Homeopathic materia medica

Homeopathic Materia Medica are encyclopedia of therapeutic properties of each drug. These properties are ascertained through provings also known as Homeopathic pathogenetic trials (HPT). As per Samuel Hahnemann in his Organon of medicine § 143, homeopathic materia medica is " a collection of real, pure, reliable modes of action of simple medicinal substances, a volume of book of nature" They thus constitute a homeopathic prescribing reference guide and sources for compiling Homeopathic repertory. Earlier materia medicas have details regarding the materials and methods which may be used to prepare homeopathic medicines.

Samuel Hahnemann invented the practise of homeopathy while translating the botanical, Treatise of the materia medica by the Scottish physician William Cullen from English into German in 1790. Twenty pages in that work are devoted to Peruvian cinchona bark which is used to prepare the medicine quinine. This substance produces fever-like symptoms while being used to cure intermittent fever or ague and this led Hahnemann to conceive the principle of similars: that like may cure like. He went on to develop the materia medica along these homeopathic lines and others then continued this work to produce great volumes of potential ingredients.

Although there are various homeopathic materia medica, written by different authors and covering different specialities, the term is often used to reference the total sum of homeopathic preparations and prescribing options. Hahnemann developed his by a system of homeopathic provings, where a substance was ingested by the "prover" and the symptoms that the "prover" reported were recorded in great detail. A materia medica may also include accidental poisoning and some information from clinical treatment.

Drug proving is the basic source of Materia Medica through which, drugs who have found a place in Materia Medica are known of their symptomatology and new drugs are known of their symptomatology, Physical and Mental presentation. Drug proving is carried out by the methods described by Hahnemann in his Organon of Medicine in §105 to §145. The other sources of reports in Homeopathic Materia Medica are:

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