Calcarea hypophosphorosa

A chemical compound formed from calcium and hypophosphorous acid (Ca(H₂PO₂)₂), appearing as a white crystalline powder, soluble in water. Prepared in homeopathy by trituration of the pure salt. Known chemically as a source of both calcium and phosphorus, elements vital to bone, nerve, and metabolic function.

No complete Hahnemannian proving exists; knowledge is derived from clinical use, partial provings, toxicological data, and analogy with other calcium and phosphorus salts (notably Calcarea phosphorica and Phosphorus). First recorded homeopathic uses date from late 19th century clinical notes in cases of phthisis and debility [Clarke].

A restorative remedy for the delicate, rapidly growing, or constitutionally weak, especially when the lungs and nutrition are compromised. Bridges the gap between Calcarea phosphorica’s bone-building and Phosphorus’s lung affinity, acting as a direct nutrient stimulant in the debilitated. Night sweats, early chest weakness, and inability to gain weight despite fair appetite are keynote.

• Lungs: Chronic bronchitis, incipient tuberculosis, wasting coughs [Clarke].
• Nutrition and metabolism: Deficient assimilation, tissue wasting, malnutrition.
• Bones: Poor ossification, rickets, delayed healing of fractures.
• Nervous system: Nervous debility, mental prostration.
• Blood: Anaemia, lowered vitality after chronic disease.
• Glands: Chronic glandular enlargement from poor nutrition.

The mental state is dominated by fatigue and lack of stamina, both mental and physical. The patient feels enervated, listless, and often unable to apply themselves to sustained thought [Clarke]. There is a tendency to mild depression from weakness rather than emotional grief—an exhaustion-induced melancholy. Memory is dull; mental application brings on headache and drowsiness. Apathy toward surroundings, yet restlessness in the evening from nervous weakness. The tubercular background often manifests as alternating enthusiasm and collapse.

Light, unrefreshing sleep. Night sweats, especially on upper body.

Dreams of exertion, business, or climbing—reflective of fatigue states.

Profound weakness from defective nutrition; inability to resist disease. Pale, delicate constitutions; young persons growing rapidly but without corresponding strength. Tubercular family history common.

Low-grade evening fevers in incipient tuberculosis.

Chilliness in damp weather; flushes of heat on slight exertion. Profuse night sweats with debility.

Dull, heavy headache from mental or physical exertion. A feeling of pressure at the temples, worse in the evening. Pale face with a tendency to flushing on slight exertion. In adolescents with rapid growth, headaches occur from strain and anaemia.

Eyes appear sunken, with bluish circles underneath in chronic wasting states. Photophobia from general debility. Vision blurs after reading, with aching of ocular muscles.

Occasional tinnitus, especially in anaemic subjects. Hearing may be dull in debilitated states.

Nasal catarrh with chronic, thin discharge in weak, scrofulous children. Tendency to nosebleeds in phthisical patients.

Pale, sallow complexion with drawn features. Lips pale or slightly bluish. In tuberculosis, cheeks may show circumscribed redness.

Tongue pale, often flabby with teeth marks. Taste flat or metallic. Mouth dryness at night.

Delayed dentition in children with poor nutrition. Enamel poorly formed.

Chronic, painless enlargement of tonsils. Sensation of weakness in swallowing from pharyngeal muscle debility.

Primary field of action. Chronic, dry or slightly expectorant cough from lung weakness; worse at night, on exertion, or in damp weather [Clarke, Allen]. In early tuberculosis, cough is accompanied by weight and oppression in the chest, easy flushing, and night sweats. Sputum scanty, sometimes streaked with blood in incipient cases. Breathing short and rapid on exertion.

Palpitation from exertion or excitement. Pulse small and rapid.

Dyspnoea on slight exertion. In advanced cases, breathlessness on lying down from pulmonary weakness.

Appetite poor, though occasionally capricious with craving for nutritious food. In some cases, appetite is good but assimilation is defective, leading to emaciation. Digestion slow, with a sense of weight after small meals.

Abdomen flat or sunken in wasting diseases; distended in rickets. Chronic mesenteric gland enlargement in scrofulous children.

Occasional constipation from muscular debility. Stools pale, sometimes loose in wasting disease.

Urine pale and abundant in chronic debility. In some cases, scanty with low specific gravity.

Desire for milk and nourishing food; aversion to fatty or rich dishes.

Sexual power diminished from constitutional weakness. Emissions frequent in young men with nervous exhaustion.

In women, delayed menses in anaemic girls; menses pale and scanty in chronic illness. Useful in postpartum weakness with poor milk supply.

Weakness in dorsal spine. Backache in lumbar region from prolonged standing.

Lassitude of limbs; tremulous weakness. Poor muscular development in children. In growing adolescents, limb pains from rapid bone growth and insufficient mineralisation.

Pale, thin, dry skin in chronic debility. In children, skin may be flabby with poor tone. Wounds slow to heal; tendency to superficial ulceration in low states.

• Calcarea phosphorica – Similar in bone and growth disorders but more marked in delayed closure of fontanelles and bone pains; Calc-hypophos. more suited to post-illness debility and early phthisis.
• Phosphorus – Marked chest symptoms, haemorrhagic tendency, and burning sensations; Calc-hypophos. has more nutritive focus.
• Ferrum phosphoricum – Anaemia with inflammatory tendency; Calc-hypophos. lacks the acute inflammatory picture.
• Tuberculinum – Constitutional remedy for tubercular diathesis; broader action but not a direct nutritive restorer like Calc-hypophos.

• Complementary: Ferrum phos., Calcarea phos., Phosphorus.
• Antidotes: Camphor (chemical antidote in crude form).
• Follows well: After convalescent use of Phosphoric acid or China.

• Valuable in incipient phthisis with debility and night sweats [Clarke].
• Useful in children with slow bone development and chronic glandular enlargement.
• In convalescence after fevers, helps restore weight and energy.
• May be considered in postpartum women with poor milk secretion and exhaustion

Mind:

• Apathy from weakness.
• Mental exhaustion from slight effort.

Chest:

• Cough in phthisical subjects.
• Oppression of chest from weakness.

Generalities:

• Night sweats with debility.
• Weakness after rapid growth.
• Emaciation despite good appetite.

Skin:

• Slow healing of wounds.
• Pale, thin skin in chronic illness.

Extremities:

• Limb pains from rapid growth.
• Muscular weakness in adolescents.

1. Clarke, J.H. – A Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica: Clinical notes on phthisis and wasting diseases.
2. Allen, T.F. – Encyclopaedia of Pure Materia Medica: Comparative analysis with other calcium salts.
3. Hughes, R. – Manual of Pharmacodynamics: Chemical properties and nutritive action.
4. Boericke, W. – Pocket Manual: Condensed indications for debility and lung weakness.
5. Farrington, E.A. – Clinical Materia Medica: Position of Calc-hypophos. in nutritive remedies.
6. Nash, E.B. – Leaders: Use in anaemic, weak constitutions.
7. Kent, J.T. – Lectures: Remarks on calcium remedies in the tubercular diathesis.
8. Boger, C.M. – Synoptic Key: Generalities in chronic wasting.
9. Dewey, W.A. – Practical Therapeutics: Convalescent tonic applications.
10. Hering, C. – Guiding Symptoms: Notes on related symptoms in allied salts.