Those dating from a sudden or severe fright by ACONITUM;
Those deriving from emotional stress or shock by IGNATIA.
In this connection it is often necessary to carry the investigation further back than the immediate precipitating factor and to make careful enquiry into disturbances of health in previous years, in infancy and childhood, or even into parental ill-health before birth.
It may transpire that the sick individual has “never been the same” since some previous and possibly quite remote disturbance of health.
Positive findings along these lines will often provide strong indications for the use of a remedy. For instance :
A history of trouble after anti-smallpox vaccination, or of repeated vaccinations, will suggest THUJA;
Previous infection with or contact with tuberculosis will point to the use of DROSERA or of one of the TUBERCULINUM preparations;
Old malaria, possibly much-treated, will call for NATRUM MURIATICUM;
A remote episode of fright with the sense of fear persisting will suggest OPIUM;
A former attack of measles, diphtheria, or whooping-cough, will indicate the possible need for the corresponding Nosode.
Tissue Affinities
It sometimes happens that in a particular case their is a paucity of high value prescribing symptoms to guide in the choice of the remedy. There is, however, evidence of the involvement of some special organ or tissue.
It is recorded in the materia medica that certain remedies have a special affinity for some organ, or tissue, or system, and in the presence of disease affecting such sites the associated remedy can often be employed therapeutically. Examples of such affinities are given on page 12.
This is limited sphere of help in remedy selection. But it may be of value, and remedies prescribed on such local indications will usually be given in low potency, say 3x or 6, and in repeated doses.
Previous Clinical Experience
If a patient presents similar symptoms to those suffered from on a previous occasion it can usually be inferred that the remedy effective on the former occasion will prove the best selection in the present event.
This points to the advisability of keeping careful records not only of symptoms but also of treatment, and in detail as to potency and number of doses given.
In the event of an epidemic of, say, influenza, when a similar symptom picture is encountered in case after case, the remedy that is found effective in one case is likely to be suitable also for the others, at any rate in clearing up the acute symptoms. Follow-up treatment will call for more individual selection along normal homoeopathic lines.
Repertories
The various available works of reference and repertories linking symptoms with related remedies afford valuable help in remedy selection. But there is no substitute for that constant study of the materia medica that alone can give the physician an intimate knowledge of a remedy, its most prominent features and its inner nature, and thus enable him to sense and recognise its counterpart in the sick individual.
