Role of homoeopathy in alcoholism and addictions

Dr. Dinesh Kumar

Abstract:
Substance abuses are defined as the excessive uses of substances like alcohol, tobacco, cigrate, chars, hashes, cocaine and many other drugs that is harmful to onese. lf, society, or both. Alcohols are a detrimental and intoxicating chemical that can lead to addiction. In modern times society for the majority of the population, alcoholic beverages are an inevitable component of the social gathering. Alcohol consumption is linked to an increased risk of acquiring serious non-communicable illnesses are such as such liver cirrhosis, cardiovascular diseases and several malignancies as well as mental, behavioral disorders and social including alcohol dependency. In Homoeopathy has a wide range of medicines for the best treatment of chronic addiction, withdrawal symptoms and chronic hereditary alcoholism of all family’s members without side effects.

Introduction: Alcoholism is a chronic condition caused by the prolonged drinking of alcoholic beverages. It is an insidious and progressive disease which, in its acute phase can lead to irreversible damage to body tissues and eventual death. The generally accepted definition of an alcoholic is, Persons of any age or sex whose prolonged compulsive drinking habit leads to an inability to hold a job or go to school, to maintain normal human relationship, and to take responsible role in the community.

Etiology:

1. Circumstantial factors: Such as loneliness, poverty or marital struggles (disappointed).
2. Economic causes: Poverty, Unemployment.
3. Genetic factors: It runs in families; offspring of alcoholics consume four times as much as those of non-alcoholics. As a consequence, if the father is an alcoholic, the children are at a higher risk.
4. Occupational: Heavy vehicle drivers, manual workers, laborers. Physical exhaustion or hard workers.
5. Personality disorders: Common in cyclothymic personalities. Childhood history of antisocial personality disorders and persons who has super ego turns to alcoholism to diminish their stresses.
6. Psychological factors: Such as feeling of personal inadequacy and self-dislike. Adventure, thrill, failures.
7. Social occasions: Influence of bad companies, friendlihoods parties and cinemas. Sudden loss in property or closed ones. Peer pressure, urbanization, religious reasons, unemployment to forget problems of life. Parental disharmony & unhealthy environments.
8. Others: Marital disharmony, easy availability, free time and boredom, Loneliness [6]

Symptoms and signs: Alcoholism can be identified by the fact that alcoholic sacrifices most goals and values for the sake of drinking. The victim also has inability to stop drinking by an act of will.

1. Weight loss or weight gain
2. Being not able to limit the quantity of alcohol consumption
3. Loss of memory, Loss of concentration
4. Extremely urging for alcohol
5. Weakness of immune system
6. Insomnia
7. Having financial and relationship problems
8. Drinking alcohol becomes everyday routine
9. Feelings of withdrawal symptoms – like nausea, vomiting, perspiration, shaking, hallucinations, and taking alcohol again to avoid these symptoms.[7]
10. Long-term effects of alcohol on the brain drinking alcohol for a long time makes it difficult for the brain regions to maintain a balance, and creates alteration in neurotransmitters which leads to difficulty in processing of basic life support functions like body temperature, breathing, blood pressure etc, Heavy drinking for a long time can lead to permanent damage of vital organs like – Liver, Heart, Kidney, digestive system, risk of cancer and also damage the white matter in the brain which lead to brain shrinkage, cognitive impairment like: speech, memory, concentration, learning ability and this can lead dementia.
11. Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome (Aka Wet Brain) – Person who is having large quantity of alcohol for a long period of time are having thiamine deficiency, and develop a serious neurological disorder called Wernicke- Korsakoff Syndrome, this includes two different stages namely, Wernicke encephalopathy and Korsakoff amnesic syndrome sometimes referred to as ―wet brain.‖ This disorder may cause continue mental confusion, difficult eye movement, coordination impairment, learning and memory problems.[8] Alcohol Poisoning Symptoms – Mental confusion, Seizure episodes, Unconsciousness, Paralysis, Coma, Respiratory suppression, In severe cases, it leads to death.[8]

Investigation: USG of whole abdomen, LFT, KFT.

