Homoeopathic System Of Medicine Research Articles

Hidden Potential of Natural Herb Carissa Carandas (Karonda)

Carissa carandas (F. Apocynaceae) is an important fruit commonly known as Karonda ‘Christ’s thorn’ which grows wild in bushes. Carissa carandas is a useful food and medicinal plant of India, found to be widely distributed throughout subtropical and topical regions. The plant has been used as a traditional medicinal plant over thousands of years in the Ayurvedic, Unani, and Homoeopathic system of medicine. The major bioactive constituents, which impart medicinal value to the herb, are alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins and large amounts of cardiac glycosides, triterpenoids, phenolic compounds and tannins. Roots were reported to contain volatile principles including 2-acetyl phenol, lignan, carinol, sesquiterpenes (carissone, carindone), lupeol, β-sitosterol, 16β-hydroxybetulinic acid, α-amyrin, β-sitosterol glycoside, and des-N-methylnoracronycine, whereas leaves were reported to contain triterpenoid constitutes as well as tannins. While, fruits have been reported to contain carisol, epimer of α-amyrin, linalool, β-caryophyllene, carissone, carissic acid, carindone, ursolic acid, carinol, ascorbic acid, lupeol, and β-sitosterol. Traditionally the plant has been used in the treatment of scabies, intestinal worms, pruritus, biliousness and also used as antiscorbutic, anthelmintic. The notable biological activities reported are analgesic, anti inflammatory, anti pyretic, cardiotonic and histamine releasing. This review has been written to presents a detailed survey of the literature on phytochemistry, traditional and biologically evaluated medicinal uses of C. carandas to promote safe and effective herbal treatments to cure a number of diseases.

Homoeopathic pathogenetic trial of Withania somnifera: A multicentric, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial

Background: Homoeopathic drug proving being the first step in finding the pathogenetic powers of a drug is an integral part of Homoeopathic system of medicine. Objective: To elicit the pathogenetic response of Withania somnifera in homoeopathic potencies on healthy human provers. Materials and Methods: A multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was conducted at four centres under Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy. Proving was conducted on 63 relatively healthy provers. All the provers were given 12 doses of placebo divided into 4 doses/day for 3 days during the first phase of the trial. After randomisation, 43 provers in the intervention group were given W. somnifera in 6C and 30C potencies in two phases. In the placebo group, 20 provers were administered unmedicated globules. The symptoms and signs manifested during the trial were noted down by the provers, elaborated by the proving masters and the data compilation on W. somnifera was done at proving-cum-data processing cell. Results: Out of 43 provers who were on actual drug trial, only 15 provers manifested 39 symptoms. The symptoms have been manifested predominantly in 30C potency. Among the objective findings, the drug has shown its effect on kidney, ovaries and helminthic infestation. Conclusion: The pathogenetic response elicited during this trial expands the scope of the use of W. somnifera and needs to be further validated by clinical verification study.

A multicentric, double-blind randomized, homoeopathic pathogenetic trial of Allium sativum

Background: Homoeopathic drug proving is an integral part of Homoeopathic System of Medicine. It is the first step in finding out the pathogenetic powers of a drug. Objective: To elicit the pathogenetic response to Allium sativum in homoeopathic potencies on healthy human provers. Materials and Methods: A multi-center randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial was conducted at two centers of the Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy (CCRH). Proving was conducted on 33 healthy provers after the pretrial medical examination. All the provers were given 12 doses of placebo divided in 4 doses/day for 3 days during the first phase of the trial. After randomization, in the intervention group (21 provers), Allium sativum (A. sativum) was proved in 6C and 30C potencies, in two phases. In the placebo group, 12 provers were administered placebo in the same manner. The symptoms manifested during the trial period were noted down by the provers and then elaborated by the proving masters. The generated data on A. sativum were then compiled and analyzed at proving-cum-data processing cell at CCRH headquarters. Results: Out of 21 provers who were on actual drug trial, only nine provers manifested symptoms. Drug was able to manifest symptoms in both the potencies, in more or less every part of the body. Conclusion: The pathogenetic response elicited during the proving trial expands the scope of use of the drug A. sativum and will benefit the research scholars and clinicians. The generated symptoms of this drug will carry more value when verified clinically.

Pharmacognostic study of Chamaecyparis lawsoniana (Murr.) Parl.: A drug used in Homoeopathy

The pharmacognostic profile of crude drug has a key role in standardization for quality, purity and drug identification. The present study deals with pharmacognostic evaluation of aerial part of Chamaecyparis lawsoniana (Murr.) Parl. a drug used in homoeopathic system of medicine for diverse clinical uses such as terrible pain in stomach, tumors, keloid, warts and lipoma of thigh. The study includes collection, identification, macroscopy, microscopy and organoleptic characteristics of aerial part of Chamaecyparis lawsoniana. Anatomically the leaf is distinguishable into a layer of the epidermis followed by parenchymatous mesophyll and resin duct in the parenchymatous cortex. Powder microscopy shows the presence of epidermal cells, parenchymatous cells and tracheids. These observations may be used as pharmacopoeial standards for identification of Cha maecyparis lawsoniana.

