A VERY UNUSUAL CASE OF DIABETES


The combined effect of these things has produced at times a deep physical and mental prostration. I have the strong conviction, were I free from these troubles, that diabetes would have gone completely. As to insulin, I am happy to say that I have not injected any insulin for practically two years. You remember when I visited you, you told me not to discontinue the insulin until the sugar disappeared from the urine.


ORTHODOX medicine acts on certain fixed principles. The orthodox doctor makes a careful diagnosis, which means that he finds a name under which he can group the symptoms of which the patient complains, and if he has not sufficient experience to tell what medicine to give, he looks up the name of the so-called disease in one of his books and finds out what specifics to give. Unfortunately, most of the textbook diseases do not exist in real life.

No two asthma cases, no two cases of diabetes, no two cases of cancer or any other disease are alike. They require, therefore, individual treatment, but the unfortunate patient is not given individual treatment. The cancer patient, whatever the cancer is due to, is sent to the surgeon to be operated upon, and the diabetes case is perfunctory examined with the stethoscope etc., and then given the inevitable insulin which is described as the “specific” for that disease.

The existence of specifics for disease is a blessing for the medical man who does not wish to think or to work. He can learn by heart for heart disease give digitalis, for rheumatism give salicylates, for diabetes give insulin. Needless to say, digitalis cures very few heart cases but kills many.

Salicylates quickly remove the pain of rheumatism but produce heart disease, and insulin has not cured a single case of diabetes as far as I know; it merely enables the patient to eat a little more bread and sugar than he could eat if he did not take insulin. Incautious use of insulin is, of course, every deadly, it may lead to coma and sudden death.

The principle of orthodox medicine, the basic principle that there is a specific for every textbook disease, is absurd – one might almost call it idiotic. Exactly as one cannot produce a boot which will fit every foot of men and women and children, s one cannot produce a specific which will cure every case of asthma or every case of diabetes.

In order to show the curious way in which homoeopathy can cure textbook diseases for which there is only one specific in orthodox medicine, I would describe a most interesting case of diabetes.

On June 30th, 1934, Mr. B.J., a clergyman of Glamorgan, wrote to me: “I have been suffering from diabetes mellitus for two and a half years. The treatment I have had for it is insulin. At first I injected 40 units per day for nearly two years. At present I am injecting 15 units per day.”.

I had not the slightest desire to take on the case, knowing that diabetes is extremely difficult to deal with, especially as many diabetes are extraordinarily indifferent and unhelpful, possibly because of their exacting and restricting diet. I did not encourage him to travel from Wales to London. However, he insisted on coming and arrived on July 13th.

Mr. B.J. was 64 years old, single, came from healthy stock, had never been ill, and the only trouble he had had was piles; so he had come to the conclusion that the anal trouble was the cause of his diabetes. In 1931, he felt very weak, had a lot of boils, went to the hospital to be operated upon for piles, and then it was discovered that he had sugar in the urine.

He had had no blow or fall by which the pancreas or some other organ might have been injured. Therefore, his case seemed to be a clear case of diabetes pure and simple, a case due to the mal-functioning of the pancreas or some other organ or organs working in conjunction with the pancreas. We do not know much about the co-operation of the organs or glands of the body and it may be that, although diabetes is supposed to be a pancreatic disease, it may be due to a defect of another organ or gland or structure which acts upon the pancreas and more or less controls it.

I was determined to find the commonsense cause of his trouble apart from his devitaminized and demineralized diet which, of course, was an important causative factor. In going carefully into his physical and mental symptoms and his personal history, I discovered that 30 years ago, when he was a young man, he had experienced a terrible love disappointment which had deeply and permanently injured him. It appeared that thoughts of his lady- love, and of his great psychical injury made him very ill and caused increase of sugar contained in the urine.

The clergyman though looking like an average individual, possessed undoubtedly a great sentimental sensitiveness and I came to the conclusion that that factor was more important than his consumption of white bread and white sugar. I gave him immediately a dose of Ignatia 1000 as a test. He brightened up in a few minutes, lost his depression and was positive cheerful.

This showed to me clearly that there was a strong possibility of his diabetes being due to a psychical injury and that Ignatia might cure him. I gave him a bottle of diluted Phosphoric Acid, to which a little Nux vomica had been added as a nerve stimulant, tonic and digestive, ten drops to be taken in water after every meal. I also gave him a small helping of Ignatia 200, a dose to be taken rather rarely. That was on July 13th.

