WHAT IS A MATERIA MEDICA?
by
Eileen Nauman, DHM(UK), EMT
docbones@sedona.net
Goto Homoeopathy Homepage
Homeopaths have two 'tools' that are indispensable to their trade.
One is a Repertory, the other is our Materia Medica.
Latin-wise, it simply means "medical materials". It is a
compilation of "provings" done by homeopaths on healthy people. A proving
is undertaken when a group of healthy people volunteer to take an unknown,
potentized, homeopathic substance for a period of time--it can be a day or
months, depending upon who is supervising the study. The information
gleaned by taking the substance is then placed down in a daily journal
known as a prover's log or bible. At the end of the proving, all diaries
or journals are given to the supervisor, who must painstakingly speak with
each prove, in minute detail, about their symptoms--mental, emotional,
physical and spiritual--to define exactly what the substance stimulated in
that person's Vital Force. These are then known as "rubrics" or symptoms.
A repertory is built from this accumulated knowledge and trial.
HOW TO USE A MATERIA MEDICA.....
The other homeopathic 'tool' built from the proving information is
the Materia Medica, often, on-line, referred to as the "mm" or "MM". It
also contains the proving information, but it is fuller and more expansive
rather than a short, one-word sentence. For instance, utilizing Robin
Murphy's Repertory (which I personally recommend), under CHEST, Pain,
sharp, sides, (page 271) there are roughly, 50 homeopathic remedies
indicated that show that during a proving, sharp pains in the chest were
experienced by the provers on these different remedies.
AN EXAMPLE OF HOW TO USE A MATERIA MEDICA......
If we want more explanation, a fuller understanding of this small
but important rubric, we would switch to the Materia Medica on each of
these remedies and see what was said about that 'sharp pain in the side of
chest.' Some of the major remedies (in capital letters) are Bryonia,
Card-M. and Causticum. So, let's look them up individually in the Lotus
Materia Medica and let's see the difference in information that we get from
it.
LATIN AND ALPHABETIZING THE REMEDIES....
Utilizing Murphy's Lotus Materia Medica (which I also recommend),
the first thing you need to know about all MM's is that they are in
ALPHABETICAL ORDER by LATIN NAME of the homeopathic substance. You won't
find Bryonia (the Latin name) under "W" in your Materia Medica because it
is known as Wild Hops to the working folk. Nope, you'll find it under
Bryonia, instead. You must go to the "B" section of your Materia Medica.
And you won't find St. Mary's Thistle in our Materia Medica, either. You
will find it under its Latin name: Cardus Marianus or Card.-M. However,
just to keep things a little confusing, Causticum will be found under
Causticum!
The rule of thumb when beginning to use the Materia Medica is
ALWAYS use the Latin derivative of the remedy. You'll find it. For those
who have problems with this--and then don't recall the Latin name, but they
do recall the 'plain, everyday' name of a remedy, in MOST Materia Medicas,
you will find, in the back of the book, a small place where it will have
the "common name" of each entry, in alphabetical order with a page number.
I don't know about you, but Latin is not my first language, so I'm using
that nice little section in the back of my Materia Medica all the time!
Murphy's Materia Medica, in the INDEX, has both the Latin AND
common name in the SAME place. If you didn't recall "Bryonia" in the B's,
you could go to the "W's" and look up "Wild hops" and still find the same
remedy. In some other Materia Medicas, these are separate, as in the case
of Boericke's Materia Medica with Repertory. His is set up in two,
individual categories. If you only recall the common name of the remedy,
you will find it under: "List of Remedies--common names." If you know the
Latin one, it will be found under "List of Remedies--Pharmaceutical and
Latin names."
"Mommy, I have a sharp pain in the side of my chest..."
As a parent, if your child came to you and said that, there's
several things you can do about it and finding the correct homeopathic
remedy that might help your child's symptom. Going to Murphy's Homeopathic
Medical Repertory, let's look up "sharp pain in the side of the chest" and
see what the Materia Medica yields as far as information goes. Murphy's
Repertory is set up nicely in common-sensed, non-medical terms. Since the
child's pain in her chest, we'd go, alphabetically to the "C" section of it
and look up "CHEST." The next step would be to look under "P" in that
section, for "PAIN." Once that was found, we'd look up "SHARP" in the "s"
section. Then, we'd search to see if "SIDES" was represented in this
section, and it is. On page 271, you will find CHEST, SHARP, pain, sides".
