Bowel Nosodes in Homeopathic Practice von John Saxton, Rezension

erschienen in Spectrum of Homeopathy 3/2010

bowel nosodes in homeopathic practice

Bowel nosodes in homeopathic practice

in this well-structured and easy-to-understand book, the experienced british veterinary homeopath John saxton comprehensively describes the topic of bowel nosodes, clearly explaining their value in homeopathic treatment. certain non-lactose fermenters (nlf), a type of bacteria, were first isolated from the stool samples of people with typhoid in the year 1880. in the early 20th century, the famous physician Dr. edward Bach – who much later turned his attention to the Bach flower remedies, which he discovered – observed that germs overwhelmingly composed of salmonella and other enterobacteriaceae could be detected in human bowel flora, and that the occurrence of these bacteria coincided with the appearance of chronic disease. a fundamental observation of the research group including Bach, Wheeler, and patterson was that the number of these bacteria, as a proportion of the total bacterial population, increases greatly during successful homeopathic treatment where there is an improvement in the patient‘s clinical condition, and then gradually declines. When the bacteria can no longer be detected, healing is complete.

so how exactly should we understand nlf – as the trigger of disease or as the result of healing? edward Bach thought that this “intestinal toxemia” was an expression of psora, and patterson recognized connections between the increase of certain nlf bacteria and the appearance of specific pathological changes, including from a miasmatic point of view. another researcher, Dr. Dishington, regarded them “not as the sole cause of illness, but rather they are there because there is a dynamic error in the patient‘s life” and they are “the result of a vital reaction coming from the body tissue.” (patterson 1933) in other words, they are a sign of a functioning defense mechanism. since 1927, nlf bacteria have been therapeutically used in potentized form as “bowel nosodes”, primarily at the Glasgow homoeopathic hospital in scotland. although no homeopathic remedy provings have been conducted, the large number of cases with precise observation of the clinical symptoms has enabled homeopaths to describe the remedy pictures of the 11 main bowel nosodes: Morgan pure, Morgan Gaertner, proteus, Mutabile, Gaertner Bach, Dysentery co., Bacillus no.7, faecalis, sycotic co., Bacillus no.10, and coccal co. While treating the cases, the researchers noticed that certain homeopathic remedies – when successfully prescribed – always resulted in the appearance of particular nlf bacteria. this enabled them to draw conclusions about the connections between certain bacteria and the symptom picture seen in a clinical case on the one hand, and the connections between the bacteria and particular homeopathic remedies, (“associated remedies”) on the other hand. this is the real practical application of bowel nosodes nowadays, as John saxton shows using easily understandable case histories from veterinary and human medical practice: “the positive interaction between a bowel nosode and a remedy is more synergistic and often simultaneous.” this assessment by saxton supports the use of various procedures in clinical practice. for example, the use of a remedy might cause an improvement, although some residual symptoms remain – despite the fact that the patient continues taking the remedy – and nlf bacteria can be detected in the stool sample. the use of the bowel nosode matching the remedy could help such a case to heal completely. the appendix lists all nosodes with their associated remedies. in another case, the symptoms might be unclear, while indicating a particular miasm. together with the nosode of this miasm, the appropriate bowel nosode also gives us the chance to open up the case, possibly leading to cure. often the symptom picture becomes.