and then the higher potencies are made in the same way as the liquid potencies described in the previous paragraph.

After initial preparation of the raw material the remedies are made by serial dilution and succussion (vigorous shaking) in a solution of alcohol and water.

This is done a few times or up to many thousands of times. The liquid dilution is then used itself as a remedy or soaked into tablets or granules for convenience. The diluted remedies are described as being “potentised,” in recognition of the dynamic healing power that they can stimulate. Frequently the dilutions are so great that no chemical trace of the original substance remains. Most people question this asking, “How can it possibly work if there is nothing there?”

The truth is we don’t know why, other homeopaths and scientists will tell you the same thing. The important point is that they do work and homeopaths get to witness miracles every day. For over thirty years, veterinary medicine has contributed to the development of homeopathy because it has shown that the therapy works on animals, who are unaware of what they are taking and therefore cannot be subject to the placebo effect.

Homeopathic literature, both past and present, documents cases, sometimes of severe pathology, that have been cured or significantly helped by homeopathy.Since the remedies usually have nothing left of the original substance there is no danger of toxicity and nasty side effects if properly administered, because there is no chemical trace to accumulate in the body’s tissues.

Homeopathic remedies are not intrinsically dangerous but they are powerful and must be treated with care and respect. Where the patient’s condition requires serious conventional treatment, homeopathy enables a reduction in the dosages of conventional drugs and can help to decrease the unwanted side effects.

If you would like to learn more please take a look at Dr. Jacob Mirman’s book:http://www.bookonhealing.com

Various pharmacy bottles of homeopathic medicine

Which remedies would be most useful for EBOLA?

Below is a list of remedies that we have compiled along with the help of some of our homeopathic friends and colleagues from all over the world and from our wealth of homeopathic literature, the writings of homeopathic pioneers who took the time to prove remedies and record their successes for posterity. This list contains remedies that we believe may be helpful in the treatment of EBOLA like illnesses. Some of the remedies listed are new to this web site and are documented in detail right here. Other remedies that we have included in our list can be read in full detail under the influenza remedies section on this web site.

Please make use of all the information that we offer, this is an educational site and we ask all readers who wish to use homeopathy to work with a professional homeopath who knows and understands how best they can be utilized. As more information becomes available and if other remedies come to the fore this web site will be updated so it continues to be an excellent source of homeopathic information for you, your family and our global homeopathic community. Remember viruses will always be with us, they will always find ways to mutate but homeopathy works to strengthen the individual so he can fight the disease, it is our best and perhaps our only chance in these troubled times.

Here is a brief synopsis of the most important remedies for hemorrhagic EBOLA then please read on for a full, very detailed description of our new snake additions and note that although the snakes are new arrivals they are a most welcome addition to our web site! That which can kill can also cure!

Prevention is by far the best way!

As a preventative if an outbreak occurs in your neighborhood, Bothrops 30 c, one dose daily, until the threat has passed. This homeopathic remedy closely matches the symptoms of hemorrhagic EBOLA as we are seeing and hearing from the news reports and may be considered the genus epidemicus – meaning the most useful remedy for most of the population and the one that may help prevent the disease in those who have been exposed. However, in truth, we do not fully know this yet. Homeopaths need to be able to treat several people with EBOLA first and compare symptoms before we know for sure exactly what the genus epidemicus may be. When we know for sure we will post prominently on this web site! Please refer to the web site often in any global crisis and tell your friends about us too!

Our friend and homeopathic colleague Dr. Jose Issac who is head of a large homeopathic teaching hospital in India reminds us of the following:

“The best way to find a medicine for an epidemic is to find out by the method envisaged in Samuel Hahnemann’s Organon of Medicine, the following protocol may be useful:

1. First study the common symptoms manifested by the majority of patients 2. This will help us to find the group of remedies that can cure a particular disease 3. From this list select the individualizing features so that we can specifically come to fewer remedies in the group.”

Taking responsibility – helping ourselves

If we have a toxic body and mind we are more likely to succumb to disease. Take the opportunity right now while you are well to lose any extra weight, get physically fit, start to eat a balanced diet and take action to reduce the amount of stress that you have in your life. Most importantly, deal with toxic thoughts and emotions!

