Among the many anthroposophic remedies which are commonly used in cancer care, the herd Mistletoe Viscum Album is without doubt their leading herb being used by patients with cancer worldwide. We asked Dr. Thomas Breitkreuz from the Filderklinik, Stuttgart, Germany to talk about how anthroposophic medicine is being integrated in oncology care in Europe. Doctor Breitkreuz is a leading anthroposophic physician, and a pioneer in integrative oncology in Germany and Europe. Our concept of integrative medicine is that there is not the oncologist and the integrative practitioner, but that our staff is always double-trained. So, it's the oncologists who knows about herbs Mistletoe therapy, Holocaust therapy for example, and so we can deal with this in the manner that we can combine what we do most often or sometimes, we use just chemotherapy if the patient says, "Don't give me herbs." We treat only with the anthroposophic medicines if the patient says, 'I'm too weak to receive chemotherapy". So, the good situation if you want is that the integration is based on a double-qualification of the doctors, and the nurses, and the other professions, as well. We'll learn that the demand of the public is great, and that's why there is more and more good cooperation between anthroposophic hospitals, and other hospitals who try to build up an integrative, setting integrative oncology's, and we try our best to distribute what has shown to be helpful for the patients in the experience of the anthro hospitals that may be part of a more general setting in oncology in Germany. We had a very specific situation in 1975, we had a drug law which constituted that there should be a so-called therapeutic pluralism in Germany. That was an answer to the Nazi times interestingly, because at that time the Bundestag stated that the politicians can not decide what is good medicine, and what is not a real medicine and if homoeopathy or phytotherapy or anthroposophic medicine is wrong or right. They said, "The state has to offer pluralistic decisions for the patient," and that's why we became specific regulations for these different therapy systems which were called bisaunder therapeutische systeme which means specific therapeutic systems, and they're expert from these systems. The drug regulation authority they formed bodies, to do a good regulation for the drugs of these different traditions, and this is unique in Europe, and it is not representative for Europe. In the European Union, we have a much weaker tradition concerning phototherapy or homoeopathy or anthroposophic medicine. Therefore, the regulation of herbals. First, there are only some not even 200 herbals which are regulated on the European level, so it's only a minority. That for example, there does not exist any indication or any regulation for herbs with oncologic indications because most of the EU countries who have no tradition in the field of complementary medicines, who have no strong traditions in this field. Their regulators are somehow frightened, anxious, they don't want to risk anything for the patients, and for themselves. So the European regulation is much more restrictive, and much more safety-oriented, and that's why you have a lot of use of herbs in the European Union, but you have no specific regulation for the use of those medicines in oncologic diseases. In order to further your understanding about the use of Mistletoe and other anthroposophic medical remedies, you're invited to watch an interview with Dr. Alfred Langler, Director of the Department of Integrative Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine at University Hospital of Witten/Herdecke in Germany. Dr. Langler presents a unique and practical aspect of anthroposophic medicine, in the pediatric [inaudible] oncology setting including during end of life care. So, in our everyday life in pediatric oncology or pediatric hematoncology, we don't have two worlds, conventional world, and integrative for anthroposophic world which is one world. It starts when you come into hospital, you'll see colors on the walls, you'll smell maybe some etheric oils, maybe dissolve would be another, I don't know. It goes on with the people who are working there. They all are working integrative, we don't have an integrative team, and conventional team. Every nurse, every doctor, every therapist knows those office profession. So, for example, a child who's coming for chemotherapy for Acute lymphotic leukemia, actually most of them don't know dB FM protocol, and they come to get for example, to get her down or rubi scene and winker scene, and thus [inaudible] maybe. They get there on down rubi scene or winker scene, but even they get anthroposophic medicine, anthroposophic therapies, anthroposophic remedies during chemotherapy, and during your stay for the chemotherapy. I think we have to take a different look only it, only one end we'll take Mistletoe. For example, in pediatric care we even do it with very high doses intravenously. So there we have the molecule level and we take a lot of grams, and we think the effect will be on the physical level. But on the other hand, we have remedies in more diluted or potentiate way, and these they addressed more to the spiritual law or introduce to the cell level of the pills. It shows a picture of how function could do, how function could work, and how healing could work. It's not a molecule level it's not any kind of pharmacological mechanism I can't explain, it's more on a not physical level.
