In homoeopathy, the choice of remedy is based on a consideration of the totality of an individual's symptoms and circumstances, including personality, behaviors, fears, responses to the physical environment, food preferences, philosophy of early life of patient, history of patient's nearest relatives and so on. No knowledge is perfect unless it includes an understanding of the origin - that is, the beginning; and as all man’s diseases originate in his constitution it is necessary that his constitution should be known if we wish to know his diseases.
Stuart close said - Constitution is that aggregate of hereditary characters, influenced more or less by environment, which determines the individual's reaction, successful or unsuccessful, to the stress of environment.
It is needed to assess the peculiarities of an individual during his or her apparently healthy state. The peculiarities of each individual are put together and assessed in three ways. They are-
- Actual constitutional diagnosis
- Development constitutional diagnosis
- Environmental constitutional diagnosis
Dr. Kent says, Physical constitution is the external disorder following disorder in the man, the vital force.
Constitution is a term which covers vast dimensions in width, depth and intricacy, but it is often inadequately understood. It has two basic factors-
- The endogenous factor
- The exogenous factor
The endogenous factors are innate in the individual incurred from the heredity. They endow the organism with various types of tendencies susceptibilities, reactions to the stress of environment.
The exogenous factors are incurred gradually and steadily since birth from the various intimate details of the environmental factors.
Ultimately, both these exogenous and endogenous factors may be come so much intimately mingled up that they form a new type of constitution of the particular organisms - totally distinct from progenitors and even others of the same species. From this approach it is clear that each individual has a distinctly characteristic constitution of his or his own.
It is for this reason necessary, that persons are studied in details in their distinctive features, that signify the personality. They bring out unfailing indications in the health-ill relations and guide the treatment.
Types of Constitution
There are different types of constitution which are carried into homeopathic parlance from old-time pathology. Some of them are-
- Scrofulous constitution: Glands remain swollen, general weakness, lack of reaction, wound and inflammations tardy to heal, considered to be the result of hereditary combination of Psora and Syphilis.
- Hydrogenoid constitution: Increased susceptibility to humidity, even to aquatic vegetables. Hence the symptoms of a disease in this constitution of the body are aggravated by every thing which in any way increases the atoms of water in the organism. Considered to be the result of intimate combination of Psora and Sycosis.
- Oxygenoid constitution: it is characterized by the accumulation of excess of oxygen with resultant destruction of body tissues. Body is thin and thus ill on change of season. Destructive, disorders involving the genitalia and diseases of central nervous system. Body is prone to ulcerations and self-destruction. Numerous white spots on the nails.
- Carbo Nitrogenoid constitution: It is characterized by excess of carbon and nitrogen and suffers from functional disorders of body and mind, diminution of the absorption of oxygen by the tissues. Psora, eczema, arthritism, marked by erratic working or the heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, spleen etc.
- Leucophlegmatic constitution: Catarrhal, flabby, water-logged constitution, with pale loose skin. Sluggish in all movements and activities. Chilly and susceptible to cold.
There are also choleric (bilious), chlorotic (anemic with greenish pallor), Neuropathic(Easily excited and depressed), Dyscratic, Lithemic, Neuropathic constitution etc.
Factors related to constitution
Constitution consists of various factors. The chief are-
- Physical make-up of the body
- Temperament
- Heat and cold relation
- Desire and aversion to food
- Miasm - PTS, PRS, Psora, Sycosis, Syphilis, Tubercular
- Diathesis
- Susceptibility and responses
- Addictions, habit etc.
It also includes all other factors that work in his framing and that make him distinct, definite and different and thus separate from other persons.
Therapeutic Importance
It is has been noticed that every individual drug has a special relative affinity for particular type of constitution. This fact was clearly noticed by Hahnemann while conducting drug proving as well as in his practice.
Constitutional Diagnosis
Constitutional diagnosis means the assessment of the peculiarities of an individual during his or her apparently healthy state.
Those that pertain to the individuality of the patient even when he is apparently healthy and which modify or qualify symptoms of the disease he is suffering from - helping us for person-diagnosis, i.e., the diagnosis of the constitutional individuality of the patient.
To understand this independently of his disease three things have to be investigated:
- Actual constitutional diagnosis.
- Developmental constitutional diagnosis.
- Environmental constitutional diagnosis.
The actual constitutional diagnosis is done by observing the peculiarities of the individual during his/her apparently healthy state. Only then, the physician clearly perceives what is to be cured in disease that is to say, in every individual case of disease.
The developmental constitutional diagnosis is done by examining and finding out the phases through which the patient has passed to reach his present actual psycho-somatic constitution of personality, including the hereditary investigation.
The environmental constitutional diagnosis consists in the assessment of the modalities or the individual's characteristic reaction e.g. how does this person react to his environment, as to time, place and circumstances.
Constitutional medicine
Constitutional medicine means the medicine which can correct the constitutional defects - inherent and acquired. Every antimiasmatic medicine is a constitutional medicine. It acts better only after other miasmatic effects are removed or brought to latent state.
For constitutional diagnosis of an individual of Homeopathic physician should search about Fruit-True-Earth Syndrome, Philosophy of early life and development of Philosophy of life, which is high and only mission of the physician. This type of study of an individual will give unfailing indication in the health-ill relations and guide the treatment. This procedure of treatment make Homeopathy (real not superficial) the unique and unparalleled therapeutic system.
This procedure exclude symptomatic treatment i.e. considering aggregation of complete symptoms, Rubrics etc. and treatment of results of the disease, like-Pyrexia(fever), Colic, Migraine, Arthritis, Skin diseases, Cancer, Palsy, Epilepsy, Diabetes, Hypertension etc. After constitutional diagnosis the similimum [following construction of six cycles.] will remove and annihilate the disease in its whole extent [constitutional defect-inherent and acquired] which is the source of all physical as well as mental problems. In this way an individual gets back "Freedom" in place of "Consciousness".
- Consciousness is equally proportional to Pathology
- Freedom is inversely proportional to Pathology
- So, Consciousness is inversely proportional to Freedom
Pathology: Something abnormal; the structural and functional deviations from the normal that constitute disease.