MEDICINE FOR CHILDREN

Homeopathy and anthroposophicmedicine in paediatric use

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EDITORIAL

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EDITORIALThe birth of a child completely changes the lives of the newparents. Among the many questions and decisions facingfirst-time parents, one of the most important is: how do I helpmy child to become healthy and which therapeutic approach isthe right one? At this point, many parents decide in favourof complementary, alternative medicine. Besides expectingefficacy and safety, they also wish for a gentle and welltolerated form of medicine offering therapeutic treatmentsand remedies attuned to the specific physical and mentalrequirements of their child.

Samuel Hahnemann, the founder of homeopathy, was alreadysearching as long ago as 1796 for a naturopathic remedy tosave his own children from an epidemic of scarlet fever, anddiscovered that belladonna is effective against this childhooddisease. In the early 1850's, the first homeopathic paediatriciansbecame established, such as Foubustier in London, and werejoined by increasing numbers of paediatricians of the homeo-pathic and anthroposophic school of medicine throughoutEurope (e.g. Imhäuser, H. Michael Stellmann and von Linden).At present, more than 50,000 homeopathic and anthroposophicpractitioners are active prescribers in the European Union.

More and more people are deciding in favour of alternativemedicine: a Dutch study dating from 2001, commissioned bythe Royal Association of Homeopathy of the Netherlands(KVHN), shows that 41% of the parents surveyed preferhomeopathic remedies for the medical treatment of theirchildren, while 43% favour allopathic medicines. Childrencurrently account for more than 40% of patients treated inanthroposophic Practices in Germany.

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Despite their high success rate, alternative therapies andmedicines have been viewed very critically by many allopathicphysicians. A large number of clinical and experimental studiesevaluating the efficacy of alternative medicine are nowavailable1.

A study in the Netherlands in 175 children suffering fromrecurrent infections of the airways has shown that fewerrecurrences are seen on homeopathic treatment and that theconsumption of antibiotics is lower than in the placebo group,although the difference was not statistically significant2.

Children also appear more receptive to homeopathy thanadults. A pilot study3 showed that homeopathic treatment wasmost successful in children between 2 and 11 years old,followed by children aged between 12 and 17 years. Treatmentoutcome was less favourable in the corresponding conven-tional treatment group4.

Parents not only wish to combat diseases, but also to enhancetheir children's general health condition. This is why they aremore and more requesting a pluralism of methods, i.e. thefreedom to choose between different diagnostic andtherapeutic forms. Only when allopathic and alternativemedicine are accorded an equal status and can be appliedalongside each other child centred paediatrics will be able toadjust to the special needs of these small patients.

Sabine Backes-Aghte (for the editorial team)

1 See e.g. several studies of Dr. Helmut Kiene2 de Lange de Klerk, E.S.M., Blommers, J., Kuik, D.J., Bezemer, P.D., Feenstra, L Effect of homoeopathic

medicines on daily burden of symptoms in children with recurrent upper respiratory tract infections, 1994.3 van Berckel Smit, J.A.C.M., A pilot study evaluating the efficacy of homeopathy in daily practice,

Brit. Hom.J. 82: 9-15 (1993)4 Riley, D, Fischer, M, Singh, B, Haidvogel, M, Heger, M,: Homeopathy and conventional medicine: an

outcomes study comparing the effectiveness in a primary setting. J Alternative Compl Med. 7: 149 – 159 (2001)

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PAEDIATRICS TODAYWhen we consider the rate of infant and child mortality that stillexisted in our grandparents' days, it is evident that paediatricmedicine has made enormous progress. The improvementin hygienic conditions and the discovery of penicillin aremilestones along this road. From the moment the infant firstglimpses the light of day, its path is flanked through earlychildhood and on into school age by a comprehensive system ofmedical care and supervision. Conventional medicine offers arich programme of medicines and therapies. But changed livingconditions and the special health constitution of our children areincreasingly calling for this medicine to be supplemented bycomplementary, alternative forms of therapy attuned to thechild's body. But what exactly is holistic paediatrics? Is itconcerned only with the cure and management of diseases? Ordo these ailments, and especially childhood diseases, ratherhave to be viewed and interpreted in a broader way as they areclosely related to the individual child's development5? Fact is:the maintenance of children's health therefore should be placedat the centre of all paediatric endeavours with the aim ofpreventing future illnesses6?

