Introduction:

 Laughter is an infective phenomenon and among all the 84 lakh creations of God, only man is endowed with the faculty of laughter.  In fact, man is the only animal that ‘laughs and weeps’.

 Many laughter clubs have sprung up in Mumbai, where senior citizens gather in parks and bellow their guts out.  Many people snigger at these practices, but laughter is definitely associated with good health.

 Medical Benefits of laughter:

• Studies by reputed Medical organizations have endorsed the value of laughter for positive health and in the control of neurosis.
• It is useful in helping release pent up emotions, resentment, anger, malice etc.
• Regular laughter before sleep has been seen to help insomniacs.
• Laughter has been useful increasing the Endorphins levels in the body and relieves pain in chronic sufferers of arthritis.
• It helps muscle relaxation.
• Promotes abdominal breathing and thus helps better oxygenation of the body.
• It helps in regulating stress by reducing the levels of cortisol, adrenaline and nor-adrenaline.
• Laughter increases the Immunity of the body by increasing the body’s natural killer cells, antibodies and immunoglobulins.
• Laughter has been seen to improve brain function, which has been studied by SPECT scanning.

 The Perspective from Indian Spirituality:

The Vedic view is that every person is made up of five sheaths, which cover the soul and they are;

• The Annamaya Kosha, which corresponds to the gross body and this, is nourished by nutritious and moderate food.
• The Pranaymana Kosha, which corresponds to the breath and it, is sustained by deep breathing.
• The Manomaya Kosha, which corresponds to the mind and its thoughts. This sheath is affected with negativity and has to be nourished with proper thoughts, pranayama and mind control exercises.
• The Vignayamaya Kosha, which corresponds to the Intellect and is sustained by knowledge.
• The Anandamaya Kosha, which is a sheath of joy and aspirants on the yogic path are extorted to discover this sheath and sustain this state.

 It is believed that the purpose of existence is for joy and all Indian Spiritual masters encourage laughter and positive thoughts and extort the neophytes to dump their sorrows and negativity into the graveyard, before plunging into a Spiritual way of life.

 Conclusion:

 Studies at Stanford University by Dr. William Fry have revealed that laughing 100 times a day is as good as jogging or exercising briskly for ten minutes.

It is not yet very clear, as to how laughter helps the body.  But as we grow older we laugh less.  A 6-year old child laughs about 250 to 300 times a day and an average adult laughs about 40 times per day and the serious and glum persons laugh less than 5 times a day.

MENYANTHES.

It is a useful remedy for certain headaches and intermittent fever.

 It is also useful in pressing pains in the vertex of the head, which is better from hard pressure of the hand.

This remedy suits persons who are worse rest and from ascending stairs.

 This remedy also suits persons who are better from pressure on the affected part and with stooping motion.

Introduction:

Astrology is one of the ancient sciences that have been generally debunked by the Medical fraternity.  Historically there is evidence that Babylonians and Assyrians priest used to study the signs and omens and used Shamash- the Sun God and Adad- the Storm God. Astrology further developed in Rome and Greece.  After the Greeks, it was the Arabs who studied astrology.  Indian astrology has been a highly developed science and the astrological chart is plotted when the child is born, with meticulous care.  It is only in recent times that medical astrology has developed and astrologers are able to tell what a disease a person is likely to suffer from.

The Zodiac Signs and Diseases:

 ARIES Those under this sun-sign are prone to epilepsy, headaches, ringworm, paralysis and convulsions.

TAURIANS are prone to melancholia, violent and vindictive behaviur.

GEMINIANS are prone to rheumatic diseases of the arms and shoulders, aneurysms and insanity.

CANCERIANS are prone to breast and stomach cancers, Tuberculosis, asthma and swelling in the feet.

LEO’S are prone to heart diseases, spondylosis, fevers and jaundice.

VIRGOS are prone to intestinal diseases.

LIBRANS are prone to disease of the kidneys.

SCORPIOS are prone to disease of the sexual organs.

SAGITTARIANS are prone to hip joint disease, gout and rheumatism.

CAPRICORNIANS are prone to skin diseases, melancholia and hysteria.

AQUARIANS are prone to disease of the legs and ankles and are affected by cramps.

PISCEANS are prone to diseases of the feet, chronic fatigue and are vacillating in temperament.

