Encyclopedia of Remedy Relationship in homoeopathy

Review

This book review is reprinted with the permission of the Homeopathic Academy of Naturopathic Physicians

Reviewed by Barbara Osawa CCH

The topic of remedy relationships is not frequently addressed in modem times. This is surprising in that contemporary homeopaths most frequently deal with complex, chronic cases with a history of much previous treatment. In the management of these chronic cases or complicated acutes, the need to be aware of potential complements, intercurrents, antidotes- essentially, the relationship of remedies-is essential for effective case management.

The clinical information on remedy relationships is scattered throughout our literature, appearing as early as Hahnemann's Materia Medica Pura. For example, he writes in his introduction to Calcarea carbonica, When Nitric acid, given previously, though selected apparently properly, yet acts in some respects unfavorably, then Calcarea carbonica may generally be profitably employed; so any also any unfavorable effects of Calcarea carbonica even when properly selected, may be neutralized by following it with Nitric acid and the effects will be changed into favorable ones.

If your Calcarea carbonica case is acting poorly, you might want to know Hahnemann mentions this!

Other well-known authors such as Boenninghausen, Farrington, Kent, and Allen in his Encyclopedia have added information on relationships to their materia medicas. J. H. Clarke, in his Dictionary, made the most complete list of the relationships known at that time. Many other references can be found in journals and clinical texts. The widespread nature of the material has proved a daunting obstacle to study until Dr. Rehman provided us with this encyclopedia. He has gathered all the references available in English, German, French, and Urdu, making this the most comprehensive book on remedy relationships ever written.

The value of these references can't be overestimated. For example, under the complementary relationships of Lycopodium, there is a note from F. E. Gladwin, "Lachesis can often finish up a case that Lycopodium has been at work upon but cannot finish," and another from J. H. Clarke, "Ipecac is will complement Lycopodium in capillary bronchitis worse on tight side, sputa yellow and thick."

Under Hamamelis virginiana, we read a note from E. A. Farrington that "Mercurius follows in epistaxis when Hamamelis virginiana fails." So, when you've had a case that had done well on a remedy, but certain symptoms persist, studying these relationships based on the cumulative clinical experience others have had with these remedies and conditions is extremely valuable. A couple more notes on Hamamelis virginiana that I can't resist sharing: "Look to Calcarea carbonica, Calendula and Carbo vegetabilis to get reaction in venous stasis cases," and "Chamomilla, China or Collinsonia in hemorrhoids after confinement, Graphites as a preventative for varicose ulcers..." I could go on. This book is full of invaluable clinical tidbits like this that cannot be found collected in any other single place.

The book was planned with work in mind. It's a well-bound, hardcover book, small and easy to carry around. The material is presented with an easy-to-read graphic layout in a two-column style. Detailed references from 191 authors and 275 books are listed under headings such as Miasm, Temperament, Laterality, Duration, Foods to be avoided, Bowel Nosodes, Complementary Remedies, Inimical, Antidotes, Collaterals, and Remarks.

The related remedy references are based on Clarke's Clinical Repertory; all other authors appear with a superscript. The notations are clearly marked with brackets and the remedies are in bold, so reading the many references listed is made as easy as possible. There is an alphabetical author list but no numerical list-the only drawback of the book. As I found the book so useful, I made a numerical index of authors and pasted it in the front inside cover for easy reference. There are also extra pages in the back for your own additional notes. The cost is reflected the quality binding.

With the use mine has already gotten in the last two months, it will rank with other favorites I paid dearly for, like Vermueulen's Concordant, in needing to hold up to being frequently carted about. In time, the real value of classic works such as this will be evident.

 

This book review is reprinted with permission from The American Homeopath.

Reviewed by Steve Waldstein, RSHom (NA)

Up until now, our main information on remedy relationships has come from a chart done by R. Gibson Miller, which has been reprinted in the back of Boericke's Materia Medica. We also have all read snippets of information from various other authors on this topic. But in this book, Abdur Rehman has done a masterly job of collecting, from a wide range of sources, almost everything which has been written on this topic from at least 180 authors. Like any such collection, the information is only as good as the original sources. The authors range from totally reliable to some I would take with a grain of salt. But since the sources of most entries are clearly marked, it is easy to see which to take seriously.

