Materia Medica and Case Studies
The care of people with dementia is a challenge. Not only memory and orientation losses, but also behavioural problems such as restlessness, aggression, apathy and others are difficult to overcome. Antidementia and neuroleptic drugs are only partially effective or sometimes have considerable side effects.
This book contains 19 case stories of homeopathic treatments by experienced homeopathic practitioners. The aim of this collection is to document how homeopathy is applied to people with dementia and to show the course of treatments in a differentiated way.
The case collection is supplemented by a materia medica of the 15 most important homeopathic remedies used in the field of dementia treatment.
Reprinted with the permission of The Society of Homeopaths, (from 'The New Homeopath' Journal, Winter 2020 edition). Reviewed by Sarah Lane RSHom.
At a time when we are seeing increasing numbers of dementia cases in our ageing populations, this is a timely addition to the homeopathic library, as it focuses on the homeopathic treatment of dementia
It is a slim book, making it a quick read, and it is divided into two sections. The first section is a materia medica of 15 commonly used remedies for dementia, which dedicates a paragraph to each individual remedy, highlighting key symptoms that would indicate its prescription, along with concomitant symptoms, aggravations and ameliorations. The second and largest section provides 19 case studies, which are presented by a range of homeopathic practitioners, some of whom, like Michael Teut (one of the editors), are medical homeopaths and some of whom are classical homeopaths.
This is a book about severe dementia and not one that focuses on helping patients cope with the early stages. What is striking reading the case studies is how successful homeopathy can be in helping turn around severe symptoms, where often heavy medication is also being administered. These are cases from case homes and nursing homes, mostly in Germany, where the patients are in advanced states of dementia. It is interesting to note that the homeopaths are often called in to deal with the most extreme behavioural issues, when the case home staff are unable to cope, so these are extreme and challenging cases. As such, it is truly heart-warming to see how much benefit the patients were able to get from their homeopathic treatment, with many managing to return to calm, stable and cheerful states, having previously been in states of extreme distress.
Different styles - In terms of content, the styles of case-taking, and detail given as to how the prescription was found, vary from practitioner to practitioner, although repertorising the case was the predominant method used to select the remedy. Whilst there are benefits to hearing the different voices of the practitioners in their individual styles, it would perhaps have been useful to have had a template for cases to follow for the sake of clarity and continuity. For example, some cases state clearly the goals aimed for with the homeopathic treatment, which helps to clearly illustrate the progress in the case, yet others do not. Similarly, differentiation between alternative potentially useful remedies is often not given, which would be very useful. In addition often little explanation is given as to why a certain potency was used, or why, when some patients did not seem to respond particularly well to the remedy prescribed, another remedy was not tried. In terms of print quality, many of the cases are accompanied by a repertorisation chart, which is often too blurry to read.
Book recommended - Overall, I would definitely recommend this book to anybody who is involved in helping patients coping with severe dementia. It is not a definitive book on the subject, but gives a good general introduction to some common states that we as prescribers might come across.
Sarah Lane RSHom, former editor of New Homeopath, is a member of the Society of Homeopaths research sub committee and is in her final year of an MSc in Integrated Healthcare. She graduated in 2008 from the School of Homeopathy and has studied extensively with the Joshis. She has a special interest in treating patients with mental health issues. She is currently practising in Bristol.