Editorial

By Richard Pitt

I am very happy to introduce Dr. Jayesh Dhingreja of Mumbai, India, as our Guest Editor of this edition of the California Homeopath. Dr. Dhingreja is fortunate to be working with Dr. Farokh Master of Mumbai, India, one of India’s most well-known homeopaths and a prolific author. As we know, homeopathy in India is thriving, and it is a pleasure to feature some excellent articles from our Indian colleagues on the homeopathic treatment and general welfare of children, which are the focus of this edition. Dr. Dhingreja offers us three articles himself. First, a general article entitled “Anamnesis in Children with Importance of Mother’s State During Pregnancy”. He brings to our attention how important understanding etiology is, especially in the treatment of children, and here we need to be very attentive to the experiences of the mother during pregnancy and the physical and mental issues that may be present. Often, this information can be overlooked or glossed over in pediatric prescribing, and it can be challenging to obtain, but it is vital in certain cases of child prescribing. He quotes from a book by Peter Nathanielsz called “Life in the Womb – Origin of Health and Disease”, which, amongst other things, explores the dynamic interplay of genetics and environment in disease, both of which are essential for the homeopath to understand. Pediatric prescribing often looks at these issues and the relationship between genetic susceptibility or miasmatic conditioning and the environmental circumstances of life. He then submits two cases where the interplay of the mother’s state and the child’s symptoms helped find a remedy.

Reading this essay, I am reminded of an excellent book called “Quiet”, by Susan Cain. This book analyses the differences between introverts and extroverts and quotes much scientific evidence to confirm that these fundamental distinctions of personality are real and are mostly inherited states, although circumstances do make a difference as to how well a child and then an adult will adjust and deal with the personality traits given. It is a book well worth reading, especially in understanding how introverted people often struggle to thrive in an aggressively extroverted world, especially in Western culture.

These essays of Dr. Dhingreja are then complemented by an article by Dr. Farhad J. Adajania that gives a detailed differential of the remedies Cina and Chamomilla, two first-line children's remedies that often resemble one another. The author does an excellent job of distinguishing these remedies. Then follows three essays that explore more general issues pertaining to children. “Evening Colic” by Dr. Ramesh Bajaj analyses the reasons for childhood colic, an often disturbing condition in the first three months of life. Following that is an article called “How to Talk to Children” by Dr. Aditya Tiwari, which explores how children should be talked to and how to set an example to enhance cooperation and communication between adults and children. Finally, an excellent article by Dr. Silloo D. Patel titled “Importance of Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids in Pregnancy”, which looks at diet, especially Omega 3 EFAs, and how they affect a mother and therefore child in pregnancy.

Given the topic, I am re-submitting an essay I wrote for the California Homeopath over six years ago, “The Treatment of Children” which touches on some of the points mentioned by Dr. Dhingreja and also an essay extracted from my new book, Comparative Materia Medica – Integrating New and Old Remedies, called “Miams, Classifications, Symptoms”, that explores the significance of miasmatic understanding and the role of nosodes, an issue particularly important in pediatric prescribing.

I am writing this editorial in Kenya, where I am now working as Educational Director of the Kenya School for Integrated Medicine in Kwale, which is near Mombasa. I am also, therefore, submitting a brief update on the work of the school and the projects we are doing right now. Please visit the site at 4kenya.org for more information on the school and visit our Facebook page. We are currently raising funds to support our project, and so any donations are greatly appreciated.

The California Homeopathic Medical Society recently held a very successful conference in the San Francisco Bay Area, and our President, Stuart Garber, has written a piece about the conference. If you are not already a member of the Society, please consider joining. You don’t have to live in California. Membership is open to any homeopath, student, and interested lay person who supports us. Also, please donate to the journal and help us to allay our costs and, in this way contribute to the journal and the society.

My thanks again to all our Indian colleagues for their contribution, especially Dr. Jayesh Dhingreja, for his editorial. Let us hope it will be the beginning of more collaboration between homeopaths from many different countries.

Best Wishes,

Richard Pitt