Health in Germany: Interview with Dr. Alexander Springer, II
© Colleen Thomas Ryor
COLLEEN THOMAS: In terms of everyday approaches to health, how do Germans and Americans differ? For example: Germans are very fond of their spas and view them to have a healing effect.
HERR DR. ALEXANDER SPRINGER: What are spas?
CT: Baden.
AS: Okay.
CT: Kur, oder?
AS: Oh, yes.
CT: This is not common in America. Could you talk about the spas a little bit?
AS: In former times it was very popular to go on spas. Kings and emperors went on spa every year in summer, preferably the same location every year. Kaiser Wilhelm II went on spa and last but not least, the Chancellor Helmut Kohl is going to Austria every summer to lose some pounds. Spa cities were rich and exclusive, some were in the Alps and some were at the coast. Artists and musicians grew there. Some were famous for the salty air; some were famous for other things.
CT: Very interesting.
AS: Thomas Mann's Der Zauberberg (The Magic Mountain) is about a spa in the Swiss Alps just prior to the First World War. Today spas are localized in the field of rehabilitative medicine to accelerate one's rehabilitation and return to work mostly after cardiac disease--after heart attack, vertebral disease, or psychological disease.
CT: Is there any evidence that these spas are effective in treating disease and ailments?
AS: Nationl economics profit from spa: Spa is cheaper than [going to the] hospital. Recovery under professional help (physician, movement therapists, diet assistance) is faster and more effective.
CT: Are trips to health spas covered by health insurance in Germany, or are they a privilege for the rich?
AS: Not every health care insurance covers everything. There must be an expert opinion by a physician. Especially in the last [few] years during the reforms of the German health care system: Nearly 50% of the spa houses were shut down.
CT: Let's talk a little bit about common folk remedies. This homeopathic approach (Naturheilkunde) is very popular in Germany. It has also caught on like wildfire in North America and Britain, where it is almost fashionable at the moment. As a German, how do you react to this?
AS: Although it is not popular in the so-called Schulmedizin (academic medicine), my personal opinion on this matter is hard for me to say in English: It is not scientific to say Naturheilkunde and homeopathy, phytotherapy or even more "alternative" therapies do not work, just because we do not have proofs or do not know the exact biochemical way how they work. Did you get it? What we really need are standards for the "alternative medicine" to protect the patients from being ripped off by charlatans.
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