Alumina (Oxide of Aluminium – Argilla)

 The chemical compound Alumina is prepared from aluminium, a metal from which numerous utensils are made.   Most cooking pots and bathroom appliances are made from it. Early on, this metal was very costly, only the rich and the elite could afford aluminium pots. Now, due to industrial development, this metal is vastly available and is quite cheap with the poor tending to use these utensils the most.

Modern research has indicated that the prolonged use of aluminium pots for cooking produces a very harmful effect on the health of the users.   This poison affects slowly, but becomes a permanent part of the human body. The aluminium constricts the walls of blood vessels. Cholesterol starts depositing itself inside the blood vessels. Progressive narrowing or even total blockage can ensue. Thus, cholesterol can cause a heart attack due to the blockage of the arteries leading to the heart. Similarly, it affects the blood vessels going to the brain. This process of progressive hardening and narrowing of the arteries is called “Arteriosclerosis". The ageing process starts to manifest itself fast. The memory becomes weak. The blood pressure fluctuates. Mental and physical deterioration sets in.   Alumina, being a slow acting remedy, should be used for long periods extending over years. To achieve permanent cure, one should use Alumina in high potency at long intervals, such as 1000 or 10,000 given once in a month. A potency 200 will have to be given every ten days, extending over many months or years. In the beginning of the treatment, no beneficial effect will be noticed. Once the improvement begins, the dead and dying fibres of the circular muscles start reverting to life. The patient must be told to continue the treatment for at least a year or two without fail in order to get relief from this long-established disease.

The Alumina itch does not exhibit lumps or bumps. At first, the itching begins on apparently clean, healthy-looking skin. Itching leads to inflammation which leads to formation of pimples or, on scratching intensely, blister formation. One may bleed as a result of scratching. The affected part becomes insensitive and subject to infection and further complication.  In general, (unlike Alumina), in most of the remedies, the bumps over the skin appear first and the itching comes on later.

The eyelids swell and become thick and heavy. The eyelashes fall. The vision becomes blurred. The eyes are very sensitive to light, especially in the morning. The eyelids are sticky and the objects look pale or yellow.

The stomach fails to function. There is a complete loss of appetite and dislike for meat. The patient craves to eat indigestible things like clay and coal. The stomach becomes inflamed and goes into spasms. One of the main features is marked acidity. Nothing tastes right. There is frequent acidic belching. Alumina is useful in all these symptoms. The dysfunction of the stomach is due to the narrowing and thickening of its blood vessels.

Alumina is very useful in acute hyperacidity, as well as the chronic illnesses of the stomach. It relieves long-standing haemorrhoids. It also relieves acidity in both men and women. It is particularly useful in the leucorrhoea associated with acidic discharge. This discharge is so acidic, that it may lead to other illnesses. Normally, women do not get constipated during pregnancy, in Alumina however, they do. Constipation associated with pregnancy, which is transient or of long-standing, will respond to Alumina administration.

Alumina is very important in a chronic cough originating from the lungs, as are Bacillinum, Phosphorus, Arsenic, Iodide and Kali Carb. If the other symptoms of Alumina are also present, this would be the most appropriate remedy.

In Alumina, typically, reasoning and decision-making deteriorate. One may not easily decide one way or the other. The mind becomes cloudy and suspicious. Whatever the patient sees or hears, it appears to him as if somebody else is seeing or hearing it. He loses his self- identity. Sometimes, he wishes to occupy someone else’s mind so that he may observe things better. This slowly progressive trend of his drives him insane. However, he is not dangerous to others, he simply gets lost in himself.

Mentally, the patient shows impatience. For him, time stands still, but he likes it to pass quickly. At the sight of sharp weapons, he is afraid, lest he may hurt himself. Such patients frighten others by pretending to commit suicide, though actually they do not do so. Sometimes, people look down from a height and others get terrified, in case they may leap to their death. The Alumina patient is very sad and sallow. He has the desire to distance himself from his surroundings. He worries that he may be going insane. Such negative thoughts are at their climax in the morning. Sometimes, the alumina affects the throat muscles, resulting in difficulty in swallowing. Due to weakness of these muscles, the food may enter the windpipe or nose.

Paralysis may affect the sphincter muscles of the bladder and the rectum, resulting in difficulty in passing urine and stools. The patient has to strain his abdominal muscles, even if the stools are soft. Urinary symptoms resemble those of enlarged prostate gland. Many a time, the stools resemble the droppings of a goat, camel and horse, in the shape of small or large balls, which stick to each other. The stools may be soft or thick but are difficult to pass.

In Graphites and Plumbum too, stools are similar. The urine may leak unknowingly due to the paralysis of the muscles of the neck of the bladder.   Involuntary defeacation can also occur due to weakness of the sphincter muscles at the anus.

The Alumina patient experiences dizziness and imbalance during walking.   The feet tend to be numb.   Pain radiates from one point to all directions, like the spokes of a wheel.   When all these symptoms are together, Alumina is the remedy.

The movements of the limbs, lower as well as upper, may not remain under voluntary control, thus resulting in a staggering gait. In this situation, long term use of Alumina is beneficial.

In Alumina, catarrhal and skin symptoms are very frequent. The patient has chronic catarrh, which is full of dry encrustations with long strings. The catarrh may result in the dimness of the eyesight. The inner linings (mucus membranes) of the stomach, intestines and kidneys become inflamed. Headache also, is common with the cold.

Like the mucus membranes, the skin also becomes subjected to many ailments. As a result of intense itching, the skin becomes thick and sore and may even ulcerate. As in Sulphur, the warmth of the bed intensifies the itching. The face feels as if a cobweb is spread over it. The tip of the nose shows cuts. The eyes burn and trachoma may develop. Alumina affects both flexor as well as extensor muscles (the flexor muscles bend the joints, while the extensors stretch the joints).

Salt, alcohol, vinegar, chillies, potatoes, and fizzy drinks aggravate the symptoms of Alumina. Piles and anal fissuring are typical of Alumina.

Male sexual impotence and nocturnal emission are common. The prostate gland enlarges along with the feeling of heaviness and fullness around it. Sexual organs become partially paralyzed. The man becomes sexually impotent in spite of being in good general health.

As a result of prolonged catarrh the women develop chronic leucorrhoea. The uterus tends to sag downwards, much more so on standing and walking. If gonorrhoea has merely been suppressed by some kind of treatment, but not cured, the residual inflammation of the pelvic organs results in the sensation of heat and discomfort. Alumina may be of use in this situation.

The cough of Alumina may be associated with sneezing and the throat feels as if it is being gently tickled with feathers. In Alumina, at the point of backache, the patient feels intense heat, as if a hot iron has been placed on the numbed part. The soles of the feet become soft, swollen and tender. The side the patient sits or lies on becomes numb. The legs tend to be numb also.   The patient feels cold and likes to wrap himself well, but he likes the face to be exposed to the cool breeze.   The patient likes the warmth of the bed for a while, but intense itching begins when the bed becomes too warm. The hands usually remain cold and warm up slowly on retiring to bed.   The skin is dry and sweats only sparingly, or not at all.