Dear Colleagues: Neural therapy is unique (as far as I know) among medical systems in its identification and treatment of interference fields. Its discovery by Franz Huneke in 1941 was through clinical observation. Only later did a scientific explanation come forward. Because the discovery of interference fields was intimately connected to the effect of procaine, and because procaine was known to affect nerve cell membranes, an electrophysiological explanation was a natural conclusion. Subsequent measurements of electro‐galvanic potentials in interference fields confirmed the presence of disturbed electrophysiology. When neural therapy finally made its way to North America, physicians familiar with osteopathy recognized that "somatic dysfunction" resembles interference fields in many ways. (Somatic dysfunction is a localized disturbance of body mechanics associated with autonomic nervous system changes.) Both neural therapy and osteopathy are related to autonomic dysfunction, both can create remote disturbances and both can be treated with procaine injections. In my opinion, somatic dysfunction is another form of interference field. In more recent years another model of interference fields has been proposed.Energetic testing (e.g. autonomic response testing or ART) has demonstrated that interference fields coincide with disturbances in the body's energy field. In addition, energetic treatments, such as those provided by Electroblock, laser and Tenscam devices are as effective as procaine injections in treating interference fields. However there is yet another model of interference fields that has its virtues.This is an old one, the concept of nervous system "irritation". This term was used by the great Russian scientist AD Speransky in the 1930's several years before the discovery of interference fields. He observed that irritation of the nervous system anywhere in the body could trigger complex behaviors or even diseases that had been lying dormant in the body as "tissue memories". In his animal experiments, he first sensitized the animals with sub-lethal doses of various infectious agents such as rabies, tetanus or diphtheria. Then months later after the animals had recovered, he irritated the nervous system by intramuscular injections, by severing nerves and applying various toxins such as formalin or croton oil, or by implanting small glass balls or rings into the midbrain. The response of the nervous system was always the same; the disease for which the animal was sensitized was reproduced. The type and the location of the irritation made no difference in the response. Speransky carried this concept of irritation one step further by injecting systemic toxins such as mercury and bromide salts intravenously. These also triggered the same sort of complex behaviors and diseases.I find this phenomenon especially interesting (and practical) in neural therapy, because it alerts us to the importance of systemic and other factors in "irritating" the nervous system. I present here a case which illustrates this triggering of an old memory by a non‐specific irritation: A 53 year old man presented with recurrence of an old problem ‐ right upper shoulder, chest and low back pain of two months duration without any preceding history of trauma or strain. I knew this man well and had seen him from time to time over the years with a similar condition: recurring right upper shoulder pain associated with interscapular pain and depression. Early on I discovered that his symptoms were caused by an interference field in his liver usually due to organic solvent exposure in his work place. He responded to neural therapy of his liver (segmental therapy) combined with detoxifying agents such as chlorella, vitamin C, garlic, etc. However his problems continued even after he left this particular work place and I then discovered that his relapses coincided with excess alcohol consumption. Again liver segmental therapy, or T9 sympathetic ganglion blocks gave him relief combined with detoxifying agents. But on this most recent visit, the pain distribution was more widespread and he denied any consumption of alcohol for over 7 months. A search for interference fields in the usual places was fruitless. It was then he mentioned that he had had for the first time an attack of gout in his right first toe a month before the onset of his right shoulder and interscapular pain. No interference field could be detected in the usual places with autonomic response testing. However an interference field was found in the right L3 sympathetic ganglion. This was treated using a Tenscam device and open autonomic regulation was achieved. In my opinion the right first toe triggered the L3 sympathetic ganglion interference field. The L3 sympathetic ganglion may also have been affected by summation with the nearby chronic (often subclinical) pattern created by the liver and related autonomic structures. Summation of the toe interference field with that of the liver probably explains the wider distribution of the pain. This case is a reminder that recurrence of an old problem may be caused by an entirely different irritation than the one initiating it in the first place. Migraine sufferers are well aware of this: migraines may be triggered by a food, a change in barometric pressure or a change in stress level. We need to be open-minded about what may be causing a recurring problem and not just focus on what caused it the first time. -------------------------------- This young patient came to me for another problem, but mentioned that she was having nosebleeds, something entirely new for her. An interference field was found by autonomic response testing in her left sphenopalatine ganglion. Associated with that was an interference field in this tiny piercing in her nose. -------------------------------- Sincerely, Robert F. Kidd, MD, CM |