2011-07 editorial for the month of july 2011 (spider group)

8/10/2019 2011-07 Editorial for the Month of July 2011 (Spider Group)

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Editorial for the month of July 2011 Dr. Farokh J. Master Page 1

Editorial for the month of July 2011

Spider Group

Spiders form the largest and most widely distributed orderof class of animals called Arachnida.

There are thousands of different species of spiders. Thecommon classification is as follows:

1. ARANOMORPHAE or DIPNEUMONES, with one pair oflungs.

2. MYGALOMORPHAE or TETRAPNEUMONES, with twopairs of lungs.

ARANOMORPHAE1. They spin cobwebs in the air.2. The poison glands and ducts are elongated and theclaws move horizontally like drill pin.E.g. Tarentula hispanica

MYGALOMORPHAE1. Always live in funnels and tubular holes in the ground.Many camouflage the hole with a twig or a leaf of the treelike a mouse trap mechanism.2. They have short glands and ducts and their fangs movevertically.E.g. Mygale, Tarentula cubensis

The most common remedies I use in my practice are:

1. Aranea diadema2. Aranea ixobola3. Aranea scinencia


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4. Tela araneae (cobweb)5. Latrodectus hasselti6. Latrodectus katipo7. Latrodectus mactans8. Mygale lasiodora9. Tarentula cubensis10. Tarentula hispanica11. Theridion curassavicum.

I would like to discuss Latrodectus to begin with; thereare 3 remedies Latrodectus hasselti, Latrodectus katipoand Latrodectus mactans which I use in my practice. Thebest article to read about Latrodectus is an articlepublished in July 1889 in Homoeopathic Recorder andreproduced by Dr. Anschutz in New old and forgottenremedies. The article is written by Dr. Johns and it showsthe typical effect of the spider bite which resembles theproving of Latrodectus very beautifully.

When I was a student I was introduced to this remedy forthe very first time by Late Dr. Prakash Vakil and later onhe stimulated me to read the old articles on spiderremedies from Homoeopathic Recorder and various otherold journals.

I practically read almost all the articles related to theLatrodectus and the most important thing that I havelearned from them is how to apply the symptoms clinically

in practice especially the mental symptoms.

Whenever Latrodectus is indicated there is nevercalmness there is always irritability there is always

restlessness, there is always anger and in extremecases you can also have delirium .


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Another most important area that I have seen is the inflammation . Whenever you see a case of Latrodectus,inflammation has to be there in any part of the bodyespecially in the lymphatic vessels and that makes theLatrodectus go very useful in patients suffering fromcancer e.g. after chemotherapy or after radiotherapywhen there is marked inflammation of lymph vessel.

I have used this remedy very successfully in cases oflymphangitis due to post mastectomy or lymphangitis dueto filarial infection or lymphangitis due to bacterialinfection.

Another very important area that I have seen its good useis in the cardiovascular disorders especially cardiac failure,weakness of the cardiac muscles and severe ischemicheart disease like angina pectoris.

It has a marked action on coronary arteries andendocardium; due to this the patient may suffer fromfrank cardiac failure, cardiac syncope, myocardialinfarction, and carditis.

At the level of skin usually one has urticaria, herpes, andpemphigus. I remember that I have also used this remedyin cases of appendicitis, a worse case of esophagealspasm, aplast ic anemia, Hodgkins disease and leukemia.

When you examine the patient usually you will see lot ofexhaustion, prostration, tiredness, dropsy, edema,distention and a strong mental picture.

With these few observation mentioned above let me tellyou an important case that I saw of an old man whosecomplaint was difficulty in swallowing, he takes some


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medical treatment from his local general practitioner buthe is not better. He is a known case of ischemic heartdisease and hypertension but that he developed only inhis later part of his life. He had no modality for his chiefcomplaint. What I observed was that he was constantlyhaving chewing motion of his jaw but when I examinedhis mouth and throat practically there was nothing todiagnose.

His speech was little unclear to me, may be because therewere no teeth in the mouth and he had a strong fear ofsuffocation because he felt that he cannot swallow andmay be one day he will have suffocation and he will diedue to suffocation. His face was mildly swollen, he hadsalivation, his tongue was moist, and he was thirsty butusually in night hours. I examined his blood pressurewhich was 160/95 mmHg. He was constipated andfrequently had a problem with his urination. There weredays when he cannot pass his urine very clearly.

Based on the above symptoms I gave him Latrodectusmactans 30C which reduced his pain which gave him reliefin his urinary problem and his chewing motion of the jawtotally stopped. It took me about three and a half monthsto produce this kind of result.

