According to Samuel Hahnemann, the founder of homeopathy, when two dissimilar diseases meet within the body, they do not cure each other. Instead, they may either repel each other, suppress one another, or coexist, forming a complex disease. Hahnemann details this in his “Organon of Medicine,” particularly in Aphorisms 36 to 42. Here’s a detailed exploration of the three possibilities that occur when dissimilar diseases interact:
1. Repulsion (Aphorism § 36)
Explanation:
When the older disease is stronger than the newer disease, the newer disease is repelled and prevented from establishing itself in the body. The stronger, pre-existing disease dominates, keeping the weaker, newer disease out.
Examples:
- Chronic Disease and Acute Infection: A person suffering from a chronic illness, such as a severe chronic skin condition, might not be affected by a simple seasonal dysentery or mild epidemic.
- Historical Observations:
- Dr. Larry noted that the plague of Levant did not affect areas where scurvy was prevalent, and eczema sufferers were not affected by the plague.
- Jenner observed that children with rickets were not successfully vaccinated.
- Von Hilden observed that patients with pulmonary consumption were not affected by mild epidemic fevers.
These examples illustrate that a stronger, pre-existing disease can prevent a newer, weaker disease from taking hold.
2. Suppression (Aphorism § 38)
Explanation:
When the newer disease is stronger, it can suppress the older, weaker disease. The stronger disease temporarily overshadows the older one, which resurfaces once the stronger disease has run its course.
Examples:
- Epilepsy and Ringworm: Dr. Tulpius observed that children with epilepsy remained seizure-free while they had ringworm. Once the ringworm was treated, epilepsy returned.
- Itch and Scurvy: Schopf noted that a case of itch disappeared when the patient contracted scurvy. The itch reappeared after the scurvy was cured.
- Pulmonary Phthisis and Typhoid: Pulmonary phthisis symptoms were controlled during a violent typhoid attack but resurfaced once typhoid was cured.
- Measles and Smallpox: When measles occurred in a child already suffering from smallpox, measles suppressed smallpox. Once measles ran its course, smallpox reappeared, and vice versa.
- Scarlatina and Cowpox: Similarly, scarlatina (scarlet fever) and cowpox suppress each other, with the suppressed disease reappearing after the dominant one subsides.
- Hahnemann’s Observations: Hahnemann himself observed that mumps (angina parotidea) disappeared during cowpox inoculation but reappeared once cowpox was resolved.
Allopathic treatments often create strong medicinal diseases that suppress the natural disease. However, once the medicinal effects wear off, the natural disease resurfaces, indicating that suppression does not equate to a cure.
3. Formation of a Complex Disease (Aphorism § 40)
Explanation:
When two diseases of equal strength meet, they can coexist in the body, each occupying different organs or tissues, forming a complex or “double” disease. This results in a more complicated and often incurable condition.
Examples:
- Psoric and Venereal Diseases: When psoric eruptions (associated with scabies) appear, venereal syphilitic symptoms might be controlled initially, but eventually, both diseases coexist, each affecting different parts of the body.
- Smallpox and Measles: There are rare cases where smallpox and measles coexist in the same patient.
- Cowpox and Other Diseases: Instances of cowpox coexisting with measles and purpura have been reported.
- Cowpox and Syphilis: Dr. Jenner observed cowpox occurring successfully in a patient under mercurial treatment for syphilis, with both diseases present simultaneously.
- Long-term Allopathic Treatments: Prolonged use of allopathic medicines can lead to a complex disease where the medicinal disease joins the natural miasmatic disease, making the patient’s condition more severe and difficult to cure.
In conclusion, when dissimilar diseases meet in the body, they either repel, suppress, or coexist, forming a complex disease. This interaction underscores the homeopathic principle that only a similar disease can truly cure another, as dissimilar diseases can only complicate the patient’s condition further.
