Editorial Note on Alternative & Integrative Medicine - Anthroposophic Medicine

Neeraj Singh Chandel^*
*Correspondence: Neeraj Singh Chandel, Department of Biology, Bachelor of science, Arunachal Pradesh, India, Email:

Editorial Note

Anthroposophic Medicine (Anthropos = person: Sophia = astuteness) is a type of corresponding pharmaceutical grew by Rudolf Steiner that perspectives the whole individual. The anthroposophical way to deal with medication adds profound understanding to analysis and recuperating. Anthroposophic Medicine aims to stimulate the natural healing forces of the individual and to bring mind, body and spirit into balance. Both medicines and therapies are used to achieve this function.

Anthroposophic medicine (or anthroposophical medicine) is a form of alternative medicine.[1] Devised in the 1920s by Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925) in conjunction with Ita Wegman (1876–1943), anthroposophical medicine is based on occult notions and draws on Steiner's spiritual philosophy, which he called anthroposophy. Practitioners employ a variety of treatment techniques based upon anthroposophic precepts, including massage, exercise, counselling, and substances. Many drug preparations used in anthroposophic medicine are ultra-diluted substances, similar to those used in homeopathy. Homeopathic remedies are not medically effective and are generally considered harmless, except when used as a substitute for a scientifically proven and effective cure. In certain European countries, people with cancer are sometimes prescribed remedies made from specially harvested mistletoe, but research has found no convincing evidence of clinical benefit. Some anthroposophic doctors oppose childhood vaccination, and this has led to preventable outbreaks of disease.

The first steps towards an anthroposophic approach to medicine were made before 1920, when homeopathic physicians and pharmacists began working with Rudolf Steiner, who recommended new medicinal substances as well as specific methods for preparation along with an anthroposophic concept of man. In 1921, Ita Wegman opened the first anthroposophic medical clinic, now known as the Klinik Arlesheim,[16] in Arlesheim, Switzerland. Wegman was soon joined by a number of other doctors. They then began to train the first anthroposophic nurses for the clinic. At Wegman's request, Steiner regularly visited the clinic and suggested treatment regimens for particular patients. Between 1920 and 1925, he also gave several series of lectures on medicine. In 1925, Wegman and Steiner wrote the first book on the anthroposophic approach to medicine, Fundamentals of Therapy.

Wegman later opened a separate clinic and curative home in Ascona. Wegman lectured widely, visiting the Netherlands and England particularly frequently, and an increasing number of doctors began to include the anthroposophic approach in their practices. A cancer clinic, the Lukas Clinic, opened in Arlesheim in 1963. In 1976 anthroposophic medicine in Germany got regulated by law as a specific therapeutic system ("Besondere Therapierichtung") by the Medicines Act-Arzneimittelgesetz (AMG) and by the Code of Social Law (Sozialgesetzbuch V).

In 2012 the University of Aberdeen considered establishing a chair in holistic health jointly funded by Software AG, and by the Anthroposophic Health, Education, and Social Care Movement, each of which would provide £1.5 million of endowment. Edzard Ernst commented "that any decent university should even consider an anthroposophical medicine unit seems incomprehensible. The fact that it would be backed by people who have a financial interest in this bogus approach makes it even worse." The University's governance and nominations committee eventually decided not to proceed with the appointment.

While the genetic basis of simple diseases and disorders has been accurately pinpointed, the genetics behind more complex, neurological disorders is still a source of ongoing research. New developments such as the genome wide association studies (GWAS) have brought vast new resources within grasp. With this new information genetic variability within the human population and possibly linked diseases can be more readily discerned. Neurodegenerative diseases are a more common subset of neurological disorders, with examples being Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. Currently no viable treatments exist that actually reverse the progression of neurodegenerative diseases; however, neurogenetics is emerging as one field that might yield a causative connection. The discovery of linkages could then lead to therapeutic drugs, which could reverse brain degeneration. One of the most noticeable results of further research into neurogenetics is a greater knowledge of gene loci that show linkage to neurological diseases.

Related Journals of Anthroposophic Medicine

Alternative Health Care Journals, Alternative Medicine Journals, Journal of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine, Journal of Natural Medicines, Chinese Journal of Natural Medicines, Chinese Medicine, Comparative Medicine.