Experiences of Indian Homeopaths

This book contains the clinical experiences of mainly Indian Homeopathic physicians, both professionals and laymen. The clinical nuggets have been gleaned from numerous journals and books which are now out of print. While it is true that according to Homeopathic principles, every case requires a different remedy based on the patients constitution and the individual symptoms, it is also true that many diseases have a characteristic clinical picture that corresponds with a small group of remedies. In treating many diseases, it is seen that the medicine chosen with good care does not yield the required result. In such cases, it is very useful to have before us the experiences of other physicians who have successfully handled diseases with a similar symptom pattern. It is well known to all Homeopaths that there are no specific remedies for diseases. This book is intended to give a different perspective about the drugs from the view point of different physicians.

Dr S. R. Sudarshan is a graduate in Ayurveda from the Government College of Indian Medicine, Bangalore. While practising as an Ayurvedic physician, he obtained a diploma in Homeopathy from the British Institute of Homeopathy. He is also deeply involved in academic Ayurveda and in its clinical aspects. He has collaborated with his father, Prof S. K. Ramachandra Rao in the preparation of the first three volumes of the 'Encyclopaedia of Indian Medicine' (published by the Popular Prakashan, Mumbai for the Dr. Parameshvara Charitable Trust,

Bangalore in 1985) and has authored the remaining three volumes in the six volume project. He has revised and enlarged the well known 'Indian Materia Medica' of K. M. Nadkarni for the fifth edition (Popular Prakashan, Mumbai). He has also written 'Rasa Dhatu Kosha (Metallic and Mineral Drugs in Ayurveda)', 'A Descriptive Glossary of Diseases in Ayurveda', 'Guggulu and its Clinical Applications', 'Svastha-vrtta (Positive Health in Ayurveda)', etc.

He is the co-author of the volume on 'Oshadhi Kosha' (Kalpatharu Research Academy, Bangalore) and of 'Ahara Tattva'. He has also written a book 'Homeopathic Treatment of Non-malarial Fevers' published by the B. Jain Publishers, New Delhi.

This book was written mainly to help me improve my knowledge of Homeopathy and its practical application. I had a fondness for old Homeopathic journals, and I eagerly devoured any one that I could lay my hands on. I searched for them in various second hands book stalls, and I met old Homeopathic physicians and requested them to lend me any old journal that they might have with them. I was particularly interested in the experiences of Indian Homeopaths, as I felt that I might benefit more from them.

More than ten years have passed since I first prepared this manuscript. Now that this is being brought out in the form of a book, I feel a few words of explanation may not be out of place. Recently the allopathic mainstream has been laying a great deal of stress on what they call the medicine of experience. They carry out clinical trials on various drugs in order to find out their precise action. But this approach will fail in a holistic science like Homeopathy. One drug cannot be given to many people because of the varying sensitivity of the subjects. But the practical experience of many Homeopaths put together will help in bringing about a deeper knowledge of the scope of this science. Another aspect that has to be considered is that these journals are hard to get, especially those published long ago. The nuggets of information that are hidden there may be lost for ever if they are not properly documented. I have therefore tried to give the correct references like the name of the physician and the journal from which it was extracted. I have also given some experiences gleaned from books like 'Materia Medica by Dr. Khagendranath Bose', 'Random Notes by Dr Sankaran', etc. In a few places, I have given my personal experiences also. The complete list of books and journals referred to has been given in the last page of this book.

I hope this book will be of use to Homeopaths engaged in the greatest work of all- healing the sick!

I thank Shri Virendra Gupta of the Indian Book Centre for coming forward to publish this book.

**Contents and Sample Pages**