Emphysema - The Homeopathic Treatment
Dr Francesca Swainston, homeopathic doctor, author and well-known pioneer of natural medicine talks about emphysema, a cruel condition of slow suffocation for which conventional medicine has no cure.
People with emphysema lose the ability to breathe because the lung loses its elasticity and the stale air cannot be expelled. There is a progressive poisoning of the whole body as carbon dioxide and other poisons cannot be removed from the bloodstream. Then there is the added strain of not enough oxygen which causes the body to slowly shut down. This is a slow inexorable death.
Ammonium carbonicum: Emphysema in the overweight, with weak heart. Slow laboured breathing with bubbling sound and feeling of suffocation. Specks of blood in sputum. History of pneumonia. Cannot breathe through nose. Swelling, water retention. Appetite good. Generally unclean people that don't like to wash.
Antimonium tartaricum: Emphysema with bronchial tubes overloaded with mucous. Loud rattling of mucus in the lungs but doesn't cough much out. Threatened paralysis of lungs. Nausea and vomiting with a craving for apples, fruit and acidic food and drink. Swelling, water retention. Liver involvement. Pale face with a blueish tinge and cold sweat. Can have severe lower back pain. Can have a history of bilharzia.
Apis: Very swollen and puffed up with sense of suffocation. Looks like an allergic reaction, with puffy redness of face and affected areas. Thirstless but wants to drink milk. Feels like something is breaking inside chest. Sudden shrieking. Affections as a result of intense jealousy, fright, rage or grief. Whining and crying, and there is a loss of control as they drop things easily or bump into things. Chest water-logged, feels like they cannot get another breath.
Arsenicum album: Wheezing breathing with frothy sputum. Must be propped up with pillows, worse by lying down. Pleurisy. Great fear of death and suffocation. Effects of bad food or insect bites. History of malaria or asthma and other allergies. May have cancer anywhere in the body or gangrene in the lungs. Pale weak patients that don't want to eat and drink in small sips. Swelling around eyes with a sensitivity to light.
Belladonna: Irregular breathing that speeds up, slows down and stops briefly. Moans with each breath. A high feverish state with septicemia. May become delirious wanting to escape or seeing bugs on the bed. May have thyroid dysfunction. Likes to eat or drink lemons. Hot head and cold feet.
Bryonia: Neglected pneumonia with accumulation of liquid in the alveoli. Wants to take deep breaths. Pleurisy. Viscous rust coloured sputum difficult to raise. Very dry mucous membranes such as mouth, dry cracked lips and leads to constipation. May also suffer from angina. Thirsty for big glass of water drunk in one go. Doesn't like to move wants to lie as still as a log. Very irritable and totally immersed in business.
Calcarea carbonicum: Abscess in lungs in people who are exhausted from overwork. Stubborn but forgetful and is concerned that others will notice their lack in mental ability. Tendency to swollen glands with profuse perspiration, especially on the head and during sleep. General sourness such as taste, eructations and stool. Like to eat eggs and indigestible items such as dirt and chalk. Kidney pain. Hormonal imbalances due to thyroid or pituitary dysfunction.May have a history of tuberculosis. May be due to working in water, exposure to damp cold such as cellars or overlifting.
Calcarea phosphorica: Emphysema with anemia and weakness. Adenoids swollen. Problems with bones such as osteoporosis. Ailments from grief, anger or frustration with sighing. Wants to eat bacon, ham or smoked meats. Pain through lower left lung.
Capsicum: Constricted feeling in chest with gangrene of the lungs. Generally unclean people. May have given up alcohol, to the extent of DTs. Older people that are now just exhausted, bleary-eyed and do not react well to treatment, especially when due to a history of hard mental work and bad lifestyle. Homesick and may have suicidal tendencies.
Carbo vegetalis: Emphysema with wheezing and rattling in the chest with a lot of wind both flatulence and burping. Abdomen greatly distended from wind. Cannot digest properly and food putrifies in the digestive system. Gangrene of lungs. Marked lack of oxygenation of the tissues so that the person can seem close to death, pale with cold sweat and needs to be fanned or have all the windows open. Head is hot but breath is cold.. Arms and legs lose feeling due to poor circulation or oxygenation. Bacteria proliferate in the near lifeless tissue which results in septicemia. Can be a result of loss of fluids such as diarrhea or bleeding, from long-lasting illnesses or from a lot of chronic medication.
