Whoever heals is right.
What is really scientific about Anthroposophy.
An honest journey from my own final medical exam, through the Swiss mountains, to several thousand clinical studies that no one ever showed me during my studies.
I studied anthroposophic medicine for two years. In one of the most renowned clinics of this approach, in Switzerland. With my own hands I gathered plants from the slopes, placed them in warm water, in ice-cold water, for seven days, and out of this came something that stayed stable for years. And to this day I still cannot explain to you molecularly what happened in those seven days. But I can show you that it happened.
There is one sentence that ran through my whole training: Whoever heals is right.
Not the one with the most beautiful theory. Not the one who quotes the most studies. But the one whose patients get better.
That is a guiding sentence from my training, not a proof. Whether something works still has to be tested. That is exactly what this article is about.
And I have learned that there are many more paths to that than I was taught in medical school. This article is my attempt to show you why I consider anthroposophy a medicine to be taken seriously. With studies. With numbers. And with honesty where the research is still at the beginning.
What is anthroposophic medicine, actually?
Because the word Anthroposophy trips many people up, a few clear sentences before this becomes personal.
Anthroposophic medicine grew out of the collaboration between the philosopher Rudolf Steiner and the Dutch physician Ita Wegman in the 1920s. It explicitly does not see itself as an alternative to conventional medicine, but as its extension. Every anthroposophic doctor in Germany is first a fully licensed conventional physician. They then work additionally with another lens.
The basic idea is actually very modern: the human being is not only biochemistry. The human being is body, and at the same time a being with life forces, with a soul-feeling level, and with an individual I-dimension. What today's research in psychoneuroimmunology shows, namely that thoughts and feelings measurably alter cortisol, the immune system, gene expression, Steiner already took seriously a hundred years ago: that the spiritual works in matter, and that matter in turn carries the spirit.
He called his research method spiritual science. So a science that does not only look at matter, but also at how consciousness, life processes and substance interlock. For many people that is unfamiliar at first. But it is neither religion nor sect. It is the attempt to be a blend of philosophy and natural science that takes the human being seriously in their full breadth.
In practice this looks very concrete: herbal medicine, minerals, rhythmically prepared remedies, eurythmy therapy as movement therapy, rhythmical massage, art and music therapy. Nothing remote. Things you can touch, measure and use in clinics. In Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, the Netherlands and in more and more countries, it is today part of the recognized field of integrative medicine.
With this lens in mind, everything I am about to tell you makes more sense. And I prefer to tell it to you the way I myself came to this medicine. Because for a long time I was skeptical. Really skeptical. I do not speak as a believer. I speak as a doctor who has refuted himself.
The night when a sleep remedy shook my medicine
I was just before my final exam. Studying late, plus sport, discipline, structure. And still, in the evening, I could no longer come down. Trouble falling asleep. No more energy for meditation, no more energy for one more ritual. I just wanted to sleep.
My best friend pressed a small bottle into my hand. Plant drops from the anthroposophic pharmacy, with oat, hops, passion flower and valerian. Inwardly I rolled my eyes, and I took it anyway, because he is my best friend.
What kept me busy afterwards was not the question of whether it worked for me. A single experience says little about that. What kept me busy was one ingredient on the package insert.
Oat. Hops. Passion flower. Valerian. Classical calming plants in mother tincture. So far, so understandable.
And then, all the way at the end: Coffea tosta, Dilution D60. Roasted coffee. In a sleep remedy.
D60 means: diluted sixty times in a one-to-ten ratio. A dilution of one to ten to the power of sixty. Mathematically, there is not a single molecule of coffee left in this bottle. The volume in which one molecule could still be expected would be larger than the entire observable universe.
And this is intentional.
I stood in my flatshare room and had two options. The first: I explain the effect as placebo and feel superior. The second: I admit to myself that I did not understand something.
I chose the second. And right after the final exam I signed up for a two-year physician training at Klinik Arlesheim in Switzerland. One of the best-known addresses of anthroposophic medicine worldwide.
