Principles and Practice of Homeopathic Case Management

Email

Whatsapp

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Copy link

Dr Harsh Nigam, after obtaining M.B.B.S. and M.D. (Physiology) degrees could not suppress the heritage of homeopathy that he received from his scholarly homeopath father, Dr Jagdish Chandra Nigam. He obtained his membership of faculty of the British Homeopathic Association from the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital. He has been practising homeopathy since 1993.

If you are looking for a book that gives you a compre- hensive view on homoeopathic case management including the views of the old masters and the modern concepts, then this is the book. Dr Harsh Nigam has lucidly discussed all concepts and provided a clear view of all intricate topics. This would enable the students and the profession to find basic ideas and later build upon them.

Dr Nigam’s inspiration for this book has come from Dr L R Twenty man whose knowledge has been profound. Dr Nigam's own sound knowledge of physiology, pathology and medicine has enabled him to appreciate the homoeopathic principles in the light of modern concepts which have found expression in this book in a masterly way. There is no doubt that he has imbibed the true homoeopathic spirit from his illustrious father.

I am amazed at the deep knowledge the author has exhibited and the confidence which has been displayed in this book. I congratulate the author for doing a great service in providing a modern textbook on the subject of homoeopathic case management and hope that the students would immensely benefit from it.

Homoeopathy is not merely a therapeutic method; it constitutes a system of medicine loosely based on the ancient doctrine of ayurvedic medicine which was familiar to Hippocrates and was perpetuated in the writings of Paracelsus, Kircher, etc. and it eventually resulted in the work of Hahnemann.

The medicinal philosophy of ayurveda had two branches: One was and is still in vogue where a mega dose of herbs and chemicals is used although the basis of application of these strong medicines is always holistic. The other less developed branch was based on the premise - venom cures venom - ‘vishasya vishaushidham.'

The therapeutics of the second system was proposed by Charak in Charak Samhita, Vimansthan, 7:22, where he advised the use Sukshma Churna (micro-pulverized powder). The process of preparation of micro-pulverized powder is further elaborated in Chikitsasthan, 26:244 by the name of Jarjarikaraan (trituration). At this point, we must remember that there is and ayurvedic dictum: Mardanam gunavardhanam (trituration accentuates the hidden medicinal properties of the herb).

Ayurvedic principles went to Europe via, The Unani system where the European philosopher, Hippocrates took it up. Of all the guiding principles enunciated by Hippocrates and transmitted to his disciples, one principle in particular appears to have had a predominant influence on the whole domain of medicine: The Law of Contraries. In contrast to the Law of opposition, the ayurvedic Law of Similars was allowed to lapse into oblivion.

It was left to the genius of Hahnemann to develop a modern medical system of therapeutics based on the occult law of ayurveda. Hahnemann called it Law of Similars. Although trituration was used in ayurveda but no medical men prior to Hahnemann dared to enter the realm of the dynamic/ quantum when he went beyond the molecule and triturated or potentized beyond 12C and it was Hahnemann who defined the rules of the quantum medicine and he termed it homoeopathy.

The story of homoeopathy begins with Hahemann and his experiments, observations, interpretations and inferences which he drew from his work on the healthy and diseased human beings but the story of homoeopathy did not end with Hahnemann. Some of its laws were still to be formulated. Boenninghausen gave us the law of prescribing, Hering gave us the law of cure and Kent gave us twelve prognostic observations. Kent also gave us a working hypothesis of human form. Stalwarts like Von-grauvoge, Vannier and Burnett gave us important observations from time to time, improvising therapeutic techniques and giving modern explanations to the theory and practice of homoeopathy.

The cumulative data of past 200 years is enormous and sometimes contradictory. In the heap of this data the meaning of several things got lost or distorted. Does the present era’s homoeopath understand the meaning of sanguinine temperament? What does he understand of the enormous significance of - the concept of will and understanding, the way Kent uses it in his work.