Prof Andreas Michalsen is admitted into THE ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE HALL OF FAME

Professor Andreas Michalsen is the clinical director of the department of naturopathy in a Berlin hospital. He seems most keen to represent the scientific side of so-called alternative medicine in Germany. He has published several (fairly uncritical) books on SCAM and numerous papers in the medical literature. I had a look at those papers and hope you agree that Michalsen should join the other extraordinary experts in THE ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE HALL OF FAME:

• Jennifer Jacobs (homeopath, US)
• Jenise Pellow (homeopath, South Africa)
• Adrian White (acupuncturist, UK)
• Michael Frass (homeopath, Austria)
• Jens Behnke (research officer, Germany)
• John Weeks (editor of JCAM, US)
• Deepak Chopra (entrepreneur, Us)
• Cheryl Hawk (US chiropractor)
• David Peters (osteopathy, homeopathy, UK)
• Nicola Robinson (TCM, UK)
• Peter Fisher (homeopathy, UK)
• Simon Mills (herbal medicine, UK)
• Gustav Dobos (various, Germany)
• Claudia Witt (homeopathy, Germany and Switzerland)
• George Lewith (acupuncture, UK)
• John Licciardone (osteopathy, US)

My Medline search on 10/1/2021 for ‘Michalsen A, clinical trial’, generated 69 hits. Below I list the key conclusions of the 47 SCAM studies that were published in English by Andreas Michalsen et al:

