HOMEOPATHIC RESEARCH

- Nux moschata : three cases (J. Cicchetti)  Nux Moschata was proved by Dr. Helbig in 1833. Many of the symptoms have been obtained from poisonings. The nutmeg tree grows to thirty feet high, begins bearing fruit in the seventh or eighth year, and then continues to do so for the next seventy or eighty years. The ground nut is used in cooking and a distillation of the oil, Myristica oil, has been used in medicine as a flavoring agent, carminative, and as a local stimulant to the gastrointestinal tract. The main active ingredient, Myristicin, is a poisonous narcotic.  Nux moschata   Case 1   In the spring of 1996, I became aware that an acquaintance of mine was having one accident after another. The accidents became more and more serious, including one that almost cost her life. Later she began to have strange physical symptoms-severe gas and bloating-and went from one doctor to another, receiving no help or even a clear diagnosis. I couldn't stand to...

- J. Cicchetti, Case 3  Sandra is a 40-year-old businesswoman, married with three children. She comes to me because she wants to strengthen her immune system.  "I'm the mom. I get sick when my kids bring things home."  "I'm beginning to feel the symptoms of arthritis. I can feel it in my fingers."  "Horrible menstrual cramps with PMS-very sleepy, emotional, angry." (Feels better as soon as the flow starts. Menses are beginning to be irregular.)  "Whenever I was taking a self-help seminar or doing yoga or meditation and I had my period, I didn't have cramps."  "I'm in a stage of my life where I want to get away from everything, my work, my kids."  "I'm very creative and artistic, but I haven't done much of this in the past five or six years."  "I need to get away now. Mother overload. I love my kids, but I don't like the maintenance."  Sandra has dark red hair and lots of freck...

- Reviewed by rochelle d. jobes, rn  In the introduction to Portraits of Homoeopathic Medicines, Volume 3 (1998), Catherine R. Coulter provides us with an eloquent overview of the homeopath's challenge, embodied in four lines of William Blake's poem, "Auguries of Innocence":  To see the world in a grain of sand And heaven in a wild flower Hold infinity in the palm of your hand, And eternity in an hour.  Coulter's intent in this volume is to elucidate "beyond the existing limits of a remedy picture, while simultaneously acknowledging at every step its time-honored features." She delves deeply and most engagingly into the whole of the remedy, its creative and destructive faces (the "world"), the spiritual characteristics ("heaven"), the expression of the remedy in relation to a host of other constitutional types ("infinity") and the unconscious impulses, drives and challenges through which its archetypal patterns can be ...

 -  Reviewed by john d. melnychuk, rshom (na)  I loved this book! The dynamic duo from Edmonds, WA, have produced another winner!  Prozac Free is intended for the general public. It is successful as it provides an accessible and realistic description of the beautiful results that homeopathy can yield for people suffering from mental and emotional illnesses. One reason I like the book is because it is balanced in its discussion of the pros and cons of allopathic medicine, and in its presentation of the limitations and fantastic potential of homeopathy. These experienced practitioners recognise and provide a realistic view of the usefulness and limitations of the many healing approaches available to us. The book is fair to homeopathy and to allopathic medicine. It is written responsibly, and is a refreshingly candid presentation.  The book contains a succinct, but not overly-simplified description of the basic theory and practice of homeopathy. I was very ha...

- Edited by abdur rehman.  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...

- By j.a.  mirilli, m.d.  Reviewed by carolyn hallett  Dr. Mirilli's Thematic Repertory and Materia Medica reorganizes the mind section of the repertory into themes that make meaningful connections between related rubrics, rather than listing rubrics alphabetically. This format seems to bring the repertory alive in a way that allows the homeopath, at a glance, to view the whole series of related rubrics for any given mental symptom. The last 200 pages of the text are an alphabetical materia medica consisting of pure proving symptoms with notations as to the homeopath who conducted the proving from which the symptom derives.  In a way, each mental symptom in a repertory has a story behind it, but the standard alphabetical repertory form, by necessity, has separated that story from the symptom. The context becomes completely lost, and the symptom stands alone. So repertorization can be a bit like trying to demonstrate to someone what carrot cake tastes like by g...

