Asa Hershoff - Homeopathic Remedies: A Quick and Easy Guide to Common Disorders and Their Homeopathic Remedies

Table of Contents

The therapeutic procedures in this book are based on the training, personal experiences, and research of the author. Because each person and situation is unique, the author and publisher urge the reader to check with a qualified health professional before using any procedure where there is any question to appropriateness when there is any question regarding the presence or treatment of any abnormal health condition.

The publisher does not advocate the use of any particular diet or treatment, but believes the information presented in this book should be available to the public.

Because there is always some risk involved, the author and publisher are not responsible for any adverse effects or consequences resulting from the use of any of the suggestions, preparations, or procedures described in this book. Please do not use the book if you are unwilling to assume the risk. Feel free to consult with a physician or other qualified health professional. It is a sign of wisdom, not cowardice, to seek a second or third opinion.

Avery
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Penguin Putnam Inc.
375 Hudson Street
New York, NY 10014
www.penguinputnam.com

Publishers Cataloging-in-Publication

Hershoff, Asa.

p. cm.

Includes index.

eISBN : 978-1-101-12806-0

l. HomeopathyMateria medica and therapeutics. I. Title.

RX60I.H47 1999

615.532

QB199-1385

Copyright 2000 by Asa Hershoff

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or information storage system without written permission from the publisher, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.

http://us.penguingroup.com

To Little Angel,
my constant writing companion

FOREWORD

As a young girl I was immersed in medicine, and early childhood memories include trips to the Museum of Medicine in London, and peering into the microscope under the watchful eye of my father, Mr. John Frankenberg, F.R.C.O.G. As one of Britains most respected obstetricians and gynecologists, he was both scientific and extremely humane in his approach to healing the sick. My own journey into complementary medicine began when he himself fell gravely ill, and with specialized holistic care became strong and vital again before our eyes. In his later years he stated that one of his only regrets was that he had not learned more about alternative medicine, so that he could have integrated it into his busy medical practice.

Today my sister, Annie Gould, is a dedicated homeopath back in England. My own career has taken me in a different direction, but in more recent years my work with Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, has allowed me to portray a character whose values, intuitions and approaches to healing are remarkably consistent with my own. I am continually administering homeopathy for the little bumps and scrapes, colds and sniffles, that are part of everyday life for grateful friends and family.

Dr. Hershoff has been treating my children and me for several years, and I am happy that the knowledge of this remarkable kind of medicine can be made more widely available through his excellent handbook. Like myself, he believes that holistic and mainstream medicines form a complementary whole, and that safe, gentle natural medicines are often the first choice for home care in many simple conditions. We are all striving to keep ourselves and our families and friends healthy, vital and vibrant, so that each of us can shine in our own unique way. This book will provide a clear roadmap for those wishing to try it for themselves.

With the beginning of the millennium, homeopathy is finally achieving its proper place in a new medicine, a medicine which integrates the best of all possible worlds, for the best of all possible futures.

Jane Seymour
Los Angeles, California

USING THIS BOOK

How to Use Homeopathy

The first part of this book outlines the method of using homeopathy, for oneself and for others. But this is not dry philosophy to be skipped over, for these principles are true reflections of how the body works and how the body heals itself. These ideas are based on accurate observations that act as our reliable guides to using homeopathy, as they have done for two hundred years.

Part of the reason for homeopathys effectiveness lies in the fact that it individualizes. For any condition there are many possible remedies, allowing the user to find the one remedy that most accurately fits his/her symptoms. Such a remedy will have a far greater healing effect than one that is merely generic, rather than for a particular, unique person. In the same way, people differ in their ways of understanding and learning, and so this text provides several methods to rapidly get the information you need. So although this book is condition-basedyou need only look up a condition and select one of the suggested homeopathic remediesyou may follow any of the three systems outlined below to find the sections in the book which best describe your situation. Experiment and see what suits your individual learning style and mix and match them as your knowledge of homeopathy and medical conditions grows.

Body Systems

One of the earliest discoveries of both ancient and modern medicine is the fact that the body is made of separate and distinct systems of organs and tissues. Though powerfully interrelated, each system performs unique and highly specialized functions within the organism. Thus the traditional study of anatomy, physiology, disease and treatment have all been done according to body systems, such as the digestive, respiratory and nervous systems. The Body Systems section, beginning on page 47, follows along these same lines, but also includes a number of condition categories such as Childrens Health, Injury and Detoxification.

For each of these there is a discussion of the system, its potential problems and the place of homeopathy in dealing with them. A diagram of the system (or condition category) is included, showing the specific illnesses discussed in this book and their corresponding remedies. A page number is shown under each of these conditions, leading you to a full discussion of the illness in the A-Z prescriber. Thus this section can serve as a visual summary and rapid reference for locating your problem and its homeopathic solution.

Additionally, a large percentage of chronic conditions are never properly diagnosed, because the person does not fit neatly into any one disease category. Looking at body systems helps get around this problem, because in the final analysis homeopathic medicines do not require the name of a disease. By matching the remedy to the system and to the symptoms of the individual, one can look at a much wider range of homeopathic medicines, without being stuck with any one diagnosis.

A-Z Prescriber

The easiest way to find the condition or illness that concerns you is through the main section of the book, the A-Z Prescriber. This alphabetical list of over 150 conditions allows you to quickly see what homeopathic medicine has to offer under the heading of Fibromyalgia, Headache, Attention Deficit Disorder and so on. These are also listed under Contents. These condition pages are designed to show the main remedies and their symptoms for deciding which remedy is most suitable, that is most like your exact symptoms. The essential features of each remedy are described, making for easy selection. Note that there are important distinguishing features for each remedy, including what caused the problem, what makes the condition feel better or worse, and what other secondary problems are associated with it. For those who want or need to go further in their homeopathic knowledge, each remedy can be studied further in specialized book of remedies or materia medica. A future companion to this volume will provide this, but meanwhile books in the References section can be consulted.