There is no arguing that certain individuals carry predispositions to particular behaviors or diseases. Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, the father of homeopathy, used the term "miasm" to describe these transgenerational causes for disease. Miasm means "an obstacle to cure," and Hahnemann asserted that until this obstacle was addressed and cleared, the cure of disease would always be incomplete. In modern terminology, miasm means "diathesis" or "constitutional susceptibility or predisposition to a particular disease." Fortunately, rather than helping our patients "deal with the hand they've been dealt," these predispositions to disease can all be corrected and cleared using homeopathy.
Deeply rooted maladies can be traced back through many generations to five primary diseases: cancer, gonorrhea (sycotic), syphilis, tuberculosis (TB) and psora. These miasms alter the ideal genetic blueprint for health and can affect the whole person - physically, mentally and emotionally.
Miasms can be either acquired or inherited. For example, one can acquire a miasm by contacting gonorrhea at age 18. When treated with antibiotics, this form of suppressive therapy may cause gonorrhea to become dormant, only to manifest later. Or, it may later present in a different form, such as allergies, sinus, herpes, vaginitis, warts, tumors, suspiciousness, jealousy, selfishness, or uncontrolled sexual desires. So, acquired miasms are attained during a lifetime.
By far, however, most miasms are inherited. The chances of inheriting miasms from a thousand years of ancestry are much greater than acquiring one in a single lifetime. Inherited miasms can be either active or dormant. An active miasm actually presents a current symptomatic picture or expression, and the best time to consider using a miasm formula is when the symptoms are present. A dormant miasm is one hidden deep within the body, not expressing any of its possible symptoms. It is recommended that a practitioner not attempt to treat dormant miasms unless other testing procedures (such as electrodiagnostic or reflex response tests) indicate the need for a specific miasm formula.
Homeopaths have come to understand that miasms exist in various layers within the body. They realize that correcting disease and building health is like peeling away the layers of an onion. Regular homeopathic formulas work to strengthen and restore health to the body according to the symptomatic expressions the body is communicating. When these conditions tend to recur or are nonresponsive, a deeper-acting remedy, such as a miasm formula, may be needed to correct the condition more completely. As we continue to peel away the disease layers that are impairing our normal, healthy expressions, we frequently discover various miasms along the way.
Miasm correction is essential to both the restoration of our health and the eradication of disease from our planet. I have used homeopathy long enough to witness correction of genetic disease patterns in people and observe the liberation from those diseases in their offspring. I have seen this remarkable healing phenomenon in cases such as childhood obesity, allergies, breathing disorders, skin disorders, behavioral disorders, phobias, and anxiety or nervousness. What a wonderful reward to see not only children and adults healed of devastating genetic or lifelong health problems, but to also see their children born and grow up free from those inherited health problems and weaknesses!
How Do You Treat Miasms?
Although they are not difficult to correct with homeopathy, miasms are not always wiped out in a single blow. Treating miasms can cause extreme changes in one's health. Commonly, these changes can cause a wonderfully enlightening, euphoric experience; at times, more intense cleansing crises may occur and create temporary discomfort from the eliminative process. Some of the commonly experienced cleansing symptoms may include emotional releases, skin breakouts, itching, fever, fatigue, bowel movement changes, breathing changes, and various forms of pain. While these symptoms are temporary and nondamaging to the body, they can also be severe at times. Remember, the body orchestrates the healing crisis; no actual harm or permanent damage will result, even if it feels like something bad is happening! Although a healing crisis is neither comfortable nor convenient, it is essential to optimal healing and restoration.
Because of the possible volatility of symptoms when treating miasms, I don't recommend starting out a new patient inexperienced with natural healing or detoxification with miasm treatment. The patient may not be strong enough to tolerate the elimination of the miasms comfortably, especially if he or she is in a weakened state of health. I recommend first addressing the primary symptoms with symptom-specific formulas, along with any of the detoxification/drainage formulas. These products will help strengthen and restore the natural healing and eliminative functions of the body.
Miasm formulas are great to use when patients:
- don't respond to homeopathic treatment;
- don't respond to other natural treatment;
- reach plateaus at which they seem to level off in their health enhancement; or
- continue to have reccurrences of the same problem.
Miasms have a tendency to show up periodically throughout the healing processes, over years. Even miasms that didn't test positively at first may evidence themselves later in the treatment program, as more of the layers of disease are peeled away.
It's likely that almost everyone has at least one miasm; many people have more than one, and very ill patients could have several miasms. Regardless, we have the potential to help our patients ascend to higher levels of health with miasm therapy.
Enjoy the journey!
Frank King, DC, ND
Asheville, North Carolina
www.kingbio.com
