A hundred years ago medical practice was grounded in the use of herbs with their beneficial toning effect. Today we are again rediscovering the restorative health qualities of herbal plants. Modern researchers are presently analyzing the composition of herbs and their metabolic effects upon the human body. Homeopathy is a scientific method of health care whose therapeutic approach is directed against the veritable cause of ill-health. Homeopathic science is based upon a law of nature, a biological law – The Law of Similars.
The Law of Similars states that:
1. All pharmacologically active substances produce in a healthy person symptoms characteristic of the substance used.
2. Every ill subject exhibits symptoms characteristic of a dis-ease.
3. A recovery (return of health) can be obtained by administration of a small quantity of a substance which would produce the same symptoms in a healthy person.
For example, if stung by a bee you would find that a pinkish, burning, stinging swelling forms at the location of the puncture and that this swelling is improved by the application of a cold compress. A person who exhibits such symptoms (from a different cause) would be relieved by micro doses of bee venom. Homeopathic therapy therefore consists of giving the person a diluted dose of a substance capable of producing, in a healthy subject, symptoms analogous to those which one wants to correct. That is of provoking a similar (homeo) suffering (pathos).
It is absolutely essential that the doctor employing homeopathic remedies know the symptomatic analogue experimentally generated by the active substance. This can be very time consuming for the doctor. The symptomatology, psychological as well as physical, of the person has to be correlated with the varied characteristics of each individual remedy in order to select the one(s) which would most benefit that specific person.
Each individual has their own illness in their own manner. Two children with measles will have common signs of the illness: eruptions, fever, crying; but have different behavior: agitated or calm, perspire or have dry skin, hot or sensitive to cold, may or may not be thirsty. These different behaviors explain individual responses to the same disorder. Each person must therefore be treated in a manner that will aid that individual’s specific healing reaction.
Homeopathy uses natural substances, such as herbs, animal and mineral sources and chemical substances of known toxicological power, as a basis for the remedies. There are over 2,000 individual homeopathic remedies, of which more than half are derived from herbal sources. Because of this fact here is an objective “test” which can assist the doctor in recommending the most specific herbal homeopathic remedy for each person’s individual needs. This “test” is the Saliva Crystallization Analysis.
The Saliva Crystallization Analysis (SCA) is a simple procedure developed by George Benner, M.S., a botanist and taxonomist. Professor Benner had studied the work of Rudolph Steiner, PhD, the famous Austrian philosopher and scientist. Steiner proposed a biodynamic relationship exists in the plant kingdom, and through the use of crystalline structure analysis identified the doctrine of sympathetic relationship of plants. Based on Steiner’s work, Benner identified over 800 herbal crystals, each plant having its own specific crystalline pattern or “fingerprint”. During this time he also read that doctors in Switzerland were making crystals from patient’s blood as a means of diagnosis. This further stimulated his interest in researching the potential use of crystallization analysis to determine its benefits for human use.
Professor Benner decided to use saliva and copper chloride solution to form the crystals. One of the first things he noticed was that many of the saliva crystal patterns closely resembled the herbal patterns he had previously identified. He also discovered that the symptomatology of the individual from whom he had obtained the saliva sample correlated to the traditional use of the associated herb. In other words, the saliva crystals were indicating which herbs would be beneficial for that person at that specific time. Many thousands of saliva crystals ere examined and the saliva and herbal crystal patterns consistently matched that person’s health history and symptomatology.
A new dimension was added to the SCA one day when I examined a young woman who had been referred to me for gynecological care. The patient was suffering from a chronic irregular cycle with very profuse menstruation. In addition to the physical exam, I took a saliva sample.
Upon receiving the SCA results I found that the most prominent saliva crystal pattern matched the herb mistletoe. As mistletoe is not commonly used to help with female problems I had to do a little research to find out why it was so strongly indicated. I discovered that the homeopathic form of mistletoe (Viscum Album) is used to help female problems, especially metrorrhagia.
The patient was given Viscum Album and almost immediately there was a tremendous improvement in her condition. Since then she has had normal, regular cycles with only the usual amount of blood loss.
Another female patient complained of a chronic vaginal infection, which recently had become acute in intensity. Her main symptoms were extreme itching of the vaginal orifice and labia, burning upon urination, but no vaginal discharge. Previous treatment by medical doctors had been unable to resolve the problem. The SCA results indicated the need for uva ursi and nettle (Urtica Urens). The homeopathic forms of these herbs were given to the patient and in less than two weeks she had substantial relief with recovery shortly thereafter.
One last example is of a 17-year-old male who was having trouble sleeping. The youth usually could not manage to get to sleep until one or two in the morning. He would lay awake in bed listening to a “pounding” in his chest. The SCA results indicated hawthorne, which is frequently recommended by herbalist as a heart remedy. Crateagus, the homeopathic form of hawthorne, also helps with insomnia associated with physiological cardiac dysfunctions. After taking crateagus for a few days the patient was able to return to a normal sleep pattern.
The SCA is a tool which allows the doctor to provide a more diversified approach to each patient’s health needs. Sometimes the herbal remedy better fits the patients symptomatic picture, while for other’s the homeopathic form would be the most beneficial.
The law of synergy demonstrates that the whole is always greater than the sum of its parts when operating in harmony. The SCA provides a balanced approach of wholistic natural substances that are consistently more beneficial to the patient’s health.
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Contributor's Note
Dr. David K. Enders is a 1973 graduate of the Palmer College of Chiropractic. He served four years in the U.S. Air Force as a medic before entering college. Dr. Enders has studied nutrition for over 30 years and has had several articles on nutrition published in professional journals. After completing a Clinical Teaching Residency at Palmer College of Chiropractic he moved to the Chicago area, where he now provides nutritional counseling.
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