February Greetings!

Happy February to all of you! 

February is the shortest of all months, and yet why does it seem to be the longest month?  This month I will discuss SAD, or Seasonal Affective Disorder.  This is what is called the winter blues.  First, I will discuss what it is, then I will elaborate on how homeopathic treatment can help.  I will also talk about a recent case where homeopathy was the catalyst for a client of mine to break out of the winter blues. 

Then I will discuss the first homeopathic remedy ever - China Officinalis.  Such a fascinating history that a substance has had.  I like to discuss homeopathic remedies from the standpoint of the substance.  Exploring the history, the biology, the chemistry, the folklore; a real holistic look at the substance.  And ultimately how this substance got into the homeopathic pharmacopia, and how it is used homeopathically.

Read on and enjoy.

SAD and the winter blues

February, the winter homestretch. Or perhaps not for some. It is the month where snow has completely lost its appeal. And if you have snow it probably has turned a fine color other than white.  If you don't have snow, it is probably  still cold.  I recall distinctly that February was "cabin fever" month as a child.  My brothers and I would be fighting over TV control and nothing was appealing outside, as it was still frozen.  A child's perspective is one thing, but when someone is really suffering from the winter blues, it can be quite depressing and debilitating.  SAD is a condition that  effects the mood.  A person can be quite normal during the rest of the year and then winter kicks in and whammy.  Here is a snap shot of symptoms:

• depression
• lack of energy and motivation
• stuck in bed sensation
• unipolar depression that can lead to bipolar depression in 20% of people

SAD usually effects latitudes higher than 30 N.  In the state of Florida there is a 1.8% rate affecting the population as opposed to the percentage in New Hamphire of 9.7%.  Scandanavians clock in at 20% of the population who affected by SAD during the winter.

This condition is about light and not temperature.  SAD is prevelant in the Seattle and Vancouver regions as there are mild winters that are gray and overcast.  This is primetime for SAD's.  But SAD can happen to anyone, anywhere. 

There are links to low serotonin levels, as well as low melatonin levels.  Melatonin is created by the pineal gland.  There is a reported connection between the pineal gland and the retina which would bolster the theory of lack of light being a prime suspect.  Yet, only a portion of the population is affected.  Why is it that some people are affected and some aren't?  This is a great and fundamental question.  Why is it that some people get the flu and others don't?  Why do some folks get tendonitis and others arthritis?  Why do some get irritable bowel syndrome, while others get headaches?  Why do some have some have all of these and others none?  For a homeopath this isn't a question of why, but of what and how.  This the primary concern.  First and foremost I want to know how it comes out and what are the aspects of the condition.  It is less important to know why it happened.  Don't get me wrong, I am interested in why, it's just that how it manifests is the primary concern. 

It is a matter of susceptability.  We all have weaknesses.  We are given a genetic disposition from our ancestory.   We have an emotional disposition as well.  These susceptabilities are opened by stresses and life in general.  It is what we have and we can't get away from it.  The sooner we face it and accept it as what "is" then we can be in a far better place.  One can make positive changes from there. 

Do you have SAD?  How does it manifest for you?  How is it expressed by the body and the mind?  Have you had any treatment for it?  Some folks use full spectrum lights, others medicate with pharmaceuticals, some fly south and winter in a warmer light filled climate.  Some choose homeopathy as a treatment to increase the vitality of the whole being.  And when it works it works like a charm.  

"I don't feel happy in the winter" - A clients story

A woman in her early 40's contacted me last summer.  She wanted to get help for her 19 year old daughter who was overweight and needed help motivating.  She said that she would come in as well.  Needless to say, the daughter got some lovely results and she soon followed.  She described her energy as being low and she had this dragging sensation.  She had knee and hip pain that were debilitating.  There was a heavy sensation in the chest that coincided with a rather intensive allergic response to perfumes, other scents and certain foods closing down the throat.  Her fingernails were breaking off, her hair was falling out, her menses were off, in general she was struggling.  However, the one thing that really improved her and kept her going was her love for ballroom dancing.  But, she was in pain.