Early Symptoms

Please note that not all cases of EBOLA progress to the hemorrhagic state and in the early stages we will see more flu like symptoms, not the later stage of hemorrhage. It is important to become familiar with the flu remedies, all well documented on this site. Homeopaths select remedies for the state that they observe before them so if the patient suddenly develops a very high fever, is extremely hot and delirious, has dilated pupils and a red face we are going to be thinking of the remedy Belladonna. Likewise, we may consider Gelsemium for a patient whose onset of symptoms was not too sudden and dramatic, who is not particularly restless, who complains of body pain and who is completely drained and weak. EBOLA has taken center stage regarding the news media and many people are fearful, particularly fearful of contamination and this is not surprising when we see health care workers on TV wearing space suits! We should definitely think about the homeopathic remedy Arsenicum Album especially when we see a patient who is extremely anxious, fearful of contamination, restless, exhausted, complaining of burning pains, is thirsty for small sips of water and who has vomiting and diarrhea.

As in influenza cases, if we can begin homeopathic remedies in the early stages of disease we have a much better chance to bring our patients back to health and to avoid the destructive hemorrhagic state. Again, we remind readers, that as the state changes we may have to change the remedy and it is possible that in the case of a very sick person we may need a succession of well indicated remedies to bring them back to health.

The question of homeopathic potency?

This is debatable and homeopaths have varying views. When we first developed our web site and produced the influenza kit we wanted the general public to be well prepared in a worst case scenario. We included all the main influenza remedies in three ascending potencies 30c, 200c and 1M. Homeopathic remedies in 30c potency are commonly available in health food stores but the higher potencies may be needed in acute disease and lower, frequently repeated potencies, in very weak, broken down states. We have listed some potency suggestions from our friends and colleagues at the end of this article. Please work with a professional homeopath who is knowledgeable in remedy selection and potency. We have a link on our web site to reputable homeopathic pharmacies where remedies can be purchased.

Photo - Ebola Echinacea Remedy

Some Remedies to Consider for hemorrhagic EBOLA – (while we feel the listed remedies are the most likely ones to be useful, as we treat and repertorize the first few cases, we may see other remedies coming to the forefront. We know that we should not limit ourselves to this list and will keep you updated on this web site as the situation becomes clearer.)

Crotalus horridus 30c – consider this remedy when there is difficulty in swallowing due to spasms and constriction in the throat. Tongue can be fiery red, smooth and polished (compare with Pyrogen) and very swollen. In diarrhea the stools are black, thin and offensive. Emesis looks like coffee grounds. Dark, purple colored blood that will not coagulate, bleeding from any part of the body including the eyes, gums, nose and the sweat. Offensive discharges. Edema with purplish, mottled skin, late in the disease the patient may turn yellow. Photophobia. Sepsis. Blood boils. Severe prostration, the pulse may be scarcely felt. This remedy has an affinity with the right side. Cannot lie on the right side or back without vomiting. Many homeopaths believe this to be the main remedy for hemorrhagic EBOLA but we have given this careful thought and think that Bothrops or Lachesis may be the better choice. Crotalus horridus has an affinity to jaundice and as far as we are aware this is not a characteristic symptom of EBOLA.

Bothrops Lanceolatus 30c – this remedy has lots of nervous trembling, difficulty articulating speech, sluggishness, swollen, puffy face and black vomiting. There is thrombosis causing neurological phenomena like strokes and bleeding from all orifices. This looks very similar to the picture of DIC, or disseminated intravascular coagulation, a dreaded complication of many conditions treated in ICUs. Blindness, especially in daytime. Fever with shivering followed by very profuse cold sweat. This remedy has an affinity with the right side. Lachesis mutus 30c – In this remedy look for delirium with trembling and confusion. The patient may talk too much. Tongue dry, black and trembling. Lots of profuse hemorrhaging from any where in the body, the blood is dark and does not easily clot, great sensitivity to touch, often tight clothing cannot be tolerated especially around the neck, the patient feels better for heat and worse on the left side. Disease begins on the left side then goes to the right side. Perspiration is cold and stains yellow, and it may be bloody. Phosphorous 30c – this is a homeopathic remedy for hemorrhage where there is bright red gushing blood from any where in the body and profuse watery diarrhea. Longing for cold food and drinks but as soon as water becomes warm in the stomach it is thrown up. Perspiration has the odor of sulphur. Aggravation in the evening before midnight and lying on the left or painful side. People in a Phos state tend to have a lot of anxiety and fear especially at night. YOU WILL FIND THIS REMEDY WELL DOCUMENTED ON OUR FLU WEB SITE

