Classification of Potency

After having come to know about various methods of drug dynamisation, the question arises as to which Potency should be given to the patient and whether low or high. The practitiiners know that potencies such as Q 1,3, 6,30,200,1000,10m,50m CM and MM are generally used.We may classify these into 6 categories namely
Low potencies Q,1,3,6
Medium potencies 12 ,30
Medium high 200
High potency 1 m
Higher potencies 10 m
Very high potencies 50 m and above
The classification as given above may, however be different in some of the books but I have adopted this classification for our convenience only.
The potency question has not been solved notwithstanding all endeavours of homoeopaths. Therefore, many popular books on Homoeopathy leave the question of potency to the judgement of the practitioners. Like others I have also tried to solve this problem and accordingly divided this problem into 5 categories.
1 Skill and knowledge of the physician.
2 Nature of the patient.
3Nature of the disease
4 Nature of the medicine.
Other general principles
Skill and knowledge of the physician
The ability, experience and the knowledge of the physician play an important role in the selection of a Potency. There are physicians who play well with high potency on the basis of their experience and there are others who are afraid of even giving above 30 Potency.
Skill of the physician means that every physician should have knowledge of medicines and knowledge of application of medicines which depends on
1 careful case taking
2 prooer analysis and evaluation of symptom.
3 Careful observation of remedy reactions their significance and results
4 Correct application of knowledge of second prescription and
5 knowledge of dispensing drugs.
The high potencies where administered, have shown their results. Both high and low potencies are of immense value at different timings with different patients and in the hands of different physicians. Beginners in Homoeopathy generally start with low Potencies. According to the Homoeopathic teachings very high Potencies, the infinitely small dose, are most powerful and may be dangerous if wrongly given. Of course much depends on the sensitiveness of the individual.A physician should know that no one Potency deserves the preference in all cases and that all Potencies cure diseases but that every Potency cures every disease.
The Homoeopathic principle in the selection of Potency is found in aphorism 30 of Organon which says that the medicinal Potency must be a little higher than the disease intensity so that the medicine dispels the disease. But the measure of disease insensity is a matter of doctor's experience.
A rational Homoeopath has no prejudice for or against high or low Potencies. He knows and perceive the fact that all Potencies act, if the remedy is similar to dynamic condition of the patient. It however, acts more efficiently and quickly if its Potency is appropriate to the sensitivity of the patient as a whole.
Nature of the patient
One of the guiding factors for selection of Potency is degree of suceptibility of the patient. Much depends on the sensitiveness of an individual taking Homoeopathic medicines. No two people react alike, persons oversensitive may even be due to improper Homoeopathic treatment require low Potency. The sluggish patients owing to much allopathic drugging, will require a very high potency to get any reaction at all or low Potency repeated every few hours until favourable reaction commences.In case of feeble patients where the vital force can easily be overwhelmed repetition of medicine is full of dangers​. Acutly sick robust patients will stand repetition of high Potencies until favourable reaction sets in.
Children can tolerate high Potencies well and generally the very aged persons require medium Potencies except for euthanasia.
Intellectual occupation, excitement of imaginations and emotions, sendantary occupations long sleep and effiminate life require higher Potencies while laboures and whose food is coarse, idiots, imbeciles deaf and dumb usually require low Potencies.
Nature of the disease
Besides dealing with chronic and diseases like nature of the disease also includes
The nature of suffering and
The stage of disease. Here I will cover all these aspects.
In general, acute disease respond well to high Potencies, especially of acute remedies. High potencies of deep acting chronic remedies when they are indicated may be dangerous, certain acute diseases based on chronic troubles such as cardiac asthma would have to be treated with medium or low Potencies because high potency would stir up more than the vital force could cope with in the face of advanced pathology.
In chronic cases, it is safe to begin with 200 th c unless it is dangerous because of the nature of the remedy, the degree of the pathology or the depth of the miasms. The object behind using 200 th Potency is that you have then ascending series of Potencies to use as treatment progress ( J.T.Kent)
In serious chronic cases the physician should take utmost care in the selection of the Potency of certain very deep acting medicines such as Sulphur, Siliceia, Tubreculinum or Phosphorus in tuberculosis, Kali carb in gout, Psorinum in Asthma and Arsenicun and Lachesis in many conditions. In these cases 30th Potency may be very useful.
In incurable and doubtful cases give no higher than the 200 th Potency and observe whether the aggravation is going to be too deep or too prolonged. There are many signs in the chest in such cases to make a physician doubt whether he will give deep remedy when organic disease is present then begin in such cases for anybody or anything (Kent). This view has also been held by dr.Underhill when he advocated for the use of low Potency in cases where cure is impossible and only palliation is required as in cancer.
In bad hearts high potency may give a bad reaction. It may be necessary to use tincture
One should not give a high potency immediately before a crisis or during paroxysms or convulsions
In acute diarrhoea and lower Potencies are preferable and should be taken dry from which is indeed important.
For the low grade disorders or when the disorder is apparently limited to structures and tissues out side the mental and nervous functions, low Potencies often cure speedily.
In gastric complaints use low Potencies it is for this reason nutritive medicine like Calc phos or Nat Mur are most efficacious in low Potencies

