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Anthroposophic medicine (oranthroposophical medicine) is a form ofalternative medicine based onpseudoscientific andoccult notions.[1] Devised in the 1920s byRudolf Steiner (1861–1925) in conjunction withIta Wegman (1876–1943), anthroposophical medicine draws on Steiner'sspiritual philosophy, which he calledanthroposophy. Practitioners employ a variety of treatment techniques based upon anthroposophic precepts, includingmassage, exercise,counselling, and administration of substances.[2]
Many drug preparations used in anthroposophic medicine are ultra-diluted, similar to those used inhomeopathy. Homeopathic remedies are not medically effective and are generally considered harmless, except when used as a substitute for a scientifically proven and effective prevention and cure.[3] In certain European countries, people withcancer are sometimes prescribed remedies made from specially harvestedmistletoe, although noevidence of clinical benefit exists.[4][5] Some anthroposophic doctors oppose childhoodvaccination, and this has led to preventable outbreaks of disease.[6]
Anthroposophic medicine departs from fundamental biological, physical, and chemical principles in several respects. For example, Steiner said that theheart is not apump, but that the blood, in a sense, pumps itself.[7][8] Anthroposophic medicine also proposes that patients'past lives may influence their illness and that the course of an illness is subject tokarmic destiny.[9][10] Professor of complementary medicineEdzard Ernst and other physicians and scientists includingSimon Singh andDavid Gorski have characterized anthroposophic medicine as pseudoscientificquackery,[11][12] with no basis in reason or logic.[13][14][15]
According to Egil Asprem, "Steiner's teachings had a clear authoritarian ring, and developed a rather crass polemic against 'materialism', 'liberalism', and cultural 'degeneration'. [...] For example, anthroposophical medicine was developed to contrast with the 'materialistic' (and hence 'degenerate') medicine of the establishment."[16] According to Anthroposophy, mainstream medical science isAhrimanic.[17]
The first steps towards an anthroposophic approach tomedicine were made before 1920, when homeopathic physicians and pharmacists began working with Rudolf Steiner, who recommended newmedicinal substances as well as specific methods for preparation along with an anthroposophic concept of man. In 1921, Ita Wegman opened the first anthroposophic medicalclinic, now known as the Klinik Arlesheim,[18] inArlesheim,Switzerland. Wegman was soon joined by several other doctors. They then began to train the first anthroposophicnurses for the clinic.
At Wegman's request, Steiner regularly visited the clinic and suggested treatment regimes 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.[19][20]
Wegman later opened a separate clinic and curative home inAscona. Wegman lectured widely, visiting theNetherlands andEngland 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.[21]
In 1976 anthroposophic medicine inGermany got regulated bylaw as a specific therapeutic system ("Besondere Therapierichtung") by the Medicines Act-Arzneimittelgesetz (AMG) and by the Code of Social Law (Sozialgesetzbuch V)[22]
In the 1990s, theWitten/Herdecke University in Germany established achair in anthroposophical medicine. The press described the appointment as a "death sentence," and the perception that pseudoscience was being taught damaged the university's reputation, bringing it close to financial collapse. It was ultimately saved by a cash injection fromSoftware AG, a technology corporation with a history of funding anthroposophic projects.[13]
In 2012, theUniversity of Aberdeen considered establishing a chair inholistic health jointly funded by Software AG and the Anthroposophic Health, Education, and Social Care Movement, each of which would provide £1.5 million of endowment.[13] 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."[13] The university's governance and nominations committee eventually decided not to proceed with the appointment.[12]
Joseph A. Schwarcz (2022) regards Steiner as aquack.[23]
The categorization of anthroposophical medicine is complex since, in part, it complements conventional medicine, and in part, it substitutes for it.[1] In 2008, Ernst wrote that it was being promoted as an "extension to conventional medicine".[6]
Ernst writes that Steiner used imagination and insight as a basis for his ideas, drawing mystical knowledge from the occultAkashic Records, a work which is supposedly situated on theastral plane, and which Steiner said was accessible to him via his intuitive powers.[3] On this basis, Steiner proposed "associations between four postulated dimensions of the human body (physical body, etheric body, astral body, and ego), plants, minerals, and the cosmos".[2] Steiner also proposed a connection betweens planets, metals and organs so that, for example, the planetMercury, the elementmercury and the lung were all somehow associated. These propositions form the basis of anthroposophical medicine.[3]
