- Email: [email protected]
The Italian way to integrated medicine
Abstract / European Journal of Integrative Medicine 2 (2010) 217–265
tions about their use. It is important to disseminate information about successful CAM approaches to treatment to our colleagues to add to our body of knowledge and to facilitate our ability to refer and collaborate. According to the ECCO statement 14B: Physicians treating Crohn’s patients should inquire about the use of both alternative and complementary treatments. Method: Classical Homeopathy was the intervention used in all cases. Results: All three cases were resolved in symptoms and quality of life was increased. 4-Year follow-ups reveal no evidence of disease in all 3 cases per diagnostic testing results. Conclusion: Classical homeopathy is a viable intervention for inflammatory and irritable bowel diseases. Greater investigation into this method of treatment is necessary. Accumulation of more single study research designs will contribute to the evidencebase needed for this intervention to become more widely utilized and accepted. doi:10.1016/j.eujim.2010.09.122 PP-032 The Italian way to integrated medicine T. di Giampietro SIOMI, Pediatrics Division, Pescara, Italy About eight million of Italian citizens use homeopathic drugs and more than ten thousand doctors prescribe them. Homeopathic drugs have been more and more prescribed by doctors and more and more required by patients as shown by the 2009 ISTAT survey with a growth of the people using it from 4.7% in 1994 to 8% in 2007. Nevertheless the integration process between homeopathy and biological medicine is still at the beginning more for political and ideological obstacles than for cultural ones. Paradoxically, the difficulties for reaching a definite integration do not come only from the establishment, which often produces aggressive attacks and incorrect representation of homeopathic medicine. As a matter of facts in Italy a self referential practice of homeopathy is still used. In this practice no real interest for the progress of medicine as a whole and no real concern for creating an integrated medicine are present. The result of these contrasting matters is the lack of a national regulation on complementary medicines as well as of a regulation on their training and practice. For eleven years SIOMI (Italian Society of Homeopathy and Integrated Medicine) has worked in Italy for building an integrative Health Care System and for integrating CAM and biological medicine. Due to the lack of national rules and regulations, we have supported the initiatives of several local regional governments for providing in their regional health care system plans, references to complementary medicines as well as scheduled actions for their implementation. The principles of integrated medicine, promoted by SIOMI, have been fully adopted by Tuscany where a process of integra-
231
tion of the CAM in the Health Care System has started since 1999. Milestones of Tuscany project are: - -the opening in Tuscany of over 100 CAM outpatients departments, available like any other service provided by the Regional Health Care System; - -the starting of a University Master in Integrated Medicine providing three didactic branches as Acupuncture, Phytotherapy and for the first time in Italy also Homeopathy at the University of Siena, - -the opening of the first integrated medicine Hospital in Pitigliano (South Tuscany), where both inpatients and outpatients will take advantage of an integrative health care system. The hospital will be also the first centre of clinical research for assessing the efficacy of integrated medicine in terms of improvement for health and life quality of citizens. In this way, thanks to SIOMI too, clinical homeopathy in Italy gets over the limited area of the prudent survival to become an opportunity (and a growth occasion) for Overall medicine. doi:10.1016/j.eujim.2010.09.123 PP-033 The systematic evaluation of the safety of injectables as used in homeopathic and anthroposophic medicine M. Jong ∗ , E. Baars Louis Bolk Institute, Healthcare and Nutrition, Driebergen, Netherlands Background: Homeopathic and anthroposophic medicinal products are frequently prescribed as solution for injection. Despite the extensive use by health professionals, there is little data published on the safety of injectables. Objective: To investigate the safety status of homeopathic and anthroposophic injectables through a systematic evaluation of the reported Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs) during the last ten years as identified in the pharmacovigilance databases of pharmaceutical companies. Methods: Data will be extracted from the electronic databases of seven homeopathic or anthroposophic pharmaceutical companies in Germany, using a data extraction Excel form. All ADRs on injectables, as reported to the companies and marketing authorization holders in the last 10 years will be included and categorized. ADRs will be analyzed that: - are reported in humans only; - are injected either subcutaneously, intravenously, intramuscular, intracutaneous, intraarticular or perarticular; - from January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2009 and January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2009; - from post-marketing surveillance and clinical/safety trials; - from health professionals that are medically confirmed; - spontaneous ADRs by consumers, both medically confirmed/medically not confirmed; and - literature cases.
