The great philosopher Dr Kent has given 12 observation based on his experiences and knowledge, which includes favorable and unfavorable prognosis observations. Symptoms always guide the physician in making observation.
First observation
“Prolonged aggravation and then final decline of the patient”
Example:
A person is suffering from last stage of liver Cirrhosis, and if physician will prescribe deep acting antipsoric remedy than it will give prolong aggravation with no relief to patient, it will lead to death of patient.
Inference:
- Physician’s mistake as the case is incurable and medicine selection is not proper
- Potency is too high
- Vital reaction is impossible, as vital force is weak.
Steps to be taken:
- Antidote the remedy immediately
- If not, it will lead to death.
Lesson to learn:
- Case is incurable and doubtful
- Do not use higher potency
- Never repeat dose frequently
- Start treatment with very low potency
- Do not give deep acting antipsoric remedy
Second observation
“Long aggravation with final slow improvement”
- Diseases is curable, the pathological changes are not so advanced.
- Vital force is still in the form of reactive stage, hence < lasted for a long time with slow improvement
Example:
Patient is suffering from chronic amoebic dysentery since 3 years after administration of medicine in second visit the patient explain sir after taking your medicine my condition was worse but before 1 day it started improving finally.
Steps to be taken:
- Do not disturb till the action of dose gets completed.
- Do not repeat dose regularly.
Third observation
“The aggravation is quick, short and strong with rapid improvement of the patient”
- Remedy is correct.
- The reaction of the economy is vigorous.
- No tendency of structural changes in vital organs.
- Homeopathic aggravation only occurs in superficial organs, vital organs are not involved.
Example:
- After administration of medicine for case of hemicrania in second visit the patient explained, after taking medication in the same day the intensity of my head pain was increased suddenly but after a few hours the pain is reducing in intensity and l am feeling better and better. This occurs due to homeopathic aggravation of medicine.
Steps to be taken:
- Wait and watch
- Do not repeat the remedy.
Lesson:
- This type of cure brings long lasting improvement in the patient
- It starts its action,
- Acute case: after few hours.
- Chronic case: after few days.
Fourth observation
“No aggravation with recovery of patient”
- Acute: very good and cure takes place without suffering.
- Chronic: physician is in doubt and difficult to judge whether remedy is acting curative or not.
Example:
- Acute: A person was suffering from fever. After administration of medicine patient explained that, after talking medicine my condition is improving and improving and I feeling better.
- Chronic: The physician expects slightly Homoeopathic aggravation. So, if the patient will tell that I am getting relief and relief then physician has to enquire, whether the case is curative or palliative. This thing may also happen in incurable cases, So physician should correlate with investigation report. If it is correlated. Then it is good observation.
Inference:
- The remedy and potency exactly fitted the case.
- Disease is not deeply seated.
Steps to be taken:
- Do not disturb the action of medicine
- Do not repeat dose.
Lesson to be taken:
- Highest ideal of cure
- Yet physician wishes to get slight homeopathic aggravation in the beginning.
Fifth observation
“Amelioration comes first and aggravation comes afterwards”
- Remedy has acted superficially and had palliated the condition.
Example:
A person is suffering from headache, after prescribing medicine, patient feels ameliorated but after few days patient complains of severe headache, so the complains gets aggravated after amelioration. In incurable diseases physician has to prescribed palliative remedy to give short term relief to patient as cure is impossible.
Inference:
Remedy has an error,
- Either the remedy just palliates the condition, as it covers most of symptoms but did not cover the whole case. (constitution of patient is not covered)
- Either the patient is an incurable one, and the remedy was somewhat suitable.
Steps to be taken:
Retake the case in detail, bad more similar medicine should be prescribed.
- In incurable case, palliate condition.
Sixth observation
“Too short relief of symptoms”
- In this case, initially the patient reports that he been doing well and improving, but after a long gap he way complain “I have been running down”.
- There may be some obstacles to cure.
- Patient may have done something to interrupt the action of the remedy. E.g. Drinking, smoking, fumes of ammonia, or some food which act as maintaining cause for patient.
Example:
If a person is suffering from insomnia, after administration of remedy, patient will feel relief but after sometime when patient has taken strong coffee (which is an obstacle to cure) he will complain that “I have been running down”.
