naturopathy

Question 1

what are the principles of modern naturopathy?

Answer 1

the healing power of nature
—– the healing power of nature is the inherent self-organizing and healing process of living systems which establishes, maintains and restores health
—– naturopathic physician’s role to support, facilitate, and augment this process by identifying and removing obstacles to health and recovery

identify and treat the cause
—– illness does not occur without cause
—– symptoms can be expressions of the body’s attempt to defend itself, to adapt and recover, to heal itself, or may be results of the causes of disease
—– naturopathic physician seeks to treat the causes of disease, rather than to merely eliminate or suppress symptoms.

first do no harm
—– minimize the risk of harmful effects, and apply the least possible force or intervention necessary to diagnose illness and restore health
—– the suppression of symptoms is avoided as suppression generally interferes with the healing process

doctor as teacher
—– a principal objective of naturopathic medicine is to educate the patient and emphasize self-responsibility for health

treat the whole person
—– health and disease result from a complex of physical, mental, emotional, genetic, environmental, social and other factors

prevention
—– naturopathic physicians assess risk factors, heredity and susceptibility to disease, and make appropriate interventions in partnership with their patients to prevent illness

Question 2

describe modern naturopathy

Answer 2

it was science that originally squashed naturopathy, and it is science that has helped resurrect it
—– naturopathy now incorporates scientific advances in modern medicine, whilst remaining true to its approach

vitamins were discovered by Eijkman and Hopkins in 1929 and since then the role of trace substances in clinical nutrition has been rigorously researched

further discovery that enzymes were dependent upon essential nutrients provided naturopaths with the evidence as to why organically grown, whole foods could have such a profound influence upon health.

Question 3

what disciplines were included in naturopathy?

Answer 3

naturopathy embraced all known means of natural therapeutics, including diet, herbs, hydrotherapy, homeopathy, exercise, manipulative therapies, electrotherapy, psychological and spiritual counselling.

naturopathy became an amalgamation of different disciplines all of which aim to treat the body naturally and respect and acknowledge the vital energy in the body.

although the therapies differ, the underlying message of promoting health and supporting the body’s own healing processes

Question 4

what are some of the reasons naturopathic processions faced difficulties?

Answer 4

socio-economic factors
—– civil war, great depression, and WWII economically impacted
—– relied on gov health care systems instead of others

rise of pharmaceutical medicine
—– advances in pharmaceuticals (replacement of crude, ineffective, poisonous drugs)
—– introduction of insulin, penicillin – reputable and effective drugs but most of the introduced drugs fostered dependence and didn’t address underlying causes of disease

flexner report
—– the Flexner report criticized the number of medical schools in the US and called on them to have higher admission fees and higher graduation standards
—– a medical school could not teach naturopathy or homeopathy and if it did then graduates would not be recognized as doctors and therefore would not be able to find work