Whar is Natutopathic Medicine?
Naturopathy or "Nature Cure" is more than a system of health care: it is both a way of life and a concept of healing, employing various natural means of treating symptoms and the root causes of symptoms.
Naturopathic Medicine is holistic care. It connects the physical, mental and emotional aspects of the body to find the root cause of disease and its symptoms and treat them using natural and safe methods such as botanical / herbal medicine, acupuncture, homeopathy, dietary and lifestyle modifications, vitamin / mineral supplements among others tools.
Naturopathic medicine is "vitalistic" in approach. Symptoms represent a constructive phenomenon that is the best response the organism can muster, given the circumstances. The role of the naturopathic physician then is to understand and aid the body’s efforts to heal from within. Click here to see a list of conditions that naturopathic medicine can be very effective in treating.
As Sir Lust puts it:
Naturopathy stands for the reconciling, harmonizing, and unifying of nature, humanity and god. Fundamentally therapeutic because men need healing, elementally educational because men need teaching. Ultimately inspirational because men need empowering, it encompasses the realm of human progress and destiny
HISTORY OF NATUROPATHIC MEDICINE
Naturopathy is a hybrid word, and was first coined in 1895 by Dr. John Scheel of New York city, to describe his method of health care
The term began with the teachings and the concepts of Sir Benedict Lust (mostly hydrotherapy and nature cure traditions)
1900 - 1917 - convergence of American dietetic, hygienic, physical culture, spinal manipulation, mental and emotional healing and homeopathic systems
1918 - 1937 - Great public interest and support, philosophical basis and scope of therapies encompass botanical, homeopathic and environmental medicine
1938 - 1970 - Suppression and decline due to the growth of political and social dominance of allopathic medicine, combined with the infatuation with technology and miracle drugs, and surgical procedures
1971 - present - Naturopathic medicine reemerges due to growing awareness of health promotion, prevention of disease and concern for the environment
PRINCIPLES OF NATUROPATHIC MEDICINE
Primum non nocere - DO NOT HARM, effective health care with the least risk for all patients; naturopathic physicians prefer non invasive treatments that minimize the risks of harmful side effects
Vis medicatrix naturae - HEALING POWER OF NATURE, respect and promote self-healing; nature acts powerfully through the healing mechanisms in the body and mind to maintain and restore health. Naturopathic physicians work to restore and support these inherent healing systems when they have broken down, by using methods, medicines, and techniques that are in harmony with the natural processes
Tolle causum - TREAT THE CAUSE, identify and remove causes, avoid suppression of symptoms. Every illness has an underlying cause, often in aspects of lifestyles, diet or habits of the individual
Docere - DOCTOR AS TEACHER, educates the patients, inspire rational hope, and encourage self-responsibility. A principle objective of naturopathic medicine is to educate the patient and emphasize self-responsibility of health. The physician also recognizes and employs the therapeutic potential of the doctor-patient relationship
Treat the whole person - each person is unique with his or her own factors affecting their health. Health or disease comes from a complex interaction of physical, emotional, dietary, genetic, environmental, lifestyle and other factors. Naturopathic physicians TREAT THE WHOLE PERSON, taking these factors into account.
Health promotion is best prevention - well being includes health individually, in the community and globally
