Validating Medical Remedies: Renewing the Research

by John Beck

A four-year-old non-profit research institute in Wisconsin is working to validate and extend the knowledge on which anthroposophic and homeopathic health products are based. It is a natural outgrowth of the life commitments of three physicians who put Rudolf Steiner’s therapeutic insights at the heart of their practices, then sought to develop and produce new and improved remedies and supplements, and now are rallying support for the research he hoped to see almost a century ago. The production company, True Botanica, is well-known in the field, and the research institute was initially named for it. To make clear that its work is distinct from and aims beyond the company’s needs, and to honor an early and deeply committed researcher, the foundation has become the Lili Kolisko Institute.

Background

Rudolf Steiner’s wrote his last book with Dr. Ita Wegman: "Fundamentals of Therapy: An Extension of the Art of Healing through Spiritual Knowledge", as its first English translation in 1925 was titled. Anthroposophic Medicine (AM) is now practiced worldwide. As the word “extension” suggests, AM is “complementary” not “alternative” to standard Western medicine; the resulting practice is “holistic” or “integral.” Rudolf Steiner expected participants in his medical courses to be MDs or students pursuing the standard degree. On that foundation he added new insights from his research which materialistic approaches could not reach. These were grounded in a full picture of the human constitution: a physical body, an body of life and formative forces (etheric body), the astral body of feelings and lower consciousness, and the ego. Body, soul, and spirit are expressly considered in the nature of the human being.

AM also works from a “wellness” model, recognizing the health-giving activity of the body of formative forces as fundamental. In an “illness” model attention is drawn more to symptoms than to the whole being and “patients” often become a passive battlefield where doctors combat illness. In Steiner’s research health and illness appear as one dimension of an individual’s karmic path and life experience, and the individual self or ego can be powerfully involved in healing.

Medicine makes extensive use of healing substances. Many pharmaceutical companies are major corporations and major players in medical research and education. Steiner recognized and pointed out numerous therapeutic uses of plants, metals, and mineral substances, and considered homeopathy, the use of highly diluted and “potentized” preparations, a valid approach. The Weleda company was organized in Steiner’s lifetime to provide anthroposophic preparations.

In his last months of activity Rudolf Steiner observed that with adequate funds a breakthrough could be made in anthroposophical scientific research. Funds have never approached the level he hoped for, however, so in medicine and other fields the advances that are possible are often carried by the efforts of a few individual doctors, therapists, and independent researchers.

Lili Kolisko (from the Institute website)

Lili Kolisko (September 1, 1889–November 20, 1976) was one of Rudolf Steiner’s most significant students. Her first meeting with anthroposophy occurred in 1914. She was working at the time as a volunteer helper in a hospital where she met her later husband Eugen Kolisko. (During this time she learned practical laboratory methods, essential skills for her later research activities.)

At one point Eugen Kolisko asked her: “May I give you a book?” and when she agreed he gave her Rudolf Steiner’s "Knowledge of the Higher Worlds and its Attainment". It made a powerful and immediate impression on her. Apparently she read this through in one night and in the next several months read every single book of Rudolf Steiner’s that Eugen Kolisko had in his possession.

She met Rudolf Steiner in 1915. When she was introduced to him he told her, “Oh yes, we know each other already.” In her own independent and forward manner she decisively answered, “No,” and insisted on this “No” even as Rudolf Steiner persisted in affirming that they already knew each other, until he helpfully added, “Nevertheless, nevertheless, from before.”

In her first longer conversation with Rudolf Steiner, in May 1915, she reminded him that she had written him a letter and would have liked an answer. She had probably mentioned in that letter details about her very difficult youth and asked for advice related to her sleep. He answered her that that she should envision an abyss into which she would let rose petals float to the ground and then gather them again. He added that she had had a question in the letter about Lili Kolisko occult chemistry and advised her first to fill some gaps that she had in that area and only then tackle the specific problem. Then suddenly he said to her “You are seeing the ether.”

