Utility of Toxicity Chapter of Homoeopathic Medical Repertory in practice

Dr Aparna Ghosh E.N 

ABSTRACT:
Toxicity is the degree to which a chemical substance or particular mixture of substances can damage an organism.¹ Robin Murphy has included a separate chapter on “Toxicity” in his “Homoeopathic Medical Repertory”. This chapter has included many rubrics related to allergy, food poisoning, addictions etc.  In this article an attempt has been made to understand the chapter Toxicity from Murphy’s Repertory and its importance in homoeopathic practice.

KEYWORDS: Toxicity, Homoeopathic Medical Repertory

INTRODUCTION:
Toxic is related to the word toxin, which is a kind of poison. It comes from the ancient Greek word Toxicon, which means “poison for arrows.”²

Types of Toxicity:
There are generally five types of toxic entities: Chemical, Biological, Physical, radiation and behavioural toxicity

Disease – causing microorganisms and parasites are toxic in a broad sense but are generally called pathogens rather than toxicants.

Physical toxicants are substances that, due to their physical nature, interfere with biological processes Eg: Coal dust, asbestos fibres etc

Radiation can have a toxic effect on organisms.

Behavioural toxicity refers to undesirable effects of essentially therapeutic effects of essentially therapeutic levels of medication clinically indicated for a given disorder.¹

Factors influencing toxicity:

• Pathway of administration
• Time of exposure
• Number of exposures
• Physical form of toxicant
• Genetic make up of an individual
• Individual overall health

Acute Exposure:
A single exposure to a toxic substance which may result in severe biological harm or death; acute exposures are usually characterised as lasting no longer than a day.

Chronic Exposure:
Continuous exposure to a toxicant over an extended period of time, often measured in months or years; it can cause irreversible side effects.¹

Symptoms in toxicity:

General symptoms include

• feeling and being sick
• diarrhoea
• stomach pain
• drowsiness, dizziness or weakness
• high temperature
• chills (shivering)
• loss of appetite
• headache
• irritability
• difficulty swallowing (dysphagia)
• breathing difficulties

• producing more saliva than normal
• skin rash
• blue lips and skin (cyanosis)
• burns around the nose or mouth
• double vision or blurred vision
• mental confusion
• seizures (fits)
• loss of consciousness
• coma, in severe cases³

Homoeopathic Medical Repertory:
Homoeopathic Medical Repertory is based on principles of clinical as well as classical homoeopathic practice. Toxicity chapter contains plenty of clinical rubrics. This is a unique repertory which helps a practioners to find out the similimum on the basis of clinical as well as classical symptoms.⁴

The chapter Toxicity contains rubric related to:

• Toxins
• Acidosis
• Poisonings
• Addictions and substance abuse
• Environmental exposure
• Drugs and treatments of other therapeutic system
• Food poisoning
• Homoeopathic medicines
• Hypersensitivity
• Occupational exposure
• Drugs in general

1)Toxins

• Toxins, poisons, chemicals, drugs, pollutants, ailments from
• Chronic, effects from

2)Acidosis

Acidosis is caused by an over production of acid which builds up in the blood or an excessive loss of bicarbonate from the blood or an excessive loss of bicarbonate from the blood (metabolic acidosis) or by a build-up of carbon dioxide in the blood that results from poor lung function or depressed breathing (respiratory acidosis)

Subrubrics related to acidosis are

• Children, suffering from excess of lactic acid, from overfeeding of milk or sugar
• Diarrhoea after
• Headache, from
• Indigestion from
• Mouth, sores from

3)Poisoning

Includes various organic and inorganic toxins

• Aconite, poisoning, ailments from
• Agaricus, poisoning, mushroom, ailments from
• Aluminium, poisoning ailments from
• Ammonia, poisoning, ailments from
• Antimony, poisoning, ailments from
• Arsenic, poisoning, ailments from
• Atropine, poisoning, ailments from
• Curare, poisoning ailments from
• Datura, poisoning, ailments from
• Digitalis, poisoning, ailments from etc

4) Addictions and substance abuse

Addictions means a strong and harmful need to regularly have something (such as drug) or to do something (such as gamble).

Substance abuse is the excessive use of a substance especially alcohol or drug

Under this category there are rubrics for various harmful habit-forming substances.

• Addictions, ailments from
• Addictive, personality, ailments from
• Alcohol, general
• Alcoholic, constitutions
• Alcoholism, dipsomania
• Cannabis, Marijuana, ailments from
• Codeine, poisoning, ailments from
• Cosmetics, ailments, from
• Marijuana
• Narcotics, poisoning, ailments from
• Heroin, poisoning, ailments from
• Opium, poisoning, ailments from
• Stimulants, drugs, general
• Tobacco, generals, smoking

5)Environmental

Under this category, exposure to various pollutants on daily basis, through environment are included.

