The medicine of the future

- Following in hahnemann's footsteps : the the definitive years 1833-1843 (D. Little)

The time period in which the the 5th Organon was published [1833] was one of radical change and experimentation for Samuel Hahnemann. He was not completely satisfied with the single dry dose of 30C and the "wait and watch" philosophy he taught in the first edition of the Chronic Diseases [1828] and the 4th Organon [1829]. Now that the Founder was concentrating on chronic degenerative diseases, he wondered how he could treat the miasms with a limited materia medica of around 100 remedies in potencies no higher then 30C? He searched for answers by proving more remedies, raising the potencies, and changing the delivery system from the dry dose to the medicinal solution. This was complemented by his new middle-path philosophy, using repetition and the split-dose, if necessary.
 In aphorisms 245 and 246 of the 5th Organon, the Founder taught that any "striking response" to a single dose precludes the repetition of the remedy in any manner. On the other hand, in those cases characterized by only a "slow progressive improvement," the remedy may be repeated at "suitable intervals to speed the cure." In this way, he claimed, it is possible to speed the time of treatment to "one half, one fourth, or even less" than with the single dry dose. Thus, Hahnemann's revised philosophy includes both the single unit dose and the repetition of the remedy when necessary. The key to the new posology method is the medicinal solution, as well as methods for adjusting the dose. With the new aqueous solutions and olfaction, the Founder began a radical set of clinical trials that included double remedies, alternations, intercurrents, and series of remedies. The most controversial of these early experiments were the double remedy trials of 1833.