Homoeopathy — Page 541
Opium 541 OPIUM (Dried Latex of the Poppy) The Poppy plant is abundantly grown in Eastern countries like Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan and the Indo-Pak sub-continent. Its flowers can be of various colours. Its petals are very soft and tender. They easily fall and disperse with the wind and even light rain. The juice squeezed out of the capsule containing the seeds contains two alkaloids and many other chemical substances. Morphine is prepared from the shavings of the plant. In allopathy, Morphine, the most important component of Opium, is used as a hypnotic and as an analgesic for the quick control of severe pain. According to Dr. Hahnemann, it is more difficult to understand the effects of Opium in comparison to other remedies, because of its contrasting mode of action. A change in the amount of this drug produces opposing effects. For example, a small dose of Opium allays nausea and vomiting, while a larger amount induces nausea and vomiting. An Opium patient is insensitive, but on the contrary can be extremely sensitive too. In allopathy also, the effects of Opium have been divided into the primary and secondary type. It is said that the initial action of Opium is to ameliorate the pain sensation, but after some time, the same patient becomes hypersensitive to pain and in fact experiences more pain than before. Opium exhibits some of the symptoms of Arnica also i. e. a dry nature, the thickening of the blood (hyper-coagulable), and the tendency to clot. The Homoeopathic form of Opium, like Arnica, works as a blood thinner and helps in the dissolution of a clot already formed (anti- coagulant and thrombolytic). In particular, it is a must in the treatment of clotting of blood inside the brain ( cerebral thrombosis ). In case of sudden rupture of the arteries in the brain (cerebral haemorrhage) causing unconsciousness, prompt administration of Arnica and Opium given together in very high potency, works wonderfully well. In this situation, Arnica alone is not of much use. Arnica and Opium given together give a new lease of life to the blood. The patient starts to gain alertness, the body starts warming up and the coagulability of the blood becomes normalized.