What I learned there continues to change, to this day, how I work in my practice with patients.
A week in the Swiss mountains and a process I still do not fully understand
The training in Arlesheim ran over two years. Weekend seminars, block weeks, hospital observation, pharmaceutical practice, pathology, diagnostics, therapy. A full curriculum framework alongside my normal job as a doctor. In the middle of this time stood a plant week in the Swiss Alps. Seven days outside, with colleagues, botanists and pharmacists. What I am about to tell you comes from this one week. It was a single segment, but it concentrated everything.
We collected plants, picked up stones, and each day made different remedies from them. Oils. Tinctures. Decoctions. With alcohol. Without alcohol. And then came what I had never seen before.
You take freshly pressed plant juice. You place it in warm water, in the dark for the entire day. In the evening it goes into ice-cold water, one hour before and one hour after sunset.
The next morning the same game in reverse: one hour before and one hour after sunrise in the ice-cold water. After that, back into the warmth, into the dark.
This goes on for seven days. At the end a little ash is added. And what comes out is a remedy that keeps without alcohol. For years.
I cannot tell you molecularly what happens in these seven days. But I can tell you that the remedy stays stable. And this is pharmaceutically verifiable.
This process is called the Rh process in anthroposophic pharmacy, short for rhythm. It is officially documented in European pharmacy, in the Anthroposophic Pharmaceutical Codex, and the methods are defined by Ph. Eur. 1.5.1 and 1.5.2. This is not private magic. This is regulated pharmaceutical craft.
Modern pharmacy asks: which molecule? In what concentration? At which receptor? That is a good question. But it does not exhaust all the questions.
Anthroposophic pharmacy adds: in which rhythm? Under which light? At which temperature? These questions are not esoteric. Every modern crystal growth, every semiconductor manufacture, every fermentation knows them. What is taken for granted in technology has so far rarely been studied for the plant. Whether it makes a difference there is an open research question, not an established fact.
We live under the influence of the sun without noticing. We live under rhythms that steer our cells, and that we call circadian. The body itself produces cortisol in the morning, melatonin in the evening. Our gut, our heart, our liver beat in a daily rhythm. That a remedy prepared according to this rhythm has different properties than one tipped together in two seconds in the lab is biologically plausible, even if we cannot yet describe it fully on the molecular level.
D60 and the question pharmacology will have to ask anew
Back to the coffee in D60. By calculation: not a single molecule left. And still, it is processed this way deliberately, because anthroposophic doctors have been observing for a hundred years that in this potency it has a calming effect. The wake-inducing substance in highest dilution sets a polarity to the calming plants in mother tincture. Not a sum, but a composition.
And here is the interesting part. The pharmacology we learn in medical school is based on the lock-and-key principle. Molecules dock, receptors are activated or blocked. This explains an incredible amount. But it does not explain everything.
In the past twenty years, several research groups have shown that highly diluted aqueous solutions have measurably different physical properties than the starting water. Elia and Napoli documented this in Italy with calorimetry, conductivity, pH and galvanic cells. Roy and Tiller researched water structures. Bellavite and Marzotto placed all of this in an explanatory frame using quantum electrodynamics and so-called coherent domains.
I am not claiming we already understand all of this. I am claiming the opposite: we have not yet understood it. But we also have not yet been able to show that there is nothing there. And that is a difference that matters.
Luc Montagnier, Nobel laureate for the discovery of the HIV virus, did controversial experiments in his later years on electromagnetic signals from highly diluted DNA solutions. His work has not yet been independently replicated. It is not proof. But it is an indication that the question is not arbitrary.
And this is also how I see D60: just because I cannot yet explain an effect molecularly does not make it nonsense. And if the explanation of the anthroposophists is not enough for you, find a better one. But do not throw out herbal medicine, minerals, art therapy, eurythmy therapy and rhythmical massage as a whole, because you do not like the explanation of one part.