Ernst has said that anthroposophical medicine "includes some of the least plausible theories one could possibly imagine",[24] categorized it as "pure quackery",[12] and said that it "has no basis in science".[13] According toQuackwatch, anthroposophical medicine practitioners regard illness as a "rite of passage" necessary to purge spiritual impurities carried over from past lives, according to the precepts of "karmic destiny".[9]
Anthroposophical MDs think diseases are caused primarily by karma and demons, rather than materialistic causes.[25] TheGospel of Luke is their main handbook of medical science; this makes them believe they have magical powers, and that medicine is essentially a form of magic.[25] The professional French organization of Anthroposophic MDs has suedGrégoire Perra [fr], the author of such claims; they have been condemned to pay 25,000 Euros in damages for abusively suing him.[25][26]
The French governmental anti-cults agencyMIVILUDES reported that it remains vigilant about Anthroposophy, especially because of its deviant medical applications and its work with underage persons.[25][27][28]
According to Edzard Ernst, "Anthroposophic medicine is based on several bizarre assumptions".[29]
Steiner seems to have been right about diets, although his assumptions were erroneous.[30]
In anthroposophic pharmacy, drugs are prepared according to notions ofalchemy andhomeopathy rather than the science underlying modernpharmacology.[2] During the preparation process, patterns formed by crystallization are interpreted to see which "etheric force" they most closely resemble.[11] Most anthroposophic preparations are highly diluted, akin to homeopathic remedies. This means that, while they are completely harmless in themselves, using them in place of conventional medicine to treat serious illness carries a risk of severe adverse consequences.[3]
As well as drug remedies, anthroposophical medicine also includes:[2]
To select an anthroposophic substance for a particular illness, practitioners consider the source of the substances used. The character of a mineral, plant, or animal is hypothesised to have been formed by the substances that are most active within it, in the belief that this character may also influence what the substance will accomplish when given to treat another organism. This is related to thedoctrine of signatures.Willow, for example, is considered to have an unusual character:
... plants that grow near water are usually heavy, with big, dark green leaves that wilt and break easily. An exception is ... the white willow, a tree that always grows near water and loves light. However, unlike other "watery" plants, the willow has fine, almost dry leaves and looks very light ... Its branches are unbelievably tough. They are elastic and cannot be broken. They bend easily and form "joints" rather than break. These few signatures can give us the clue to whatsalix can be used for therapeutically:arthritis, deformation of joints, swollen joints ...[32]
There is no scientific evidence that the shape of plants has ever caused a new medical property to be discovered.[33]
Steiner described the heart not as apump but as a regulator of flow, such that the heartbeat itself can be distinguished from the circulation of blood.[8][34] Anthroposophic medicine claims the flow ofblood of thecirculatory system is, as Marinelli put it, "propelled with its own biological momentum, as can be seen in the embryo, and boosts itself with induced momenta from theheart".[8][35]
This view of the heart is not based on any scientific theory and has been characterized as "crank science".[34]
Steiner believed that the sex of a baby was determined at the moment ofconception by the alignment of the stars.[36]
Steiner's model of anatomy was based on a three-part notion whereby the head is the "thinking part," the abdomen and limbs the "metabolic part," and the chest and heart a "rhythmic center".[36]
According to Dan Dugan, Steiner challenged established science in the following ways:
During theCOVID-19 pandemic, Steiner hospitals in Germany became notorious amongst healthcare authorities for forcing quack remedies on sedated hospital patients, some of whom were critically ill.[39] Remedies used includedginger poultices and homeopathic pellets claimed to contain the dust of shooting stars. Stefan Kluge, the director of intensive care medicine atHamburg's University Medical Centre, said the claims of anthroposophic providers during the pandemic were "highly unprofessional" and that they "risk[ed] causing uncertainty among patients".[39]
Rudolf Steiner conjectured thatmistletoe could cure cancer based on the observation that the plant was a parasite that eventually killed its host—a process he claimed paralleled the progression of cancer.[2] Steiner believed the plant's medical potential was influenced by the position of the sun, moon, and planets and that it was important to harvest the plant at the right time.[40] Some mistletoe preparations are ultra-diluted; others are made from fermented mistletoe.[2] The most commonly used trade names for mistletoe drugs are Iscador and Helixor.[4]
