COMPARISON

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WELCOME
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Dr.P.K SUDIR. B.H.M.S,MD(Hom)

• Principal Vinayaka Missions Homoeopathic Medical
  College Hospital,Salem.
• Head of DepartmentDeparment of Materia medica

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• COMPARISON CONTRAST BETWEEN GERM THEORY
  CONCEPT OF MIASM

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• Miasma(Greek
  word)
• Miasm
• Literally meaning during Hahnemanns
  time
• Polluting exalations
• Malarial poisons
• Morbific emanations from putrescent organic
  matter, animal or vegetable.
• Effluvia arising from the bodies of those
  affected by certain diseases.

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MIASM

• The dynamic disease producing power which
  pollutes
• the human organism and become the producer of
  every possible diseased condition.

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Miasm according to masters

• J.T Kent-It is that state of man in which he is
  so distorted his economy to the very utmost that
  he has become susceptible to every surronding
  influences.
• H.A Roberts-It is a stigmata deficiency .
• R.Hughes-It is science of pathology.
• S.Close-It is parasitical and bacteriological
  term.
• P.S Ortega-As a Causa causorum i.e-cause of the
  causes.
• Sir John Weir-It means germ disease.
• B.K Sarkar-It means microbes.
• R Sankaran-It is a state of being.
• Prafull Vijayakar-It is related to genetic code
  a defence mechanism.

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TYPES OF MIASM

• 1.Acute miasm
• a)Recurring type(e.g-cholera,plague)
• b)Non-Recurring type or fixed
  miasm(e.g-smallpox)
• 2.True chronic miasm
• a)Psora
• b)Sycosis
• c)Syphilis
• 3.Half-acute miasm(Miasm of Rabies)
• 4.Accessory miasm of cow pox vaccine.

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GERM THEORY

• Varo in 1 century B.C suggested that disease was
  caused by invisible organisms.(Animalia minuta)
• Fracastorius(1546) proposed contagium vivum
  (living germs) as cause of disease.
• Kircher(1659) could find minute worms in the
  blood of a plague patient.
• Antony Van Leeuwenhoek(1683) could give
  description of various types of bacteria using
  simple microscope.
• Robert Hook(1678) developed compound microscope
  confirmed Leeuwenhoek observation.

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HAHNEMANN THE BACTERIOLOGIST

• In the essay Appeal to the thinking
  philanthropists respecting the mode of
  propagation of the asiatic cholera(1831).
• He writes The most striking
  examples of infection and rapid spread of cholera
  takes place in this way on the board ships in
  those confined spaces,filled with mouldy,watery
  vapours,the cholera miasm finds a favourite
  element for its multiplication and grows into an
  enourmously increased brood of those exccesively
  minute invisible living creatures so inimical to
  human life. Probably millions of those miasmatic
  animated beings .this pestiferous infectious
  matter He calls it which is carried about in
  the clothes ,hair,beard,soiled hands,
  insturements,etc, of physicians ,nurses and
  others, seems to spread the infection and cause
  epidemics.

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• Hahnemann had no microscope, but he had a keen
  analytical mind, logic and reasoning powers. He
  used the terminology of his day which he
  qualified to suit his purpose and thus make it
  clear that the word miasma amplified by the
  descriptive terms. Infectious ,contagious,excessi
  vely minute, invisible living creatures as
  applied to cholera ,he meant precisely what we
  mean today when we use the terms of bacteriology
  to express the same idea.

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Miasm Microbiology

• Three events which is common in both acute miasm
  and microbiology .
• The moment of infection.
• The period required for the organism to be
  penetrated by the sickness.(Incubation period in
  modern terminology)
• The manifestation of its development in the whole
  organism.
• Hahnemann showed the presence of same
  events in the origin and cause of chronic disease
  also.

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Formulation of miasmatic
nature of disease

• 1.Hahnemann came to a definite idea about
  nature of acute disease.
• 2.He showed complete analogy between origin and
  development of acute and chronic disease.
• 3.He developed fundamental cause of disease.
• Thus formulated that all disease(excluding
  mechanical pseudo chronic disease)are of
  miasmatic nature.

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• As regards the first step, Hahnemann was the
  first to perceive and teach the parasitical
  nature of contagious diseases.
• E.g-Small Pox,Chicken Pox,Measles,Scarlet
  fever,Cholera,etc.

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ACUTE MIASM

• Kent defines An acute miasm is one that comes
  upon the economy, passes through its regular
  prodromal period, longer or shoter,has its period
  of progress and period of decline and in which
  there is tendency to recovery or death.