5 Tautz Christoph, Kinderkrankheiten – Krankheiten im Kindesalter! Stuttgart 20006 Glöckler, Michaela, Kindsein heute. Stuttgart 2003

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HOW TO COPE WITH DISEASES?

All parents are familiar with this stage in their child's develop-ment: at the latest when their child first walks through the kinder-garten gate, infections and childhood diseases increasinglyfind their way into the family home. Whether cold, cough,middle ear inflammation or gastrointestinal catarrh, infections likethese may be expected to crop up on an almost monthly basis,especially during the cold seasons. How helpful and reassuring isthe visit to the familiar children's doctor who provides the desiredrelief by prescribing the necessary medications. And this is indeedthe most fundamental purpose of paediatrics: coping with andwarding off disease. Exactly at this point complementarypaediatrics take the child itself (and not just the disease) with allits unique personal characteristics into the focus of medicaltreatment. This holistic approach thus creates an overall picture ofthe physical and mental-psychological situation and – in case ofof illness – identifies deficits and imbalances in the child7. Based onthis, it offers an individualised treatment approach tailored to thepatient's own personal potentials, in which the child is alwaysperceived as an independently acting human being.

CHILDREN’S DISEASES AS A CHANCE TO DEVELOP AND STRENGTHEN THE CHILD’S BODY

In paediatric practices there are not only the above mentionedinfections, but also the usual childhood diseases. Complemen-tary, alternative paediatrics view typical children's diseases froma new perspective: Are these really childhood diseases and to beequated with asthma, bronchitis or rheumatism? Or aren’tchildhood diseases rather experiences or stages along the child'spath of self-development? Aren’t they rather to be seen as afurther step towards the child developing immunocompetence,in other words a strengthening and concentration of childhoodimmunity8? In fact, children regularly emerge strengthened andmore mature from childhood diseases.7 Tautz Christoph, Kinderkrankheiten als Weg zur Immunkompetenz in Der Merkurstab – Pädiatrie, Sonderheft IV8 Tautz Christoph, Kinderkrankheiten

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DEVELOPMENT OF SUSTAINABLE HEALTH OF CHILDREN

Classical paediatrics is mainly concerned – as already mentionedabove – with gaining control over of the disease and its etiologicagents. However, paediatrics can go into action even before thedisease develops by investigating and preserving the child'soriginal health. What – on the other hand – makes children"healthy children" and how can this health be maintained9? Thisconcept, named salutogenesis, was invented by the medicalsociologist Aaron Antonovsky (1923 – 1994) and attempts toelicit a conclusive answer to the question "Why are peoplehealthy?". The WHO defines health as a state of completephysical, mental and social well-being10. Antonovsky goes evenfurther and speaks of a sense of coherence, the ability toexperience and perceive oneself as part of the world11. In thisway, understanding and experiencing the deeper sense of one'sown actions and facing the world with self-confidence and asense of belonging become the fundamental pillars of health.However, this also makes parents and physicians theco-architects and custodians of children's health.

With an interplay of all three components, coping with andwarding off disease, perceiving disease as a developmental stepin the child's biography and a means of strengthening thepersonality, paediatrics as an interaction of conventional andalternative medicine can now point the way towards a newapproach.

9 Glöckler Michaela, Kindsein heute10 Koch Ulrich, Impfen im Kindes- und Erwachsenenalter – Ein kritischer Ratgeber aus homöopathischer Sicht,

Nr. 16, Page 1211 Gleide Corinna quoted according to Antonovsky Aaron: Salutogenese. Zur Entmytifizierung der Gesundheit,

Tübingen 1997 in die Drei 8/9 2004

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PAEDIATRICS REQUIRES CHILD CENTRED MEDICINE

In contrast to adults, the child's body isnot (yet) fully formed, certain organs onlyreach maturity in adolescence or adult-hood and many processes are still in theprocess of completion. The entire body isbusy with its self-creation and maturation.It concentrates its forces inwards and isthus unable to respond in the same way asthe fully grown body to external influ-ences. What could be more appropriate,therefore, than to administer to the grow-ing person gentle remedies containingnatural substances that are both effectiveand well tolerated and are practically freefrom adverse reactions.

