Kalmia Latifolia – LECTURES ON HOMOEOPATHIC MATERIA MEDICA by JAMES TYLER KENT, A.M., M.D.

LECTURES ON HOMŚOPATHIC MATERIA MEDICA

by JAMES TYLER KENT, A.M., M.D.
Late Professor of Materia Medica in
Hering College, Chicago.
Presented by Dr Robert Séror

Kalmia Latifolia

Generals

: The symptoms
that indicate this remedy show themselves especially in the muscles, in the tendons, in the
joints, along the course of the nerves, in rheumatic complaints.

Pains

: The pains
change about, wandering pains, and they axe aggravated from motion. The sharp pains spread
from the centres to the extremities, the wandering pains go downwards, down the arms, down
the back and down the legs; from the shoulder to the fingers, and from the hips to the toes.

These pains sometimes shoot like lightning, again they tear along the
nerves, along the sciatic and crural nerves, down through the calves. In rheumatic
constitutions the pains are dull, tearing, crushing and pressing, and are aggravated by
motion and go from the lower to the upper limbs. Motion will bring on the pain or aggravate
it when it is present. The head pains are very severe. They often begin in the back of the
neck or back of the head, and extend to the top of the head. There are also pains in the
front of the head, pains over one or both eyes, tearing neuralgic pains aggravated by heat
and motion.

Pains come and go with the sun, that is, they begin in the morning at the
rising of the sun and increase till noon, then gradually decline and disappear at sunset. He
is incapacitated for mental work when in motion and even when sitting up, but, when lying
upon his back perfectly quiet, making no motion, the mind works well and with clearness;
with the slightest motion, however, even of the hand, on comes vertigo and confusion of
mind.

Moving about disturbs makes him incompetent. The pains are also worse the
first half of the night. With these symptoms there is cardiac trouble of rheumatic origin.
The condition has increased until organic disease has come, even hypertrophy of the heart
and valves.

Heart

: This remedy has
cured that state. Palpitation very marked when lying on the left side, > when lying on
the back, sometimes > when sitting erect, < when bending forward.

These symptoms alone cause this remedy to stand out in relief. It is
useful in rheumatic patients where syphilis is at the bottom, syphilitic rheumatism that has
taken the course described until finally the heart has become affected and there is
thickening of the valves. Shooting pains through the heart, pains in the chest, intermittent
pulse, pulse skipping a beat now and then.

Either the arterial or venous system, or the valves of the heart, or
both, may be affected. Dyspnoea from any kind of exercise, cardiac dyspnoea. You have in this
a remedy for such complaints. It goes to the bottom in old cases of rheumatic syphilis, and
has cured many a cardiac complaint that was the result of syphilis.

You will be guided to it especially if the pains wander from place to
place, and if they go from above down wards, if they go from the shoulder down toward the
fingers, from the hips toward the feet, or down the spine. It is also suitable in old cases
of gonorrhoeal rheumatism when the symptoms agree.

The slightest motion, the slightest effort or exertion brings on the
vertigo, and this is due to disturbance of the circulation. The heart is so
susceptible to any exertion that disturbance of the circulation of the blood in the brain
comes on from the slightest motion.

“In a recumbent posture mental faculties and memory perfect, but, on
attempting to move, vertigo.”

If the patient persists in moving, nausea and vomiting will follow. It
has palpitation, shaking the whole frame, audible, vehement palpitation. He cannot lie on
his left side.

It is suitable in old, troublesome, recurrent headaches associated with
cardiac affections. A headache will come on daily if the sun comes out, but it will not come
on if the day is clouded. He is aggravated from the light of the sun and the increasing
brightness of the sun’s rays.

In addition to these there are paroxysms of pain that are nightly. These
are the bone pains, pains in the shin bones as if the periosteum would be torn off; these
pains come on at night, or the first half of the night. It is well known in syphilis that
the < is at night. It is an antipsoric, antisycotic and antisyphilitic, it can be
selected when the symptoms agree with any of the three miasms. Pains in the pericranium,
pains in the bones nearest to the surface. In bed at night the pains become very severe and
last all night.

This night aggravation, is especially true of the marked antisyphilitic
medicines. It is found under

Hepar and Mercurius; but in none of the remedies do we find it so strikingly manifested
as in the disease, or miasm, syphilis itself.

In syphilis the < comes with the setting of the sun. It is one of man’s
enemies that does its work in the night. Many of the complaints of sycosis conform to the
day hours, and the pains are < from the rising. to the going down of the sun.

Medicines also have such I queer whims. We must study remedies as we
would human character. Some of them seem to be extremely whimsical, and it is by knewing
these whimsical, strange and peculiar things that we are able to mark the character of the
remedy, When we know these peculiari ties we have found the circumstance under which the
remedy Works

Kidneys

: There are
kidney affections.

All the organs are related. to each other but especially the heart and
kidneys. When the kidneys are not working well, the heart is very often troublesome. All
through the varying forms of

Bright’s disease the heart is troublesome.

Difficulties of breathing, difficult heart action, with albuminuria. It
will relieve the breathing. Again, associated with kidney affections, we have many eye
complaints, difficulties of vision, and these also especially call for this remedy. It is
often indicated in

Bright’s disease, with disturbance of vision, occurring during
pregnancy.