Mercurius corrosivus 30c – this remedy is indicated for dysentery and persistent tenesmus of the rectum that is not better by passing stool. The stool is bloody, slimy and offensive. Tenesmus of the bladder, burning, hot urine, bloody or brown. Scanty or suppressed urine. Copious bleeding, better when lying on the back with the knees bent up, delirium, headache with burning cheeks, photophobia, black swollen lip, metallic, bitter or salt taste in the mouth. Terebinthiniae oleum – this remedy is better known as Turpentine. We chose to include it in our list because it has a selective affinity to bleeding mucous surfaces and it has a particular affinity to inflammation of the kidneys following acute disease with dark, passive, fetid hemorrhage. The urine may be scanty and suppressed and smell of violets, constant tenesmus. The tongue may be dry, red sore, burning in the tip, with prominent papillae. The breath is cold and foul. In fever, heat with violent thirst with cold, clammy sweat. Choking sensation in the throat. Nausea and vomiting. Difficult breathing and bloody expectoration from the lungs. Secale cornutum 30c – this is a fungus remedy and is for the collapsed state. The face is pale, pinched and sunken. Diarrhea is profuse, watery, putrid and brown. It is discharged with great force, exhausting, painless and involuntary. The patient may crave acids and lemonade despite the diarrhea. Urine may be pale, watery or bloody or it may be suppressed. Thin, slow, painless, dark oozing of blood with offensive, putrid odor. Tingling in the limbs. White cold extremities, painful, as in Raynaud’s phenomenon. The patient wants to be uncovered although the skin feels very cold to touch, (compare with Camphor) they feel worse from heat and from any motion. Echinacea angustifolia 30c – this remedy has been made from the Purple Cone flower and is indicated when there is a septic state developing, blood poisoning, fetid smelling discharges and enlarged lymph nodes. Profound prostration, very weak and tired. Severe headache. The brain seems too large. White coating of the tongue with red edges, bed sores. Blood follows the stool. Pyrogen 30c – this remedy has been made from rotten meat and is for septic states. Consider its use when the well chosen homeopathic remedy fails to improve symptoms. Great restlessness, the bed feels hard and the patient feels bruised and sore. The stool is large and black and carrion like and the pulse is abnormally rapid and out of proportion to the temperature. YOU WILL FIND THIS REMEDY WELL DOCUMENTED ON OUR FLU WEB SITE

Coffin in morque

Camphor, Carbo Veg and China are considered corpse reviving remedies. China is particularly well known for its loss of body fluids. Camphor has the delusion that they are the only one left in the world and that God has forsaken them. This could be an important remedy for EBOLA, we have heard recent accounts from survivors, they talk of their fear and the feeling of being abandoned, forsaken by God. YOU WILL FIND THESE REMEDIES WELL DOCUMENTED ON OUR FLU WEB SITE so please check them out!

Now for more on those remedies that have a particular affinity to hemorrhage! This added information will be especially helpful for our professional homeopathic community.

Bothrops lanceolatus – possibly the first remedy to think of when EBOLA has become hemorrhagic. This remedy is found on the French Caribbean island of Martinique. It is known as the fer-de–lance, this is French for lance head. Like Crotalus Horridus and Crotalus Cascavella the remedy has an affinity for septicaemia. There is vomiting of black blood and bloody stool so we feel it is extremely important to include it in our list of possible homeopathic remedies for EBOLA. Choudhuri describes what happens when the victim is affected by this substance:

“The limb swells speedily to an enormous size. It becomes soft and flabby and full of gas. The whole limb becomes infiltrated with bloody serum; the limb looks discoloured with blotches of blue. Very soon extensive suppuration sets in and the skin and the flesh start to come off in bits. The result is an alarming process of moist gangrene exposing the bones and the tendons and harder tissues. The whole limb is dissected alive.”

There is slight shivering followed by a profuse cold sweat. We see this picture of coldness in the other crotalus remedies. The face of Bothrops is swollen and fuffy, the skin is also swollen, livid, cold and with hemorrhagic infiltration.

