Category: Materia Medica Hans-Heinrich Reckeweg

The mother tincture is prepared from the fresh aerial parts gathered at the beginning of the flowering period of Ruta graveolens L., a native of the Mediterranean coun- tries and Eastern Europe. N.O. Rutaceae.

The main indications are:

Eye-strain, eyes burn like fire. Sore, bruised feeling all over the body. Ganglion on the wrist. Rheumatism of the wrists.

The German Monograph-Preparation Commission for the Homoeopathic Field of Therapy has, under the Preparation Monograph for Ruta graveolens, published the following indication(s) in the German Bundesanzeiger (German Federal Gazette) for ruta: compression wounds; contusions, dislocations; physical overexertion, vari- cose veins; rheumatism, especially afflicting the spine.

The attenuations are prepared from Rubidium chloride, RbCl, MW: 120.9.

Rubidium is one of the alkaline metals, which bear a greater mutual similarity than the elements of any other group. Furthermore, their whole physical and chemi- cal behaviour is governed by their marked striving to form compounds.

In nature, on account of their great ability to react, the alkaline metals do not occur as elements, but only as ions of oxidation-stage +1. Whereas sodium is the most commonly occurring alkaline earth element and makes up some 2.6% of the earth’s crust as an important compound of many silicates, Rubidium (and Caesium) only occur in very small quantities, accompanying other alkaline metals.

Admittedly it is not yet proven whether and to what extent Rubidium may be de- fined as a trace metal, insofar as symptoms of a trace element deficiency in the form of a disease might occur if Rubidium were lacking. Rubidium’s position in the peri-

odic table of elements in the first group (lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium, cae- sium and francium) shows us what fundamental importance is accorded to the ap- parently simplest natural mineral substances, to a certain extent the “proto-sub- stances” (Leeser) in the energy-relationships between the human psychosomatic unit and the proto-substances or elements from which it is formed. The periodic table was previously drawn up by Lothar Meyer and Mendeleyev taking into account the elements then known according to their atomic weights. Now, following more recent atomic research, the elemental table has been arranged so as to incorporate the addi- tional knowledge of their electron-structure.

It is known that, according to Bohr’s atomic model, atoms consist of positive nu- clear charges, around which negative electrons pass in one or more orbits. The peri- odic number is determined by the number of orbits and electrons, the “number in the order” being equal to the number of positive charges of the nucleus in question.

The chemical valency, i.e. the ability of the element to react chemically, is deter- mined by the atomic periphery, whilst on the other hand the internal autonomy of the element is determined by the number and structure of the nuclear charges (Leeser). The alkaline metals (elements in Group 1) show a lack of electrons (ion charge +1), whilst the halogens (elements of Group 7) show a surplus of electrons (ion charge

–1).

Thus it will be understood that atoms of Groups 1 and 7 form compounds easily, in order to balance their charges.

Leeser has set out the importance of the mineral remedies, not only of the basic elements and the more complex elements, but also the relationship of these basic el- ements to water, since this is of the greatest importance for their medicinal action.

Leeser sees in the position of the elements in the periodic table a possibility of ar- ranging the mineral remedies also in the seven main vertical groups. On the other hand in the subsidiary groups the chemical valency recedes, and to compensate for this, the physical structural or nuclear relationship assumes greater importance.

In compounds it will become clear that in some cases it is the cation and in others the anion which carries the main medicinal action, whilst in others the emphases may be equally shared.

In Rubidium Muriaticum, apart from the action of the Rubidium, that of the Chlo- rine is also important. Whilst we cannot yet draw on the results of a proving to es- tablish any symptomatology, effects in keeping with those of a trace element are likely. Thus Rubidium Muriaticum is found in combination preparations which may be used to compensate for a trace element deficiency.

The attenuations of this nosode are prepared from rubella vaccine.

Rubella (“German measles”) has gained in importance in recent decades with the knowledge that infection of the mother during the first three months of pregnancy can result in damage to the foetus in the form of congenital heart disease, with pos- sible deafness and blindness.

Rubella is caused by infection with the rubella virus, (with some 2–3 weeks’ incu- bation period and then a rash similar to that of measles, or in some cases similar to scarlet fever), but without any notably serious complaints apart from swelling of the cervical glands and mild changes in the state of the blood.