After our 2 hour appointment, I selected a homeopathic remedy based on her personal, individualized and characteristic symptoms.  Not just one, but a myriad of important symptoms:  mentally, emotionally and physically.  After one dose of a remedy that fit her as a person, changes began to happen.  At her one month follow up appointment she reported that she wasn't dragging much at all, in fact she was feeling better.  After 6 months of working together she reported at her last follow up that this was the best winter she has had in a long time.  She is out  and about, and feeling good.  She is dancing more than ever, the ache in her joints are better.  The homeopathic remedy helped her own vital nature to improve the pattern that was stuck. 

This first remedy hasn't helped with the aspect of her allergic response, and we are now looking to differerent remedies for help in this arena.  This can be true in homeopathic treatment.  When I work with clients it can take time, the disease didn't spring up over night and it takes time to fully leave.

Do you suffer from SAD? Special offer

Contact me in the next 30 days and I will give you 50% off your initial appointment.  This is a savings of nearly $150 dollars.  Homeopathy is worth every penny at any price!  So give a shout today - 206.523.9000 is the clinic number.  Or you can go online to my website at www.homeopathyseattle.com and book an appointment there.

The remedy of the month - China Officinalis

China has such an interesting and fascinating history as it is the first remedy that Hahnemann proved on himself, yet there is so much more about this plant.  China is a member of the Rubiaceae family which also includes the coffee plant. The family is concentrated in the tropics and subtropics with some species represented in the temperate regions and even in the Arctic and Antarctic.

The family is rich in chemical constituents of potential biodynamic activity – esp. emetic type alkaloids, principles that cause vomiting – a close relative botanically and homeopathically is Ipecac – which is famous for its treatment of nausea and vomiting. China Officinalis is a tree that is indigenous to the eastern slopes of Amazonian area of the Andes where they grow between 1500 to 3000 metres in elevation. It is now cultivated widely in other places for its commercial value.

The name comes from a local Peruvian word "Quinaquina", meaning “the bark of barks”. Legend has it that the name Cinchona comes from the Countess of Chinchon, the wife of the viceroy of Peru, who was cured of malarial fever in about 1638 by a tribal witch doctor (who the viceroy subsequently appointed as the royal physician). At this time the Jesuits brought the herb to prominence in Europe. It was known as “Jesuit’s powder” and was used for malarial fever that was sweeping Europe in the 1600 and 1700’s. There was in fact a schism over the use of the herb based on the polarizing religious movements of the day. Because this “Jesuit’s powder” was associated with Catholicism it was banned, reviled and marched against in predominantly Protestant countries like England. The English felt this was a sort of ‘Popish plot’ against them and thought it was an insidious poison which the Jesuits had brought to Europe for the purpose of exterminating all those who had thrown off their allegiance to Rome. Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658) died from malaria after refusing “the powder of the devil”. However, it’s popularity rose when King Charles II was cured of swamp fever by one Sir Robert Talbor, who openly denounced the Jesuit potion, yet secretly used it as the main ingredient of his formula. After Talbor’s death, the formula was renamed the “English remedy” thus increasing it’s use in Great Britain.

Today Malaria is still quite a killer, causing 2.7 million deaths a year and a staggering amount of chronic ill health. In the past, major efforts were ramped up to eradicate Malaria and for some years it nearly worked. However, mosquitos and parasites are smart and have developed resistence to the insecticides and drugs.

Quinine is one of the main chemical constituents, the primary alkaloid of Cinchona. It is fatal in 2 to 8 grams effecting the central nervous system. It is used in the food industry (at much smaller doses, of course!) for production of quinine water, tonic water, and as a bitter additive e.g. bitter lemon. It is also used in sunscreen, hair tonics and serves as a flavoring agent in numerous over the counter cold and headache remedies. 30 to 50% of quinine is converted to quinidine, a prescription antiarrhythmic drug.

