12 October | Online event: Integrative Medicine and Health in Pain Management Leading experts will answer questions about Integrative Medicine and Health in Pain Management

On Tuesday 12 October 2021 16.00-18.00 CET, the MEP Interest Group on Integrative Medicine and Health hosted an event with leading experts in the field of Integrative Medicine and Health in Pain Management an event where expert speakers share their knowledge and insights.

20% of the adult population in the EU suffers from chronic pain

In Europe alone, almost one in five individuals, - that’s 150 million people, report having moderate or severe chronic pain. Chronic pain, lasting longer than 3–6 months, can be a debilitating condition with a significant socioeconomic impact.

Pharmacologic approaches are often used for alleviating chronic pain.

Concerns about addiction to opioids

Concerns about tolerance and addiction have led to a reluctance to prescribe opioids for chronic non-cancer pain. As a result, there has been increased interest in integrative medicine strategies to help manage pain and reduce reliance on prescription opioids. Integrative Medicine and Health offer a multimodality treatment approach that can tackle the multidimensional nature of pain without these tolerance and addiction issues.

Approximately 33% of adults and 12% of children in the US have used Integrative Medicine in chronic pain.  Integrative Medicine is a leading approach for chronic pain.

Direct link to the event on YouTube

Integrative Medicine and Health in Pain Management

This event will give you in-depth information about:

  • Needs and challenges of people living with chronic pain
  • Pain management by:
    • Acupuncture 
    • Mind-body medicine 
    • Manipulative and body-based methods 
    • Plant-based nutrition 

Agenda of the online event on Pain Management

Moderator Tilly Metz MEP

  1. Welcome words MEP Tilly Metz
  2. A recent survey among people living with chronic pain – diagnostics and treatment. Deirdre Ryan
  3.  Introduction to Integrative pain management – conclusions from 20 years’ experience and science. Where we are and where to go. Followed by: Acupuncture and pain management. Dominik Irnich, D, PhD. Professor of medicine
  4.  Mind-body medicine in pain management. Holger Cramer, MSc, PhD, DSc (hc)
  5. Manual therapy and body-based methods in pain management. Dawn Carnes, PhD
  6. Naturopathy, including (intermittent) fasting, plant-based nutrition in pain management. Andreas Michalsen, MD PhD. Professor of clinical naturopathy
  7. Reactions by members of the MEP Interest Group 
  8. Reaction from the European Commission
  9. Q&A session ZOOM and YouTube
  10. Conclusions by MEP Tilly Metz

Key speakers Integrative Medicine and Health in Pain Management

Deirdre Ryan, President of the Pain Alliance Europe, chairperson of Chronic Pain Ireland.

Dominik Irnich, Professor of medicine at Ludwig-Maximilians University, Department of Anesthesiology, Head of the Multidisciplinary Pain Center, Munich, Germany, President of the German Medical Acupuncture Association (DÄGfA e.V.).

Holger Cramer, Research Director at Department of Internal and Integrative Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Duisburg-Essen, Evang. Kliniken Essen-Mitte, Essen, Germany; Adjunct Associate Professor at Southern Cross University, National Centre for Naturopathic Medicine, Lismore, Australia.

Dawn Carnes, PhD. Professorial Research Fellow University College of Osteopathy United Kingdom, Director of the National Council for Osteopathic Research, Queen Mary University of London United Kingdom

Andreas Michalsen, Professor of Clinical Naturopathy, Institute of Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics, Charité University, Berlin, Germany; Chief Physician, University Outpatient Department for Naturopathy at the Immanuel Hospital Berlin -Wannsee.

The Pain Alliance Europe 

Pain Alliance Europe (PAE) is a non-profit organisation based in Belgium, functioning as an umbrella organisation of 40 national and regional associations in 17 European countries, concerned with chronic pain, regardless of the underlying condition. For PAE, quality of life for a chronic pain patient means giving the patient the right to choose the best possible solutions and support to live his life according to his possibilities and wishes. The PAE aims to promote awareness for chronic pain, promote a European policy on chronic pain, and reduce the impact of chronic pain on European society in all areas.

After registration, you can follow the event live on our YouTube channel EUROCAM_Network.

MEP Interest Group on Integrative Medicine and Health

The Interest Group promotes Integrative Medicine and Health in all European Parliament public health policies. Integrative Medicine and Health bring conventional biomedicine and complementary medicine together in a coordinated way, focuses on the whole person and considers the individual in their physical, psychological, spiritual, social and environmental context. It offers an inclusive approach that meets the demand of EU citizens for a holistic, patient-centred approach in medicine.

The event is hosted by the members of the MEP Interest Group on Integrative Medicine & Health:

Michèle Rivasi, Greens/EFA, France

Sirpa Pietikäinen, EPP, Finland

Tilly Metz, Greens/EFA, Luxembourg

Eleonora Evi, Greens/EFA, Italy

Margrete Auken, Greens/EFA, Denmark

 

More about the MEP Interest Group on Integrative Medicine & Health can be read here.