A Homeopathic Approach to Chronic Disease
John Saxton presents a historical, pragmatic and practical assessment on the theory of miasms, which will most probably stimulate debates.
"I highly recommend this book to the homeopathic profession as essential reading. Both the inexperienced and the veteran homeopath will derive benefit from its study and be better able to employ the concept of miasms as a practical therapeutic mode." D. Lilley (Homeopathy, Vol. 96).
Chronic disease is the enduring health problem in modern society, and the approach to it represents one of the principal philosophical differences between homeopathic medicine and conventional medicine.
Hahnemann's basic concept of miasms provides insights into the understanding and relief of such conditions, and succeeding generations of homeopaths have continued to add new layers to his original ideas. Nevertheless, miasmatic theory remains a perplexing one for many practitioners, some rejecting it entirely, with others having doubts about its practical relevance while accepting the basis of the reasoning behind it.
This book presents the author's personal understanding of how miasmatic theory works in practice for him. He describes a possible model for understanding the subject and builds on this to explore its potential in the treatment of chronic disease. Wherever appropriate the chapters include case histories from both human and veterinary medicine, demonstrating the relevant miasmatic perspective and the consequent implications for remedy selection and case management.
John Saxton qualified from the Royal Veterinary College, London in 1964. Having become interested in homeopathy in the late 1970s, he obtained his Membership of the UK Faculty of Homeopathy in 1988 and his Fellowship in 1996. He is an examiner for the Faculty and was elected President in 2005. As a core teacher of the UK Homeopathic Professionals Teaching Group he is closely involved with the homeopathic training of doctors, veterinary surgeons and nurses. He is also a recognised teacher and examiner for the International Association for Veterinary Homeopathy. His time is currently split between homeopathic referral practice, and writing and lecturing both nationally and internationally.
- Author: John Saxton
- ISBN: 9780906584583
- 168 pages
- Paperback
- Published in 2006
- Printed in United Kingdom
Reprinted with the permission of The Society of Homeopaths (from "The Homeopath" Journal, Spring 2007 edition). Reviewed by Mark Elliott.
The subject of miasms as a concept, dogma, or tool has divided and frustrated homeopaths ever since its conception. For the last 17 or so years it has been a source of fascination for me, but there has never yet been a work that has really effectively brought together in one place the wealth of information on the subject. That is until now, and John Saxton's work is going to prove an absolute must for all homeopaths and students.
John Saxton, the first veterinarian to become President of the Faculty of Homeopathy, has achieved in one seminal work, that is very much more than its title, a historical, pragmatic and practical appraisal of the whole miasms argument, mixed with modern clinical understanding of the body's function to present a very useful tool. As a practising vet he is able to draw on animal as well as human cases, to justify, expand and clarify his arguments.
I fully agree with his assessments of the newer miasms as bringing unnecessary confusion through incorrect use of the term, when what is often meant is either a fixed mixture of the original 3, or an expression of the rate of the disease in the patients. This is something many of us had already come to understand; it is so well put and without blind worship of the new Gods.
A great chapter on suppression made some bold and brave public statements over veterinary and medical procedures which will not win the author many friends in the more conventional fields of practice, but I doubt that was his intention. I was perhaps a little disappointed that the issues relating to mental illness were not discussed more in relation to his model, and felt that referring the reader to the Organon here detracted from the book overall. It may reflect that this is a point where the veterinary training is lacking generally owing to the limited scope to utilise mental information; it certainly is one reason quite a few of the vets (myself included) study with their human treating colleagues. Odd comments in this chapter also jarred with my experience, and I take issue with some statements including that vasectomy does not interfere with functional integrity, implying it is not suppressive; in my view it clearly is. However, this should not detract from the overall and I very much like the suggestion of a law of disease; "the suppression of the normal function of a vital system will often drive that function inwards to become pathological within that same system" as this made perfect sense. All who study medicine should be taught this from day one.
Here is a model for understanding the miasms and utilising them as real tools for prescribing which covers all the bases and has never quite been done this way before, to my knowledge. Illustrated well, with many useful and detailed discussed cases, this work should become a baseline for teaching of the subject and be added to each school's essential reading list, enabling a really good grounding.
Reprinted with the permission of The ARH (from 'Homeopathy in Practice', Spring 2007 edition). Reviewed by Christine Wyndham-Thomas.
John Saxton is a highly respected homeopathic veterinary practitioner and author who recognises that 'The subject of miasms is a perplexing one ...' I salute him for being brave enough to tackle this aspect of homeopathy that many homeopaths would rather leave well alone.
I read the book from cover to cover and found it to be fantastically informative, it is certainly a book that no homeopath should be without and in my opinion it deserves to become a classic, ranking alongside some of the greatest homeopathic writings whilst, at the same time, opening a door for further and deeper research.
In the first few chapters, Saxton explains what miasms are and, although it requires careful reading, it is written so well that anybody will gain a grasp of it regardless of their background. He explains how miasms affect our whole being from the physical to the mental and that, by viewing them as functional entities, we will be better able to understand the nature of chronic disease - which nowadays is on the increase in both animals and people.
It is also a practical book, and one that I shall refer to many times, because it contains so much essential information for general or veterinary homeopaths. I am sure we have all experienced situations where a block to cure has occurred and it has been difficult, sometimes impossible, to find a way forward. This book helps you find a way forward.
My favourite chapters are 'Suppression' and 'Miasms as Therapeutic Tools'.
Every homeopath is aware of the consequences of suppression. It is central to the whole of the miasm story, but the author describes exactly what suppression involves and even mentions the blocking of a normal and vital physiological process as having the same result - explaining that the birth control pill may lead to major problems in the reproductive system 'where the influence of the sycotic miasm can easily become established'.
In the chapter 'Miasms as Therapeutic Tools', Saxton shows that miasmatic prescribing is not divorced from the search for the simillimum, even though he says that repertorisation has its limits, but by combining repertorisation and miasmatic prescribing, a homeopath will achieve the best results. He describes the proper use of nosodes and the great potential of the LM potencies in dealing with miasms and chronic disease.
I would love every vet, whether interested in homeopathy or not, to read this book because it would benefit the animal patient tremendously.
Many homeopathic vets only treat animals on referral from a conventional vet, but successful treatment in such cases requires co-operation between both vets. Conventional vets have no concept of miasms and will treat an animal according to conventional practice, which flies in the face of homeopathic principles, thus worsening the overall situation. One of the illustrations the author includes in the book highlights the dangers when this happens.
Every page is thought provoking and easy to understand. It is a must read for every homeopath and vet, or anyone who is just interested in understanding chronic disease and how best to deal with it.
If you have trouble understanding the concept of miasms, you will be left in no doubt after reading this book - I can vouch for that because I was one of those people. Although my mentors in homeopathy have given me a good understanding of miasms, some of their explanations were a little too technical for me to fully appreciate their real significance; but thanks to John Saxton's book I now have a very much clearer understanding of what miasms are, their effects, and how best to deal with them.
Various case histories are included, mainly with animal patients, but a couple involving people, to illustrate the damage suppression does and how to recognise whether the resultant symptoms form part of the psoric, sycotic or syphilitic miasms. The book ends with useful information on the miasmatic nosodes.
