W6 LO3 Info on Provings.pdf

WHAT ARE PROVINGS? H O M E O PAT H I C PAT H O G E N E T I C TRIALS (HPT) NMT 100 PROVING Comes from the German word "Prüfung", which means test, examination, or (drug) trial (Read §120-142, in The Organon) The modern appellation is "homeopathic pathogenetic trial" or HPT PURPOSE The testing of subs...

WHAT ARE PROVINGS? H O M E O PAT H I C PAT H O G E N E T I C TRIALS (HPT) NMT 100 PROVING Comes from the German word "Prüfung", which means test, examination, or (drug) trial (Read §120-142, in The Organon) The modern appellation is "homeopathic pathogenetic trial" or HPT PURPOSE The testing of substances to discover their healing properties is conducted on healthy volunteers who accept to take an unknown substance and collect (journal) their symptoms and be interviewed (by a supervisor) during the test period The information is used to expand our knowledge of the materia medica and the number of known remedies WHAT IS THE MATERIA MEDICA? The compilation of our knowledge about the therapeutic properties of the substances we administer for healing (i.e., the medicines or remedies) MATERIA MEDICA KNOWLEDGE The medicinal properties of substances was collected from: traditional knowledge of herbal medicines clinical findings intoxication and poison reports testing of substances in human subjects (proving) I N T OX I C AT I O N REPORT EX. Today, such reports are more often related to medication PROVINGS In the early days of homeopathy, experimentations on healthy subjects (men, women, and children) were done with CRUDE amounts of the substances tested. Soon, however, Hahnemann started to use diluted substances, that is, POTENTIZED dilutions, which are much safer for the volunteers! This also offers the advantage of stimulating the defense mechanisms of the body, leading to enhanced health (if the volunteers are healthy, otherwise, the results are not always positive for the PROVER (volunteer)). SOURCES OF REMEDIES Most remedies come from the plant kingdom; also from elements and mineral salts, as well as animal sources (venoms, milks, feathers, pathogens and microbes, healthy tissues, DNA…) A few “imponderable” remedies also exist, such as X-ray, or Magnetic poles (north and south), etc. Any substance or influence can be used PROVER CHARACTERISTICS Not currently ill (and reasonably healthy) Not currently undergoing high levels of stress Familiar with homeopathy (this is helpful, not essential) Not highly anxious or neurotic Sensitive, but not hypersensitive Resilient (symptoms are expected) METHODOLOGY Provers and supervisors are paired up into teams by the coordinator Provers record their baseline symptoms and are preferably interviewed by their supervisor, prior to the proving (for 1-2 weeks) The proving coordinator distributes the remedy (or placebo) to the provers (provers and supervisors are “blind”, only the coordinator knows the remedy) METHODOLOGY The prover starts taking the remedy 1-3 times a day (depending on the potency), until they start noticing symptoms, feelings, or sensations that are different from their normal state. At that point they stop taking the remedy and just observe and record their symptoms. (If no symptoms appear after a week, they stop taking the remedy) METHODOLOGY A supervisor interviews the prover, daily if possible, and both of them record any symptoms, feelings, sensations, dreams, thoughts, etc. After all the symptoms have stopped for several days, and the prover feels they have returned to their normal self, all the written material is handed in to the proving coordinator. METHODOLOGY (CT'D) The proving coordinator (with the help of other readers) compares the material to the baselines, and to the other provers' data. The material on the new remedy can then be recommended for publication and is later added in both the materia medica and the repertories (from: Jeremy Sherr,“The Dynamics and Methodology or Homeopathic Provings”) FINAL COMMENTS You could consider that a prover needs to basically take an "overdose" of a potentized substance to trigger a response from the body (they repeat doses until they begin to feel symptoms, at which point, they stop). A sensitive, susceptible prover might not need to take more than one or two doses, while someone with less affinity will need more. FINAL COMMENTS Because of this, some provers will exhibit primary action symptoms while others will exhibit secondary action symptoms. That is why you may see contradictory symptoms for the same remedy! The point is: that organ and function which are affected are an important focus for the remedy/substance. REFLECTION QUESTIONS: WHY DO WE NEED A SUPERVISOR? H O W C A N T H E P R O V E R P R E PA R E F OR HP T ? CA N T HE Y GIVE CON S E NT IF THE RISKS ARE UNKNOWN?