English

The homeopathic system of medicine has attained ample attentiveness being one of the premium systems of cure accessible to mankind, and lingers to hold the awareness of remedial publications and the correspondence at the same time. The foremost superlative of cure is swift, undeviating refurbishment of health or inhibitive of the disease in its entire scope, most trustworthy and non detrimental way. The probable means of their accomplishments seem conflicting by way of conformist procedural deliberation and the investigation corroboration for which leftovers are arguable. Mother tinctures are liquid preparation ensuing from the extraction of an appropriate source that is, animal substance material with alcohol or water mixture within a specific ratio. Adverse events taking place during homeopathic treatment are seldom accredited to the homeopathic medicine itself. Nevertheless, sanctuary appraisal should also deem possible impurities of the source material or contagion and failures of good manufacturing practice. This is the first study conducted in Pakistan to appraise the physical and chemical parameters of five frequently accessible mother tinctures that is, Aconitum napellus, Arnica montana, Bryonia alba, Atropa belladonna and Matricaria chamomilla, and manufactured by five confined leading companies by employing customary methodology for the following specifications that is, alcohol contents, weight/ml, specific gravity and pH. Most of the parameters of mother tinctures comply with German Homoeopathic Pharmacopoeia and manufacturers own specifications. There is dire need to enact law to control the sale, manufacture, storage and export of complementary and alternative medicines at earliest possible time in true letter and spirit, along with the adaptation of good manufacturing practice (GMP), quality control (QC) and quality assurance (QA) guideline.   Key words: Mother tinctures, Aconitum napellus, Arnica montana, Bryonia alba, Atropa belladonna, Matricaria chamomilla, pharmacopoeal specifications.

Micropropagation and Microrhizome Induction in Costus pictus D. Don Using In Vitro and Ex Vitro Nodal Segments as Explant

Costus pictus D. Don is a potent anti-diabetic plant used in folk, ayurvedic and homeopathic system of medicine. Gene and protein expression of key targets in insulin signaling pathway have revealed that methyl tetracosonoate, a bio-active molecule from Costus pictus extract has anti-diabetic activity. The axillary buds of Costus pictus are dormant. The dormancy of axillary buds were broken when cultured in Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 3-4 μM 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) in combination with 0.21 μM naphthalene acetic acid (NAA). The highest bud-break percentage was achieved in those supplemented with 0.6 μM NAA and 3 μM BAP. The sprouted axillary buds were transferred onto medium supplemented with 0.6 μM NAA and 6-10 μM BAP for shoot multiplication. The maximum average number of shoot was achieved in medium supplemented with 0.6 μM NAA and 8 μM BAP. The shoots were successfully rooted when transferred onto media supplemented with 1-12 μM NAA or indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and 3 μM BAP. The maximum number of roots was found in 8 μM NAA and 3 μM BAP. The dormancy of in vitro axillary buds were also successfully broken in stems from which shoot apex were decapitated and cultured in MS medium with 0.6 μM NAA, 7 μM BAP and 5-13% sucrose. These sprouted in vitro axillary buds could be used as secondary explants for shoot multiplication. The maximum was in medium supplemented with 9% sucrose. Rhizomes were successfully induced when 4-month old plantlets were cultured on 1⁄2 strength MS medium supplemented with 2.4 μM NAA, 32 μM BAP and 5-13% sucrose. Microrhizomes formed in 9% sucrose was largest in size with highest average fresh weight.

TLC Determination of Strychnine and Brucine of Strychnos nux vomica in Ayurveda and Homeopathy Drugs

Strychnos nux vomica is an important plant source for drugs of ayurvedic and homeopathic system of medicine. In this paper a thin layer chromatographic (TLC) method has been developed for the quantitative estimation of the two major alkaloids strychnine and brucine in the plant fruit and in ayurvedic and homeopathic drugs. Chloroform–ethyl acetate–diethyl amine (0.5:8.5:1) as mobile phase gave clear separation with no interference between the bioactive markers. The R f values for strychnine and brucine were 0.55 and 0.42. The TLC method was found to be precise, rugged, robust and accurate with recovery of strychnine in the range 93.11–99.82% and brucine 96.95–99.48%. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) for strychnine were 1.9 and 8.25 ng and for brucine 2.2 and 9.2 ng respectively.

Where does homeopathy fit in pharmacy practice?

Homeopathy has been the cause of much debate in the scientific literature with respect to the plausibility and efficacy of homeopathic preparations and practice. Nonetheless, many consumers, pharmacists, physicians, and other health care providers continue to use or practice homeopathic medicine and advocate its safety and efficacy. As drug experts, pharmacists are expected to be able to counsel their patients on how to safely and effectively use medications, which technically includes homeopathic products. Yet many pharmacists feel that the homeopathic system of medicine is based on unscientific theories that lack supporting evidence. Since consumers continue to use homeopathic products, it is necessary for pharmacists to have a basic knowledge of homeopathy and to be able to counsel patients about its general use, the current state of the evidence and its use in conjunction with other medications.