As a researcher, Lili Kolisko’s first contribution consisted in following up an indication of Steiner’s about the activity of the spleen. Rudolf Steiner had made the comment in lectures given in 1920 (Spiritual Science and Medicine) that one of the occult roles of the spleen is to regulate the intake of nutrition and its distribution to the various organs. He explained that the spleen has the function to give us the ability to eat at times of our choosing and yet enable the body to receive its nutrition on a regular basis, and felt that one could demonstrate physiologically this function in the laboratory.

Lili Kolisko studied the platelets that were generated by the spleen in subjects who had been eating regularly versus people that had meals at irregular times. She discovered that under the appropriate circumstances a new type of speckled platelets would be seen under the microscope which she and Rudolf Steiner later called “regulator cells.” Steiner mentioned this work often and made the statement several times that if this type of research had occurred at a normal university it would have received international acclaim.

Her second major contribution was to develop a socalled germination test to show the influence of potentized substances on living organisms. This work grew out of a question that she posed to Rudolf Steiner essentially asking how one could determine which potency of a specific substance would be most beneficial to be used in a hoof and mouth epidemic that was occurring. Steiner advised her to grow wheat seeds and sequentially water them with various potencies of the substance in question. The resulting growth curves would give the desired answer. Lili Kolisko continued this work throughout her lifetime generating literally thousands of these curves and contributing greatly to our understanding of the work with potentized substances. It must have been a lifelong disappointment for her that the envisioned cooperation between her and medical doctors never came to fruition. It is in particular this aspect of the work that the Institute which carries her name is attempting to continue and further develop.

Lily Kolisko

Rudolf Steiner valued Lili Kolisko also as an esoteric student. She was one of a handful of people that he personally allowed to read and hold the First Class lessons.

Lili Kolisko’s life continued to be both tragic and difficult. Due to extreme disagreements between the Koliskos and certain influential members of the Anthroposophic Society, she and her husband Eugen, then a much respected anthroposophic doctor and school physician to the Stuttgart Waldorf School, left Germany in the 1930s and resettled in England. Eugen died soon thereafter of a heart attack. Lili lived in extreme poverty. At one point apparently she was earning a living by sewing purses. Nevertheless during this whole time she continued her germination potency work as well as very significant research experiments on anthroposophic paper chromatography. In these last mentioned experiments she repeatedly showed that one could demonstrate the effect of star constellations on metals and other substances.

The anthroposophic physician Gisbert Husemann pointed out that Lili Kolisko’s work begins at the same time—in 1920—when Rudolf Steiner lectured on Thomas Aquinas. Steiner pointed out later on that in those lectures he had intended to demonstrate the new path that natural science needs to take into the future. In the thirteenth century Thomas Aquinas was still concerned with a material world on earth and a spiritual world “in the heavens.” Today, Steiner emphasized, this duality has to be bridged and the work of the spiritual world intimately affecting physical phenomena has to be recognized. It is perhaps not just a coincidence that the researcher Lili Kolisko was quietly beginning to fulfill precisely the challenge that Rudolf Steiner had postulated, bringing awareness for physical phenomena that are clearly caused by spiritual events. Husemann quotes Steiner (10.22.1922; CW 218) that in regard to Lili Kolisko’s work “we are working not just in the presence of an exclusion from the public consciousness but also in the presence of an exclusion of the interest from the Anthroposophical Society.”

One gets a heightened appreciation for Lili Kolisko’s work when one keeps in mind that Rudolf Steiner asked her to give a full lecture about her research during the Christmas Foundation meeting. On the same day he gave as the “rhythm of the day” the verse:

This the Elemental Spirits hear

In the East, West, North, and South

May Human Beings hear it.

Rudolf Steiner had intended to direct a renewed appeal to the members of the Anthroposophic Society for financial support of the Kolisko research. With his death in 1925 this appeal never materialized.

