Klaus Linde

Klaus Linde (born 1960 in Munich) is a German physician and alternative medicine researcher. He works at the Centre for Complementary Medicine Research at the Technical University of Munich in Germany.

Klaus Linde
Born1960 (age 60–61)
Munich, Germany
NationalityGerman
Alma materLudwig Maximilian University of Munich, Humboldt University of Berlin
Scientific career
FieldsAlternative medicine
InstitutionsTechnical University of Munich
ThesisSystematische Übersichtsarbeiten und Meta-Analysen : Anwendungsbeispiele und empirisch-methodische Untersuchungen (2002)

Education and career

Linde received his MD from Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich in 1990 and his PhD in epidemiology from the Humboldt University of Berlin in 2002. Since 1998 he has been the deputy director of the Centre for Complementary Medicine Research at the Technical University of Munich.[1]

Research

He is known for his research into the effectiveness of St. John's wort, which has found that it is as effective as Prozac for treating major depression,[2][3][4] and that German trials of the herb tend to be more positive than do trials from other countries.[5]

He is also known for his studies of the effectiveness of acupuncture.[6][7][8] A 2005 study by Linde, for example, found that real acupuncture was no more effective in the treatment of migraines than sham acupuncture,[8] but that both were more effective than no treatment.[9][10] He has also authored multiple Cochrane reviews on the effectiveness of acupuncture with similar conclusions.[11]

He has also published several papers about the effectiveness of homeopathy. These include a well-known 1997 meta-analysis which found an odds ratio of 2.45 in favor of homeopathy over placebo. However, this review also concluded that there was insufficient evidence that homeopathy was clearly effective for any single condition.[12][13] A subsequent study by Linde et al. re-examined the data from his 1997 meta-analysis and found that higher quality trials of homeopathy tended to find that homeopathy was ineffective.[14][13]

References
  1. MacPherson, Hugh (2007). Acupuncture Research: Strategies for Establishing an Evidence Base. Elsevier. pp. viii.
  2. Linde K, Berner MM, Kriston L (2008). "St John's wort for major depression". Cochrane Database Syst Rev (4): CD000448. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD000448.pub3. PMC 7032678. PMID 18843608.
  3. Bee, Peta (9 October 2008). "How effective is St John's Wort?". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  4. Garvan, Sinead (8 October 2008). "Taking herb 'helps depression'". BBC. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  5. Schlief, Michelle (8 October 2008). "Herbal Remedy Works for Depression — but Only in Germany". ABC News. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
  6. Sample, Ian (20 January 2009). "Even 'fake' acupuncture reduces the severity of headaches and migraines". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  7. Devlin, Kate (21 January 2009). "Real and fake acupuncture 'can effectively relieve the pain of headaches'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  8. Singer, Emily (9 May 2005). "A twist in acupuncture's effects on migraines". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  9. Linde K, Streng A, Jürgens S, Hoppe A, Brinkhaus B, Witt C, Wagenpfeil S, Pfaffenrath V, Hammes MG, Weidenhammer W, Willich SN, Melchart D (2005). "Acupuncture for patients with migraine: a randomized controlled trial". JAMA. 293 (17): 2118–25. doi:10.1001/jama.293.17.2118. PMID 15870415.
  10. "Fake acupuncture 'aids migraines'". BBC. 3 May 2005. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
  11. Belluz, Julia (26 September 2011). "Is alternative medicine effective?". Maclean's. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  12. Linde K, Clausius N, Ramirez G, Melchart D, Eitel F, Hedges LV, Jonas WB (1997). "Are the clinical effects of homeopathy placebo effects? A meta-analysis of placebo-controlled trials". Lancet. 350 (9081): 834–43. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(97)02293-9. PMID 9310601. S2CID 42197209.
  13. O'Mathuna, Donal (2010). Alternative Medicine. Zondervan. p. 276. ISBN 9780310861003.
  14. Linde K, Scholz M, Ramirez G, Clausius N, Melchart D, Jonas WB (1999). "Impact of study quality on outcome in placebo-controlled trials of homeopathy". J Clin Epidemiol. 52 (7): 631–6. doi:10.1016/s0895-4356(99)00048-7. PMID 10391656.
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