China officinalis: Suffocative mucous in lungs with rattling breathing, worse with head low. Weakness from exhausting discharges, loss of fluids such as blood, diarrhea and excessive urination. Lot of wind, especially after a surgical procedure. Hard, swollen abdomen. Nervous sensitivity so they are worse for touch but better hard pressure . Full of ideas, especially when in bed at night so as to prevent sleep. Disobedient and likes to hurt other peoples' feelings.
Digitalis: Passive congestion of the lungs due to the failing muscular strength of the heart. Pnuemonia of the aged and senile. Chronic bronchitis and pleurisy. People with abnormally slow pulse, weak and dilated heart with fibrillation. Emphysema is a result of fluid collection in the lungs due to their heart condition. Mitral valve disease.
Kali carbonicum: Wheezing from fluid in the lungs and chest related to insufficient kidney function or underactive thyroid. There may be an abscess in the lungs. History of croupous pneumonia. Very irritable and fearful with anxiety felt in the stomach. Swelling of upper eyelids.Pain in knees. Stitching pains in chest. Wants to eat sweets.
Laurocerasus: Lack of reaction in emphysema patients. Gasping for breath clutching at heart. Heart valvular disease. Paralysis of the lungs.
Lobelia inflata: Emphysema due to gastric weakness as part of pneumogastric nerve disorders. Emphysema in the aged and senile. May have a history of asthma, jaundice or smoking. Difficulty breathing is better when walking fast. Metallic taste in the mouth.
Lobelia purpurascens: Respiratory paralysis. Depleted nervous system due to the flu. Cannot keep eyes open. Can hear own heartbeat which sounds like the boom of a drum.
Lycopodium: Emphysema due to neglected pneumonia with the sound of mucous in the lungs and widening of the nostrils when breathing. Can develop gangrene in the lungs. Susceptible to aneurism. Mental ability starts to decrease in previously intelligent people. Pre-senility. Malnutrition. Weight loss. Wants to eat sweets and has a lot of flatulence. Sciatica of right side. Loss of sexual strength. Has lost confidence and yet is arrogant, enjoys humiliating those closest such as family.
Phosphorus: Congestion in lungs may be due to a history of pneumonia or tuberculosis. Feels heavy weight on chest so cannot breath deeply. Fluid and blood in the lungs. Nostrils widen when breathing, threatening paralysis of the lungs. Inflammation and degeneration of mucus membranes and nerves including spinal column. Sees green halo around lights. Very sensitive and fearful, can become so effected as to seem insane with a sense of importance and even clairvoyance. Negative effects of eating too much salt. Pancreatic and liver involvement. Nausea and vomiting, worse after anaesthetic. Bleeding from anywhere such as lungs, gums, nose, etc. Likes to eat ice cream.
Pulsatilla: Emphysema with thick yellow-green sputum. History of ear infections and eye infections including styes. Bad effects from iron supplements, rich food or drinking too much tea. Likes windows open for fresh air even though chilly and must be propped up on pillows, feeling better when lying or sitting with their arms above the head. Very weepy, likes sympathy and consolation.
Sepia: Inflammation of pleura with liquid settling at the base. History of whooping cough. Exhausted, all organs feeling too heavy as though they would drop out of the body, leading to stagnation of blood in veins, prolapse uterus and rectum and other organs may drop lower than their original position. Likes to eat vinegary foods and chocolate. Aversion to their loved ones and when not totally indifferent likes to tease others.
Spongia: Great dryness of mucous membranes with thyroid dysfunction. Collection of mucous in the bronchial tubes with wheezing and feeling of a plug in the throat/larynx. History of croup. Hoarseness. Wakes suddenly after midnight in pain and terror of suffocation. Heart disorders with dry cough. Increased appetite.
The difficulty with treating patients with emphysema is that they have so little life energy left, which makes nutrition a vital component in their treatment, because it is only from nutrients in the food that the body has the energy, building blocks and tools to undertake the repair work necessary for recovery.
