T H E B R I T I S H H O M ( ~ O P A T H I C J O U R N A L 179

COMMENTS ON THE HOM(EOPATHIC TICEATMENT OF DIABETES*

By DR. KENYON MR. PRESIDENT,

I am not sure whether these observations should be made about that insulinogenic deficiency of the pancreas that is called Diabetes or about the homceopathic treatment of hyperglyc~emia in general.

However, as hyperglyc~emia, whatever its cause, if allowed to continue, produces dam. age to the Islands of Langerhans, this is probably a quibble over definition.

My motive for commenting on the homceopathic treatment of diabetes mellitus is because this very prevalent complaint is often unresponsive to our drugs. The foremost reason for this, I think, can be ascribed to the difficulty we experience so often in finding satisfactory symptoms and modalities on which to prescribe. Because of this, we are tempted to give remedies chosen on account of their power (on occasion) to produce glycosuria.

When treatment is given in this way the result is usually unsatisfactory ; in most cases it is dismally ineffective.

In my view, there is no illness in which a careful and exhaustive homoeo- pathic case-taking is more vital, and, more fruitful. On the other hand, there is no disturbance in which " easy cuts to treatment ", that is prescriptions based on end actions of disease, is more futile.

In the treatment of a case of diabetes there are, of course, many valuable orthodox methods to be followed. The giving of a balanced diet ; the removal of septic loci and infections which we know block the action of body insulin ; the giving of insulin when necessary ; the restraint of over-eating in the obese diabetic; such treatment may stabilize the body with the result that the patient develops a sugar tolerance and recovery may occur. But, in addition to this the homceopathic remedy has its place and its place may be unsurpassed in speeding recovery.

If, as I believe, the correctly chosen drug can be so potent in its effect, it is desirable to observe the full response to diet (and insulin when required) before giving the homceopathic remedy and therefore forming a judgment on its action.

I have been asked on occasion if it really matters what helps the patient to recover: diet, insulin, and remedy, so long as the patient gets well. I n view of the important place that the homceopathic drug takes in the treat- ment, I think that it matters very much indeed.

Towards the end of the attack on this country by flying bombs, I was asked to examine 135 apparently healthy young adults living in the south suburbs. Thirty of these persons had sugar and acetone in the urine.

Fortunately, I was given the opportunity of investigating fully each case. Each one of these thirty patients had a high blood sugar two and a haft

hours after the beginning of a good meal, and they all showed a glucose tolerance curve of a mild diabetic type.

Each case was treated by diet alone. When checked up in three months normal readings of the glucose tolerance curve were obtained in every instance ; and six months later each one of them was found to be in good health and biochemically normal.

In itself this is not a particularly interesting observation. Mild cases of hyperglycmmia do clear up under dietetic treatment. But, in conjunction with the next series of cases, there is something of interest to the homceopathist.

In the summer of 1946, I examined ninety-six young adults from the same district, and under the same conditions, except that bombing had ceased. Only one of these cases showed a trace of sugar (transient) in the urine.

* Paper delivered at the Faculty of Hom~eopathy, June 5th. 1947.

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When I was thinking about the first series of cases, I wondered how much a heavy carbohydrate diet and how rmach fear had played their respective parts in the production of the hyperglyczemia.

A consideration of these 200-odd cases, thirty of which had developed a definite hyperglycmmia under certain environmental conditions, suggests that emotional stress does play a part in the incidence of diabetes.

This, again, is not an original conclusion. Dr. Lawrence says that " When shares go down in Wall Street, diabetes

goes up ". This view, however, is not shared by all writers on the subject. Nevertheless, these two series of cases that I have just quoted did turn my mind to consider etiology more carefully when seeking for a homceopathie remedy in difficult cases.

When preliminary treatment such as diet and so forth has been given and the effects noted, then the homceopathic remedy is given when required.

I f the remedy is to be considered to be effective, there should be a swift improvement in the general health of the patient, if the health has not been good previously. I look for a rapid improvement of symptoms, when symptoms have been present. Treatment should also result in a reduction of hyper- glyceemia two and a half hours after the beginning of a meal ; and, in responsive cases, one often finds a levelling in the urine-sugar graph which every patient charts four times daily.

Sometimes a diabetic patient is homceopathically symptomless. I have he/~rd it suggested that such a patient requires no treatment, even though he has a heavy hyperglycmmia. This view must be regarded as dangerous and pestilential. These physicians seem to forget that a case that is homoeo- pathically symptomless may be most scriously ill. At any rate, it is generally considered that hyperglyczemia, whatever the cause, eventually overstrains the Islands of Langerhans and the result will be a frank diabetes.

