Europe’s largest conference on complementary medicine, the ‘Medical Week’, is held in Baden-Baden, Germany, from 29 October to 3 November 2010. Here, more than 4,000 medical professionals from many different disciplines have been comparing notes under the motto of ‘Complementary Medicine – Success Through Synergies’. The focus of this year’s event is on new approaches and research results expected to improve patient’s treatments.
The annual Hans-Heinrich Reckeweg Award honors outstanding research into Bioregulation and Homotoxicology, a field of medicine established by Hans-Heinrich Reckeweg. Both the Main Award and the Incentive Award are sponsored by Heel. The award ceremony took place on 30 October in the Kurhaus Baden-Baden. Several hundred medical practitioners from all over the world applauded the winners who had presented their scientific work as part of the Symposium of the International Society of Homotoxicology and Homeopathy (ISOHH).
Dr. Hernán Silván, a sports medicine specialist from Spain, was this year’s recipient of the 10,000-Euro Main Award for his excellent research study in marathon runners with ‘piriformis syndrome’, a difficult-to-treat irritation of the sciatic nerve. Dr. Silván studied the efficacy of Traumeel injections as an adjunct to standard therapy versus only standard therapy. The jury praised his research as an outstanding example of a particularly well-designed and carefully conducted and documented clinical trial.
Dr. Silván treated 31 runners with routine treatment, whilst another 31 runners additionally received weekly shots of Traumeel into the skin (intradermal injections) near the insertion of the piriformis muscle. Outcomes in the two groups were compared by looking at patient-reported changes in pain perception and doing objective orthopaedic tests. The 10-week study suggested that Traumeel injections may improve standard treatment outcomes and speed up recovery.
The 5,000-Euro 2010 Sponsorship Award went to Dr. Oxana Kirgizova, a Russian specialist in paediatrics and adolescent medicine. She conducted a clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy of anti-homotoxic preparations in the management of dysfunctions of the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian-adrenal axis in young girls. Disruptions of this hormonal feedback loop may cause headaches and menstrual pain and even metabolic disorders.
Dr. Kirgizova subcutaneously (under the skin) injected 40 subjects with anti-homotoxic preparations at selected acupuncture points; another 40 girls received routine treatment and 40 subjects were treated by acupuncture. The observed changes in symptoms as well as objective tests including assessments based on electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings and blood tests, showed that anti-homotoxic preparations injected into acupuncture points were more effective than both classical acupuncture and standard care.
