Andrew Lockie - The Family Guide to Homeopathy: The Safe Form of Medicine for the Future

The Safe Form of Medicine for the Future

Revised Edition

Dr Andrew Lockie

HAMISH HAMILTON LONDON

To M, who showed me the thing I most needed to know

HAMISH HAMILTON

Published by the Penguin Group

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First published in Great Britain by Elm Tree Books 1989

Revised edition published by Hamish Hamilton 1998

9 11 12 10

Copyright Dr Andrew Lockie, 1989, 1998

The moral right of the author has been asserted

Dr Lockie can be contacted through his website at www.drlockie.com

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-0-14-194123-3

Dr Andrew Lockie was born in Glasgow and was brought up in the countryside in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. He graduated in Medicine from Aberdeen University, then moved to London and gained his membership of the Faculty of Homeopathy after studying at the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital. After a short spell in practice he gained his membership of the Royal College of General Practitioners, his diploma in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and the Family Planning Certificate, working in the Oxford region and the New Forest. In 1978 he returned to London and opened his first homeopathic practice in Ealing, supplementing his income at first by working for the local GP deputizing service. Later he opened two branch surgeries in Surrey and became Medical Director of the Enton Hall Health Hydro before consolidating his practices in Guildford, where he is now based. He was a founder member of the Homoeopathic Physicians Teaching Group in Oxford.

Dr Lockie is a homeopathic consultant to the fournal of Alternative. & Complementary Medicine and has written numerous articles for both the medical and the lay press. He has been the guest homeopathic doctor on the Peter Murray Show on LBC, and has made other radio and TV appearances. He has also written the following books: The Womens Guide to Homeopathy (co-author Dr Nicola Geddes), Hamish Hamilton, 1992; The Complete Guide to Homeopathy (co-author Dr Nicola Geddes), Dorling Kindersley, 1995; The Natural Diet (co-author Jeanette Marshall), Penguin, 1997.

Dr Lockie is married to an acupuncturist. They have four children and live in Surrey.

To Babs, for her love, suppport, understanding, and wisdom

To David, Kirsty, Alastair and Sandy, for their love and tolerance of their fazed father

To Anne Cope, for her editorial skill and stamina

For this revised edition I am deeply indebted to Serena Serine from the Society of Homeopaths for all her help with research. To Jeanette Marshall, for her helpful advice on nutrition. To Nicola Geddes, MFHom, for her helpful advice and permission to use joint material from The Womens Guide to Homeopathy. To Jonathan Hazel, FRCS, of the RNID Medical Research Unit, for his helpful comments on tinnitus. To Kevin Witham, for his expert advice on fitness training, and to Dr Peter Helps, MRCGP, for his support and helpful advice regarding the first-aid section. To Dr Mike Callander, as ever. To Dr Marc Mortiboys, for his helpful comments on the dental section.

The author would like to thank the following people and organizations.

Ainsworths, Nelsons, and Weleda (product information)

Nim Barnes (preconceptual care)

Sally Bundy (hyperactivity)

John Davidson (electromagnetic phenomena)

Chris Donne (for typing a mountain)

Light Research Council

Hahnemann Society

British Homoeopathic Association

Faculty of Homoeopathy

Jeanette Marshall (nutrition)

Simon Martin (for pointing me in the right directions)

Tony Pinkus (interesting conversations of a political nature)

David Reynolds (at whose instigation the book was written)

Vicky Rippers (clinical ecology)

Caroline Taggart, for her faith and encouragement

Richard Solway and Geoffrey Taylor Institute (water filters)

Margaret Williams (for keeping my practice ticking over)

Helmut Ziehe (building ecology)

For information about alternative therapies the author would like to thank:

Hazel Bentley, Sandra Billings, Pat Chittananda, Farida Davidson, Stephen Davis, Jesper Dokkedal, Philip and Carol Grealy, Nida Ingham, Sue Makin, Rosemary Nott, Robert Tisserand, Richard Thomas, Michael Van Straten, Jeff Wictome, Arvid Willen, David Wood, even though much of the excellent material had to be edited out.

The publishers would also like to thank:

Philip Boys and Steve Parker (editorial assistance), Shona Grant (illustrations), Norman Reynolds (text design)

The author would also like to express his appreciation and gratitude for the expert scrutiny of the proofs of the book and the constructive criticism afforded him by his colleagues:

Dr Nuria Booth

Dr Michael Callander

Dr Jace Clarke

Dr David Curtin

Dr Charles Forsyth

Dr Mike Hart

Dr Roger Lichy

Dr John Nicholls

Dr David Owen

It has been my pleasure, over the years since I first wrote this book, to have so much communication and feedback from patients, readers and the profession alike. I cannot possibly thank everyone individually but would like to say that every comment has been taken seriously and many have been incorporated into this revised edition. It is always my pleasure as a physician to help a fellow human being along the path to health, but in some ways it is even more gratifying when I hear that this has been accomplished simply by someone reading my book.

Finally, I have been most struck by the fact that in revising this work most changes have needed to be made in the sections dealing with orthodox diagnosis and treatment and in self-help measures, whereas the homeopathic content has hardly needed changing at all a tribute to the enduring quality of this finest branch of the noble art of medicine.

The Physicians highest calling, his only calling is to make sick people healthy to heal, as it is termed.

Hahnemann, Organon VIth Edition.

Thank you for acquiring this book. Whilst it is loosely based on Ruddocks Domestic Physiaan, an early twentieth century family guide to Homeopathy, I have tried to make it completely relevant to the needs of the end of the 20th century and those of the 21st.

I felt it had to be written because orthodox medicine is quite clearly failing to meet the medical needs of the population. Contrary to what politicians claim, more and more patients being treated by the National Health Service does not represent a success. On the contrary it means that it has failed to cure people. I believe there are several reasons for this. The single most important one is the deliberate move away from looking at people