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ARSENICUM
ALBUM AND NEUROTOXIC POISONING
IN DOGS AND CATS *
An example of Homeopathic Treatment in Animals
R. BLOSTIN
Dr
Veterinary, 42 rue F. Poulenc 77430 Champagne sur Seine, France
1 - Introduction
2 - The Basic Observation
3 - Generalisation
4 - Scheme and treatment
5 - Results
6 - Discution / Conclusion
7 - References
In his practice, the vet has to treat in emergency
dogs and cats with acute severe poisoning by neurotoxic agents,without knowing
exactly the toxic agent and the doses absorbed. For more than 6 years, we
have been using in a systematic and exclusive way, Arsenicum album with
remarkable success.
2. The basic observation (Blostin, 1990)
Jennie, a female Doberman of
18 months, has just absorbed one hour ago a bait containing arsenic, despite of
the notices pointing out the presence of sausages containing this poison.
Jennie has vomited a part of this, half an hour ago.
Symptoms observed:
Physical and mental
hyperexcitability. Jennie runs about in all directions, howling as though she
is going to die. She only stops moving for a few seconds at a time looking for
shade. Her movements are jerky. When she is at rest all her muscles seem ready
to react to the slightest tactile or auditory stimulus and this is expressed by
a local or general uncontroled reaction and by howling. Jennie appears to feel
cold despite the surrounding heat. Jennie presents a very fluid
hypersyalorrhea, accompanied by watery rectal emissions (cf urine) emitted in
little involontary jets and apparently painful.
Treatment undertaken:
Faced with this typical
clinical scene reminding one of both the observations of the toxicologists and
those of the Materia Medica, and
because of the toxic agent, I decide to undertake a treatment with Arsenicum album.
I
choose to administer highly diluted doses directed at the nervous system and I
choose 15 C because it was available in my surgery. A phial of 2 ml of Arsenicum album in 15 C is given at
14h30, then at 14h45 a perfusion ( Sodium Chlorate 0.9% ) and an injection of a
dose of Arsenicum album in 15 C.
At 3
o'clock the discharges stop.
At
15h15 and 15h45 two more doses are given intraveinously.
At 4
o'clock the howling disappears and the movements became pratically normal. The
perfusion is stopped temporally and Jennie galops about in the garden. Slight
muscular hyperexcitability still persists in the presence of pronounced tactile
stimuli.
At
16h15 perfusion is started again to compensate for the liquid losses estimated
at 500 ml.
At
16h15 another oral dose is given.
At 5
o'clock Jennie returns home. Another dose, still in 15 C is given at 7 o'clock
and Jennie asks for an evening meal, swallows it and keep it down.
A
dose is given the following day and for four days thereafter. No sign of
poisoning is observed as from the morning following the day the poison was
taken.
Jennie's case is an easy one,
and in this respect it is rare, because the poison was known and the symptoms
presented by the dog were like " a
text-book case " . Arsenicum album was the " similar
" and the Similimum in this poisoning.
I
live in a region where we come across many cases of this kind of poisoning, but
after this "text-book case", I was faced with cases of poisoned
animals where I did not know the poison and where the symptoms, variable from
one to another, did not call a priori for the immediate prescription of Arsenicum album. In certain cases the
neurotoxic action is more central (
predominance of convulsion ), in other cases more peripheral (predominance of
gastro-intestinal spasms for example ).
However I noted that in every case there were symptoms
irrespective of the individual or the toxic agent.
These
commun symptoms are:
1 - muscular
hyperexcitability
2 - aggravation through
visual, auditory and tactile stimuli ( light, noise, touch )
3 - anguish
These
symptoms are described in the Materia
Medica of Arsenicum album and were
present in the case of Jennie. So I decided to use Arsenicum album, as in Jennie 's case, even if this remedy was not
a priori the Similimum. The results
were immediately spectacular, provided one respected the modalities of
aggravation i.e. isolating the animal by eliminating the maximum number of
sensory stimuli. These three symptoms became for us the three indispensable elements for
the prescription of Arsenicum album.
