The difference between Disease, Condition

And Imbalance

By Gudula Beythien

DHHP, DVHH, HD(RHom.), DMH

 
In Homeopathy and Heilkunst there is a different understanding of what a disease, condition or an imbalance is. We do not work with the so-called disease names of the allopathic (main stream medical) system as it confuses the issue. This distinction is very important as it guides us to the correct treatment approach.
The term disease is split into two categories, one we term “tonic” disease and the other “pathic” disease.
A tonic disease has the characteristic of being constant in nature, and is always the same when it arises. A bruise, for example, never changes in its origin, and is the result of a contusion. For this constant disease of a bruise we use the remedy Arnica montana, and always will use Arnica because the tonic disease always requires the same remedy.
A pathic disease is a variable disease, meaning that it has the ability to change its appearance. For example, you can have a cough that arose after you had a fight with a friend. The pathic disease expression of the cough is really the secondary disease, because it arose after your initial “anger disease” (your fight with a friend), which is actually your tonic disease, because anger is always the same in its origin and requires the same remedy to cure it.
The pathic disease arises from an untreated tonic disease. It’s like a child of the tonic disease. If you don’t treat the original “tonic” (or parent) disease, the body will produce pathic (or children) diseases. And if you only treat the pathic diseases the tonic disease will still be alive and grow to produce their own pathic diseases down the road, until at some point the tonic disease is annihilated with the appropriate homeopathic remedy.
Tonic diseases are all substances that have the ability to cause symptoms in a human being or animal, and they have to be annihilated with the appropriate homeopathic remedy. This means all drugs (including recreational drugs), vaccines, mumps, measles, chickenpox, smallpox, e-coli, staphylococcus, streptococcus, viruses etc.; and also emotional traumas like grief, anger, humiliation, guilt, and fear.
 
A condition creates symptoms that arise out of faulty regimen, which can be faulty nutrition, dormition (improper sleep), hydration (taking in enough water, and not beverages) and exercise.
For example, in one case a person may have an ulcer simply because they don't drink enough water, and by drinking a sufficient amount of good spring water the symptoms can disappear. A cow that tends to have retained placentas might not have enough minerals in her, and by providing them she is better able to expel the afterbirth.
People who don't sleep enough because they tend to watch television or work on the computer all night long will have an increased need for sugar to keep up their brain activity. This behavior promotes weight gain. Here the amount of sleep is directly linked to the intake of sugar and the problem with putting on excess weight.
An insufficient amount of iodine in your body can lead to thyroid problems, and the list is long as to what that can subsequently trigger.
So a condition is not a disease, but is triggered by bad habits that work against keeping us in a state of health.
 
An imbalance occurs when our constitution (which we all have, and can best be described as our preferences and dislikes) is brought into disarray. For example, what we call a Phosphorus constitution likes to stay up late, is often artistic, loves music, likes cold food and drink, are thirsty, sleep best on the right side, crave spicy foods and chocolate. These are not symptoms of a disease, but are attributes of the Phosphorus constitution. 
However if a person of a Phophorus constitutional type becomes imbalanced they can find that spicy foods disagree with them, or in a stomach virus may find that they vomit soon after a cold drink becomes heated up in their stomach. They tend to get colds that goes into their chest and cause coughs, and they also have a tendency to nosebleeds.
This is an imbalance, and a homeopath would use the constitutional remedy best fitting each individual patient, not to treat a disease but to treat the imbalance!
 
Well, I am sure all of this sounds daunting now! And how does a homeopath choose a remedy to treat you or your animal? It is actually quite simple, since you only have to ask yourself what is involved, what has happened, what has changed? 
If your cow gets an inflammation of the udder (mastitis) after calving, you would look at what actually happened to the cow. She calved, yes! But where is the calf? Don’t underestimate the loss the animal is suffering (the tonic disease of grief)? What type of mastitis do you see? Does it conform to the picture of strep, staph or e-coli (tonic diseases), and is there an additional more pathic offspring disease arising out of it now, like Belladonna (red, hot, inflammation, worse touch) or Bryonia symptom picture (worse for movement) to be observed and treated?
Most of the cases of staph and strep bacteria start off with a change in the way the udder feels. The cow does not let go of the milk completely, there may be some hardness and uneasiness when being touched, but what they all have in common is that the milk, instead of tasting slightly sweet, tastes salty! 
And this provides us with a great hint to the remedy we would use for the tonic disease in conjunction with remedies made from the the strep and staph bacteria. Natrum muriaticum is the remedy that will treat the tonic disease of chronic loss and grief, and Natrum muriaticum is a remedy derived from salt!
Any mastitis in the process of forming, and any slight changes in the udder, will respond to this magnificent remedy. If you know the main bacteria active in your barn, you add it, the remedy made from the bacteria as well to the treatment bottle for the cow. If you waited a day too long you may be able to observe a pathic disease now presenting itself, which may need to be cured with remedies like Bryonia, Phytolacca or Lachesis. This will need to be treated as well, otherwise the mastitis will return.
 
If you have any particular subject you would like Gudula to write about, please contact her at chbauer@magma.ca.