Complications: Prolonged alcoholism not only effects the body, but damages some of the vital organs of the body also. Some of the common complications are as follows:

• Cirrhosis of liver.
• Cancer of mouth, tongue, throat if associated with heavy smoking.
• Cancer of stomach and pancreas.
• Kidney failure.
• Irreversible brain damage can lead to permanent alcoholic insanity or to Korsakov’s psychosis in which memory is impaired.
• Amblyopia (blurred vision) due to toxic effect of excessive alcohol on optic nerve.
• Delirium tremens (DTs): Acute episode of hallucinations or the psychic problems due to sudden withdrawal of alcohol.

Role of Homoeopathy

According to Dr. Samul Hahnemann (§77 also refer §7)- False chronic disease:
These are also called as the pseudo chronic or inappropriately named chronic diseases. These are diseases that patients bring upon themselves because of prolonged and continual exposure to the avoidable maintaining causes. False chronic diseases are not true chronic disease because there is no chronic miasm in the background. When the maintaining cause is removed the illness disappears spontaneously.

Indisposition (Footnote to §7): Indisposition is not a true disease. It is a slight deviation in the state of health with one or more trivial symptoms, which can be controlled by a slight change in the diet and regimen. Indisposition does not require any remedy. For the psychological benefit of the patient, the physician can intelligently use the placebo to please the patient.

• Habit of taking liquors or any kind of dissipations.

• Prolonged abstinence or not taking the things properly those are necessary for maintenance of life.
• Residing in unhealthy or marshy localities.
• Deprivation of exercise and open air.
• Over-excretion of the body and living in constant mental and physical strain etc.

Aco. to Apho.221 of the 6th edition of the Organon of Medicine, acute medicines are used to cure acute mental disorders like insanity brought on by the overuse of alcoholic beverages that produce transient latent psora explosion. [9] In their first phases, these illnesses are caused by psoric miasm, and they may subsequently progress to syphilitic miasm.[10].

The management in the homoeopathic, counselling, sufficient antiaddiction measures, and suitable remedies. In homoeopathic medicines, the body requires supporting measures to detoxify the effects of alcohol, and a healthy diet is necessary to make up for any nutritional shortages. A few lifestyle adjustments will also aid in the cessation of alcoholism.[4]

Miasmatic Background : Psoro-syphilitic-sycosis.

Treatment and Management
As we know that homoeopathy is a science of symptoms and alcoholics are constitutionally big liars, so it is very difficult to take out symptoms for true homoeopathic prescription. Medicines can be given only on basis of signs in mild cases but in moderate and severe cases, patients need proper rehabilitation and sedation.

• Complete abstinence from alcohol.
• Heavy drinkers creating nuisance should be admitted in rehabilitation centers for group therapy and psychiatric counselling of both the patient and his family.
• Tranquilizers can help the alcoholic to maintain stability during “drying out” transition.
• As alcoholic can abuse any one due to mood changes so strict supervision is needed to keep them in rehabilitation centers for treatment.

Some Rubrics Related to Alcoholism from Complete Repertory

[COMPLETE] [MIND]ALCOHOLISM, DIPSOMANIA: (180) 3 Absin, 1 Acon, 2 Acor-c, 1 Adon, 4 AGAR, 1 Agav-t, 1 Agn, 2 Agri, 4 ALCO, 1 Alum, 1 Am-m, 1 Aml-n, 3 Anac, 1 Ange, 1 Anis, 3 Ant-c, 3 Ant-t, 3 Apis, 3 Apoc, 3 Apom, 3 Arg-m, 1 Arg-n, 3 Arn, 4 ARS, 1 Ars-s-f, 3 Asaf, 3 Asar, 3 Aur, 2 Aur-m-n, 3 Aur-s, 3 Aven, 1 Bar-c, 1 Bar-s, 3 Bell, 1 Bism, 1 Bold, 1 Bor, 2 Bos-s, 1 Bov, 3 Bry, 1 Bufo, 1 Cadm-s, 3 Calc, 1 Calc-ar, 3 Camph, 1 Cann-i, 3 Caps, 1 Carb-ac, 1 Carb-an, 3 Carb-v, 3 Carbn-s, 1 Carc, 1 Card-m, 4 CAUST, 1 Cham, 3 Chel, 1 Chim, 4 CHIN, 1 Chin-m, 3 Cic, 3 Cimic, 1 Cit-v, 1 Coca, 4 COCC, 4 COFF, 1 Con, 3 Croc, 4 CROT-H, 3 Cupr, 3 Cupr-ar, 1 Dig, 3 Dros, 1 Dysp, 3 Eup-per, 2 Excr-can, 3 Ferr, 1 Fl-ac, 3 Gels, 1 Germ, 1 Glon, 3 Graph, 3 Hell, 1 Hep, 1 Herin, 1 Hydr, 3 Hyos, 4 HYOSIN, 1 Ichth, 3 Ign, 3 Ignis, 1 Ip, 4 KALI-BI, 1 Kali-br, 1 Kali-c, 1 Kali-i, 1 Kali-p, 3 Kola,