Some cases of diabetes are easy to treat homceopathically because they present good prescribing symptoms; many are less responsive to treatment because the symptoms are elusive and difficult to find. Other eases seem to have no prescribing symptoms whatever, and do not, therefore, yield very much to our remedies.

The cases i am going to give you are few, but they arc rcpresentative of many. They have been chosen because there appear to be certain points of interest relevant to my comments. :Not all these patients have recovered, but a litany of therapeutic triumphs is abhorrent to listeners and of little value for discussion.

The cases fall under three headings: the divisions arc quite artificial and are only so divided for the purpose of description.

TYPE I. Many diabetics have abundant prescribing symptoms : the choice of the

remedy (or remedies) is easy: the response to treatment is swift. Here is an example: This case is of interest because she had been under treatment for some time at a diabetic clinic. She had been stabilized on diet and insulin, but she decided to consult a homceopathist because she did not consider that she was in as good health as she expected to be.

Case A. Female, aet. 21 years. She was diagnosed as suffering from diabetes in September, 1943. She

attended a diabetic clinic when she was stabilized on diet and insulin and con- tinued with this treatment until she consulted mc in April, 1946. At this time she was taking 40 units of soluble insulin and 30 units of Zn protamine daily.

When she first saw me in the spring of 1946, she complained that she felt weak ; lack of energy ; her memory was poor ; she was unable to concentrate and was extremely anxious about her health and her prospects of earning her

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living. She was a tall, thin, and very intelligent young woman, with a family his tory of tuberculosis. Her weight was 7 st. 11 lb. as against 9 st. 2 lb. in 1943.

I t is not relevant to m y comments to discuss the reasons for the remedies she received : the first prescription is obvious to anyone.

Actual ly she received Phos. 200 and over the next year Tub. Koch 200, Nat. phos. 200, and Sulphur 30.

These remedies were easily chosen on good prescribing symptoms. In the April of this year she felt fairly well. The we igh t - -8 s t . - - h a d

remained s teady for some months. Her daily insulin is now 10 Soluble and 2 Cloudy units per day, tha t is a drop of 60 units in a year. I t is necessary to add tha t this controls her hyperglycmmia.

I t seems a fair assumption to claim tha t homceopathy has been of some help in this case.

TYPE II . Then there is the type of case tha t has few useful prescribing symptoms,

but a careful taking of the case brings to light some exciting etiological factor.

During the past few years an impor tan t exciting cause has been tha t of f e a r .

The case I am quoting is tha t of a child and is of interest for two reasons. In childhood the presence of hyperg lycemia and diabetes is potential ly serious. This case is one of six children 1 had to treat. These children came from different families, but they all lived in the same district where they had been exposed to heavy bombing.

The six of them developed hyperglyc~emia. They were all put on diet and four of them recovered quickly. The blood sugar and urine became n()rmal within a few weeks and have remained normal.

Two of these children continued to haye a hyperglyc~emia and became ill. They both required homceopathic t rea tment in addit ion to a balanced diet, but insulin had not to bc given.

Case B was a boy aged 11 years, who was brought to me in January , 1944, suffering from pustules on the skin. This was some time after sugar had been found in the urine and the boy had been pu t on diet. His mother was more worried because he was feeling unwell ; readily tired and was working badly at school, though he was a very energetic and clever boy.

The boy looked ill and, in spite of careful dieting, sugar and acetone were found in the urine.

The blood sugar was 281 mgs. per cent. (Blood sugar rea~lings quoted in this paper are those recorded 2~- hours after a meal.)

As he had a considerable amount of acetone in his urine, he was given Cassia 6c t.d.s, for five days.

A fortnight later, the urine was loaded with sugar, but there was no acetone. The blood sugar was 268. The diet was continued, but no remedy was given.

On February l l t h , 1944, the blood sugar had dropped to 218 rags. per cent. and there was a marked glycosuria.

The boy was ill ; listless ; lacking in energy ; touchy and irritable. His mother had formed the opinion tha t his ill-health had dated from a

fright and from anxiety following air raids. He was given Natrum mur. 200. (The reason for the prescription is, of course, evident, but the point in

quot ing this case is to demonstra te the value of etiology in prescribing.) I did not see him again until April, 1944, when his blood sugar was 131.

