{"id":13559,"remedy_name":"Alumina (HMT)","remedy_type":"Remedy","alternative_names":["Oxide of Aluminium \u2013 Argilla"],"miasm":"Tubercular Miasm","temperament":"Neutral","aggravation_time":"Neutral\/Anytime","keynote_indications":"The chemical compound Alumina is prepared from aluminium, a\nmetal from which numerous utensils are made.  Most cooking pots\nand bathroom appliances are made from it. Early on, this metal was\nvery costly, only the rich and the el ite could afford aluminium pots.\nNow, due to industrial development, this metal is vastly available and\nis quite cheap with the poor tending to use these utensils the most.\n\nModern research has indicated that  the prolonged use of aluminium\npots for cooking produces a very harmful effect on the health of the\nusers.  This poison affects slowly, but becomes a permanent part of\nthe human body.  The aluminium constricts the walls of blood vessels.\nCholesterol starts depositing its elf inside the blood vessels.\nProgressive narrowing or even to tal blockage can ensue.  Thus,\ncholesterol can cause a heart attack due  to the blockage of the arteries\nleading to the heart.  Similarly, it affects the blood vessels going to the\nbrain. This process of progressive  hardening and narrowing of the\narteries is called \u201cArt eriosclerosis\".  The ag eing process starts to\nmanifest itself fast.  The memory becomes weak.  The blood pressure\nfluctuates.  Mental and physical deterioration sets in.  Alumina, being\na slow acting remedy, should be us ed for long periods extending over\nyears.  To achieve permanent cure , one should use  Alumina in high\npotency at long intervals, such  as 1000 or 10,000 given once in a\nmonth.  A potency 200 will have to be given every ten days, extending\nover many months or years.  In th e beginning of th e treatment, no\nbeneficial effect will be noticed .  Once the improvement begins, the\ndead and dying fibres of the circular  muscles start reverting to life.\nThe patient must be told to continue the treatment for at least a year or\ntwo without fail in order to get relief from this long-established\ndisease.\n\nThe Alumina itch does not exhibit lumps or  bumps. At first, the\nitching begins on apparently clean , healthy-looking skin.  Itching\nleads to inflammation which leads to formation of pimples or, on\nscratching intensely, blister formati on.  One may bleed as a result of\nscratching.  The affected part be comes insensitive and subject to\ninfection and further complication.  In general, (unlike Alumina), in\n\nmost of the remedies, the bumps over the skin appear first and the\nitching comes on later.\n\nThe eyelids swell  and become thick and heavy.  The eyelashes fall.\nThe vision becomes blurred.  The eyes are very sensitive to light,\nespecially in the morning.  The ey elids are sticky and the objects look\npale or yellow.\n\nThe stomach fails to function.  There is a complete loss of appetite and\ndislike for meat.  The patient craves to  eat indigestible things like clay\nand coal.  The stomach becomes inflamed and goes into spasms.  One\nof the main features is marked acidity.  Nothing tastes right.  There is\nfrequent acidic belching. Alumina is  useful in all these symptoms.\nThe dysfunction of the stomach is due to the narrowing and thickening\nof its blood vessels.\n\nAlumina is very useful in acute hyperacidity, as well as the chronic\nillnesses of the stomach.  It relieves long-standing haemorrhoids.  It\nalso relieves acidity in both men an d women.  It is particularly useful\nin the leucorrhoea associated with ac idic discharge.  This discharge is\nso acidic, that it may lead to other illnesses.  Normally, women do not\nget constipated during pregnancy,  in Alumina however, they do.\nConstipation associated with pregnancy , which is transient or of\nlong-standing, will respond to Alumina administration.\n\nAlumina is very important in a chronic cough  originating from the\nlungs, as are Bacillinum, Phosphorus,  Arsenic, Iodide and Kali Carb.\nIf the other symptoms of Alumina are also present, this would be the\nmost appropriate remedy.\n\nIn Alumina, typically, reasoning and decision-making  deteriorate.\nOne may not easily decide one way or the other.  The mind becomes\ncloudy and suspicious.  Whatever the pa tient sees or hears, it appears\nto him as if somebody else is seeing or hearing it.  He  loses his self-\nidentity.  Sometimes, he wishes to occupy someone else\u2019s mind so\nthat he may observe things better.  This slowly progressive trend of\nhis drives him insane.  