Food has to be given in the most easily bio-available form. So all food must be cooked, and no dry food should be eaten. Include the following daily in the diet:
Beetroot is very important as it helps to oxygenate the blood. Cooked and slightly pickled so that it is soft and easily digested.
Soft boiled eggs (it is essential that the yolk is soft for the beneficial effect)
Fresh cream
Spinach: In a frying pan sautée some crushed garlic in a little extra virgin olive oil add bunches of spinach and stir until wilted, add fresh cream and sea salt to taste or panfry the spinach with a little extra virgin olive oil until just wilted, remove from stove and serve with freshly squeezed lemon juice and sea salt.
Freshly squeezed orange juice (only 100ml a day)
Cooked oats with fresh cream, raw honey and pumpkin and sunflower seeds sprinkled with non-irradiated cinnamon (crush the seeds if an elderly person cannot chew properly)
Ricotta cheese
No bread, cakes, biscuits or other dry produce.
Rice
Avoid cruciferous vegetables as they interfere with the function of thyroid hormones and hence the metabolism
Butternut, pumpkin and carrots are good and can be mashed for easy eating
Physical therapy is essential to help the weak patient remove the matter from the lungs, such as massage of the chest, physical assistance in movement of the arms and upper body. Also, gentle walking for as long as possible is essential to improve circulation so that cellular function can be strengthened from the increase in oxygen levels.
Give the remedies in a 30c potency at night and in the morning for 1 week. Wait 2 days and assess whether there has been improvement. A general improvement is what one expects when the correct remedy has been given - improvement in mood and energy and the increase in removal of matter from the lungs. If there is no improvement change the remedy and repeat. If there is improvement
then give the remedy nightly for 1 week, then once a week. If 30c potency is not available, give the potency that is available. It is the choice of the remedy rather than the potency that is most important.
Management of the patient is crucial in recovery because the removal of old and toxic matter from the lungs is hard work, and the patient can easily become exhausted when this happens. Remedies for overwork and exhaustion may need to be given as intercurrents to help with this process.
For more information about homeopathy click here
For more information about Dr Fran Swainston click here
People with emphysema lose the ability to breathe because the lung loses its elasticity and the stale air cannot be expelled. There is a progressive poisoning of the whole body as carbon dioxide and other poisons cannot be removed from the bloodstream. Then there is the added strain of not enough oxygen which causes the body to slowly shut down. This is a slow inexorable death.
Ammonium carbonicum: Emphysema in the overweight, with weak heart. Slow laboured breathing with bubbling sound and feeling of suffocation. Specks of blood in sputum. History of pneumonia. Cannot breathe through nose. Swelling, water retention. Appetite good. Generally unclean people that don't like to wash.
Antimonium tartaricum: Emphysema with bronchial tubes overloaded with mucous. Loud rattling of mucus in the lungs but doesn't cough much out. Threatened paralysis of lungs. Nausea and vomiting with a craving for apples, fruit and acidic food and drink. Swelling, water retention. Liver involvement. Pale face with a blueish tinge and cold sweat. Can have severe lower back pain. Can have a history of bilharzia.
Apis: Very swollen and puffed up with sense of suffocation. Looks like an allergic reaction, with puffy redness of face and affected areas. Thirstless but wants to drink milk. Feels like something is breaking inside chest. Sudden shrieking. Affections as a result of intense jealousy, fright, rage or grief. Whining and crying, and there is a loss of control as they drop things easily or bump into things. Chest water-logged, feels like they cannot get another breath.
Arsenicum album: Wheezing breathing with frothy sputum. Must be propped up with pillows, worse by lying down. Pleurisy. Great fear of death and suffocation. Effects of bad food or insect bites. History of malaria or asthma and other allergies. May have cancer anywhere in the body or gangrene in the lungs. Pale weak patients that don't want to eat and drink in small sips. Swelling around eyes with a sensitivity to light.
Belladonna: Irregular breathing that speeds up, slows down and stops briefly. Moans with each breath. A high feverish state with septicemia. May become delirious wanting to escape or seeing bugs on the bed. May have thyroid dysfunction. Likes to eat or drink lemons. Hot head and cold feet.
