Salutogenesis as a possible link between conventional medicine and complementary methods

Abstract

Background Understanding the genesis of health is a fundamental theme in the medical professions. However, conventional medicine with its focus on causal explanations of diseases has led to a neglect of this issue. In recent times, the question was brought back into the focus of scientific enquiry within the framework of salutogenesis. The term originates in the work of medical sociologist Aaron Antonovsky (1923–1994). He raised the question how certain survivors of the Holocaust could remain healthy despite their terrifying experiences in concentration camps. He developed the concept of the “sense of coherence”, with which he tried to explain how people manage psychosocial stress and do not succumb to ill health. He proposed salutogenesis as a completion of the pathogenetical paradigm in modern medicine. However, the theme of salutogenesis is not new in medicine. Starting with Hippokrates, medical history shows a multitude of approaches to the understanding of hygieia, i.e. health. Nowadays various concepts of complementary medicine use a salutogenetical approach by empowering self-healing processes. But Antonovsky's concept of salutogenesis is not totally congruent with approaches in complementary medicine. A main difference is that Antonovsky focuses on mechanisms of psychosocial resistance, while complementary medicine focuses on the whole organism and its possibility to regain health. Nevertheless, the basic perspectives on health and sickness seem similar. Methods The present work explores two approaches in complementary medicine, by naturalist L.R. Grote (1886–1960) and the founder of Anthroposophical Medicine, Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925). Reviewing the fundamental assumptions of their work, it will be proposed to use Antonovsky's concept of salutogenesis as a theoretical framework to link concepts of conventional medicine and complementary methods. Results In his work, Antonovsky shows that the pathogenetic paradigm of conventional medicine is limited by its focus on repairing health-defects. He argues that health is not a passive matter, but an active process, present even during illness. This suggests that medical practice should find ways to facilitate this process in order to heal diseases. Unlike conventional medicine, both Grote and Steiner address this in their different approaches. In different ways, they substantiate Antonovsky's claim for the completion of the pathogenetical paradigm in modern medicine.