The Preparation of Homoeopathic Medicines

Dr Chandan 

Aim : To Know about the preparation of homoeopathic medicines

Objectives

• Essentials of homoeopathic pharmacy
• The menstrua used in homoeopathic pharmacy
• The unit of medicinal strength
• Tinctures
• Trituration’s
• Conversion of trituration into liquid potencies
• Liquid preparation or potencies

Introduction:

• Pharmacy is the art of preparing drugs for use and dispensing them as medicines.
• Although accuracy is basis of every method, it is doubly important in homoeopathic pharmacy whose distinctive feature is simplicity.
• The United States Homoeopathic Pharmacopoeia deals with the preparation of Homoeopathic drugs & corresponds to the United States Pharmacopoeia.
• A new edition of the former book is in process of preparation & in this English edition an effort will be made to standardize pharmaceutical processes so it will no longer be necessary to have different Homoeopathic pharmacopoeias for different countries.
• At present, there are three: British, German & American.

Essentials of homoeopathic pharmacy –

• The pharmacy of medicine for Homoeopathic use differs in many essential details from others & older methods.
• Cleanliness as required by Homoeopathy differ as much from that of the older pharmacy as the cleanliness of modern surgery differs from the practice of surgery before the days of our aseptic methods.
• It involves the most conscientious care in handling drugs of different kinds & in keeping them from contact with each other.
• In storing them so as to protect them from vapors, odors & deterioration from physical agents.
• Drugs for Homoeopathic use are taken from the three kingdoms of nature.
• In order to convert these substances into Homoeopathic medicines in such a state as will secure the ready & complete absorption we choose one of two processes such choice being determined by the physical state of the substance.
• Such a preliminary substance is the basis of our Homoeopathic potencies hence the necessity for starting with pure & active preparation.

The menstrua used in homoeopathic pharmacy

• Sugar of milk is the menstruum used for trituration & tablets.
• It is pure white, slightly sweetish & non-hygroscopic.
• The selection of this substance by Hahnemann as a general menstrua was a most happy one as the sharp flinty crystals are capable of reducing even hard mineral substance  to an extremely fine powder.
• Alcohol  ( pure ethyl ) is the most important menstruum used in Homoeopathic pharmacy & must be of absolute purity.
• Evaporation should be immediate, leaving neither stain nor odor.
• Mixed with pure water in any proportion it should remain clear.
• Official or dispensing alcohol is used for making the liquid potencies & is best adapted for medicating disks or pellets.
• It contains 88 per cent by volume of ethyl alcohol.
• Distilled water— this is most essential because it is used as a solvent for many chemical substances & also for converting trituration into liquid preparations.

The unit of medicinal strength

• The dry, crude drug is the unit medicinal strength.
• It is a starting point from whence to calculate the strength of every preparation.
• In making trituration’s or solutions of chemical substances, the matter is very simple.
• The first potency or tincture being 1/10 of the crude drug.
• In case of tinctures from plants, the dry drug also is a unit of drug power but as this is soluble in varying proportions in different plants the drug power of tinctures must first be calculated.
• Some homoeopathic substance are subject to deterioration.
• The chemical salts should be made fresh.
• An example of this is ammonia carbonate, silver nitrate, etc

Tinctures

• These are made from plants & other substances wholly or partially soluble in alcohol.
• A few are extracted by other more suitable means.
• The chief source of homoeopathy tinctures is the fresh plants, also barks, roots, seeds etc.
• When made from plants it is essential to obtain the fresh, flowering plant, the dried articles being inferior, often inert.
• For this reason, homoeopathic tinctures must be imported from the country where the plants grow & in no case will it answer to substitute the tincture made from the dry plants or worse still from a liquid extract.

In order to have uniform strength, in spite of the different water content of plants, the dried crude drug is taken as a staring point from whence to calculate the strength of the tincture.

This is readily ascertained by taking a suitable quantity of the fresh plant & weighing it, then drying & weighing again.

The difference in the plant for which allowance is to be made in the use of the menstrua.

It should be remembered, however, that while a dry crude plant is taken as a unit of strength the fresh green plant is to be used in the preparation of the tincture.

Trituration’s

• A trituration is a preparation made by taking quantity of a drug & grinding it up in a mortar & pestle with a definite proportion of sugar of milk.
• Each potency calls for a separate & distinct triturating process.
• At least four hours should be consumed to make the first step & some drugs in the first trituration require a much longer time.
• All mineral substances, most chemical salts, animal substances, & certain vegetable drugs are thus prepared.
• Triturating them up to the sixth decimal potency makes possible liquid preparations as follows.

Conversion of trituration into liquid potencies 

• Hahnemann proved conclusively & clinical experience has verified that beyond the sixth potency all medicine yield up their medicinal virtues to water & alcohol & can thus be prepared in a liquid state.
• In other words, this is such a fine suspension that even solid substances are  practically dissolved.
• In this way all homoeopathic medicines made from minerals may be converted into liquid preparation above 6x.
• Since it is obvious that better mixture may be obtained in liquid than by means a mortar  & pestle it follows that when prescribing drugs above the 6x we should use a liquid preparation.
• The first step after the 6x of this process is accomplished by using a mixture of water & alcohol since sugar of milk is not soluble in alcohol.
• In succeeding steps dispensing alcohol may be use.

Liquid preparation or potencies
These have several different names but none of them convey a true idea of their composition.

• Thus they are also spoken of as: attenuation,  dilutions, decimals, potencies & expansions.
• The last is, in our opinion, most suitable since it convey the idea of increasing power by an altered physical state.
• In practice such preparations are expressed by the letter x with the proper coefficient.
• Thus Bryonia 3x would mean the 3rd expansion of this drug &, of course, we would designate whether we wanted it a dry preparation or a liquid.
• Nowadays homoeopathic potencies & trituration’s are prepared on the decimal scale, in the proporti
• on of one to nine, which makes each successive dilution or trituration contained just 1/10 as much of the drug substance as the preceding one.
• The 1st potency is always the tincture & therefore has a drug strength of 1/10.
• To make 2x we take one part of the tincture & add nine part of alcohol.
• The resulting mixture contains 1/10 of amount of the 1x preparation or actually 1/100 of the original drug.
• Proceeding in this manner the 3x would contain 1/1000 & 6x one to a million.
• These preparation are more than mere dilutions, however.
• It is an absolute prerequisite to go through the steps leading to a curtain potency & thoroughly success or triturate each intermediate process.
• It is only in this way that the individual medicinal force is developed.
• Hahnemann called this process Dynamization & perhaps dynamic energy is still the best way to consider this intangible property of homoeopathy potencies.
• That it exists there can be no question of doubt & to the practical physician this is enough.

BIBILOGRAPHY
A Compend of the Principles of Homoeopathy for Students in Medicine by Garth Boericke, M.D.

Dr Chandan
Postgraduate scholar
Organonn of Medicine and Homoeopathic philosophy
Government Homoeopathic medical college and Hospital Bangalore