The physicians

From left: Mark Kamsler, MD, Ross Rentea, MD, Andrea Rentea, MD

Drs. Ross Rentea and Andrea Rentea write: “Our family practice clinic in Chicago (Paulina Medical Clinic [www.paulinamedicalclinic.com]), emphasizing integrative, holistic, homeopathic and natural medicine, opened in 1983. Now more than 30 years later we look back with satisfaction on having helped thousands of patients with their health needs. Throughout we have used the gentlest, most holistic and natural medicine approaches that were possible for the treatment of both acute and chronic illnesses, for both adults and children. Our goal is maintaining or recovering your optimal physical health so that you can continue a fulfilled moral and spiritual life that helps others around you.

Dr. Andrea Rentea graduated from the prestigious Chicago Medical School (now the Rosalind Franklin University), in 1975, and after her residency in Chicago she spent four years at various European clinics studying anthroposophic/complementary medicine. She specializes in women’s concerns and children’s problems, both physical and emotional. Outside her practice her additional activities include consulting to various Waldorf Schools on the medical needs and handling of difficult children.

Dr. Ross Rentea graduated from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine and after his residency in NYC he also spent four years at various European clinics studying anthroposophic/complementary medicine. He has published numerous articles in peer reviewed medical journals (such as basic science studies on the effect of mistletoe extracts on the successful therapy of cancer) and holds a patent for a medical device.

Dr. Mark Kamsler provides pediatric medical care to all ages of children/young adults and also provides consultative care for adult patients looking for a more holistic input. He received his MD from the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor and completed a residency in Pediatrics at CS Mott Children’s Hospital there. He has had a general practice in the Milwaukee area since 1995. He has worked extensively as a consulting pediatrician to several Waldorf Schools and has spoken to groups ranging from Birthing Centers and La Leche League to Grand Rounds at several hospitals.

Alongside their practices all three physicians are very active in public education, in lectures, conferences, and webinars. But their commitment has not ended there.

True Botanica

“Following a long standing interest in researching ways for creating new quality natural remedies, appropriate to the spiritual and physical needs of the contemporary individuals, three physicians founded True Botanica in 2004: Dr. Mark Kamsler, Dr. Andrea Rentea and Dr. Ross Rentea. The GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) compliant main facility is located in Hartland, Wisconsin,” west of Milwaukee and about two hours from Chicago. The company goal is “to create the most safe and effective full spectrum products possible that work harmoniously on body, mind and spirit. The formulas are designed by uniting the best that nature has to offer with the latest emerging modern nutritional technology.” The company is now offering “‘validated’ homeopathic/ anthroposophic remedies—a worldwide first.”

“Essential processes that constitute the core of our products are done by hand, in a quiet environment conducive to an inner sense of responsibility, reverence and gratitude to the natural substances used in the making of the healing products. All products are made in the morning, under conditions when we can be reasonably assured that only a positive energy will accompany the production process. (For example no manufacturing takes place during storms, etc.) The ingredients for our formulas are carefully sourced from non GMO, biodynamic and organic materials. The formulas are designed by keeping in mind the best of insights given by the scientist Rudolf Steiner and the latest in modern nutritional technology. Some features we are particularly proud of are:

A threefold design to our products that makes them particularly effective on all three levels of body, mind and spirit.

A proprietary method for a more efficient extraction of herbal materials, resulting in a non-alcoholic tincture.

Creating full spectrum formulas where the natural salts and minerals of the medicinal herbs are included.

New blends of entirely natural fragrances, valuable for the cosmetic line and aromatherapy, such as a blend of rhododendron and other steam distilled essential oils. These are currently used in our face moisturizer, cleanser cream, bath oils, salt body scrubs and health creams.

Rhythmically preparing substances in order to achieve new qualities in the substances. Additionally, a final mixing is accomplished with the Swiss bioengineering Inversina™ mixer.”

