Such infections cause considerable damage to the immune system, the vital force, and the constitution. The etiology of a disease, the constitution and temperament of the individual, and the totality of the signs and symptoms, are three factors forming the complete picture of an illness. In homeopathy we often speak of the totality of the symptoms as the basis of selecting a remedy, but sometimes we forget to include the causative factors, the miasms, and the nature of the physical constitution of the individual. Understanding the innate constitution is fundamental to homeopathic treatment because it holds the keys to an individual's susceptibility as well as the inherited effects of the chronic miasms. This is why Hahnemann included a complete physical description of each individual constitution when taking a case history.
Some constitutions are thin, quick and warm, while others are slow, cold and flabby.
The physical characteristics of various constitutions have become associated with different miasms and their constitutional remedies. For example, Phosphorus is well adapted to tall slender, narrow chested, sanguine temperaments who have delicate eyelashes, soft hair and are deeply affected by the TB miasm. Asteria Rubens, on the other hand, is more indicated in flabby, chilly, lymphatic constitutions that are affected by sycosis or the cancer miasm. Each of these constitutions responds to the same stimuli in a completely different manner which helps to determine their anti-miasmic remedies.