Functional bowel diseases
Natural-scientific medicine examines the person as part of laws of nature of physics, chemistry and biology. Its central object of research is a physical body of a man. If a man is recognised as a creature with a physical body, soul and spirit, these features of his cannot be covered/comprised/ by physical and biochemical methods alone.
In the anthroposophical medicine, individual features of the creature are looked upon as own entities existing for themselves that interpenetrate and influence one another and therefore must be considered in diagnostics and therapy as well.
Health and disease – balance and imbalance
The scientifically orientated medicine sees a disease as a disorder of the body. Therefore, it establishes norms, and the health ranges within these norms. If a laboratory value deviates from the norm too much, it is described as pathologic.
The anthroposophical understanding of a man defines disease and health not generally, but in relation to an individual person. Health is comprehended as an ability of the body to actively establish a balance of polar processes. Development/degradation, degeneration/regeneration, inflammation/sclerosis are seen as underlying polarities.
The concept of a person forms the basis of an anthroposophically enhanced medicine. This concept comprises a system of functional areas broken down into 3 levels:
The systems of nerves and senses, which is predominantly located in the cranial region. The digestive and metabolic system, which is mainly located underneath the diaphragm. The rhythmic system, which is located in the middle of the body.
The systems of nerves and senses and the metabolic-digestive system build two opposite poles. Whereas nervous and sensual processes are carriers of consciousness of man, metabolic and digestive system is characterised by unconsciousness of processes. On the cell-biological level, conscious processes run predominantly parallel with degradation processes, that is why a person must sleep every day so that the nerves and senses system regenerates again during the unconscious night phase. In the metabolic and digestive system, development processes and regeneration prevail.
The equilibrum of these both bipolarities in a man is achieved by means of a rhythmic, cardiovascular and respiratory system.
A disease develops when one of the both polarities outweighs, and the body is no longer able to compensate the imbalance. In this case, it is necessary to support a balancing function of the rhythmic system with the help of therapeutic measures.
IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) requires multi-layered diagnostic and therapeutic procedures.
In case of functional bowel diseases, the nervous system and senses too strongly affects the metabolic and digestive system. There are two forms of it, each requires different treatment:
Primary dominance of the nervous system and senses (symptoms: flatulence and spasms) Primary weakness of the metabolic –digestive system
Similar to a conventional procedure in case of IBS anamnesis is very important. Furthermore, so-called constitutional peculiarities are considered during diagnostics. After the standard diagnostics (gastroscopy, coloscopy) which is also needed to exclude other diseases with similar symptoms, an enhanced diagnostics with procedures that reproduce dynamic organ systems. Manometry, pH-metrie, ECG, gastric emptying scintigraphy etc is carried out.
With the help of this diagnostics, which above all reproduces chronological and rhythmical phenomena of the intestinal tract, it will be possible to develop therapeutic strategies that have proven of value in the clinical practice.
Anthroposophical and therapeutic approaches in case of functional bowel diseases.
During the IBS treatment, anthroposophical medicaments that serve as stimulators of self-healing powers are used in accordance with anthroposophical anthropology. A primarily too weak metabolism/ or digestive system of the stomach can be stimulated by Gentiana lutea, Absinthium, Artemisia comp. (Absinthium, Carum carvi, Geum urbanum und Senna) or Chelidonium.
For example, the silver is one of the substances that stimulate regenerative function of the body (Argentum metallicum praeparatum D6). If there is a dominance of a higher person with a strong spiritual overstraining, bryophyllum in combination with silver (Bryophyllum argento cult. Rh D3 ) can help. In the case of strong spastic components, such substances as chamomile or copper (for example Chamomilla cupro culta, Radix) can be used.
Significant anthroposophical-therapeutic elements of the IBS therapy are art therapies and eurhythmy. By means of an art-therapeutic intervention, the mental/psychological area of a person can be changed by training. If there is a too strong psychological introspection concentrated on the body (for example in the case of changing abdominal pain symptoms), art-therapy can help a psychologically persistent self-perception to concentrate on the exterior again.
Psychotherapy and biographic conversational therapy can also be successfully applied as part of our anthroposophically enhanced therapeutic concept of the IBS. The goal of our anthroposophically oriented psychotherapy is to enable the patient to see the IBS symptoms as an external reflection, which calls on to change his psychological situation.