Eg: air pollution, dust particles, fluoride poisoning, water pollution

• Air pollution, poisoning, ailments from
• Carbon, poisoning, general, ailments from
• Carbon, gas, poisoning, ailments from
• Carbon monoxide, poisoning
• Charcoal, fumes, poisoning, ailments from
• Chlorine, poisoning, ailments from
• Coal, fumes, poisoning, ailments from
• Dust, particles, inhaling, ailments from
• Fluoride, poisoning, ailments from
• Smoke, inhalation

6)Drugs and treatments of other therapeutic system:

Various drugs and therapeutic methods used in other system of treatment like antibiotics, insulin, tonics etc

• Allergy, shots, ailments from
• Alloxan, drug, poisoning, ailments from
• Amphetamines, poisoning, ailments from
• Anaesthesia, poisoning, ailments from
• Antibiotics, poisoning, ailments from
• Anti-spasmodic drugs, poisoning, ailments from
• Aspirin, poisoning, ailments from
• Chemotherapy, poisoning, ailments from
• Cortisone, poisoning, ailments from
• Herbal, tonics, ailments from
• Hormones, poisoning, ailments from,
• Contraceptives, hormone replacement therapy
• Oestrogen
• Premarin
• Progesterone
• Testosterone
• Thyroid
• Insulin, poisoning, ailments from
• Quinine, poisoning, ailments from
• Radiation, sickness, poisoning, ailments from
• Tonics, general
• Vaccinations
• Transfusions, blood ailments, from
• X-rays, poisoning, ailments from etc

7)Food poisoning:

Illness caused by food contaminated with bacteria, viruses, parasites or toxins spreading through contaminated food or water. Symptoms may include cramping, nausea, vomiting or diarrhoea.

• Food poisoning in general
• Acids, food and drinks
• Artificial food agg
• Chocolate abuse
• Fish, bad spoiled
• Meat, bad
• Milk agg
• Shell fish bad
• Spoiled, fatty rich etc

8)Homoeopathic medicines

• Homoeopathic remedies, reactions to
• Oversensitive to
• Quick reaction
• Want of, susceptibility to

9)Hypersensitive

It is an excessive or abnormal sensitivity to a substance. A person who is hypersensitive to a certain drug will often suffer a severe allergic reaction, if given the drug

• Hypersensitive, increased susceptibility
• drugs to allopathic
• remedies to homoeopathic potencies

10)Occupational exposure:

Occupational exposure means a special eye, mouth, other mucous membrane, on-intact skin or parenteral contact with blood or other potentially infectious materials resulting from the performance of an employee’s activities

• Electromagnetic, fields, ailments from
• Gold, poisoning, ailments from
• Gasoline, poisoning, ailments from
• Microwaves, poisoning
• Mercury, poisoning, ailments from
• Mining, poisoning, ailments from
• Paint, fumes, poisoning, ailments from
• Pesticides, poisoning, ailments from
• Petroleum, poisoning, ailments from
• Silicosis
• Silver, poisoning, argentum, ailments from
• Steroids, poisoning, ailments from

11)Drugs, general

Includes subrubrics related to allopathic drugs, tonics, over dose, chronic effects of drugs etc

• Addictive, personality
• Allopathic drugs, side effects from
• Chronic, effects from
• Lack of susceptibility, to drugs
• Over dose
• Stimulants
• Thinking, of drugs
• Tonics, generals
• Weakness from⁵

DISCUSSION:
In our day-to-day life we are exposed to different type of poisonings related to food, pollutions, drug abuse, toxins etc which have adverse effects on health. If we are able to identify the cause of toxicity in our patients this homoeopathic repertory can be useful to find suitable similimum for our case.

CONCLUSION:
In other repertories rubrics related to Toxicity have been scattered throughout different chapters. However, it has been compiled in one chapter titled “Toxicity”. This chapter will be very useful in our clinical practice.

REFERENCES:

1)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxicity

2)https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/toxic

3)https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/poisoning/symptoms/

4)Shashi Kant Tiwari, Essentials of Repertorisation, Published by B Jain Publishers.5/e.2012.p450-451

5)Murphy R. Homoeopathic Medical Repertory. Jain publisher(p) LTD;3/e.2016.p2227-2239

Dr Aparna Ghosh E.N
MD PART 2
Department of Case taking and Repertory
Under the guidance of Dr Munir Ahmed R
Government Homoeopathic Medical College and Hospital, Bengaluru