Rome, Italy, 23–24 April 2019
Theme of the Congress:
Exploring new horizons in traditional and alternative medicine

The main goal of the event was to meet existing challenges for creating a safe, sustainable, and affordable medical health system by consolidating the underlying research platforms for alternative medicine.

Lothar Pirc spoke about the possibilities offered by Ayurveda. He gave the assembled experts an overview of how Ayurveda has gained ground in Germany, presented selected scientific studies, and gave his perspective on the importance of Ayurveda for the future.

In particular, Lothar Pirc highlighted the recent study by Christian Kessler, M.D., on Ayurvedic therapy for knee osteoarthritis. The investigations were carried out as part of a research project of the Charité, Berlin (published 29 May 2018)

Apart from Christian Kessler, other persons participating in the study were: Kartar Dhiman, Abhimanyu Kumar, Thomas Ostermann, Shivenarain Gupta, Antonio Morandi, Martin Mittwede, Elmar Stapelfeldt, Michaela Spoo, Katja Icke, Andreas Michalsen and Claudia Witt.

Ayurvedic therapy provides lasting relief in osteoarthritis of the knee

After having been in the works for nine years, the research study “Effectiveness of an Ayurveda treatment approach in knee osteoarthritis – a randomized controlled trial” was published in the internationally renowned medical journal “Osteoarthritis and Cartilage.” Conducted by the research team of the Charité Outpatient Clinic for Naturopathy at the Immanuel Hospital Berlin, the study reports impressive results: the holistic Ayurvedic treatment was measured to be twice as effective when compared to a conventional therapy; pain relief persisted at least twelve months after the end of therapy.

A compact presentation on the study (PDF download)

Full text of the article in “Osteoarthritis and Cartilage”