Bryonia: Neglected pneumonia with accumulation of liquid in the alveoli. Wants to take deep breaths. Pleurisy. Viscous rust coloured sputum difficult to raise. Very dry mucous membranes such as mouth, dry cracked lips and leads to constipation. May also suffer from angina. Thirsty for big glass of water drunk in one go. Doesn't like to move wants to lie as still as a log. Very irritable and totally immersed in business.
Calcarea carbonicum: Abscess in lungs in people who are exhausted from overwork. Stubborn but forgetful and is concerned that others will notice their lack in mental ability. Tendency to swollen glands with profuse perspiration, especially on the head and during sleep. General sourness such as taste, eructations and stool. Like to eat eggs and indigestible items such as dirt and chalk. Kidney pain. Hormonal imbalances due to thyroid or pituitary dysfunction.May have a history of tuberculosis. May be due to working in water, exposure to damp cold such as cellars or overlifting.
Calcarea phosphorica: Emphysema with anemia and weakness. Adenoids swollen. Problems with bones such as osteoporosis. Ailments from grief, anger or frustration with sighing. Wants to eat bacon, ham or smoked meats. Pain through lower left lung.
Capsicum: Constricted feeling in chest with gangrene of the lungs. Generally unclean people. May have given up alcohol, to the extent of DTs. Older people that are now just exhausted, bleary-eyed and do not react well to treatment, especially when due to a history of hard mental work and bad lifestyle. Homesick and may have suicidal tendencies.
Carbo vegetalis: Emphysema with wheezing and rattling in the chest with a lot of wind both flatulence and burping. Abdomen greatly distended from wind. Cannot digest properly and food putrifies in the digestive system. Gangrene of lungs. Marked lack of oxygenation of the tissues so that the person can seem close to death, pale with cold sweat and needs to be fanned or have all the windows open. Head is hot but breath is cold.. Arms and legs lose feeling due to poor circulation or oxygenation. Bacteria proliferate in the near lifeless tissue which results in septicemia. Can be a result of loss of fluids such as diarrhea or bleeding, from long-lasting illnesses or from a lot of chronic medication.
China officinalis: Suffocative mucous in lungs with rattling breathing, worse with head low. Weakness from exhausting discharges, loss of fluids such as blood, diarrhea and excessive urination. Lot of wind, especially after a surgical procedure. Hard, swollen abdomen. Nervous sensitivity so they are worse for touch but better hard pressure . Full of ideas, especially when in bed at night so as to prevent sleep. Disobedient and likes to hurt other peoples' feelings.
Digitalis: Passive congestion of the lungs due to the failing muscular strength of the heart. Pnuemonia of the aged and senile. Chronic bronchitis and pleurisy. People with abnormally slow pulse, weak and dilated heart with fibrillation. Emphysema is a result of fluid collection in the lungs due to their heart condition. Mitral valve disease.
Kali carbonicum: Wheezing from fluid in the lungs and chest related to insufficient kidney function or underactive thyroid. There may be an abscess in the lungs. History of croupous pneumonia. Very irritable and fearful with anxiety felt in the stomach. Swelling of upper eyelids.Pain in knees. Stitching pains in chest. Wants to eat sweets.
Laurocerasus: Lack of reaction in emphysema patients. Gasping for breath clutching at heart. Heart valvular disease. Paralysis of the lungs.
Lobelia inflata: Emphysema due to gastric weakness as part of pneumogastric nerve disorders. Emphysema in the aged and senile. May have a history of asthma, jaundice or smoking. Difficulty breathing is better when walking fast. Metallic taste in the mouth.
Lobelia purpurascens: Respiratory paralysis. Depleted nervous system due to the flu. Cannot keep eyes open. Can hear own heartbeat which sounds like the boom of a drum.
Lycopodium: Emphysema due to neglected pneumonia with the sound of mucous in the lungs and widening of the nostrils when breathing. Can develop gangrene in the lungs. Susceptible to aneurism. Mental ability starts to decrease in previously intelligent people. Pre-senility. Malnutrition. Weight loss. Wants to eat sweets and has a lot of flatulence. Sciatica of right side. Loss of sexual strength. Has lost confidence and yet is arrogant, enjoys humiliating those closest such as family.