1. In this explorative pilot trial, an increase of HRV (more parasympathetic dominance and overall higher HRV) after ten weeks of yoga in school in comparison to regular school sports was demonstrated, showing an improved self-regulation of the autonomic nervous system. (pilot)
2.  Results showed a contrast between the high agreement of the consented final diagnosis and disagreement on certain diagnostic details.
3. A single session of leech therapy is more effective over the short term in lowering the intensity of pain over the short term and in improving physical function and quality of life over the intermediate term.
4. Short term fasting during chemotherapy is well tolerated and appears to improve QOL and fatigue during chemotherapy. Larger studies should prove the effect of STF as an adjunct to chemotherapy. (pilot)
5. Administering verum (a complex homeopathic drug) resulted in a statistically significantly greater improvement of the Cough Assessment Score than the placebo. The tolerability was good and not inferior to that of the placebo.
6. Ayurvedic treatment is beneficial in reducing knee OA symptoms.
7. We did not find any clinically relevant differences between groups in this controlled clinical pilot trial of 8 wk of intermittent fasting in healthy volunteers.
8. We found positive effects for both groups, which however were more pronounced in the Ayurvedic group. The conversational and counseling techniques in the Ayurvedic group offered more opportunities for problem description by patients as well as patient-centered practice and resource-oriented recommendations by the physician.
9. Results of this study suggest that prolonged fasting is feasible and might have beneficial clinical effects. (pilot)
10. This clinical trial indicates comparable efficacy of the herbal combination and antibiotic, although non-inferiority was not proved. However, the results and lessons learned are important for the planning of future trials.
11. Thus, cycles of a 5-day fasting-mimiking diet are safe, feasible, and effective in reducing markers/risk factors for aging and age-related diseases.
12. Ayurvedic external treatment is effective for pain-relief in chronic low back pain in the short term.
13. Focused meditation and self-care exercise lead to comparable, symptomatic improvements in patients with chronic low back pain.
14. This randomized trial found no effects of yoga on health-related quality of life in patients with colorectal cancer. Given the high attrition rate and low intervention adherence, no definite conclusions can be drawn from this trial.
15. The Alexander Technique was not superior to local heat application in treating chronic non-specific neck pain.
16.  In conclusion, meditation may support chronic pain patients in pain reduction and pain coping. 
17. The herbal preparation of myrrh, chamomile extract and coffee charcoal is well tolerated and shows a good safety profile. We found first evidence for a potential efficacy non-inferior to the gold standard therapy mesalazine, which merits further study of its clinical usefulness in maintenance therapy of patients with ulcerative colitis.
18. Yoga was more effective in relieving chronic nonspecific neck pain than a home-based exercise program. Yoga reduced neck pain intensity and disability and improved health-related quality of life. Moreover, yoga seems to influence the functional status of neck muscles, as indicated by improvement of physiological measures of neck pain.
19. In this preliminary trial, yoga appears to be an effective treatment in chronic neck pain with possible additional effects on psychological well-being and QOL.  (pilot)
20. These results suggest that Gua Sha may be an effective treatment for patients with chronic neck and low back pain.
21. The data indicate that during needle insertion high dose acupuncture stimulation leads to a higher increase of sympathetic nerve activity than low dose stimulation independent of personality. After needle insertion subjects who tend to augment incoming stimuli might show a lack of psychological relaxation when receiving high dose stimulation.
22. In patients with METS, phlebotomy, with consecutive reduction of body iron stores, lowered BP and resulted in improvements in markers of cardiovascular risk and glycemic control.
23. The present study gives preliminary evidence that healing clay jojoba oil facial masks can be effective treatment for lesioned skin and mild acne vulgaris.
24. In a laboratory setting, an electroacupuncture procedure was as effective as a single dose of an orally administered opiate in reducing experimentally induced ischaemic pain.
25. In the presence of modern treatments, complementary prescription of comprehensive lifestyle modification has no impact on coronary artery calcium progression but sustainable benefit for blood pressure, heart rate and the need of anti-ischemic medication is demonstrated. 
26. A single course of leech therapy was effective in relieving pain in the short-term and improved disability in intermediate-term. Leeches might be considered as an additional option in the therapeutic approach to lateral epicondylitis.
27. Gua sha has beneficial short-term effects on pain and functional status in patients with chronic neck pain.
28. Alterations in short-chain fatty acids were found in terms of significant changes to increased acetate levels in the fasting group.
29. In this first study on the efficacy of cantharidin blisters, a clinically relevant pain-relieving short-term effect on lumbar spinal stenosis was observed.
30. We conclude that cupping therapy may be effective in relieving the pain and other symptoms related to CTS.
31.  A single course of leech therapy is effective in relieving pain, improving disability and QoL for at least 2 months.
32. The high effect sizes indicate that repeated rhythmic embrocation with Solum Oil may improve mood, pain perception (sensory PPS), and the ability to cope with pain (affective PPS) in patients with chronic low back pain.
33. The data indicate, that verum acupuncture and sham acupuncture might have a beneficial influence on the autonomic nervous system in migraineurs with a reduction of the LF power of HRV related to the clinical effect. This might be due to a reduction of sympathetic nerve activity. VA and SA induce different effects on the high-frequency component of HRV, which seem, however, not to be relevant for the clinical outcome in migraine.
34. Gua Sha increases microcirculation local to a treated area, and that increase in circulation may play a role in local and distal decrease in myalgia. Decrease in myalgia at sites distal to a treated area is not due to distal increase in microcirculation. There is an unidentified pain-relieving biomechanism associated with Gua Sha.
35. These results are consistent with possible short-term benefits of a comprehensive lifestyle modification program on some aspects of quality-of-life and emotional well-being, but no effects were discernable 12 months after completion of therapy.
36. In the presence of modern treatments, comprehensive lifestyle modification provides no additional benefits on progression of atherosclerosis but improves autonomic function, angina, and QOL with concomitant reduced need of medication. These responses are more pronounced in GNB3*825T allele carriers.
37. Neither Mediterranean diet nor fasting treatments affect the microbiologically assessed intestinal flora and sIgA levels in patients with RA and FM.
38. Women suffering from mental distress participating in a 3-month Iyengar yoga class show significant improvements on measures of stress and psychological outcomes.
39. Adoption of a Mediterranean diet by patients with medically treated CAD has no effect on markers of inflammation and metabolic risk factors.
40. A comprehensive lifestyle modification and stress management program did not improve psychological outcomes in medically stable CAD patients. The program did appear to confer psychological benefits for women but not men. Further trials should investigate gender-related differences in coronary patient responses to behavioral interventions.
41. Mind-body therapy may improve quality of life in patients with UC in remission, while no effects of therapy on clinical or physiological parameters were found, which may at least in part be related to selective patient recruitment.
42. Leech therapy helps relieve symptoms in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee.
43. A home-based hydrotherapeutic thermal treatment program improves quality of life, heart-failure-related symptoms and heart rate response to exercise in patients with mild chronic heart failure. The results of this investigation suggest a beneficial adaptive response to repeated brief cold stimuli in addition to enhanced peripheral perfusion due to thermal hydrotherapy in patients with chronic heart failure.
44. This open pilot study demonstrates that along with a decrease in sleep arousals a 1-week fasting period promotes the quality of sleep and daytime performance in non-obese subjects.
45. Periarticular application of 4 leeches led to rapid relief of pain with sustained improvement after 4 weeks in the absence of major complications.
46. Short-term fasting in inpatients with pain and stress syndromes is safe and well tolerated, concomitant mineral supplements have no additive benefit.
47. The results suggest that the cardiovascular response during whole-body infrared-A irradiation is accompanied by significant changes in autonomic cardiac regulation: A significant decrease of low-frequency power corresponding to depressed vagal activity results in an increase of Iow/high-frequency ratio. During serial hyperthermias the acute response is diminished suggesting an adaption of the autonomic response to hyperthermia.

This list is impressive in several ways: very few SCAM researchers managed to publish 47 Medline-listed clinical studies, and nobody I know has ever conducted clinical trials of so many different SCAMs in so many different medical conditions. They include:

• Acupuncture
• Alexander technique
• Ayrurvedic medicine
• Blood letting
• Cupping
• Diet
• Embrocation
• Fasting
• Gua cha
• Herbal medicine
• Homeopathy
• Hydrotherapy
• Hyperthermia
• Meditation
• Mind/body therapies
• Leeching
• Life style modification
• Yoga

While this is astounding, another fact is even more baffling: with just 2 or 3 exceptions, all these studies yield postive results. Whatever Michalsen touches turns to gold! And if it doesn’t, he spins the findings such that the conclusions are at least partly positive; see for instance No 14, 33, 36, 40 or 41 in the above list.

WELCOME TO THE ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE HALL OF FAME PROFESSOR MICHALSEN!