Volume 77, Number3, July 1988

decision on treatment to the physician. It would be an interesting exercise to select the various hom0eopathic remedies for these hand symp- toms and signs with the aid of the Repertory.

The Horn Heritage 1987; 12:738-9

183

of a potency of noise. As Hamlet said, 'There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.'

Am Horn; 4:pp.12-13

Comprehensive index The last issue of The Homoeopathic Heritage ends with a comprehensive index of the twelve issues of 1987 in four sections: articles, authors, diagnoses and remedies. There are 96 diagnoses, 73 remedies and 135 cases which have been recorded during the year and this detailed index- ing encourages quick and easy reference.

The Horn Heritage 1987; 12: 756-75.

Potentized noise TREVOR SMITH The fourth issue of volume four of American Homeopathy, the journal of the Society of Ultra- molecular Medicine, Las Vegas, Nevada, con- tains four main articles, of which the most challenging is 'Noises that make you sick', by Dr ~IYevor Smith. In this case 'sick' is not vomiting, but general ill health. After quite a long discus- sion of the nature of machine noises and their effects, he relates the case of a woman aged 60 complaining of headaches attributed to the noises from a nearby cold storage plant. It appears that Dr Smith did not treat her with any of the homeeopathic remedies which appear in bold type in the rubric 'worse for noise' nor any of the lesser drugs, but proceeded to potentize the noise by exposing a 50-50 mixture of ethanol and water to the noises for 48 hours and then potentizing to the 6c, and told her to take a dose three times a day. The result was 'rapid and startling'; two weeks later she reported general improvement--less headache, better sleep, more relaxation and contentment. After another two weeks she was free from symptoms, and forgetting to take all the doses. Unfor- tunately there is no mention of how long she had been suffering from the noises, and no mention of a longer follow-up, but one may assume that she had no relapse. Dr Smith states that most placebo responses wear Off in ten to fourteen days, so this does seem to have been a genuine response to the potency. It is hard to explain how noise can affect a sample of ethanol in water, but it is wise to keep an open mind to the possibility

Official statement B. POITEVIN Official statement by Christian Boiron (Boiron Laboratories) and Philippe Brul6 (President of OHF) who have decided to pool their resources in the area of hom~eopathy. The objective (aim) of these two companies is to create a group of sufficient size to intensify the development of homeeopathy in the perspective of the unified European market in 1992. This opens up new avenues in the national and international development of homeeopathy including teaching and research.

L'Homeopathiefrancaise 1987; 75: editorial

Prevention of seasickness by Cocculine | R M. DEXPERT Seasickness is always unpleasant to the sufferer and his fellow travellers. Numerous medications are currently available, their effectiveness increasing with their side-effects.

M. Despert reports a clinical trial with Coc- culine (Cor Nux vomica, Petroleum, Tab- acum, all in 4CH). The double blind trial assessed the activation of the vestibular and visual systems for fifty-five patients and monitored the resulting effects (vertigo, nausea, sweat and blood pressure) after taking Coc- culine or placebo the evening before and ten minutes before the test.

The results show a better resistance to the stimulation with Cocculine in 70% of the cases compared to a 40% placebo effect (usual aver- age for this type of pathology), as well as the lack of side effects (in particular, reduction of vigilance).

L'Homeopathiefrancaise 1987; 75: 353-55.

Compound remedies in hom~eopathy ROBERT SEROR The purpose of this article is to show how it is possible to deduce one or several compound remedies from a single remedy given by the repertory and materia medica.

184 British Hom~eopathic Journal

These compound remedies have not been used by hom0eopathic doctors because they are not in the French version of the repertory, nor of the materia medica. Many hom~eopathic doctors do not recognize this compound remedy tech- nique as hom0eopathy.

Doctor R. Seror attempts in this article to demonstrate that his method is in fact described in 'Our doctrine ' (Organon), and besides that it is possible to give it modern and unexpected extensions. To this effect, he quotes numerous sources, all rather loosely thrown in and inter- preted in a personal style. These include Hahnemann , Kent (New Remedies) and his stu- dents, works by Drs Hodiamont (Belgium) and H. Bernard. The last of these is vital for this technique.

