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Sankaran's Situational Materia Medica
Volume 83, Number 4, October 1994
part of volume 3 of Guiding Symptoms. His retention had been to support the materia medica by listing 'guiding symptoms' that had proved particularly reliable in practice. He used bar symbols to indicate 'confirmed', ' f r e q u e n t l y c o n f i r m e d ' , ' v e r i f i e d ' and 'repeatedly verified' symptoms. These terms are difficult to interpret. Difficulties also arise because the same bar symbols are used by Hering's successors in volumes 3-10, but they do not mean the same thing as in volumes 1 and 2. The work continues to be of value, but it needs to be brought up to date and clarified. Until now, only G. v. Keller has made the attempt to produce monographs giving all known symptoms of a drug. The author also suggests new criteria for the publication of case histories, which are summarized below. - - C o m p l e t e history, in the patient's own words - - F o l l o w up s y m p t o m s not p r e v i o u s l y recorded for the prescribed drug, adding them to the materia medica as clinical symptoms if they disappear in the course of treatment. - - T a k e special note also of symptoms which have not been verified to date. - - A t the end of the report, clearly list symptoms that have responded and those that have not. Archivfiir HomOopathie 1994; 3: 5-14.
Treatment of tuberculosis K. BANDELIN The author h o p e s that the i n c l u s i o n of homoeopathy in the medical school curriculum in Germany will ultimately lead to a more open-minded attitude and that it will be possible again to treat inpatients with serious conditions homoeopathically. The case of a 30-year-old woman with TB is described who previously had not responded to Natrum mur. (desire for salt, will not cry in front of others, etc.). Repertorization indicated Calc. carb. The patient made a full recovery. Allg HomOop Ztg 1994; 239: 93-99. Sankaran's Situational Materia Medica H. RETZEK The first in a series of papers in which the author intends to offer insights into the Situational Materia Medica (SMM), a theo-
235 retical philosophical concept of understanding d i s e a s e r e c e n t l y d e v e l o p e d by R. Sankaran. In drug provings, the characteristics of PNEI-axis (psychology, autonomic nervous system, endocrine system, immune system) dysfunction emerge clearly, whereas local symptoms may partly depend on the prover's pathological tendencies. This suggests that the choice of homoeopathic medicine should be based mainly on the symptoms of the central disorder. Allg HomOop Ztg 1994; 239: 100-7.
Hahnemann's technique H. SEILER The evolution of Hahnemann's method of practising homoeopathic medicine is shown on the basis of 3 case records. It is possible to distinguish 4 stages of evolution: - - I n i t i a l l y Hahnemann used unpotentized medicines according to the law of similars, giving daily or more frequent doses even in chronic cases. --Frequent severe reactions to this induced Hahnemann to use increasingly higher potencies at increasingly longer intervals, finally letting the patient merely sniff a 30c potency. - - T o accelerate progress he later returned to repeated doses of the same medicine in decreasing c potencies. The pilules were dissolved in dilute alcohol and taken daily over a period of 7-20 days. --Finally the LM or Q potencies were introduced to achieve o p t i m u m effect. The method was as before, but with the potencies increasing. Allg Homgop Ztg 1994; 239: 108-17. ObituaryDDr H. G. Wolff K. H, GEBHARDT Dr Wolff, veterinary surgeon, died on 24 February 1994, just after his 74th birthday. His handbooks have made homoeopathy well known in veterinary medicine, even outside Germany (Homoeopathic Medicine for Dogs appeared in English in 1984, published by Thorsons--reviewer). The papers he read at national and international congresses always had a sound scientific basis. For many years, Dr Wolff was the Treasurer of the Central M e d i c a l H o m o e o p a t h i c A s s o c i a t i o n in Germany, a function carried out most suc-
part of volume 3 of Guiding Symptoms. His retention had been to support the materia medica by listing 'guiding symptoms' that had proved particularly reliable in practice. He used bar symbols to indicate 'confirmed', ' f r e q u e n t l y c o n f i r m e d ' , ' v e r i f i e d ' and 'repeatedly verified' symptoms. These terms are difficult to interpret. Difficulties also arise because the same bar symbols are used by Hering's successors in volumes 3-10, but they do not mean the same thing as in volumes 1 and 2. The work continues to be of value, but it needs to be brought up to date and clarified. Until now, only G. v. Keller has made the attempt to produce monographs giving all known symptoms of a drug. The author also suggests new criteria for the publication of case histories, which are summarized below. - - C o m p l e t e history, in the patient's own words - - F o l l o w up s y m p t o m s not p r e v i o u s l y recorded for the prescribed drug, adding them to the materia medica as clinical symptoms if they disappear in the course of treatment. - - T a k e special note also of symptoms which have not been verified to date. - - A t the end of the report, clearly list symptoms that have responded and those that have not. Archivfiir HomOopathie 1994; 3: 5-14.
Treatment of tuberculosis K. BANDELIN The author h o p e s that the i n c l u s i o n of homoeopathy in the medical school curriculum in Germany will ultimately lead to a more open-minded attitude and that it will be possible again to treat inpatients with serious conditions homoeopathically. The case of a 30-year-old woman with TB is described who previously had not responded to Natrum mur. (desire for salt, will not cry in front of others, etc.). Repertorization indicated Calc. carb. The patient made a full recovery. Allg HomOop Ztg 1994; 239: 93-99. Sankaran's Situational Materia Medica H. RETZEK The first in a series of papers in which the author intends to offer insights into the Situational Materia Medica (SMM), a theo-
235 retical philosophical concept of understanding d i s e a s e r e c e n t l y d e v e l o p e d by R. Sankaran. In drug provings, the characteristics of PNEI-axis (psychology, autonomic nervous system, endocrine system, immune system) dysfunction emerge clearly, whereas local symptoms may partly depend on the prover's pathological tendencies. This suggests that the choice of homoeopathic medicine should be based mainly on the symptoms of the central disorder. Allg HomOop Ztg 1994; 239: 100-7.
Hahnemann's technique H. SEILER The evolution of Hahnemann's method of practising homoeopathic medicine is shown on the basis of 3 case records. It is possible to distinguish 4 stages of evolution: - - I n i t i a l l y Hahnemann used unpotentized medicines according to the law of similars, giving daily or more frequent doses even in chronic cases. --Frequent severe reactions to this induced Hahnemann to use increasingly higher potencies at increasingly longer intervals, finally letting the patient merely sniff a 30c potency. - - T o accelerate progress he later returned to repeated doses of the same medicine in decreasing c potencies. The pilules were dissolved in dilute alcohol and taken daily over a period of 7-20 days. --Finally the LM or Q potencies were introduced to achieve o p t i m u m effect. The method was as before, but with the potencies increasing. Allg Homgop Ztg 1994; 239: 108-17. ObituaryDDr H. G. Wolff K. H, GEBHARDT Dr Wolff, veterinary surgeon, died on 24 February 1994, just after his 74th birthday. His handbooks have made homoeopathy well known in veterinary medicine, even outside Germany (Homoeopathic Medicine for Dogs appeared in English in 1984, published by Thorsons--reviewer). The papers he read at national and international congresses always had a sound scientific basis. For many years, Dr Wolff was the Treasurer of the Central M e d i c a l H o m o e o p a t h i c A s s o c i a t i o n in Germany, a function carried out most suc-