Several thousand studies. And nobody talks about it.
I often hear the sentence: "Anthroposophic medicine? There are no studies on that." The sentence is not just a little wrong. It is far past reality.
Because anthroposophic medicine is to a large extent built on herbal medicine, we honestly have to start with the entire surface of phytotherapy. The European Medicines Agency has so far recognized over 160 herbal monographs. Cochrane lists several hundred systematic reviews on medicinal plants. For the plants alone that form the backbone of anthroposophic pharmacy (valerian, St John's wort, hawthorn, arnica, mistletoe, calendula, oat, goldenrod, passion flower, hops and many more), several thousand clinical studies exist worldwide. That is the basis on which the whole stands. It is huge.
And within this large surface there is a second circle: studies that specifically investigate anthroposophic therapy concepts, that is, not only the plant, but the overall treatment. Here the Health Technology Assessment Report of Switzerland, in its latest update, collected 265 clinical studies. Of these, 38 randomized controlled trials (in the following abbreviated as RCT: participants are assigned to therapy or control groups by chance, which is methodologically considered the gold standard), 36 prospective studies, 49 retrospective controlled studies and 142 observational studies. The result, in the report's own words: predominantly positive and well tolerated.
To be fair, this belongs with it: the report and its update were produced by researchers from the anthroposophic field, among them the IFAEMM institute and co-authors from the manufacturers' association ESCAMP. It is a stocktaking of the field by the field itself. That does not devalue the numbers, but you should know it while reading.
These are the numbers. They do not mean that every treatment is proven. They mean that the accusation of "no research" is simply not accurate. The EvaMed analysis with more than 44,000 patients suggests that side effects of these remedies were rarely documented in everyday practice. These are spontaneous reports without a control group. No safety comparison with other medicines can be drawn from them, and I do not want to draw one.
What the herbal medicine behind anthroposophy shows
Anthroposophic medicine is to a large extent phytotherapy, that is, herbal medicine. Often as mother tincture, often potentized, sometimes both at once in the same remedy. If you take the individual plants seriously, you are not standing in the esoterics aisle. You are standing in the library.
I am showing you nine plants that regularly appear in anthroposophic remedies, including the plants that were in my little bottle back then. And I am showing you how much clinical research exists on each one.
What the largest review shows
Shinjyo and colleagues 2020 screened 60 papers. The actual calculation included 10 studies with around 1,000 people for sleep quality and 8 studies for anxiety. Valerian can improve subjectively experienced sleep quality in these. The authors attribute the inconsistent results of earlier studies to varying extract quality.
Older meta-analysis: relative risk for better sleep 1.8 (95 percent CI 1.2 to 2.9). In the studies evaluated, side effects were reported as rare and mostly mild. Valerian can make you tired. Together with alcohol, sleeping pills or sedatives this can add up, and the ability to drive can be impaired.
Anxiety, sleep, stress
Systematic review with nine clinical studies. The majority report significant anxiety reduction. No serious side effects were reported in these studies, although the data base for that is small. Polysomnography RCT 2020: shorter time to fall asleep, longer sleep duration.
Passiflora appears to influence GABAergic pathways in the brain. Mechanistically plausible, so far studied clinically in small trials. Here too: the plant can sedate, which matters in traffic and in combination with other dampening substances.
The underrated friend of valerian
Contains 8-prenylnaringenin, a very potent phytoestrogen. In a randomized trial on menopausal complaints the symptoms decreased.
In combination with valerian, hops can further improve sleep parameters. Cross-over study: significant reduction of anxiety, depression and stress.
Precisely because of this hormonal action: with hormone-sensitive tumors, under anti-hormonal therapy, in pregnancy and while breastfeeding, hops do not belong in self-medication but in a medical conversation.
Why the green plant calms
RCT with 132 adults aged 35 to 65. After four weeks of green-oat extract: significantly better cognitive performance, better working-memory tasks, and: lower electrodermal stress response. A biomarker for sympathetic nervous system activation.