Bryonia (Wild Hops): "Holds chest or presses the sternum (breastbone) when
coughing. Sharp stitches in chest or at right scapula (shoulder blade),
worse deep breathing and coughing." (This is interpreted as a sharp pain
on the RIGHT side of the chest even though it's in the back and under the
right shoulder blade. From an anatomical standpoint, our chest is anterior
and dorsal (front and back), even though most people only think of the
chest portion 'out front' of them.
Okay, now we have a better, more illuminated understanding of what
"sharp pain in the side of the chest" for a Bryonia person means. Let's
move on to the next entry, Cardus Marianus:
Cardus Marianus (St. Mary's Thistle): "Pain in chest going to shoulders,
back, loins and abdomen with urging to urinate. Stitching pains in lower
right ribs and front, worse moving, walking. Pain during breathing.
Stitches in chest from left nipple to right downward." (With this remedy,
we are getting several other symptoms along with the original one. If your
child's symptoms fit this one, then it would be used, instead. If it
didn't, you'd continue to read up on other remedies until you did find a
close match.)
You are beginning to realize that "sharp pain in the side of the
chest" has a lot of different, localized meanings--they aren't all the
same. Let's move on to our third remedy:
Causticum (Causticum): "Chest tight sore, vest seems tight. Mucus under
sternum (breastbone), which he cannot reach. pain in chest with
palpitations." (The chest pain for a person needing Causticum, then, would
be located centrally under the breastbone).
By now, you realize "Sharp pain in side of chest" while specific,
needs even more clarification and reduction as to where it's at, where is
the pain extending to (if any where) and what parts of the anatomy are
involved? What system is involved? What makes it better or worse (known
as modalities)?
If you had your child come up and say, "Mommy, my chest hurts,"
you'd have to get an awful lot more information such as:
1. What does "hurt" mean?
2. If hurt means pain, what does the pain feel like?
3. What makes your pain worse?
4. What makes your pain better?
5. What were you doing an hour or two before your chest started to hurt
(it could have been a fall, etc., and you need to know this before
potentially dispensing a homeopathic remedy to the child).
6. Does the pain stay just in one spot or does it travel (extend)
somewhere else? If so, with your finger, point at where it starts and
show me where it goes next.
7. What side does the 'hurt' or 'pain' located on (right or left)?
8. Does the pain start on one side and travel to the other side?
9. Is it hard to breathe? Inhalation? Exhalation?
10. Is there a sound in the chest? Rales? Wheezing? Whistling? (you may
or may not hear this without a stethoscope).
11. What is the state of mind/emotions of the child? (cranky, irritable,
weepy, wants to be left alone, doesn't want to be touched, etc.)
You can begin to appreciate that details, at least in homeopathy
is like detective work, and is vital for getting the precise, exact remedy
which hopefully, will parallel MOST of the child's symptoms. Once you have
garnered all this information, you repertorize it and usually, between
three and five remedies will be in the running. At that point, you switch
from your Repertory to your Materia Medica and read up on each, individual
homeopathic remedy. The one that most closely matches your child or
spouses condition, is the one you will give them.
NOT ALL MATERIA MEDICAS ARE CREATED EQUAL.....
Each Materia Medica reflects the personality of the person who put
it together. Not all Materia Medicas are equal. Not all of them have the
same information, or amount of information. For instance, in Boericke's MM
and Rep (repertory), he has chosen 450 of the most utilized (back in the
late 1800's and early 1900's) homeopathic remedies and put then in
'short-hand' so that you get more keynotes or highlights of your
understanding of a remedy. Whereas, Clarke's 3-volume Materia Medica set
(which most homeopaths have and use every day), it contains a huge amount
of material garnered and collected from many other homeopaths and
homeopathic authors of other MM's, over time and put into his version.
HOW MANY MATERIA MEDICAS DO I NEED?