Althoughlaboratory experiments have suggested that mistletoe extract may affect theimmune system and be able to kill some kinds of cancer cells, there is littleevidence of its benefit to people with cancer.[5][41] Most of the clinical research claiming that mistletoe therapy is effective is published in Germany, and it is generally considered unreliable because of major lapses in quality.[41][42] Edzard Ernst wrote that research by anthroposophic clinicians often reached positive conclusions on mistletoe therapy because it drew on unreliable material; independent researchers tended instead to find no evidence of benefit.[2] TheAmerican Cancer Society says that "available evidence from well-designed clinical trials does not support claims that mistletoe can improve length or quality of life".[4]
Mistletoe-based cancer drugs are widely used in Europe, especially in German-speaking countries.[42] In 2002, nearly half a million prescriptions were paid for by German health insurance, and in 2006, there were reportedly around 30 types of mistletoe extract on the market.[2][42] Mistletoe extracts have been used as an unconventional treatment for cancer patients in theNetherlands, and in Germany the treatment has been approved aspalliative therapy to treat the symptoms of patients with malignant tumors.[4] In Sweden, controversially, mistletoe therapy has been approved for use in the treatment of cancer symptoms.[43]
In other countries, mistletoe therapy is virtually unknown.[42] TheUnited States Food and Drug Administration has not approved mistletoe-based drugs for any purpose; mistletoe extracts may not be distributed in or imported to the U.S. except for research purposes.[41] As of 2015[update] no mistletoe-based drugs are licensed for use in theUnited Kingdom.[44]
A 2013 article on mistletoe inLancet Oncology invokedBen Goldacre's observation that a geographical preference for certain therapies was a hallmark ofquackery, and proposed that the continuing use of this "apparently ineffectual therapy" in a small cluster of countries was based onsociological rather than medical reasons, indicating a need for a more informedconsent from patients.[42]
The risks arising from using anthroposophical medicine as a substitute forevidence-based medicine are exemplified by several cases of low vaccination levels inWaldorf schools,[3] since some anthroposophical doctors opposeimmunization.[6] A 1999 study of children in Sweden showed that inWaldorf schools, only 18% had receivedMMR vaccination, compared to a level of 93% in other schools nationally.[3]
A 2003 report of a widespread measles outbreak aroundCoburg, Germany, identified a Waldorf school as the origin.[3] At the time, the town's mayor had condemned homeopathic doctors who had discouraged vaccination, saying, "Their stronghold is the Waldorf School, which actively encourages people not to have their children vaccinated. Now we have an epidemic."[45]
Paul Offit wrote that Steiner believed vaccination "interferes with karmic development and the cycles of reincarnation", and that adherence to this belief led to a 2008pertussis outbreak in a Californian Waldorf school, causing its temporary closure.[10]
teils ergänzend und teils ersetzend zur konventionellen MedizinCited inErnst, Edzard (2008). "Anthroposophic medicine: A critical analysis".MMW Fortschritte der Medizin.150 (Suppl 1):1–6.PMID 18540325.
Available evidence from well-designed clinical trials does not support claims that mistletoe can improve length or quality of life.
The review found that there was not enough evidence to reach clear conclusions about the effects on any of these outcomes and it is therefore not clear to what extent the application of mistletoe extracts translates into improved symptom control, enhanced tumour response or prolonged survival.
Anthroposophic medicine was founded by Steiner and Ita Wegman in the early 20th century. Currently, it is being promoted as an extension of conventional medicine.
Medical science is Ahrimanic in that it treats the body solely as a mechanism, having no knowledge of or concern with the etheric structure, that invisible field of force and energy which all too often is found to be the seat of disease.
To a scientist, this of course is silly stuff. Even Steiner admitted this. 'I know perfectly well that all of this may seem utterly mad,' he once said. 'I only ask that you remember how many things have seemed utterly mad which have nonetheless been introduced a few years later.' An interesting notion, but quite misleading. The fact is that most ideas that seem utterly mad, are utterly mad.
In physics, Steiner championed Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's color theory over Isaac Newton, and he called relativity "brilliant nonsense." In astronomy, he taught that the motions of the planets were caused by the relationships of the spiritual beings that inhabited them. In biology, he preached vitalism and doubted germ theory.
Anthroposophical pseudoscience is easy to find in Waldorf schools. "Goethean science" is supposed to be based only on observation, without "dogmatic" theory. Because observations make no sense without a relationship to some hypothesis, students are subtly nudged in the direction of Steiner's explanations of the world. Typical departures from accepted science include the claim that Goethe refuted Newton's theory of color, Steiner's unique "threefold" systems in physiology, and the oft-repeated doctrine that "the heart is not a pump" (blood is said to move itself).
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