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Naturopathic Medicine
What is it?
Naturopathic medicine is a distinct practice of medicine that emphasizes prevention and the self-healing process to treat each person holistically and improve outcomes while lowering health care costs. Naturopathic Doctors are educated and trained in accredited naturopathic medical colleges to diagnose, prevent and treat acute and chronic illness, and to restore or establish optimal health by supporting the inherent self-healing process.
Rather than suppressing symptoms, NDs work to identify underlying causes of illness, and develop personalized treatment plans to address them.
Naturopathic Philosophy
First Do No Harm (Primum Non Nocere): Naturopathic physicians utilize a therapeutic order (below) to ensure using the least force necessary, avoid when possible the suppression of symptoms; and work with individuals’ self-healing process.
The Healing Power of Nature (Vis Medicatrix Naturae): Naturopathic medicine recognizes an inherent self-healing process in people that is ordered and intelligent. Naturopathic physicians act to identify and remove obstacles to healing, and facilitate this inherent self-healing process.
Identify and Treat the Causes (Tolle Causam): The naturopathic physician seeks to identify and remove the underlying causes of illness rather than to merely eliminate or suppress symptoms.
Doctor as Teacher (Docere): Education is a key component of naturopathic care; physicians encourage self-responsibility for health
Treat the Whole Person: When reaching a diagnosis and formulating a treatment plan, naturopathic physicians take into account the individual's physical, mental, emotional, genetic, environmental, social, and other factors.
Prevention: An emphasis is always on disease prevention through assessment of known risk factors, susceptibility to disease, and by making appropriate interventions to prevent illness.
The Therapeutic Order
1. Remove Obstacles to Health. The first step in returning to health is to remove the entities that disturb health such as: poor diet, digestive upset and unhealthy stress levels that contribute to individual disharmony.
2. Stimulate the Self-Healing Mechanisms through use of therapies that stimulate and strengthen the body’s innate self-healing and curative abilities, including nutrition, botanical medicines, hydrotherapy, homeopathy, and acupuncture.
3. Strengthen Weakened Systems. Certain therapies will be designed to enhance specific tissues, organs or systems so that they may be restored to optimal function.
4. Correct Structural Integrity. Very often addressed through physical modalities such as spinal manipulation, massage therapy, and craniosacral therapy, to improve and maintain skeletal and musculature integrity.
5. Use Natural Substances to Restore and Regenerate. The primary objective is to restore health; however, certain underlying pathologys must be addressed through safe, effective invervetions.
6. Use Pharmacologic Substances to Halt Progressive Pathology. Natruopathic training includes pharmacology; however CT does not currently license NDs to dispense pharmaceutics. NDs are trained to understand potential adverse effects and herb-drug or nutrient-drug interactions to safely make recommendations.
7 Use High Force, Invasive Modalities: Surgery, Radiation, Chemotherapy. When life, limb, or function must be preserved, naturopathic physicians work cooperatively with MDs who are expertly trained; complementary naturopathic care can be utilized to support the system or reduce side effects.