Thus the Rubella Nosode could be used in peripheral swellings of the lymph glands, especially those near the mastoid process, in the occipital and posterior cer- vical region, and those, especially on the left side, which extend along the edge of the sternocleidomastoid like a string of pearls, and also those in the axilla and in the crease of the elbow and inguinal area.

Also when large lymphocytes are found in the blood, and the so-called “wheel-nu- cleus” lymphocytes (i.e. those with nuclear chromatin arranged like the spokes of a wheel), and plasma cells (i.e. usually lymphocytes: cells with particularly thick pro- toplasm which colours dark blue under the usual stain), one should think of Rubella Nosode, and also if women succumb to any kind of infectious diesease in the first three months of pregnancy.

Since, after the mother has had Rubella, anomalies of the lens are found in the em- bryo, the Rubella Nosode could also be tried in cataract, likewise in deafness, if no pathogenetic cause can be found.

The mother tincture is prepared from  the fresh bark of the young twigs of the   plant Robinia pseudoacacia L., a native of Eastern North America and Mexico, and commonly found in Europe as an ornamental tree. N.O. Leguminosae.

The main indications are:

Sour gastric catarrh with acid risings like vinegar. Duodenal ulcer.

The German Monograph-Preparation Commission for the Homoeopathic Field of Therapy has, under the Preparation Monograph for Robinia pseudacacia, published the following indication(s) in the German Bundesanzeiger (German Federal Gazette) for robinia pseudacacia: gastric hyperacidity; diarrhoea.

The mother tincture is prepared from the fresh young leaved shoots of the plant Tox- icodendron quercifolium (Michx.) Greene, a native of North America and Eastern Asia. N.O. Anacardiaceae.

Rhus Toxicodendron contains rhoitannic acid and the sap, urushiol, is a strong skin irritant. It also contains the dye fisetin, and rhamnose.

In Rhus Toxicodendron we see typical complaints and typical aggravations which make it one of the most important anti-rheumatic remedies. The complaints are worse at rest and on first movement. They are better for continued movement. There is also a tpyical aggravation of the complaints from cold, damp weather and from becoming thoroughly wet, and also at night and from over-exertion.

In the provings of Rhus Toxicodendron we have a multiplicity of symptoms, which not only suggest a rheumatic origin, but also are characteristic of a wide vari- ety of inflammations. Thus we have the symptom: “Mentally confused, understands with difficulty and replies slowly, is absent-minded”. There may possibly be shiver- ing and a sensation of pressure behind the eyes, and possibly also a numbing headache, as if there were a plank in front of the forehead, amelioration coming from movement and warmth. There is also a sensation in the head as though the brain were loose, particularly on ascending or on shaking the head. The scalp may be sensitive, particularly on the side on which one is not lying. In the eyes there may be violent conjunctivitis with severe photophobia, spasmodic closing of the lids and excoriating tears, giving rise to pimples on the cheeks. The tip of the nose may be red and sensitive, in many cases with a greenish-yellow, offensive nasal discharge.

There may also be cold-sores around the mouth, and pains in the bones of face and cheeks, as well as wandering toothache, which is better from pressure of the hand.

The tongue has a typical appearance in Rhus Toxicodendron; dry, red and fis- sured, possibly coated yellowish with a red triangle at the tip. Or there may be a mapped tongue (cf. Arsenicum Album, Taraxacum). There may also be stomatitis with bloody saliva which runs from the mouth during sleep. There may be gastroen- teritis with watery, bloody, mucous stools and tenesmus, and also a tormenting, dry cough with bloody, purulent sputum.

There are also palpitations in the picture of Rhus Toxicodendron with a rapid weak, irregular and fluttering pulse. The slightest exertion may be followed by a feeling of weakness in the heart, associated with palpitations. Also characteristic of Rhus Toxicodendron are fissures on the back of the hand and violent itching on the lower leg, possibly also an eruption like measles all over the body, or a vesicular eruption (herpes), and also a crusty eruption on the head. Spasmodic yawning may also be an indication for Rhus Toxicodendron.

Nash gives as the main symptoms of Rhus Toxicodendron the restlessness and the aggravation on first movement with amelioration on continued motion, and also dis- turbances of consciousness such as occur in febrile conditions, e.g. dysentery, peri- tonitis, pneumonia, scarlatina, rheumatism, diphtheria, and other febrile illnesses, for which otherwise Baptisia and Arnica might be considered. Nash considers the cough during the chill of malaria to be typical, likewise erysipelatous eruptions of a vesicular nature with restlessness and consciousness symptoms such as occur in poi- soning with Rhus Toxicodendron, and are also characteristic of many forms of scar- let fever. Rhus Toxicodendron is particularly indicated when the eruptions are bluish-grey in colour, e.g. in smallpox, and thus it is one of the main remedies for herpes zoster.

