All pathies take into account the symptoms of the patient. In present day, with specialisation & super-specialisation, a sick person is treated in parts. Hahnemann advised that the TOTALITY OF SYMPTOMS should be taken into account. This HOLISTIC APPROACH treats the sick person as a whole. As is often said -- Homoeopathy does not treat the disease, but the diseased person. It is possible that thirty people suffering from Asthma may require 20 or even 30 different medicines -- depending upon the symptoms presented by them. Conversely, a medicine being given to a child for cough can be given to a lady with menstrual problems.

A Homoeopath takes a detailed history & does a thorough examination & notes down all the pathological/radiological test reports. But a Homoeopath goes into greater detail & pays special attention to the individual's peculiar symptoms, mental makeup, generalities like reaction to cold/heat ; dreams, as well as particular symptoms pertaining to each part of the body . The Homoeopath has to be fully trained in all aspects of medicine - anatomy, physiology, surgery, pathology, besides the Homoeopathic materia medica. After taking the case history, the Homoeopath's real talent & experience comes into play for he has to match the disease picture of the patient with drug picture of the medicine. A great prescriber is one who can select the right remedy from the numerous available to him.

Thus, the physician endeavours to build a multi-dimensional picture of his patient which will be matched by one of the drug pictures derived from provings of medicines.