Homeopathic materia medica

The homeopathic materia medica describes on the one hand the homeopathic doctrine of medicinal products as a whole, on the other hand also individual works in this area. For the historical use of the term in medicine, see the article materia medica .

A homeopathic materia medica as a single work is a collection of symptoms or so-called “images” of homeopathic medicines. It specifies the symptoms and clinical pictures that are associated with a homeopathic drug , i.e. that occurred during homeopathic drug tests , were observed in cases of poisoning or , according to homeopathic case reports, were eliminated by using the corresponding remedy. Drug teachings are often used in homeopathy to review a drug choice that was made through repertorisation . All materiae medicae have a similar structure:

• The homeopathic remedies contained are listed alphabetically, just like any other lexically structured reference work.

• The division within a remedy description follows the so-called head-to-toe scheme: First, “general symptoms” are described, followed by psychological, then organic symptoms from the head to the neck down to the feet; Final details relate to the comparison and the interrelation with and with other means. So-called modalities (that is, circumstances under which symptoms appear, disappear, get better or worse) are either listed for the individual symptoms or presented collectively at the end. The so-called key symptoms of the remedy are often summarized at the beginning.

Types of homeopathic drug teachings

Bezoar stones in an exhibition case in the German Pharmacy Museum in Heidelberg Castle

There are different types of homeopathic drug teaching. The original type, the first representative of which is Hahnemann's six-volume Reine Arzneimittelhrehre , only lists symptoms from homeopathic drug tests and observations of intoxication, occasionally with information on the dose and the time of occurrence. Further representatives of this type are the ten-volume Encyclopedia of Pure Materia Medica by Timothy Field Allen and the four-volume Cyclopedia of Drug Pathogenesy by Hughes / Dake. In these cases, detailed references are usually attached.

Another type supplements this list of symptoms with observations that come from the homeopathic use of the remedies (so-called healed symptoms) and instructions for use. Hahnemann's chronic diseases can already be assigned to this type, but the most influential representative is Constantin Hering with the ten-volume Guiding Symptoms of Our Materia Medica . John Henry Clarke's Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica is also widely used. All basic works of these types of materia medica were published in the 19th century or at the beginning of the 20th century, but are still used today.

There is also the “bedside prescriber” type, that is to say, relatively compact collections of symptoms and application tips that are intended for immediate use in practice and that usually do not include references. The most widespread representative of this type is William Boericke with his Pocket Manual of Homeopathic Materia Medica , but the medicine teachings of Henry Clay Allen, Nash, Boger and Phatak can also be attributed to him.

After all, at the end of the 19th century , James Tyler Kent established the tradition of “homeopathic medicinal images” with his Lectures on Homeopathic Materia Medica . Here the means are presented in a coherent text. A three-dimensional picture of the patient and disease type is sought for which effects of the drug are to be expected. This very influential variant of the drug theory has favored the idiom that a specific patient corresponds to a certain remedy or “is” that remedy; it is widespread in homeopathy today, but it is also highly controversial, as it not only lists symptoms with disease value, but also personality traits. Other representatives include Margaret Tyler's Homeopathic Drug Pictures or, more recently, Catherine Coulter's Portraits of Homeopathic Medicines and the Materia Medica viva by Georgos Vithoulkas .

criticism

All homeopathic drug teachings are based on the principle of similarity (cf. homeopathy ): The symptoms that a remedy can cause in healthy people are at the same time indications for use on sick people. This axiom is considered incorrect in medicine today. At most, such a similarity relationship can be established in individual cases and when viewed superficially.

The sources of the materia medica, particularly the homeopathic medicinal provings, are also the subject of constant criticism. They often date from the 19th century and were not developed using the methods of modern pharmacology . Above all, it is often impossible to check whether there is actually a connection between the remedy taken and the symptoms observed afterwards. There is usually no source criticism , and reviews are rejected by many homeopaths. Where such checks have been carried out, the results are usually not used in practice. The same applies to the observations of so-called "cured cases", which are usually inadequately documented and should rather be regarded as anecdotes.

After all, there have long been disputes within homeopathy about the evaluation of test symptoms that were achieved with so-called "high potencies", that is, preparations that no longer contain any detectable amount of the basic medicinal product. Representatives of the so-called "scientific-critical" direction of homeopathy, such as Richard Hughes, the above-mentioned author of the Cyclopedia , did not consider such symptoms usable, while the "classical" homeopaths even attach particular importance to them. In general, there is disagreement in the various homeopathic schools about the assessment.

A list of influential homeopathic drug teachings

Standard gauges

Important homeopathic medicine teachings / Materiae Medicae are for example:

• William Boericke : Handbuch der homöopathischen Materia medica , Haug, Heidelberg 1996. Source-critical translation and editing of Boericke's Pocket Manual of Homeopathic Materia Media , 9th edition from 1927. The 1st edition was published in 1901 in San Francisco, thereafter numerous revised, expanded and updated new editions.
• John Henry Clarke: An encyclopedia for the homeopathic practitioner , 10 volumes, Stefanovic, 1990 (the most detailed German-language work). Source-critical revised translation of Clarke's A Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica , 3 volumes, London 1900–1902.
• Samuel Hahnemann : Pure Medicine , 6 volumes. Reprint of the 2nd edition, Haug, Heidelberg 1995 (originally: 1822–1827).
• Constantin Hering : Kurzgefierte Arzneimittelhrehre , Narayana Verlag, Kandern 1st edition 2008 ISBN 978-3-939931-21-8 (originally: 1898 translation by Bruno Gisevius).
• Julius Mezger : Faced homeopathic medicine theory. 2 volumes, 12th edition, Haug, Stuttgart 2005 (1st edition 1949).

Important drug teachings / materiae medicae that are only available in English:

• Timothy Field Allen: The Encyclopedia of Pure Materia Medica , 10 volumes, reprint, New Delhi 1995 (originally 1874–1879).
• Richard Hughes, Jabez P. Dake: A Cyclopedia of Drug Pathogenesy , 4 volumes, reprint, New Delhi 1979 (originally: 1884-1891).
• Constantin Hering : The Guiding Symptoms of our Materia Medica , 10 volumes, reprint, Jain Publishers, New Delhi, 1974 (originally: 1879–1891).
• F. Vermeulen: Synoptic Materia Medica. Merlijn Publishers, Haarlem, 1996.

Further literature

• G. Charette: Homeopathic medicine for practice. Hippocrates, 1991.
• R. Morrison: Handbook of Key Homeopathic Symptoms and Confirmatory Symptoms. Kai Kröger, 1997.
• SR Phatak: Homeopathic Medicine. Elsevier, Urban & Fischer, 2006.
• Veronika Rampold : MINDMAT. Complete Materia Medica of the ego-related symptoms. Narayana, Kandern 1997-1998.
• K. Stauffer: Clinical homeopathic medicine. Sunday, 1998.
• ML Tyler: Homeopathic Drug Pictures. Burgdorf, 1993.
• Georgos Vithoulkas : Materia Medica viva. Burgdorf, 1991. (incomplete, so far ends with "E")
• H. Voisin: Materia medica of the homeopathic practitioner. Haug, 1991.

See also

• List of basic homeopathic substances
• List of Materia Medica of traditional Uighur medicine
• List of Materia Medica of traditional Mongolian medicine

swell

• Jan Geißler, Thomas Quak: Guide to Homeopathy , Urban & Fischer (Elsevier), 2005, ISBN 3-437-56350-5
• Josef M. Schmidt: Pocket Atlas Homeopathy in Word and Image , Karl F. Haug Fachbuchverlag, 2001, ISBN 3-8304-7089-4

Individual evidence

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