Choudhuri says that Bothrops is very similar to the other hemorrhagic remedies; a feature of the poisoning is that the blood becomes extremely fluid, dark and sometimes spurts out in jets.

Boericke says that we should expect to find under these remedies the symptomotology of thrombosis and its associated pathology: hemiplegia, aphasia and inability to articulate. There is the unusual symptom of paralysis in one arm or one leg only. Clark writes:

“After being bitten in the little finger of one hand, paralysis began in the fingertips of the other hand and extended over the whole of that side.”

He says that the diagonal course of the symptoms is marked.

Being unable to communicate is a feature of this remedy. Agrawal lists the following rubrics for Bothrops:

Aphasia Forgetful, words while speaking Mistakes, using wrong words

There is also the usual snake feature of a feeling of constriction in the throat and difficulty in swallowing.

A particular feature of this remedy is that there is blindness due to hemorrhage in the retina. Crotalus horridus also has this picture of retinal hemorrhage. Bothrops has the unusual symptom: Day blindness: “Can scarcely see her way after sunrise.”

Like Crotalus horridus this remedy is worse on the right side. Lachesis is worse on the left side.

More hemorrhagic remedies – Crotalus horridus

This homeopathic remedy comes from one of the deadliest and most rapidly fatal of all poisons. The intensity of this remedy matches the intensity of the EBOLA virus.

The famous homeopath Constantine Hering first made a homeopathic proving of Crotalus horridus. The poison is an acid and has an affinity with the blood, the heart and the liver. The poison produces a rapid and direct depressing influence on the sensorium and medulla oblongata deranging both circulation and nuitrition. It acts primarily upon cerebro- spinal nerve centers, and secondarily on the blood fibrin causing decomposition.

John Henry Clark indicates that it belongs to the hemorrhagic diathesis because it causes bleeding to all orifices and surfaces. This bleeding is slow and the blood is dark in nature, the most important characteristic is that it does not clot. The poison causes a disorganization of body fluids and tissues. The tissues decompose and produce putrid malignant conditions. It is a remedy for the septic state. This is the state that is occurring in half of the present EBOLA cases.

E.B. Nash writes,” It seems so far, to have shown its greatest usefulness in diseases, which result in a decomposition of the blood of such a character as to cause hemorrhages from every outlet of the body. Even the sweat is bloody.”

Margaret Tyler writes,” Black offensive blood which will not coagulate.” This remedy has vomiting of black blood.

An important feature of Crotalus horridus is the rapidity of its action. The blood breaks down very quickly, the patient soon becomes jaundiced and rapidly increasing unconsciousness ensues. Many of the recent EBOLA victims succumb to the disease very quickly because of the rapid breakdown. This homeopathic remedy matches the state of the disease that we are presently seeing.

Crotalus horridus has a specific effect on the liver so yellowness and jaundice is an essential feature.

The remedy also has a picture of blueness of parts. James Tyler Kent writes,” Black and blue spots as if bruised.” The well known homeopathic remedy, Lachesis, also has this feature. In both remedies there is a picture of circulatory disturbances with purplish, blue discolorations.

After hemorrhage the skin becomes extremely anemic; it is yellow, pale and bloodless. Since there is an acute state of decomposition, all discharges will smell moldy or fetid. The patient will be in agony, probably moaning and crying, also extremely weak. They may be sleepy, but cannot get to sleep. They become impatient too. There is a picture of collapse in this remedy.

A feature of this remedy is loquacity and suspicion. Lachesis shares these symptoms too.

If the Crotalus horridus patient does get off to sleep it tends to be restless and he may dream of dead corpses and graveyards. He may even smell dead people. This seems to mirror the trail of internal destruction that the venom will work upon its victim. These patients fear death and constantly dwell on death. It is exactly what we are seeing in West Africa right now!

Another feature of Crotalus horridus is that it feels surrounded by foes or hideous animals. This snake is greatly feared because it is so dangerous.

Homeopathic Rubrics:

Delusion: that he is surrounded by an enemy Delusion: pursued by enemies Escape, attempts to Company desire for

Lachesis has an aversion to company. Crotalus horridus has an aversion to members of the family. Choudhuri says that Crotalus patients are mentally very snappish and irritable. In fact he compares their ugly temperament to Nux vomica. He says that sometimes this irritability gives way to timidity, fear, anxiety and sadness. They can be apathetic and indifferent; the remedy has an affinity to senile dementia characterized by mental delusion and forgetfulness.

