Dyslexia and Homeopathy

Dyslexia is one of the most common learning disorder in which the patient face difficulty in learning to read and write correctly.

It is present since birth and usually runs in families. Symptoms are usually elicited during early school   days and may continue into adulthood also. It is more common in males as compare to females.

Most people suffering from dyslexia learn differently and work really hard to overcome their learning   problem.  Most of them have average or above average intelligence and many are gifted with unnatural talent.

Signs and Symptoms

Early Signs and symptoms

·    Delayed speech, as late as 3-5 years old.

·    Frequent ear infection

·    Difficulty  tying shoe laces

·    Confusion in left versus right,  before versus after, over versus under and other directions.

·    Difficulty in learning the names of letters, also difficulty writing alphabets in order.

Reading

People with dyslexia make specific types of errors showing a particular pattern.

·    The child may read one word on a page but, may not recognize it on the other page.

·    Difficulty in remembering what he has read, but will understand and remember when the same text is read to him.

·    Difficulty in understanding word problems in math, even though he is well verse with basic arithmetic.

·    Letters or words appear to be moving or jumping around on the page when he is reading or writing.

·    Mixing of letters, for example, reading the word "Left" as "Felt."

·    While reading a sentence, words may blend and spacing is lost.

·    They spell words as they sound, for example, Words as wrd, exactly as xaktly.

·    Unable to comprehend what he had read.

Spellings

Spellings are worse than reading.

·    Child is poor with vowel sounds and often omits them while spelling a word.

·    It takes great effort for dyslexics to memorize a list of spellings for more than few hours.

·    Child even misspells while copying from the board or a book.

Writing

·    Child avoids writing whenever possible.

·    They face great difficulty in putting their thoughts on paper.

·    Makes mistakes while copying from a book or board.

·    Poor spacing and grammatical mistakes while writing a sentence.

·    Confusion while writing similar looking letters, for example, b,d,p,q.

·    Poor time management. Difficulty in finishing a test in given time limit.

Memory

·    Memory is good for things he has experienced, but poor for facts, sequences, and information that have not been experienced.

·    Difficulty in memorizing the right names for things, written list and phone numbers.

Speech

·    Makes mistakes in pronouncing words. E.g. dog for god.

·    Difficulty in speaking out his thoughts, i.e. Unable to put his thoughts in words.

On examination no hearing and speech problem is detected medically.

It is very common for people to present with one or two above mentioned symptoms, but that doesn't qualify them to be dyslexic. However someone who shows several of these signs and symptoms should be tested for the same.

A proper physical examination should be done to rule out any underlying medical problem.

Managing Dyslexia

·    Use of special learning and practice activities for dyslexia by teachers.

·    Given more time to complete assignments and tests.

·    Listening to record class lectures.

·    Emotional Support from family and friends is very important for people with dyslexia, as the get frustrated and are filled with low self esteem because no matter how hard they try, they are unable to keep pace with other students.

Dyslexia & Homeopathy

Dyslexia is a constitutional disorder and hence Homeopathy is the best choice of treatment along with the other management techniques, when dealing with it.