Oat appears to act on the autonomic nervous system. In this study the effect was measurable. Whether it holds up in larger investigations is open.
From the meadow to the urinary tract
The European Medicines Agency lists goldenrod under well-established use for the supportive treatment of inflammations of the urinary tract. The available studies are open and without a control group. No success rate can be derived from them, especially as uncomplicated urinary tract infections often resolve on their own.
Antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, diuretic and antispasmodic properties are discussed. Side effects were rarely documented in larger series. Important: with fever, flank pain, blood in the urine or complaints lasting more than three days, a urinary tract infection belongs in a medical examination.
A Phase III RCT that still receives too little attention in oncology
Pommier and colleagues 2004, Journal of Clinical Oncology, 254 women after breast cancer surgery. Calendula cream versus trolamine on the radiation field.
Acute radiation dermatitis grade 2 or higher: 41 percent versus 63 percent (p < 0.001), plus fewer interruptions of radiation and less pain. This is a cleanly reported study.
I am not allowed to comment publicly on the use of this within cancer treatment. German medicines advertising law forbids it, and rightly so. What can make sense in your situation belongs in the conversation with your treatment team.
One of the best studied medicinal plants
Cochrane review by Linde and colleagues 2008: 29 RCTs with 5,489 patients, the population studied was major depression. St John's wort performed better than placebo there and similarly well as classical antidepressants, with fewer study dropouts due to side effects. The authors themselves point out that studies from German-speaking countries turned out systematically more favorable, which makes the assessment harder.
The German national care guideline lists St John's wort as one possible option for mild to moderate depressive episodes. Other European guidelines are more reserved.
Important, and often overlooked: St John's wort is not a harmless tea. It can weaken the effect of the contraceptive pill, of blood thinners, immunosuppressants and HIV medication, it can make the skin more light-sensitive, and in combination with SSRIs a serotonin syndrome can develop. Never take it on your own alongside other medication. And never stop an antidepressant without medical guidance.
When a plant helps the heart
Cochrane review by Pittler and colleagues 2008: 14 included RCTs, of which 10 studies with 855 patients entered the meta-analysis, all with chronic heart failure. Hawthorn extract added to standard therapy significantly improved maximum exercise capacity, pressure-rate product, breathlessness and fatigue.
Large SPICE study 2008: 2,681 patients with heart failure NYHA II to III, observation time two years. The study found no survival benefit. In a post-hoc subgroup analysis with worse pump function there was less sudden cardiac death. Such subgroup findings are hypotheses, not proof, and they would have to be tested in a study of their own.
On safety: in the studies evaluated, side effects were reported as rare and mostly mild. The Cochrane review found no sufficient data on hard endpoints such as mortality, and one trial reported four deaths, three of them in the verum arm. No statement about safety in heart failure can be derived from this. With heart failure, hawthorn does not belong in self-medication but in medical hands, also because of possible interactions with cardiac medication.
The plant that stands in every mountain house
Recent systematic reviews bundle 29 to 42 clinical studies on arnica for bruises, hematomas, postoperative swelling and muscle pain. The results are mixed, I say that openly: some studies show clear effects (for example after plastic facial surgery or after knee arthroscopy), others no difference from the placebo group.
An RCT in knee operations in 2010 showed significantly reduced blood loss and swelling versus placebo. Another in hand surgery found no effect. The research situation is open. But the plant does not disappear just because it does not show its signal in every study.
That is nine plants. Representative of dozens of others. And behind each one stand hundreds of hours of human research that flow into anthroposophic medicine.
Mistletoe, Bryophyllum, eurythmy, and the study from Arlesheim
Mistletoe (Viscum album): Evidence level 1a in the German guideline
The official S3 guideline Complementary Medicine in Oncology by the German Cancer Society, the DGHO and the German Cancer Aid, last updated in 2025, explicitly recommends subcutaneous mistletoe therapy for improving quality of life in solid tumors. Evidence level 1a, that is, the highest level of evidence a guideline can assign.