A further important aspect is to promotethe body's intrinsic activity and involve thesick child as an independently acting beingin the various therapeutic procedures.Illness can then be overcome through theindividual's own resources by stimulatingthe body's self-healing powers12.

12 Soldner Georg und Tautz Christoph in Der Merkurstab, Pädiatrie, Sonderheft IV

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COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE IN PAEDIATRICS

The efficacy and only slight side effects of homeopathic andanthroposophic medicines can be traced back and verified overmany centuries. Today they are subject – like allopathicmedicines – to complex and strict rules of testing. Effectiveness,safety and quality are evaluated very rigorously.

Complementary medicines are compositions of purely plantderived substances, but also include components of plant,mineral and animal origin. Particularly their effectiveness andlow rate of side effects are persuading increasing numbers ofparents to provide health care for their children using alternativemedicines. For example, homeopathy and anthroposophicmedicine often achieves remarkable positive results in childrenwith asthma, allergies and neurodermatitis where allopathicmedicine has reached the limits of its effectiveness.

The child's active participation in the therapy as well as healthyfood and lifestyle are accompanying the therapy in a positiveway.

Conventional medicine still views alternative medicine asplacebo medicine. Yet especially in paediatrics, this claim isuntenable. How otherwise to explain that infants and childrenare cured when in their case the thesis "Homeopathy isonly effective because people believe in it" is completelyinapplicable13. And this claim is disproved not least by the factthat an increasing number of physicians trained in conventionalgeneral medicine are embracing homeopathy as a supple-mentary specialisation and are publishing credible reports ofsuccessful homeopathic cures14.

13 Dellmour, Friedrich: Homöopathische Arzneiwirkung oder Placebo? Wirknachweise in der Homöopathie14 Dellmour, Friedrich: Homöopathische Arzneiwirkung oder Placebo?

AN INTEGRATED APPROACH CONVENTIONALMEDICINE AND COMPLEMENTARY PAEDIATRICS

It is becoming increasingly apparent that an excess ofconventional medicine can also be harmful. A growing numberof chronically ill children and the enormous increase in allergiesare now being seen as linked to the increasingly widespreaduse of antibiotics and interpreted as reactions to multiplevaccinations15. Nevertheless, conventional medicine is indis-pensable and confers many benefits. It is here that complemen-tary paediatric medicine takes up the challenge and, as asupplementary discipline with a holistic approach perceivesthe child as an independently acting being. With its veritablerichness and variety of gently acting, well proven naturalremedies, it offers a well tolerated and child oriented medicinewith a much lower rate of side effects. Awareness of this factalso relieves parents of some of their worries and anxieties.And together with their child and the treating physician theycan take an acceptable course of action which never loses sightof the fact that the patient is a child.

15 Soldner Georg in Der Merkurstab, Pädiatrie, Sonderheft IV

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Georg Soldner is a paediatrician in Munich, Germany. He published several books and numerous articles in international medicinal journals on paediatrics and complementary medicine.

ECHAMP How can complementary paediatrics broaden thescope of conventional paediatrics?

Soldner “Complementary paediatrics sees the child primarilyas a developing organism, capable of learning and with its ownindependent spirit. Providing it with external stimulation canplace it in a position where it can overcome diseases by its ownresources. As an acting person, it passes through and developslearning processes during the illness which can cure it and alsoprotect it against future diseases (e.g. immunity): every diseaseovercome by the organism itself thus permanently strengthensthe health of the body. On the one hand, modern paediatrics needs conventionalmedicine, for example to gain control of severe bacterialinfections and keep them at bay through external interventionsand treatments. On the other hand, it also needs complemen-tary medicine to stimulate the body's own healing forces fromwithin, promote detoxication processes and support the child inits endeavours to recover its health by its own efforts.”