[COMPLETE] [MIND]ALCOHOLISM, DIPSOMANIA: AGG., AILMENTS FROM: (63) 1 Acon, 1 Agar, 1 Alco, 1 Ant-c, 4 ARN, 4 ARS, 1 Ars-s-f, 4 ASAR, 1 Aur-ar, 3 Bell, 4 CALC, 1 Cann-i, 4 CANN-S, 2 Carb-v, 3 Caust, 2 Chin, 1 Cic, 1 Cimic, 3 Cocc, 3 Coff, 1 Cori-r, 1 Crot-h, 2 Dig, 1 Eug, 3 Hell, 3 Hep, 1 Hydr, 3 Hyos, 1 Ign, 3 Kali-p, 3 Lach, 1 Led, 1 Lyc, 1 Mag-c, 1 Mand, 2 Meli, 1 Merc, 2 Nat-c, 1 Nat-m, 1 Nux-m, 4 NUX-V, 4 OP, 1 Passi, 1 Peg, 3 Petr, 1 Ph-ac, 3 Phos, 1 Puls, 1 Ran-b, 1 Rhod, 1 Rhus-t, 1 Ruta, 1 Sel, 1 Sil, 1 Spig, 1 Staph, 4 STRAM, 1 Sul-ac, 4 SULPH, 1 Syph, 1 Taosc, 1 Verat, 1 Zinc,

[COMPLETE] [MIND]ALCOHOLISM, DIPSOMANIA: WITHDRAWAL, TO HELP: (31) 1 Agav-t, 1 Ange, 1 Ars, 1 Asar, 1 Aven, 1 Bufo, 1 Calc, 1 Calc-ar, 1 Carc, 1 Caust, 3 Chin, 1 Cimic, 1 Cit-v, 1 Con, 1 Hep, 1 Kola, 1 Lach, 1 Mag-c, 1 Merc, 1 Nux-v, 1 Op, 1 Passi, 1 Petr, 1 Puls, 1 Quas, 3 Quer-r, 1 Staph, 1 Stroph, 1 Stry-n, 3 Sul-ac, 1 Sulph,

[COMPLETE] [MIND]ALCOHOLISM, DIPSOMANIA: HEREDITARY: (21) 1 Agar, 1 Ars, 1 Asar, 1 Aven, 1 Calc, 1 Caps, 1 Coca, 2 Excr-can, 1 Germ, 1 Lach, 1 Lycpr, 1 Merc, 1 Op, 2 Plut, 1 Psor, 1 Sars, 1 Sul-ac, 1 Sulph, 4 SYPH, 1 Tub, 1 Uran,

[COMPLETE] [GENERALITIES]TREMBLING: ALCOHOLISM, WITH: (14) 1 Ant-t, 4 ARS, 3 Bar-c, 3 Crot-h, 3 Hyos, 3 Lach, 3 Mag-p, 3 Merc, 3 Nux-v, 1 Passi, 3 Stram, 3 Sul-ac, 2 Sulph, 1 Sumb,

[COMPLETE] [MIND]ALCOHOLISM, DIPSOMANIA: RECURRENT: (9) 1 Anac, 1 Aur, 1 Bell, 4 CHIN, 1 Hyos, 1 Nux-v, 1 Op, 1 Stram, 1 Thuj,

