A quick Review of Sycosis miasm

Dr Rajni Gandha

Of all the miasms sycosis is the most insidious one. It was spreaded widely during the years 1809- 1814 (during French war). It is also called as the figwart disease. Sycosis is not gonorrhoea. Gonorrhoea is an acute infection, caused by gonococci and it takes around five to ten days to develop urethritis. If it is completely cured then sycosis never develops. It is only when gonorrhoea is suppressed, sycosis (miasm) is established. Not everyone who acquires gonorrhoea progresses into sycosis miasm but once it is established, it will be passed on from generation to generation. Dr. N. Ghatak says, “IT MAKES A BEAST OUT OF MAN”. Thieves,robbers, murderers, etc. are all the products of sycosis. 

MANIFESTATIONS
At first it appears on genitals after infection through coition. Thick pus like discharge from urethra (offensive, sweetish smell), hard swelling of the penis with glandular tubercles accompanied by sensitivity to touch and bleeding. Uptill this stage it is only gonorrhoea, not sycosis. When treated with mercury internally and cauterizations, burning, cutting or ligations, etc are done, it suppresses the gonorrhoea from the surface and gives birth to the miasm called- SYCOSIS. 

MIND– 

1. Peculiar tendency to keep everything a secret and as he himself hides things which makes them a liar,
   he thinks others are also of the same kind and are hiding things from him which leads to SUSPICION. He suspects himself and keep on repeating his acts in order to assure that it was done correctly or to assure that others are not misunderstanding him.
   
2. He wonders if he has just said what he means and for this he repeats the same statement again and again.
   
3. Dissatisfied – it leads to mental restlessness. Eg: If a sycotic person goes to a doctor he hardly sticks to one and oftentimes changes the doctor.
   
4. Slowness of recovery.
   
5. Forgetful – He forgets recent activities, names and dates but remembers old incidents well, cannot find
   the right words, etc. (Incoordination of thoughts which leads to slowness in speech).
   
6. Lack of sense of rectitude and just (anti- social forms of behaviour develops).
   
7. Selfishness.
   
8. Highly irritable and fits of anger.
   
9. Fixed ideas.
10. Lack of confidence on social front ,that is, while performing on stage, etc (but otherwise extroverts).
11. Quarrelsomeness.
12. Jealousy.
13. Cruelty.
14. Deceitfulness.
15. Broods over every slightest upsets.
16. Feeling of unworthiness which leads to suicidal tendency.
17. Feelingsofguilt.
18. Time seems to pass too slowly.
19. Extremely practical individuals.
20. Workaholics.
21. Mania- repeats the same sentence.
22. Superstitious
23. Restlessness
    

HEAD- 

1. Headache- Frontal or on vertex.
   Aggravation: night, after midnight, lying down, riding, mental exertion, weather changes.
   Ameliorations- from motion, pressure,
2. Hair falls in circular patches.
3. Vertigo at the base of the brain.
4. Perspiration from scalp- fishy or sour odour.
5. Premature greying of hair.
6. Large head.
   

VERTIGO- 

1. On closing the eyes. EYES- 

1. Aching pain. HEARING- 

1. Can hear better in noisy places. NOSE- 

1. Snuffles in children.
2. Accumulation of mucous or thickening of mucous membrane leads to breathing difficulty (breaths
   through mouth).
3. Nasal discharges- bland, scanty (copious in open air), yellowish green with fish- brine odour.
4. Loss of smell.
   

FACE- 

1. Warty eruptions.
2. Beard fall out in spots.
3. Cyanotic and dropsical.
4. Waxy face

MOUTH- 

1. Fishy taste in the mouth. CHEST- 

1. Violent hammering of the heart.
2. Pain from heart radiating to scapula like a shock.
   Aggravation- Rich food, spiritous liquor.
   Amelioration- Gentle exercise, riding, walking.
3. Cardiac hypertrophy, Mitral or aortic regurgitation,Myocardial infarction, thrombosis, embolism,
   cyanosis,etc.
4. Sudden pain in the region of heart (Sharp pains with feeble pulse).
5. Oppression in the chest.
6. Heart complaints after suppression of any rheumatic manifestation (gout of the heart).
7. Abnormality of the cardiac valves.
8. Bronchial cough with little expectoration usually in early autumn or winter.
9. Easily takes cold in the head on least exposure to cold in any form.
10. Profuse coryza with much of sneezing and rhinorrhoea.
11. Pneumonia, emphysema, fibrosis,etc.
12. Bronchia asthma with profuse yellowish expectoration.
    Aggravation- Morning, winter, motion. Amelioration- lying on abdomen, passing stool.

STOMACH- 

1. Colicky pains.
   Aggravation- Eating after, rich food or fat food after.
   Amelioration- Lying on abdomen,hard pressure, motion,bending double, hot food and drinks.
2. Loud eructations.
3. Desires- Beer,rich food, fat food, meat, pungent food, salt.
4. Aversion- Milk, meat, vegetables (green leafy).
5. Intolerance- Milk, fruits, vegetables.