ECHAMP What specific successes can be achieved withcomplementary medicine in paediatrics?

Soldner “A study from 1999 (Lancet. 1999 May 1;353(9163):1457-8) published in the internationally respectedmedical journal The Lancet has shown that if children areconsistently treated with complementary medicine from thebeginning, the rate of allergies is much lower during school age

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or later childhood. The frequency of neurodermatitis, asthmaand hay fever in this comparative study was up to 70% loweron a complementary medical regimen combined withbiological-dynamic diet than when the children receivedconventional treatment and nutrition.”

ECHAMP For which therapeutic indication complementarytreatment is most suited?

Soldner “Neurodermatitis and acute infections heal muchmore quickly with homeopathic and anthroposophic prepara-tions. Also, there a fewer side effects and the patient remainssustainable healthy.”

ECHAMP What experience have you gathered as regards thewell-being and satisfaction of patients and their parents duringthe therapy?

Soldner “At the start of an alternative therapy, quite heavydemands are placed on both children and parents; often itis necessary to endure 1-2 days of high fever. Since it is notimmediately suppressed by antipyretics or similar medications,but rather the body overcomes the illness by drawing on its ownresources, this "threshold" first has to be crossed. After a fewdays the patient feels much better. Late complications are alsomuch more rare. Parents are happy to accept this situation; onlyfew decide to terminate the therapy.”

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ECHAMP Why do parents decide in favour of complementarytherapy?

Soldner “Parents often have a strong aversion to toxicmedicinal products and wish to avoid their children beingchronically exposed to these agents. This is why they prefer agentle, well tolerated medicine with few side effects.Experiences such as permanent skin damage during thelong-term use of cortisone ointment in neurodermatitis haveshown that the use of allopathic medications can involve risks.In my 19 years as a paediatrician I have not observed a singlethreatening adverse reaction for children due to the intolera-bility or side effects of an alternative medicine.”

ECHAMP Does the continuous administration of allopathicmedicines encourage chronic diseases?

Soldner “Especially in the prosperous industrialised countriesin which a vast range of conventional medications is conti-nuously available and industrially processed foods are oftenserved up on a daily basis, the rate of childhood asthma hasdoubled. Lifelong diabetes (Type 1) in children under 4 years ofage is increasing by 6% annually: in the period from 2000 to2020 the number of diabetic children will have doubled. Andthis although it is now proven that this is not for genetic reasonsbut is exclusively attributable to changed environmentalconditions, particularly diet and medical treatments includingvaccinations. The use of antibiotics is leading to an increase inthe number of children with allergic diseases. This developmentis not observed in children treated exclusively by comple-mentary medicine.”

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ECHAMP Is today's paediatrician tomorrow's geriatrician?

Soldner “There are studies which show that the risk ofarteriosclerosis, and most likely also the risk of developingcancer, differs during adulthood depending on nutrition andmedical treatment during childhood: for instance, prolongedbreast feeding protects against vascular calcification in thesecond half of life. Unfortunately the suppression of fever is still given first priorityamong standard therapeutic interventions in paediatrics;however, the presumed benefits of this approach are notsubstantiated by any scientific research. On the contrary: viralinfections, for example, remit faster and better during highfever, and even the incidence of febrile seizures is not influencedby antipyretic therapy! This puts the paediatrician's activity in acompletely new light. The scope of modern paediatrics must bebroadened by integrating this holistic view and acknowledgingits true status as the cornerstone of the human biography.”

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ECHAMP What development do you see in paediatrics?

Soldner “At present I see the situation in paediatrics asresembling the "national debt". The more we use conventionalmedicine during childhood – including for non-life-threateningdiseases – and the less children learn to overcome acute diseasesthemselves with the aid of complementary medicine and theirparents' care , the more chronic diseases will manifest amongchildren and later on in adulthood. The costs of treating these diseases will rise to dizzying heights.Yet this situation is not inevitable, particularly not in childhood!But it can only be reversed if we all take upon ourselves moremental and physical activity. We should accept acute illness as achallenge on which it is worth concentrating on our strength inorder to overcome it with our own resources. And we must alsoexpect children to embrace this process, naturally only to theextent where it involves no risk.

