Mumps

A communicable viral infection affecting the parotid glands located under the jaw. Mumps is epidemic, and extremely contagious via droplets from the nose and saliva, but is almost always benign in children. After puberty it can be more serious for males, since it may affect the testicles and cause sterility.

Incubation takes two or three weeks. The illness is accompanied by fever and painful, if not unbearable, swelling of the glands, which is fortunately short­lived, disappearing towards the tenth day. The entire course of the illness is about three weeks from the first symptom to recovery. In the West, children account for about 80 per cent of cases of mumps.

Standard anti-infective treatment

To be started as quickly as possible at the first abnormal symptom:

• Start with Aconitum-Homaccord@ (Heel), which contains Aconitum D2, D10, D30, D200, Eucalyptus D4, D10, D30 and Ipecacuanha D2, D10, D30, D200:
  - Available in drop bottles containing 30 and 100ml
  10 drops to be taken three times daily. Initially ten drops every 15 minutes
• Add copper as a trace element with silver and gold in colloidal form
• Six tablets of Pyrogenium 5c to be taken in a single dose, once a day for a few days
• Twenty drops of Lehning@ L52 to be taken in a little water, three or four times a day, if the patient already has a temperature
• Vitamin C: 0.5 gram for children, each day for 15 days
• To this standard treatment composed of three homeopathic remedies, one to three trace elements, and a vitamin, the homeopath may add remedies that are specific to each illness and fundamental for each personality

Dietary advice

To be strictly followed:

• Stop all heavy, greasy foods, particularly dairy products, fried food, and dishes with sauces
• Give the child plenty to drink
• Choose foods rich in vitamin C and copper
• Supplement the diet with wheatgerm and brewer's yeast, which are rich in group B vitamins and trace elements
• Give the patient plenty of garlic and onion, known for their anti-infective action

Homeopathy

Bryonia, Mercurius solubilis

- Four tablets of one of these two remedies at 5c to be sucked like sweets, three or four times a day, between meals

Bryonia alba

- Vegetable origin: fresh bryony root
- Homeopathic remedy for inflammation worsened by the least movement or by warmth
- Two characteristic signs: improvement with rest and pressure

Mercurius solubilis

- Chemical origin: Mercury and ammonium nitrates
- Homeopathic remedy for acute and chronic inflammation with a tendency to suppurate
- Characteristic sign: profuse, evil smelling saliva.

• You can use Traumeel@ (Heel), which contains Belladonna D4, mercurius solu­bilis D8, Hepar sulfur D8, Chamomilla D3 and Bellis perennis D2 among others:
  - Sold in containers of 50 or 250 tablets
  -In general, one tablet to be dissolved under the tongue three times daily
• It is almost essential to add the basic remedy or remedies for convalescence decided upon after consulting the homeopath: in this case, they will often be Calcarea phosphorica, Pulsatilla, Sulfur iodatum. . .

Oligotherapy

Essentially copper, or copper/gold/silver

• The combination can be found in many brands and presentations: colloidal minerals such as Organic Minerals (Colloidals) which contains 70+ trace minerals:
  - Available in 946ml bottles
  - Take 1-3 caps just before breakfast and/or evening meal
  - Children 1 teaspoon daily for each 20lbs of body weight

Or Maximol (Ionized colloidals):

- Available in 500ml bottles
- Take 1/2 capful once or twice daily on an empty stomach

Herbal treatment

Echinacea an excellent anti-infective agent.

Eleutherococcus and ginseng, very good general tonics for adults.

Prescription: Ask for a 30ml bottle of a mother tincture of one of these plants to be prepared. Take 25 drops (for an adult) in a little water, twice a day for 3 weeks.

• For children you can use Echinacea complex (Bioforce) tincture which contains Echinacea purpurea..
  - Available in 50ml bottles of oral drops
  - Eight drops to be taken in a little water, three times a day. (6-12 years old) or four drops in a little water, three times daily (2-5 years old)

Plant essential oils

Eucalyptus, naiouli, thyme linalol can be given to children. Their main property is anti-infective.

- One drop of one of them to be taken in a spoonful of honey, twice a day
- A possible prescription for an adult would be a mixture made up of 0.01 gram essential oil of eucalyptus and 0.01 gram essential oil of thyme linalol, in a colloidal silica excipient, for a No. I capsule (this is the capsule size that the herbalist would use for the ingredients). Take one capsule twice a day for 10 days

Thyme

There are many varieties of thyme, each of which contains a different essential oil (thymol. carvacrol. cineol. and linalol...). powerful, aggressive, or toxic to different degrees.