Tröger and colleagues 2013, European Journal of Cancer, pancreatic cancer, 220 patients. In this open, single-centre study in Serbia a mistletoe extract was compared with a group that received no antineoplastic therapy at all. Median overall survival 4.8 months versus 2.7 months (p < 0.0001) in favor of the mistletoe group. No mistletoe-related adverse events were observed. It was an interim analysis.
How I read this: that is a signal, but it is not a comparison with chemotherapy. The study was not blinded, it ran at a single centre, and it was an interim analysis. The German guideline supports mistletoe for quality of life so far, not for longer survival. I do not want to blur that difference. Safety belongs here too: local reactions at the injection site, febrile reactions and allergic reactions do occur, and use during immunotherapy is discussed among specialists.
I am not allowed to comment publicly on concrete applications in a cancer illness. German medicines advertising law forbids it, and rightly so. What can make sense in your situation belongs in a personal conversation with your oncologist.
AWMF guideline 032-055OLk, 2021/2025. Tröger W et al. Viscum album [L.] extract therapy in patients with locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic cancer: a randomised clinical trial on overall survival. Eur J Cancer. 2013;49(18):3788–97. DOI: 10.1016/j.ejca.2013.06.043. PubMed 23890767.
Less antibiotic use in children: OR 6.33
Hamre and colleagues 2014, prospective comparative cohort with 529 children, Europe and USA. Respiratory and ear infections.
Antibiotic prescription: 5.5 percent anthroposophic versus 25.6 percent conventional. Adjusted odds ratio for non-prescription: 6.33 (95 percent CI 3.17 to 12.64). With comparable symptom resolution.
How I read this: the child's microbiome is altered with every antibiotic dose. The WHO calls antibiotic resistance one of the largest health crises of our time. What matters is how this study came about: it was an observational study, and the parents had chosen the treatment direction themselves. The groups are therefore not directly comparable. The authors state explicitly that one cannot infer from this how many antibiotics could be avoided in children who usually receive conventional treatment. It is a hint, not a proof.
Hamre HJ et al. Antibiotic Use in Children with Acute Respiratory or Ear Infections: Prospective Observational Comparison of Anthroposophic and Conventional Treatment. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2014;2014:243801. PubMed 25505919.
Bryophyllum: a plant that is being researched in obstetrics
Bryophyllum pinnatum is a plant of anthroposophic tradition, introduced into obstetrics at the Herdecke Hospital in 1970. It is still being studied in obstetric clinics today, also outside anthroposophic settings.
In a cell experiment on human uterine muscle cells an extract was able to dampen oxytocin signaling pathways. That is a laboratory observation. Whether it explains a clinical effect has not been shown by it.
Why I stop here: I am not allowed to write publicly about concrete applications in complications of pregnancy. German medicines advertising law forbids it, and in this case I consider the ban right. For questions about pregnancy, your midwife, your gynecologist or the maternity clinic is always the right address. With preterm contractions, bleeding, loss of amniotic fluid or reduced fetal movements, please go to the clinic immediately or call the emergency number 112.
And then this study, which I thought about for a long time
In Switzerland and in Germany there are clinics where community-acquired pneumonia is treated integratively in carefully selected patients, as inpatients and under close monitoring. In a small retrospective case series from Heidenheim in Germany, 18 people were treated this way.
What matters is who was treated there: 15 of the 18 belonged to the low risk classes, and the two severely ill patients in risk class IV additionally received antibiotics. Result: body temperature, CRP (p = 0.03) and leukocytes decreased significantly. The comparison was made with a historical cohort, not with a parallel control group. The hospital stay was two to three days longer.