The urine had been examined four times daily, the glycosuria had gradual ly diminished and was now absent.

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During the next eighteen months there were intermittent rises of his blood sugar and remedies were given according to the symptoms. (The two remedies he required were Nat. mur. and Phosphorus.)

During 1946 the boy remained well : the urine was consistently free of sugar and acetone, and the blood sugar at a normal level.

In January, 1947, the G.T.T. showed a normal curve. There are many cases where etiology, other than emotional stress, guides

one to a prescription. I am quoting this case because it has been a difficult one. The etiology is

not certain: the treatment is not completed. However this may be, it certainly emphasizes the need of exhaustive case-taking, in such difficult conditions.

I should like to say here how much I am indebted to Dr. Chand for his indefatigable industry in working on this case with me. This brief report gives no indication of the hours of routine work Dr. Chand has devoted to this investigation.

Case C is a married woman, aged 59 years. She came under our care during the latter part of April, but she had"

been on a balanced diet for a month previously, and had received Tub. bov., Belladonna, and Sulphur.

Her blood sugar was 193 mgs. per cent. Dr. Chand reports that after prolonged and patient questioning very few

symptoms on which to base a prescription could be elicited. But, he remarks, that it is of interest to note that all her complaints date back to Christmas, 1946. At that time there was an unhappy incident which led her to fear that she had contracted syphilis. On enquiring into the history we found that she had developed an ulcer on the lip which had been treated with penicillin injections. All blood tests were negative and there was nothing to suggest that she had acquired a specific infection.

I t was quite impossible to reassure her, and because of this obsessional state (rather than any belief that she was, in fact, suffering from syphilis) we decided to give her Lueticum 200 which she received on May 21st.

Since then her burning sensations and vague pains vanished. Her glyeo- suria showed an immediate improvement which has been maintained up to the present. (A chart of the glycosuria indicating this improvement was shown to the Meeting.) There was also a slight improvement in the hyperglye~emia-- 186 mgs. per cent. on May 16th.

Three weeks later she appeared to be slipping back in general health and the case was retaken, after which Pulsatilla 30 (four doses) was given. After this remedy she improved again and her blood sugar dropped within a few days to 170 rags. per cent.

This case has not recovered, and is quoted to illustrate the necessity of searching c~e-taking.

TYPE iII. The most baffling case of all is that wherein the prescribing symptoms are

difficult to find ; such symptoms as are found are odd. These eases call for a considerable amount of wit on the part of the physician to select a prescription.

Case D. This lady, aged 50 years, on March 15th, 1946, complained of a discharging eczema behind both ears. She stated that she had been losing weight ; that she felt generally unwell ; weary and very thirsty. On exami- nation, sugar and acetone were found in her urine. The G.T.T. read 120 mgs. fasting, and half hourly 220, 250, 280, 210 and 200 at 2~ hours after the adminis- tration of the glucose.

She appeared to be very ill, more sick than her G.T.T. suggested, and so diet and insulin were started. She received 7 units night and morning. Over the next few months she ran downhill and increase of her insulin did not control her health or hyperglycsemia.

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I t was very difficult to find symptoms on which to prescribe, but she received many remedies (e.g. Sulphur, Opium, Syzygium, Uranium nit., Lactic acid, etc.) without any benefit.

In December, 1946, she still felt ill, had a high blood sugar, 300 rags. per cent., and was taking 70 units of insulin daily.

The matter appeared serious and the case was once again taken very carefully. No helpful prescribing symptoms were found, but I did discover that she had suffered from severe indigestion for many years with inability to take vegetables and fruit. This condition completely cleared up about the time her present illness developed. This change of complaint suggested Abrotanum which I gave her with considerable hope.

In a month's time, to my disappointment, she was no better in general health, her blood sugar was 281 rags. per cent., but she did present some definite prescribing symptoms. She gave me a very clear picture of Natrum tour. which she received.

In another month's time (February 6th, 1947) she reported and was no better either in health or biochemically. Her blood sugar was 280 mgs. per cent.

I then recalled that Lac defloratum is a useful remedy in diabeW~s, that one of its most important constituents is Natrum mur., that the general and emotional symptoms of both drugs have a marked resemblance to each other. The patient therefore received Lac defloratum lm.

On February 27th she was at last able to report an improvement in health, and her blood sugar was 18t rags. per cent. I ventured to reduce her insulin to 40 units per day, and I repeated the dose of Lac defloratum.

