Pepsinum
by John Henry Clarke — A Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica
Historical reference for practitioners and students. The statements below reflect the named author’s homeopathic teaching and do not establish treatment effectiveness. This text is not medical advice and must not replace appropriate diagnosis or care.
A proteolytic ferment found in the gastric juice. The Pepsin in general use is extracted from the stomach of the pig. [Alcohol, tannin, and the alkaline carbonates destroy its power. It is prepared in granular form or in glycerinated extract for general use. Homœopathic attenuations maybe made by triturating the secretory layer of a fresh pig's-stomach; by triturating the granular Pepsin with sugar of milk; or by making the lower attenuations of the liquid extracts with distilled water.]
Clinical
Dyspepsia
Characteristics
Pepsin. has been supposed to act purely as a digestive, but recent discoveries in regard to the action of the sarcodes makes this now scarcely tenable. Pepsin. may digest the contents of the stomach; but, like the secretions of other glands, it will in all probability act also, by its specific affinity, on the secretory tissues of the stomach itself.