Natrum phosphoricum
Made from sodium phosphate — the biochemic acid-neutraliser, and the classical remedy of the sour, wormy, gouty child.
The whole picture, in one breath
Think of a child whose chemistry has turned sour: the sour eructations and the creamy-coated tongue, the worms with their restless misery, the gouty inheritance of the acid diathesis — and the white phosphate salt of the biochemic shelf. The sour-chemistry child: that is Natrum phosphoricum.
The substance, in plain words
Sodium phosphate is the biochemic 'acid neutraliser' — the phosphate of the body's own acid-balance, the era's answer to the sour, fermenting child. Its chemistry is humble; the biochemic school made it the remedy of acidity, worms and the gouty diathesis.
The traditional picture Classical sources
The inner state
- Anxiety and fear. The books' anxious, acid child; worry over the digestion, worse at night.
- Irritability. Cross, peevish, worse from contradiction.
- Dullness. Heavy mind with the chronic acidity.
The body
- Sourness of the whole child. The keynote: the sour eructations, sour sweat and sour stool of the books' acid chapter.
- Creamy-coated tongue. The creamy, yellow-coated tongue of the same portrait.
- Worms and their misery. The restless, picking, grinding misery of the books' worm chapter — beside Cina.
- Gouty inheritance. The acid diathesis's gouty link of the old books.
- Worse cold damp and milk. Wet weather and milk aggravate the sourness.
- Better for warm drinks and rest. Warm drinks and rest ease the fermenting stomach.
Modalities (worse and better factors)
| Worse from ⬇ | Better from ⬇ |
|---|---|
| cold damp weather; milk and sweets; night; exertion. | warm drinks; rest; the sourness passing. |
Where it acts (organ affinities)
Digestion (acidity, sourness), worms, metabolism (gouty), general vitality.
Where the classical picture comes from
The biochemic salt's proving gave the sour-child portrait; Natrum phosphoricum became the classical remedy of acidity, worms and the acid diathesis — the white phosphate serving the fermenting child of the biochemic shelf.
The substance in real medicine Pharmacology
What this section is: the pharmacology and toxicology of the source substance. It is not clinical evidence that a homeopathic preparation of it treats any condition. What controlled trials do and do not show is set out on the Evidence page.
Sodium phosphate's real medicine is indirect but genuine: phosphate is the body's essential buffer chemistry, and real acid-base disorders are modern internal medicine. The worms it served are diagnosed by simple tests and cured with real anthelmintics; the sour child is modern paediatric gastroenterology. The salt's chemistry is real; its portrait's territory has better answers.
Look-alikes (how the classical authors told it apart)
| Remedy | Looks similar because… | Tells it apart because… |
|---|---|---|
| Cina maritima | Worms | Cina is the cross, grinding, touch-me-not worm-child; Nat-phos the sour, creamy-tongued one. |
| Robinia pseudacacia | Acidity | Robinia's is the sour vomiting of hyperacidity; Nat-phos' the sour diathesis. |
| Magnesia carbonica | Colic worse milk | Mag-carb's colic is milk-aggravated; Nat-phos' the whole sour chemistry of the same milk link. |
| Rheum | The sour child | Rheum's is the sour-smelling, colicky teether; Nat-phos' the sour, wormy, coated one. |