They
appear at degrees which vary according to the poisoning and the nature of the
poison, the quantities swallowed, the reactivity of the individual. For each
symptom there exists a scale of variability according to the poisoning:
as
for symptoms 1 and 2 one may observe either a very slight hyperexcitability
brought on by hitting the surgery table very hard or violent epileptic-like
attacks at the slightest touch;
as
for anguish, it appears either simply in the animal's eyes or by its
characteristic howling or mewing, full of anguish and communicating anguish to
the observer.
It is
to be noted that in the case of serious poisoning, the animal arrives howling
or mewing; in even more severe cases, these cries appear only in the course of
the treatment as a step towards recovery ( recovery of
consciousness ). It is as
though the animal was "calling for his arsenic" and taking it calms
him within a quarter of an hour.
First and foremost, it is
extremely important whatever the degree of poisoning to respect the modalities
of aggravation and therefore to isolate the patient by eliminating the maximum
number of stimuli. From a practical point of view, we install the animal in a
cage ( not too big in order to limit movement ), covered by a thick blanket (
to reduce the intensity of auditory and visual stimuli ), the whole thing
isolated in a dark room away from every day activity ( for the same reasons as
before ).
The
scheme suggested below concerns the case of serious poisoning and shows the
possibilities of treatment according to different stages observed in the course
of hospitalisation; for less serious poisoning the method is taken from the
stage observed. It is as though there existed a scale of seriousness for each
case of poisoning with characteristic symptomatic stages ; a scale which the
animal seems to climb like a staircase in the course of the treatment by going
through the preceding stages.
First phase: epileptic-like attacks repeated at the slightest
stimulus.
A dose of Arsenicum album in 15 C is given every
half hour for two hours, then every hour until the following "noisy"
stage. Gradually the sensitivity to stimuli declines; the stimuli must be more
and more violent to bring on an attack. Arsenicum
album is at first administered orally then if need be in perfusion as soon
as this is possible.
Second phase: the noisy phase; anguished howling or mewing.
The animal demands his
arsenic; a dose of Arsenicum album in
15 C calms it within a quarter of an hour, and is administered upon demand.This
phase generally lasts from a half an hour to 3 hours.
Third phase: the recovery phase.
The animal is calm; only a
slight muscular hyperexcitability to stimuli persists; the latter must be
gradually more violent. This phase usually lasts from 12 to 48 hours; Arsenicum album in 15C is given upon
demand approximately every 3 hours at the beginning, then spaced out. We
intersperse doses of 5 C ( 1 or 3 ). Finally a dose of Arsenicum album in 15 C is given after a week.
Of
course this classification in three stages is schematic and didactic rather
than rigorous. In fact one should try to administer Arsenicum album in 15 C upon demand, as always in homeopathy, i. e.
as soon as one thinks that the previous dose has exhausted its effect. When the
animals are brought to us in a comatose state the improvement often takes the
form of the sudden and spectacular appearance of the convulsive phase; it is
not a question of an aggravation but of a natural development in the course of
the treatment.
Over 6 years we have had to
treat more than fifty cases of neurotoxic poisoning in dogs and cats, including
- when we have been able to check the facts - cases of poisoning by arsenic,
metaldehyde or organophoshorus compounds. These animals received Arsenicum album as their only remedy .
The results are expressed in Table 1.
TABLE 1: Results Obtained in
50 Dogs and Cats
__________________________________________________________
- 4 deaths out of 50 dogs
or cats
- 80% returns home within 12
hours after the beginning of the treatment
- 100% within 24 hours
- No secondary effect were
observed.
__________________________________________________________
With classical allopathic
treatment, ± 50% death is classically observed.
We should note however that
in 3 cases - and particularly in the case of a cat which was treated for 2
poisonings at an interval of one year - we were informed of temporary relapses,
taking the form of loss of balance or trembling which lasted several hours;
relapses occuring every fortnight or 3 weeks with symptoms which gradually
became weaker. This fact is interesting and must certainly correspond to a
cyclical discharge of the neurotoxic substance by the storing organs (liver,
kidney ). We should note that a 3 week cycle is classically described in the
proving of Arsenicum album.
When we
can know the toxic agent, treatments with Arsenicum album are
very satisfactory in intoxication by Arsenic, Strychnine, Organophosphorus
compounds, carbamates, Chloralose, but certainly weaker in pure methaldehyde
intoxication.