An individual in good health is a well balanced biological, chemical but especially biochemical human being. He shows a morphologic constitu- tion; objective, visible and descriptive, which is often one of the Carbonic, Phosphoric, Sulfuric or Fluoric constitutions. These are the acids. Illness disturbs this balance, and morbid symp- toms which relate to a pathology appear, These morbid symptoms are the bases. These combina- tions form salts, derived from the same acid, and are pathological stages of aggravation or improvement depending upon the position on the biochemical ladder of H. Bernard. This lad- der has six steps: step I of illness is Calcium (Ca); step 2 is Magnesium (Mg); step 3 is Potassium (K); step 4 is Sodium (Na); step 5 is Bar ium (Ba); step 67 or terminal stage is A m m o n i u m (NH4). Therefore , considering the carbonic con- stitution, the successive stages of aggravation are as follows: Calc.carb., Mag. carb., Kali carb., Nat .carb. , Baryta carb., A m m o n i u m carb. The ladder can also be used for prognostic purposes, according to the evolution from one stage to the other, Of course, it is necessary to check their very existence and also the materia medica before prescribing these compound remedies. This quick and efficient method enables a considerable extension of our prescrib- ing. It can be used with all acids, metals and nonmetals from the materia medica.

Homoeopathie 1987; 5 :23-47

Use of hom~eopathy and biotherapies in withdrawal symptoms from benzodiazepines H U G U E S G E I G E R Current social problems like anxiety, insomnia,

pressurized jobs, excessive use of tobacco, alco- hol, endless TV watching, induce the prescrip- tion of benzodiazepines which, in fact, should not be prescribed for longer than three weeks (and are taken by many doctors themselves).

Important side-effects are amnesia, especially one to four hours after intake, and 'act ing-out . ' Withdrawal symptoms include problems in get- ting to sleep, nausea, headaches, abdominal cramps, indigestion, sensations of unreality, inner tension, trembling, muscular pains, and the return of symptoms previously masked by the tranquillizers.

Therapy 1 Make it clear to patient not to substitute his tranquil-

lizers with alcohol, tobacco or other drugs. 2 The dose is halved and Nux yore. 9c t.d.s, is given or the

similimum (withdrawal symptoms are usually very close to Nux yore.).

3 The patient is seen once a week. a) Patient feels well: give half tablet less per week (gradual reduction with half tablet/week) and prescribe drugs like Lactuca, Coffea, Cimicifuga rac., Agaricus, Arsenicum, China and all other hyperaesthesia remedies. b) Patient does not feel well: substitute with a ben- zodiazepine with a longer half-life to avoid too strong withdrawal symptoms. c) Both (a) and (b) are very frequently auto-intoxicated and Sulphur 9c, 12c, 15c is prescribed; 1 dose every 3 days, then once/week. d) Nerve drainage can be added:

e.g. Passion flower (Passiflora) 0 Hawthorn (Crataegus) 0 Linden flower (Tilia) 0 tiff 3 x 20 drops/day

or Tilia Bourg Mac glyc lx (gemmotherapy) 3 • 20 drops/day

4 During the following weeks benzodiazepines are' reduced according to symptoms and are given along with deep-acting homceopathic drugs (once a week).

5 The benzodiazepines are completely stopped. The ner- vous system is boosted by organotherapy: a) Hypothalamus 7c and Cortex 9c; 1 dose (ampoule or

suppository) is prescribed alternatively twice weekly over a period of 3 to 6 weeks.

b) The other drugs (drainage and deep-acting) are spaced out to weekly or bi-monthly.

6 To end: stop drainage a few days/week; adapt homeeo- pathic drugs to the symptoms and space out more until no more are needed.

7 A serious hidden depressive syndrome Can manifest during this treatment. In the majority of cases a tricyclic antidepressant prescribed for 3 to 6 weeks will contain it, after which a similar programme is continued to reduce the tricyclic antidepressant.

Cahiers de Biotherapies 1987; 96:29-31