Naturopathic Medicines

Naturopathic medicine treats health conditions by utilizing the body's inherent ability to heal and regain balance. Naturopathic physicians aid the healing process by incorporating a variety of alternative methods based on the patient's individual needs.   It's really that simple.

Diet, lifestyle, work, and personal history are all considered when determining a treatment regimen.

As you've surely noticed, the Way Of Shortcuts To Win is all about the natural approach.

Naturopathy is the fastest-growing segment of health... and clearly for good reason:     technology married to the most effective healing techniques of some fifty-five centuries consistently delivers better results than conventional medicine.   Consistently.   Even skeptics have to heed empirical success.

• The healing power of nature: The body has considerable power to heal itself, and the role of the naturopathic physician is to facilitate this natural process with the aid of natural, non-toxic therapies.
  
  
• Treat the causes rather than the effect: Naturopathic physicians seek the underlying cause of a disease rather than simply suppressing the symptoms.  They avoid suppression of the natural healing wisdom of the body, such as fever and inflammation.  Symptoms are viewed as expressions of the body's natural attempt to heal while the causes can spring from the physical, mental/emotional, and spiritual levels.

• First, do not harm: By employing safe and effective natural therapies, naturopathic physicians are committed to the principle of causing no harm to the patient.
  
  
• Treat the whole person: The individual is viewed as a whole, composed of a complex interaction of physical, mental/emotional, spiritual, social, and other factors.  This multifunctional approach results in a therapeutic approach in which no disease is automatically seen as incurable.
  
  
• The physician is a teacher: Naturopathic physicians are first and foremost teachers who educate, empower, and motivate the patient to assume more personal responsibility for his or her health by adopting a healthy attitude, lifestyle, and diet.
  
  
• Prevention is the best cure: Naturopathic physicians are preventative medicine specialists.  Prevention of disease is accomplished through education and a lifestyle that supports health.

In the naturopathic system of medicine, disease is seen as a manifestation of the natural causes by which the body heals itself.  For example, fever and inflammation are viewed as the body's way of dealing with an imbalance that is undermining the healthy functioning of the body.  However, if the cause of the imbalance is not removed, the inflammatory responses will continue, either at a lower level of intensity or intermittently.  This can be the origin of chronic disease.  Healing a chronic disease requires the removal of the underlying cause.  This usually culminates in a return of an acute episode, called a "healing crises" or "reaction," a keynote of naturopathic medical theory.  Following this the condition improves.

Although naturopathic physicians emphasize therapeutic choices based on individual interest and experience, as well as the legal parameters of the state in which he or she practices, they maintain a consistent philosophy.  All have been trained in the basic tools of natural therapeutics, and most work with diet and nutrition while specializing in one or more other therapeutic methods.

After identifying which conditions in the patient manifest in illness, the naturopathic physician advises the patient on the methods most appropriate for creating a return to health.  In order to become free of illness, it is often necessary for the patient to make both dietary and lifestyle changes.  Homeopathy or acupuncture are often used to stimulate recovery.  Herbal medicines may be used as tonics and nutritive agents to support and strengthen weakened systems, while specific nutritional agents such as vitamin and mineral supplements and glandular tissue extracts might also be utilized.  Hydrotherapy and various types of physical therapy may be required.  Additionally, it is important that major emotional stresses be eased to allow the digestive system to function in the relaxed environment required for proper digestion.

Finally, underlying many illnesses is a spiritual disharmony.  This may be experienced as a feeling of deep unease or insufficient strength of will necessary to sustain the healing process.  For lasting good health to be established, this disharmony must be overcome.  Naturopathic physicians can play an important role in guiding patients to discover the course of action most appropriate.

• Homeopathy: The term homeopathy is derived from the Greek word, homoios, meaning "similar," and pathos, meaning "suffering."  Homeopathy is a system of medicine that treats a disease with dilute, potentized remedies that will produce the same symptoms as the disease when given to a healthy individual.  The fundamental principle operating here is that like cures like.  Homeopathic medicines are derived from a variety of plant, mineral, and chemical substances.
  
  
• Acupuncture: Acupuncture is an ancient Chinese system of medicine involving the stimulation of certain specific points on the body to enhance the flow of vital life energy qi along pathways called meridians.  Acupuncture points are stimulated by the insertion and withdrawal of needles, the application of heat (moxibustion), acupressure (deep finger pressure), lasers, electrical means, or a combustion of these methods.
  
  
• Hydrotherapy: Hydrotherapy uses water in all its temperatures (hot, cold), forms (ice, steam), and methods of application (sitz baths, douches, spas, whirlpools, saunas, showers, immersion baths, packs, poultices, foot baths, fomentations, wraps, colonic irrigations), in the maintenance of health or treatment of disease.  It is one of the most ancient methods of treatment.  Hydrotherapy has been used to treat disease and injury by many different cultures, including the Egyptians, Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, Hebrews, Hindus, Chinese, and Native Americans.
  
  
• Physical medicine: Physical medicine refers to the use of physical measures in the treatment of disease.  These include: therapeutic exercise, massage, joint mobilization (manipulation) and immobilization techniques, and hydrotherapy.  Physical medicine also includes physiotherapy equipment such as ultrasound (high frequency sound waves that act as a micro-massage to tissues, stimulating or restoring function or blood circulation), diathermy (high frequency currents used to generate heat within the body), electric currents used in the body to stimulate function or relieve pain, and light therapy (applications of light that are used to stimulate heating responses in the body, such as endocrine function or increased circulation).
  
  
• Counseling and lifestyle modification: Counseling and lifestyle modification techniques are essential to naturopathic medicine.  A naturopathic physician is formally trained in the following counseling areas: 1) Interviewing and responding skills, active listening, body language assessment, and other contact skills necessary for the therapeutic relationship; 2) Recognition and understanding of prevalent psychological issues including developmental problems, sexual dysfunction, abnormal behavior, addictions, and stress; 3) Various treatment measures including hypnosis and guided imagery, counseling techniques, correction of underlying organic factors, and family therapy.

The Future of Naturopathic Medicine

"To the uninformed, naturopathic medicine, as well as the entire concept of natural medicine, appears to be a fad that will soon pass away," says Michael Murray, N.D., of Seattle, Washington.  "To the informed, however, it is quite clear that naturopathic medicine is at the forefront of the future."

One of the great fallacies promoted by the United States medical establishment is that there is not firm scientific evidence for the use of many natural therapies.  "This assumption is simply not true," according to Dr. Murray.  "In fact, during the last ten or twenty years there has been a literal explosion of information in the scientific literature supporting the use of natural medicine."

Today, science and medicine have the technology and understanding necessary to appreciate many aspects of natural medicine.  It is becoming increasingly common for medical organizations which in the past have spoken out strongly against naturopathic medicine to embrace it, endorsing naturopathic techniques such as lifestyle modification, stress reduction, exercise, and a high-fiber diet.

"This illustrates the paradigm shift that is occurring in medicine," says Dr. Murray.  "What was once scoffed at is now becoming generally accepted as an effective alternative.  In fact, in most instances the naturopathic alternative offers significant benefit over standard medical practices.  Undoubtedly in the future many of the concepts, philosophies, and practices of naturopathy will be vindicated.  Certainly the future looks very bright for naturopathic medicine."