On March 13th she was still improving in general health, her weight had increased from 8 st. 13 lb. to 9 st. l0 lb. in two months.

Her insulin intake was reduced to 12 and 15 units daily. No remedy was given.

On May 8th, 1947, she felt in good health. On the day of the examina- tion her blood sugar was 138 mgs. per cent., but her four-hourly urine chart still showed some intermittent glycosuria.

My conclusion is that this patient has improved, but not recovered. My purpose in quoting the case is to illustrate the need for ingenuity

and thoughtfulness if one wishes to discover the appropriate remedy in certain difficult cases.

Mr. President, I am aware that these comments are scrappy and inadequate. I should liked to have arrived at some more definite conclusion,

There are some cases of diabetes which have good prescribing symptoms. when the drug is easily chosen and the result is swift and often lasting. But there are more difficult cases wherein symptoms are difficult to discover and where recovery is not complete or lasting. These difficult eases do lead us to the conclusion, I think, that diabetes is an expression of some mia~m provoked by one of many exciting causes. No doubt the reason why the remedy so often eludes us is because we have failed to discern and treat the basic under- lying disorder.

Probably treatment by nosodes should play a more prominent par t than I , at any rate, have given to them in the past.

I am looking forward to your comments. Usually they are searching, but always they are relevant and helpful.

DISCUSSION

Dr. FOUB]ST~R thanked Dr. Kenyon for his paper, and said that diabetes mellitus was a disease fairly well controlled by orthodox treatment. The question was could we do better by substituting homeeopathic treatment for control by insulin and diet, or by supplementing orthodox treatment by

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homceopathic remedies ? The answer to t h a t quest ion seemed to lie in the pa thology. Al though this was by no means clear ly unders tood , i t was cer ta in t h a t there were cases where the pa tho logy was reversible, and cure was possible. lit was i m p o r t a n t to note t h a t cure could occur wi th or wi thou t t r e a t m e n t , a n d in this connect ion i t was necessary to assess cr i t ica l ly any improvemen t which might occur following the admin i s t r a t ion of a homoeopathic medicine. A t the o ther end of the scale, the re were the cases where the pa tho logy was irreversible, and cure in the t rue sense impossible. P r o b a b l y most cases came in between the two extremes. Dr. K e n y o n had t aken the now genera l ly accep ted line t h a t a case of d iabe tes should be s tabi l ized on insulin and diet , and then an a t t e m p t made to improve or cure the case homceopathical ly . One d id no t often see the effect of a homceopathic r emedy in the acu te phase of the disease una ided by insulin and o ther t r e a t m e n t app rop r i a t e to the pre- comatose or comatose s ta te . I n t h a t connect ion the following case might be of interest . Some years ago, a middle aged male came complaining of sciat ica of a week 's dura t ion . H e was obviously ill, and a full examina t ion was made. The urine wa,~ loaded wi th sugar and acetone. His r emedy was c lear ly Sulphur and he was given Sulphur 10m one dose, and sent from ou t -pa t i en t s d e p a r t m e n t to the l abo ra to ry for a blood sugar to be done. I t was in tended t h a t the pa t i en t should be admi t t ed , to be s tabi l ized, but p r o b a b l y because of his menta l condit ion, he misunders tood the ins t ruct ions given him and left the hospi ta l af ter v is i t ing the lab. The blood sugar t aken in the late af ternoon was 260. A le t te r was sent off rcquest ing the pa t i en t to re turn to the hospital , b u t the pa t i en t d id no t t u rn up un t i l a week la ter , when his general heal th was m a r k e d l y improved , his sciat ica had gone and his urine normal . A blood sugar curve was done and i t was also normal . This migh t have been a coincidence, bu t i t seemed wor th while relat ing.

Regard ing setiology, as DL K e n y o n had po in ted out, men ta l stress is a factor of impor tance , and his observat ions of the high incidence of g lycosur ia in young adul t s in the bl i tzed area were interes t ing. This fac tor has long been taken into considerat ion in homceopathic pre~cribing.

Another factor wor th considering was the well-known l iabi l i ty of d iabet ic pa t ien t s to infections, pa r t i cu l a r ly s taphylococca l and tubercular . There was ev idence also t h a t infect ion m a y be the cause or p rec ipa t ing fac tor in diabetes. He knew of a pa t i en t wi th a carbuncle wi thou t previous d iabetes requir ing 100 uni ts of insulin da i ly to control the d iabetes which came on with the infection and cleared up comple te ly when the carbuncle was cured by penicillin. ] t is no tewor thy t h a t the remedies used for these infect ions are f requen t ly ind ica ted in diabetes .

