Since a long time drugs have been the sole means for treating the diseases of the humanity. As time past more and more drug substances were discovered by various systems of medicine. Hence the encyclopedia of drugs began to grow bigger and bigger day by day. The drugs are obtained from various sources ie. from plants, from animals, from animal products, from minerals, from chemicals etc. Various methods were being employed for extraction of the drug substance for dispensing purpose. But less was known about the exact action each drug would produce in the human beings. The ancient records of accidental cures and consequences of accidental ingestion were the only base on which the drugs were employed during Hahnemannian period. That means drugs were dispensed purely on the basis of pathological changes they produced in animals (during experimentation) and in human beings (due to accidental ingestion or suicide). Many were given on superstitious ground.
The drug proving is a method of employing a known drug substance in an organism to obtain the deviations it is capable of producing both in respect of physical or mental aspect. Before the discovery of homoeopathy the drug proving was carried out on lower animals like mouse, monkeys etc. Even today the same procedure is followed. It was only by Dr. Hahnemann, after he discovered the Homoeopathy, the exact method of drug proving was employed to get the knowledge of the morbid phenomenon of the drug. Knowing the curative properties was as important as getting the totality of symptoms of the diseased individual. The more curative properties are known the better it can be applied for treating the illness. Hence Hahnemann started to take himself the crude drug substances and record the symptoms he experinced. Even a minute alterations as respect to mind and body were recorded in a systematic manner. The main homoeopathic drug proving was carried out by Dr. Hahnemann when he took the decoction of the Peruvian Bark ie. Cinchona in order to discover its curative properties of the malarial fever. The credit for starting proving on healthy human beings goes to Hahnemann. The plus point of proving the drug substance in healthy human being is that along with the physical symptoms (objective symptoms)important subjective i.e. the symptoms which are felt by the provers can be recorded, which is other wise missed in proving carried out in lower animals, as they cannot express them. The most important one are the mental symptoms which are most important from homoeopathic point of view. After Hahnemann, his followers started to prove large number of drugs. As a result the Materia Medica (A compendium containing the results of proving of every homoeopathic drug substance) grew larger day by day. Today the Homoeopathic Materia Medica contains provings of several thousands of Homoeopathic drug substances.
Before knowing details of drug proving let us know what a drug is? A drug is a substance which has a property of disturbing the vital force thereby leading to altered functions and sensations, upon ingestion. And to discover these altering properties or healing powers of drugs, drug proving has to be carried out i.e. employing them on healthy human beings and systematically recording the symptoms produced by them.
The criterias for drug proving are as follows
- The drug should be pure and devoid of all impurities.
- The person upon whom the drug is to be proved should be healthy even in mental aspect.
- The surroundings of the prover should be normal to him, as the symptoms should not mingle with the manifestations due to the different circumstances to which prover is not accostomed.
- The prover should carryout his normal daily routine activities.
The out break of symptomatology from the prover depends on his susceptibility. Since susceptibility differs from one prover to other prover so the symptomatology also differs. The most susceptible prover is the best prover as he develops all the peculiar quare, rare and characteristic symptoms along with other common symptoms.
QUALITIES OF A PROVER
- He should be intelligent and should not lack perception.
- He should accurately record every deviation from his normal state of life.
- He should honestly record the symptomatology.
RULES TO BE FOLLOWED WHILE RECORDING SYMPTOMATOLOGY
- Along with the symptoms which are common to those of other drug, the most peculiar, rare and characteristic symptoms are to be recorded, which are of greatest value. Because these differentiate the drug from the other, and are curative of the drug, hence helpful for guiding during selection of remedy for treating ailments.
- Each symptom should be recorded in a detailed manner as to its location, sensation, modalities(modifying factors) and concomittants.
- The drug substances which are inert in their natural state (eg. Natrum Mur, Carbo veg) should be given in potentized form for the manifestation of symptomatology.
- The drugs which are effective in their natural state but not poisonous should be given in their natural form in crude doses.
- The substances which are poisonous in their natural state should be given only in high potencies.
The repetition of dosage of drug depends on appearance of symptoms and duration of action of the drug substance.
The above mentioned points should be taken in to consideration while proving a drug, so as to get correct picture of symptomatology. When correct picture is obtained it eases the further process of selection of similimum by matching drug symptomatology with the symptomatology of the diseased individual, and thereby effecting cure when given to sick person.
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