Overview

Naturopathic Medicine, or Naturopathy, is a system of medicine that uses natural substances to treat the patient and recognition that the patient's mental, emotional, and physical states must all be treated for a lasting effect.

History

Though the term Naturopathy was coined in 1895, this type of medicine had been practiced for hundreds, if not thousands of years prior. In the mid and late 1800s in the United States, the standard medical schools taught herbal, homeopathic, and nutritional medicine along with surgery and other more heroic type medicines.

Gradually, the pharmaceutical direction to isolate components of the herbs created more potent, but potentially more toxic drugs. Further, with the advent of antibiotics, the long-term adverse consequences of drugs were not understood and the slower, more gradual effects of Naturopathic Medicine almost pushed it into disuse in the early 1900s. The current resurgence is due to recognition of both the accomplishments and the limitations of the current medical system and the efficacy of Naturopathic Medicine.

Benefits

Although few controlled clinical trials have been undertaken to study the efficacy of naturopathy as a system of treatment, many respected studies have been done on the individual therapies often recommended by naturopathic doctors. For example, diet and lifestyle changes have proved extremely valuable in treating heart disease, chronic digestive illnesses, and joint problems. The use of Acupuncture to treat pain is widely accepted. And there are also many reputable studies showing that nutritional supplements can be useful in treating a variety of ailments.

Procedure

The Naturopathic premise is "to diagnose and treat the cause". Naturopaths do not simply treat the manifestation of the disease but rather search for the cause and treat it.

To accomplish these goals, Naturopathic Medicine incorporates many therapeutic modalities: Herbal Medicine, Homeopathy, Nutrition, Hydrotherapy, food, Exercise Therapy, Physical Therapy, manipulation of the bony and soft tissues, lifestyle and counselling. Additionally, some Naturopaths elect to continue their education to receive a license to practice natural childbirth.


Source of information: www.naturopathyonline.com