W h a t he l iked abou t Dr. K e n y o n ' s paper was t ha t he had not mere ly given a series of successfully t r ea t ed cases. Tha t would not have given a t rue p ic ture of the problem of t rea t ing d iabetes homeeopathical ly . Dr. K e n y o n had

em phas i zed the difficulties and the f requent failures or pa r t i a l successes which are the exper i ence of mos t of us. b[e though t we should do more of th is and t h a t the orth(niox profession would be more l ikely to be in teres ted in Homcco- p a t h y i f an endeavour were made to out l ine i ts sphere of usefulness.

Dr. TEMPLETON said t h a t somebody asked abou t the ac t ion of remote fear on the diabetes .

Dr. FOUBISTER though t i t was a quest ion of the soil. In the 200 cases examined by Dr. K e n y o n in K e n t only 30 had diabetes . I t was no t a ques t ion of fear remain ing for a number of years , bu t it was a ques t ion of a pa r t i cu la r human soil which was special ly suscept ible to fear.

Dr. KENYON said t h a t not e v e r y b o d y responded in the same way to fear. Dr. G. R. MITCHELL said t h a t Sulphur had been ment ioned more t han

once and t h a t he could record another Sulphur case. The pa t i en t himself a t t r i b u t e d his d iabe tes to f r ight caused by a ra i lway accident nine years before. Die t alone had h i ther to control led the condi t ion sat isfactor i ly , but

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eight months before consulting the speaker he had begun to lose weight and this loss was continuing more rapidly than he liked. He had literally no symptoms and on tha t account alone he was given Sulphur. In one month the glycosuria had dropped from 5 per cent. to 3�89 per cent. and there had been no further loss of weight. During the next two months glycosuria remained at 3t per cent. There was at first a gain in weight of 2�89 lb. followed by a loss of 1 lb. During the next few months he had several other remedies on account of a s teady loss of weight and rise in glycosuria. Jus t over a fortnight ago the loss had reached 6~ lb. and the glycosuria had risen to 6 per cent. plus. Sulphur was repeated and he was advised to return in a fortnight instead of the usual four weeks. Seen three days ago he had gained 3�89 lb. and glycosuria had dropped to 2 per cent.

Another case was one of diabetes complicated by epilepsy. In spite of carefully est imated insulin dosage and probably because of the epileptic background her condition was one of extreme instabili ty. Glycosuria could vary by 10 per cent. in the course of one hour. Her husband had become expert at diagnosing when she was becoming hypo- or hyper-glyc~emic, but invariably, unless circumstances made it impossible, checked up with urine tests before giving extra insulin or glucose. One dose of Lycopodium 30 has, with a repetition of the dose three months later, satisfactorily controlled the instabil i ty for nine months. During the whole of tha t period she has been able to live comfortably on a regular insulin dosage.

Dr. MASON said she had a patient, but had not s tarted finding out about her yet. She had glycosuria and a very bad tubercular history. Her mother died of tuberculosis and various members of her family had had it. In such a case would one s tar t by giving her Tuberculinum whatever remedy might be indicated or should the indicated remedy be given first ?

Dr. BOMA~-BEHRAM said that he had very little experience in treating diabetic patients, but he found after giving the indicated remedy tha t the patient was considerably improved and he asked himself " What next ~. " He had had one peculiar case as follows : - -

A man about 50 consulted him because he had a bad odour, and on complete examination he found the teeth were bad, the heart was enlarged, the blood pressure 180/110 and he had a loss of sensation from below the knee. The urine contained 6 per cent. sugar. I t was a case of diabetic neuritis and pyorrhcea and cardiovascular trouble. The pat ient was keen to have his teeth extracted, but he persuaded him to wait. The indicated drug was Phosphorus and he was given one dose of Phosphorus 200. The pyorrhcea had disappeared except on two teeth in a fortnight 's time, the loss of sensation in the leg was confined to the foot, the blood pressure was down to 160/90 and the sugar content was 2 per cent. There was no doubt a remarkable improvement on Phosphorus. The pat ient was watched, every time his neuritis went back to the knee he had to have a dosb of Phosphor~ts. He was never laid up, he did not have his teeth extracted and he carried on his work with his usual diet and without insulin.