- Judyth reichenberg-ullman, nd, dhanp and robert ullman, nd, dhanp  The climate for alternative medicine in the United States is more favorable now than ever before, at least since the late 1800's when homeopathy had its heyday. There is a growing demand for alternative health care practitioners that is becoming recognized by health care plans and HMO's. We have been practicing as naturopathic physicians specializing in homeopathy for 15 years, and studying homeopathy for 20 years. We've been very involved in homeopathic politics for about 10 years. Add to this the fact that Judyth just turned 50 and faced the challenge of breast cancer. Most recently, the IFH, with which we have been very closely involved for eight years, is in the process of dissolving. All of these factors have inspired us to think a lot about where homeopathy in America has come and where we are going.  As most of you are well aware, homeopathy thrived in the mid- 1800's until around 1910, the...

Ahmed n. currim. m.d. , ph.d.    (This paper was presented at the LIGA meeting in Washington, D.C. , March 1987).  Introduction   Ihad already realized, as a medical student in 1972, that the third and later American editions of Kent's Repertory had many printing mistakes. It was surprising that these errors had not been rectified by Dr. Kent. However, on closer examination, I realized that the publication of the third edition appeared after June 5, 1916, the date of Dr. Kent's death. It occurred to me that Dr. Kent never had the chance to correct these errors.  Logically, I tried to locate the second edition of the Repertory.   I spoke to Mr. Roger Ehrhart in 1972, while he was still alive, but he could not give me much help. He was the last surviving member of the Ehrhart family, who owned the famous homeopathic pharmacy of Ehrhart and Karl and were the original publishers of the third, fourth, fifth and sixth American editions of the ...

- Carolyn Hallett, Editor  A strange thing happened as this issue of The American Homeopath was coalescing. I determined the issue would be dedicated to Samuel Hahnemann, with the theme being the subject of 'provings', and knew it would be important to interview, among others, Jeremy Sherr because of his enormous contribution to this area of homeopathy. Surprisingly, before we broadcast the focus of the issue, homeopaths from all over began submitting cases cured with remedies that had been proven by the Dynamis School. First a Germanium case, then Androctonus, Plutonium Nitricum, Hydrogen and another Germanium and so on. Initially, none of the homeopaths submitting articles knew about the theme of the issue, nor did they know that Sherr's work would be featured.  Then, while reviewing the interview with the Rhus Tox Study Group (See page 111) I came across a comment by Jennifer Jacobs about "morphic resonance." Morphic resonance is the concept hypothesized b...

 This issue of The American Homeopath is the first of the new century and millennium. It has been said that homeopathy is the medicine of the twenty-first century. Allopathic thought spread its tentacles over the last thousand years, providing reductionist and violent answers to the problems of health, economics, society and ecology. As the millennium drew to its conclusion a new consciousness evolved. Holistic concepts in science, art and medicine have changed our perceptions and actions.  Time magazine voted Albert Einstein as "Man of the Century". I think that most of us would choose Samuel Hahnemann as 'Man of the Millennium'. Hahnemann was a genius, far ahead of his time. His discoveries were so radical that the world has only recently become ready to accept them. Like Einstein, Hahnemann perceived the bigger picture, transformed matter into energy, curved space and time. Like Einstein, Hahnemann hoped that his discoveries would be used to make the world a be...

- Letter from the president of NASH (Miranda Castro FSHom, RSHom(NA), CCH)  NASH has worked hard over this last year and through our many activities continues to go from strength to strength. There is growing acknowledgement, not just from within this organization, that NASH is one of the most dynamic homeopathic groups in North America.  We who are NASH are an interesting and dedicated group of individuals. We bring a tremendous diversity of experiences, skills, backgrounds and opinions to this organization and to our work. We are still such a small organization that any one person can, has and does make a big difference. We are building substance and good will with the larger homeopathic community as well. This year, doors, which were formerly shut, are now opening. The AIH has invited NASH to participate at their Centennial conference in June of 2000.  Most importantly of all, we who are NASH are building community. We are getting to know each other as people. It...

An interview with Louis Klein, RSHom (NA) (C. Hallett)  AH: Let's talk about provings. Who are the provers in your provings?  KL: Well, first of all, without the participants who are students in the Homeopathic Master Clinician (HMC) course, these provings would not take place. So it is really the HMC provings we are talking about. By the way, being a student in the course does not mean that you are "required" to participate in a proving. It is definitely something outside of the course, that a few students volunteer to do on their own volition. I believe this consent is fundamental to provings; that the prover makes an active choice to become a prover or supervisor. We sign an agreement that is based on the Helsinki Human Experimentation Accord that basically lays out the intention of everyone's involvement and what can and cannot happen. It has worked very well.  AH: What kinds of things does your Helsinki Accord-based agreement say about what can and cannot h...