Skip to main content

Seeking a Covid cure? Building a counter-narrative by drawing from minerals, plants

By Rosamma Thomas*

Dr Mohammad Qasim, a Homeopath with a practice of over 40 years at Nizamuddin, Delhi, is writing about his experience in medicine. It is a book still in the works, but I had the good fortune of reading the manuscript. I got to the text with almost no knowledge at all of Homeopathy, and after having read the manuscript once in the past few months, now feel utterly fascinated by how all the drugs in Homeopathy are drawn from nature – from mineral or plant sources.
In the time of the Covid-19 pandemic, there was this huge rush for finding a cure; and several doctors pointed to the efficacy of ivermectin, when used in early stages of infection. However, this is news that powerful interests appeared to want suppressed. Chief Scientific Officer Soumya Swaminathan of the World Health Organization warned over Twitter that ivermectin was not adequately tested and should not be used to treat Covid-19 infection. The Indian Bar Association served her notice for suppressing useful information in a pandemic, and she promptly deleted the tweet.
Ivermectin has been described as an “enigmatic, multifaceted, ‘wonder’ drug." It was first discovered in soil samples in Japan, and has been used to treat a host of conditions caused by parasites over the past nearly 40 years. In 2015, its discoverers William C Campbell and Satoshi Omura were awarded the Nobel Prize for their research.
As the search for the cure for Covid-19 began, Australian researchers found that Ivermectin works to prevent infection. Yet, this humble drug – obtained from soil, out of patent and priced low, at Rs 115 for a strip of 10 tablets, was never widely adopted." The Hindu" newspaper reported that despite WHO warning against its use, doctors in India were continuing to use it.
In the middle of all this, it was instructive to remember that all traditional forms of healing drew from nature – whether Ayurveda, Tibetan or Chinese systems. Chris Kanthan in a 2015 article, describes how a deliberate strategy by oil magnate John D Rockefeller (1839-1937), America’s first billionaire and monopolist, worked to dislodge nature as the world’s pharmacy.
Around the time that scientists first discovered petrochemicals, it was found that all kinds of chemicals could be manufactured from oil. What was more, these could be patented and sold at high profit. Here was the chance to monopolize oil, chemical and pharmaceutical industries, all at the same time!
In this pandemic, though, more and more people are finding solace in using natural cures and beginning to be suspicious of Big Pharma and Big Tech, both of which have collaborated to hold states to ransom and capture decision-making power across the world.
The increased centralization of control through surveillance – sometimes called ‘contact-tracing’ – and the pressure to undo the conventions and laws that draw from the Nuremberg Code, adopted after World War II to prevent human beings from ever again becoming subjects of evil experimentation, have all eroded in this crisis. It is now assumed that human beings who do not wish to get vaccinated also do not know what is best for themselves. The Nuremberg Code holds informed consent necessary for anyone subject to a medical intervention.
Researchers and medical practitioners with long and illustrious work behind them came out to warn the world of the dangers of mass vaccination, but their voices were stifled; the mass media would not cover them, and YouTube and other channels on the internet were quickly removing interviews with such doctors. Vernon Coleman, who had long served in the National Health Service of the UK, also listed the problems.
Yet, that appears not to make a difference, although the counter-narrative to the vaccine too now has a home in websites like Bitchute and Rumble. Governments across the world continue to treat the viral outbreak as a law and order problem, not a medical one.
It is in times like these that reading Dr Qasim’s manuscript offered insight and comfort – there were reports that arsenicum album, a drug drawn from arsenic that is renowned for being poisonous, was an antidote to the virus. What is interesting to note, though, is that Homeopathy works differently – even when the disease might manifest with similar symptoms in two different people, the Homeopath will also study the character and personality of the patient, and attempt to match the remedy to the profile of the patient.
Gold, silver, the root, bark and stems of plants, even infected fluid drawn from a blister, serve as medicine in the Homeopathic system
There is thus no standard remedy according to disease, because a reading of the personality of the patient too is important in prescribing the medication to be followed. Homeopathy is also known as a system of experimentation – at different phases of the disease, different remedies are used.
Gold, silver, the root, bark and stems of plants, even the infected fluid drawn from a blister – all these serve as medicine in the Homeopathic system, first codified by German doctor Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843). Hahnemann lived before the invention of the advanced microscope, but he surmised that there was living material in air that was causing sickness – he called that “miasma”. He started conducting experiments on himself and on family and friends who trusted him.
Hearing that the bark of a certain tree would cure malaria, he tried it on himself and discovered that by ingesting the bark, he would get the symptoms of malaria. From that, he proposed what has come to be called the foundational principle of Homeopathy – ‘Like cures like’. A substance that induces the symptoms in a healthy body could cure the disease. So what is unique about Homeopathy is that the experiments are conducted on healthy people, not sick ones.
One time, when travelling in a horse carriage with some medicine, he noted that the potency of the medicine increased substantially after the journey – that led to what is now termed “potentization” in Homeopathy. And that is just giving the medicines a good shake, so that the potency increases.
Homeopathy encourages one to take charge, to learn about oneself and to examine the poisons in nature for those too are remedies for disease. The snake venom, for instance, is diluted for use as the antidote to snakebite.
“If you are not your own doctor, you are a fool,” said Hippocrates. Homeopathy allows you a better chance to be your own doctor than “allopathy” – that term too was first used by Hahnemann; “allo” means other, and Hahnemann was indicating a system of medicine that worked differently from the one he recommended.
---
*Freelance journalist based in Pune

