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Schwabe News Volume 2 | Issue 3 | June 2011

Quercus robur

It is a drug prepared from the common oak.¹ It was introduced to homoeopathic practice by Burnett, who published in his Diseases of the Spleen. It is officially covered by Homoeopathic Pharmacopoeia of United States and mentioned in German Homoeopathic Pharmacopoeia. Apart from these pharmacopoeias, this drug has also been covered by books like Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica by J. H. Clarke, Homoeopathic Remedy Guide by R. Murphy, Encyclopaedia of Homoeopathic Pharmacopoeia by P. N. Varma and Indu Vaid.^2,3,4

Different species of Quercus but containing similar phytochemicals have been used in Indian medicine for symptoms like diarrhoea, dysentery, gastric catarrh, swelling of spleen and other alcoholic symptoms.⁵ Its chief actions are on alcoholism, constipation, diarrhoea, giddiness, gout, intermitting fever, dropsy (splenic), leucocythaemia splenica and other affections of spleen.^2,3,4,6 It specifically cured symptoms of depressive nervousness, taciturn state (habitually reserved and uncommunicative), drunken feeling in head, gnawing at pit of stomach, craving for alcohol, pain in spleen, diarrhoea that ameliorates constrictive feeling in chest and throughout body.⁷ Certain people feel, as soon as they have taken it, a peculiar sensation in the head, lasting barely a minute or two, which they say is like being drunk. Another drug is made of “acorns”, which has same constituents.

In a case of 60 years old bachelor, who had appeared in a hopeless condition and was unable to state his own case, it illustrates the usefulness of this drug in chronic alcoholism. His face flushed with much pain over the eyes and in both rib regions. Stooping caused great pain, worse left hypochondrium. His liver and spleen had much enlarged. He was nervous, depressed, glum, taciturn, easily moved to tears. He could not walk without support on account of his great giddiness. His breath was in highest degree disgustingly stercoraceous (like faeces) indicating undigested alcohol in the upper part of digestive tract. The (a) Pain in left side; (b) Giddiness; (c) Flushed state indicated Quercus, which was given for a week. In the follow-up after a week, the breath was normal, giddiness a little better and  tenderness of rib region much diminished. In six weeks he was quite well.³

Quercus diminishes the craving for alcohol and antidotes the alcoholic state, and giddiness with spleen trouble. Cooper had observed it useful in specific sensations like “felt as if in a vice; dared not move for fear of a fit of apoplexy, an attack of giddiness”, and “deafness with noises in the head”.³

Recommended dose: 10 drops 3-4 5 times daily. A passing diarrhoea often appears for a time when using it.

Reference:

1. P. N. Varma, Indu Vaid, Encyclopedia of Homoeopathic Pharmacopoeia.
2. Homoeopathic Pharmacopoeia of United States
3. J. H. Clarke, Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica, RADAR Version.
4. R. Murphy, Homoeopathic Remedy Guide, RADAR Version
5. K. M. Nandkarni, Indian Materia Medica, Edited by A. K. Nandkarni, Volume 1, Bombay Popular Prakashan, Mumbai – 34.
6. F. Schroyens, Synthesis, 9^th Edition.
7. C. Richardson-Boedler, Psychic causes of Illness: Applying Homeopathy and Bach flowers therapy to Psychosomatic illness, Part two : keynote materia medica of the bach remedies, under ‘Homeopathic indications for Quercus robur’