In Latin, the metal lead is called Plumbum. Some paint
used to decorate the houses contains lead. Even after the paint dries, the lead
particles remain suspended in the air. Those who are allergic to lead will
develop an allergy as soon as they enter a room treated with leadcontaining paint.
They will develop severe
abdominal pain as if the abdomen is tightly squeezed. Even if the
patient is not allergic to lead, a severe type of abdominal pain will benefit
from Plumbum.
A special symptom of Plumbum is related to the gums i.e., a blue line (lead line) appears on the gums below the teeth. It darkens with the passage of time. Plumbum is the best treatment
for muscular spasms. Besides this, if the hand becomes paralysed resulting in wrist drop (which may be
due to an excessive use of the hand for writing), and the patient has the basic
symptoms of Plumbum, then Plumbum acts extraordinarily fast against this
condition.
A Plumbum patient is often very slow and lazy. He appears
somewhat mentally as well as psychologically deficient. When questioned, the patient either responds after a pause or
just repeats the question. Plumbum is ideal for the treatment of delayed
response. Sometimes while deeply lost in his thoughts, a person may
not listen to a lightly uttered question, but will become aware of the
question a little later, when his mind receives the message recorded
earlier and wakes him up. Then he will ask what the matter was. Although
a delayed response should not only be taken as a sign of
Plumbum
ailment, nevertheless, a Plumbum patient always reacts
slowly. In fact, his perception of pain is also very slow and delayed.
Therefore, there is always a danger that by the time such a patient
comes to realise the pain, he may have already been seriously hurt.
Luckily, only full-fledged Plumbum patients exhibit this symptom. A Plumbum patient understands the matter, but it takes time to
register in his mind. The nerves carrying the pain sensation become
slow in transmitting the pain message. Sometimes, this slowly
progressive
sensory loss may end in complete
loss of sensation. The skin becomes numb. The feet and other parts of the body may
gradually become insensitive and lifeless. When the disease progresses
further, the patient becomes physically weak and is ultimately
reduced to looking like a skeleton covered with loose skin.
A special symptom of Plumbum is that the painful part of the body ultimately
becomes wasted. This symptom is also found in other kinds of paralyses.
Fevers causing paralysis, such as typhoid etc., weaken the affected part but
this weakness is not due to the pain. Typhoid
sometimes paralyses the legs or arms but there is no pain associated with it.
However, in Plumbum, there is always some pain in the part that is paralysed.
In such a situation, immediate treatment with Plumbum should be started.
Plumbum is also very useful in the treatment
of sciatica. If other symptoms of it are also present then one must
always treat the patient with Plumbum first. Whenever the limbs become flabby,
painful and weak due to paralysis, then Plumbum will be found to be an
effective treatment. Piano players
often develop paralysis of
the finger joints. Their fingers become weak and frail. For this
condition, two remedies are very famous, i.e. Plumbum and Curare. Curare is an
extremely dangerous poison causing paralysis.
Rhus Tox is a very effective remedy for the rapidly developing ill effects of
paralysis. When used in the beginning of the disease, it immediately produces a
positive response. However, if the use of Rhus Tox is delayed then it does not fully
benefit the patient unless combined with Sulphur. Rhus Tox is relatively weak
and a slow acting treatment. In contrast to Rhus Tox, Plumbum is a strong and a
long-acting homoeopathic remedy. Treatment
by alternating Sulphur with Rhus Tox increases the effectiveness of Rhus Tox. I
alternate Rhus Tox with Sulphur. Sulphur
activates the immune body system, while Rhus Tox cures the paralysis. By the
grace of God, many chronic patients of polio
have benefited greatly from this prescription. Rhus Tox is deeply
related to paralysis. Although homoeopathic doctors do not usually use it for the
treatment of chronic paralysis, although, it is a very useful remedy provided
it is alternated with Sulphur. The Plumbum patient suffers from severe constipation. The stools are hard, rounded and difficult to be excreted. Often,
ulcers form in the rectum. The rectum may need to be evacuated digitally or
with instruments. The reason for the problem is that the circular
muscle fibres in the wall of the intestines become paralysed and
lose the strength to push the faecal matter onwards. This paralytic
condition slowly becomes worse and the constipation becomes more
severe and chronic. Such constipation should be patiently treated with
Plumbum, over a long period. Full results of the treatment show up in
about fifteen days of the treatment. Those diseases that develop
slowly,
must respond to the treatment relatively slowly. However,
sometimes the homoeopathic treatment may produce immediate response,
e.g. the relief of griping pain and spasmodic pain in the abdomen. In homoeopathy, the effects of a poison which appear
immediately can be cured equally fast by treatment with the homoeopathic
potency of the same poison. In Plumbum, due to the paralysis of the bladder wall, the patient
loses strength to void urine, resulting in retention of urine. Urine continues
to collect in the bladder and then excreted drop by drop (retention with
overflow). This is not related to the prostate; rather the condition is due to
the paralysis of the bladder wall. The symptoms of the two diseases (bladder
weakness and enlarged prostate) are obviously different. Urinary stoppage is
not necessarily due to only one cause. When urination
stops after delivery of a child, then Causticum happens to be the
most ideal treatment. If this condition develops after an operation, then
Strontium Carb is better. Plumbum also
can be effective if the kidneys stop functioning due to sudden shock. Plumbum
stirs up the kidney function. One
symptom of Plumbum is that whatever kind of food is taken, it produces acidity
in the stomach, leading to severe vomiting. Usually the partially digested food
with the gastric secretions passes on to the small intestines within three
hours. If the stomach fails to empty itself within this period, then the food
starts rotting in the stomach. This produces acidity
and foul smelling belches. Acidity in the stomach can also be caused
by decreased peristaltic movement of the intestine and the resulting stasis.
