A HOMEOPATHIC DRUG PROVING OF ANTHROPOIDES PARADISEUS 30CH WITH A SUBSEQUENT COMPARISON TO SELECTED AVIAN REMEDIES. BY GARATT HAMILTON Mini-dissertation submitted in partial compliance with the requirements of the Master’s Degree in Technology: Homoeopathy In the Faculty of Health Sciences Durban University of Technology Durban SUPERVISOR: DR. M. MAHARAJ DECLARATION This is to certify that the work is entirely my own and not of any other person, unless explicitly acknowledged (including citation of published and unpublished sources). The work has not previously been submitted in any form to the Durban University of Technology or to any other institution for assessment or for any other purpose. The research described in this dissertation was supervised by: DR. M. MAHARAJ – Senior lecturer, Department of Homoeopathy, Faculty of Health Sciences, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa. Approved for Final Submission: __________________________ ________________________ Garatt Hamilton (21114531) Date Approved for Final Submission: ___________________________ _______________________ Dr. M. Maharaj (M. Tech. Hom.) Date DEDICATION: I am dedicating this dissertation to my parents and brother for their patience and unconditional support. i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would first like to thank my research supervisor Dr. Madhueshwaree Maharaj. Your door was always open to me whenever I ran into a trouble or had questions about my research and writing. You consistently allowed this dissertation to be my own work, but steered me in the right direction whenever you thought I needed it. Thank you for your valuable and keen encouragement over the years. To Melissa Godfrey, my research partner and friend, I’d like to thank you for the support and help through all these years of studying and for your motivation throughout the research process. I’d also like to thank you for your unfailing encouragement and partnership throughout this process. Here’s to wishing you all the success for the future. Dr. Shraddha Brijnath, I would like to thank you for your assistance throughout my final years at DUT. Without you, I would have lost my mind. Your inspiration and endless enthusiasm for me to finish this course will always be remembered. I would also like to express my deepest gratitude to my parents and to my brother for providing me with their unfailing support and ceaseless encouragement during these years of study and through the research and dissertation writing process. This achievement would not have been conceivable without you. I am honored to have had the support and co-operation of my friends whilst writing this dissertation, and would like to express my deepest appreciation and gratitude to you. To all the provers of Antropoides paradeseus, thank you for your dedicated sacrifice! Without your time and participation this proving would not have been possible. ii ABSTRACT Aim: The aim of this qualitative study was to determine the homeopathic symptomatology that would arise from a homeopathic drug proving of Anthropoides paradiseus 30CH after it was administered to healthy individuals and to compare the homeopathic symptomatology with selected avian remedies. These avian remedies were Corvus Corax, Acridotheres tristis, Peregrine eagle and Geococcyx californianus. Objectives: Objective 1: The first objective was to determine the proving symptomatology of Anthropoides paradiseus 30CH. This was done as a randomized, double blind placebo controlled homeopathic drug proving in the 30th Hahnemannian potency in 30 healthy volunteers of which 6 were on placebo. Objective 2: To perform a comparative analysis with selected existing remedies, namely Corvus Corax (Raven), Acridotheres tristis (India myna), Peregrine eagle (Peregrine eagle) and Geococcyx californianus (Roadrunner) all in the avian group. Methodology: The homeopathic drug proving of Anthropoides paradiseus 30CH, was conducted as a double-blind placebo controlled randomized trial with thirty volunteers between the ages of 18 and 75 years old. Provers had a full homoeopathic case history and physical exam performed and thereafter they received their symptom recording journals and the test iii drug or placebo. Twenty-four of the volunteers received the verum powders whilst the remaining six were administered a placebo (ratio of 4:1). The double-blind design was employed; neither the supervisor, researcher nor the provers themselves knew who received the verum or placebo. The provers recorded their symptoms over a 5 week period. Provers began journaling one week before taking the active drug substance or placebo in order to establish their symptom baseline, and continued recording their symptoms for four weeks after