Anthroposophic Medicine

Standard medicine’s biochemical perspective cannot solve every problem. A whole-person approach offers broader therapeutic concepts and opportunities to meet complex medical challenges in innovative ways. Anthroposophical trained clinicians must become certified as medical professional first but then spend years studying and researching the mysteries of the of human physiology, therapeutic substances and the connection of the human being to the world around us. AM also takes a developmental approach studying the phases of life and salutogenic processes (health giving) which are connect the healing of the physical body to the mind and creative potential of the individual. Research shows that Anthroposophic Medicine can: 
• Reduce antibiotic use and resistance in common respiratory illnesses by providing natural tools to guide acute illnesses through to a healthy resolution. 
• Provide successful approaches for a multitude of chronic diseases, with improved outcomes and lowered costs, by approaching an illness from many sides (art and music therapies, movement, massage therapy). 
• Address the physiologic components of mental health illness, while giving tools to patients to support their own creativity, insight, and self-regulation. 
• Offer truly integrative care for cancer patients, including treatments with Viscum album (mistletoe plant) preparations, which regulate and strengthen the patient’s own immune system: 

◦ Mistletoe: From Basic Research to Clinical Outcomes in Cancer and Other Indications, part of an entire special issue devoted to studies of mistletoe therapy. 
◦ Health services research of integrative oncology in palliative care of patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. 
◦ A randomized clinical trial on overall survival in patient locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic cancer, using Viscum album (L.) extract therapy 
◦ Influence of Viscum album L (European mistletoe) Extracts on Quality of Life in Cancer Patients: A Systematic Reivew of Controlled Clinical Studies.

For nearly a century, Anthroposophic Medicine has been growing as practitioners gathered clinical expertise and found new applications. Recent research quantifies what generations of patients have experienced and valued. An assessment commissioned by the Swiss government in 2006 found that 253 out of 256 clinical studies evaluating Anthroposophic medicine showed positive outcomes, with “very high” safety, and cost-effectiveness. The number of published clinical studies related to Anthroposophic medicine has since almost doubled. This is just the beginning of proving what is possible. You can find regularly updated collections of recent research publications related to Anthroposophic Medicine and Therapies at the: 

• Research Page of the Medical Section at the Goetheanum, an international compilation of Anthroposophic Medical studies 
• IVAA research page and the Finnish Forum for Research in Integrative Medicine and Healthcare 

Or, for a more comprehensive overview, download this 2012 review article on Anthroposophic Medicine: Kienle G, Albonico HU, Baars E, Hamre H, Zimmermann P, Kiene H, “Anthroposophic Medicine: An Integrative Medical System Originating in Europe”, Global Advances in Health and Medicine, November 2013, 2, 6