Miasms in homeopathy

When Hahnemann discovered homeopathy he had very good results from it but he couldn't understand why it didn't produce one hundred percent success. In his book "Chronic Diseases" he discusses his theory that all disease has an underlying root, a morbific influence, a Miasm, which sometimes has to be addressed directly before cure can be achieved with the usual homeopathic remedy.

He associated miasms with specific diseases that had dogged mankind throughout the ages. The first, the most fundamental and ubiquitous of these he called 'Psora': the itch. This was typified by Scabies, but relates to any condition that erupts on the skin and which specifically itches (there are skin eruptions which don't itch). Because scabies epitomised Psora he concluded that the homeopathic remedy to address Psora should be produced from scabies itself. Hence the homeopathic remedy to directly address Psora is a product of the scabies vesicle, and is known as 'Psorinum'. Psorinum is a nosode. It is unlikely that anyone is free from the miasmatic influence of Psora. It is considered as the most all-pervasive miasm of all the world over and the basis for the origination of disease. Its keyword is underfunction. Therefore any disease process typified by underfunction is said to be of the Psoric miasm

Other miasms Hahnemann discusses are the 'Sycotic' miasm (keyword overfunction) and the 'Leutic' miasm (keyword self-destructive). These original three presented by Hahnemann 200 years ago have been added to progressively since his time, the best known being the Tubercular Miasm (keyword restriction) and the Cancer miasm (keyword suppression).

Having a miasmatic influence doesn't mean the patient suffers from the illness that the nosode is produced from, i.e. the Psoric miasmatic influence doesn't mean the patient will have scabies, rather they will have ailments of underfunction; (as this is a broad brush it will be discussed in greater detail elsewhere). Similarly the other miasms do not imply the patient will have the disease associated with them, but their influences will be seen, e.g. suppression will be seen in those with the cancer miasm.

All diseases are said to have miasmatic influences so, the specific nosodes aside, all homeopathic remedies are also said to have a sphere of action addressing different miasms to either a greater or lesser degree. The top Psoric remedy is said to be Sulphur, the top Sycotic remedy is Thuja, and the top Leutic remedy is Mercury. Thus knowing which miasm is dominant in a case helps to determine the remedy. E.g. Itchy skin is an symptom of underfunction and therefore Psoric, so Sulphur will be considered. Warts are a symptom of overfunction and therefore Sycotic, and so Thuja will be considered. Ulcers are a symptom of self-destruction and therefore Leutic, so Mercury will be considered.

A single miasm may be dominant throughout a case or there may be more than one miasm evident at different stages of treatment. Therapeutically the effects of the miasms are addressed by remedies that have a strong affinity to the dominant miasm or by the use of nosodes. The nosodes each address a specific miasm whereas most remedies can be said to be multi-miasmatic.

See also Miasmatic Signs