Some related rubrics from Radar

Common Clinical Features	Chapter in Radar	Corresponding Rubric
	MIND	DYSLEXIA
		CONCENTRATION - difficult
		HEEDLESS - talking and writing; in
Weak Memory		MEMORY - weakness of memory
Mistakes while writing		MISTAKES; making - writing, in
		MISTAKES; making - writing, in - adding letters
		MISTAKES; making - writing, in - confounding letters
Difficulty in writing thoughts on paper		MISTAKES; making - writing, in - thoughts; from fast
Mistakes while reading		MISTAKES; making - reading, in - reversing letters and words
		MISTAKES; making - reading, in - skipping lines
		MISTAKES; making - reading, in - words - adding words
		MISTAKES; making - reading, in - words - omitting words
Motor Skills- ambidextrous		MISTAKES; making - side; about left and right
Speech and Spellings		MISTAKES; making - speaking, in - words - wrong words; using - side or vice versa; putting right for left
		WRITING - inability for
		WRITING - inability for - connectedly
		WRITING - indistinctly, writes
		MISTAKES; making - speaking, in - spelling, in
		MISTAKES; making - speaking, in - syllables - wrong syllables
		MISTAKES; making - speaking, in – words
		MISTAKES; making - speaking, in - vertigo; with
		MISTAKES; making - speaking, in - words - misplacing words
		MISTAKES; making - speaking, in - words - mispronouncing words
		MISTAKES; making - speaking, in - words - omitting words
		MISTAKES; making - speaking, in - words - new words; makes
		MISTAKES; making - speaking, in - words - reversing words
		MISTAKES; making - speaking, in - words - wrong words; using
		making - speaking, in - words - wrong words; using - names; calls things by wrong
		making - speaking, in - words - wrong words; using - opposite, hot for cold
		MISTAKES; making - speaking, in - words - wrong words; using - plums, when he means pears; says
		MISTAKES; making - speaking, in - words - wrong words; using - seen instead of the one desired; name of the object
		MISTAKES; making - speaking, in - words - wrong words; using - side or vice versa; putting right for left
		MISTAKES; making - speaking, in - words - wrong words; using - stop in the middle of a sentence and to change it entirely; obliged to

CASE OF THE MONTH

Condition:   Anxiety Neurosis

Drug:   Nat Mur and Sepia

Case:

35 year old female, worried about small things. Anxious when any family member is late home. Child irritates her and gets on her nerves. Always annoyed with her husband, though he is a good husband. Very conscious about her skin complaints. Oily, greasy skin. Forgetful, easily distracted, irritable with least noise and trembles with least excitement.  Flares up in an argument. Can not bear any contradiction. Sensitive to what others say about her. Takes offence easily. Tears do not come out easily. Panicky. Worries about her own health. Pain in abdomen as soon as she eats, worse too hot weather. Fears the dark. Aversion to milk.  Worse when she is alone by her self. Very irritable and cross. Always depressed before menses.

Symptoms for Repertorising

Worse heat, fear dark; worse alone, irritable; intolerant to contradiction; easily offended; hypochondriacal; worry trifles; aversion milk; depression before menses; trembling; excitement on conversation; sensitive to noise.

The following medicines came through;

Ars, Cal, Lyco, Puls, Nat Mur, Sepia.

Treatment

Sepia 200, single dose was given. Returned not so worried. Next time her indigestion was better. Though she was better in some ways but was still easily irritated. Snappy with husband.  Headaches worse reading and sewing ( though occultist reported no glasses required).

Again the case was repertorised with these fresh symptoms and Nat Mur was thought of as Nat Mur often complements Sepia. Nat Mur 200 single dose was administered. Came back with no headache and in dew time was completely fine.

Discussion

In this case, criticism can be made that on repertorising a number of symptoms as were present in this case that the same drugs always come through. But if we analyze carefully we will see what is true of such a number of drugs is that these drugs we know do have most of the symptoms of the patient. Moreover this is only the initial steps of repertorising. To choose a drug it is important for it to confirm a peculiar symptom to the case, which Sepia justified with its snappishness towards husband and aversion to children, highly marked in Sepia and no other drug. She had no confirmatory symptoms of Ars, Cal or Lyc. She was too irritable and not enough weepy for Puls.

After administering sepia we saw that the symptoms were improved but not removed. On retaking we found the irritability with headaches worse reading and sewing without any refractive error. And one felt that Sepia is not enough.

Then it was remembered that drugs frequent have complements and that Nat Mur is complementary to Sepia. Thus Nat Mur was given and finished the job.

Trichotillomania and Homeopathy

 What Is Trichotillomania?

Trichotillomania is a type of psychological condition, caused by some chemical imbalance in the brain, which involves strong urges to pull out one's own hair from scalp, eyebrows, eyelashes, or pubic area.

Some people may also exhibit other compulsive habits, such as nail biting or skin picking. Others have additional problems like depression, anxiety, or obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

Compulsive behaviors like trichotillomania involve brain chemistry and may be genetic and thus can sometimes run in families.

Girls are more affected by trichotillomania than boys. Most people develop it during adolescence. But trichotillomania can start in kids as young as 1 year old.

