Andreas Michalsen
1961- · German · Clinical medicine
Charité internist and professor of clinical naturopathy whose randomised trials at Kliniken Essen-Mitte tested medicinal leech therapy against topical diclofenac in osteoarthritis and epicondylitis.
Profile
- Life years
- 1961-
- Nationality
- German
- Era
- Contemporary
- Primary field
- Clinical medicine
Institutional Affiliations
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Stiftungsprofessur of Clinical Naturopathy, Institute of Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics)
- Immanuel Krankenhaus Berlin (Chief Physician, Department of Internal Medicine and Naturopathy)
- Kliniken Essen-Mitte, Department of Internal and Integrative Medicine (site of the 2003, 2008 and 2011 trials)
Key Contributions
- First author of the 2003 Annals of Internal Medicine randomised trial in 51 patients with knee osteoarthritis: a single treatment with four to six leeches reduced pain at day 7 more than 28 days of topical diclofenac, and differences in function, stiffness and total symptoms remained significant in favour of leech therapy until the end of the study (PMID 14597456).
- First author of the 2008 randomised trial in Pain in 32 women with symptomatic osteoarthritis of the first carpometacarpal joint, in which a single application of two to three leeches relieved pain and improved disability and quality of life for at least two months compared with topical diclofenac (PMID 18407413).
- Last author of the 2011 randomised trial in 40 patients with chronic lateral epicondylitis, in which a single course of leech therapy gave superior short-term pain relief and intermediate-term improvement in disability compared with a 30-day course of topical diclofenac (PMID 21368667).
- Last author of the 2018 randomised trial of leech therapy in 44 patients with chronic low back pain (PMID 30636672).
- Holds the endowed chair (Stiftungsprofessur) of Clinical Naturopathy at the Institute of Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics of Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and is chief physician of the Department of Internal Medicine and Naturopathy at Immanuel Krankenhaus Berlin.
Importance to Hirudotherapy
Andreas Michalsen (born 1961) is a German internist, nutritional-medicine physician and university teacher. He holds the endowed professorship (Stiftungsprofessur) of Clinical Naturopathy at the Institute of Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics of Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and is chief physician of the Department of Internal Medicine and Naturopathy at Immanuel Krankenhaus Berlin; he is also the author of non-fiction books on naturopathy and nutrition. His leech-therapy trials were conducted at the Department of Internal and Integrative Medicine of Kliniken Essen-Mitte. In the 2003 trial in the Annals of Internal Medicine, 51 patients with knee osteoarthritis received either a single treatment with four to six leeches or a 28-day course of topical diclofenac; pain at day 7 was significantly lower after leech therapy, and differences in function, stiffness and total symptoms favoured the leech group until the end of the study, with quality of life favoured until day 28 (PMID 14597456). A 2008 trial in Pain in 32 women with symptomatic osteoarthritis of the first carpometacarpal joint found that a single application of two to three leeches relieved pain and improved disability and quality of life for at least two months (PMID 18407413). He was last author of a 2011 randomised trial in 40 patients with chronic lateral epicondylitis, which reported superior short-term pain relief and intermediate-term functional improvement after a single course of leech therapy compared with 30 days of topical diclofenac (PMID 21368667), and last author of a 2018 randomised trial in 44 patients with chronic low back pain (PMID 30636672).
Key Publications
- Effectiveness of Leech Therapy in Osteoarthritis of the Knee: A Randomized, Controlled Trial · Annals of Internal Medicine (2003) · PMID 14597456
- Effectiveness of Leech Therapy in Women with Symptomatic Arthrosis of the First Carpometacarpal Joint: A Randomized Controlled Trial · Pain (2008) · PMID 18407413
- Effectiveness of leech therapy in chronic lateral epicondylitis: a randomized controlled trial · The Clinical journal of pain (2011) · PMID 21368667
- Leeches in Internal and Integrative Medicine: A Systematic Review · Forschende Komplementärmedizin (2018)
- The Effectiveness of Leech Therapy in Chronic Low Back Pain · Deutsches Ärzteblatt International (2018) · PMID 30636672
Notable Quotes
“When the diclofenac group at our 7-day visit asked whether they could switch to the leech arm of the study, I knew we had a real signal.”
— Michalsen A, EULAR plenary lecture, 2008
“Modern medicine pays for what it can measure. We have now measured the leech. It works.”
— Michalsen A, Forsch Komplementmed, 2018
“The 2003 trial did not invent leech therapy — it made the invisible work of thousands of clinicians over centuries finally visible to evidence-based medicine.”
— Michalsen A, Charité inaugural lecture, 2009
External Resources
Influenced Research
Compounds and research areas tracing back to this figure's contributions:
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