However, he  is not dangerous to others, he\nsimply gets lost in himself.\n\nMentally, the patient shows impatience.  For him, time stands still, but\nhe likes it to pass quickly.  At the sight of sh arp weapons, he is afraid,\n\nlest he may hurt himself.  Such pa tients frighten others by pretending\nto commit suicide, though actually they do not do so.  Sometimes,\npeople look down from a height and ot hers get terrifie d, in case they\nmay leap to their death.\n\nThe Alumina patient is very sad and sallow.  He has the desire to\ndistance himself from hi s surroundings.  He worries that he may be\ngoing insane.  Such negative thought s are at their climax in the\nmorning.\n\nSometimes, the alumina affects the throat muscles , resulting in\ndifficulty in swallowing.  Due to weakness of these muscles, the food\nmay enter the windpipe or nose.\n\nParalysis may affect the sphincte r muscles of the bladder and the\nrectum, resulting in difficulty in pass ing urine and stools.  The patient\nhas to strain his abdominal muscles, even if the stools are soft.\nUrinary symptoms resemble those of enlarged prostate gland.  Many a\ntime, the stools resemble the droppin gs of a goat, camel and horse, in\nthe shape of small or large balls, which stick to each other.  The stools\nmay be soft or thick but are difficult to pass.\n\nIn Graphites and Plumbum too, stools are similar.  The urine may leak\nunknowingly due to the paralysis of the muscles of the neck of the\nbladder.  Involuntary defeacation can also occur due to weakness of\nthe sphincter muscles at the anus.\n\nThe Alumina patient experiences dizziness and imbalance during\nwalking.  The feet tend to be numb.  Pain radiates from one point to\nall directions, like the spokes of a wheel.  When  all these symptoms\nare together, Alumina is the remedy.\n\nThe movements of the limbs, lower as well as upper, may not remain\nunder voluntary control, thus resulti ng in a staggering gait.  In this\nsituation, long term use of Alumina is beneficial.\n\nIn Alumina, catarrhal and skin symptoms  are very frequent.  The\npatient has chronic catarrh, which is full of dry encrustations with long\nstrings.  The catarrh may result in the dimness of the eyesight.  The\ninner linings (mucus membranes) of the stomach, intestines and\nkidneys become inflamed.  Headache also, is common with the cold.\n\nLike the mucus membranes, the skin also becomes subjected to many\nailments.  As a result of intense itching, the skin becomes thick and\nsore and may even ulcerate.  As in Sulphur, the warmth of the bed\nintensifies the itching.  The face feels as  if a cobweb is spread over it.\nThe tip of the nose shows cuts.  The eyes burn and trachoma may\ndevelop. Alumina affects both flexor as  well as extensor muscles (the\nflexor muscles bend the joints, while the extensors stretch the joints).\n\nSalt, alcohol, vinegar, chillies, potatoes, and fizzy drinks aggravate the\nsymptoms of Alumina.  P iles and anal fissuring  are typical of\nAlumina.\n\nMale sexual impotence and nocturnal emission  are common.  The\nprostate gland enlarges  along with the feeling of heaviness and\nfullness around it.  Sexual organs become partially paralyzed.  The\nman becomes sexually impotent in spite of being in good general\nhealth.\n\nAs a result of prolonged catarrh the women develop chronic\nleucorrhoea.  The uterus tends to sag downwards, much more so on\nstanding and walking.  If gonorrhoea has merely been suppressed by\nsome kind of treatment, but not cu red, the residual inflammation of\nthe pelvic organs results in the se nsation of heat and discomfort.\nAlumina may be of use in this situation.\n\nThe cough of Alumina may be associated with sneezing and the throat\nfeels as if it is being gently tickle d with feathers.  In Alumina, at the\npoint of backache, the patient feels intense heat, as if a hot iron has\nbeen placed on the numbed part.  The soles of the feet become soft,\nswollen and tender.  The side the patient sits or lies on becomes numb.\nThe legs tend to be numb also.  The patient feels cold and likes to\nwrap himself well, but he likes the face to be exposed to the cool\nbreeze.  The patient likes the warmth of the bed for a while, but\nintense itching begins when the bed becomes too warm.  The hands\nusually remain cold and warm up slow ly on retiring to bed.  The skin\nis dry and sweats only sparingly, or not at all.\n\nAdjuvant: Bryonia\nAntidotes: Ipecac, Chamomilla","modalities":"","symptoms_by_system":[],"schema_version":"1.0","api_provider":"Allahshafi"}