What is Psora Miasm in Homeopathy?

The word Psora is the derivation of a Latin word, but this has a Hebraic origin also. The original word is “Psorat” which means a groove, a fault, pollution, or a stigma. In the time before Hahnemann, the word psora was used to call the leprous manifestations and the other great plagues.

The dictionary meaning of the word psora is

1. The itch or some similar skin eruption

2. The itch mite (Sarcoptes scabii)

3. Psoriasis etc.

Hahnemann used the word with special connotations and denotations. “Psora is the most fundamental cause of so many chronic maladies, is the most ancient, most universal, most destructive and yet most misapprehended chronic miasmatic disease”.

Psora is the oldest miasmatic disease known to us. It is the mother of all thousands of incredibly various chronic diseases. Psora or the itching disease is the oldest and the most hydra-headed of all chronic miasmatic diseases. The 7/8th of all the chronic diseases are caused by psora, remaining 1/8th are by syphilis and sycosis. The origin of psora is very difficult to understand.

In the most ancient history, the most ancient people could not understand its origin. Bypassing through many millions of organisms, different types of constitutions, through many generations, it has produced so many secondary symptoms in the form of so-called pathological or nosological diseases. But psora is the real origin and the only source of all chronic diseases.

The History of Psora

The oldest monuments of history show psora in great development. Moses 3400 years ago, pointed out several varieties of psora, the itching disease. He used the words like “yalephed” which is closer to the meaning of lichen, tetter, and herpes. In Leviticus, the malignant itch was designated by the word “garab”. The Alexandria translators used the word “psora agria”. Jonathan explained about “Dry itch present all over the body”.

The commentators of the English version of the bible commented, “Leprosy is similar to an inveterate itch without violent itching”. The peculiar characteristic, “Voluptuous itching, after scratching painful burning” was explained by the ancients is very similar to the itch of psora explained by Hahnemann. Plato called itch by the name “glykypikron”. Cicero identified the “duledo” of scabies.

According to the Hahnemannian research, the diseases among the Israelites were affected purely on the external parts of the body only. The same disease was prevalent during the middle ages in Greece, Arabia, and later in Europe. These were only the malignant varieties of leprosy, which in many ways deformed the external parts of the body. The occidental (western) psora, during Middle Ages, had raged under the form of malignant erysipelas or St. Anthony’s fire.

This is the reduced form of leprosy. This was brought by the returning crusaders in the 13th century to Europe. This form of psora was externally alleviated by the cleanliness, and the usage of the cotton and linen shirts were brought by the crusaders from the orient (eastern). The frequent use of warm baths, the more exquisite diet, and the refinement in the mode of living had moderated the violent external psora in the form of the common eruption of itch. Just at this time, the other chronic miasmatic disease syphilis (1493) began to develop.

Must Read: What is Miasms -Detail Explanation

Development of Psora

The development of the chronic miasm Psora, in an organism, may be described as below:

1. Mode of infection

2. Internal development

3. External manifestation of the symptoms:

i. Primary manifestations

ii. Latent manifestations

iii. Secondary manifestations of Psora

1. Mode of infection

Psora is the most infectious miasm. The fluid in the psoric itch vesicle contains the miasm. Touch of fluid to the general skin itself is infectious. The moment the fluid comes in contact with the general skin, the itch miasm gets entry into the organism. This disposition of being affected by this is almost found in everybody and under all circumstances. “The itch disease is, however, also the moist contagious of all chronic miasmata”.

“The miasma of the itch needs only to touch the general skin”. The psora is communicated so easily that even the physician hurrying from one patient to another, in feeling the pulse, has unconsciously inoculated other patients with it. Often a baby, when being born, is infected while passing through the organs of the mother (vertical transmission), or else the baby gets the disease through the hands of the infected midwife. Thousands of other possible ways can be explained for such infection in society.

2. Internal development

As soon as the fluid that contains the itch miasm touches the skin of any part, it no more remains local. Hence all washings and cleaning of the spot is a futile attempt. For the first few days, no remarkable change is seen, not even at the affected area of the skin. The local nerve which was first infected had communicated the miasma dynamically to the entire parts of the body in an unperceived manner.

This happens till the whole organism has been changed entirely and thoroughly into psoric. Thus, the internal development of psora occurs. After a few days when the organism has completed the internal development of the miasm, the first local symptom “itch vesicles” develops.