He carried on like this for two years, but his wife was very nervous and persuaded him to take a second opinion. He did not like to take complete responsibility and thought it advisable to refer the patient to the best con- sultants in Bombay. He put him in the hands of an allopathic consultant who advised insulin and plenty of vitamins. After two months he was called again by the son and found tha t the patient had a diabetic gangrene of the hand. He was in a high fever, but would not think of going to the hospital. The hand was entirely blue and swollen. He was given a dose of Lachesis 30 and he improved. He had his hand lanced, he was treated for two months in hospital and he recovered, but died on the day he was to be discharged. I f the Phosphoru,9 had been continued perhaps he could have carried on for another two years.

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After the marked improvemen t on Phosphorus what nex t ? Should the pa t i en t have been given a nosode or wha t should have been the fur ther line of t r ea tmen t . Pho,,phorus met his case considerably, bu t was there any chance of doing a b i t more t han the Phosphorus had done !

Dr. QU~NTON said there were two points which occurred to him, one was t h a t in Dr. Mitchell 's case where ins tab i l i ty ws so marked he though t Ignatia was indicated. In Dr. Mason's case h e though t the cons t i tu t ional r emedy should be given before the nosode.

Dr. MCCRAE said t h a t he was most in teres ted in the cases which Dr. K e n y o n descr ibed as symptomless . This was a t ype of case which reveals the value of work wi th the emanometer . Through e lec t ro-physical indicat ions i t was possible to arr ive a t a r emedy when other methods failed. In this manner one f requent ly came across unusua l medicines and i t revealed the neces- s i ty to persevere with more and more provings. There were now sufficient ins t ruments of scientific precision and me thods of l abo ra to ry technique to ex tend the value of our provings. Because of this we might very well find t h a t some provings will demons t r a t e the appea rance of glycosuria or even a rise of blood sugar wi thout any notable symptoms in t h e p r o v e r s . Tha t would be something of g rea t value to add to our ma te r i a medica. Through such methods of l abo ra to ry control we would possess a guide as to the l imits we could go in safely pushing our provings wi thout de t r imen t to the prover ' s heal th.

Dr. SUNDEI~ said t h a t the paper was very s t imula t ing and he would like t ime to th ink abou t it. He was pa r t i cu la r ly interested to hear t h a t Dr. K e n y o n gave some of his pa t ien ts Tuberculinum, and would like t o~ whether he had had experience of this t ype of case. He himseff could th ink of two, first a medical m a n who was a ship 's surgeon and who developed tuberculosis and came into the sana tor ium where artificial pneumotho rax was carried out over a per iod of five years. The pa t i en t also had diabetes to a very severe extent . His insulin requ i rement was 140 uni ts per day and on t ha t and his pneumothorax he kep t ex t remely well. I f the insulin was reduced he got into trouble. He wondered whether Dr. K e n y o n could th row any l ight on the reason why the tubercu la r pa t i en t should be so res is tant to t r ea tmen t . He was speaking as an al lopath.

Another pa t i en t in the sana to r ium a t the present t ime had been worked on for weeks to find the r ight dose. He was given 70 units and got hypo- glycsemia, he had 60 and got hyperglycmmia, and he was also a case of tuber- culosis. The res i s tan t cases had been the tube rcu la r cases.

One more po in t was the influence of fear. The t rans ien t influence of fear might be enough to br ing on glycosuria. Was i t well recognized t h a t fear, the cause for which had ceased, would produce a glycosuria several years after- wards ~. Tha t was an i m p o r t a n t poin t and he would like Dr. K e n y o n ' s con- sidered rep ly to tha t .

Dr. FERCIE WOODS said t h a t d iabetes in teres ted him very much. He had been in pract ice a lmost for ty years and supposed he had seen an average number of d iabet ic pa t ien ts and had never once given insulin. He did not say t h a t he had cured the pa t ien ts , but he found t h a t wi th homceopathic remedies, plus a cer tain amoun t of diet ing, one could keep a d iabet ic pa t i en t in good hea l th and ac t iv i ty year af ter year for an a lmost indefinite period wi thou t any insulin. This was an advan t age because one had to admi t t h a t insulin had i ts r isk. I t was also inconvenien t and the die t had to be very s t r ic t ly controlled. H e found t h a t d iabet ic pa t ien t s under homceopathic t r e a t m e n t could usual ly eat o rd ina ry wholemeal bread and car ry on a normal life wi thou t any fear of complicat ions. He had never seen a complicat ion ye t in any of his d iabet ic pat ients .