Rubric: Single symptom; Insanity with coldness of skin

Other rubrics include:

Irritability Sadness with mental depression Anxiety Thoughts of death Dullness and sluggishness Stupefaction Weakness in memory Confusion of mind Answers disconnected Delirium with loquacity Delusions, imaginations and hallucinations

Unlike Lachesis this particular remedy has an affinity to the right side. Crotalus patients are worse for lying on their right side and of course the liver, the main organ to be affected is on the right side.

Crotalus tend to be worse in springtime, often on a yearly basis and upon awakening.

Modalities:

Worse:

Lying on the right side Falling to sleep Warm weather Spring Alcohol Damp and wet On awakening

Better:

Light Motion

The skin of a Crotalus Horridus patient feels cold and dry

Food:

Craves pork, stimulants and sugar Mouth is dry with thirst

Like the other remedies Crotulas horridus has an affinity with the throat. In the physical pathology they feel a tight constriction in this area, and have difficulty swallowing anything solid. There are many rubrics relating to speech and loquacity.

There is also the feature of a feeling of constriction in the throat and difficulty in swallowing.

A particular feature of this remedy is that there is blindness due to hemorrhage in the retina. Crotalus horridus also has this picture of retinal hemorrhage. Bothrops has the unusual symptom: Day blindness, “Can scarcely see her way after sunrise.”

Like Crotalus horridus Bothrops is worse on the right side. Lachesis is worse on the left side.

More hemorrhagic remedies – Crotalus Cascavella

This homeopathic remedy comes from Brazil. It was proved by Mure. The poison of Cascavella is as deadly as that of other hemorrhagic remedies. Clark says that the general symptoms are like those of the other members of the group; there is picture of hemorrhage in this remedy together with yellow discoloration (face red or yellow, yellow diarrhoea) and a feeling of constriction particularly in the throat and the stomach. There is also a theme of coldness.

Rubrics:

Constrictive pains if a string was tied around the thyroid Swallowing difficult Epigastrium sensation cannot bear clothing Sensation of a band around the abdomen

However, the mental symptoms are more pronounced and peculiar. Lancinating pains are frequent and they are better for cold water. Many symptoms are worse at night.

Rubric:

Moaning and groaning during sleep

There are pains in the bones and hallucinations are marked and peculiar. Like Crotalus horridus thoughts dwell on death and there are dreams of corpses and ghosts. They see death as giant black skeleton. This remedy has clairvoyance and loquacity, features that we see in other remedies

There is great fear of being alone in this remedy.

In the repertory it is listed as having the single symptom: thoughts of death when alone.

There is tremendous fear of being alone at night, this is bold type.

Like Crotalus horridus a picture of insanity develops, the provers recorded throwing themselves against doors, another prover said that she wanted to throw herself out of the window.

Rubrics:

Delusion, eyes are falling out Hears footsteps behind him Fancies that someone walks behind him Fancies he hears groans Hears voices that he must follow

There is a particularly strange symptom that came out in the proving:

Great desire for snow

Comparing our remedies – Crotalus horridus and Lachesis

Crotalus horridus is a main remedy for the septic state; Lachesis also has circulatory disturbances with purplish, blue discolouration. Crotalus horridus has a more marked tendency to hemorrhage than Lachesis.

General exhaustion is more pronounced than Lachesis.

Both remedies also have a picture of loquacity and suspicion. Crotalus has loquacity with a desire to escape. However, Lachesis has tremendous jealousy this is not evident in Crotalus horridus.

Again, Lachesis has the rubric clairvoyance, but this is not seen in Crotalus horridus.

Crotalus horridus dreams of dead corpses and graveyards. They may even smell dead people in their dreams. Lachesis has delusions of dead people and that they themselves are dead.

Crotalus horridus has the delusion that enemies or hideous animals surround them. Lachesis believes that they are about to receive injury or is being injured by his surroundings.

Lachesis has the rubric: Aversion to company to indulge her fancy. Crotalus horridus has an aversion to members of his family.

Both remedies have an affinity to throat pathology, difficult swallowing, tight constriction etc:

Both remedies have rubrics for weakness of memory.

Lachesis is bold type for hysteria but Crotalus does not have this rubric at all.