SYMPTOMS

• Pulling out their hair one strand at a time or large handfuls of hair, which can leave bald patches on the scalp or eyebrows.
• Some have the tendency to inspect the strand after pulling it out or play with the hair after it's been pulled.
• About half have the tendency to put the hair in their mouths after pulling it. Some people are very aware of their pulling; others seem to do it without really noticing what they're doing.

Socio-psychological Impact :

• Embarrassment, frustration, shame, or depression about the condition. Most people may worry about what others will think or say, thus they usually try to hide the behavior from others — even their families, which can make it difficult to get help.

• Some are self-conscious about how hair pulling affects their appearance and might feel less confident about making friends or dating.

• People feel powerless to control the urge to pull or blame themselves for not being able to stop. Feelings like these can cause a person's self-image to suffer.

Some Medical complications

1.Infection,

2.Permanent loss of hair,

3. Repetitive stress injury

4. Carpal tunnel syndrome, and

5.Gastrointestinal obstruction ... as a result of trichophagia ( ingestion of hair that is pulled out).

What compels people to Pull Their Hair?

Though no definite causes of trichotillomania is known yet, some doctors think it could be related to

1. Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), since both involve repetitive behaviors or
2.  It may be caused by an imbalance in the brain’s chemistry.
3. Some people with Trichotillomania notice sensations in their scalp that can only be relieved by pulling and notice a satisfying feeling when they pull their hair.
4. Some find a mark relief in their anxiety levels when they pull their hair.
5.  Others don't even notice when they pull and do it without thinking.

How to Control

People with trichotillomania usually need help from medical and behavioral specialists to control or stop it because , the urges and habits that lead to hair pulling are so strong, that it may lead to more tension or anxiety when first trying to resist the urge.

1.     CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) or The Talk Therapy

2.     Medication

3.     Both 1 and 2

4.     Keep The Hand Busy: It helpful to keep the hands busy with a different activity (like squeezing a stress ball, handling textured objects, or drawing) during times when they sit  in one place for long periods of time when a pulling urge is the strongest.

Prognosis

If TTM occurs,
The condition is typically self-limiting and no kind of intervention is required when occurred before five years of age. The adult onset may be secondary to underlying psychiatric disturbances and has a more protracted course.
Secondary infections may occur due to picking and scratching, but other complications are rare.

HOMEOPATHY AND TRICOTILLOMANIA


Homeopathic medicines are mind and body medicines and since trichotillomania is psychosomatic ailment ( ie. affecting both mind and body), thus, the holistic approach of homeopathy proves to be most effective system of medicine for the treatment of psychosomatic disorders

Belladonna: Where all five senses are affected. The patient lives in his own world, engrossed by specters and visions and oblivious to surrounding realities. The patient is wildly delirious, excited, ferocious, noisy, cries out, talks fast, very restless, with a desire to escape. There is fear of imaginary things and he or she becomes quarrelsome.

Cuprum: The patient is also bad tempered and sulky. Nervous, uneasy, weeps violently, fears society, shuns severybody, feels confused and afraid of anybody who approaches him.

Stramonium: Where patient awakes terrified, screams with fright and if a child, clings to those near him. The patient talk ceaselessly and there is religious insanity or self-accusation. The patient desires company or is either shy and hides or tries to escape.

Tarentula: There is destructive impulse with sudden alteration of moods. She must busy herself or walk constantly. Where there is a marked aversion to the colors, black, red, yellow and green. The patient lacks control and is erratic and impulsive. He or she is malingering when there are no observers, but when anyone’s looking will begin to twitch, faint and pretend to attract attention. Though there is marked aversion to company, but wants someone to be present around.

Patient feels better by brushing hair or rubbing the head.

Some Rubrics from Radar

Chapter	Rubric	Sub- rubric	Medicines
Mind	PULLING	Hair- desire to pull- her own hair	Ars, Bell, Cupr
Mind	SCRATCHING with hands		Arn, bell, stram, tarent.
Mind	THOUGHTS	Persistent
Mind	THOUGHTS	Compelling	Lach.nit-ac.
Mind	SELF-CONTROL	Loss of self- control	Arg-nt, Lach , sulph, tarent.
Head	HAIR	Pulls the	BELL, CUPR, med, tarent