A
bibliographical study confirms these
clinical results (C.N.I.T.V. Notes, 1985; Chaoui, 1988; Goodman and Gillman,
1985) : muscular hyperexcitability, aggravation through visual, auditory and
tactile stimuli (light, noise, touch ), anguish are together described by the toxicologists in intoxication by Arsenic,
Strychnine, Organophosphorus compounds, carbamates, Permethtine, Chloralose;
no aggravation by stimuli are described
in intoxication by methaldehyde in dog
and cats.
After
dogs and cats, we tried to adapt this scheme of treatment to a mouse model
using a parathion intoxication before Arsenicum
album treatment. The results
confirm the aggravation by stimuli, in spite of gentle handling for gavage. Unfortunately this aggravation was fatal as the mice died right
at the beginning of the treatment. They died before the necessary repetition of
the doses of Arsenicum album.
This protocol was not adapted
for mice. No statistical conclusion are possible for the use of Arsenicum album in mice.
The treatment of acute cases of poisoning by
neurotoxic substances in dogs and cats by Arsenicum
album, following the procedure described above, gives spectacular positive
results far better than those obtained with allopathic treatments and today
several vets use them. It is interesting for animal and human health.
But some fundamental
questions may be asked:
-
What is the relationship between a prescription based on the "Similia Law" used by the
homoeopaths and the pharmacological reality of the receptors ?
-Why does Arsenicum
album in 15 C act efficiently
irrespective of the individual and the
toxic agent ? how and where does Arsenicum
album work?
At
the level of traditional homeopathy, apart from 2 or 3 cases - including that
of Jennie - where Arsenicum album was
"the Similar" or the Similimum,
more often than not it is only a simile. The search for a Similimum in the course of these poisonings seems to us pointless
since the use of the simile Arsenicum
album is so reliable. And a good thing too !. For to find the Similimum of an animal, which in the
throes of a convulsion, in the presence of its owners who may themselves be
quite justifiably in a state of panic, would appear to us to be quite an
achievement.
The problem would remain if we decided to use treatment by "
the Similar", since it is so difficult practically to identify the poison
chemically.
However, while observing these animals certain remedies occurred
to us. Were they the Similimum? We
did not try them ! Thus the dog, which as soon as it was touched started an
attack of convulsions accompanied by loss of consciousness, coldness and
cyanosis of the mucous membrane, simulating death and which made us think of
hydrocyanic acid. Would hydrocyanic acid have worked ? . We do not know. Arsenicum album certainly did work.
But this systematic use of Arsenicum album whatever the poison and
whatever the individual, leads the homeopath to make certain comments since it
appears at first sight to belong much more to the domain of allopathy than to
that of homeopathy . Indeed, at first sight, you cannot find in this use of Arsenicum album, in this " recipe
", the 2 basic precepts of homeopathy i.e. the law of totality and the
law of the Similimum. Again at first sight, this therapeutic recipe is
homeopathic only in so far as it uses a diluted remedy : the law of infinitesimality.
So only one out of the three laws is respected and yet this treatment works,
why ? .
We
shall in fact demonstrate that for us these three laws are indeed respected and
that this really is homeopathy. It all began by observing the case of Jennie
for whom Arsenicum album was without
dispute her Similimum in the course
of the poisoning. Subsequently by observing other cases of poisoning we saw
that three symptoms (Table 2) existed which were common to all these poisonings
and this led us to use Arsenicum album as in Jennie 's case.
TABLE 2: Indispensable
symptoms for Arsenicum album indication
__________________________________________________________
1 - muscular hyperexcitability
2 - aggravation by all the sensory stimuli
3 - anguish
__________________________________________________________
They form a very solid triangular base of homeopathic
symptoms according to Hering. Indeed we have one general symptom, one modality
and one mental symptom.
Arsenicum album is only prescribed when
these three symptoms appear together. They should be present in the course of the evolution of the poisoning .
At this stage in our
reasoning we are very far from allopathy; in fact we are back again right in
the heart of homeopathy, in the heart of those constant and fascinating
considerations on the collection of symptoms.
We use infinitesimality, we have just seen that we also respect
the law of totality. What about of the law of the Similimum ?.In fact, for us, Arsenicum album may be
considered also as a Similimum.