Complementary medical paediatrics, and especially anthropo-sophic medicine and homeopathy, offer many ways for childrento engage in this independent healing process. Conventionalmedicine based paediatrics has so far proved helpless in the faceof the growing incidence of bronchial asthma, diabetes mellitusand eating disorders. In view of these major challenges topaediatric prophylaxis, medicine will no longer be able tomanage without complementary approaches. Combatingdisease has to be backed up by a conscious promotion of health;this is the message with which we should enlarge conventionalpaediatric medicine.”

The interview was done by Sabine Backes, Munich, March 2005.

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CHILDREN DISEASE

CHILDHOOD DISEASES AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE

A sick child often plunges the parents into a maelstrom ofworries and questions. This is where paediatrics has to providesupport for parents and children, point out methods oftreatment and create a basis of trust in order to overcome thedisease.

CHILDHOOD DISEASES

At all times, children's growth and development have beenaccompanied by diseases. Although a cause of concern toparents, illnesses when overcome are seen to have broughtabout a change in the child. Suddenly it has acquired newabilities, its personality has matured, and it has gained a new,more intense quality of perception. Furthermore, the childusually also acquires lifelong immunity by having overcomethe illness16. Childhood diseases thus also confer added healthbenefits and at the same time provide new impetus for thechild's development17.

16 Tautz Christoph, Kinderkrankheiten als Weg zur Immunkompetenz17 Tautz Christoph, Kinderkrankheiten – Krankheiten im Kindesalter

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FEVER

The way in which fever is perceived has changed fundamentallyduring mankind's history: while Hippocrates still saw fever as thebody's attempt at self-preservation and Paracelsus as an intrinsicactivity of the body for combating disease, fever is nowregarded mainly as a health hazard to be countered by givingmedications18. The multiplicity of antipyretic agents of the kindnow to be found in almost every home bears testimony to thisview. Clinical observations have shown that children givenantipyretics recover slower from ailments like smallpox thannon-medicated children. The same observations have beenmade for viral diseases: children overcame the illness fasterwithout antifebrile drugs. Fever can therefore be seen as anintrinsic activity and an expression of the body standing up foritself, and not solely as a pathological disorder that can lead tosevere health impairments. However, temperature has to beobserved carefully and if necessary, lowered by simple physicalmethods (e.g. cold leg compresses)

INFECTIOUS DISEASES

Infections like common colds, middle ear inflammation ordiarrhoea are constant companions throughout childhood.Very often, antibiotics and antipyretics are already prescribed atthe first signs of illness. And yet by giving gentle medications,the immune defence processes taking place in the child's bodycan be stimulated and supported. The frequent occurrence ofinfectious diseases requires a natural, gentle therapy whichstrengthens the body and immune system in the long-term.

18 Tautz Christoph: Kinderkrankheiten als Weg zur Immunkompetenz

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WHAT PARENTS SAY...

I discovered complementary medicine for myself and for myfamily from that moment on when we had children. (Ceilith Rowe, Bristol, United Kingdom)

I feel good giving homeopathy to my children because I experienced those remedies as very effective, easy to applyand the children love their “beadlets”! (globules) (Bettina Appel, Brussels, Belgium)

Since I treated my children with homeopathy they arestronger and their constitution is more resistant to infections. (Edwige Burkart-Nourrichard, Strasbourg, France)

On holidays I always take for my family the homeopathictravel case with us. (Joana Matos, Lisbon, Portugal)

In our family Arnica and Calendula are the most frequentlyused first aid treatments. We couldn't do without it! (Mary Stoorvogel, Bergen, The Netherlands)

Parents are nowadays fully empowered and active partners ofthe physician. Increasing transparency both in medical andpharmaceutical / pharmacological respects, has created thissituation. But also a close analysis of disease and the require-ments of the child's body which is different from that of adults.

