Fucus vesiculosus | Goitre & Obesity

“Fucus is a tissue-remedy of great power and must be compared with Iodine, of which it contains a large proportion.”

J.H. Clarke, Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica

Latin: Fucus vesiculosus Common: Sea wrack, Bladder wrack, Sea kelp

This plant is widely known for its beneficial action on the thyroid gland because of the large proportion of iodine and selenium, which are one of the main mineral components of the drug. The allopathic usage of the sea kelp is mostly as food supplement.

Substantial ingredients of the sea kelp are the polysaccharides fucoidan, laminarin and the alginic acid. The alginic acid is capable of absorbing water; the kelp increases its volume in the stomach and makes the absorption of carbohydrates and fats in the blood gradual. Hence the sea kelp is widely advertized as a supplement diminishing the appetite.

Sea kelp increases the activity of enzymes which favour the conversion of cholesterol into bile acids and prevent the deposition of cholesterol in vascular walls. It is also effective for inflammations of the urinary tract.

The homeopathic remedy Fucus vesiculosus is neither a panacea in thyroid disorders, nor a miraculous weight loss pill. It is indicated for treatment of enlarged thyroid gland in obese individuals.

The main principle in homeopathy, its leading rule reads that any remedy will cure, if only its picture would be clearly presented in the patient. So is the case with this remedy. It has its own particular niche of action. When prescribed homeopathically, it will diminish the size of the gland and will restore its function completely.

E.P. Anshutz, in his book ‘New Old and Forgotten Remedies: Papers by Many Writers', notes that the quality of various specimens of Fucus vesiculosus vary; and so if one specimen fails to give satisfaction it ought to be discarded and another tried. This should be borne in mind when making the mother tincture.

Fucus is neglected by most homeopaths in our days; although in many cases of goitre it is clearly indicated. The homeopathic bibliography contains number of cases of non toxic and exophthalmic thyroid, accompanied by obesity, which were cured by application of Fucus. Additional effect from the remedy appears to be the weight loss, as part of the curative process; but this is explainable with the normalized function of the gland.

Sources of information about this remedy are derived from successful cases of some homeopathic physicians, among which Dushesne Duparc, J.H. Knapp, E.P. Anshutz, E.M. Hale; not to forget the notes on Fucus of E.G. Jones in his work ‘Cancer: Its Causes, Symptoms and Treatment’. The remedial pattern of Fucus, as well as quotes from the above mentioned authors may be found in details in the ‘Homeopathic Remedy Guide’ by R. Murphy.

Fucus vesiculosus cures ill symptoms in the head, stomach and abdomen, urogenital system and chest.

I have a patient with goitre since this summer, a lady in her thirties. With her consent, here I provide a short description of her case: Her thyroid gland enlarged after the birth of her first child; during the pregnancy she had accumulated over 30 kilos body weight. Several years later she had her second child; and during that second pregnancy the gland became even larger, more pronounced on the left thyroid lobe; no change in body weight.

All these years she suffered from fits of heat and flushes on her face after eating, heaviness in stomach and nausea, flatulent bowels, burning during urination, and chronic diarrhea. Her monthly period was disordered. When she came to me the gland had been enlarged for more than 10 years, and she was hopeless about ever being able to lose some weight; for everything she had tried had failed her. I prescribed Fucus in second decimal dilution.

During the treatment her digestion ameliorated, the heaviness in stomach fade away, and the urinary discomfort disappeared. The goitre is steadily diminishing, and she lost about 5 kilos weight. We are still continuing the treatment and Fucus is working fine for her.

The course of treatment is long term. The longer the state of goitre had been present, the more time is needed for its cure.

So the remedy pattern is quite simple: headache like an iron ring pressing the forehead; indigestion with sensation of fullness and heaviness in the upper stomach, accompanied by nausea and heartburn; great flatulence in the abdomen, obstinate constipation or chronic diarrhea, or both; chronic cystitis, excessive body weight; disordered monthly period, absent or irregular.

For the preparation of the tincture you will need:

- One jar of 1 liter, made from dark glass and with wide opening;

- A graduated pitcher made from glass;

- Some filter paper; you may use coffee filter of obtain laboratory one from the drug store;

- A scissors;

- Some round and heavy, non-metal object, same size like the jar; so it could actually be put into it to press down the pulp during the extraction period;

- Mortar from glass for the crushing of the dried wrack;

- 635 ml strong alcohol (70 % ethanol should do fine) and 400 ml purified water for medicinal purposes;

- 100 grams dry Fucus vesiculosus, crashed to powder.

- A funnel for the filtering;

For the storage of the ready mother tincture

- One bottle of 1 liter, with firm stopper, and made from dark glass.

It is not that difficult to prepare homeopathic mother tincture from this plant in domestic conditions. First you need to find a dried plant with good quality. The more air vesicles the wrack has, the better tincture you shall receive. The vesicles are in pairs on either side of the midrib.

The whole plant is used. When quite dry, it is hard and brittle. It smells unpleasantly, like when you are at the seaside covered with wrack; and tastes nauseous. When you moist it, it will become soft and slimy. But first you need to crush it well to fine dust, and this is the most difficult part of this job.

Preparation

Crash the dried wrack in the mortar until it becomes like powder. Put the powder into the jar, then mix the alcohol and the water into the pitcher. Sprinkle the powdered drug with this solution to moisten it and wait a few minutes until it starts to look slimy.

Cut the filter paper and form a circle a bit larger than the bottom of the jar. Place it upon the moistened kelp and press it with the heavy object. Now carefully pour the rest of the solution from the pitcher, not to muddy it with the drug. Your purpose is to make the wrack stay on the bottom.

Afterwards you firmly plug the jar up and put it on a cool dark place, away from odor for 14 days.

Filtering

On the 15^th day open the jar. Put the funnel into the neck of your storage bottle and place filter paper above. Carefully, without shaking the jar, filter the liquid. Then press firmly with the heavy object, through the filter, to squeeze all that’s retained in the pulp, and filter it into the storage bottle.

This tincture must be stored in a cool and dark place.

From the mother tincture is easy to obtain decimal homeopathic potencies. For 2X it takes one part mother tincture, three parts purified water and six parts strong alcohol. The next decimal potency 3X is obtained by mixing one part from 2X potency with nine parts rectified spirit (95-98 %).

The dilution should be done in a container big enough, for one third from the container should remain empty for the sucussions. For further reference of homeopathic scales of dilution check this article.