Phosphorus: Congestion in lungs may be due to a history of pneumonia or tuberculosis. Feels heavy weight on chest so cannot breath deeply. Fluid and blood in the lungs. Nostrils widen when breathing, threatening paralysis of the lungs. Inflammation and degeneration of mucus membranes and nerves including spinal column. Sees green halo around lights. Very sensitive and fearful, can become so effected as to seem insane with a sense of importance and even clairvoyance. Negative effects of eating too much salt. Pancreatic and liver involvement. Nausea and vomiting, worse after anaesthetic. Bleeding from anywhere such as lungs, gums, nose, etc. Likes to eat ice cream.
Pulsatilla: Emphysema with thick yellow-green sputum. History of ear infections and eye infections including styes. Bad effects from iron supplements, rich food or drinking too much tea. Likes windows open for fresh air even though chilly and must be propped up on pillows, feeling better when lying or sitting with their arms above the head. Very weepy, likes sympathy and consolation.
Sepia: Inflammation of pleura with liquid settling at the base. History of whooping cough. Exhausted, all organs feeling too heavy as though they would drop out of the body, leading to stagnation of blood in veins, prolapse uterus and rectum and other organs may drop lower than their original position. Likes to eat vinegary foods and chocolate. Aversion to their loved ones and when not totally indifferent likes to tease others.
Spongia: Great dryness of mucous membranes with thyroid dysfunction. Collection of mucous in the bronchial tubes with wheezing and feeling of a plug in the throat/larynx. History of croup. Hoarseness. Wakes suddenly after midnight in pain and terror of suffocation. Heart disorders with dry cough. Increased appetite.
The difficulty with treating patients with emphysema is that they have so little life energy left, which makes nutrition a vital component in their treatment, because it is only from nutrients in the food that the body has the energy, building blocks and tools to undertake the repair work necessary for recovery.
Food has to be given in the most easily bio-available form. So all food must be cooked, and no dry food should be eaten. Include the following daily in the diet:
Beetroot is very important as it helps to oxygenate the blood. Cooked and slightly pickled so that it is soft and easily digested.
Soft boiled eggs (it is essential that the yolk is soft for the beneficial effect)
Fresh cream
Spinach: In a frying pan sautée some crushed garlic in a little extra virgin olive oil add bunches of spinach and stir until wilted, add fresh cream and sea salt to taste or panfry the spinach with a little extra virgin olive oil until just wilted, remove from stove and serve with freshly squeezed lemon juice and sea salt.
Freshly squeezed orange juice (only 100ml a day)
Cooked oats with fresh cream, raw honey and pumpkin and sunflower seeds sprinkled with non-irradiated cinnamon (crush the seeds if an elderly person cannot chew properly)
Ricotta cheese
No bread, cakes, biscuits or other dry produce.
Rice
Avoid cruciferous vegetables as they interfere with the function of thyroid hormones and hence the metabolism
Butternut, pumpkin and carrots are good and can be mashed for easy eating
Physical therapy is essential to help the weak patient remove the matter from the lungs, such as massage of the chest, physical assistance in movement of the arms and upper body. Also, gentle walking for as long as possible is essential to improve circulation so that cellular function can be strengthened from the increase in oxygen levels.
Give the remedies in a 30c potency at night and in the morning for 1 week. Wait 2 days and assess whether there has been improvement. A general improvement is what one expects when the correct remedy has been given - improvement in mood and energy and the increase in removal of matter from the lungs. If there is no improvement change the remedy and repeat. If there is improvement
then give the remedy nightly for 1 week, then once a week. If 30c potency is not available, give the potency that is available. It is the choice of the remedy rather than the potency that is most important.
Management of the patient is crucial in recovery because the removal of old and toxic matter from the lungs is hard work, and the patient can easily become exhausted when this happens. Remedies for overwork and exhaustion may need to be given as intercurrents to help with this process.
For more information about homeopathy click here
For more information about Dr Fran Swainston click here
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