The next case I remember was from an OPD where I sawa child who had an enlarged, inflammed tonsils, with

white caseous deposit on it, there was severe pain in thethroat while swallowing, also there was swelling aroundthe throat. The child looked quite anxious. On observationthere was cracked lip, profuse thirst, there were no othermodalities related to the chief complaint. The mother saidthat it all happened after he had a cold drink. It was asummer time and my prescription was Bryonia which did


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not help. Later on in the next follow up I examined thathis neck was getting little stiff and the mother worried theinfection may not produce any extra harm to the child.

I once again took the symptoms of the patient; motheralso said that his voice has also changed ever since thisinflammation of tonsils has taken place. I start givingLatrodectus mactans 30C 8 hourly to the child and within4 days all the symptomatology of the child disappeared.

Since then Latrodectus became a very useful remedy inmy practice for tonsillitis. Usually there is no cough, thereare not much respiratory symptoms but Latrodectus isusually prescribed more on the concomitants especiallythe thirst which is very important, the extreme degree ofpain in the throat which is equally important, the stiffnessof the neck and the dryness of the lips.

Lets go to another variety of Latrodectus and i.e.Latrodectus katipo (New Zealand spider). I never knewmuch about this venomous spider but I have read aboutits effect of its bites and its strong affinity on the skin.

I had a case of pemphigus which I was treating which wasresponding very well to Sulphur and later on to Calcareasulphurica but one day he had an acute infectionproducing massive cellulitis, I gave Arsenic, Cantharis,Anthracinum but without any results. There was a severe

burning pain in the body of the patient. The patient waspale, he was anxious, his pulse was weak , there wasexcessive swelling and oedema of the feet. This kind ofburning pain with excessive oedema which did notrespond to the indicated remedies, I was searching inEncyclopedia Homoeopathica by putting the importantwords of the patient: burning, oedema of the feet,


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inflammation of the lymph vessels, pallor of the skin andcellulitis.

I had never used Latrodectus katipo, it was my firstexperience, and I started giving every 3 hourly to thepatient and within 15 to 20 days the whole cellulitis of thepatient with pemphigus was completely dissolved.

Another Latrodectus which has been useful in my practiceis Latrodectus hasselti. This is one spider which is verywell proved. I saw in Hungary, an old lady whocomplained of discharge from the urethra. She had ahistory of venereal disease during the Second World Warwhich was treated with some drugs which she is notaware of. She also complained of leucorrhoea which waswhite but sometimes it was bloody. Her sexual desire wasquite strong even though she was old and frequently shehad to masturbate once in few months to reduce thatdesire.

She had a big problem with her digestion, whatever sheate turned into gas, and there was lot of rumbling andgurgling in the whole digestive tract with passage of anoffensive flatus. The stools were difficult she had to straina lot. There was constant sense of fullness in the stomachafter eating as well as after drinking. Any emotionaldisorder will directly affect her digestion like Chamomillaor Colocynthis. Because of her stomach problem her

appetite was low.

Emotionally she felt very bad and full of guilt because ofher venereal disease that she suffered from and thatremained for quite a few years of her life.


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I treated her with different remedies like Medorrhinum,Mercury solubilis, Staphysagria, Sulphur with no relief.After almost 9 months of failure I restudied the wholecase and I asked her few extra questions. She said thatshe is extremely depressed because of her illness and atthe same time she feels very happy when she sees otherpeople dancing. She said I love to watch folk dance, Imyself was a good dancer when I was young but nowbecause of my age I cannot dance but dancing is onething which I love.

This reminded me of a spider remedy Tarentula or fishremedy like Sepia and a botanical remedy like Ignatia butwhen I checked the symptoms it never matched Ignatia,Sepia or Tarentula. What I saw was that she had franksymptoms of a very small spider remedy when Irepertorised the case with Radar of Latrodectus hasselti.

I never had this remedy so I had to order this remedyfrom Remedia in Austria, I said you take one dose andreport to me after 15 days and if you feel better do notrepeat it. After fortnight she informs me that emotionallyshe felt much better, her digestion is far better thanbefore however the discharges were not so better. I askedher not to repeat and inform me after a month.

She is emotionally feeling better but the physicalsymptoms are still there. I asked her to repeat one more

dose, again the physical symptoms are not better, andemotionally she is still better. After 3 months I gave herone dose of 200C potency of Latrodectus hasselti, thistime all her physical symptoms are better along with theemotional problem and she finds relief in almost all thecomplaints.


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The best part to have success in homoeopathy is not togive up but to restudy and restudy. If you find failure inour prescription we should be perseverance and take helpof important tools like Encyclopedia Homoeopathica andold journals.

Thank you!

2011-07 editorial for the month of july 2011 (spider group)

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