Homoeopathy — Page 315
Dulcamara 315 Dulcamara (Bitter Sweet) Dulcamara is prepared from a plant which grows abundantly in the continents of Europe and America. Its branches are quite long and spread out, bearing purple coloured flowers. Its stem and roots make the mouth bitter when chewed, but later on there is a sweet after-taste in the mouth. That is the reason why it is called bitter sweet. The homoeopathic medicine prepared from the extract of the fresh plant is called Dulcamara. The main function of Dulcamara is on the inner linings (i. e. the mucous membranes). The most salient point is that any kind of sudden change of weather, from hot to cold or from cold to hot, from moist to dry and vice versa, affects the mucous membranes of the body, especially when the change is very prompt and sudden. For this kind of condition, Dulcamara would probably be the most appropriate treatment. The common cold spreads far and wide during a change of weather. Dulcamara would certainly be useful to treat a patient who catches a cold with every change of weather, even if the other symptoms of the patient do not give a clear picture. After a vigorous game, some players change their clothes while the body is still hot. They develop nasal catarrh. Similarly, sudden exposure to hot weather from a cold situation also causes a cold. The symptoms get worse at night and on resting. The catarrhal changes can affect the kidneys, the intestines as well as the stomach, leading to frequent urination and the onset of diarrhoea, the reason being the same (i. e. irritation of the mucous linings of these organs). The symptoms aggravate in moist climate and wet weather. If during summer a person contracts cold while visiting hill stations or coming back from the hill stations, Dulcamara would certainly be the indicated treatment. Some people develop dysentery instead of diarrhoea on exposure to cold. This type of dysentery would also be amenable to Dulcamara. Dulcamara given in high potency works as a sure preventive measure, so much so that sudden changes in weather would not affect such patients at all.