Maria Teresa De Donato, Ph.D
Traditional Naturopath, Homeopath, Life Strategist, Author
Asthmatic Bronchitis in an 18-Month-Old Child
Case Study – 18-Month-Old Child: From the common cold to
asthmatic bronchitis within less than a year. Back to Optimum Health within
less than 3 months of a proper homeopathic regimen.
A case of an 18-month-old child
treated constitutionally and with supportive remedies.
This
case relates to a child of just 18 months who had been treated for some 4
(months) for asthmatic bronchitis through conventional medicine. The child was born healthy, and his troubles
started with a simple cold when he was just 5 months old.
From
that point on, and for the following 12 months - before his family contacted me
- his health had been increasingly deteriorating to the extent that what could
be defined as a “common cold” had turned to bronchitis, first acute and then
chronic, then catarrhal, and eventually had ended up becoming asthmatic. All of
this occurred “despite” the high use of pharmaceutical drugs prescribed to him
by allopathic physicians and pediatricians, which increased over time. Fever, diarrhea, and different kinds of
dermatitis had also accompanied his bronchitis.
His
asthmatic episodes had taken place at some 3-week intervals from each other. The last one required a 4-day hospitalization due to “low saturation,” a low level of oxygen in the
blood, which caused breathing difficulties and other complications. Contact
dermatitis during the summer also appeared, manifesting through pimples under the child's chin, in his groin area, on his arms and
legs, and eventually on his head.
Dermatitis reached the point of aggressively spreading to his entire body, especially after he had been given antibiotics, cortisone drugs, and
ointments. The latter, by interacting with the sand of the beach, had worsened the situation. On top of that,
more pharmaceutical drugs were prescribed to the child to manage his
toothache and colitis.
Recent
blood tests performed before I was contacted had detected the presence of
a)
RAST – Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus
and
b)
RAST – Dermatophagoides farinae (two different House Dust Mites species).
Eventually, his family realized that the situation was progressively precipitating and
started wondering whether a holistic approach could work better and whether homeopathy
helped to solve the case, and they contacted me.
After
having them fill in a detailed questionnaire, I asked many questions via email and Skype to ensure that nothing was left out of their
account. The child was described as “in a physical and mental restlessness and difficult to deal
with.” They also explained that though he is a very active kid, his behavior had changed for the worst during the last several months, making the situation almost unmanageable in
some cases.
When
the family contacted me, he was under the following medical treatment:
–
3 aerosols per day under “normal” conditions and
1 aerosol every 3 hours during acute phases;
–
1 corticosteroid a day is taken for 2 consecutive
days, not to exceed 5 consecutive days during acute phases;
–
1 antibiotic every 3 hours taken for 8
consecutive days, along with 2 other different sorts of antibiotics and corticosteroids used in the past for aerosol treatment.
Besides
the suggestions I gave this family in terms of a new diet through which I
introduced foods he had so far not eaten yet, and some advice about how to keep
a clean, fresh, and healthier indoor environment, I recommended the following
homeopathic regimen according to his constitutional type:
a) Aconitum Napellus – Ch 30
3 pellets to be dissolved in a
teaspoon of water, to be taken 1 hour before lunch, every day and for the following 3 months;
b) Arsenicum Album – Ch 30
3 pellets as above, taken 1 hour
before dinner, every day, and for the following 3 months.
Though
I identified the child as an Aconitum Napellus constitutional type due to the
description the family made of him, it appeared that the boy was going through both fear and anxiety because of all the
treatments he had undergone had impaired his health to a much greater
extent. At his age, not being able to
clearly express himself and verbalize his frustration and worries about the
whole situation, he communicated them through his “unmanageable behavior”
along with a “burst of anger” and desire “not to be touched.”
In my
view, Arsenicum Album, which is one of the main constitutional types, by having
a profound impact on every organ and tissue and by being able to also help
with many cases common to those treated by Aconitum, was the perfect
complementary remedy to be prescribed to the child to reach a better,
deeper, and faster result. Arsenicum
helped the child with the burning symptoms he complained about, especially
burning pains and burning discharges, and to manage his great thirst. Anxiety, physical and mental restlessness, and
a sudden tendency to be easily frightened were also considered when
recommending this remedy.
Along
with the above remedies, and only when needed, I also recommended:
1)
In case of toothache:
–
Chamomilla - Ch 30, for non-acute cases
(dissolved in water as all other remedies indicated above) to help the child in
case of pains and/or discomforts;
–
Chamomilla - Ch 200, only dose (also dissolved
in water) to be taken once a week in acute pain.
I
chose Chamomilla not only because this remedy can be used for various health issues and discomforts but also because of the child's irritability, night sweats, whining, and moaning when he could not have what he wanted.
2)
In case of vomit and/or diarrhea:
–
Nux Vomica - Ch 30
3
pellets (dissolved in a teaspoon of water) twice a day to be taken for 2-3
consecutive days or until the situation would improve, and always far from his
meals (1 hr before, 2 hrs after, or 30 minutes before a light
breakfast).
In my view, Nux Vomica was the best remedy to take care of the vomit and diarrhea and matched many other
symptoms identified, such as irritability, hypersensitivity,
respiratory problems, and difficulties sleeping.
Due
to the child's young age, I preferred to have regular contact with the family every 2-3 days and for the first 3-4 weeks to check if his
condition would improve and/or if changes in the homeopathic regimen might be
needed. However, the remedies I chose for him proved to be the proper ones since improvements were noticed already
during the first 2 weeks, with the situation improving. Before the end of the 3rd month of
this regimen, and after having not heard from the family for a few weeks, they
got back in touch with me to let me know that their child was doing great and
that one by one, all the pharmaceutical drugs and allopathic treatments
(aerosol, cortisone drugs, and antibiotics) had been suspended by his
physicians and pediatricians due to this “unexpected, radical and quick
progress” that had taken place in the child's health in what everybody had
defined “record time.”
After
the end of the third month, I decided not to change the regimen and recommended to
keep following the same one for the other 3 months.
After that, no more pharmaceutical drugs were used since he had fully recovered.
NOTE: The present article was also published in the online homeopathy magazine Hpathy on January 15th, 2015: https://hpathy.com/clinical-cases/asthmatic-bronchitis-in-an-18-month-old-boy/
