Uncovering the Power of Homeoprophylaxis (Part 2): Addressing Susceptibility

Let's take a trip back in time to the COVID pandemic. I know, such a confusing, stressful time. A new virus is spreading like wildfire around the world and no one knows what to do, how to treat it, or any way forward. Everyone knows someone who has had a serious case and maybe even died from it and the news outlets are running a daily ticker of deaths. Everyone is fearful. We run to the grocery store and buy up all of the necessities quickly because "experts" are saying that it will only get worse. FEAR!!!

The constant fear was literally killing us:

-Fear of interacting with others- We are told to stay away from crowds; away from people.

They will make you sick. The truth is, we are social beings and need community for our

mental and emotional well-being. Not to mention if someone already has emotional issues,

the quarantine exacerbated them.

-Fear of death- There is no cure and everything we were being told is that if you wind up in

the hospital, there's a good chance you will be intubated. The increasing deaths from such a

dangerous/risky procedure were constantly in our faces.

-Fear of the unknown- When we cannot see a path out of the pandemic, we are in a

constant state of fight-or-flight. This is not sustainable for anyone.

Why did I bring up this trip down memory lane?

Not only the physical body, but your mind/emotional state have a great deal to do with why we get sick from infectious diseases!

Germ Theory vs Terrain Theory

Many people have heard of Louis Pasteur as his work has lead to our contemporary pasteurization and sterilizing techniques of our food and environment in modern day. Pasteur was a proponent of "Germ Theory" which demonizes germs/microbes being the fundamental cause of infectious disease.

Fewer people today have heard of Claude Bernard and Antoine Bechamp, who were contemporaries of Pasteur. Bernard and Bechamp were proponents of "Terrain Theory" which fundamentally opposes germ theory.

To explain terrain theory, I would like to bring your attention to gardening. When a seed is planted, that seed has all the possibility of growing into a mature plant. However, the seed needs appropriate conditions to grow, thrive, and survive. Whether that is appropriate minerals, sunlight, water, etc., the seed will not fulfill its potential if the environment is not accommodating of its needs. Terrain theory is just that. The environment needs to be accommodating for any life to survive and thrive.

In order to translate terrain theory into health, one would need to look at the internal (genetics, nutrition, age, emotional states, hydration, sleep, etc.) as well as the external environments (living conditions, natural cycles, societal pressures, etc.) to see if they are accommodating for an individual. Another thing to keep in mind is the fact that germs are living as well. Are we cultivating an environment that enables germs to grow at the cost of our health? Or are we optimizing our environment to enable our health to grow at the cost of germs? Is there an appropriate balance that can be achieved?

What is susceptibility?

Mirriam-Webster defines susceptibility as the lack of ability to resist some extaneous agent (such as a pathogen or drug). This means someone could have a sensitivity to said agent.

Each of the conditions that build up our environment (genetics, nutrition, age, emotions, hydration, sleep, living conditions, cycles, pressures) are what we call determinants of health. These are the factors that we can change and improve in our environment. When one or more of these determinants are compromised, our bodies get run down and they do not function optimally. The natural defenses and barriers separating us from the outside are weakened and we get sick.

Need for Individualized Medicine

Different environments affect people in various ways. One person's strengths and resiliencies can be another's weaknesses and triggers. We are all individuals. Someone may be naturally resilient to a particular disease and others may be sensitive to the same disease. This is why germ theory does not convey the entire story. If germs alone cause illness, everyone exposed to said germ would get sick, but this is seldom the case.

Pharmaceuticals (including vaccines) and the studies done on them look at averages in large populations. In the best case scenerios, one may fall into the bell curve and get varying degrees of therapeutic benefits. However, those who fall outside of the bell curve can get varying adverse affects. When you seek medical attention for yourself or your family, are you looking for averages, or the best treatment?

There is no way to completely get away from germs. They are constantly all around us. Our current medical system takes away our individual responsibility for our own health in place of just blaming the microbe/germs. Our bodies become a war-zone of collateral damage when we try to destroy these microbes/germs at all costs. Instead, we should be taking individual responsibility to build up our internal and external environments to optimize our health.

Suppression vs. Natural Processes

Before accepting any medical treatment, care should be taken examining the intention of said treatment. If you are experiencing symptoms, there are many options to remove them. However, if you treat symptoms without addressing the cause, the symptoms will return because you are not fixing the condition. This is suppression and more often than not, when the symptoms return, they will be worse and deeper in the body.

Fever is a natural process in the body. When our immune system identifies a foreign microbe, it sets off a chain reaction that tells our hypothalamus (brain) to raise our body temperature. This elevation of body temperature by just a few degrees can destroy the cell wall of microbes and thus destroy the germ/microbe and sends it out of the body as waste.

When we suppress a fever, with say acetaminophen, we are artificially blocking the natural process of the body. This makes the body fight harder against the artificial block rather spending energy it needs to return to homeostasis, or balance.

Each time we suppress natural processes, we change the course of our body's natural immune process, making the body weaker and diverting the symptoms to other systems.

The Education of Infectious Agents

Many microbes/germs appeared at different times throughout history. This is a bit of an esoteric interpretation, however, it is important to consider all vectors of transmission. There were things going on in different environments, cultures, societal practices, etc. that caused different diseases to spread.

Each microbe/germ or infectious disease agent presents unique challenges for a body's immune system. When going through the process of fighting off infections, the immune system learns about the infectious agent and allows for ease of dealing with the same agent in the future. Progressively, going through the infectious disease process can educate the immune system and bolster it throughout life.

Homeoprophylaxis allows for a presentation of very diluted and weakened form of these infectious agents in a controlled environment without overwhelming the immune system. Progressively presenting these agents, one-at-a-time and using the natural vectors of each agent (oral in particular), allows one to go through the disease process in a gentle way to educate the immune system. Without suppressing the symptoms, Homeoprophylaxis can present when someone is healthy and address the susceptibility to particular infectious agents without having to come down with the infection.