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 Observations of Children's Remedies
By Farokh J. Master
Lutra Services: Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
ISBN: 90-74456-11-1. 2003 (second edition)
724 pages. Hardbound
Reviewed by George Guess, MD, DHt
Dr. Master's new book, Clinical Observations of Children s Remedies, provides the homeopathic community with an eminently valuable tool for treatment of children. The book provides detailed and highly accessible information on 76 homeopathic remedies, all emphasizing how these remedies present in chiidren. Though written in outline form, the remedy descriptions are very thorough, very detailed. There is even frequent inclusion of relevant physical examination findings, quite a rarity these days. It is patently obvious from this work that Dr. Master possesses vast clinical experience and has accumulated an abundance of knowledge on this topic.
Each chapter is organized to provide, first, the most important mental and physical "identifying features" of the remedy, followed by a section by section offering of "other important symptoms" from head to generalities.
In addition to the material provided for each remedy individually, the volume is replete with differential diagnosis charts comparing the features of other remedies that present similarly in certain diseases. It's a gold mine of practical information to which every busy practitioner and ambitious student will want access.
Prefacing the materia medica are chapters covering symptoms of unusual behavior within various developmental stages, interesting tips on children's case taking, and detailed descriptions of abnormal physical examination findings in children and their diagnostic significance.
A broad range of remedies are covered, although I found myself wishing, as I read, that there were even more small remedies included. Throughout the book many alternate remedies for a given symptom are mentioned parenthetically, prompting a quick turning of pages in search of a detailed description of the remedy(ies),only to discover unhappily that it had not been included. Hopefully Dr. Master will remedy this shortcoming with a second volume.
Some of the less common remedies included in this volume are: Aranea ixobola, Artemisia abrotanum, Chlorpromazinum, Lac delphinium, Lac leoninum, Mygale lasiodora, Natrum silicatum, Saccharum officinarum, Sulphur iodatum, Theridion, etc.
Here are a few of the characteristics noted for Lac delphinum: artistic creativity, clairvoyance, family-oriented children, fear of robbers, love for animals, sentimental, allergic bronchitis after indulgence in cold drinks and ice cream, tendency to sinusitis and short, dry, tickling cough, food faddism in children who live with a forsaken feeling; shares many common symptoms with both Phosphorus and Carcinosin.
The book is hardbound in a beautiful blue cover adorned with an angelic sleeping baby's face. The page and print quality are high. The book is extensively indexed.
My only complaint about this book is the lack of headers identifying at a glance which remedy one is reading; this frustrates any impulse to flip alphabetically through the book in search of a particular remedy, and requires constant reference to the table of contents. I hope subsequent editions correct this small deficiency.
Finally, I have left the best for last. Attached to the back cover of this tome is a companion CD containing a searchable electronic version of the book formatted for Adobe Acrobat Reader. I could access it with both Acrobat Reader 5.0 and Adobe Reader 6.0. This is a fantastic development which, hopefully, presages many more such additions to future homeopathic texts.
Clinical Observations of Children's Remedies is an excellent text, one which any professional homeopath treating children would benefit from by reading.
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.