Crotalus horridus is a right-sided remedy; Lachesis has an affinity to the left side, left then right. It has left sided complaints.

Lachesis is warm blooded and purple. Crotalus is cold blooded and is white or yellow.

Crotalus desires alcohol whereas Lachesis is worse for alcohol.

Boericke says that Lachesis antidotes the action of Crotalus Horridus.

Comparing our remedies – Crotalus Cascavella and Lachesis

This remedy is also associated with the septic state, like Lachesis it has a lot of throat pathology. Speech is difficult and there is paralysis of articulation. We tend to associate Lachesis with loquacity.

There is a headache after sleep, as with Lachesis. Cascavella has the strange sensation that something alive was walking inside the head in a circle.

Clarke says that the mental symptoms of this remedy are more pronounced.

Many symptoms are worse at night and hallucinations are marked and peculiar, he hears footsteps behind him, (Lachesis does think that he is being pursued ) follows strange voices and dwells on the dead. On the other hand this remedy can also be deaf, hear nothing. Clarke says that a magnetic state is induced.

There is great fear of being alone, this is bold type. There is no such rubric for Lachesis. This fear is the strongest of all the remedies discussed.

Crotallus Cascavella has the bold type rubric indifference and apathy. Lachesis has this to a lesser extent.

Crotalus Cascavella has the Lachesis rubrics for clairvoyance and loquacity. However, it also has a peculiar desire for snow. There is a feeling of coldness in the stomach after eating and this remedy has a yellow theme running through it similar to Crotalus horridus.

Comparing our remedies – Bothrops and Lachesis

This remedy has an affinity to the septic state and a picture of coldness, which is typical of the snake remedies however, Lachesis is warm blooded. Bothrops and Lachesis have the most coagulating poison. There is the usual throat pathology but Bothrops has paralysis of the tongue and is unable to communicate, Lachesis only has heaviness of the tongue and difficulty in moving it.

There is great lassitude in this remedy, Lachesis tends to be overactive but can also lie in the jungle for months without moving at all. Bothrops has an affinity with the right side, Lachesis with the left.

______________________________________________________________________

We are very grateful to our homeopathic colleagues around the world who have contributed to our article and list their personal comments and suggestions here. Please note that they may not be specifically the views of the authors of this web site.

Our friend and colleague Jeremy Sherr FS Hom, well known in homeopathic circles for his work on new homeopathic provings and work with AIDS patients in Tanzania, has done a small repertorisation for us based on the symptoms of hemorrhagic EBOLA as currently reported by Wikipedia:

Rubrics:

Stomach – vomiting – diarrhea – during Stomach – vomiting; type of – blood Expectoration – Bloody Skin – Ecchymoses Generals – Hemorrhage – blood – non –coagulable Skin- Eruptions – petechiae

Based on this work Jeremy writes, “I think that in addition to the hemorrhagic remedies already discussed that you should also consider: phos, ferrum phos, secale, kreos and china for hemorrhagic EBOLA”

Dr. Jose Issac MD (Hom) has commented that since EBOLA is a virus problem and since no one to date has treated a victim homeopathically the antiviral miasmatic remedy THUJA 200c could be used. “From the symptoms which I could understand I would prefer either giving the homeopathic remedy LACHESIS as the symptomatic preventative or the anti – viral miasmatic remedy THUJA. In my opinion I would suggest either giving Lachesis 200c OR Thuja 200c , one pill every alternate day, to people who are prone to develop this disease as a preventative for one month.”

Dr. Jose Issac also writes: ‘For treating patients with EBOLA, I think the best remedy would be Arsenicum Album 200c, one pill every four hours until the fever disappears. This is because in the early stage there is sudden onset of fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat. This is followed in the second stage by vomiting and diarrhea, rash, impaired kidney and liver and internal bleeding. Those who are taking homeopathic remedies should stop taking tea, coffee, chocolate and mint as these substances antidote homeopathic remedies.”

Our colleague Dr.Todd Rowe MD, MD (H), CCH, DHt, President of the American Medical College of Homeopathy writes, “In regards to remedies, I think focusing on venoms that are hemorrhagic rather than venoms that are neurotoxic will be key. My suspicion as with any severe acute disease is high potencies frequently (minimally 200C or 1M). This would be similar to treatment of pneumonia. “