The t ype of pa t i en t which developed diabetes was usual ly the menta l t ype ra ther than the ma te r i a l t ype which might explain why Lycopodium

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and Phos. avid wcrc common remedies in this condition. Szdphur, hc agreed, was useful when there were very few symptoms to go on. He looked upon one of the chief symptoms of Sulphur to be lack of symptoms, but most of the patients he had had, had done well on Phos. a~id and Lycopodium.

Dr. A. MO~qCRIEFF said that she had had very slight experience of diabetic cases and what patients she had had showed the best results with Sulphur. She had rather explained it on the grounds that diabetic patients, on the whole, fell into Dr. Kenyon's class of not many symptoms and she agreed that one of the great points of Sulphur was that very often there were very few symptoms.

A patient she had at out-patients two or three years before the war was a woman of 50 who told her that she had her husband, brother-in-law and five sons for whom she had to cook, wash and do everything for. She had marked glycosuria, the blood sugar was 300, and she did her best to persuade her to go into hospital. The patient felt that she was quite indispen~ble, so she was threatened with immediate death but was given Sulphur 10m. The patient came ba~ck in a month, and her blood sugar was practically normal.

Quite often pregnant women developed a certain amount of glycosuria, she never worried about it. She thought it was recognized that it had to do with thc alteration of the metabolism during pregnancy. She wondered, however, if the element of fear had anything to do with it. Many patients were afraid of labour. Did Dr. Kenyon think that that might have something to do with the temporary glycosuria which cleared up when the baby arrived.

Dr. Foubister seemed to think they should limit their cases to those which Homoeopathy could help. She disagreed. She did not think there was a limit to the cases which could be helped by Homceopathy. I f all the islets of Langcrhans were destroyed they could not be replaced, but all the ductless glands interconnected with each other and it was possible by stimulating the other glands to enable the patient to carry on with less insulin than would be necessary if one did not give homceopathic treatment.

Dr. MITCHELL asked Dr. Kenyon's opinion as to the effect of using insulin along with Homceopathy. Did the use of insulin damp down the effect of the homocopathic remedy ? This was a question which would apply to all deficiency disea~ses, and was one about which it was difficult to make up one's mind. He wondered whether Dr. McCrae could help on this point. I f one test were taken before and another after the administration of insulin would these tests show different reactions.on the emanometer ?

Dr. MCLMAE : I could not answer that. Dr. CHAND said that he had not practised for long in homceopathy and he

could not give any definite idea as to the degree of diabetes in India or the eastern countries. I t was common, but he did not know the difference between the incidence in the eastern and European countries.

Dr. TEMPLETON said that it was quoted as being very common in India and Ceylon.

Dr. SU-~DELL said that there was one race which was liable to get it and that was the Hebrew race. Would that not be due to the easier reaction to fear and the adrenal stimulus .~

Dr. TEMPLETON thought Dr. Kenyon was to be congratulated not so much on his cases, but on tackling the subject at all. Most of them fought shy of diabetes, at least of talking about it, because of an inferiority complex. They were not as shy as Dr. Quinton who handed his cases on to another physician to treat, but if there was anything which the discussion had shown it was the variability of diabetes. The number of cases which had reacted to the different remedies made it almost certain that diabetes was not a disease in the true sense of the word. He had hoped to hear something about heredity. Diabetes mellitus was supposed to be hereditary, 48 per cent. of the age group 25 to 45 inherited the condition. He believed that Mr. MacDonagh had said that we could never touch heredity. He wondered if any of them thought tha t

1 8 8 T H E B R I T I S H I - I O M ( E O P A T I t I C J O U R N A L

t hey were touching hered i ty in any way a t all ? When one though t of the pauc i ty of informat ion which the o r thodox books gave o n the mtiology of d iabe tes the homceopathic phys ic ian had no reason to be a shamed of his approach . He red i ty was a mos t in teres t ing problem to us.

Of the exci t ing causes ment ioned, t h a t which in teres ted him mos t was anxie ty , and t h a t was where the homceopathic physic ian came into his own. I n the ~etiology i t was the anx ie ty or i ts effects which we could t r ea t more successful ly t han most .

Then, he thought , Dr. K e n y o n was to be congra tu la ted in tackl ing these cases as successfully as he had . Bu t had he a definite me thod of s tabi l iz ing the pa t i en t first and then giving the r emedy ? Did he do t h a t as a rule ? Tha t seemed to be the bes t me thod bu t i t was difficult to s tabi l ize under some condit ions. W h a t was one to do, i f one could not get t hem s tabi l ized a t all ? One mus t then, of course, t r y the remedy to see if a resul t could be achieved by t h a t means.