How I read this: this is not a randomized study, it is a case series with 18 people. The authors themselves write that only a hint for carefully selected cases follows from it and that larger studies are needed. For you this means: pneumonia always belongs in a medical assessment, and whether an antibiotic is needed is decided by the examination, not by a blog article. A necessary antibiotic treatment must not be delayed.
When it has to be fast: with shortness of breath, bluish lips, confusion, a very fast pulse, high fever with chills or sudden deterioration, please call the emergency number 112 immediately. This is not a case for a practice appointment next week.
Geyer U et al. Inpatient Treatment of Community-Acquired Pneumonias with Integrative Medicine. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2013;2013:578274. PubMed 23762145.
Depression: when words are no longer enough
Hamre and colleagues, BMC Psychiatry 2006, 97 adult patients with chronic depression, four-year cohort in Germany. Therapy through art, eurythmy therapy, rhythmical massage and anthroposophic medication.
Depression score CES-D: from 34.77 down to 19.55 after twelve months. SF-36 mental component: from 26.11 to 39.15. The improvements held for over four years.
How I read this: chronic depression is one of the heaviest illnesses of our time, and many people swing back and forth between medication, psychotherapy and starting again. This was a cohort study without a control group. Without a comparison arm it cannot be said how much of this goes back to the therapy and how much to time, attention and the natural course. It is a hint that a multi-layered path of art, movement, touch and medication can be worth a try, not a proof of efficacy.
Please read this too: never stop an antidepressant on your own. If you are thinking about suicide, please get help immediately. In Germany: Telefonseelsorge 0800 111 0 111 (free, around the clock), medical on-call service 116 117, in an emergency 112. Outside Germany, please use your local crisis line or emergency number.
Hamre HJ et al. Anthroposophic therapy for chronic depression: a four-year prospective cohort study. BMC Psychiatry. 2006;6:57.
Eurythmy therapy: movement as therapy
Eurythmy therapy is movement therapy according to anthroposophic principles, in which vowels, consonants and inner gestures are translated into conscious bodily movement. The YES trial 2021 compared it in a three-arm randomized study with yoga and standard physiotherapy in chronic back pain.
The result was clear and modest at the same time: there were no significant differences between the three groups, neither in the primary nor in any of the secondary outcomes. All three groups improved similarly, and physical disability did not reach clinical meaningfulness in any group.
How I read this: in an explorative additional analysis the eurythmy group did better on the mental summary score (SF-12). Such post-hoc analyses are a hint that would have to be tested in a new study, not a proof. What the study shows is more modest and still interesting: a barely known movement method reached a similar result in chronic back pain as yoga and as established physiotherapy. All three interventions were safe.
Michalsen A et al. Yoga, Eurythmy Therapy and Standard Physiotherapy (YES-Trial) for Patients With Chronic Non-specific Low Back Pain: A Three-Armed Randomized Controlled Trial. J Pain. 2021;22(10):1233–45. PubMed 33892154.
Rhythmical massage in menstrual pain
Three-arm RCT 2019, women with primary dysmenorrhea, comparing rhythmical massage according to Ita Wegman and Hauschka versus heart-rate-variability biofeedback versus standard care. Treatment over three months.
Primary endpoint pain intensity: significant reduction in the massage group versus control after three months. In a laboratory study in 2015 with 118 healthy adults, a single rhythmical massage improved subjective well-being after the Trier Social Stress Test, even if the cortisol drop was not significant.
What this means: menstrual pain is very often treated with ibuprofen or hormonal contraception. Both have their effect, both have their side effects. That a touch therapy was able to significantly improve the same primary endpoint is more than a feel-good offer. It suggests that the body can respond with less pain to calm, rhythmic, attentive contact. The study was small, so this is a hint, not a proof. For a medicine that has almost forgotten touch, I still find it valuable.
Gündling PW et al. Efficacy of rhythmical massage in comparison to heart rate variability biofeedback in patients with dysmenorrhea. Complement Ther Med. 2019. PubMed 30670280.
