In the late 1800s and early 1900s, ten percent of the population had contracted tuberculosis and 40 percent of the population had been exposed to it. The era signified a shift in both human immunological development and spiritual awakening, an awareness of the higher Self. The Tuberculinic diathesis is considered a response to or a result of this period.
It develops in three stages of attack: first, the liver is attacked, then, the lymphatic system, and, finally, the tissues are attacked. It is a progression of failing in dealing with an aggressor. The liver filters the blood, so any pathogen in the body must get past the liver to impregnate any other tissue. If the liver fails to defend the individual, because the function of the liver is insufficient, then the lymphatic system is the next tool for protection. Often lymph becomes overwhelmed too, and then the nodes of the lymphatic system accept the toxin or pathogen. When the intruder goes beyond the lymph, the tissues themselves must accept the aggressor-and they do this so that the organism may survive.
The most common tissue for an aggressor to settle into is the lung. This is because the lung has the closest relationship to the external world, where the mucosal lining directly interfaces with the outside air through the breath. The lung is then especially susceptible to problems in a person who generally has the experience of being attacked or challenged by someone outside himself. Respiratory pathology, such as pneumonia, bronchitis, or laryngitis, is most commonly Tuberculinic. Likewise, the body will often defend itself against a tissue attack by de-mineralizing the bone (pulling an excess of minerals out of the skeletal tissue). The use of the alkaline minerals is both a defense and protection, and a sign that this type of person tends to open himself up to spiritual or romantic events; he un-grounds himself by losing his mineral structure, thus becoming more in touch with the cosmos, or higher spheres. This is a quasi-normal reaction for an adult, but an extremely dangerous reaction for a child, as are all Tuberculinic tendencies before puberty.
More on Tuberculinism
The Tuberculinic diathesis is the diathesis of autoimmune disease. These persons are struggling with some aspect of their identity and the development of the “self” and thus can tend to attack their own tissue because their immune systems do not accurately differentiate between “self” and “other”.
Another type of Tuberculinic patient is one who suffers from mental illness. The Tuberculinic patient likes to escape his reality and thus may develop some type of mental illness or delirium. Since the Tuberculinic type seeks noble and beautiful things, we also see this trait in a less extreme form in patients who like to travel. It is important to differentiate that a Tuberculinic patient might use drugs to escape, whereas a Luetic patient would use drugs purely for pleasure.
Common Symptoms of Tuberculinic Types:
- Fatigue
- Hyper-Emotional, sentimentality
- Liver weakness
- Demineralization-hair loss, thyroid troubles (usually hyperthyroid), osteoporosis
- Venous insufficiency
- Frequent, inefficient fevers (low-grade, never above 101 F)
- Respiratory problems
- Cancer-the Tuberculinic patient escapes a conflict in an elegant manner by dying of cancer
- Problems with serous membranes-the inner membranes, such as the Pleura of the lung (pleurisy), or the pericardium (pericarditis).
