i know there are various ways to group remedies, e.g., plants - animals - minerals. in this thread i would appreciate hearing some thoughts about preparation, chemical composition (derivation), and characteristic qualities of remedies that share an 'after-the-hyphen' characteristic, such as xxx-carb, or xxx-sulph, or xxx-alb, etc., such as what chemical process do these suffixes represent in the substance being proved; and do these "suffixes" share a family resemblance from one prefix to the next?

thanks,

bach

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"The need to perform adjustments for covariates...weakens the findings." BMJ Clinical Evidence: Mental Health, (No. 11), p. 95.... It's that simple, guys: bad numbers make bad science.

all combinations are different- classification is only possible by matching the remedy , its main keynotes , to the patient . The Miasms are a useful thinking tool for this . There is a theory of relations by substance , but this is more difficult than the above.!

quote: "all combinations are different- classification is only possible by matching the remedy , its main keynotes , to the patient ."

i don't think i can agree with this. first, matching the remedy to the patient would be a prescription, not a classification of the remedy as "this type" or "that type." second, the fact that all combinations are different has no necessary connection to whether the various "combinations" are classifiable according to this or that set of standards (i assume that by "combination" you mean the original proving substance, ars-alb, for example, and not a "combination remedy" as is so often found these days in non-classical homeopathic or alt-med applications).

for example, remedies can be classified according to their sources in the physical environment: animal, vegetable, mineral. this is easy to do, in fact. harder, is figuring out whether the classification has any meaningful contribution to make concerning remedy relationships.

my question would involve finding out, to state it in simplest form, whether all xxx-alb remedies shared a common sub-set of symptoms that revolved around a theme of "great prostration," for example.

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"The need to perform adjustments for covariates...weakens the findings." BMJ Clinical Evidence: Mental Health, (No. 11), p. 95.... It's that simple, guys: bad numbers make bad science.

Sorry, a quick answer.

Yes, remedies are often grouped according to a common group feature in the proving as well as their chemical nature or source.
Eg: Acid group remedies: most of them have prostration as a marked symptom. Ulcerations, acidity.

Snake group remedies: HAve aversion to tight collars, have a haemorrhagic tendency, etc.

Sulphur salts: tend to be hot (except HEpar Sulph), have yellow discharges, < heat, HAve symptoms wiht burning sensations, etc.

This idea helps in studying/learning the remedy as well as in making a choice of remedy for a patient.

As far as remedy relationships go in a clinical situation, I think it is pure clinical observation of remedies being related in action to each other rather than knowing before hand based on the above type of groupings.

I hope this is what you were asking.

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http://www.homeopathy2health.com

yes, leela, thanks, that's the kind of thing i'm looking for. i'm not trying to oversimplify things, but i am finding that familiarity with remedies is facilitated when there are patterns, ways of grouping them, even as to "anxiety" remedies and the like.

but don't get alarmed, i'm not expecting to find a 'single axis' profile that will tell me to prescribe "this" when i see "that." after all, the more you can see certain similarities between remedies, the more readily you can also spot the things that differentiate them, as in discussions on my earlier thread about ign, nat-mur, and thuj.

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"The need to perform adjustments for covariates...weakens the findings." BMJ Clinical Evidence: Mental Health, (No. 11), p. 95.... It's that simple, guys: bad numbers make bad science.

You need to read Scholten's book The Elements in which he does what I think you want.
e.g.

<Concepts>
Calcarea
What do others think
Sensitive to criticism
Insecurity
Shyness
Fears
Protection
Withdrawal

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RSHom - Registered Homeopath

Scholten's 'Homeopathy and Minerals' is easier to understand re: mineral salts. 'Homeopathy and the Elements' is more abstract and theoretical re: themes within the periodic table, although I have seen helpful prescriptions made from those concepts as well.