Looking for a person-centered medicine: non conventional medicine in the conventional European and italian setting

An Analysis of Four Government-Funded Reviews of Research on Homeopathic Medicine

Homeopathic medicine is a controversial system of medicine that has been used worldwide for over 200 years. Recently, several governments, in part, owing to government-funded reviews of research on homeopathic medicine, have stopped reimbursements for homeopathic medicines and have discouraged their use by medical professionals. This review critically evaluates four government-funded reviews of clinical research on homeopathic medicine. An analysis of government-sponsored reviews of clinical research on homeopathic medicine was conducted, including two studies from Switzerland, one from England, and one from Australia. Three of the four government-funded reviews were critical of homeopathy, claiming that there was no reliable evidence that homeopathic medicines were effective. Three of these reviews had significant flaws, with potential ethical concerns raised in one of the reviews. The most comprehensive review of homeopathic research, including analysis of clinical and basic science concerns, found the most positive results for homeopathy.

The need for higher education in the sociology of traditional and non-conventional medicine in Italy: towards a person-centered medicine

Italy is being forced to re-think her health plan as the national health service moves towards regional systems, individuals take more active responsibility for their health, the demand grows for traditional and non-conventional medicine and immigrants join the user list. Person-centered medicine and ever-wider skills attainable with the tools of analysis and research have made a new professional update indispensable. The proposed Master-Course on “Health systems, traditional and non-conventional medicine”, first of its kind in Italy, fits this bill. The new forms of treatment that state and international bodies are prepared to recognize depend entirely on the universities training our professionals with concrete skills in planning, research and health management. Our paper performs an epistemological critique of the new health requirements and goes on to outline the reasons behind this training imperative.

Traditional and non-conventional medicines: the socio-anthropological and bioethical paradigms for person-centred medicine, the Italian context

In Italy the use of non-conventional medicines (NCM) is spreading among people as in the rest of Europe. However, in Italy, unlike that in other countries of the European Union, at the present time the juridical/legal status of NCM is not well established, mainly due to the lack of any national law regulating NCM professional training, practice and public supply and to the absence of government-promoted scientific research in this field. This is an obstacle to safeguarding the patient's interests and freedom of choice, especially now that dissatisfaction with biomedicine is inclining more and more people to look for a holistic, fairer and person-centered form of medicine.

Regional Health Systems and non-conventional medicine: the situation in Italy

In Italy the different regional healthcare models are structured, in order to provide both a single theoretical framework and to enable direct comparisons. In this paper we examine whether and how the regional healthcare systems include alternative medicines and, if so, whether this can be specifically attributed to the different organisational models in place. This analysis will be preceded by a framework to show how in Italy there is a constant and continuous increase in non-conventional medicine (NCM), determined from a research by citizens of a person-centred medicine and preventive. We shall examine how NCM has been incorporated in the National Health System (SSN) in Italy, from the time the Regional Health Systems were set up, and the factors that have contributed to their inclusion or exclusion. After a brief synopsis of the process of growth, distribution and recognition of NCM in Italy, we shall describe how it has been incorporated and consolidated in the regional healthcare systems.

Why we need integrative medicine

Over the last few years the scientific debate on Non Conventional Medicines and their integration with the academic or dominant medicine in our western society has activated a cultural transformation process. This article discusses the main reasons of the need for an integration between the supposed only scientific, mainstream medicine and other cheaper, more holistic, more person-centred expertise.

Advent of a Link between Ayurveda and Modern Health Science: The Proceedings of the First International Congress on Ayurveda, "Ayurveda: The Meaning of Life-Awareness, Environment, and Health" March 21-22, 2009, Milan, Italy

The First International Congress on Ayurveda was held in Milan, Italy in March 2009 and it has been the first scientific event of this kind in western world. This groundbreaking international congress was devoted to human being as the product of interactions between Awareness, Environment and Health, subjects that the West tends to consider separate and independent, but that are believed deeply connected in Ayurveda, whose interdependence defines “The Meaning of Life”. The Congress established a bridge between indian and western philosophy, scientific and biomedical thinking in order to expand knowledge and healthcare. Main attention and address of the invited speakers was on the concept of “relationships” that, connecting living beings with environment, shape Nature itself. This concept is central in Ayurveda but is also common to other western scientific disciplines such as quantum physics and epigenetics that, in the four Sessions of the Congress, were represented by eminent experts. The importance of this event was underlined by the attendance of more than 400 participants and by noteworthy institutional endorsements, that added a significative political dimension of high social impact due to the topical period for CAM acceptance and integration in Europe.