It all depends on the level of organisation at which we view the situation and
the importance of this level for the collection of symptoms.
Whatever
the poisons may be, there is at the biochemical level a common mechanism, or
different mechanisms, which involve the presence of the three common symptoms
described above in these poisonings. It is at this level that I believe that Arsenicum album acts and certainly at
the synaptic level. This remain to be confirmed. By the same process, or by
different processes, Arsenicum album
involves the return to normality of the transmission of nervous impulses. If we
consider this biochimical level, it is common to this type of poisoning
whatever the individual.
At the biochemical level the basic
mechanisms involved in the action of these poisons are sufficiently strong
to efface individual reactions.
Besides
they must act more on the storing and eliminating capacities depending on the
specific enzyme equipment of each individual; it's may be why we are obliged to repeat the doses (
= repeat the signal). The neurotoxic poisonings affect neurobiological
processes common to all individuals; in view of this idea, the individual reaction
perhaps becomes of secondary importance in the search for symptoms and the
symptoms which we use in order to prescribe Arsenicum
album are directly linked with this biochemical level. At this level of organisation
Arsenicum album can in our opinion be considered as a Similimum.
We certainly must follow this
way in order to continue our research.
-
Why is it necessary to repeat the doses before improvment?
After Hahnemann (See
Hahnemann, Baillière 1986), several homoeopaths like Rouy (1989), recommend to
repeat the dilutions in acute desease. In our treatment, we must repeat
the doses before improvement. It's the
same when we have to treat dogs or cats for a poisonous snake bite with Apis or Vipera. When we are sure of the similitude in acute cases, we must
not be afraid to repeat the doses and certainly not to stop the treatment . The
homoeopath will say that he has to give enough information for the organism to
react; the pharmacologist could say
that we have to sature some receptors....
- Originality of this kind
of treatment ?
Arsenicum album is a well-known remedy in homoeopathy for the
treatment of food-poisoning (Duprat, 1985; Kent, 1982; Voisin, 1986), but not
for acute neurotoxic intoxication in dogs and cats. We just can find Arsenicum album in a complexe remedy
"Arsenicum album comp. " proposed by Pascoe Laboratory (Germany)
(Pascoe, 1991), as a drainage remedy
after a chronic exposition to insecticides.
To
end with two more ideas:
-compared with a prescription
using "the similar", the use of Arsenicum
album seems to us more effective both theoretically and practically
because:
1-
in case of a severe poisoning it is difficult to discover the poison quickly
2- Arsenicum
album is a substance which is already present and active in the organism;
methaldehyde and organophosphorus compounds are normally absent.
-as for the procedure itself
it can certainly be modified or even improved upon. Other centesimal or
Korsakovian dilutions may be used. So far we have not attempted to do this .
"You don't change a team when it is winning all its matches ".
Blostin, R.
(1990) Arsenicum album and neurotoxic
poisoning in dogs, Proceedings of the Second International
Congress for Veterinary Homoeopathy , I.A.V.H , Zutphen, The Netherlands.
C.N.I.T.V.,
(1985), Notes de Toxicologie Vétérinaire, 3, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire de Lyon.
Chaoui, A.
(1988), Influence de certains facteurs
physiques et chimiques sur l'activité de dilutions infinitésimales d'Arsenic,
Thèse de Doctorat de Sciences Pharmaceutiques,
Lille 2, France.
Duprat,
H.(1985), Traité de Matière Médicale
Homéopathique, 3 édition, J.B. Baillière Publisher, Paris.
Goodman, A.
and Gillman D.H. (1985), The Pharmacological Bases of Therapeutics,
Macmillan Publisher, London.
Hahnemann,
S.(1986), Doctrine Homéopathique,
J.B. Baillière Publisher, Paris.
Kent, J.T
(1982), Final General Repertory, 2
édition, N.H.Publisher, New Delhi.
PASCOE
Laboratory (1991), Nosoden-Complexe,
D-6300 Giessen, Germany, 1991
Rouy, P.
(1989), Enseignements sur la
Thérapeutique Homéopathique , tome 1 et 2 , Similia Publisher, Paris.
Voisin
H.(1986), Matière Médicale du Praticien
Homéopathe, 2 édition Maloine Publisher, Paris.