Conclusion:

Several doctors who study astrology feel that it is possible to predict the genetic tendency of a child to develop a kind of disease.  Astrology can also predict casualty in an individual.   A Czechoslovakian Gynecologist, Dr. Eugene Jonas has used astrology to predict monthly fertility in women.  This method has been found to be 85% accurate. When this method is combined with the rhythm method, the reliability rates rise up to 98 %.  It may be fair to say that Medical Astrology might be able to point out one’s mental disposition and susceptibility to disease.

MEDORRHINUM.

This remedy is derived from the Gonococcus obtained from the acute stage of urethritis. It was Dr. Swan who first proved this remedy.

It is a nosode, which is anti-sycotic and antipsoric in nature and it is deep and long acting in nature.

It is a deep acting powerful remedy indicated for chronic ailments due to suppressed gonorrhea.

It suits persons who cannot speak without weeping and for those who are afraid of darkness and fear of insanity.

This remedy suits children who are pale, rachitic and dwarfish and stunted in growth, mentally dull and weak, with a difficulty in concentration.  It is useful in children with chronic catarrhal conditions with enlarged tonsils and when the lips are thickened with constant breathing from the mouth.  It is considered to be suited to children with a history of Down’s syndrome with offensive body odors.

It is also useful in chronic pelvic disease in women.

It is useful in weakness of memory, with a hopeless feeling of recovery, fear of the dark, difficulty in concentration.

It is useful in headaches from jarring sounds, exertion, exhaustion or hard work.

It is a useful remedy for dandruff and itching in the scalp.

It is useful in intense itching, when the posterior nares are obstructed and useful in chronic pharyngeal and nasal catarrhs.

It is useful when the tongue is coated brown, thick and blistered. This remedy is useful in canker sores and blisters in the inner surface of the lips and cheeks.

It is useful in those people who are comfortable sleeping on their abdomen.

It is a useful remedy in painful tenesmus while urinating.  It is also useful in patients who get up to frequently urinate in the night.  It is useful in renal colic, when the urine flows very slowly.

It is a useful remedy when there is a painful lump sensation in the posterior surface of the anal sphincter, with a fetid oozing of moist liquid from the anus, with intense anal itching. This remedy is useful in cases that have a fiery red rash developing around the anus.

This remedy is useful when there is intense pruritis, when the menses are offensive and dark, and when there is leucorrhoea, which is thin, acrid, excoriating with a fishy odor. It is useful for Warts on the genitals.  It is useful when there is inter-menstrual bleeding with intense menstrual colic.  It is also useful in women whose breasts and nipples are very sensitive and sore to touch.

It is useful when there is hoarseness in the voice and the larynx feels sore.  It is useful in dyspnoea with asthma.  It is a useful remedy when the cough comes on which is better lying on the stomach.

This remedy is useful whenever the patient cannot keep his legs still and they ache all the time. It is a useful remedy when there is burning hands and feet, and it is useful in gouty concretions. It is a useful remedy when the heels and the balls of the feet are tender.

It is a useful remedy when there is aggravation of itching of the skin, which is worse at night.  It is a useful remedy when the persons prefer to sleep in the ‘knee-chest position’. This remedy also suits those subjects, who have disease, which aggravate from DAYLIGHT TO SUNSET (opposite of Syphilinum).

This remedy is useful in ailments from suppressed Gonorrhea; such as gonorrhea rheumatism, neuralgia, sciatica, marasmus, enuresis, tendency to excessively masturbate, ovarian tumors, history of repeated abortions, sterility, and orchitis, impotence, asthma and skin diseases.

This remedy suits persons who are worse while thinking of the ailment.  This remedy suits persons who are better at sea shore, lying on the stomach or in damp weather.

TIPS FROM THE MASTERS…

 MEDORRHINUM in higher potency (200 or 1,000) is a very important remedy so often neglected in chronic liver troubles with various digestive disturbances connected with infantile liver even up to the last stage.  It is characterized by the sensation of burning of the palms and the feet and slight icteroid tinge of the conjunctiva.

Dr. Ghosh, M.D.

 At birth, I give a dose of MEDORRHINUM if the child is inclined to be gross with a large head, if it is a little bit skinny baby that is snuffling almost al most as soon as it breathers, under weight, wrinkled and old looking, I give a dose of SYPHILINUM.

Dr. Krichbaum.

 I have found MEDORRHINUM high, a good antidote to the effects of Influenza.

Dr. Swan.

I have experimented more with so-called nosodes, and have had seemingly very good results from MEDORRHINUM as well as SYPHILINUM in intractable cases of chronic rheumatism. The most characteristic difference is that with MEDORRHINUM, the pains are worse in the day- time and with SYPHILIUM, in the night.

Dr. Nash, M.D.