Inge Christine Heinz
Samuel Hahnemann: Physician and Adviser to the Princess Louise of
Prussia from 1829 to 1835
The nearly 500 pages of letters
(edited and commented in a medical dissertation by the author), written by a
Prussian Princess in the 19th century to Dr Samuel Hahnemann, the founder of
homoeopathy, provide a fairly complete patient history thanks to the
homoeopathic method which obliges patients to observe and describe the
complaints and the changes they experience during treatment. The achievements
of HahnemannÕs therapy were so remarkable that the patient engaged his disciple
Dr. Julius Aegidi as her court physician during the years 1831 to 1834. In no
other of HahnemannÕs published case histories so many dreams are described. The
diagnosis within the historical context could be hysteria, hypochondria and
melancholy.
The therapy consisted in the
prescription of homoeopathic remedies but also, among other prescriptions, in
taking placebos, application of mesmerism, diet and life style advice.
Hahnemann was opposed to vaccination. The doctor-patient-relationship became
very intense. It can be said that Hahnemann acted as a psychotherapist. As the
Princess rather liked speaking about her complaints her compliance in
describing symptoms was excellent. It was less so in taking verum, applying
mesmerism and changing her lifestyle. The success of the treatment was limited
by the PrincessÕs court and family circumstances and probably by HahnemannÕs
restriction to psora theory and C30 potencies. The dissertation is the most
extensive patient history from HahnemannÕs medical practice ever published.
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