A neural network based clinical decision-support system for efficient diagnosis and fuzzy-based prescription of gynecological diseases using homoeopathic medicinal system

As the analysis and diagnosis of gynecological diseases, especially using the homoeopathic system of medicine, gets more and more complicated, it becomes important for us to develop a decision-support system which can help a gynecologist analyze and prescribe medicines for such diseases with fewer errors. The prescription of a medicine for a gynecological disease, according to the homoeopathic system of medicine, is based on various modalities or symptoms of the disease. A medicine cannot be prescribed just by knowing the disease as is done in the case of the allopathic system of medicine or the general system of medicine. It becomes very difficult to take into account so many modalities while prescribing a medicine. A clinical decision-support system for gynecological diseases using the homoeopathic system of medicine for comprehensive diagnosis is extremely rare to find. The aim of this project is to develop a decision-support system, which will suggest a medicine for a gynecological disease based on the primary and secondary symptoms of the disease. The knowledge base of experts in this field has been utilized to develop this decision-support system. The decision-support system is based on the neural network concept. The rules for the decision-making are generated by combining a few neurons. The multi-layered weight-oriented feed forward neural network structure of the decision-support system makes it more robust, error-free and easy to program. This decision-support system, developed using Turbo prolog, will help a gynecologist to select the medicine of a particular gynecological disease quickly, easily and precisely. The primary symptoms help to evaluate a tentative medicine and the secondary symptoms confirm this tentative medicine. Fuzzy-type decision-making is used while analyzing the various symptoms.

Adding women to the ranks, 1860-1890: a new view with a homeopathic lens.

Adding Women to the Ranks, 1860–1890: A New View with a Homeopathic Lens Anne Taylor Kirschmann* (bio) At the 1869 annual meeting of the American Institute of Homeopathy (AIH), George W. Swazey opened discussion of “the woman question” with a formal motion. Two years before, a woman’s application for membership had been denied by a close vote; now, he said, with no “particular lady” in the equation, his colleagues should decide the “abstract question” rather than have it “hang over us year after year.” 1 And in his opinion, the question of women’s rights had nothing to do with it: “The question is whether, after having encouraged women to enter the profession, educated them, taken their money, permitted them to practice, and fraternized with them, we shall now debar them from the privilege of our larger Institutions.” 2 [End Page 429] Like Swazey, most homeopathic physicians acknowledged women’s important role in the growth of homeopathic medicine and its appeal among middle- and upper-class patients by the last third of the century. The president of the AIH, Ruben Ludlam, dedicated his keynote speech to the “mutual relations” between women and the homeopathic system of medicine, countering the claims of some health reformers that the entire male sex had trampled the rights of women under their feet. Ludlam asserted that homeopathic physicians should be exempted from the wholesale denunciation because they had been the “servants” of women and had “labored mightily” for their well-being by turning the tide of popular opinion against the “pernicious habit of overdosing and maltreating female patients”; in return, “many a woman, armed with her little stock of remedies, has converted an entire community.” 3 As Ludlam put it, all the opposition and ridicule of regular physicians amounted to nothing against the “settled reliance of the women of this and other countries upon the merits of homoeopathy.” 4 Driving the point home, he claimed: “And if they are for us, who can be against us?” 5 Along with hydropathy and the botanical systems of Thomsonianism and eclecticism, homeopathy’s benign therapeutics appealed to a populace increasingly repelled by the heroic therapeutics of bleeding, purging, puking, and large doses of noxious drugs. However, in contrast to the antiprofessional ethos of hydropaths and Thomsonians, homeopaths developed an occupational and institutional structure analogous to that of the regular profession. Eclectics established a similar professional culture, but homeopaths were greater in number and institutional strength, occupied higher socioeconomic positions in many locales, and attracted more affluent patients (especially in urban areas of the Northeast). 6 Homeopathy also appeared more scientific than other systems. [End Page 430] According to one historian, regular physicians’ efforts to achieve orderliness and numerical precision in choosing drugs and predicting their physiological effects seemed “bumbling and feeble” compared with homeopathy’s “scientific” methodology and experimental pharmacology. 7 For most of the century, furthermore, the goal of the homeopathic profession was not simply to provide therapeutic alternatives, but to completely revolutionize American medicine—an ideology of reform linking it to radical political, religious, and social change more broadly. As Naomi Rogers argues, homeopathy’s association with progressive social reform, especially women’s rights, was an important source of its popularity among women. 8 Perhaps the ideological and numerical minority status of homeopaths made them more sensitive to the struggles of other marginal groups. The early acceptance of women by certain homeopathic medical societies and colleges, as opposed to their more difficult entry into “regular” medicine, does, indeed, suggest an ideological commitment to women’s rights. But the apparent liberality of homeopaths also served the needs of the profession. As I will show, local political, social, and professional factors were powerful influences on decisions to admit women to homeopathic as well as regular medical societies. A comparison of the controversies over women’s admission to the American Medical Association and the American Institute of Homoeopathy, in addition to regular and homeopathic medical societies in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, will reveal that—more than reform ideology—competitive and antagonistic relations between homeopaths [End Page 431] and regulars, as well as divisiveness within the homeopathic profession itself, affected debates and decisions on women’s admission. Women physicians...