FUNDAMENTALS OF HOMEOTHERAPEUTICS

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Title
FUNDAMENTALS OF HOMEOTHERAPEUTICS
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Fundamentals

of

Homeotherapeutics
PARTI
By

M.D.,

WyrthPost Baker,
F.A.C.P., D-HT.

FUNDAMENTALS OF HOMEOTHERAPEUTICS
PART I
Wyrth Post Baker, M.D.,
M.H.D., F.A.C.P., D-HT.

THIS HANDBOOK ON THE FUNDAMENTALS
OF HOMEOTHERAPEUTICS IS ONE OF A
SERIES OF EDUCATIONAL PUBLICATIONS. IT
REPRESENTS THE OPINIONS AND VIEW OF
ITS AUTHOR. FUNDS TO PRINT THIS PUBLICA­
TION WERE PROVIDED BY THE AMERICAN
ACADEMY OF HOMEOTHERAPEUTICS, AMER­
ICAN INSTITUTE OF HOMEOPATHY.
© Wyrth Post Baker, M.D., M.H.D., F.A.C.P., D-HT.

Man has always expended a large portion of his
time, effort and resources in the search for those
methods by which he can assure the health of the
mass and the individual by preventive means and
when ill to hasten and facilitate the individual’s re­
covery.
A multitude of “pathies” and methods founded
on fear, belief and more or less “scientific prin­
ciples” have made their appearance, gained transient
acceptance, and usually been abandoned often to
reappear in the future under some other name or
description.
Hippocrates first suggested that supcrimposition
of a similar illness upon an existing pathological
process might in some way assist the body to re­
cover from the first existing disease. Paracelsus and
Stoerck expressed a similar thought. In 1796 Hahne­
mann proposed a methodology of therapeutics
based on the Principle of Similars.
From these concepts has evolved a scientifically
oriented methodology which, when consistently and
precisely applied has proven itself to be effective in
a significant proportion of cases in which it has been
employed according to prescribed standards. As in
the case of every therapeutic method the objective
of this methodology is the selection of the most
effective therapeutic agent in the least time.
The ensuing catechism provides a brief outline
of the concepts of health, disease and recovery
which are consistent with the methodology of
Homeotherapeutics as it employs the Principle of
Similars.
I. Define Homeotherapeutics
Homeotherapeutics is a methodology em­
ployed in the maintenance or restoration of
health which is based on the Principle of
Sirtiilars: Similia Similibus Curantur.
2. What is the place of Homeotherapeutics in
the medical-surgical community?

3.

4.

5.

6.

It is a specialty in the field of medicine an
phcable in those disorders which do not re
quire definitive therapy of some other
nature such as surgery and specialized care
Even in these cases it may serve as a useful
adjunct to hasten recovery.
What is the Principle of Similars?
This concept is that disorders of the organism:
(a) are characterized by the appearance of
certain symptoms;
(b) that introduction of a similar disease
with a similar symptom complex may
stimulate the process of homeostasis
leading to recovery from the first
disease;
(c) that introduction of a drug-induced
iatrogenic disorder of controlled degree
in similar manner may actuate the
homeostatic process with return to nor­
mal health.
What is homeostasis?
Homeostasis is a property of the living
organism which operates to maintain a state
of health and which, when sickness does
occur, makes the major contribution toward
recovery. All organ systems are integrated
by automatic adjustments to keep within
narrow limits disturbances excited by or in­
directly resulting from changes in the sur­
roundings of the organism. Ecology is the
study of the environmental relations of
organisms.
Is homeostasis essential to maintenance of
health and recovery from illness?
Yes. The entire process of life, maintenance
of health, recovery from illness and adapta­
tion to environment — ecology — depends
on the ability of the regulating mechanism
to maintain its homeostatic ability.
What is the basis for this concept?
Medicine in general or in special fields con
sists of a study of similars; i.e., a comparison
and tabulation or statistical analysis of simi­
lar states. Grouping of symptoms into a

complex supported by consistent physical
findings and related laboratory data leads to
a diagnostic entity when compared with
similar diagnostic entities and data obtained
from similar studies.
7. How is the physiological process influenced
by stimuli?
Rudolph Arndt (1835-1900) stated certain
concepts of physiology:
1. Weak stimuli excite physiological action.
2. Moderate stimuli favor it.
3. Strong stimuli retard the action or abol­
ish it altogether.
These concepts, when applied by Schultz to
the effects of drug administration, became
known as the Arndt-Schultz Law.
8. How does this law apply to the use of drugs?
Medicine in general makes use of the middle
area of drug action; i.e., the physiological or
pharmacological effect. Homeotherapeutics
employes the minimum dose, i.e., follows
the rule that weak stimuli tend to excite or
actuate biological reaction, with resultant in­
tensification of homeostasis.
9. What happens when the drug is administered
in the minimum dose according to the Prin­
ciple of Similars?
Briefly, the irritable fibers of the nervous
system at the point of entry appreciate the
presence of the drug from a momentary con­
tact as a result of which impulses are set in
motion which are transported over and
through the nervous system to involve the
entire organism. These mechanisms are pre­
programmed, their patterns having been well
established as a result of millenia of evolu­
tion, and require only initiation to realize
their potential. Thus, this concept of Similia
teaches that, as a pharmacotherapeutic ef­
fort to aid in the recovery of health, an
iatrogenic illness is superimposed upon that
of a spontaneous, idiopathic order provided
only that the pathogeneses of the two ill­
nesses be intensely similar both in the gen­
eral and in the particular.