Rudolf Steiner: a human being, not a saint, not a devil
I will not skip the difficult question. Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Anthroposophy, left behind a body of work in his lectures and writings of about 89,000 pages. Among these are passages that today can be read as racist or discriminatory. This is not an invention of his opponents. This is a fact.
And because that is so, an independent Dutch commission under the chairmanship of the jurist Dr. Th. A. van Baarda systematically examined the entire body of work over two years on behalf of the Anthroposophical Society. The final report from 2000, which you can read online, is impressive in its clarity.
No racial doctrine. No intent to insult. But: 16 individual statements that a person today could no longer make publicly without coming into conflict with Dutch anti-discrimination law. That is less than 0.02 percent of his work. But they are there. And to deny them would be dishonest.
The commission also concluded that there is no racism in Waldorf schools or in anthroposophic education. This matches the assessment of the Dutch school inspectorate.
For me this means: Steiner was a human being. An enormously productive, visionary, provocative, sometimes erring human being. He is not the new Jesus. He is also not a prophet on whose every word I hang. He said things I do not subscribe to. And he thought things that to this day inspire medicine, agriculture and pedagogy worldwide.
To throw out his entire work because 16 of 89,000 pages are problematic would be scientifically and humanly dishonest. I would never treat a colleague that way. I do not treat Steiner that way either. And I do not expect that of you. I expect that you form your own opinion, after you have seen both sides.
What this can mean for your treatment
In my practice in Berlin I do not work purely anthroposophically. I work from a toolbox that contains Functional Medicine, Clinical Psychoneuroimmunology, Toxicology, Lifestyle Medicine, Genetics, and yes, also Anthroposophic Medicine. One lens alone is rarely enough. In my consultations I often see that only the combination of several levels moves things forward.
If I suggest an anthroposophic remedy to you, it is for one of three reasons:
Because there are studies on some of these remedies
For some of these remedies there are randomized studies and a place in guidelines, for others only small case series. I am not allowed to write publicly about concrete applications in serious illnesses, that belongs in a personal conversation. What I can say: I rely on data, and I say openly where the data are thin.
Because few side effects are reported in everyday practice
In the EvaMed pharmacovigilance network with over 44,000 patients, side effects of anthroposophic medicines were rarely documented. These are spontaneous reports without a control group, so not proof of safety. And few reports do not mean risk-free: herbal remedies can interact, cause allergies, and need their own weighing in pregnancy, while breastfeeding and in children. That is why I discuss every remedy individually instead of calling it gentle across the board.
Because the classical tools have been used up
When sleep, nutrition, movement and all conventional options no longer suffice, anthroposophic remedies are for me a serious additional layer. Not as a replacement. As a complement.
What you may take with you
Three invitations to leave this article with
- Take your own perception seriously. Whether conventional medicine, anthroposophy, naturopathy or another direction: what you notice in yourself is an important signal, and I take it seriously. It does not replace a diagnosis. It becomes best when both come together: what examination and studies show, and what you observe in yourself.
- Raise plants as an option before you try them on your own. On valerian, hops, passion flower and oat together there are several dozen randomized studies, and with sleep problems a plant blend can be a sensible first step. That does not make plants harmless. They can sedate, affect your ability to drive, and interact with medication. If you take medication regularly, are pregnant, are breastfeeding, or if it concerns a child, discuss it beforehand with a doctor or a pharmacist.
- Ask the people treating you about what interests you. I am not allowed to write publicly about concrete applications in serious illnesses. But you may always ask. An open question to your doctor is not disloyalty, it is good medicine, and a good team will answer it.
What still moves me about anthroposophic medicine has little to do with ideology. It is the simple beauty of how it looks at the world. From little plant material, dilution and careful processing produce a great many single doses. If you let this thought sink in, it may warm your heart: a garden can supply a great many people, when we understand the plant.