The book covers 665 remedies. For each remedy there is information from the following categories, although entries for each category are not necessarily available for each remedy.

The associated miasm or miasms, i.e. psora, sycosis, tubercular and syphilis.

The associated temperaments-choleric, melancholic, phlegmatic and sanguine.

Laterality-right sided, left sided and other variants.

The related bowel nosode.

Duration- this supposedly indicates how long a remedy acts, though I have never found such information useful.

Miscellaneous remarks about when to administer, and the relationship to other remedies.

Foods to be avoided with the remedy.

Foods to be encouraged.

Complementary remedies-"that continues or completes the action of a drug that has acted previously, without disturbing the curative action of the previously given remedy."

Followed well by-remedies to be considered for a second prescription.

Inimical-remedies to avoid for a second prescription.

Antidotes-remedies that antidote the effects of a remedy.

Collaterals-remedies that are similar to the indicated remedy. To be considered instead of the remedy.

The issue of remedy relationships is one of great controversy, since much of this data is not terribly reliable. But mixed in this collection is also a large amount of good useful information. The more we can understand these relationships, the more exact our prescribing can be, especially on second and subsequent prescriptions. As Dr. P.S. Krishnamurty says in his introduction, "It is a fallacy and blissful ignorance according to homeopathic scientific therapeutics, to use indiscriminately homeopathic drugs in the treatment of a patient without an expert knowledge in drug relationships."

The book is published in Germany and is well printed, with a good binding. The print is rather small, but readable. The cost of $85 is high for a 5 3/4" x 8 1/2", 362 page book. In all, it is a good addition to the homeopathic literature.
Highly recommended.

The American Homeopath - 1999

 

This book review is reprinted with the permission of the National Center for Homeopathy

Reviewed by Mary Glaisyer, RSHom

I have always been grateful to Sheilagh Creasy, RSHom, for introducing me to the relationship of remedies. This new book, The Encyclopedia of Remedy Relationships in Homoeopathy, is a mighty step forward. Author Abdur Rehman has spent ten years researching it. I am delighted that now when I refer to a relationship of remedies book, I am far more likely to find a list of "complementary/follows well" remedies rather than a disappointing dash. Where this book wins hands down over our tried and trusted Sankaran [The Clinical Relationship of Homeopathic Remedies] and my more recently acquired Chitkara [Relationships of Homeopathic Remedies] is not only in its comprehensiveness but also in its scholarship. Each remedy is annotated and you can look up which author suggested, for example, that Lachesis follows Lilium tigrinum well. (Margery Blackie and D.C.D. Gupta both thought it a good idea.)

Although this is not a cumbersome book, I think some of the information it contains could well be ditched. The duration of action of remedies is included as Abdur Rehman holds that, "although dependent upon many aspects in each individual (it) has been incorporated for readers who may need to refer to it." It's time the duration of remedies was given a decent burial. As Dr. Krishnamurty points out in his introduction to the book, the duration of action of the remedy depends upon the individual patient. It does seem strange that the publisher should have included an introduction which states that some of the information in this book is rubbish!

Mr. Rehman includes a section not found in similar reference works: "foods to be avoided" and "foods to be encouraged." He says, "(They) have been mainly taken from the homeopathic materia medica and repertories where they appear under headings of agg. and amel. respectively." For example the Thuja patient should avoid apples, beer, coffee, fats, fish, onions, rich foods, tea and warm food. Now apart from the practicality of this regime, I doubt its wisdom. We may discover our patient is aggravated by the above and this confirms our prescription of Thuja. However, once the patient has responded to Thuja, then the onions, etc., which used to aggravate are less likely to do so. Why encumber the patient with unnecessary dietary restrictions?

Mr. Rehman incorporates a section for each remedy entitled, "Collaterals." "The collateral remedy is one which runs parallel to the remedy given previously. One among the list can be selected as an alternative drug to the previously given one, if needed, on indications of the patient in question." If, for instance, one has given Thiosinaminum for scar tissue and there has been no response, then a list of other scar tissue remedies could be really useful. Whether the list of collaterals to the polychrests is as helpful at the moment I doubt. I will find out soon because I am certainly buying this book.

Mary Glaisyer, RSHom, has a full-time practice in Nelson, New Zealand.