The Lili Kolisko Institute

Work with the True Botanica company led to the three physicians also co-founding the Lili Kolisko Institute which conducts education, research and social activities in the anthroposophic health care field. A laboratory is being built to conduct continuing research into the demonstration of the validity of anthroposophic/homeopathic remedies. The doctors wrote friends and donors last fall:

"As we all would agree, introducing others to Rudolf Steiner’s work is a quintessential first step, and continuing to “spread the word” is of course crucial, but eventually the newcomers ask: “And what have you done with all the material you are so excited about?” Then comes the tough part, showing for example applications in clinical practice... and those in turn are based on previously done research and insights thus gained. Among many activities perhaps nothing is more financially demanding, and dependent on altruistic trust, than laboratory work. But the future benefits are enormous. The question everybody could ask themselves is: How many cents a day am I willing to sacrifice for the support of ongoing research? We believe that this work touches all of us, irrespective of our specific situation. This year we celebrate four years of research at the Lili Kolisko Institute. But the economy and materialistic feelings of our time are such that our financial situation is not rosy. We have had to let co-workers go. We have had to cut down on the number of projects, etc. Still, we trust in the future support of our community. The Lili Kolisko Institute is the former True Botanica Foundation. The nonprofit 501(c)3 organization was renamed to more clearly show its independence from the True Botanica company. Its research results are available to all interested parties, and donations made to the Institute are tax deductible. The True Botanica company whole heartedly continues to support the Institute, but it cannot cover all the costs by itself. To keep the research work and educational programs going we are dependent, more than ever, on donations from the enlightened community who understands and values this medical-biological work."

"The research results are not theoretical. The results of this work have already been quite tangible. Over 180 new remedies have resulted to date from these experiments. Hundreds of people, lay and professional, have been introduced to the ideas and benefits of anthroposophic medicine. For the future, among others, we hope that with your help more data will be forthcoming showing the importance and reality of spiritual rhythms and forces."

Examples of the research

The Kolisko Institute website highlights the following areas of current research:

Boswellia (frankincense) experiments; bioavailability of two commercially available brands compared.

Chromatography experiments: Boswellia, Lightroot™ (the yam Dioscorea batatas), Hyssop. “Chromatography, such as in the method demonstrated here, is a means by which one can begin to visualize the life forces (the etheric forces) that underlie either natural substances like plant extracts, minerals, etc., or that can (or should be) found in finished products.”

Germination experiments. “Experimental behavior of more than 100 substances to date have been analyzed by the germination method in order to find out which potencies are the more active for each specific substance.”

The Kolisko Validation™ Method: improving quality control of homeopathically potentized OTC drugs.

A substantial paper by Ross Rentea MD and Mark Kamsler MD discusses this last area, “a standardized biological test which allows validation, i.e. verification of effective activity, of homeopathically potentized substances. ... From a certain point forward this stepwise process of dilution and agitation [potentization] results in a product that has purportedly no molecules of the original substance left—and yet it is supposed to have a therapeutic effect. It is this characteristic that causes the scientific community to call homeopathic remedies ‘implausible’ and doubt their effectiveness.

“To our knowledge this is the first time that such an objective, statistically analyzable ‘potency validation’ test is included in the quality control process of manufacturing of homeopathic/anthroposophic products. This could constitute an additional step in assuring the consumer that the product containing an ultra-high dilution is not ‘just water or just sugar pills.’ Additionally, the test allows a more objective interpretation of the potencies of each substance … [and] it is hoped that ultimately the resulting potency-validated homeopathic/anthroposophic medications will emerge as clinically more effective.”

So, how can it be established that an effect is present in the result? And how can the commonly used potencies be evaluated to show whether they are in fact the most suitable? “The answer was given by Rudolf Steiner already in the 1920s. In a reply to a question from his student Lily Kolisko about a method for finding the most appropriate potency of a substance that was to be given as a remedy against hoof and mouth disease in cows he suggested to her: Let wheat seeds germinate under the influence of a series of potencies of that substance. The response of the seeds to the various potencies will result in an overall curve showing the ‘vitalizing process,’ or lack of it, created by specific potencies on the seedlings. This, he added, would not only be valid for the plant but also for the animal organism. He further characterized the resulting curves in a lecture (3.31.1920):

“‘(In the series of potencies …) you will reach a Null point. Beyond that the opposite effects (of the test substance in the first zone) appear. But this is not all; the further path leads to another Null point for these opposite effects. Passing the second Null, you will come to a higher form of efficiency, tending in the same direction as the first sequence but of quite a different nature. It would be valuable and appropriate to plot out the different effects of potencies in curves of this special manner.’

