Concepts link themes of rubrics which run through our repertory.

We can already do a word search in the repertory and find all rubrics which contain any given word, for example pregnancy. In Synthesis 7 we find 36 such symptoms in mind. We can think of pregnancy as a concept and include all symptoms which are related to nursing, abortion, delivery, etc. as well. If we search for the concept of pregnancy we find 64 mind symptoms.

Adhemar Fonseca and Hylton Sarcinelli Luz (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) have divided the mind into hierarchical concepts. Example: the symptom we are looking for has to do with the patient himself (as opposed to others or environment):yes the first idea can be as vague as this. Then we can choose between a list of groups and we pick self-esteem. The problem of our patient has to do with low self esteem. One more step down we find discontented, and then finally we arrive at self depreciation. This is the concept we are looking for and one more click shows us a list of 16 symptoms which express self depreciation.If you think of self depreciation at the start, you can simply type this word and find the symptoms related to this concept.

The mind can also be divided into concepts, expressed by one word. Marcos Zulian (Brazil) has prepared this work so that each of these word-concepts is linked to a number of mind symptoms. For example the concept 'alert' shows 13 symptoms, which may be considered if alertness is a key feature of the patient.

Concepts may also be used to bring homeopathy closer to classical medicine, or let's say to pathology. If we choose the disease concept 'Alzheimer' we get a list of 24 homeopathic symptoms which may be a starting point to look at the patient in a homeopathic way. Some 180 most common diseases of 13 body systems (cardiovascular, dermatology, etc.) have been linked to a group of repertory symptoms. Realized by Francisco de Freitas & collaborators (Rio de Janeiro).

A similar work has been realized by Manuel Mateu (Zaragozza, Spain). He has catalogued all conditions requiring first aid into concepts. For example: bites of poisonous animals may affect the eye, face, mouth, extremities, skin, and the general condition.

The endless list of symptoms for a particular remedy becomes coherent when separated into themes. E.g.: 'failure' in argentum nitricum. This remedy concept sums up the symptoms which best express 'failure' for argentum nitricum. This is what some authors call the 'themes' of a remedy: groups of symptoms which express the essential features of a remedy. Prepared by Philippe Servais (Paris).