A professional homeopath may well have three, four or more, Materia
Medicas because each has information the other does not. Many times, there
is overlap, but not always. For instance, I own Clarke's 3-volume set, 2
of Jouanny's (French), the 10-volume set of Hering, for starters. I also
have Boenninghausen, Allen and other 'older' homeopath's books and works.
Sometimes, on a case, I'll be looking through all of them trying to find a
match between my patient's symptom, and hope to stumble upon an exact one
in one of their books! I'm not always successful.
THE USE OF SOFTWARE WITH OUR MATERIA MEDICAS.....
In our electronic age, we have Referenceworks and Aziza from Kent
Associates, Fairfax, California, which has accumulated much information
from the old magazines and other homeopathic resources, including the
Materia Medica's, and put them in one place for our use and exploration.
These particular programs are indispensable at times, when we have a case
with unique rubrics and we can't find them, we have to 'dig' into the
archives of information provided by these particular programs, to hopefully
find something that will create a bridge or connection of understanding
between us and our patient. Many times, it will; and software ability to
compile this info justifies having it in our office.
No homeopath has ALL Materia Medicas. To look through each book
hunting for a specific symptom, is terribly time-consuming. The
information being compiled and placed in software has made the time issue
much less; therefore, the patient is not sent home, continuing to suffer
days or weeks while we trundle through our library hunting and searching,
as a result.
MATERIA MEDICA RECOMMENDATIONS
This article assumes you are a parent who is interested in
homeopathy and may know a little bit, but wishes to learn more. For the
beginner I recommend:
For the "rank" beginner:
Boericke's Materia Medica and Repertory--it is small, easily to travel
with, has 450 of our most used homeopathic remedies and major keynotes for
quick identification. What it lacks is a lot of useful background
information that may be needed by someone having symptoms that are not
covered at all in this book. It is inexpensive, depending upon where you
get it and what type of paper (India or English) you get with it. Usually,
you may find it from $12.00 to $30.00.
For the "novice":
When you start getting frustrated with your Boericke's and can no
longer find the information you want, purchase:
Robin Murphy's Lotus Materia Medica. It is nicely laid out, in a
common-sensed way for most people. This is compiled from the writings of:
Allen, Anshutz, Boericke, Burnett, Clarke, Cooper, Hale, Hahnemann, Julian,
Paracelsus, Phatak and Radamacher. He also has information on some of the
more modern provings, such as Jeremy Sherr's Chocolate and Scorpion, as
well as Luna (moonlight). Another "plus" to this particular MM, is that
he's put in the Bach Flower Remedies, as well and Schuessler's Cell Salts.
It is a highly useful, versatile book. The price is moderate; around
$60.00.
For the "advanced":
One can never go wrong with having Dr. Clarke's 3-volume set of
Materia Medicas. It will become the most utilized books on your shelf over
time; particularly if you start moving from acute administration of a
homeopathic remedy, to constitutional based prescribing. The advanced
homeopath is going to be collecting lots of books, some very small, some
huge, some inexpensive and others, just the opposite, because we want to be
able to find that elusive symptom that we know is somewhere--it's just a
question of which book it is in! You will pay anywhere between $80 to
$300.00 for this set and it depends upon whether you buy the Indian edition
(B. Jain) or spring for an English version. There is a paper difference;
and what you desire will yield out the expense. I have the Indian version
and the binding is excellent on it and for those who are economically
strapped, I recommend the B. Jain volumes.
Of course, when it comes to finding a symptom that's not always
true, either, because I've seen plenty of symptoms that are not found
anywhere--or at least in my extensive library collection of the past
twenty-seven years. I also have Referenceworks, which is highly
recommended to someone who is going to become very serious and learn to
become a professional homeopath.
One thing, for sure, without Materia Medicas, we are pretty much
useless in defining a specific symptom in our child. You must have one in
order to make this definition. And for folks who just love to learn,
Materia Medicas are a wealth of information on many different levels, too.
They are a worthwhile tool. And with the Holidays coming up, why not give
yourself a gift that will keep on giving for the rest of your life?
Eileen Nauman, Moderator
Athena List
http://www.medicinegarden.com
"THE MEDICINE GARDEN"
Copyright © 1997 Eileen Nauman All Rights Reserved
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