EDITORIAL
Christa Gebhardt & Dr Jürgen Hansel
Chief editors
3
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.