tions about their use. It is important to disseminate information about successful CAM approaches to treatment to our colleagues to add to our body of knowledge and to facilitate our ability to refer and collaborate. According to the ECCO statement 14B: Physicians treating Crohn’s patients should inquire about the use of both alternative and complementary treatments. Method: Classical Homeopathy was the intervention used in all cases. Results: All three cases were resolved in symptoms and quality of life was increased. 4-Year follow-ups reveal no evidence of disease in all 3 cases per diagnostic testing results. Conclusion: Classical homeopathy is a viable intervention for inflammatory and irritable bowel diseases. Greater investigation into this method of treatment is necessary. Accumulation of more single study research designs will contribute to the evidencebase needed for this intervention to become more widely utilized and accepted. doi:10.1016/j.eujim.2010.09.122 PP-032 The Italian way to integrated medicine T. di Giampietro SIOMI, Pediatrics Division, Pescara, Italy About eight million of Italian citizens use homeopathic drugs and more than ten thousand doctors prescribe them. Homeopathic drugs have been more and more prescribed by doctors and more and more required by patients as shown by the 2009 ISTAT survey with a growth of the people using it from 4.7% in 1994 to 8% in 2007. Nevertheless the integration process between homeopathy and biological medicine is still at the beginning more for political and ideological obstacles than for cultural ones. Paradoxically, the difficulties for reaching a definite integration do not come only from the establishment, which often produces aggressive attacks and incorrect representation of homeopathic medicine. As a matter of facts in Italy a self referential practice of homeopathy is still used. In this practice no real interest for the progress of medicine as a whole and no real concern for creating an integrated medicine are present. The result of these contrasting matters is the lack of a national regulation on complementary medicines as well as of a regulation on their training and practice. For eleven years SIOMI (Italian Society of Homeopathy and Integrated Medicine) has worked in Italy for building an integrative Health Care System and for integrating CAM and biological medicine. Due to the lack of national rules and regulations, we have supported the initiatives of several local regional governments for providing in their regional health care system plans, references to complementary medicines as well as scheduled actions for their implementation. The principles of integrated medicine, promoted by SIOMI, have been fully adopted by Tuscany where a process of integra-
231
tion of the CAM in the Health Care System has started since 1999. Milestones of Tuscany project are: - -the opening in Tuscany of over 100 CAM outpatients departments, available like any other service provided by the Regional Health Care System; - -the starting of a University Master in Integrated Medicine providing three didactic branches as Acupuncture, Phytotherapy and for the first time in Italy also Homeopathy at the University of Siena, - -the opening of the first integrated medicine Hospital in Pitigliano (South Tuscany), where both inpatients and outpatients will take advantage of an integrative health care system. The hospital will be also the first centre of clinical research for assessing the efficacy of integrated medicine in terms of improvement for health and life quality of citizens. In this way, thanks to SIOMI too, clinical homeopathy in Italy gets over the limited area of the prudent survival to become an opportunity (and a growth occasion) for Overall medicine. doi:10.1016/j.eujim.2010.09.123 PP-033 The systematic evaluation of the safety of injectables as used in homeopathic and anthroposophic medicine M. Jong ∗ , E. Baars Louis Bolk Institute, Healthcare and Nutrition, Driebergen, Netherlands Background: Homeopathic and anthroposophic medicinal products are frequently prescribed as solution for injection. Despite the extensive use by health professionals, there is little data published on the safety of injectables. Objective: To investigate the safety status of homeopathic and anthroposophic injectables through a systematic evaluation of the reported Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs) during the last ten years as identified in the pharmacovigilance databases of pharmaceutical companies. Methods: Data will be extracted from the electronic databases of seven homeopathic or anthroposophic pharmaceutical companies in Germany, using a data extraction Excel form. All ADRs on injectables, as reported to the companies and marketing authorization holders in the last 10 years will be included and categorized. ADRs will be analyzed that: - are reported in humans only; - are injected either subcutaneously, intravenously, intramuscular, intracutaneous, intraarticular or perarticular; - from January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2009 and January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2009; - from post-marketing surveillance and clinical/safety trials; - from health professionals that are medically confirmed; - spontaneous ADRs by consumers, both medically confirmed/medically not confirmed; and - literature cases.