Anthroposophical medicine: an exchange of letters

- 1 February 1991

Nathalie Morris, Bill Morris

Atlantic College

Dear Dad,

Dr Michael Evans, a former student of Atlantic College, came last week to give a Friday evening lecture on anthroposophical medicine (A.M.). From what J can gather, it seems to be a system of medicine founded at the instigation of Rudolph Steiner, who claimed that a science limited to what was perceptible by the physical senses and using only analytical thinking would not be capable of understanding the fundamental life processes of man. A.M. believes that many illnesses are not wholly or ultimately explicable in terms of disordered physics and chemistry, but that the subject of the illness is lacking in some “vital essence” or that the vital essence has been disturbed in some way. It questions the reductionist approach of breaking down processes to the cellular or molecular level because: :

“In any account of life, whether of plant animal or man, there is the phenomenon of a space in which complex forms arise out of simple forms. This can be observed at a molecular or macroscopic level, as for example when simple salts from the earth are transformed into the structure of a plant as it grows out of aseed. This apparently contradicts what is taken as a fundamental law in physics, derived from the study of inanimate processes. The Jaw says the degree of orderliness in a physical system always tends to decrease. This poses the question whether living organisms can ultimately be understood purely in terms of the processes present in the inanimate world”.

A.M. also doubts whether genetic material could contain enough information to control the manufacture and describe the structure of the complex molecules that make up living beings, though Dr Evans cites as his authority for this a book on genetics published in 1968! He says that every single atom in our body changes over seven years so that we are constantly changing physically yet we remain essentially the same person, “I” or “ego” because of our vital force.

Steiner felt that the reductionist approach led one to lose sight of the essential processes of organisms and that a different kind of thinking, “more imaginative in quality and yet exact” would be needed to reach an understanding of the forces involved. Because of his command of the higher faculties of perception he was able to give an account of how formative processes in plants are influenced by planetary movements and how in man they are influenced by the higher elements of his being. Anthroposophical doctors try to develop these higher faculties in themselves and use a less analytical form of thinking to try to get a clearer picture of these forces, trying to look at phenomena without preconceived ideas and to allow the feelings produced to grow and enter into the thoughts which emerge. It seems that this requires a “development of an inward ‘scientific objectivity’ in the realm of ones thoughts and feeling, if one is not to be misled.”

Anthroposophical treatments use homeopathic remedies harvested at the right moon and planetary phases for maximum effectiveness, special rhythmic massage “to harmonise the pattern of muscle tone and to stimulate the vitality of the tissues,” hot baths containing oil of rosemary and lavender, rhythmic dance and art therapy. When I learned why mistletoe has a special place in anthroposophical medicine I was very amused:

“The overall form of the mistletoe plant is approximately spherical and lacks the vertical structure that is a feature of most plants. Its form is not affected by gravity (it lacks geotropism). It has no real root and always grows on trees, never on the ground. All these features suggest a certain independence, and lack of influence by the earth. It carries berries all the year round and flowers in winter, unlike most other plants…Thus the whole form of mistletoe in time and space has the theme of its own strong individuality and its independence from earth forces and the rhythms of the seasons. It is the corresponding individualistic formative forces in a cancer patient which requires strengthening.”

I felt that the audience was very warm towards Dr Evans and J talked to him after the lecture. He is very charming and persuasive to such an extent that I became a little alarmed. If I, used to being skeptical as I am, could be almost persuaded by this silly, feeble stuff, what of the others? I can quite understand that the treatments might well have a powerful placebo effect and these aspects could be combined with modern treatment with some benefit perhaps, but I think it sinks into quackery when it uses homeopathic remedies. I asked him what he thought about homeopathic remedies being tested to the same standards as conventional medicines and he said he hadn’t thought it was possible as they work by these life forces, but some trials giving good preliminary results had been published recently. I said that if A.M. had better results than conventional medicine, it should be possible to demonstrate this in controlled trials. Had any been done? He thought not, but data was slowly being gathered. Anyway, read the information for yourself and tell me what you think I have an open invitation to visit his clinic at Park Attwood in Worcestershire to discuss with him any of the Steiner I have read.

Love, Nathalie

Dear Nathalie,

I’ve read your letter and the pamphlets you sent about A.M. more carefully now and can quite see how anyone who has no grasp of scientific principles could get sucked in. After all, if you were ill with an incurable disease or dis-ease, wouldn’t you prefer to be looked after by warm, caring people who will look after all of you, rather than by cold, calculating, reductionist scientific doctors who will pay attention only to the diseased bit of you? Like so many other fringe activities, A.M. has some of the elements of religion. It has its prophet or Messiah in the form of Rudolph Steiner, its holy books in the form of his writings, its mysticism, accessible only to a chosen few after prolonged effort and study, its special vocabulary “etheric body, ego, astral body, etc” and its special ritual with emphasis on natural, “vital” substances, rhythmic massage, scented oils, and so on.

You give a quotation about scientific reductionism being inadequate to explain life forces because living things contradict a fundamental law of physics that says “the degree of orderliness in a system always tends to decrease.” This is a good example of what Prof. Paul Callaghan describes as “theft of our scientific language.” They are prepared to use the language of science but not to submit to its rigour and they ignore or overlook the inexactitude of the comparisons they make. Whichever law of thermodynamics it is (the second?) that says that entropy or the degree of disorder in a system tends to a maximum is quite correct. Actually, I think it is about distribution of energy within a closed system strictly speaking. Order does tend to zero, but can of course be forced the other way with an input of energy, which is exactly what happens when a plant or animal grows. There are superficial similarities when it eventually decays …

The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power, The paths of glory tend but to maximum entropy.

I think philosophers use the expression “argument from spurious similarity” in describing language theft. It goes something like this: a) Theory X uses principles similar to theory Y; b) Theory Y is part of current scientific thought; c) Therefore, theory X is consistent with current scientific thought.

Molecular biology has in fact been rather successful in the last thirty-five years or so in understanding organisms at a molecular level and this understanding has depended to a large extent on the powerful insights of quantum electrodynamics. I don’t think anyone nowadays seriously doubts that the genetic material of organisms does contain enough information to describe the proteins; and understanding the control systems is progressing rapidly. It certainly is not correct that “…every single atom in out body changes over seven years…” (note the mystical number seven). If this were true, we would not for example worry as much about nuclear accidents and stuff like iodine 132 and strontium 90 hanging about in our bodies. Perhaps it is because the statement is especially untrue of our nervous systems that we remain the same person, “I” or “ego” rather than because of a mystical “life force.”

I quite agree with your suggestion that A.M. treatments have as some or all of their basis the placebo effect, something that is just as true of many conventional medicines and treatments. Many patients treated with modem remedies may well have recovered perfectly well with the passage of time, but it is not often that we can predict who would have recovered and who would not. We do know that for practical purposes, everyone with tuberculosis of the brain’s coverings and bacterial infection of the beart’s lining died in pre-antibiotic days. We know that falciparum malaria has a high fatality rate untreated but 600mg of chloroquine can pull someone from death’s door literally overnight. Smallpox no longer exists as a disease on planet Earth and diphtheria and polio are almost unknown in developed countries. I must say that “alternative” or “complementary” medicine systems such as A.M. have no major triumphs such as these to boast about. I think you were right to remain skeptical despite Dr Evans’ charisma.

Love from Dad