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ACUTE MIASM TYPES

• Recurring type
• The acute miasm which recurs in the same
  manner more than once on a life time of a
  particular person.
• E.g-Cholera,Plague,Yellow fever.
• Non-recurring type
• The acute miasm which attacks persons once in
  a life time.
• E.g-Smallpox,Whooping cough, Scarlet fever.

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HALF ACUTE MIASM

• The miasm of Rabies or Hydrophobia.
• Bite of Rabid dog
• Poison(virus) injected into the organism
• (Incubation period few days to weeks)
• Severe acute symptom presentation
• Death
• (Immediate excision and amputation of the
  infected part does not protect from the
  progress of the disease.)

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ACCESSORY MIASM

• Produced by lymph of inoculated cow pox
• Cutaneous eruptions appears
• (Vanishes in few days)
• Leaves small red hard spots on the skin
• Offers protection against small pox.

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• The examples of the disease conditions and
  there mode of propagation, Hahnemann gave for the
  acute miasm,under the modern classification of
  diseases comes under infectious diseases by which
  we can conclude that by acute miasm he meant only
  the microbes of the mordern era.

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• We believe that miasm is something beyond
  microbes.
• BUT
  
• Analysis confirm that miasm started with
  infection
  scabies, gonorrheal or syphilitic
• The organism is responsible for introducing miasm
  into the body.
• Miasm started their origin from disease itself
  and the disease converts itself into a state of
  the individual.

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RELATIONSHIP MIASM-MICROBES-DISEASE

• Psora- Sarcoptes Scabei-
  Scabies.
• Sycosis- Neisseria Gonorrhoea-
  Gonorrhoea.
• Syphilis- Treponema Pallidum-
  Syphilis.
• Tubercular-Mycobacterium Tuberculosis-Tuberculosis
  .
• Half acute Lyssa virus-
  Rabies.
• Accessory- Cow pox virus-
  Cow pox

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• PRIMARY CAUSE
  The cause of the
  disease(Tuberculosis) is the germ(Tubercule
  bacillus).
• SECONDARY CAUSES For the action of
  germ(bacillus)
• -Peculiar bodily constitution
• -Predisposition
• -Susceptibility
• -Environment of the patient
• Without these causes no one would ever have
  infection.

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OPPOSITION OF GERM THEORY

• Kent states The bacterias(germs) are scavengers
  they are the end products of the disease .
• Hahnemann is basically Substantialist
  Vitalist.His concept of evolution of disease is
  Dynamic he opposses the materialistic school of
  thought i.e-germ theory of disease.

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• 1.Miasms primarily affect immaterial vital
  force,the mind etc.,wheres parasites can affect
  the material parts of men because they themselves
  are material.
• 2.Hahnemanns miasms are immaterial invisible
  but bacteria parasites are material though
  microscopical.
• 3.When the immaterial miasm of hahnemann attacks
  and overpowers the vital force i.e.,during the
  incubation period there are no bacilli, bacteria
  or parasites etc.

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• Hahnemann published a pamphlet in 1831 regarding
  what he thought to be the mode of propagation of
  cholera.He used such expressions as excessively
  minute invisible living creatures so inimical to
  human life of which the contagions matter of
  cholera most probably consist.
• He also states the cholera miasm originated from
  tepid Ganges water of India.
• Hahnemann had never visited India the Ganges
  river is icy cold in those days as it originates
  from snow clade himalayan mountains not tepid.

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• Hahnemann also never repeated or confirmed(1831)
  by his subsequent writings upto 1843 .
• His words in the article SEEMS,PROBABLY,MOST
  PROBABLY, Reflects that he is not sure.
• Hahnemann never saw are admitted any material
  cause,Bacilli or Bacteria,as is clearly apparent
  from quotations from subsiquent writings.
• In the preface of the sixth edition of organon he
  says It can easily convince every reflecting
  person that the diseases of man are not caused by
  any substance,any acridity,that is to say DISEASE
  MATTER but they are soley spirit like
  derangements of the spirit like power that
  animates the material body.

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• In 11 para organon of medicine Hahnemann say
  vital force every where present in the body is
  primarily deranged by dynamic influence
• In the 12 para he repeats the same thing it is
  morbidly affected vital force alone that produce
  disease..

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CONCLUSION

• Microbial theory is more close to Acute miasm.
• In Chronic miasms the Predisposition,Disposition
  Diathesis leads to the diseases.

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THANK YOU