10.

What are the fundamental principles of
Homeotherapeutics?
A. Disease is manifested by symptoms.
B. Knowledge of the biological response to
contact with drugs must be obtained by
experimentation on the normal human
body.
C. The therapeutic application of this prin­
ciple depends on introduction of a simi­
lar, but controlled, iatrogenic illness by
contact with the drug.
D. The selected drug should be adminis­
tered alone and uncombined; the single
remedy.

11.

What basic knowledge must the physician
possess?
A. The objective of treatment is restoration
of normal health in a prompt, mild and
permanent manner with avoidance of
iatrogenic side effects.
B. He must be able to recognize this
patient’s body in health and disease.
C. He must try to determine whether the
disease process is reversible.
D. He must know what particular thera­
peutic modality may assist recovery.
E. He must know the probable nature of
this body’s reaction to the medicine he
employs.
F. He must be able to recognize idiosyncracy or iatrogenic symptoms as they ap­
pear.
G. He must recognize whether intensifica­
tion of symptoms is favorable reaction
to the drug or to increased severity of
the disease, or due to the appearance of
iatrogenic illness.
H. Concerning the specific drug, he must
know tire precise indications for the
drug, the optimum dose of this drug, the
effective duration of its effect, when it is
time to repeat the same drug, when to
stop it, and when to change to another
drug.

12.1s diagnosis of the disease essential to accu­
rate and effective prescribing?
A thorough case history supported by rele­
vant and essential laboratory findings is
essential in every properly managed case.
Diagnosis, though not required for accurate
prescription by the homeotherapeutic tech­
nique, is indicated however for determina­
tion of the probable response to treatment
and to justify the use of tills method.
13. Are physical examinations, laboratory, Xray and other diagnostic procedures em­
ployed in Homeotherapeutics?
Every patient should have a complete physi­
cal examination and adequate supporting
diagnostic studies including laboratory and
X-ray tests before employing homeothera­
peutics.
14. What are the three essentials of the homeo­
therapeutic prescription?
A. Prescribing according to the Law of
Similars.
B. Administering the smallest dose that will
actuate homeostasis.
C. The drug should not be repeated as long
as improvement continues.
15. What is the only indication for the selection
of a drug?
The totality of the symptoms found in a
given case.
16. What do we mean by totality of the
symptoms?
The totality of the symptoms consists of all
the symptoms observed in a patient - both
subjective and objective. It is the outwardly
reflected image of the diseased state, and is
the only condition to be recognized for re­
moval of pathology and consequent restora­
tion to health.
17 .In the totality of symptoms are they all of
like importance?
They are not. Symptoms common to various
disease processes or drugs, e.g., nausea, pain,
fever, cough, are of little value in prescribing
by the Principle of Similars. The most prom-

inent, uncommon, rare, strange, peculiar or
mental symptoms of the case should bear
the closest similitude to the symptoms char­
acteristic of the drug. A general symptom —
one which involves the patient as a whole may be a significant guide to the best indi­
cated drug.
18. A s a general rule, which symptoms take pre­
cedence in the selection of a drug and in
determining improvement?
The mental symptoms and those that have
appeared last. Incipient improvement is indi­
cated by increased comfort, greater tran­
quillity and ease of mind, and also disap­
pearance, first, of the more recently devel­
oped symptoms.
19. How are the therapeutic indications for each
drug discovered?
Medical case liistories of accidental poison­
ing. suicide, iatrogenic illness or idiosyncracy provide much useful information. The
only reliable and accurate information of
drug characteristics or “pictures,” however,
is obtained by purposeful experimentation
on healthy human beings. Toxicological and
physiological effects represent course drug
action which do not provide the precise in­
formation supplied by use of the attenuated
dose in human experimentation.
20. What technique is used in this experimenta­
tion?
The so-called double blind method in which
neither the person taking the drug or
placebo nor the person administering the ex­
periment is aware of the drug being studied
until all symptoms of iatrogenic reaction or
idiosyncracy are tabulated. The list of
symptoms produced and accurately de­
scribed as consistently occurring form the
therapeutic picture of the drug.
21.0/ what significance is an increase in sever­
ity of symptoms following administration of
the minimum dose of the indicated drug?
Intensification of any or all symptoms fre­
quently occurs early in the course of re­

covery. It indicates that the irritable nerve
fibers have responded to the presence of the
drug and that the process of homeostasis is
commencing as a result of this contact. It
further indicates that the selection of the
drug has been made correctly.

22.

