Spectrum - Palliative

EDITORIAL

Christa Gebhardt & Dr Jürgen Hansel

Chief editors

PALLIATIVE

EDITORIAL

SPECTRUM OF HOMEOPATHY

Dear readers,

Since the end of 2015, there have been some changes in the

care of terminally ill people in several European countries.

In Germany, for example, there were months of intense and

emotional debates about euthanasia in the German parliament.

The resulting legislation considerably strengthened the role of

palliative medicine in the health system, resulting in new regula-

tions for the care of severely ill patients at the end of their lives,

whether at home, in a hospice or on a palliative hospital ward.

The public health system was provided with additional funding

to enable more people to experience a dignified death.

The interdisciplinary structure of palliative medicine and its ho-

listic, individually oriented approach make room for methods

with a similar view of humankind. Homeopathy is therefore

increasingly seen as a helpful and valuable supplement in the

care of the dying. Mark Braun, a palliative and emergency medic,

describes his own epiphany with the common remedies found

in a palliative homeopathic kit. Such a kit is also very success-

fully used by Sabine Stelter in her hospice work. Homeopathy

can thereby support the treatment of typical complaints, such

as nausea, breathlessness, and pain. Yet, its special field is in

situations where allopathy can do little or nothing. Restlessness,

despair, and harrowing anxiety often react much better to our

granules than to psychotropic drugs. Those who have seen how

Carbo vegetabilis or Phosphorus can revive the flagging life

force one last time will never want to be without homeopathy

in terminal care.

There is a relatively small number of mostly well-known remedies

that have proven useful at the end of life and which we re-

peatedly come across in this issue. The first of such remedy is

Arsenicum album, which Joachim Stürmer describes in detail,

without lapsing into cliché. In homeopathic doses, this remedy

can ease the process of dying but also, as described in Jens

Wurster’s article, prolong life in hopeless situations, while also

improving the quality of life. This ability to improve the quality

of life together with the prospect of a peaceful death, as we

can see in the majority of the articles, is the chief goal of

palliative medicine.

We were moved to tears hearing of the poignant way the

treasure trove of homeopathic remedies can confer peace,

dignity, strength, and a tranquil letting go, as described in the

touching and sad accounts of our authors in this issue. Similar to

many colleagues who experience providing care to the dying as a

great gift, we can sense something beyond rational explanation

here – it is rather a heartfelt spiritual joy and loving gratitude

for being able to participate in the profound experiences of the

people we encounter in this issue of SPECTRUM. Gisela Holle

speaks of “healing, the mercy, that we ourselves receive when

we witness dying.” Declan Hammond summarizes his experience

in homeopathic care of the dying: “I have sat with many dying

patients and their families and have had the enormous privilege

and challenge of supporting them in their dying … When

‘curing’ is no longer an option, healing is always possible. Recog-

nizing and responding to our dying patients’ spiritual pain is a

crucial part of this work. Conventional medicine has developed

very sophisticated methods of analgesia but these do not

address the inner state. Cicely Saunders asked her patients,

‘How are you within?’ Understanding the nature and the extent

of our patients’ spiritual pain is crucial in our work.”

Our heartfelt thanks go to all of our authors who have gone

beyond the professional depiction of the remedies and indica-

tions to share with us their often very personal encounters.

We thank Declan Hammond for his very moving article, Resie

Moonen for her good cheer, Sabine Stelter and Gisela Holle

for their deep-rooted practical experience, Mark Braun for his

infectious enthusiasm to learn homeopathy, Joachim Stürmer for

the precision of his remedy portrait of Arsenicum, Ulrich Welte

for the conciseness of his description of the remedies he used

to resolve anxiety and fear, Deborah Collins for highlighting

the use of Arsenicum as a salt, Jens Wurster for the steadfast-

ness of his trust in the constant prospect of successful homeo-

pathic treatment, Phillip Lehrke for his documentation of the

complementary treatment of a case with very poor prognosis,

Jürgen Weiland for his objective view of a case with very few

symptoms, Markus Kuntosch for revealing the remedy needed

to bring light into the dark night of the soul, and Erfried Pichler

for realizing that at the end we have to appreciate that there

is nothing more to be done.