Plumbum is the best remedy in this condition.
In Plumbum, the vomited
material is either dark in colour or greenish and is sometimes mixed
with blood. The function of the stomach and liver becomes deranged. The stomach
feels full and heavy. The belly button becomes retracted.
Plumbum is famous for the gradually progressive weakness of the muscles (progressive
muscular dystrophy). There are two to three different remedies useful in this disease. Opium and Kali
Phos are also good remedies for this disease. When treating with Kali
Phos, the dose should be increased gradually. In progressive muscular dystrophy, the neurons in the central part of the brain
responsible for the voluntary control of the muscles start to die. There
is no known cure for this disease. The patients slowly become more and more weak
and often die before attaining the prime of their youth. Even if they remain
alive, their life is very miserable. Progressive muscular dystrophy being a
hereditary disease, sometimes all the children may be affected. No definite
cure has yet been found for the disease.
However, the patients obtain some relief with homoeopathic treatment.
Occasional rapid
heartbeat (tachycardia) along with convulsions, benefit from
Plumbum. For a sudden feeling of the heart being squeezed, Cactus Grandiflora
is the best remedy. Plumbum is said to
be capable of treating the bad habit of cheating
and dishonesty. If this is true, then it should be used freely throughout
the world!
Plumbum is a good remedy for the treatment of chronic kidney
diseases
associated with loss of albumin and sugar in the urine. Plumbum improves the function of the kidney tubules and
helps retain both the albumin and the sugar. The symptoms of Plumbum also resemble those of Opium. In apoplexy, there is sudden
rush of blood towards the head, which can result in cerebral haemorrhage. The
face becomes congested with blood, and the pupils of the eyes become dilated.
These symptoms often lead to death. Arnica and Opium given in high potency at
the onset of the symptoms proves very useful. It is also necessary to treat the
patient of Plumbum with high doses of Plumbum. Both Opium and Plumbum show
their effects at the same time. Dr. Kent states that the treatment should first
be started with Opium and later Plumbum should be added to the treatment. This
is correct because the initial symptoms of the disease resemble those of Opium. Two other remedies are also considered very
useful in the treatment of apoplexy. If there are multiple red bleeds, then
Phosphorus is better but Alumina is also famous for the treatment of this
condition.
Painful
severe cramps of the legs in the evening, which get relieved on movement and by application of local pressure, can
possibly be treated with Plumbum. A lightning type of undulating pain
is a symptom of Plumbum, which is also found in Causticum and Caulophyllum. With regards to cold and heat, the nature of Plumbum
resembles Psorinum i.e. the patient is very sensitive to cold. He keeps himself
covered with a blanket even during summer. Like Arnica, the head of the patient
is warm and there is a tendency to form blood clots.
Often, blisters develop between the toes of the feet. Besides
Plumbum, Sulphur is also very useful for such boils. If gangrene develops in the
fingers or toes, or knots form in the feet, then also Plumbum will be effective
if the patient is of the constitution of Plumbum. Plumbum is also very good for the treatment of the swelling
of the glands beneath the tongue (sublingual salivary glands). The
tendency towards severe
body jolts and locking of the jaw, the
paralysis of the muscles in the
wall of the windpipe and the food pipe (oesophagus),
resulting in the entry of the food into the air passage and choking due to water
or food entering the windpipe or nose, are all the symptoms of Plumbum.
Symptoms of many other remedies related to paralysis are also found in Plumbum.
Sometimes, the severe abdominal colic related to Plumbum leads
to a
tendency towards delirium. The patient feels as if a painful ball is
moving from the throat up, towards the brain. The hair become dry, pupils
constrict and the eyes become yellow. Sometimes, the patient may suddenly
become unconscious and blinded. The face becomes pale, the cheeks wrinkle, and
the skin becomes greasy and shiny with the formation of dark brown spots. In Plumbum, the symptoms aggravate at night and with
movement, while they ameliorate with local pressure