There is nothing new about these diseases. In fact examination of Egyptian mummies reveals that rheumatism affected their joints!

No disease is spontaneous. It may seem to appear suddenly in some instances, but in most cases we can trace a chain of symptoms over a long period, many being ignored at the beginning.

But symptoms are not the disease per se-they are only the outward signs of a deeper manifestation in the economy of the patient.

If many of our forebears have suffered from rheumatism or arthritis, then we are born with a blood-stream (soil) which could be suitable for either of these troubles to develop, given the right circumstances.

Sir James Mackenzie put this very aptly many years ago when he gave up a busy practice in Harley Street (London), and retired to a village to study and learn more about preventive medicine.

He came to the conclusion that diseases are the result of long-developing processes, often commencing in childhood and leading to the saturation of toxins in the body.

These same toxins when localized in a joint cause arthritis, when in the liver the disease is called hepatitis; in the kidneys nephritis and so on. This is similar teaching to that of homoepathy.

The homoeopath would add that it is the inherited blood-stream or soil that will channel the toxin to the joints, or the liver, or to the kidneys.

Poisons begin to build up in the body from an early due to several factors such as wrong food, unhealthy living habits (lack of exercise, fresh air etc). and wrong thinking.

The common cold is often nature's way of elimination - remember if children are perfectly healthy they never develop colds!

An attack of influenza, a bad chill, getting soaked through without taking the necessary precautions afterwards, getting overtired and suffering grief or shock are some of the ways in which the body toxins can be wakened into action and then symptoms of a particular disease will appear.

it is, therefore, much wiser to try and cleanse the body by natural means, rather than deal with, and often suppress, the outward signs and symptoms with drugs which can cause side effects and create more problems.


Act Promptly

It cannot be emphasized too strongly that something should be done at the very beginning. So many people say: 'Oh I only had a twinge and didn't think any more about it!'

Twinges of pain, stiffness in muscles and joints, backache - all spell out rheumatism in one form or another and the sooner something is done the better.

The daily food should be changed in such a way that acid forming foods are eliminated or cut to the minimum, and only whole foods eaten; they will give maximum minerals, vitamins and substances to build the body and not destroy it. And the question of baths, fresh air and exercise should also be looked into, for not one, but all these factors play a part in helping to bring a 'diseased' body back into a better state of health.