COMPARATIVE MATERIA MEDICA

Description

One of the major challenges faced by both students and practitioners alike is to contrast or differentiate between similar remedies and remedies indicated for similar clinical conditions. A student on being introduced to the materia medica, is confused in the maze of seemingly similar appearing symptomatology. As the number of drugs goes on increasing, so does the confusion.

Similarly, the most challenging aspect of homoeopathic practice is to differentiate remedies that come up closely in a particular case and select the exact similimum This places the demand on the physician to select the similimum from the group of remedies indicated for the patient. There are not many books on materia medica that focus on a systematic tabular differentiation of remedies, leaving the physician to work out the differentiation on his own. Farrington’s Comparative Materia Medica is one of the books that eases the task with the help of key differentiators between similar remedies and remedies for a given clinical condition.

In Section I “Differentiation of similar remedies” Dr. Farrington differentiates in a tabular form, several remedies indicated for a particular clinical condition ranging from Abscess to Whooping cough arranged in an alphabetical order. The striking aspect of this section is the inclusion of only the key symptom/s meant for remedy differentiation thereby easing out the task. Section V of the book “Therapeutic hints for bed-side reference” complements this section wherein key features of important remedies of common clinical conditions are listed. Special focus in this section is on respiratory and skin conditions among other important conditions which are encountered frequently by homoeopaths in practice. A thorough perusal of this section would definitely ease prescribing at the bed-side.

Section II deals with comparisons of similar remedies under different anatomical schemas. The prominent comparisons worth mentioning are Apis & Rhus tox., Baptisia & Arnica; Calcarea carb. & Silica; Causticum & Phosphorus; Lilium tig. & Sepia; etc.

Section III, “Comparisons of remedies of the same stock” is very interesting wherein the author compares different remedies of the same group. Halogens, Kali group and Mercury group of remedies are compared. This is very important because at times we come to the indicated group leaving us confused in the final choice from the group. This section paves the way for group study which is extensively dealt with by the same author in his“Clinical Materia Medica”.

Section IV, “Comparisons of Allied remedies’ ‘, exhaustively deals with comparison by keeping one remedy in the center and comparing it with others that are commonly related under different anatomical sections. Important remedies Apis, Cantharis, Lachesis, Picric acid, Sepia & Tarantula have been dealt with in detail in this section.

Utilizing the concepts given in the book, the study can be expanded using one’s own experiences of additional clinical conditions, comparison of more polychrests and more group study like Acids, Ophidia, Natrum, Magnesiums etc. and their salts.

The book amply justifies the quote and becomes a ‘must have’ work which helps in better application at the bed-side.