having started the active drug or placebo regime. After the 5 weeks of recording their symptoms, the provers attended a follow-up consultation. After all the journals were collected from the provers, the extraction and collation of the data was conducted, and thereafter the data was presented in Materia Medica and repertory formats. The Results: The homoeopathic drug proving of Anthropoides paradiseus produced a variety of symptoms. The main symptoms belonged to both the mental/emotional and the physical sphere. The symptoms of the mental sphere of this remedy included anxiety, disorientation, mood swings and irritability. The characteristic physical symptoms includes polyuria, polyphagia, polydipsia, headaches, muscle pain and spasms, post- nasal drip, hay-fever, and bloating. Other possible uses might be for the treatment of chest pain, nausea and abdominal cramping. The comparative analysis of the selected avian remedies, namely Falco peregrinus, Corvus corax, Geococcyx californianus and Acridotheres tristis, and Anthropoides paradiseus revealed common mental emotional themes of detachment, a drugged or floating sensation and on the physical sphere the group analysis revealed the following common symptoms: numbness, obstruction, dryness and appetite fluctuations. iv The Conclusion: It was discovered that Anthropoides paradiseus 30CH produced symptoms that can be used in the treatment of attention deficit disorder, mood swings, anxiety, pre-diabetes, hay fever, sinusitis, muscle pain and spasms, gastroenteritis and headaches. It was also determined that the remedy, according to the correlating themes, belonged to the AIDS miasm. The conclusion of the group comparison generated the following themes and symptoms: detachment, drugged sensation, restriction, neurological symptoms, obstruction, dryness and appetite fluctuations. v TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS vi LIST OF TABLES xiv LIST OF FIGURES xv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xvi DEFINITIONS OF TERMS xvii Chapter 1 1 1. Overview 1 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 Research Problem 3 1.3 Aim 3 1.4 Objectives 3 1.4.1 Objective 1 3 1.4.2 Objective 2 3 1.5 The Hypothesis 4 1.6 The Limitations 4 1.7 The Assumptions 4 Chapter 2 5 2. Review Of Related Literature 5 2.1. Provings 5 2.1.1. Introduction 5 vi 2.1.2. Historical perspectives 5 2.1.3. Modern developments 7 2.1.3.1. Prover population 8 2.1.3.2. Placebo 8 2.1.3.3. Blinding 9 2.1.3.4. Potency selection 10 2.1.3.5. Posology 11 2.2. Provings At Durban University Of Technology 12 2.2.1. Indigenous substances 12 2.2.2. Proving methodologies 13 2.3. Comparative Materia Medica 16 2.3.1. Group analysis 16 2.4. Anthropoides paradiseus 18 2.4.1. Classification structure 19 2.4.2. Distribution 19 2.4.3. Field recognition 20 2.4.4. Feeding 20 2.4.5. Breeding biology 20 2.5. Other Birds Used In The Materia Medica 21 2.5.1. Falco peregrinus 21 2.5.1.1. Information 21 2.5.1.2. Distribution 22 2.5.1.3. Field recognition 22 2.5.1.4. Feeding 22 2.5.1.5. Homoeopathic proving of Falco peregrinus 23 2.5.2. Corvus corax 27 2.5.2.1. Information 28 2.5.2.2. Distribution 28 2.5.2.3. Field recognition 28 2.5.2.4. Feeding 29 2.5.2.5. Homoeopathic proving of Corvus corax 29 vii 2.5.3. Geococcyx californianus 32 2.5.3.1. Information 33 2.5.3.2. Distribution 33 2.5.3.3. Field recognition 33 2.5.3.4. Feeding 34 2.5.3.5. Homoeopathic proving of Geococcyx californianus 34 2.5.4. Acridotheres tristis 38 2.5.4.1. Information 38 2.5.4.2. Distribution 39 2.5.4.3. Field recognition 39 2.5.4.4. Feeding 40 2.5.4.5. Homoeopathic proving of Acridotheres tritis 40 Chapter 3 42 3. Proving Methodologies 42 3.1. Experimental Design 42 3.2. Outline Of Experimental Method 42 3.3. The Proving Substance 43 3.3.1. Potency 43 3.3.2. Collection, preparation and dispensing 43 3.3.3. Dose and posology 44 3.4. Prover Population 45 3.4.1. Sample size, recruitment and demographics 45 3.4.1.1. Experimental/verum group 45 3.4.1.2. Placebo group 45 3.4.2. Randominsation 45 3.4.3. Criteria for inclusion of a subject 46 3.4.4. Criteria for exclusion of a subject 47 3.4.5. Lifestyle of prover 48 3.4.6. Monitoring of provers 48 3.4.7. Data recording 49 viii 3.4.7.1. Case history 49 3.4.7.2. Physical examination 49 3.4.8. The duration 49 3.4.9. Chronology 49 3.4.10. Ethical considerations 50 3.5. Data Analysis 51 3.5.1. Extraction Process 51 3.5.1.1. Inclusion and exclusion of symptoms 51 3.5.1.1.1. Inclusion criteria 51 3.5.1.1.2. Exclusion criteria 52 3.5.2. Collation and editing of data 52 3.6. Reporting Of Data 53 3.6.1. The repertory 53 3.6.2. The materia medica 54 3.7. Comparative Materia Medica 54 Chapter 4 56 4. The Results 56 4.1. Introduction 56 4.2. Materia Medica 56 4.2.1.