Russell Malcolm
Catching Sunbeams: reflecting the living dynamic in our data sets
Homeopathy, 2012, 101 (2), 81-83
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In illness, the patient’s ‘systems-disturbance’ is reflected in an, often complex, array of signs and symptoms. For the homeopathic practitioner those symptoms represent the criteria for the selection of a suitable ‘systems-stimulus’. However, the process of matching a complex dynamic with a complex stimulus requires a method of analysis which provides immediate access to data on treatment indications. In modern clinical homeopathy we are faced with the uncomfortable fact that many of the treatment indications in our traditional sources are poorly or inconsistently verified. It is always a pleasure, therefore, to examine new proposals for improvements to our prescribing data, which potentially provide a consistent framework for cycles of clinical verification. In contrast to modalities and ‘leading symptoms’, the pathogenic information and regional affinities of our medicines are relatively straightforward to establish. Homeopathic pathogenetic trials and toxicological reports often yield a number of replicable signs, or objective localized disturbances. These can be collated together under a stable descriptor in the repertory (e.g. eruptions, desquamating).