General Pathology, as described by Stuart Close, encompasses a comprehensive understanding of disease processes, their origins, mechanisms, and manifestations. Before Close’s elucidation, pathology involved the detailed examination of the body, including dissection and specific malady inquiries, dating back to antiquity.
Close’s insights revolutionized the field by synthesizing analyses from special pathology, focusing on principles, theories, explanations, and the classification of facts. Homoeopathic general pathology pertains to chronic diseases and diverges from conventional medicine in interpreting and applying fundamental scientific principles.
In Close’s view, life is a substantive, objective entity, while disease primarily manifests as a morbid dynamical or functional disturbance of the vital principle. He emphasizes the role of living micro-organisms in causing infectious diseases and highlights the individualized nature of treatment in homoeopathy.
Close introduces the concept of miasms, emphasizing their infectious, contagious nature and categorizing diseases based on miasmal origins. He discusses the doctrine of latency, wherein diseases exhibit external manifestations while retaining fundamental characteristics. Close correlates metastasis with the embolism of tumour cells or parasites in the vascular system.
Identifying similarities between psora and tuberculosis, Close elaborates on the toxicological theory of disease, emphasizing the role of external agents in disrupting the vital force. He underscores the similia principle as the foundation of cure in homoeopathy, emphasizing the symptomatic likeness of drugs to diseases.
Close warns against overdosing and frequent remedy changes, advocating for the cessation of drug use and recommending high potency drugs as antidotes. Overall, Close’s contributions to general pathology emphasize the holistic understanding of disease processes and the individualized approach to treatment in homoeopathy.