3. External manifestation of the disease

The external manifestations of psora can be seen in the following 3 types:

i. Primary manifestations

ii. Latent manifestations (Latent Psora)

iii. Secondary manifestations of psora

i. Primary manifestations:

When the whole organism is transformed into a chronic miasmatic disease, the vital force tries to alleviate and soothe the internal disease through the production of local symptoms on the skin. It produces the itch vesicles. This usually takes place around six, seven, ten, or even fourteen days for the internal development of psora from the time of local infection. The patient feels a slight or more severe chill in the evening and a general heat, followed by perspiration the following night.

The appearance of itch vesicles similar to the miliary fever will be first seen on the infected part which later spreads to other parts of the skin. This itch vesicle is accompanied by a characteristic voluptuous tickling itch, which is unbearably agreeable to the patient. This forces the patient to irresistible rub and scratch. If the patient forcibly resists himself from scratching, a shudder passes over the skin of the whole body.

The rubbing and scratching satisfy the patient for a short period, but this is then immediately followed by the continued burning of the part affected. Late in the evening and before midnight, the itching is more frequent and unbearable. The itch vesicle in the first stage contains lymph as clear as the water, but this soon changes to pus and fills the tip of the vesicle. When the patient scratches or rubs the lymph of the vesicle spreads all over. This lymph is full of the psoric miasm which is potentially infective.

Even the clothes, the utensils used by the patient when touched propagate the disease. As long as the primary vesicles persist on the body, the secondary ailments of the psora do not break out. These troublesome vesicles act as the representation of the internally developed disease and keep the patient free from secondary ailments.

In this stage, the psora can be easily cured by the internal usage of the dynamized homeopathic remedies, but if the disease is allowed to advance in its peculiar course without the use of the internal curative remedy, or with the external applications like ointments, etc, the disease increases.

The increased internal disease further increases the skin symptoms. As a result, the skin eruptions start to spread all over the body. This happens to smooth the internally developing disease. Even at this stage, the patient may appear healthy in other aspects.

The internally developed psora is remaining dormant as the skin eruptions are increasing in proportion to its internal development. When the physician tries to control these eruptions with the external usage of the ointments or when the psora has completely spread all over the skin, in both cases the internal psora increases unceasingly.

ii. Latent manifestations / Latent Psora

When the primary manifestation “the itch vesicles”, is not cured by the internal anti-psoric remedies and suppressed, then the psora might remain in the dormant or the latent form. This suppression may be in the form of either external application of the ointments or by natural means.

The natural suppression of psora can take place either because of the unfavorable environmental conditions for the development of psora or the usage of repeated cold or hot baths by the patient etc. Latent psora can be defined as the state of the psora which remains latent or dormant without manifesting considerable disturbance and is not sufficiently developed for the full outbreak of the disease, the superficially investigating physician can term the patient with latent psora as the healthy person.

Hahnemann states, “Who does not know the signs of its latent presence, would suppose and declare such persons to be healthy and free from any internal malady, often for years it does not manifest disease”.

In the latent stage, the disturbance is located in the central life mechanism, which is perceptible to the careful physician through sensorial and functional changes in the organism as a whole. Nosological disease diagnosis is not possible at this stage as rarely any disease symptoms or tissue changes can be seen. But the patient may feel the deviations in the healthy state. “Latent psora may be recognized even in those cases, where it has not manifested itself in starting disease”.

Psora has pervaded and passed through millions of generations from its earlier states. Hence, grouping all symptoms of the psora is not possible. One patient may exhibit only a few symptoms and the other may exhibit a few.

iii. Secondary manifestations of Psora

A person who has psora slumbering within may show the signs of much resemblance to health. But this lasts only as long as the person is enjoying the favorable conditions of life. When some unfavorable conditions like the attack of an epidemic fever, an infectious acute disease (smallpox, measles, whooping cough, scarlet fever, etc), a shock or a fall, a wound, a considerable burn, the breaking of an arm or leg, hard labor, confinement to a closed room because of any cause, disturbance of soul or mind with grief or sorrow or vexation, intake of inferior food, etc, occurs then the latent psora awakes and produces so many nameless chronic diseases.

