Homeopathy is full of fascinating words, such as Causa occasionalis, which was used by Master Hahnemann to denote Exciting cause and Maintaining cause.
Maintaining causes produce, maintain, and prolong the disease process. They can also be grouped under ‘The obstacles to cure’. The maintaining cause is responsible for pseudo-chronic diseases (§75).In order to achieve the cure, this cause has to be removed from the patient and his life.
Example of Causa Occasionalis:
- If a cigar or tobacco smoker is suffering from a persistent cough, it can be termed as the smoker’s cough. The treatment for this will be to stop smoking immediately. Smoking in this case is the maintaining cause. Unless he stops smoking we cannot assure of his improvement.
- Malnutrition or an insufficient food supply and improper nutrition can be corrected with a balanced diet and nutrients.
- Prolonged abstinence or not taking things that are necessary for the maintenance of life. Most of the deficiency disorders can be considered under this group.
- In § 75, Hahnemann adds some more examples like habits of taking liquors or any kind of dissipations.
- Residing in unhealthy or marshy localities. This condition will be responsible for so many health hazards in such patients. Patients in such areas are deprived of proper sanitation and air, which hinders the action of the well-selected homoeopathic remedy.
- Deprivation of exercise and open air.
- Over-exertion of the body and living in constant mental and physical strain.
- All occupational disorders can be grouped under this heading. When an industrial worker is exposed to physical, chemical, mechanical, and psychological hazards constantly, occupational diseases may occur. The diseases like silicosis, and byssinosis (due to inhalation of cotton dust) are due to repeated exposure to industrial dust.
The only way to control silicosis is by rigorous dust control measures. This is nothing but removing the maintaining cause. There is no effective treatment for this disease. In a given case if exciting and maintaining causes are identified, a physician can easily cure the case by removing these causes.
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But in some cases, these causes cannot be found in spite of thorough investigations, and then the physician has to depend entirely on the existing symptoms in that case. This symptom present in the patient in physical, mental, and spiritual planes is collectively called the Totality of symptoms. Because a homoeopath considers man as a whole, both body and the vital force, the totality of symptoms have to be collected as a whole. The totality of the symptom is the only guide to curing the suffering.
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