However, Rhus Toxicodendron is also valuable in chronic skin diseases and espe- cially in eczema with vesicle formation, but also in all chronic inflammations of a dark red colour. Rhus Toxicodendron may be used in parotitis, mastitis, phlebitis, whitlow, and orbital cellulitis, also in other inflammations of the connective tissue and the periosteum, in furunculosis, appendicitis, peritonitis and carbuncles. It may also be used in the abdominal symptoms of typhus and pneumonia, and particularly in influenzal conditions with very painful limbs, especially if there is a recent histo- ry of rheumatic symptoms or of having been wet-through.

Rhus Toxicodendron is also indicated in myelitis with paresis, particularly after lying on wet ground or becoming chilled after profuse sweating (sports) with paraes- thesias in the affected limbs, or in ptosis with the same aetiology. Rhus Toxicoden- dron is also of assistance in conjunctivitis, especially the tubercular variety, and in serious cases of keratitis, and possibly also when attempts to open the eyelids are ac- companied by a thick, purulent discharge with welling up of tears. Rhus Toxicoden- dron is also a main remedy for facial and frontal impetigo, if there is violent itching. It is the main remedy for eruptions on the genitalia and on the scrotum, in erysipelas, in pruritus vulvae, in pemphigus and particularly in herpes zoster, but it may like- wise be given for cardiac hypertrophy, particularly in sports-people.

If we now put together the main symptoms of Rhus Toxicodendron, we arrive at the following list:

1. Special anti-rheumatic remedy with aggravation at rest and on first movement, and amelioration on continued movement (cf. Rhododendron).
   1. Complaints which occur after being wet-through and before damp, cold weather.
   1. Occipital, brachial, intercostal and sciatic neuralgias, and also other rheumatic and neuralgic complaints, whatever the location, which are better for warmth and worse on first movement, but are relieved with continued movement.
   1. Conjunctivitis with swelling of the eyelids and muco-purulent discharges.
   1. Other inflammations such as parotitis, mastitis, whitlow, carbuncles, with dark redness and suppurative tendency. Erysipelas with fiery redness. Cradle-cap.
   1. Typhoid delirium with restlessness and weakness, and also pains in the limbs.
   1. Myelitis after lying on damp grass, with paraesthesias and possibly pareses. Sports injuries.
   1. Herpetic conditions with neuralgia and bluish-red discolouration, also impetigo and smallpox.
   1. Spasmodic yawning. Uncoordinated imagination and thinking, with heaviness of the head and states as if drugged, possibly violent headaches, and a sensation as if the brain were wobbling to and fro inside the skull when walking or ascending.
   1. Creaking in the joints and arthritis.

The German Monograph-Preparation Commission for the Homoeopathic Field of Therapy has, under the Preparation Monograph for Toxicodendron quercifolium, published the following indication(s) in the German Bundesanzeiger (German Fed- eral Gazette) for rhus toxicodendron: pruritic skin diseases; feverish infections with drowsiness or stupor; inflammations of the respiratory passages; inflamma- tions of the gastrointestinal tract; eye inflammations; paramenia; headaches; neural- gia; lameness; paralysis; vertigo; rheumatic pain in bones, periosteum, joints, ten- dons, and muscles; sequelae from traumata and overexertion; states of anxiety, rest- lessness, emotional discord, or upset.

The mother tincture is prepared from the dried leaved twigs of the plant Rhododen- dron campylocarpum Hook. f., Rhododendron chrysanthum Pall. and their hybrids separately or in combination, which occurs in Siberia and Northern Russia. N.O. Ericaceae.

This most important remedy produces a typical aggravation of all complaints in windy weather, in wet, cold weather, particularly before rain begins to fall, but also in other changes in the weather and before a thunderstorm.

Complaints occur periodically and frequently change their location. In the case of pains in the limbs these frequently originate in small, circumscribed sites on the pe- riosteum, associated with drawing pain deep inside the bone, and possibly also with paraesthesias and twitching sensations. They are accompanied by relaxation, a sore, bruised feeling and lassitude after the slightest exertion.