Pains

: For the pains
in the eyes, the stitching, tearing pains that occur during kidney disturbance in pregnancy,
or during albuminuria, Kalmia becomes a remedy,

This remedy is useful in neuralgia; neuralgia of the eye, neuralgia of
the face, violent, tearing pains in the face. Sometimes it takes the form of a nightly <
and sometimes it takes the form of daily <. The aggravation in the daytime comes and goes
with the sun. The < at night time comes with the lying down.

“Anxious expression of countenance” associated with rheumatism
of the heart.

“Flushing of the face, with vertigo.”

After the disappearance of a herpetic eruption, violent neuralgic pains,
shooting, tearing pains in those nerves that supply the part where the eruption was. When
shingles, ring-worm, cold sore, or isolated vesicular eruptions disappear, suddenly from
some violent cause or inappropriate treatment, or from catching cold, violent neuralgias
come in their place and continue until the eruption comes out again.

This remedy becomes suitable if the symptoms agree; that is, if the whole
patient is in agreement with the state of the remedy.

The pains are stitching and tearing, very severe, sometimes cutting and
shooting when this remedy is mw useful. The pain will seem to take hold of a nerve and will
hold on to it for many minutes, Coming with violence, coming suddenly and letting loose
suddenly. Pains come in the extremities in the same way, taking hold as if the nerve were
being pinched by nippers, or as if it were being torn to pieces.

“There, now it is gone!” says the patient.

Pretty soon, again, you will see his face in a state of horrible
distress. The pain is there again and he cannot move a muscle, and

“there, it is gone!” he says, and it remains away for some minutes and sometimes for hours.

Heart

: The heart has
many symptoms which should be studied.

“Fluttering of the heart, palpitation of the heart.”

“Palpitation up into the throat, after going to bed, trembling all
over.”

Very slow pulse

.
I remember a patient, an old syphilitic, who was told if he ever made a violent
move he would die, the valves of his heart were so badly affected. He had all the murmurs
that it seemed possible from the heart valves.

He had traveled all over and had taken large doses of

Mercury, and his syphilitic
condition had to a great extent been suppressed, until finally the whole trouble had located
in the heart. Kalmia removed all the dyspnea and palpitation in a few
months, and it was nearly two years before there was a marked return of the symptoms and a
repetition put him in a state of health, so that be needed no more medicine.

This shows what a deep-acting remedy

Kalmia is, how long it
may act, what wonderful changes it may effect. A remedy must be capable of going deep into
the life to do such things.

“Wandering rheumatic pains in the region of the heart.”

“When articular rheumatism has been treated externally and cardiac
symptoms ensue.”

Rheumatism that goes from the lower to the upper limbs. Not uncommonly
you will meet such things. These “

rubbers” that go around the streets with a strong
liniment and considerable magnetism frequently do cause a rheumatism to leave the knee
joint, and when it does that, the heart is likely to be the organ that suffers.

Then

Kalmia, Aurum, Bryonia, Rhus tox., Ledum, Calc. and Abrotanum, and sometimes Cactus, are remedies that prove suitable for such cardiac affections. Rheumatic
affections that are driven away in this manner are changed without being cured. The people
cannot realize the danger, of merely removing symptoms. Every removal that is not in
accordance with cure affects the centres of man, that is the heart and brain.

Rubbing is a dangerous thing. When you are importuned with the question,

“Doctor, will it hurt me to have this rubbed?”

you reply, “If rubbing does not affect any change
in the symptoms, it will do no harm.”

In proportion as it mitigates the symptoms or relieves, just in that
proportion it does the patient harm, for the whole vital economy is weakened. There are
instances where rubbing is of benefit, but not in rheumatism.

In paralyzed muscles it is a beneficial exercise, for then rubbing can
take the place of exercise of the patient himself, of the muscles. But rubbing is not
admissible if it is used to reduce pain. The more agreeable it is, the worse, it is for the
patient.

In a

Phosphorus patient you would be astonished what wonderful relief they can get from
rubbing. There is no person more inclined to be weak in the vitality, in the internal
economy, than the Phosphorus patient. He is an excitable, weakly patient, and feels better by rubbing and
craves it, but if he has rheumatism in the knees and the knee is rubbed the rheumatism may
go to the heart, The Phos. patient loves to be rubbed, because rubbing relieves the symptoms; he loves
to be magnetized.

“Weariness of all the limbs; shuns all exertion.”

“Weakness the only general symptom with neuralgia.”

This weakness is a state that you can glean something from. When severe
pain is fatiguing the economy the heart is threatened. A general weakness, prolonged
weakness after confinement, or from the pain, as we find in

Hepar, but with the weakness, these pains are threatening to
leave their parts and go to the heart. He is perfectly exhausted and continuously tired.

The text speaks only of

Aconite and Belladonna as the antidotes. Spigelia follows this remedy very well and antidotes it. Benzoic acid is a natural
complement to it. Calc., Lith. carb.,
Lyc., Nat. mur., and Puls. are the remedies that are closely related and should
be compared.