[COMPLETE] [MIND]ALCOHOLISM, DIPSOMANIA: DRINKING ON THE SLY: (5)
2 Agri, 3 Med, 1 Nux-v, 1 Op, 3 Sulph,

[COMPLETE] [EXTREMITIES]UPPER LIMBS: ALCOHOLISM, FROM: (4) 4 ARS, 1 Lach, 3 Nux-v, 1 Sulph,

[COMPLETE] [MIND] ALCOHOLISM, DIPSOMANIA: WEAKNESS OF CHARACTER, FROM: (3) 1 Ars, 1 Petr, 1 Puls,

[COMPLETE] [MIND] ALCOHOLISM, DIPSOMANIA: CHILDREN, IN, OF ALCOHOLIC MOTHER: (3) 1 Bar-c, 1 Bufo, 1 Syph,

[COMPLETE] [GENERALITIES] SWELLING: EDEMATOUS: ALCOHOLISM, FROM: (3) 1 Ars, 1 Fl-ac, 1 Sulph,

[COMPLETE] [MIND]ALCOHOLISM, DIPSOMANIA: EXCITEMENT, EMOTIONAL, AGG.: (2) 1 Stram, 1 Zinc-o,

[COMPLETE] [MIND]ALCOHOLISM, DIPSOMANIA: WITHDRAWAL, TO HELP: SWEET ALCOHOLIC DRINKS, FOR: (2) 1 Mag-c, 1 Staph,

[COMPLETE] [GENERALITIES] INFLAMMATION: NERVES, NEURITIS: ALCOHOLISM, IN: (1) 2 Torul,

Homoeopathic Medicines:

1. Ars: Great anguish and restlessness. Changes place continually. Fears, of death, of being left alone. Great fear, with cold sweat. Thinks it useless to take medicine. Suicidal. Hallucinations of smell and sight. Despair drives him from place to place. Miserly, malicious, selfish, lacks courage. General sensibility increased (Hep). Sensitive to disorder and confusion.
2. Asar: Pains and spasmodic muscular actions. Nervous deafness and asthenopia. Cold shivers from any emotion. Feels as if parts were pressed together. Tension and contractive sensations.
3. Calc: Corpulent, obese people. lacking both the sense of a duty and the willpower to carry it out. Not disposed to be obliging. Having motiveless dislike for certain persons. Inclined to steal and to lie. Sometimes inclined to gamble. Sometimes tight in financial affairs, other times somewhat overspending for oneself or for show. Unable to resist a drink of alcohol due to a lack of willpower.
4. Caust: Fussy, argumentative, dishonest, and easily moved to tears before and after drinking; excessive enthusiasm prior to and during intoxication; overexcitement before and during drunkenness. Desire for brandy and wine. For ones who have lost their loved and closed ones. Sometimes inclined to theft. Tobacco users.
5. Chin: Debility from exhausting discharges, from loss of vital fluids, together with a nervous erethism, calls for this remedy. Periodicity is most marked. Sensitive to draughts. Seldom indicated in the earlier stages of acute disease. Chronic gout.
6. Crot-h: Weeping mood; clouded perception and memory; impatient. Loquacious, with desire to escape. Sadness. Delusions of cerebral decay. Vertigo, with weakness and trembling. Dull heavy occipital pain, on right side and right eye. Headache with pain in heart on lying on left side. Headache; must walk on tip-toe to avoid jarring. Intolerance of clothing around stomach.
7. Hyos: Very talkative, and persists in stripping herself, or uncovering genitals. Is jealous, afraid of being poisoned, etc. Its symptoms also point to weakness and nervous agitation; hence typhoid and other infections with coma vigil. Tremulous weakness and twitching of tendons. Subsultus tendinum.
8. Lach: Ill-natured people, hard to get along with. Vicious, revengeful, evil, jealous, envious, and licentious. Predisposed to murder others but unwilling to kill themselves, unless they are driven over by vehicle. Talking constantly before or during drunkenness. Appetite for brandy and absinth.[4]
9. Merc: Slow in answering questions. Memory weakened, and loss of will-power. Weary of life. Mistrustful. Thinks he is losing his reason. Vertigo, when lying on back. Band-feeling about head. One-sided, tearing pains. Tension about scalp, as if bandaged. Catarrhal headaches; much heat in head. Stinging, burning, fetid eruptions on scalp. Loss of hair. Exostosis, with feeling of soreness. Scalp tense; oily sweat on head. Putrid eructations.
10. Med: Weak memory. Loses the thread of conversation. Cannot speak without weeping. Time passes too slowly (Cannab ind; Arg n). Is in a great hurry. Hopeless of recovery. Difficult concentration. Fears going insane (Mancinella). Sensibility exalted. Nervous, restless. Fear in the dark and of some one behind her. Melancholy, with suicidal thoughts.

