A homeopathic drug proving of Anthropoides paradiseus 30CH with subsequent comparison to the ethology of the substance

Abstract

Introduction

The purpose of this study was to conduct a homoeopathic drug proving of Anthropoides paradiseus 30CH and to subsequently compare the symptoms derived during the proving to the ethology of the animal from which the proving substance was derived.

Methodology

The homoeopathic proving of Anthropoides paradiseus 30CH was conducted as a randomised double-blinded placebo-controlled trial at the Durban University of Technology on thirty participants. Twenty percent of the participants received a placebo while the remaining eighty percent received the active substance of Anthropoides paradiseus 30CH which was manufactured according to methods 6, 8a and 10 of the German Homoeopathic Pharmacopoeia.

After recruitment, a two-phase consent and a comprehensive initial consultation, participants who met the inclusion criteria were accepted into this study. Powders were ingested over a two-day period and thereafter the provers were monitored for a further five weeks. During the proving period, participants subjectively recorded their experiences in a journal and were monitored by the researcher.

Following the proving period, journals were collected, and the data analysis took place. The symptoms of the verum group were converted to standard repertory and materia medica formats. The symptoms were then compared to the ethology of the animal from which the substance was derived so that similarities between the behaviour of the animal and the expressed symptom picture of the provers could be assessed.

Results

The proving of Anthropoides paradiseus 30CH produced symptoms in keeping with five hundred and seventy-four existing rubrics, and fifty-five new rubrics were created. The majority of rubrics were represented in the MIND, NOSE, STOMACH and DREAMS sections of the repertory.

The general themes of dryness, thirst, increased or decreased energy, large appetite and laterality were seen. The common sensations were itching and heaviness. The mental themes which were clearly evident were: focus, lack of concentration, isolation, sociability, music, dance, exercise, anxiety, calmness and spirituality. Correlations between the behavioural, anatomical and physiological features of Anthropoides paradisus and the symptom picture produced by provers during the proving period was clearly evident.

Conclusion

Clearly observable symptoms were produced in healthy individuals following the administration of Anthropoides paradiseus 30CH. A clear correlation existed between the symptomatology produced during this proving and the ethology of Anthropoides paradiseus.