“According to Steiner the curve for the first two zones can be seen on the paper but an accurate representation of the third zone would need to show the curve coming out of the plane of the paper at ninety degrees.

“Based on these insights Kolisko proceeded to do the work that led to germination curves of potencies. She pursued this project essentially lifelong! She let wheat seeds germinate for a number of days in separate containers watering them with either water as control or with increasing potencies of a particular substance. (In general 1x to 60x; many experiments however to 600x!) Above are samples of findings from one of her early experiments. (Here, potencies D17 and D18: no response; D19 and D20: big response; D21 again low, and so on.)

A stage in the ‘Kolisko Validation’ testing.

“The value of Lili Kolisko’s work consists in demonstrating for the first time that sequential potencies increase and decrease in effectiveness in a rhythmical, semi-sinusoidal manner. When at a later time several of her germination potency curves were looked at cumulatively, the semi sinusoidal pattern emerged even more clearly. Kolisko herself believed that every substance has its own completely characteristic ‘signature’ curve and that it would be of extreme importance for every doctor to know the curve of every remedy as naturally as they would know the appearance and signature of every plant and mineral. To increase accuracy she would have welcomed, she said, a cumulating of several experiments of the same substance with the same potencies.

“Today the plant germination technique is generally accepted among credible researchers (Baumgartner et al.; Bellavite et al.; Betti L et al.; Bonamin; Fisher; Husemann, 1992; Scherr et al.) as a solidly recognized model for the study of potentizing processes. However, to the present, as far as we know, none of the in vitro plant models—or similar—have been used in the sense desired by Kolisko, and pursued by us, as a practical tool for quality control in the manufacturing process of ultra-high diluted (potentized) medicines. … We have developed a new relatively simple (albeit very labor intensive) protocol for a germination based model that we use to accomplish the stated purpose of demonstrating that the final potency going into a final OTC homeopathic/anthroposophic remedy is indeed active and can influence a biological system. To overcome the above stated weakness in the Kolisko experiments our method uses a statistical validation. …” In brief, the various potencies are tested against control samples. The variation from the control is evaluated statistically to obtain a degree of confidence that the preparation has an effect that goes significantly beyond the “mere” water control.

“The Helleborus graph (above, the control on the left, the 29th potency on the right) clearly demonstrates the significance of this anthroposophic research. Helleborus is a toxic plant that Rudolf Steiner indicated, for the first time, would be beneficial in inhibiting tumor growth. The final potentized product thus should show an inhibiting influence on the growth of the wheat seeds. (We have ample evidence to show that other substances have a stimulating influence on the growth of the seeds.) Indeed, we were able to show that the 29th potency has such an inhibiting effect. We call this ‘proving’ of the effectiveness of the specific potency a ‘Kolisko Validation.’

“Beyond the obvious importance of going a long way toward increasing confidence in the product itself this method is an indisputable contribution of anthroposophic medicine/research to a ‘real world’ medical quandary.”

At www.koliskoinstitute.org a full paper describing the above processes in detail is linked under “Research.”

Conclusion

Three dedicated physicians found anthroposophic methods effective in their work with patients. Together with a team of dedicated co-workers they went on to create new and assured-quality medications, and now to resume and expand a line of testing and validation originated by Rudolf Steiner and carried selflessly for decades by Lili Kolisko, all while engaging in efforts to educate the public on anthroposophic medicine. They see their efforts in the direction of Steiner’s wish that anthroposophy would make original, true contributions to solving the world’s needs. The question remains, will this core work find friends near and far with the will to sustain it.

John Beck is editor of being human and communications director for the Anthroposophical Society in America.