In mental diseases manifestly psychic origin the high potency 10 m and upward is to be used and that for grossly material condition marked organic patholgical changes, lower or medium Potencies would be selected.
Medicines in low Potencies are required during fever as the physician may be required to repeat the medicine every now and then in accordance with the intensity of the disease high or higher Potencies are very useful in acute phase of chronic diseases and in curable cases.
Low Potencies are more useful in all diseases of mucus membrane particularly of the bronchia and the lungs and all chronic diseases of liver.
In all nerve cases the individual remedy should be given in a high potency which means in an infinitely small quantity.
High potencies have a place in pregnancy. These Potencies are normally used for constitutional treatment and we all know that the pregnancy affords the best time for such treatment Kent has also said that We should keep high Potencies at finger tip while dealing with a case of haemorrhage.
In active skin eruption like itch, scabies recent and active eczema urticaria allergy etc low Potencies are to be given. Similarly cases of advanced organic or metabolic disorders like organic cardiac lesion diabetes etc are to be treated with low Potencies.
If the symptoms have been suppressed at the the peripheral and the disease has been driven to the centre, high and highest Potencies will be more useful, but if the symptoms are already on the surface i.e in case of skin eruptions one must be very cautious in prescribing high Potencies especially drug like Sulphur.
When there are gross tissue changes in the acute or last stage of chronic diseases low Potencies are rather palliative than curative, the time of cure is long passed.
The nature of suffering
If the suffering is intense high potency
If the suffering is mild low Potency
If the disease is of a general nature I.e affecting whole patient high potency
If the disease is of a local nature low Potency.
More prominent the physical symptoms low to medium Potency
The stage of disease
If the disease is at functional stage high potency
If the disease has reached the pathological stage low to medium Potency
The grosser the pathological changes the lower Potency.

Nature of the medicine
The nature of the medicine includes of substance in preparation of the medicine, the type of proving done and the type of symptoms produced.
If the drug substance from which the medicine is prepared is an inert substance such as Carbo veg, Nat Mur, Lyc etc, usually medium to high Potencies work well.
Poorly or partially proved medicines prescribed on partial symptoms picture should always be used in low Potencies. This rule will apply to drugs like Ornithogalum, Crategous , Hydrastis, Carduus mar, Ficus indica, Calc flr etc.
The medicines which are not properly proved should be given inlow.
Podophyllum 200 is quite useless in the Constipation of children where as 6 th worked spendidly. In high fever of children with threatening or actual convulsions that 6 th Potency increased fits and fever while 30 and 200 without any aggarvations at all.diarrhoea of Bryonia responded well with 3rd to 6 th Potency. But in the usual Constipation of Bryonia Potencies above 30 are Excellent.
Certain medicines act best both in high or low Potencies while others do not develop curative Power below certain Potency.there are medicines which are mostly given in low Potency mother tincture and also in some cases the action of the medicine varies according to the Potency. A study of some of the medicines will act as a guide in selection of the Potency. Here I will realise the value of the Two statements of two physicians dr Nash and Dr. Kent.