This book review is reprinted from Volume 97, Number 2, Summer 2004 edition of American Journal of Homeopathic Medicine with permission of the American Institute of Homeopathy.
925 E 17th Avenue
Denver, CO 80218
Clinical Focus Guide to Homeopathic Remedies, Volume 1
By Louis Klein, R.S.Hom
Luminos Homeopathic Courses Ltd. Canada 2003. Paperback. 259 pages.
ISBN: 0-9731843-1-0
Reviewed by George Guess, MD, DHt
Clinical Focus Guide, Volume 1 is an exemplary materia medica, a splendid example of what's needed in newer materiae medicae. The book is no mere rehashing of existing information. The material presented is in most cases novel and fresh. It is culled from Mr. Klein's extensive clinical experience, and its intention is to facilitate the reader's clinical practice, or, in a word, it's practical. This is a modern materia medica and its remedy characterizations are drawn in contemporary terms and, thus, relevant to what homeopathic clinicians see today.
Each chapter begins with an essential portrait of the remedy; this is followed by a few basic notes about the source of the remedy; then the remedy's classification into one of several intriguing groups (eg., miasm or a very original group categorization invented by Klein, such as Alcohol Group or Influenza Group or Near-Death Remedy Group, etc. - It would be helpful if Mr. Klein were to define such groups in future volumes, as well as indicate the remedies populating them.); next follows a very detailed outline of the remedy's central characteristics and symptomatology, both mental/emotional and physical - these descriptions are extensive, though succinct; lastly he includes pertinent quotes from past publications, both old and recent, and a listing of similar remedies.
Here is a list of the remedies contained: Absinthium, Alcoholus, Aranea ixobola, Argentum sulphuratum, Bryonia, Carbolic acid, Cenchris contortrix, Chocolate, Cinnabaris, Corandrum sativum, Crotalus cascavella, Graphites, Helodrilus caliginosus, Hydrogen, Lac delphinium, Lecithin, Loxosceles reclusa, Lyssin, Mancinella, Morphinum, Neon, Oleum jecoris aselli, Solanum tuberosum aegrotans, Sycotic co., Tellurium, Veratrum viride, and Viola odorata - intriguing choices, to say the least. The material is so rich, I found myself compelled to take notes as I read - a compulsion I suspect most readers will share.
Regrettably, the book is not indexed.
Clinical Focus Guide to Homeopathic Remedies is a superb book, one that will profit any homeopath who studies it.
About the Reviewer: George Guess, MD, DHt is in private practice in Charlottesville, VA. He is editor of the AJHM and Vice-President of the American Board of Homeotherapeutics.