East Meets West - But Bridging Concepts Are Still Lacking! Time for New Steps in Medical Anthropology

Abstract

Similarly, our collection of latest publications in the Abstract Service section shows that in 2015 a whole array of Eastern and Western non-pharmacological interventions is being used for stress and anxiety reduction as well as for decreasing cardiovascular risk, enhancing quality of life and other benefits: the Western methods of aerobic exercises and eurythmy therapy as well the Eastern methods of yoga, MBSR, and tai chi. The authors reporting on aerobic exercises are from Western and Eastern institutions [5], those reporting about yoga have Chinese or Japanese background [6, 7], those doing research on MBSR are from Europe, USA, or Iran [8, 9]. Only the authors reporting on the relatively young eurythmy therapy (developed in Switzerland and Germany in the early 20th century) are from Germany alone [10, 11], whereas researchers from USA are reporting on tai chi [12]. Apparently, complementary medicine from all over the globe can offer help for globally relevant civilization diseases, irrespective of the country and culture where it is applied. And yet, the historical and cultural background of a treatment system is crucial and worth a glance as it provides insights into the specific conception of man and consequently sheds light on the patterns of medical care and vice versa. In this respect, Western medicine is rather young, but has had – since its inception in the 19th century – a great impact on civilization in a scientific and technical sense, i.e. on concepts, on thinking patterns, and the respective natural scientific methodology, on pharmacological and technical achievements, but it has also promoted a reductionist world view. From this perspective, the high degree of integration of ancient Eastern and modern Western medicine discussed above is an astonishing fact: The Western mindset – at least in its dominating academic form – has eliminated immaterial ‘life forces’, ‘soul,’ and ‘spirit’ from its medical concepts, reducing man to his physical functioning. In contrast, the ancient Eastern approaches in understanding organic functioning focus on immaterial factors or energies, but they have hardly any elaborate concepts to explain the physical functions of the body as such. DeThis issue of Forschende Komplementarmedizin/ Research in Complementary Medicine clearly demonstrates that complementary medicine provides globally applicable treatment options in different perspectives. The articles introduced in this issue not only reflect the demand for and the availability of effective alternative therapy for civilization diseases, such as depression, chronic low back pain, and other chronic or stressdependent health problems, but they also point towards the need for a common conceptual ground for Eastern and Western medicine in order to overcome challenges in global health care. This development goes back to the last third of the 20th century. Today, Eastern and Western treatment approaches are already so deeply intertwined in integrative medical practice and academic research that one hardly ever notices that they originate from completely different cultural backgrounds. In most studies, this integration is taken for granted, especially in complementary treatment of civilization diseases, such as chronic back pain or depression, and in corresponding clinical and basic research. This issue provides some paragons of this mutual integration: The German study groups report a) the benefit of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) in the treatment of chronic back pain [1] – a meditation method derived from Buddhism, but now frequently and effectively used allover in the West; b) the high prevalence of yoga practice (an ayurvedic method), perceived as effective for a large variety of somatic and psychological health problems in the population, not only in Germany [2]; and c) the cultivation and controlled use of traditional Chinese medicinal plants for chronic rhinosinusitis as a consequence of the increasing demand for Chinese plant therapy in Germany [3]. On the other hand, Chinese researchers such as Lee et al. [4], apply a scientific research principle originally developed in the West – i.e. modern instrument-based measurement methodology – to quantify pulse and tongue features which used to be core examples of the typical holistic qualitative Eastern approach to perceive and interpret patients’ symptoms. Published online: September 17, 2015