These visible symptoms produced by the awakened latent psora due to an exciting cause or unfavorable causes are called the secondary manifestations of Psora. Most of these conditions are still worsened by allopathic management. Some of these secondary manifestations will subside when the most favorable conditions to the patient will return. These measures cannot check completely the rapid development of chronic diseases.

The disease progressively develops depressing vitality further, producing a numberless multitude of various other signs and symptoms. These secondary symptoms will develop “According to the differences in the bodily constitutions of the man, his hereditary disposition, the various errors in his education and habits, his manner of living and diet, his employments, his turns of mind, his morality etc.”

So the secondary symptoms of psora are countless. Based on these individualistic secondary symptoms, the anti-psoric remedy has to be chosen.

H.A.ROBERTS VIEWS ON PSORA

H.A.Roberts formulates a hypothesis. Is psora a result of deficiency? He tries to understand this in the light of current date knowledge. According to the applied knowledge of bio-chemistry, the human body is constructed by the elements with lower atomic weights like hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, fluorine, sodium magnesium, silicon, phosphorous, sulfur, chlorine, potassium, manganese, calcium, iron, copper, zinc, arsenic, and iodine.

Iodine is the element with the highest known atomic weight of 53 in the body. It is known that the elements of the highest atomic weights like radioactive substances are destructive and to the human body. So according to the above hypothesis, if a patient is found to be lacking in one of the above-stated elements, we can consider them as psoric and supply those elements and try to cure them.

But we find that emotional and other psychological stress can lead to the breaking up of psora. This happens in even healthy bodies without any known material deficiency. Then the hypothesis remains unanswered.

H.A.Roberts answers this with an example. “Calcium is an essential of bony structure and is necessary, small but constant, essential of the blood. The homeopathic materia medica indicates the Calcarea group in “scrofulous” conditions; rickety children; large heads with open fontanelles; and a host of symptoms we have already described in those conditions traceable to psora.

According to food, nutrition, and health specialist McCollum, human infants often develop rickets when receiving a sufficient supply of calcium and phosphorus, provided they are deprived of sunlight and vitamin D. This comment “provided they are deprived of sunlight and vitamin D” lead us to meditate upon that comment of Hahnemann concerning Psora, to the effect of unnatural or unhappy surroundings are extremely dangerous to the vital energy”.

Roberts concludes by saying that, “In this modern, industrial world we rarely find a patient who is free from emotional, economic stress, adulterated food, stored and canned food, and undue stress and strain. This emotional strain was considered as an important factor in developing psoric conditions, the inability to relax for the natural conditions, and important functions demanded by the nature.

Hustle and bustle take away our rhythmic, full, deep breathing; the hurry for trains and time clocks interfere too often with the excretory functions, the demand of the society leads us to suppress natural perspiration, anxiety over almost every item of our lives gets in its dangerous work and often deprives us of necessary yet certainly of chance moments of relaxation”.

When we adopt the wrong living conditions, appalling plagues, and seasons of famine, we develop a diseased tendency which Hahnemann called psora. As a solution to this problem Roberts says, “This tendency will continue to be until corrected through more healthy and natural ways of living plus the power of the potentised remedy to release suppressions and tune the maladjustments to order.”

KENT’S VIEWS ON PSORA: LECTURE NO. XVIII AND XIX

Psora is the beginning of all physical sickness. Without psora, syphilis and sycosis are not possible and even the acute disease would not have occurred. Psora is the primary disorder of the human race. If the human race would have remained in perfect order, psora could not have existed. The spiritual sickness is the first sickness of a man. If we consider psora as synonymous with the itch, we cannot understand the psoric theory. Itch is one of the manifestations of psora and not psora itself.

If we imagine the state of the human race before the other two chronic miasms syphilis and sycosis, some sickness existed before the onset of these two miasms. Some state of disorder, which we can call psora. As long as the man continued to respect the wise rules and regulations of nature (good behavior towards his neighbors etc), he remained free from susceptibility to disease.

“As are the will and understanding, so will be the external man”. The internal man and the external man are interrelated and interdependent. The departure of man from virtue and justice into evils and vice reflected onto the body in form of susceptibility to the disease i.e. Psora.

Psora is the result of false thinking of the human race. “Psora is but an outward manifestation of that which is prior in man”. “The human race of today is but little better than a moral leper”. “To put it in another way, everyone is psoric”. Psora carries its effects from one generation to the other, hence with generation susceptibility to it increases. Kent does not agree that the acarus (causative parasite to itch) is before the itch eruption, but psora is the state before itch or acarus.