Burning pain in brain; worse, occiput.

11. Nux-v: Before and during drunkenness, tendency to envy, to jealousy, to suicide by shooting or stabbing. Easily made drunk by a small quantity of alcohol. Longing for red wine, white wine, beer, absinth, rum; persons inclined to get drunk for lack of anything else to do; neurotic men, and women addicted to drunkenness during or after pregnancy. Inclined to constipation, to vomiting, to regurgitations, to difficult digestion.[4]
12. Op: Especially brandy-drinkers. Easily moved to tears after being humiliated when intoxicated. Gay, stupid, sleepy or drowsy after drinking. This remedy suits, those who drink wine in the first instance and cider, beer, ethylic alcohol, or amylic alcohol in the second. [4]
13. Puls: Pressure on vertex. Averse to fat food, warm food, and drink. Eructations; taste of food remains a long time; after ices, fruits, pasty. Bitter taste, diminished taste of all food. Pain as from subcutaneous ulceration. Flatulence. Dislikes butter (Sang). Heartburn. Dyspepsia, with great tightness after a meal; must loosen clothing.
14. Stram: Devout, earnest, beseeching and ceaseless talking. Loquacious, garrulous, laughing, singing, swearing, praying, rhyming. Sees ghosts, hears voices, talks with spirits. Rapid changes from joy to sadness. Violent and lewd. Delusions about his identity; thinks himself tall, double, a part missing. Religious mania. Cannot bear solitude or darkness; must have light and company. Sight of water or anything glittering brings on spasms. Delirium, with desire to escape (Bell; Bry; Rhus). Raises head frequently from the pillow. Sexual erethism, with indecent speech and action. Hands constantly kept on genitals.

Some Other Medicines: Arn, Cocc, Coff, Quer-r, Petr, Agar, Torul, Bry, Hell, Aven, Bar-c, Caps, Cimic, Hep, Alco, Carb-v, Led, Nat-c, Nux-m, Quas, Ran-b, Rhus-t, Verat, Zinc, Mag-c, Passi, Staph, Agri, Anac, Ant-c, Ant-t, Apoc, Apom, Aur, Cic, Excr-can, Ign, Kali-p, Kola, Lyc, Nat-m Plut Rhod Sil Spig Stroph Cann-s Hyosin Kali-bi Laur Sec Bufo Dig Peg Absin Apis Arg-m Asaf Aur-s Camph Carbn-s Chel Croc Cupr Cupr-ar Dros Eup-per Ferr Gels Graph Ignis Lac-c M-arct Mag-p Mur-ac Samb Sep Valer Acon Agav-t Ange Ars-s-f Calc-ar Cann-i Carc Cit-v Coca Con.

Conclusion: In our Homoeopathy may be an effective weapon against the adverse effects or with symptoms of alcoholism, whether the issue is acute intoxication, management of withdrawal symptoms, potential cure of the addiction, or even prevention of a genetic and hereditary predisposition factors towards alcoholism in the next generation. We hope that homoeopathy will assume its appropriate position in the treatment of chronic and hereditary alcoholism and its their avoiding considerable suffering and lowering expenses for family’s members and whole societies.

References:

1. API Practice of medicines.
2. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Alcohol Use Disorder: A Comparison Between DSM–IV and DSM–5 | National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) [Internet]. Nih.gov. 2017. Available from: https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/publicati ons/brochures-and-factsheets/alcohol-use-disordercomparison-between-dsm.
3. Babu Nagendra organon of the medicines, miasm.
4. Subrata Kumar Banerjeea miasmatic prescribing.
5. Gallavardin JP. The Homoeopathic Treatment of Alcoholism. Philadelphia, PA: Hahnemann Publishing House, 1890.
6. Keller, Mark and Vaillant, George E “alcoholism”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 20 May. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/science /alcoholism. Accessed 6 June 2023.
7. Wikipedia Contributors. Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder [Internet]. Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation; 2019. Available from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder.
8. Boericke W Materia Medica and Repertory B Jain Publications.
9. Hompath Zomeo ultimate Repertory Software for Repertorization.

Dr. Dinesh Kumar MD (Hom.) Scholar
Department of Case taking and Repertory, Bakson Homoeopathic Medical College and Hospital Greater Noida Gautam Budha Nagar,
Uttar Pradesh, India. Email id: drdineshrana88@gmail.com