On July 16th, after three days treatment, he wrote: “I am very pleased to inform you that my analysis of the urine showed this morning that the urine was sugar free. I injected insulin only once yesterday (Sunday) instead of twice as afore-time.” I told him to reduce injections gradually with improving urine, and to test his urine three times a day as he had been advised by his doctor. On July 20th, a week after the interview, Mr. B.J. wrote: “I am happy to inform you that my depression is certainly less severe than when you saw me. I feel considerably better.

I am awfully glad to came to see you. Life has already taken a brighter and more gladsome aspect. You told me that I should presently be able to present the insulin bottle and syringe to the local museum – this is most cheering to me. It encourages me to look forward to the day when I shall be cured. In fact, I am feeling quite confident that that day is not far distant. My reaction to your treatment continues most satisfactory. I have not injected any insulin since Monday morning, and my urine is sugar free up to the time of writing.”.

On July 27th, after a fortnights treatment, the clergyman wrote to me: “You will rejoice to learn that my reaction to your treatment continues to be most satisfactory. I took three of the Ignatia pilules on Friday of last week and there has been for the last five days not even a trace of sugar in my urine. As regards your medicine, for depression, I am pleased to report an improvement in that respect.”.

On July 30th, after 17 days of treatment, he wrote: “Henceforth I shall test the urine only three times a week, and after a few weeks time, only once a week. My confidence in the curative efficiency of your medicine increases almost daily, and my heart swells with gratitude to you as I think of the amount of good you have done me.”

On August 3rd, he wrote: “Sugar in the morning specimen I regret to say is somewhat persistent. Practically every morning there is a trace of sugar. As to the depression, I am pleased to say I am much better. I am at times quite cheerful which I have not been for a long time”.

He went on holiday to Shrewsbury, had dishes of mushrooms, sugar in the urine increased, and I sent him a bottle of Syzygium mother tincture, 10 drops to be taken immediately before meals. I ordered him to leave off mushrooms and he followed my advice and immediately became better. On August 20th he wrote: “I am happy to inform you that since I have discontinued taking mushrooms my urine has again become sugar free.” On August 22nd he wrote: “I am delighted to say that my urine is still sugar free.” Needless to say, he had given up using insulin long ago. On august 25th he wrote: “My urine is still sugar free and my depression is quite gone”.

Letter after letter contained similar reports. On September 15th he wrote: “My general health has much improved since my visit to you. Your medicine has worked quite a miracle. My weight is now above the normal for my height and age. I have put on weight since I have taken to homoeopathic treatment”.

I continued to treat him mainly with Ignatia, occasionally with doses of Phosphoric Acid, Sulphur 6x for blood clearing purposes, etc., occasionally I gave him Ignatia low, such as 3x, and from time to time, he reported to me that there was improvement in various directions.

On December 1st, 1934, he wrote: “Not since 25th September have I taken any pilules. During the period there was sugar in the urine nine times, in the evening. In the morning specimens there was sugar in the urine only twice.”

That was an excellent result of doing without insulin during a considerable number of weeks. I then gave him Ignatia 30 for a change, a dose to be taken very occasionally. He wrote to me on December 4th: “The measure of my gratitude to you is inexpressible by the language at my command. There is no combination of words that can tell you all I feel for what you have done for me.”.

On February 8th 1935, he wrote: “It is really marvellous. Not for several years has my health been so good, and as to the depression, it has all gone. When I am worried there is a return of depression for the period of the upset, but as soon as the worry has ceased, depression flies away and I am in the pink of good condition. About three weeks ago I prayed as usual Lord, heal me of my diabetes.

J. Ellis Barker
James Ellis Barker 1870 – 1948 was a Jewish German lay homeopath, born in Cologne in Germany. He settled in Britain to become the editor of The Homeopathic World in 1931 (which he later renamed as Heal Thyself) for sixteen years, and he wrote a great deal about homeopathy during this time.

James Ellis Barker wrote a very large number of books, both under the name James Ellis Barker and under his real German name Otto Julius Eltzbacher, The Truth about Homœopathy; Rough Notes on Remedies with William Murray; Chronic Constipation; The Story of My Eyes; Miracles Of Healing and How They are Done; Good Health and Happiness; New Lives for Old: How to Cure the Incurable; My Testament of Healing; Cancer, the Surgeon and the Researcher; Cancer, how it is Caused, how it Can be Prevented with a foreward by William Arbuthnot Lane; Cancer and the Black Man etc.