For their children, who are in a phase of both physical andmental development, parents desire safe, reliable medicineswhich expedite recovery but which also and above all must bewell tolerated. For acute and chronic diseases, the risk of sideeffects for the child should be excluded to the greatest possibleextent.

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Aware of their responsibility and obligation of care, parentsdemand a free choice of therapeutic approach for their child.Neither governmental nor ideological constraints must beallowed to interfere in these choices. The medical treatmentshould always have first priority in the interest of the child'swell-being.

Both cooperation with physicians and disclosure of the indivi-dual therapeutic measures is a major concern of parents.However, this also means not to regard illness only as a threat.Rather, parents should place trust in the therapeutic methodsemployed by the paediatrician and in the abilities and strengthsof their child.

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"NICE FOLKS"

Based on an interview with Tosia Kossakowski, homeopathic paediatrician based in Amsterdam

" Children, nice folks" that’s how Tosia Kossakowskicharacterised her patient clientele. Although initially reluctant tochoose paediatrics, this medical specialisation became her dailyprofession, rather than psychiatry or surgery which wereoriginally her first choices.

Dr. Kossakowski studied medicine at Nijmegen University.She has now been a medical doctor and registered paediatricianfor 20 years. She is a down-to-earth doctor, a practical "doing"person. The interview took place in her Amsterdam office.A cosy working room, with the usual doctors’ gadgets, largechairs, a little stool, dolls and a Donald Duck on the desk.

She first made contact with homeopathy during her clinicalrotations in a Lelystad hospital, where she witnessed the swiftrecovery of a child suffering from high fever following an insectbite after being treated with the homeopathic medicine Apis.This experience and the lectures of Alphons Geukens, aprominent Belgian homeopathic physician, stimulated herinterest and decided her to enrol in a post graduate trainingcourse in homeopathic medicine. The impressive, fullydocumented case of how a child suffering from severeOsteogenesis imperfecta (an extremely fragile bone structure)was brought to a state of cure and well-being convinced her toconcentrate on homeopathy.

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THE CHILD AS A PA

The child as a young human being often presents a clearer caseto the doctor than an adult. This is probably because it is lessconstrained by conventions and expectations and is able toexpress its primary reactions more directly.

Usually the parents take the initiative in seeking homeopathicadvice, although some of Dr. Kossakowski's patients also comeon referral from other colleagues and specialists.Parents usually decide to see a homeopath when regulartreatment fails to deliver the expected results or simply becausethey consider it to be the best possible option for their child.

The first consultation usually takes an hour to an hour and ahalf. Besides taking a detailed homeopathic history, the doctoralso performs a normal physical examination. A prescription isgiven for the pharmacist and the case is documented in therequired manner. "A lot of paperwork!"

"It's often amazing what comes out during these interviews andwhat children remember from their early childhood. Not onlyabout their own situation but also the general family situation.Frequently, parents are astounded to hear their child describingits situation and its observations". Evidently events during thefirst few years of life play a significant role in everyone's healthhistory. Many illnesses seem to have their roots in events duringthese primary years.

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ATIENT

The data are also recorded for pooling in outcome studies.Dr. Kossakowski is a member of the HARP project, in which alarge number of Dutch homeopathic physicians participate andwhich aims to propagate and publicise the effectiveness ofhomeopathy.The growing size of the practice is an indicator of patients'satisfaction. There is good contact between doctor and patient.When therapy was successful, patients don't return. Sometimespatients return after ten years just to mention they recoveredafter the first homeopathic treatment and so there was noreason to come back earlier.

TYPICAL CHILDREN’S AILMENTS

Besides the typical children’s illnesses, the conditions mostcommonly encountered by paediatricians are eczema,respiratory tract diseases, behavioural and developmentaldisorders, as well as digestive complaints and allergies.Homeopathy has a good track record in treating anxiety, fearand depression, although these are mainly the domain of childpsychiatrists. Since great restraint should be exercised inprescribing antidepressants to children, homeopathic remediescan be an excellent solution in such cases.

