We all have suffered from vomiting, loose stool, or bloody stool with or without pain in the stomach at some stage of our life. We are all lucky that we survived it but unfortunately, according to WHO, over 4 million deaths are recorded annually due to the same. It is not necessarily a disease of developing countries, in fact in the US 1 in every 6 people suffers from diarrhoea and it reports around 5000 deaths annually. Food Poisoning leads to inflammation of our digestive tract that’s why the name- Gastro(stomach) enter(intestine) itis(swelling).
My first encounter with the miracle in my hand in the form of Homeopathy
Acute Gastroenteritis is the major cause of mortality & morbidity, especially in infants & young children. I still remember a case of a 7-year-old boy, maybe in 2016-17, his father carried him in his arms to our clinic. The scene still gives me goosebumps, a small kid exhausted in his father’s arms. This middle-aged man was all teary-eyed yet a beam of hope of a miracle to save his kid. This was my first independent encounter with a critical case and I had all the adrenaline rush to my head, what if?? Thankfully, I had some close encounter cases during my hospital duty in College, I recollected myself and took a brief case as aptly to be done in acute cases. The child had Samosa chat & ice cream, the evening before, at some wedding function. The child was ok till midnight, then suddenly started with rumbling in his abdomen followed by watery diarrhea & vomiting. It was 9 am when they approached me, by then the poor kid had some 8-9 episodes of loose stools and 12-13 episodes of vomiting. They already had tried anti-emetics & Metrogyl at home, but all in vain. The child was feeling thirsty but couldn’t even complete a sip of water as it made him feel like to vomit again. With all the essential symptoms of the case, Voila!! I got the medicine and asked them to wait for 30 min in the clinic after having 3 frequent doses of the prescribed medicine. To the patient’s surprise & mine too, the boy who came in the arms was ready to walk home though staggeringly. What a relief!! Isn’t it a blessing to be of help to someone in dire need? The patient was advised to sip on ORS or homemade lemonade with only a few drops of lemon juice and have some bland khichdi after a little while, after the nausea sensation subsides. The next day morning they reported, that the kid was absolutely fine by the evening, though a little weak for obvious reason.
This is just one case I mentioned, we treat several such cases throughout the year with our Homeopathic medicines. These cases are mostly seen during season transition, or point sources of infection like in large gatherings. The major causes are due to bacteria & viruses. Sometimes consumption of spoiled food & sometimes contaminated food/water due to poor hygienic practices. There are many microorganisms responsible for this so diseases vary from Cholera(vibrio cholerae), bacillary dysentery (staphylococcal, clostridial, E.coli, salmonella), amoebic dysentery, or even worm infestations(roundworms, giardia). Some of these microbes release dangerous toxins which cause severe illnesses.
Prevention is better than cure, as we always Quote. So, what can we do to prevent it? Very simple:
- Maintain proper hygiene
- Wash your hands before you eat
- Wash your fruits & vegetables under running clean water
- Cook food in clean water
- Use clean filtered water to drink
- If eating outside, make sure food is prepared in a hygienic way
- Do not eat stale food
- Prefer freshly cooked meal
- Do not store any food for long even in the refrigerator
- If eating priorly cooked food, make sure to re heat the food properly before consuming
- Always check expiry dates or use before dates mentioned on the packaged food items.
- Beware of small looking fungal growths(moulds) in breads & buns.
If infected!! What to do?
- Do not panic
- Hydrate the patient, means provide enough fluids
- Prefer WHO-recommended ORS solutions only or home-made shikanji and not the trending commercial ones(they mention in tiny letters not to be consumed in diarrhea)
- Approach to the nearest doctor
Various Homeopathic medicines that you can keep as first aid in emergency:
- Arsenic album- watery stool & vomiting
- Ipecac- persistent Nausea & vomiting
- Camphor- cholera-like symptoms and patient collapsing
- Veratrum album- persistent projectile vomiting
- Merc cor- painful dysentery i.e. Mucus/blood in stool
The above-mentioned homeopathic medicines are only for acute emergency uses, you must always consult your doctor for adequate treatment. The power and effectiveness of homeopathy are time tested, yet people think it is slow or some even doubt its efficiency, we have a different tale to narrate because we have witnessed it and we are helping people to fight their diseases for healthy living.
