Homeopathy: The Practical Guide for the 21st Century

"Do you want to read a heavy duty Homeopathic tome, with references to obscure remedies which are difficult to obtain and even more tricky to prescribe? Well if so, avoid Beth MacEoin's new book, `Homeopathy, the practical guide for the 21st Century'.

This guide is clear, concise and ultimately practical. The unambiguous reference systems make travelling between `Homeopathy and every day problems' and `Homeopathy and children's health' simple and accessible.

I particularly welcomed the `Caution!' segment at the end of every major section, advising medical advice. For example, the Mother and Baby' section advises a visit to the doctor during pregnancy if, `severe, persistent morning or all day sickness...gets worse as time goes by'. These pointers make the boundaries between prescribing and seeking help comprehensible to any practitioner.

Equally, possible reactions to remedies are made clear, and frequently asked questions are addressed by explanations on how long and how often to take a remedy, and what potency to use. An effective guide to referencing lists of symptoms by underlining ` intense, severe,strange' and `rare and peculiar' symptoms three times, `general symptoms' are underlined twice and `better and worse', once. This was a new one for me and I intend to take it up from now on. Great, now I can really get into tackling my 14 year old son's pre rugby match nerves.

The `Practical self-help' sections are useful and proactive, including effective use of vitamins and other supplements. For example, I had never heard of the Co enzyme Q10, also known as `the spark of life', and to be taken after an acute illness or a period of high stress. Excellent. Can't wait for that one.

Finally, I have taken on board the urge to develop a Homeopathic first aid kit for my family. I have various generic kits but the advice to build up a tailor made one which includes a small range of herbal creams and tinctures and a selection of essential oils to suit our needs seems a much better idea. At the moment I am looking at Aconite for pre rugby nerves (14 Year old) Spongia for my friend's baby who suffers from croup, Gelsenium to help my 11 year old recover from tiredness after `flu and Nux Vomica on stand by for myself in case I succumb to the `burn out' so aptly described in the final section. I think I will turn to page 282 immediately for my list of addresses of specialist outlets. Another great tip.

Beth MacEwan quite simply takes the mystique away and brings this subject succinctly into the hands of anyone with an interest in basic Homeopathy, whilst also remaining true to the basic principals of this natural, holistic form of therapy.
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~ Written on 2007-05-11

"Almost half of the complaints that are covered in this book are chronic complaints, such as circulatory problems, `tired all the time', night sweats, psoriasis, high blood pressure and others. So the number of acute complaints is much smaller then you would expect in a book of almost 300 pages! It is not recommended to treat chronic complaints with homeopathy without professional help. Even if we wanted to treat them, we couldn't do it with only 2-3 remedies that are listed here for each complaint. It is the same for acute diseases - there are very few remedies listed, in general 3-4, often missing some very important ones. The explanations on how to choose a remedy is very poor, and for anyone who wants to learn how to grade symptoms properly there isn't much information. The contents don't say which complaints are covered in each paragraph so it is difficult to find them. The good sides are: it is quite simple and easy to read, the tables used to list the remedies are nice, materia medica at the back is very good and non-homeopathic advice is useful.
It is a good book for those who are completely new to homeopathy and who want to know only a little bit about it, and maybe treat some first aid stuff. For anyone who wants to use it to prescribe for acute diseases, I don't recommend it.
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~ Written on 2007-03-26

"Many books on homeopathy today are tied up in knots with metaphysical and other theory, and are of little use to the layperson. Beth MacEoin is the most widely published homeopath in the UK, and has also demonstrated a wide knowledge of alternative medicine in general in her books and national magazine columns. I have used this book and found it remarkably easy to follow. She doesn't footle about with the history and theory of homeopathy, beyond what the average reader needs to know, but goes straight to practical advice, all set out in tables, which let you work out which is the most suitable remedy quite quickly. Selecting the appropriate remedy really is the biggest obstacle for the amateur user, but Beth cuts through the obfuscation remarkably clearly. She also has a very sound understanding of conventional medicine, and doesn't hesitate to send readers off to the GP or hospital where this is the best course. Should be on everyone's medical shelf. Buy two for when the first one runs out!"
~ Written on 2006-03-18