Kent says, “It is the state that is prior, the itch is not prior”. The will and understanding are prior to a man’s action. This is fundamental to the beginning of the disease process. “First there was thinking of false and willing evils, thinking of such false lead to deprived living”, which was then followed by bad action”. “Thinking, willing, and acting are the three things that make up the science of the human race.

Man thinks, he wills and he acts”. Children inherit it from their parents and carry it on and continue to live with it. When the man’s bad thinking and willingness result in action, he approaches a prostitute and syphilis and sycosis would result by impure coition. Thus psora becomes the mother of all miasms. When the original simple psora has added to syphilis and sycosis, this progress and have now affected a state which is more complex to cure. The violent allopathic treatment made the condition more complicated and incurable. Today we have a more complicated, fabricated, complex, miasmatic state in every patient.

Anti – Psoric Treatment

Treatment of Psora depends upon the stage with which the patient is suffering. Each stage of Psora requires different treatment:

1. Treating the primary manifestations of Psora

2. Treating the latent or the secondary manifestations of the Psora

1. Treating the Primary Manifestations of Psora

i. Once the internal development of the miasm has taken place the primary manifestations of Psora, itch vesicles will result. These primary manifestations will develop on the least dangerous parts of the body i.e. the external skin. This again happens in that area to which the miasma had touched the nearest nerves. As long as the primary manifestations remain on the skin, the psora can be cured most easily, quickly, and surely.

ii. To treat the primary manifestations of the psora, a small dose of one or two pills as large as poppy seeds moistened with potentized Sulphur in alcohol is abundantly sufficient to cure the infection.

iii. But if the psoric eruptions are treated badly by external applications or the suppression has taken place by natural means, psora produces secondary manifestations. In such conditions Sulphur alone is insufficient and ineffective.

2. Treating the Latent or the Secondary Manifestations of Psora

If the primary eruptions have been suppressed, either by external applications or by natural means, the secondary chronic ailments will break out. The cure of an old psora that has been deprived of its eruption, whether it may be latent and quiescent or already broke out into chronic disease, can never be accomplished with Sulphur alone. In such states psora requires the use of several anti-psoric remedies for its cure, to be administered one after another in succession. This again will be done only on the basis of the totality of symptoms.

The peculiar chronic miasm psora has passed through several millions of human organisms. Because of the same reason, it must have gained various symptoms. Individuals with various bodily constitutions with their peculiarities, their education, habits, occupations, modes of life, and diet might have molded the psora with varying bodily and psychic symptoms. Hence, psora requires several medicines in succession, one after the other based on the individualistic symptoms of the patient.

General Guidelines For Managing a Case With the Anti-Psoric Remedy

1. The physician as a rule allows the well-selected anti-psoric remedy to finish its action without interrupting it with another remedy. As long as the improvement continues, repetition of even the same remedy is not allowed.

2. If new symptoms which the patient never felt in his life have developed, this indicates that the selected remedy is not suitable for the case. In such cases, previously administered medicine can be checked by an antidote, or another anti-psoric remedy can be administered in its place.

3. If the existing, presenting symptoms of the patient are aggravating, with a feeling of betterment to the patient, it indicates homeopathic aggravation. This indicates a better prognosis.

4. But after a long time of waiting if the aggravation does not subside and increases in its severity, it shows that the remedy has been given in a large dose than required. In such a state, an antidote for the remedy can be selected and given to check the troublesome homeopathic aggravation. If an antidote is not available, another suitable homeopathic remedy can be prescribed in its place based on the existing totality.

5. The indicated remedy when acted for a certain period of time seems to come to a standstill, but the symptoms still indicate the same remedy. Then a dose of the same remedy, but in a different degree of dynamic potency can be administered.

6. When a well-selected anti-psoric remedy has completed its action and the remaining symptoms demand another remedy, then another suitable remedy for the remaining totality can be administered.

7. Those cases coming from allopathic management during their treatment demand a dose of Sulphur or Hepar Sulphur according to their symptoms. Sometimes Mercury can be added to this group.

8. Conditions where the patient is in an excessively irritated state and no dynamic medicine seems to act, Hahnemann recommends the practice of mesmerism and passes on the patient. If required, the indicated remedy can be repeated in the form of the olfaction method.