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REGULAR MEDICINE

Dr. Kossakowski takes a pragmatic view of conventionalmedicines. "We should be grateful for the existence ofantibiotics". Nevertheless they should be prescribed and takenwith common sense. "When a child is receiving allopathic andhomeopathic medicines concurrently, I will always make surethat the conventional medicine is taken as it should be – forexample by providing a prescription for penicillin".And she adds with confidence: "Moreover, when the righthomeopathic remedy has been chosen, it will have its beneficialeffects anyway."

VACCINATION

As regards vaccination, different areas of responsibility need tobe distinguished. Governments clearly have a different type ofresponsibility than an individual doctor. Depending on theindividual child's constitution, it might be wise in some cases toadapt the vaccination procedure to suit the child's personalneeds. Homeopathic physicians are by no means hostile tovaccination. On the contrary, homeopathy offers goodresources for alleviating the adverse effects of vaccination.

REWARDING

Homeopathy is a very rewarding therapy. "It is good to see thatafter a homeopathic treatment, the child has acquired a betterbalance. It has become more mature. What used to be abehavioural problem in the past is now suddenly no longer aproblem". Spectacular results are sometimes also achieved inmore severe cases. She is not discouraged by the fact thatopponents of homeopathy dismiss her successes as "seren-dipitous". "Body follows mind" – more basic research needs tobe done, since the solution to the homeopathic enigma is tobe found in physics and not in chemistry. ApparentlyDr. Kossakowski is not alone in her opinion, although at presentit is still controversial.

The interview was done by Frank Bech, Amsterdam, March 2005.

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CONCLUSIONIn a time of rapidly changing circumstances and habits, but alsoof new developments in health policy, modern paediatrics canpoint the way in a new, groundbreaking direction. Althoughchildren – especially in Europe – live under the most advancedconditions, a widespread lack of physical and mental-emotionalexercise, dietary deficits and an excess of allopathic medicinescan be deleterious to children's health.

Illness also needs to be redefined and not merely accepted as anadverse situation. Illness offers the child a chance to becomehealthy by using its inherent abilities, exercising its owninitiative and developing its personality. The child thus becomesthe exclusive focus of all medical endeavours. Its individualitymust be the physician's starting point for finding the appro-priate form of therapy. Perceiving the child as an independentlyacting person, and not merely as a patient to whom medicine isadministered from outside and who is treated from outside,must be the initial point of approach to all therapy.

This paediatric medicine must continue to be based on the useof child-appropriate medicines of a potency suited to the needsof the child's body and which support conventional medicine atthe critical points.

Paediatrics must also increasingly be understood as a healthpromoting discipline: wherever health exists, it must bemaintained and should be seen as the basis of the child's furtherdevelopment.

When it takes all these aspects into account, paediatrics canfulfil all the requirements both of medicine and of parentsthemselves.

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ECHAMPEuropean Coalition on Homeopathic andAnthroposophic Medicinal Products E.E.I.G.

Avenue Livingstone 331000 BrusselsBelgiumPhone +32-2-235 09 81Fax +32-2-235 09 82Email office@echamp.behttp www.echamp.org

ECHAMP gratefully acknowledges the achievements of the editing team (Sabine Backes-Aghte with Frank Bech and Christine Wild).

1st edition, April 2005

Illustrations: Our sincere thanks to Biologische Heilmittel Heel GmbH, Dr. Peithner KG nunmehr GmbH & Co, VSM Geneesmiddelen BV,WALA Heilmittel GmbH and Weleda AG for the pictures used in this brochure, as well as the private pictures and drawings received from the familiesAppel, Backes-Aghte, Bech, De Decker and Zupan.Layout: International Graphics & ProductionsCopyright 2005 by ECHAMP E.E.I.G., Brussels, Belgium. All rights reserved. Except for the explicitely by law mentioned exceptions, nothing from thisbrochure may be duplicated, saved or published on any way, without the explicitely preceding and written confirmation from ECHAMP E.E.I.G.