February 1999

This book review is reprinted from the British Homoeopathic Journal Vol 87, October 1998, with permission from Peter Fisher, Editor.

Dr. Rehman states that this work has taken him 16 years to compile, which really is no surprise. This is a work requiring immense scholarship and attention to detail. Professor Diwan Harish Chand comments:

'The tremendous study, devotion and hard work that has gone into its writing is something to be admired .... he has collected the material and compiled it in a tabulated form with cross-references.... unparalleled in homoeopathic literature.... (He covers) a wide canvas (of) 191 authors and 275 books .... in English, German, French and Urdu.' (686 remedies are considered.) He must be right in saying that 'this work greatly enlarges the scope of the previously existing books on the subject.'

The book is laid out in two columns per page, using a small typeface. Each remedy is considered under at least five headings: Complementary; Followed well by; Inimical; Antidotes; and Collaterals;. A major remedy also has Miasm, Temperament, Laterality, Related Bowel nosode, Duration of action, Foods to be eaten and to avoid, and a Remarks section. Accepting the immense scholarship, and the immense labour taken in creating this volume, there remain questions: How reliable is the information? And even if it is reliable, how useful is it in clinical practice?

Taking the first of these, there is the huge bibliography already referred to. It includes authors who write in English, German and French. A curious omission is Dr. Gibson-Miller's booklet on the same subject. A major source is JH Clarke's Clinical Repertory; the Miasms, Laterality and Food headings are from Schmidt and Chand's edition of Kent's Repertory, and that on Temperaments is from Flury. Where this is not so, the source is stated. Unfortunately, tracing the reference number is tedious with the way the bibliography is arranged. Clearly, we are not expected to question the source material. Unfortunately, too, many of the references are of descriptive books or articles in which the particular 'fact' is unsubstantiated and may well only be a clinical impression. Its reliability is therefore questionable. In the past authors could use such authority and still be accepted, but nowadays, when other major works are being much more carefully annotated with proven source material, a work we are expected to take as a reliable reference should have the same degree of backing. In many instances this may be unavailable. What research has been carried out on the way in which remedies interact with each other? Surely it is all based on that most dubious authority: clinical impression.

If we accept the inevitable limitation of its accuracy, how useful is it? The authors naturally say that knowledge of relationships is valuable in clinical practice. They have been available in a more modest way before, but all the teaching I have had has placed 'the related remedy' fairly well down the list of considerations, when a change of remedy is indicated. Experience has emphasized some progressions, such as the Calc-Lyc-Sul triad, or the related bowel nosode after the well-indicated remedy. Many of those in this volume are far less well-known, and I suspect less well-justified by experience. The duration of action is something which surely varies from case to case, and which one observes in a given patient, rather than accepts from a theoretical standpoint.

The division into the four main miasms is interesting, but most of us can work it out from the materia medica of the remedy. It makes a good teaching subject, but few outside South America and Mexico make substantial routine use of miasm theory. The four temperaments are again not generally recognised as important prescribing indicators, although they do make an interesting addition to our ways of understanding each remedy. I found it confusing in the polychrest entries to see so many remedies entered, often under each of the main headings. Under Sulphur, for example, Calcarea, Mercurius, Pulsatilla, and Rhus toxicodendron occur under Complementary, Followed well by, Inimical, Antidote and Collateral! What are we to conclude?

Laterality and the information on foods may sometimes be more or less detailed than the standard repertory entries, and in the former case the source's accuracy is possibly suspect. Such information is as easily obtained from the repertory. The collateral entries are interesting, and may point the way to the consideration of alternative remedies, but again, they compete with repertory entries for specific symptoms, and the repertory may be more complete.

This is certainly a reference book: it contains far too much information for most of us to try to retain. Although for emphasis the Kentian system of capitals and italics is used, there is so much information that I doubt that the really important facts are sufficiently highlighted for the work to be used as a textbook except by the advanced student.

I feel quite churlish, being so critical of what I acknowledge to be a Herculean labour genuinely undertaken, but the question-marks hanging over it remain. Those who like to collect books will no doubt buy and enjoy it, but those on a limited budget would do better to study it in a library first. It contains the sort of information which computer enthusiasts will want to have available via that medium.

JOHN M. ENGLISH

British Homoeopathic Journal
October 1998