Traditional European Medicine—After all, is Hildegard von Bingen really right?

Abstract

The term of Traditional European Medicine (TEM) was coined analogue to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). TEM consists of various approaches of traditional medical healing systems in Europe, beginning with Hippocrates in ancient Greece and ending in current times. In the German-speaking areas, the so-called Hildegard medicine (HM) is very popular and according to a national survey about 3% of all inhabitants of Germany trusts on HM. However, the use of HM in tumor patients is not well described. An own exploratory interview study in 120 tumor patients showed, that 7.5% of patients are actively using HM, 56.6% know about HM and 20.8% are interested in HM, further 12.5% would like to try it. On the other hand 15% of patients completely reject HM. HM should trace back to the life and visions of Saint Hildegard von Bingen (1098–1179). She was an abbess and the most important German mystic of the Middle Ages and aside she focused on religion, medicine, music, ethics and cosmology. Their thoughts of unity and the holistic based on the belief, that cure and salvation is only possible in the devotion to god, who is the great healer. Disease is an imbalance, health a balance of the soul. Her works are written in Latin and a visionary language and therefore, are not intended for the use by laymen, are not easy to understand, and offer a large range for interpretation. The currently popular term Hildegard Medicine cannot be found in her original writings. About 30 years ago the ideas of Hildegard von Bingen have been reactivated by two physicians, Gottfried Hertzka and Wighard Strehlow. They are suggesting the drugs as well as Hildegard's dietary recommendations as an appropriate medical healing system for today. Hertzka and Strehlow follow a highly commercialised attempt while suggesting that the medical recommendations by Hildegard are of divine origin. This, however, cannot be true as the medical texts compiled by Hildegard are not relying on her visionary experiences as do their religious treatises. HM represents a typical example of current Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Thus, it has to be stated that the actual importance of the remarkable person Hildegard must not be seen in any recommendation for today's therapy but in the fact that she compiled medieval medical knowledge. Under the name of HM, poorly defined overpriced preparations are distributed. A treatment after the principles of HM of serious or malignant disorders is strongly discouraged. Download : Download high-res image (397KB) Download : Download full-size image