Cina

 

Cina is very famous for the treatment of worm infestation in children.  Its peculiar nature is that of ill temper. Its patients (children) get outraged over trivial matters. Nothing can please them. They are very sensitive. Their hypersensitivity is not only of their nature but it also affects their skin. The patient does not let anybody come near him or touch him. Even a light touch with the hand is unbearable. He hesitates to face a stranger. Like the patient of Chamomilla, the patient makes strange demands, and when the demand is met, he throws away the object. Being stared at by somebody upsets him.  The Cina patients grind their teeth during the night, which is interrupted by frequent jolting and waking up. Fear scares them and wakes them up. In their frightful dreams, they see dogs, demons and ghosts. They scream during sleep and wake up trembling. The children like to sleep on their hands and knees.  The Cina patient has a peculiar glossy gleam in the eye. He experiences an array of colours, especially yellow. The pupils are dilated. The patient experiences blackouts. There is constant irritation inside the nose, which needs to be constantly rubbed. The irritation is never ending. The margins of the nostrils shrink inside.  Around the mouth and the lips, yellowish or bluish round spots develop.

Convulsions are a special characteristic of Cina. The limbs feel tight and jerky. As in Cicuta, the neck of the person arches backwards (Opisthotonus). The fingers turn in. There is a feeling of chilliness and quivering all over the body. When such a patient is patted on his back, he develops headache. The symptoms of Cina aggravate after taking food. The patient feels very hungry. The child throws up clotted milk. The nature of Cina resembles somewhat with that of Aethusa. Besides the mind, heat affects the stomach and intestines; but the symptoms are expressed a little differently than in Aethusa. In Aethusa, the child vomits milk as

soon as he drinks it and is mostly constipated but in Cina, diarrhoea or dysentery is more common. The stools are mixed with a whitish sticky material (mucus). 

When the infection has become well established, the diarrhoeal stools become green in colour.  In a Cina patient, the sensation of touch and taste are either enhanced or reduced significantly. In other words, they are out of balance.  Often, the patient eats one thing and perceives the taste of something else. Ingestion of food, milk or water causes a rumbling noise in the throat. This symptom is also found in Cuprum and Arsenic. Cuprum is also useful for the treatment of worm infestation. The stools of a patient of Cina are foul-smelling and propulsive, like Podophylum. A peculiar symptom of Cina is that when the child lies prone on his stomach, his diarrhoea stops showing that pressure over the abdomen offers relief. Cina should not be forgotten in the treatment of epilepsy developing after a malarial attack.

In Cina, there is violent coughing in the morning, and one may develop spasms of the throat due to incessant coughing. There is pain in the chest. The attacks of whooping cough also occur. In women, during pregnancy, sudden unexpected news of happiness or grief can precipitate headache or pain in the abdomen which can linger on for quite some time. Cina can be administered to control this kind of suffering. The symptoms of Cina aggravate after food at night and in hot weather.