ABDOMEN- 

1. Colicky pain- anger after.
2. Wandering pain (stitching type).
3. Diarrhoea with gripping pain in abdomen.
   Aggravation- fruit, getting wet.
   Amelioration- Lying on abdomen, hard pressure.
4. Forcible ejection of stool during diarrhoea.
5. Greenish-yellow or greenish mucous stool with sour smell and occasional blood presence.
6. Swelling of the umbilicus with greenish-yellow discharge, with a typical fish-brine smell.
7. Hepatomegaly, hepato-spleenomegaly, appendicitis, peritonitis, etc.

RECTUM- 

1. Prolapsus of rectum.
2. Haemorrhoids (often bleeding, sometimes blind).
3. Stitching pain in the rectum.
4. Stool- changeable.
5. Worm manifestations.
6. Watery discharge from rectum of fish-brine odour.
7. Irritable bowel syndrome.

URINARY SYSTEM- 

1. Painful micturition (spasmodic).
2. Contraction of the urethra.
3. Scanty urination (but profuse urination during rainy season or after getting wet).
4. Frequent desire to urinate before thunder storm.
5. Yellowish urine.
6. Prostate related diseases, kidney tumors, renal calculi or dropsy, nephroblastoma, etc.

1. Female- 

• Painful menses with clots and staining(difficult to wash off).
• Fish-brine smell in the discharge.
• Spasmodic pain with burning in lower abdomen during menses.
• Acrid and stringy flow.
• Pelvic inflammatory diseases.
• Ectopic pregnancy.
• Infertility (both in male and female).
• Delayed painful labour.
• Increased sexual desire.
• Nymphomania.
• Retroverted or retroflexed uterus.
• Mastodynia.
• Pruritis.
• Leucorrhoea- greenish or greenish-yellow watery thin discharge, often acrid and excoriating
  in nature which causes itching in the genitals.
• Offensive sweat around genitals.
  2. MALE-
• Scrotal pain and swelling.
• Hyper-sexuality with frequent erections.
• Prostatitis.
• Discharge of prostatic fluid during stool or urination.
• Offensive sweat around genitals.
  
  EXTREMITIES-

1. Tearing or shooting type of pain in joints.
2. Pain or stiffness or soreness in small joints (with deposition in tissues) or periosteum.
3. Rheumatic disorders.
4. Arthritic deformity.
   Aggravation- Rest, approach of storm, damp, on becoming cold,humidity,stooping,bending, on the beginning of motion.
   Amelioration- Motion, rubbing, dry weather, stretching.

SKIN- 

1. Copious perspiration with sweet smell (especially in uncovered parts).
2. Thickening of the tissues.
3. Greasy skin with increased pigmentation.
4. Patchy scales in spots (wine coloured).
5. Exzemaexfoliata, circinnatus herpes, herpes zoster, tineabarbae, tinea vesicular, tineatonsuraus, veruccafiliformis, veruccavulgaris,veruccaplana, tineacircumscripta, etc.
6. Warty growths.
7. Acne (large and red, appears around menses, sensitive to touch, with no suppuration)
8. Different forms of ringworm (suppression of ringworms).
9. Psoriasis
10. Elephantiasis.
11. Stitchabcesses.

GENERALITIES- 

1. Bad effects of vaccination.
2. Stunted growth in children.

TREATMENT- 

1. Take up the case and find out the dominant miasm as only one miasm can be dominant at one time. Based on the symptoms similarity, find out the most similimum tool to put at work. While treating chronic diseases, one should bear in mind two things- 
   • Finding out the dominant miasm, and
   • Finding out the correct similimum (which covers that dominant miasm too)

2. A small dose of thuja and nitric acid (alternating) is always required to remove the sycosis miasm, but again it has to be prescribed on the symptoms similarity. That is, when it is similar to thuja, thuja has to
   be prescribed and vice- versa (duration should be kept in mind).
3. Use of external applications is not necessary unless it is too severe. In case, it is too severe, mother
   tincture of thuja can be applied on excrescences everyday.
   

LIST OF ANTI-SYCOTIC REMEDIES– 

1. Argentum metallicum
2. Argentum nitricum
3. Arsenic alb
4. Arsenic iod
5. Benzoic acid
6. Berberis vulgaris
7. Calcarea ars
8. Causticum
9. Clematis
10. Colchicum
11. Dulcamara
12. Fluoric acid
13. Iodum
14. Kali bichrom
15. Kali carb

16. Kali iod
17. Lycopodium
18. Magnesiumcarb 19. Magnesiummur 20. Magnesiumphos 21. Medorrhinum 22. Mezerium
23. Muriatic acid 24. Natrumars
25. Natrumcarb
26. Natrummur
27. Natrumsulph 28. Nitric acid
29. Phosphorous
30. Phosphoric acid 31. Psorinum
32. Pyrogenium
33. Sarsaparilla
34. Sepia
35. Silicea
36. Staphisagria
37. Tuberculinum 38. Thuja 

REFERENCES- 

1. Chronic diseses- Samuel Hahnemann and Nilmani Ghatak
2. Lesser writings- Samuel Hahnemann and J T Kent
3. The chronic miasms- J H Allen
4. Notes on the miasms- Dr P S Ortega
5. Lectures on homoeopathic philosophy- J T Kent
6. The priciples and art of cure- H A Roberts
7. Miasmatic prescribing- S K Banerjee

 Dr Rajni Gandha, Md(Hom.)
Assistant Professor, Dept. Of Organon Of Medicine
Naiminath Homoeopathic Medical College, Hospital And Research Centre, Agra, Uttar Pradesh