Interview
with Dr. Jost Kunzli.
St.
Gallen, Switzerland, August, 1979.
By Robert M. Schore, M. D.
Presented by
Dr. Sayeed Ahmad D. I. Hom. (London)Dr. Kunzli received his primary schooling in St.
Gallen, Switzerland. He then attended the Universities of Zurich,
Berlin, Kiel, and Paris. At the beginning of World War II, he returned
to Zurich (1941) where he took his final examinations as M. D. Dr.
Kunzli interned in a Bern, Switzerland hospital in surgery and internal
medicine. He then interned for one year in Geneva, Switzerland, with Dr.
Pierre Schmidt, who indeed is one of the finest homœopathic physicians.
In 1949 Dr. Kunzli began his practice in St. Gallen, Switzerland in
“pure, classical Homœopathy”.Since it is rare to find hospitals where classical
Homœopathy is currently practiced, Dr. Kunzli feels that the best
training for aspiring homœopathic physicians is to study with an
experienced homœopath who subscribes to classical homœopathic ideals.This interview answers question often asked by
patients and physicians.Q. How would you answer a
patient who asks, “How long will it take for me to get
well ?”
Answer :
My answer would be, I cannot say until you take the
prescribed homœopathic remedy. Take the prescription now. If progress
is rapid, then it will not take a long time to get well. I can judge
only after evaluating how well the prescription acts. Neither patient
nor physician should lose patience. Some cases are very complex and I
must follow the case at least one year to give an accurate prognosis.
The average length of time for chronic cases is three to five years. We
must remember that patients are life-long patients – refer to
Hahnemann’s Chronic Diseases.Q. If the correct
prescription is chosen, how much does disharmony in home-life and
employment interfere with healing ?”
Answer :
Disharmony definitely interferes with the healing
process. One must remember, however, that the prescription can affect
changes in the patients which will allow them to see the situations in
life from a different perspective.Q. Do you tell the names of
the remedies to the patient ?
Answer :
Hardly ever. If you tell the name, then they may
study that particular medicine in the Materia Medica and endless
discussions occur. The patient may know the name after the medicine has
acted well.Q. Do you recommend special
diets ?
Answer :
I have some recommendations : For patients with
gout – no meat, coffee, tea, or fish. A lacto-vegetarian diet is best
in these cases.For patients with acne – no lard or pork in excess.
No salt or spicy food.For patients in general – no excesses of meat or
eggs. More than one egg per week is in excess ! Regular and berbal
tea is allowable, except chamomile tea, which is too medicinal. Some
recommended herbal teas are : linden, rose hips, and cherry stem.For patients for whom Lycopodium is prescribed – no
coffee. Otherwise, up to three cups of coffee per day with milk or cream
may be allowed.For patients for whom Belladonna, Colocynthis, or
other vegetable remedies are prescribed – no vegetable acids. I
consider vegetable acids to be lemon, sour apples, vinegar, and tomato.For pregnant ladies – a diet of vegetables, milk,
and not too much meat. I do not recommend vitamin supplements.For stones (gallbladder, kidney) there are also
special diets.Q. Do you take a nursing
mother as a new patient ?
Answer :
There is a problem, since treating the mother will
affect the baby. If both need treatment, I would prescribe for the
mother only. If only the baby needed treatment, and the mother was
taking vitamins and herbs, she would have to stop nursing before I could
prescribe for the baby.Q. Have you treated
twins ? Did their cases lead to the same medicines ?
Answer
:
I have had twins as patients, but they required
different constitutional medicines.Q. What first-aid medicines,
if any, should be available for childhood ailments and accident ?
Answer
:
Arnica 200 for injuries, Aconite 30 for fever and
colds. One dose every three hours until fever is lowered.Q. At what age would you
begin to treat a child ? Often there are no subjective symptoms,
yet a blood test may indicate anemia.
Answer
:
I would gather symptoms by the looks of the child,
observing him and gathering symptoms from what the mother could tell me
about him. I refer you to Imhauser, “Homœop. In d.
Kinderheilkunde”. Also I would ask about the pregnancy and
delivery. I would use guiding symptoms and refer to Kent’s Repertory
or Barthel Klunker’s Synthetic Repertory.Q. What is the average
recovery time from teenage acne when it is the primary complaint ?
Answer
:
Recovery is slow : one year. No topical care is
recommended. Swimming in natural water and bathing in sun and fresh air
can be beneficial.Q. How difficult is it to
treat women who have taken birth-control pills ?
Answer :
It is variable. Often cases respond very well, but in
cases of amenorrhœa, it can take years before menses return. Also
amenorrhœa after prolonged fasting is very difficult and tedious to
treat.Q. What types of patients
have you found extremely difficult to treat, and how is this difficulty
related to post-operative and post-drug conditions ?
Answer
:
The most difficult are patients who have had organs
removed. They cannot be healed completely, but symptoms can be
ameliorated. Also patients who have had much allopathic medicine are
very difficult to treat ; but it depends on the symptoms. If they
can give you good symptoms, there is a good chance for cure. Patients
with implants are difficult, but you can certainly try ; you have a
chance at least to help a bit.Q. Under what conditions
will you NOT accept a patient ?
Answer :
I will not accept a chronic, heavy smoker, or
patients who continue taking sleeping pills. I explain that if they plan
to continue with these habits, I can no hope to have results with my
method.Q. Under what conditions
will you cease treating a patient ?
Answer
:
If a patient goes to another doctor without
discussing it with me, I will tell him please to remain with the new
doctor, or if the patient turns to allopathic medicine for trifles, or
repeatedly seeks a new doctor if I am away from my practice for a few
days. Also, if I have seen no results in the case and I feel the patient
is losing patience, I will suggest that he see another doctor, but often
then he will say “no, no I do feel better !”Q. Under what conditions is
a patient incurable ?
Answer :
Very advanced malignancies are, in general, incurable
by Homœopathy. Age is not a factor in determining incurability. After
surgical organ removal, the patient will not be one-hundred percent
curable, but he can have many symptoms ameliorated.Q. Under what conditions is
surgery necessary ?
Answer :
During my years of practice often patients have been
helped without surgery. I think there is difficulty in repairing hernias
in older patients. For gallstones, I suppose, if your treatment has not
been successful, surgery may be indicated. However, I have never had a
gallstone case which required surgery. Also I have never had a case of
appendicitis which required surgery. These cases have responded very
well to homœopathic treatment.Q. Are you currently
involved in teaching Homœopathy ?
Answer :
Yes. Every Thursday evening during the semester I
teach at the University of Zurich. My course covers philosophy of Homœopathy
and case-taking. De Buschauer teaches materia medica for two hours on
Tuesday evenings. This course in Homœopathy is now in its third
semester. We have as our students young doctors, in this post-graduate
course which is taught in German.Q. Thank you very much for
granting this interview Dr. Kunzli. Do you have a closing thought for
us ?
Answer
:
A homœopathic physician must learn what are the
“good symptoms”, the “guiding symptoms”. This takes
study and practice. I think you get better with age !Copyright © Dr. Sayeed Ahmad
2004