The first idea of the doctrine of homeopathy seems to have entered Hahnemann’s mind in the year 1790, while he was engaged in translating Cullen’s Herbal Materia Medica into German. Cullen’s idea was that China worked because of its bitter and tonic influence on the stomach. Many sources claim the benefit of Cinchona is strengthening, but not curative, when the treatment is discontinued the patient suffers more attacks of malaria several weeks later. Hahnemann was quite astute in his observation, “How can they ever imagine that they can strengthen a sick person whilst he is still suffering from his disease, the source of his weakness?...it is no doubt true that by the first doses of bark the strength if the patient, be he ever so ill, is increased for a few hours; he is able to raise himself up in bed all alone, as if by a miracle; he wants to get out of bed and put on his clothes; all at once he speaks in a stronger more resolute manner, venturing to walk alone, and grows animated, eagerly desires to eat this or that, but a careful accurate observer easily sees that this excitation is only an unnatural tension. A few hours pass and patient sinks back, sinks deeper into his disease, and the fatal result is often accelerated…strength cannot be materially poured into the organism by a decoction of china.” 

From this Hahnemann began testing the effects of Cinchona on himself in a healthy state and the medicine produced symptoms similar to those with malaria or intermittent fever. Once he stopped the test the symptoms disappeared. His concept of the Law of Similars (like cures like) came to him and he began to dilute the amounts of Cinchona to the infinitesimal and gave it to those suffering from malaria and got curative responses.

excerpted from "Prisma" by Frans Vermulans.

Homeopathic Uses: 

"the China person is introverted, intense and touchy.  This combination of sensitivity, idealism, and extreme touchiness makes China a useful remedy for teenagers.  This excitibility is sometimes expressed by a 'Walter Mitty' tedency ~ at night the patient lies sleepless with fantasies of heroic deeds or great plans for the future.  He is embarrassed by these thoughts on waking the next day.  China has two classic characteristics:  complaints which follow loss of body fluids (ie hemorrhage, diarrhea, discharge from boils) and periodic fevers."  Roger Morrison, MD.

• Mental/emotional:
  
  Irritable, sensitive, touchy.
  Heroic thoughts in the evening or at night in bed.
  Fear of animals, even domesticated animals. Dogs.
  Gloomy, morose. Depressed. Mood swings.
  Poetic, Artistic, delicate.
  Touchy, moody, sarcastic, idealistic teenagers.
  Contact – avoids superficial contact, wants only deep contacts.
  Thinks all the time, mind is teeming with ideas.
  Quality – desires the best things.
  Things seem unattractive.
  Full and plans and ideas, esp at night.
  Sleeplessness from activity of the mind.
  Delusion he is unfortunate; the world is hostile.
  Threat – violent impulses.
  
  Generals:
  
  Fluid loss aggravates – hemorrhage, diarrhea, nursing, pus, etc.
  Periodicity, esp every two of seven days.
  Worse from foggy or cold, damp weather.
  Aggravation in the autumn.
  Aggravation from touch.
  Better from hard pressure.
  Aversion to touch, esp light touch.
  Anemia.
  
  Head:
  
  Headache ameliorated from hard pressure.
  Neuralgic type headache.
  Bitter taste in mouth.
  
  Gastrointestinal:
  
  Bloated, distended, flatulent but with no relief from eructation or expelling of gas.
  Gallbladder disease. Gallbladder colic.
  Frequent rumbling, eructation, and flatus.
  Diarrhea worse from fish, fruit, milk. Colitis.
  Cramping – bending double ameliorates.
  Hepatitis. Gastritis. Anorexia.
  Craves: sweets.
  
  Genitalia:
  
  Bloody leucorrhea.
  Severe dysmenorrhea.
  
  Chest:
  
  Asthma in the fall.
  Bronchitis. Pneumonia.
  
  Extremeties:

             Skin sensitive or painful during fever

             Sleep:

             Insomnia from excited thoughts and heroic fantasies.
             Insomnia, sleep disturbed by slight noises.

             Fever:

             Periodic fever, malaria, even family history of malaria. 
             Chills, rigors alternating with heat.

Excerpted from "Desktop Guide to Keynotes and Confirmatory Symptoms" by Roger Morrison, MD, and "Prisma" by Frans Vermulans.

Comments / Feedback

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