Wi th regard to the case which was quoted where ins tab i l i ty was so m a r k e d he would have though t of Pul~satilla r a the r than Ignatia. Dr. Quin ton men- t ioned giving the nosode first, then the cons t i tu t ional remedy. W h y d id he give a nosode first ? Dr. K e n y o n migh t know something abou t wha t was in his m ind in t h a t pa r t i cu la r ma t t e r . He wondered i f Dr. Sundel l could have given them some idea if the re was a large propor t ion of people on die t and s tabi l ized who u l t ima t e ly reduced thei r insulin and even if there was a propor- t ion of cures. Were any of these figures avai lab le ? Each case was different : t hey rea l ly could no t be classified into percentages and so forth.

The other po in t which s t ruck him was whether the number of d iabet ics was known. They were said to be increasing every day . W h y ? Because the d iabet ics l ived longer and produced chi ldren ? Tha t would prove the heredi- t a r y factor . Quot ing odd cases was no use. He knew of a young man who was re jec ted for the Army, he was inves t iga ted , gave a d iabe t ic curve, and wi th in a m o n t h wi thout t r e a t m e n t he had no sugar a t all in his urine. He was no t f r ightened, he was anxious to jo in the Army, and he was accepted on his second a t t e m p t , and remained in the services.* Re Dr. Foub i s t e r ' s case, one would have though t t h a t the carbuncle was a compl ica t ion of diabetes , not the cause of the diabetes.

Could Dr. Fergie Woods hones t ly say t h a t no d iabet ic pa t i en t whom he had t r ea t ed had developed compl ica t ions ? No ca t a rac t ? .No gangrene ~. How d id these cases surv ive i f t h e y a te every th ing and any th ing ? Did the insulin- die t t r e a t m e n t p reven t the onset of ca t a rac t and re t in i t i s ? Some people said " No ", bu t he would like to know more abou t tha t . P r o b a b l y more t han mos t diseases d iabetes was an ind iv idua l problem and t h a t was t rue of i ts homceopathic t r ea tmen t as had been shown b y Dr. K e n y o n to-day.

Dr. KEn'YON, rep ly ing to the discussion, said t h a t wha t he c la imed was t h a t a homceopathic r e m e d y could speed recovery of the pa t i en t in a g rea t m a n y cases. W i t h regard to the po in t ra ised a b o u t the re la t ion be tween d iabe tes and infections such as carbuncles, he considered t h a t while the d iabet ic was more prone to such infections, never theless non-d iabe t ic persons suffering from carbuncles somet imes developed a t e m p o r a r y hyperglycsemia which d i sappeared when the infect ion cleared up.

Dr. Sundell had s t a ted t h a t he was innocent of the homceopathic t r e a t m e n t of diabetes . This was a gross undc r s t a t emen t as ac tua l ly Dr. Sundel l was most successful in deal ing wi th th is disease homceopathical ly .

He had only had experience of one tube rcu la r pa t i en t who had deve loped d iabetes and this pa t i en t requi red very large doses of insulin. As infections block the act ion of insulin, he assumed t h a t this was the reason for the large dose required.

* T h i s c a s e a f t e r d e m o b i l i z a t i o n h a s a g a i n s h o w n s i g n s o f a m i l d d i a b e t e s .

T H E H O M ( E O P A T H I C T R E A T M E N T O F D I A B E T E S 189

Dr. Kenyon said tha t Dr. Fergie Woods had certainly been more successful than he had beenin treating all cases of diabetes without having to resort to insulin.

With regard to the question about giving the nosode in a tubercular diabetic, he would give the nosode (or an intestinal non-lactose fermenting potency) provided the patient 's tubercular condition was not advanced.

He quite agreed with Dr. Templeton that instability of symptoms would direct one's thoughts to Pulsatilla. He had treated a man who was practically homceopathically symptomless and suggested Sulphur, to which drug he had not responded. His hyperglyc~emia and glycosuria were so variable and inexplic- able in point of t ime that Pulsatilla was given with definite benefit.

Dr. MASON said that a friend of hers, a doctor, was taken prisoner at Singapore. While in captivity the diet was very low and he said that diabetics did very well on a low diet.

Dr. KENYON said that the line he usually followed was firstly to stabilize the patient on diet (and insulin if required) keeping a slight glycosuria present in order to judge the effect of the remedy.