This is not only therapeutically interesting. It is also ecologically beautiful. A medicine that gets by with little raw material fits into a world in which we want to learn to handle resources more wisely. That does not mean it is harmless. Every effective remedy can also have unwanted effects, and precisely for that reason each of these substances belongs in a medical weighing, not in blind flight.
If you are now asking yourself whether this is something for you, the answer is very simple: look at it calmly. Try what feels coherent. Leave out what feels foreign. I do not have to convince you. The best medicine is the one in which you find yourself as a whole person again. And the path there goes through your own perception, not through other people's convictions. This is perhaps the most peaceful approach I know: to take yourself as compass, and at the same time to stay curious about what the world has to offer in clever ways.
If you would like to look at such a path together: below this article you will find the option to book an appointment. I look forward to the meeting.
It is information, not a treatment recommendation for your individual case. Never stop prescribed medication on your own, and do not combine herbal remedies with other medicines without checking. This applies with particular care in pregnancy and while breastfeeding, in children, with hormone-sensitive tumors, with heart disease, and if you take medication permanently.
With acute complaints, please see a doctor instead of waiting. With shortness of breath, chest pain, confusion, high fever with chills or sudden deterioration, call the emergency number. In Germany that is 112, outside surgery hours the medical on-call service is reachable at 116 117. If you are thinking about suicide, the German Telefonseelsorge is available around the clock and free of charge at 0800 111 0 111. Outside Germany, please use your local emergency and crisis numbers.
Sources and context
Kienle GS et al. Anthroposophic Medicine: An Integrative Medical System Originating in Europe. Glob Adv Health Med. 2013;2(6):20–31. [HTA report update, 265 studies. Authorship from the anthroposophic field, IFAEMM and ESCAMP]
Hamre HJ et al. Use and Safety of Anthroposophic Medicinal Products: An Analysis of 44,662 Patients from the EvaMed Pharmacovigilance Network. Drugs Real World Outcomes. 2017. DOI: 10.1007/s40801-017-0118-5. [Pharmacovigilance, 44,662 patients]
Hamre HJ et al. Antibiotic Use in Children with Acute Respiratory or Ear Infections: Prospective Observational Comparison of Anthroposophic and Conventional Treatment. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2014;2014:243801. PubMed 25505919. [Prospective observational study, n=529, treatment chosen by the caregivers]
Geyer U et al. Inpatient Treatment of Community-Acquired Pneumonias with Integrative Medicine. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2013;2013:578274. PubMed 23762145. [Retrospective case series, n=18, compared with a historical cohort]
Tröger W et al. Viscum album [L.] extract therapy in patients with locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic cancer: A randomised clinical trial on overall survival. Eur J Cancer. 2013;49(18):3788–97. [RCT, n=220]
AWMF S3 Guideline Complementary Medicine in the Treatment of Oncology Patients. Registry number 032-055OL. 2021/2025. [Official guideline, mistletoe evidence level 1a]
Ostermann T et al. A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis on the Survival of Cancer Patients Treated with a Fermented Viscum album L. Extract (Iscador). Complement Med Res. 2020;27(4):260–271. [Meta-analysis, HR 0.59]
Hamre HJ et al. Anthroposophic therapy for chronic depression: a four-year prospective cohort study. BMC Psychiatry. 2006;6:57. [Cohort study depression, n=97]
Michalsen A et al. Yoga, Eurythmy Therapy and Standard Physiotherapy (YES-Trial) for Patients With Chronic Non-specific Low Back Pain: A Three-Armed Randomized Controlled Trial. J Pain. 2021;22(10):1233–45. PubMed 33892154. [RCT, n=274, no significant difference between groups]
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Context: a part of these studies rests on cohort designs, smaller case series and meta-analyses of mixed quality. I mark this deliberately. The strength of anthroposophic medicine lies in the breadth of research across many domains. The weakness lies in the fact that some central studies, for example the Heidenheim pneumonia case series, are small, retrospective and not randomized. Both belong to the picture. I make this distinction transparent so that you can decide for yourself how strongly to weight the statements.