What is the significance of a recurrence of
symptoms which the patient had expe­
rienced days - weeks - or months before
this illness?
This is a further indication of the proper
selection of the therapeutic agent.

23.

What is the usual sequence of recovery?
Hering stated that recovery following the ad­
ministration of the therapeutic agent accord­
ing to this principle proceeds as follows:
A. From above downward; i.e., from the
mental and emotional symptoms down
through the physical body, from the
head to the feet.
B. From within outward; i.e., symptoms
which are due to changes in the internal
organs are likely to disappear first.
C. In the inverse order of the appearance of
symptoms; i.e., symptoms which have
been noticed more recently may first
disappear followed by recovery from
those symptoms which had been disturb­
ing the patient at an earlier time.

24.

What is the homeo materia medica?
It is a compilation of facts and symptoms
characteristic of these particular drugs when
applied therapeutically in attenuated form.

25.

What is the homeo pharmacopoeia?
This is a book which specifies procedure for
preparation and standardization of drugs ac­
cording to a precise formula for the most
effective use according to the Principle of
Similars.

26.

What different agents are employed and
what are the sources of these drugs?
A. Mineral;
B. Botanical, including herbs, trees,
flowers, roots, tubers, bark, etc.;

C. Animal products, venoms from snakes,
spiders, bees;etc.;
D. Nosodes which are obtained from
diseased animal products such as furan­
cles, carbuncles, tumors, nasal or intes­
tinal secretions.
27. How is the drug identified in a homeotherapeutic agent?
It may or may not be possible to detect the
presence of a drug in an attenuation below
the 12X dilution. Above the 12X dilution, it
is usually impossible to detect the presence
of the drug by present day chemical or phar­
macological techniques.
28. Is there not a pharmacological effect result­
ing from the administration of homeo prepa­
rations? If not, then what does occur?
None whatsoever. There would be a reaction
on the part of the patient under certain spe­
cific conditions and only then. The condi­
tions are that there be a relationship best
described by tire word Similia between the
pathogenesis exhibited by the patient and
the pathogenesis which has been established
as a result of research experimentation on
the drug.
29. What are some of the nosodes which are
used?
Tuberculinum, morbillinum, variolinum,
psorinum, proleus, dysentery, lyssin.
30. What are some of the venoms which arc em­
ployed?
Lachesis, Crotalus, Vipera, Tarentula.

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SUMMARY
Homeotherapeutics, when employed precisely in
accordance with the Principle of Similars, possesses
certain definite advantages over many other
methods in the control and alleviation of disorders
whiclf are amenable to its application.
1. It will at times prevent disease.
2. Once initiated, the process of recovery is
usually progressive, automatic and uncomplicated, may even be abortive. When com;
plicated or phasic a second or even third
prescription may be called for. In such in­
stances a greater skill, experience with and
expertise in the methodology is necessary.
3. Relapse is unusual.
4. Suppression of symptoms with subsequent
appearance of other illnesses may be
avoided.
5. The necessity for frequent use of antibiotics
and toxic chemotherapeutic agents is mini­
mized.
6. Disorders for which no specific medication
exists often respond well to homeotherapeutic agents.
7. The dosage is minimal.
8. Sensitivity reactions or iatrogenic diseases
due to drug administration seldom occur.
9. Toxic manifestation and severe iatrogenic
effects are extremely rare.
10. Fatal poisoning is unheard of.
11. Expense is minimal.
Part II provides more detailed information re­
garding the technique of history taking and drug
selection.

AMERICAN FOUNDATION for HOMOEOPATHY
Harold L. Trexler, M.D., President
Forrest Murphy, President Elect
Henry N. Williams, M.D., Vice President
Rolf L. Meyer, Secretary
Mrs. Edith Barker, Treasurer
Board of Directors
Wyrth Post Baker, M.D.
Roger Ehrhart
Forrest Murphy, Chairman
Maesimund B. Panos, M.D.
Cranston Smith
Mrs. Doris Waldstein
William A. Weaver, Jr., M.D.

Suite 428-31, Barr Building
910 17th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20006
Tel. 202/785-4646

Dear Voctor:

We aA.e happy to encloAe a copy o[ "Fundamentals o[ HomeotherapeuticA" by
Wyrth Post Bake*, M.P., F.A.C.P., Past PreAident o[ the. otdeAt national
medical association in America, the. American Institute o[ Homeopathy.

Additional material, including the [ottouiing, wilt be sent to you per­
iodically:
Announcement o[ the Postgraduate School [or Physicians in
Homoeopathy

Brochure o[ the American Foundation [on Homoeopathy

"Homoeopathic Medicine", by Harris L. Coulter, Ph.V.
We took [coward to the privilege o[ answering your questions, and appreciate
this opportunity to tell you about this therapy which seeks to correct the
cause rather than just to eliminate the symptoms in the case, and [or
which the demand [ar exceeds the available prescribers today.

Sincerely,

Harold L. Trexler, M.V.
PreAident

HLT:jb
Encl:

"Fundamentals o[ HomeotherapeuticA"

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