Comments

TRENDING

Importance of Bangladesh for India amidst 'growing might' of China in South Asia

By Samara Ashrat*  The basic key factor behind the geopolitical importance of Bangladesh is its geographical location. The country shares land borders with Myanmar and India. Due to its geographical position, Bangladesh is a natural link between South Asia and Southeast Asia.  The country is also a vital geopolitical ally to India, in that it has the potential to facilitate greater integration between Northeast India and Mainland India. Not only that, due to its open access to the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh has become significant to both China and the US.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

'BBC film shows only tip of iceberg': Sanjiv Bhatt's daughter speaks at top US press club

By Our Representative   The United States' premier journalists' organisation, the National Press Club (NPC), has come down heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for recent "attacks on journalists in India." Speaking at the screening of an episode of the BBC documentary “India: The Modi Question,” banned in India, in the club premises, NPC President Eileen O’Reilly said, “Since Modi came to power we have watched with frustration and disappointment as his regime has suppressed the rights of its citizens to a free and independent news media."

Chinese pressure? Left stateless, Rohingya crisis result of Myanmar citizenship law

By Dr Shakuntala Bhabani*  A 22-member team of Myanmar immigration officials visited Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazar to verify more than 400 Rohingya refugees as part of a pilot repatriation project. Does it hold out any hope for the forcibly displaced people to return to their ancestral homes in the Rakhine state of Myanmar? Only time will tell.

China ties up with India, Bangladesh to repatriate Rohingyas; Myanmar unwilling

By Harunur Rasid*  We now have a new hope, thanks to news reports that were published in the Bangladeshi dailies recently. Myanmar has suddenly taken initiatives to repatriate Rohingyas. As part of this initiative, diplomats from eight countries posted in Yangon were flown to Rakhine last week. Among them were diplomats from Bangladesh, India and China.

Natural farming: Hamirpur leads the way to 'huge improvement' in nutrition, livelihood

By Bharat Dogra*  Santosh is a dedicated farmer who along with his wife Chunni Devi worked very hard in recent months to convert a small patch of unproductive land into a lush green, multi-layer vegetable garden. This has ensured year-round supply of organically grown vegetables to his family as well as fetched several thousand rupees in cash sales.

Over-stressed? As Naveen Patnaik turns frail, Odisha 'moves closer' to leadership crisis

By Sudhansu R Das  Not a single leader in Odisha is visible in the horizon who can replace Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. He has ruled Odisha for nearly two and half decades. His father, Biju Patnaik, had built Odisha; he was a daring pilot who saved the life of Indonesia’s Prime Minister Sjahrir and President Sukarno when the Dutch army blocked their exit.

Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, Ban Ki-moon, others ask Bangladesh PM to 'protect' Yunus

Counterview Desk  A campaign has been launched to support Bangladesh-based economist, micro-finance guru and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, seeking signatures from citizens across the globe in order to “protect” his work, life and safety.

Electricity sharing opens up new window for India’s eastern neighbourhood engagement

By Sufian Asif* Today, challenges like climate change, pandemics, energy reliance, economic crisis, and many more are concerning us. No nation can overcome these obstacles without the assistance and collaboration of other nations. Most importantly, many of these problems have international repercussions. South Asia is facing much more difficulty when compared to other regions. In South Asia, we have some regional organizations, but they are ineffective.