Calcarea iodata

A compound of calcium and iodine (CaI₂), prepared by saturating a solution of calcium carbonate or lime with hydriodic acid. Appears as colourless crystals or powder, highly soluble in water, possessing both the nutritive qualities of calcium and the glandular-lymphatic activity of iodine.

No complete Hahnemannian proving; known from fragmentary provings, clinical experience, and pathogenesis inferred from its components (Calcarea carbonica and Iodium). Recorded in late 19th century literature, particularly in American clinical cases [Clarke, Allen].

A remedy for the scrofulous and tubercular constitution, combining calcium’s nutritive, structural support with iodine’s gland-resolving power. Its essence is slow, chronic glandular enlargement with induration, particularly in children and adolescents, often with chronic catarrh and sluggish development.

• Lymphatic glands – Particularly enlarged, indurated, scrofulous glands in neck, axilla, groin [Hering, Clarke].
• Thyroid gland – Goitre, hypertrophy, early stages of hyperplasia.
• Tonsils – Chronic hypertrophy, especially in children.
• Skin – Indurated nodules, scrofulous eruptions, ulcerations.
• Respiratory tract – Chronic catarrh with enlarged glands.
• Bone tissue – Especially in children with tubercular tendencies.

Sluggish mental function from constitutional weakness and chronic ill-health [Clarke]. Children appear dull, inattentive, with slow comprehension in school due to chronic glandular or lymphatic burden. In adults, long-standing illness causes low spirits and easy discouragement. Apathy alternating with short irritable bursts, often when glands are painful or inflamed.

Sleep heavy but unrefreshing; dreams vivid, anxious. Glandular pain occasionally disturbs rest.

Dreams of business, quarrels, or difficulties, often linked to mental burden of ill-health.

Constitution sluggish, with tendency to chronic glandular enlargement, induration, and slow resolution. Pale, delicate, flabby children with large heads and swollen neck glands. Tendency to take cold easily. A strong link to tubercular inheritance.

Low-grade evening fever in chronic glandular disease.

Chilliness in damp cold; flushes of heat in afternoon. Sweating profuse in some scrofulous cases.

Dull frontal headache, especially in the morning, worse in damp cold. In scrofulous children, large head with open fontanelles (if early enough in development), mirroring Calcarea carb. tendencies but with more glandular involvement. Pressure in temples with aggravation before storms.

Swelling of eyelids with thickened Meibomian glands. Chronic conjunctivitis in scrofulous subjects. Eyes weak from prolonged glandular drainage on system.

Chronic catarrh of middle ear with thick discharge. Enlarged peri-auricular glands tender to touch. Hearing impaired from thickened tympanic membranes [Hering].

Thick, yellow-green discharge in chronic nasal catarrh; nostrils sore, with crusts. Chronic swelling of nasal glands and adenoids in children.

Pale, waxy, often puffed in mornings. Lower face may be heavy from enlarged submaxillary glands. Skin over cheeks sometimes roughened with fine scurf in scrofulous cases.

Enlarged, indurated tonsils, almost meeting in midline, chronic in nature. Mucous membrane pale, sometimes bluish in long-standing obstruction.

Delayed dentition in scrofulous children. Teeth prone to early decay, enamel poorly formed.

Tonsils chronically hypertrophied, hard, often remaining enlarged after repeated inflammations [Clarke]. Chronic pharyngitis with thick mucus, requiring hawking in the morning. Goitrous enlargement in front of neck in adolescents.

Chronic bronchial catarrh with thick expectoration. In adolescents, chest narrow, breathing shallow; prone to repeated colds. Useful in incipient tuberculosis with marked glandular swelling [Allen].

Palpitation from slight exertion in weak, scrofulous patients.

Short breath on ascending stairs; obstruction from enlarged glands pressing on airway.

Appetite variable; sometimes ravenous in children, sometimes capricious with aversion to meat. Digestion slow in heavy glandular constitutions.

Swollen mesenteric glands palpable in thin children. Abdomen enlarged in scrofulous habitus; distension worse in evening.

Occasional constipation alternating with loose stools in glandular diseases. Pale, pasty stool common.

Urine pale, frequent in nervous subjects; occasionally dark with offensive odour in those with chronic skin eruptions.

Desire for eggs and milk; aversion to fatty meat. Craving for salt common in chronic glandular states.

Testicular enlargement of indurated nature after mumps or from chronic lymphatic infiltration.

Ovarian swelling of chronic, painless type. In adolescent girls, delayed menses due to general lymphatic sluggishness.

Stiffness and aching in cervical spine from glandular swelling. Stooped posture in adolescents with glandular hypertrophy.

Cold, clammy hands and feet in delicate constitutions. Lameness or heaviness in limbs during glandular inflammation.

Dry, rough skin in general; indurated nodules under skin in neck, axilla, or groin. Scrofulous ulcers slow to heal. In some, oily skin with tendency to acne over glandular regions.

• Calcarea carbonica – Similar sluggish, flabby constitution; Calc-iod. has more glandular enlargement and induration.
• Iodium – Marked emaciation with voracious appetite and heat; Calc-iod. slower, more scrofulous picture.
• Baryta carbonica – Enlarged glands in timid, underdeveloped children; Calc-iod. less mental backwardness, more tissue induration.
• Silicea – Chronic suppurating glands; Calc-iod. more for induration before suppuration.

• Complementary: Ferrum phos., Silicea, Baryta mur.
• Antidotes: Hepar sulph., Ipecac.
• Follows well: After Hepar sulph. when glands remain hard and enlarged.

• Highly effective for chronically enlarged tonsils in children, especially when hard and painless [Clarke].
• Useful in early goitre with tubercular background.
• Consider in adenoid hypertrophy with cervical gland enlargement.
• Can help resolve hard, non-suppurating lymph nodes after repeated throat infections.

Mind:

• Sluggish comprehension in scrofulous children.
• Apathy alternating with irritability.

Throat:

• Tonsils chronically hypertrophied.
• Goitre in adolescents.

Neck:

• Cervical glands enlarged, hard, painless.

Skin:

• Indurated nodules in glandular regions.
• Scrofulous ulcers.

Generalities:

• Chronic glandular enlargement without suppuration.
• Tendency to take cold easily.

1. Clarke, J.H. – A Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica: Primary source for glandular and throat indications.
2. Allen, T.F. – Encyclopaedia of Pure Materia Medica: Collated proving fragments and clinical cases.
3. Hering, C. – Guiding Symptoms: Lymphatic and glandular action.
4. Boericke, W. – Pocket Manual: Concise keynotes for glandular hypertrophy.
5. Hughes, R. – Pharmacodynamics: Chemical nature and therapeutic relevance of iodides.
6. Farrington, E.A. – Clinical Materia Medica: Glandular remedies comparison.
7. Kent, J.T. – Lectures: Miasmatic and constitutional context.
8. Boger, C.M. – Synoptic Key: Modalities and generalities.
9. Nash, E.B. – Leaders: Indications for chronic gland affections.
10. Lippe, A. – Keynotes: Brief but reliable notes on glandular affinity.