This book review is reprinted from Volume 10, 2004 Edition of The American Homeopath with permission from The American Homeopath.
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Clinical Focus Guide to Homeopathic Remedies, Volume 1
By Louis Klein, RSHom (NA), CCH

Luminos Homeopathic Courses Ltd. 2003. 262 pages. Paperback. ISBN 0-9731843-1-0.

Reviewed by Melanie Grimes, RSHom (NA), CCH

From Absinthium to Viola-o, this thorough materia medica covers 30 remedies in depth. It is intended as the first volume in a continuing work. The presentation of the material, as well as the choice of remedies selected for the first volume, present a starting point for future studies. It is intended not as a complete materia medica, but as a guide to clinical application. The book is laid out to leave room for personal note-taking in the margins.

As the author states, "The focus guide is an attempt to present modern information about homeopathic remedies in a usable form." Most of this information is not available elsewhere, but is a product of Klein's insights and clinical results.

Each chapter covers notes on the source of the substance, the miasm, remedy relationships, some selections from traditional homeopathic sources and commentary, as well as the actual clinical focus guide. The focus guide is a list of mental and physical symptoms, taken from successfully cured clinical cases. The commentary provides Klein's instincts and insights about the remedies.

I find the information very useful, and I only wish that the thousands of remedies at our disposal were discussed in this manner. Viewing them through the commentary and focus guide, does in fact, create a way around the old "keynote" pictures we have of some remedies.

Some will complain that the book is not comprehensive enough, that the remedies mentioned are only "small" remedies. They are only "small" because they are underrepresented in our current repertories due to lack either of provings or of clinical data. Certainly, more knowledge about these remedies can correct that.

I look forward to more.