Anthroposophical Medicine

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Anthroposophical Medicine
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• Anthroposophical medicine is an extension of
  conventional medical practice rather than an
  alternative.
• As an approach, it aims to treat the body as
  well as the mind, soul and spirit.

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• Founded by Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) in
  co-operation with Ita Wegman (1876-1943).
• It "seeks to unite the spiritual element in the
  human being with the spiritual element in the
  universe".

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• In anthroposophy, illness is not a chance
  occurrence of mechanical breakdown, but rather
  something intimately connected to the biography
  of the human being.

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• Anthroposophical medicine rests on these
  premises
• Every human being is a unique individual and
  needs to be treated accordingly.
• Scientific, artistic and spiritual insights may
  need to be applied together in restoring health. 

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• Anthroposophical medicine rests on these premises
  contd..
• Life has meaning and purpose. The loss of this
  sense is often reflected in a deterioration of
  general health.
• Illness may provide opportunities for positive
  change and new balance in our lives.

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• The Anthroposophical picture of man as a
  four-fold organism

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• Man has a physical body as any other lifeless
  object from the mineral kingdom.
• This physical body would actually disintegrate if
  an organisation of opposing forces did not keep
  it together. Anthroposophy calls this
  organisation of formative forces the life-body,
  or etheric body.

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• Plants root in the earth and grow towards
  heaven they are enlivened beings that go against
  gravity in their growth process. We find the
  physical body and the etheric-body exclusively
  together in living nature in the plant kingdom.

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Animals, like man, have feelings, urges, desires,
experiences - all of which are lacking in plants.
The organ that makes this consciousness possible
is the soul or the astral body.
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• The human being with his self-consciousness goes
  beyond the animal. He can think, he can imagine,
  can voluntarily remember, act freely, can be
  creatively active, etc. Through the little word
  'I' man distinguishes himself from animals. The
  human being has an Ego as the fourth,
  supersensible member of his being.

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• The super-sensible bodies intimately penetrate
  the processes and organs of the physical body
  during life.
• These four members of man's being are especially
  related to the four traditional elements,
  respectively to Earth, Water, Air and Fire, we
  can influence these bodies through the balance of
  the four elements interweaving in the physical
  body.

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• Three-Fold Man
• If we look at the human body we can distinguish
  three functional systems, of which two can be
  seen as diametrically opposed, polar opposite
  energy centres, with a third unifying force that
  balances them. Each system permeates the whole
  body but has its main centre of activity in a
  particular region.

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• The nerve-sense system with its main
  concentration at the head pole, though its
  functions extend right to the tips of the fingers
  and toes.
• The metabolic-limb system mainly working in the
  lower part of man at the abdominal pole.
• The rhythmic system in the middle, concentrated
  in the lung-heart area, but extending throughout
  the body via the circulation of the blood.

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• Attributes of three regions
• 1. The Nerve-sense system
• 2. The Metabolic-Limb System
• 3. The Rhythmic system

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• 1. The Nerve-sense system  
• The environment predominantly acts upon the
  nerve-sense system. Nerve tissue does not
  regenerate, and real growth as an expression of
  life hardly exists in this area it is the most
  dead part of the human body.
• This system is the basis of conscious working
  life that continually erodes the life and
  vitality of the physical body. Should this region
  predominate we have hardening, sclerotic
  illnesses, conditions of old age.

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• 2. The Metabolic-Limb System
• This region exhibits warmth and movement.
  Movement, the action of muscles, and non-visible
  movement, the transformation of substances
  (metabolism) is a part of it. Rather than
  passively taking in, as with the nerves and
  senses, this system actively transforms and
  eliminates.

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• 2. The Metabolic-Limb System contd..
• It also acts on the environment. It is very much
  alive. It rebuilds and replenishes during sleep
  what the nerve-sense system destroys when awake.
  Should the metabolic-limb system predominate we
  have inflammatory illnesses, conditions more
  associated with childhood.

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• 3. The Rhythmic system
• In the two polar opposites we see morbid
  tendencies, towards hardening and sclerosis on
  the one hand, and towards dissolution and
  inflammation on the other. The mediator, which
  brings balance and harmony to the potentially
  warlike situation, is the rhythmic system,
  the heart and the lungs. The heart links the
  whole through circulation and the lungs through
  the breathing.

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• Health is not an absence of inflammation or
  sclerosis - but a delicate balance.
• The 'tendency' for illness is there, but kept in
  balance.
• The treatments attempt to restore the balance.

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• Pathology Two Opposite Illnesses
• When physical and etheric forces working in the
  metabolism gain the upper hand, inflammatory or
  feverish conditions occur.
• Illnesses of this kind are characteristic of
  childhood - for example measles and chickenpox -
  and are regarded as having an important influence
  in protecting the body from the hardening effects
  of the nerve-sense system, as well as
  strengthening the immune system.

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• Pathology Two Opposite Illnesses
• Contd
• In contrast, degenerative or sclerotic conditions
  are characteristic of the second part of life.
  These are seen to occur when the waking activity
  of the nerve-sense system has been the dominant
  one over a long period of time.
• These illnesses, which are often accompanied by
  sleeplessness, anxiety and a subnormal
  temperature are considered to be connected to the
  general intellectual culture of the present age.

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• The two main kinds of illnesses

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• Treatment
• Anthroposophical medicine seeks to understand a
  patient's illness in terms of the
  interrelationships between the ego, astral body,
  etheric body and the physical body.
• The therapeutic aim is to influence the activity
  of one or more of these elements in order to
  regain a healthy balance.

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• Treatment Contd
• The true "measure of man" is a universal measure
  belonging to the whole of creation, where "man
  has the whole of the natural world in him, and
  nature is an infinitely differentiated human
  being", as Paracelsus put it.

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• Therapies
• Medicines
• Artistic Therapies

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• Medicines are prepared from substances taken from
  the mineral, plant or animal kingdom in which
  forces that counter-balance those of the
  particular illness may be found.
• In order to strengthen these forces in the
  direction of one of the body's main functional
  systems, many anthroposophically developed
  pharmaceutical processes are used.

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• Artistic therapies also help the patient to
  participate actively in the process of restoring
  his or her own health.
• These therapies emphasize the need to bring
  unconscious feelings to outward expression.

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• In conclusion, one can say that anthroposophical
  medicine involves the collaboration of
  professionally trained doctors, nurses,
  therapists and pharmacists.

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Anthroposophical Medical Society Vijaya
TowersShantinagar Hyderabad - 500 028 Telefax
91-40-55752075 Website www.amsindiachapter.co
m Email info_at_amsindiachapter.com
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