What is Naturopathy?

Naturopathy, or Naturopathic Medicine, is a patient-centered primary care approach that uses natural means to restore and optimize health.

It is a distinct system of health care: an art, science, philosophy, and practice of diagnosing, treating, and preventing disease. Naturopathic medicine is heir to the vitalistic tradition of medicine in the Western world and emphasizes the treatment of disease through the stimulation, enhancement, and support of the inherent healing power of the body. Methods of treatment are chosen that respect the natural healing process.

Naturopathy emerges from six principles of healing. These principles are based on the objective observation of the nature of health and disease and are examined continually in light of scientific analysis. These principles stand as distinguishing marks of the profession:

• The Healing Power of Nature vis medicatrix naturae

  The body has the inherent ability to establish, maintain, and restore health. The healing process is ordered and intelligent; nature heals through the response of the life force. The physician's role is to facilitate and augment this process, to identify and remove obstacles to health and recovery, and to support the creation of a healthy internal and external environment.

• Identify and Treat the Cause tolle causam

  Illness does not occur without cause. Underlying causes of disease must be discovered and removed or treated before a person can recover completely from illness. Symptoms are expressions of the body's attempt to heal, but are not the cause of disease; therefore, naturopathy addresses itself primarily to the underlying causes of disease, rather than to the symptoms. Causes may occur on many levels, including physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. The physician must evaluate fundamental underlying causes on all levels, directing treatment at root causes as well as seeking relief of symptoms.

• First Do No Harm primum no nocere

  Therapeutic actions that are complementary to and synergistic with the body's innate healing process prevent harm to patients. Naturopathic physicians follow three precepts to avoid harming the patient:

  1. Use methods and medicinal substances which minimize the risk of harmful effects, and apply the least possible force or intervention necessary to diagnose illness and restore health.

  2. Whenever possible, avoid symptom suppression as it can interfere with the healing process.

  3. Respect and cooperate with the vis medicatrix naturae in diagnosis, treatment, and counseling.

• Treat the Whole Person in perturbato animo sicut in corpore samitas esse non potest

  Health and disease are conditions of the whole organism, involving a complex interaction of physical, spiritual, mental, emotional, genetic, environmental, and social factors. The physician must treat the whole person by taking all of these factors into account. The harmonious functioning of all aspects of the individual is essential to recovery from and prevention of disease, and requires a personalized and comprehensive approach to diagnosis and treatment.

• The Physician as Teacher docere

  Beyond an accurate diagnosis and appropriate prescription, the physician must work to create a healthy, sensitive interpersonal relationship with the patient. A cooperative doctor-patient relationship has inherent therapeutic value. The physician's major role is to educate and encourage the patient to take responsibility for his or her own health. The physician is a catalyst for healthful change, empowering and motivating the patient to assume responsibility. It is the patient, not the doctor, who ultimately creates or accomplishes healing. The physician must strive to inspire hope as well as understanding. The physician must also make a commitment to her/his personal and spiritual development in order to be a good teacher.

• Prevention principiis obsta: sero medicina curator

  The ultimate goal of naturopathic medicine is prevention. This is accomplished through education and promotion of lifestyle habits that foster good health. The physician assesses risk factors and hereditary suseptibility to disease and makes appropriate interventions to avoid further harm and risk to the patient. The emphasis is on building health rather than on fighting disease. Because it is difficult to be healthy in an unhealthy world, it is the responsibility of both physician and patient to create a healthier environment in which to live.

The roots of naturopathic medicine go back thousands of years, drawing on the healing wisdom of many cultures including Indian (Ayurvedic), Chinese (Taoist), Greek (Hippocratic), Arabian, Egyptian, and European (monastic medicine) traditions.

As a distinct American health care profession, naturopathic medicine is 100 years old, tracing its origins to Dr. Benedict Lust and Dr. Robert Foster. Dr. Lust came to the United States from Germany to practice and teach the hydrotherapy techniques popularized by Sebastian Kneipp in Europe. A committee of Kneipp practitioners met in 1900 and determined that the practice should be expanded to incorporate all natural methods of healing, including botanical medicines, nutritional therapy, physiotherapy, psychology (mind-body connection), homeopathy, and manipulative therapies. They called their profession "naturopathy."

The first school of naturopathy was founded by Dr. Lust in New York City and graduated its first class in 1902. During the same period, Dr. Foster founded a similar institution in Idaho that trained the early naturopathic pioneers responsible for establishing licensing laws in Oregon and Washington.

Naturopathic medical conventions in the 1920s attracted more than 10,000 naturopathic physicians. There were more than 20 naturopathic medical colleges, and NDs were licensed in a majority of states. Naturopathic medicine experienced a decline in the 1940s and 50s with the rise of pharmaceutical drugs, technological medicine, and the idea that drugs could eliminate all disease. As one after another ND degree program closed down, National College of Natural Medicine was founded to keep the medicine alive.

Source: The National College of Natural Medicine and Oregon Health & Science University.

For more information, go to: http://www.naturopathic.org/

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