Steps to be taken:
- Find out the cause of obstacles and remove it.
- In acute case: medicine repeated with intervals, in this prognosis may be good
- In chronic case: pathologically advanced one or structural changes have taken place in the patient.
Seventh observation
“A full time amelioration of symptoms yet no special relief to the patient”
- Patient does not improve above a stage due to lack of vital organ.
- The remedy act favorably, patient is not cure and will never be cure, patient is palliated in this instance.
Example:
If a person has only one kidney, and has any disease than after administration of remedy patient will feel ameliorated but up to certain limit. Patient is incurable and hence only palliation can be done, not cure.
Steps to be taken:
- Palliate the condition.
- Lesson to learn:
- In some latent condition, cure is not possible and palliation is suitable.
Eight observation
“Some patients prove every remedy they get”
- Idio-one’s own, syn- along with, crasy – constitution.
- Hysterical, oversensitive, idiosyncratic patient.
- They prove every symptoms of remedy, great prover when higher potency of medicine is prescribed.
Example:
If a person is idiosyncratic and after administration of remedy for asthma, he starts to prove every symptoms of that medicine, and homeopathic aggravation of medicine occurs so patient condition will become severe. In this condition after individualization of patient, very low potency of similar remedy should be prescribed.
Inference:
- They are incurable.
- Idiosyncrasy are of two types:
- Inherent
- Acquired
Lesson to learn:
- If a person is found to be idiosyncratic to one substance, the same substance in high potency can be used to cure idiosyncrasy.
- They are useful for drug proving.
- 30 -200 potency should be prescribed in acute case after individualization.
Ninth observation
“Action of medicine upon provers”
Inference:
Proving always benefits healthy provers, if they are properly conducted.
Steps to be taken:
- Observe carefully the constitutional state of an individual about to become a prover, write this down and substract them from the proving.
- These symptoms will not very commonly appear during the proving, if they do note the change in them.
Tenth observation
“New symptoms appearing after the remedy”
Medicinal aggravation occurs, patient starts to have symptoms of medicine given in Materia Medica.
Example:
A patient is suffering from rheumatoid arthritis and after administration of non- similar remedy, patient complains of headache and other symptoms due to medicinal aggravation, in this condition patients suffers from mixed symptoms of disease as well as medicine. In this condition physician has to retake case properly and should prescribed most similar remedy, after the symptoms of medicine passes off.
Inference:
- The prescription is not right.
- Physician’s mistake in making prescription.
Steps to be taken:
- If the symptoms are not of serious nature, wait till the new symptoms pass off, then select another most similar remedy after taking proper detail case.
- If the symptoms are serious and life threatening, immediately antidote the medicine.
- Another most similar medicine is to be selected after fresh case taking.
Lesson to learn:
The first prescription has to be made carefully based on the entire totality of symptoms.
Eleventh observation
“When old symptoms are observed to reappear”
- Disease is curable, cure is inevitable.
Example:
After administration of medicine in second visit if the patient explained sir, I am getting relief from my asthmatic complaints but now skin eruptions are appearing in which I was suffering before 5 years and cured by Allopathic medicine.
It followed the Herring’s law of cure. The case is curable and prognosis is good.
Inference:
- Correct medicine is administered
- The old symptoms return and reappear after administration of medicine.
- It follows Hering’s law of cure.
- Cure from inward to outward.
- Cure from above to downward.
- Cure form most important organ to least important organ.
- Cure in reverse order of their appearance.
Steps to be taken:
- If old symptoms appear and goes off, medicine should not be repeated.
- If old symptoms reappear and stay then a repetition of the dose is necessary.
Twelfth observation
“Symptoms take wrong direction”
Example:
If medicine is prescribed for a rheumatism of knee, it produces instant relief to joint but at the cost of distress to internal organs like heart and spine etc. In such condition it indicates the transfer of symptoms from periphery to center. Hence cure does not takes place, instead suppression occurs.
Inference:
- Medicine given is wrong.
- Prognosis is bad.
Steps to be taken:
Antidote immediately, otherwise structural changes would take place at the new site.
Lesson to learn:
- Remedy must always be selected based on characteristic symptoms
- Always consider patient as whole.
- Cure should always take place according to Hering’s law of cure.
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