Repeatedly one notices a striking sensitivity to cold and wind, and a resurgence of complaints in rough, changeable weather.

Frequently there is an indifferent, cross or reluctant mood.

Rhododendron is required in many cases where there are tearing or jerking pains in the face, or toothache which is better for warmth and may cease for one or two hours after eating a meal.

Apart from the pains in bones, muscles and joints, heart complaints are also char- acteristic of Rhododendron, the heart-beat often becoming stronger, in many cases typified by an aggravation of complaints before a change occurs in the weather.

In Rhododendron there are also vesicular eruptions, as well as epididymitis and pains in the testes, which feel as though they had been squashed; these symptoms may also occur in the glans penis. Thus Rhododendron acts (alongside penicillin) where there is a specific cause. It has also occasionally proved its worth in hydro- coele of boys.

Since the nervous system is also affected, and disturbances of sleep were observed during the provings, Rhododendron may also be used in sleeplessness, above all when this has a rheumatic cause or is the result of rheumatic complaints occurring, particularly if the patients cannot get to sleep because of physical restlessness.

In general Rhododendron is an anti-rheumatic, but it can be used where there are gouty deposits, and particularly in primary chronic arthritis, for which it is one of the chief remedies, especially where there is deformity of the small interphalangeal joints. Rhododendron, apart from having an aggravation while at rest, which pre- vents sleep, also has an amelioration from movement (cf. Rhus Toxicodendron).

Indeed, Rhododendron bears an uncommon similarity to Rhus Toxicodendron, however the pains of Rhododendron are deeper, and localised in the periosteum.

A summary produces the following main symptoms:

1. Rheumatic remedy with a typical aggravation before rainy weather and changes of weather in general.

• 2.   Aggravation of complaints at night and at rest; amelioration on continued move- ment. The pains are located deeply, as if originating in the periosteum.
• Special localisation (primary chronic polyarthritis) in the small joints (fingers). Neuralgia in the arm.
• Vesicular eruptions.
• 5.   Affections of the testes. Epididymitis. Neuralgia of the spermatic cord. Conse- quences of gonorrhoea and syphilis (neural complications).
• 6.   Heart complaints, with increased strength of the heart-beat, possibly associated with feelings of anxiety, and with aggravation before a change in the weather.
• 7.   Tearing, jerking pains in the face, resulting from toothache, ameliorated after eat- ing and by warmth.

The German Monograph-Preparation Commission for the Homoeopathic Field of Therapy has, under the Preparation Monograph for Rhododendron, published the following indication(s) in the German Bundesanzeiger (German Federal Gazette) for rhododendron: rheumatism; neuralgia; orchitis.

The mother tincture is prepared from the dried rootstock, peeled off almost to the cambium, of the plant Rheum officinale Baill., Rheum palmatum L. or hybrids of ei- ther, which are present in China. N.O. Polygonaceae.

The main indications are:

Diarrhoea, sour, mucous, as if fermented. Anus sore and red. Tenesmus and cut- ting pains in the abdomen. The child smells sour. Teething complaints with diar- rhoea (in summer).

The German Monograph-Preparation Commission for the Homoeopathic Field of Therapy has, under the Preparation Monograph for Rheum, published the following indication(s) in the German Bundesanzeiger (German Federal Gazette) for rheum: diarrhoea; behavioural disorders among children; teething complaints.

The attenuations of this sarcode are prepared from the fresh retina removed from the eyes of healthy pigs (Sus scrofa domesticus).

The main indications are:

Choroiditis. Disorders of vision. Myopia. Degenerative illnesses of the retina and of the eye in general. May be tried in glaucoma.

The attenuations of this sarcode are prepared from the fresh kidney removed from healthy pigs (Sus scrofa domesticus).

The main indications are:

Nephrolithiasis. Hydronephrosis. Urinary-tract infections. Albuminuria. Nephros- es. In glomerulonephritis, do not give in the acute stage. Hypertrophy of the prostate. Oedema. Oxaluria. Depressed renal function with oliguria. Hyperhydrosis.

The attenuations of this sarcode are prepared from the fresh rectum of a healthy pig (Sus scrofa domesticus).

The main indications are:

Intestinal tenesmus. Constipation. Insufficient elimination per rectum. Pre-can- cerous condition of the rectum. Diverticulitis. Carcinoma of the rectum and its pre- liminary stage. Mucous colitis. Anal fissure.