Friday, January 9, 2009

General Concepts of Homeopathic Phramacopeia - How Homeopathic Medicine Were Produced







Photos: Prof Dr Nik Omar capacity as Vice President of Intentional Homeopathic Organisation has inspected one of the Homeopathic Phramaceutical Companyy at Masood Homeopathic Stores and Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan.
It is one of the leading Homeopathic manufacturing Plants in Asia with Excellent GMP certificate.


General Concepts of Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia
Department of Pharmacy, The Faculty of Homeopathy Malaysia
Unit of Strength of Homeopathic Medicines


The German Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia sometime holds to the hahnemanian methods, i.e. one-hundred drug strength but often deviates from many other methods and categories of preparation. The drug strength differs from class to class. The HPUSA has preferably adopted the uniform of one-tenth drug strength except in cases of a few drugs.

In order to obtained the uniform one-tenth drug strength of tinctures, the HPUSA has taken a dried drug as the unit, i.e. one gramme of drug in ten millitres of tincture. In the preparatin of mother tincture made from fresh plants, the plant moisture is taken into consideration when calculating the one-tenth drug strength. The HPI accept the new methos of HPUSA in the preparation of tinctures except in cases of poisonous chemicals, venom, etc.

Homeopathic Medicine

As per homoeopathic philosophy and concept, a substance can be or can become a homeopathic remedy only after the pharmacist has processed the crude product on nature in accordance with homeopathic technique in order to develop its inherent properties and to make its medicinal properties ready to use.

Method of Procuring Medical Substances

Vegetable substances: All vegetable and animal product are to be collected fresh as far as possible and must be obtained from a reputed and reliable source either foreign or local, but preferably in their natural formal state and proper indentification shall be carried out before using them.

General Treatment of Dried Plants

After their collection they should be carefully dried by tying them in loose bundies, and hanging them in shade, protected from sun, rain, dust, etc. Drying in oven must be avoided.

Odorous substances are to be kept in separate vessels so that peculiar odour of such drugs may not be transmitted to other drugs. They need gentle drying or preferably preparation in their fresh state.

Animal Substance : These substances, e.g. Naja Trip., Crot Horr., Apis, Canthris, Blatta Oreint.etc should be collected from healthy animal specimen.

Mineral and Chemical Compounds: Indentity, purity and specification must comply with those laid down in monographs.

Indonderabilia: Energy available form physical and narural sourses, e.g. magnetism, electricity, luna, Infrared Ray, X-Ray, radium, etc are also utilised in preparing some homeopathic drugs.

Nosodes: Nosodes are disease tissue-product or excreation of living organisms ( .e. plants and animals ) and bacterial or viral products. They should be collected aseptically and in their most virulent form.

Sarcodes: sarcodes are healthy tissue-product or secretions of living organism, i.e. plants or animals. Collect them avoiding contamination including with associated tissues and secretions.

Allersodes: These are preparation from allergens are processed like noseds.

Isodes: These are prepartion from excipients and are triturated like chemicals.


General Method of Preparation of Homeopathic Medicine
1. Mother Tincture: From original substances, either plants, vegetables, animal, nosodes, sarcodes, mineral, etc. in 'Q' form

2. Solutions: Either purified water - aqueous solution. There are substances which are soluble in water and not alcohol. And also alcohol.
The alcohol are being used where the preparation containing the indredients of the drugs which are soluble in alcohol, normally with the one-tenth of drug strength.


3. Maceration: Maceration process is used in such cases where the homeopathic drug material requires ample maipulation for the extraction of medicinal properties. Gummy and mucilaginous substances and those having much viscid juice which do not allow alcohol to permeate the mass readily in the process of percolation are macerated.

4. Percolation: This method is adopted for the extraction of dried drugs, dry vegetable substances and other organis ( animal) substances. Reduce them to powder form according to one of the grades of fineness specified.

5. Potentisation: Is a special method in homeopathic practice where by the preparation of potencies of liquid drug substances there scales are generally used i.e. (i) Decimal Scale (ii) Centesimal Scale.

6. Decimal Scale: The decimal scale is based on the principle that the first potency should contain one-tenth part of the original drug and each succeeding potency should contain on-tenth part of the potency preceding. This scale was introduce by Dr Hering and is denoted by suffixing the letter "x" to the number. Example 1x, 3x, 6x, 12, 30x.

7. Centesimal Scale: The scale was first introduce by Dr Samuel Hahnemann and is considered as the classical method where by the first potency should contain one-hundredth part of the original drug and each succeeding potency should contain one-hundredth part of the potency preceding it.
The scale id denoted by suffixing "C' to the number indicating the potency. In practice it may also be denoted by simple numberical with no suffix such as
1, 3, 30, 200, 1000, etc.

7. Trituration : The object of trituration is to reduce the drug to the finest possible powder as well as to energise it. Whether a trituration is prepared manually or by a machine, the following process is adopted.

Take one part by weight of the crude drug and one part by weight of Milk Sugar in coarse powder. Mix the two for a moment and then rub the mixture throughly for six minutes. After six minutes scrape the pestle and mortar with a spatula to that nothing adheres to the sides of the mortar or to the pestle, stir the mixture for a total time of four minutes. Then again rub the mixture with pestle for six minutes and stir for four minutes. Now add 3 part by weight sugar of milk and repeat the processes of rubbing and stirring.
Then add 5 part by weight sugar of milk and repeat the processes of rubbing and stirring. At the end of this process we get 1X potency of the homeopathic medicine.

8. Conversion of Trituration into Liquid potencies.

Disolve one part by weight of the 6X trituration in fifty parts by volume of purified water to which fifty parts by volume of dispensing alcohol is added. Give 10 succussion to the liquid mixture. The no. 7X dilution from 6x trituration is not possible.

The first potency prepared from 6x trituration is 8x (4c). Subsequent potencies may be prepared either in the decimal or centesimal scale in the usual manner but in preparing the first potency from 8x potency use dilute alcohol, 9x and higher are made in dispensing alcohol.

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