Naturopathy

Naturopathy is an approach to health care that strives to heal the entire person in a way that is harmonious with nature. This field includes nutrition, herbal remedies, physical adjustment therapy, and emotional, mental, and spiritual balance. This practice also utilizes such medical imaging techniques as X-ray and ultrasound. Unlike allopathic doctors, naturopathic physicians concentrate on healing the cause of an illness rather than subduing its symptoms. There are many disciplines that share the basic ideas found in Naturopathy including, Homeopathy and Chinese Medicine.

How does Naturopathy work?

Practitioners of this field emphasize the importance of personal responsibility for one's health. Good health is an on-going process rather than a "quick fix" or "emergency repair" system. Such factors as nutrition exercise and emotional and mental stability play key roles in sustaining good health. Other techniques employed by naturopathic doctors are the use of Hydrotherapy (the therapeutic use of water), chiropractics, and controlled fasting.

What conditions respond well to Naturopathic treatments?

There are numerous illnesses that can be successfully attended by Naturopathy. Some common ailments such as colds and flu, headaches, and digestive disorders respond favorably to this type of health care. Chronic diseases like arthritis and heart disease can also benefit from Naturopathy. The Psychiatric community has found that many of the ailments that challenge their patients such as anxiety and depression can be alleviated by naturopathic methods. This system may also be used during minor surgical procedures.

When can I expect to see results from my Naturopathic treatments?

The results of your Naturopathic treatment are as unique as you are! Because Naturopathy is tailored to the individual composite, each cure is unique.

Are there any precautions I should take while practicing Naturopathy?

Naturopathy is designed to be a health care system that would compliment any other form of health care. However be sure to check with your regular doctor before beginning any new therapy.

Principles of naturopathy

The practice of naturopathy is governed by the belief that the body has the ability to heal itself. Naturopathic treatments are aimed at stimulating, strengthening, and improving the healing capability of the individual. The following principles guide the practice of naturopathy:

Use the healing power of nature (in Latin, vis medicatrix naturae): The body can establish, maintain, and restore good health. The role of the naturopathic doctor (ND) is to support and enhance this ability, to identify and remove obstacles to good health, and to help maintain wellness.
Identify and treat the causes of illness (tolle causum). The causes of disease must be identified and treated before the patient can recover from illness. Symptoms are seen as evidence of the body's attempts to heal itself but they are not the causes of disease and should not be suppressed by treatment. Illness may be caused by physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual factors.
First, do no harm (primum no nocere). Treatments must act together with the body's own healing efforts, not against them. To treat only the symptoms and not the root cause of the illness can be harmful.
Treat the whole person. Recovery from illness and maintenance of good health can only occur when all aspects of the individual are balanced and in harmony. In treating a patient, physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, genetic, environmental, and social factors must be assessed.
The physician is also a teacher (docere). Naturopathy emphasizes prevention of illness and maintenance of good health. The ND has an ethical role to play in educating patients and encouraging them to take responsibility for their health. The emphasis is on the patient and ND working together as a team.
Emphasize prevention. Through education and the promotion of a healthy lifestyle, the ND stresses building health rather than fighting disease.

Is a professional Naturopathy practitioner always necessary?

It is advisable to enlist the services of a qualified naturopathic practitioner trained in not only the seven disciplines of Naturopathy, but general medicine as well.

Top

TOXAEMIA

The naturopathic concept is that to maintain health the body -mind unit must be in harmony with the environment. If harmful influences are allowed to invade, then breakdown occurs & diseases manifests. The term "toxemia" has been coined in naturopathy to explain the deterioration in health that is seen when the basic rules of health & hygiene are ignored.

Our body eliminates waste products though lungs, skin, kidneys, the bowels (faecal matter). If the system overloads, then there is blockage of the channels involved. The liver, which sifts all food & decontaminates all chemicals as they enter the body, becomes fatty & congested during imbalance resulting in diseases. The lymph ducts drains all tissues in the body & take away materials from cells to drain it into venous system. This lymphatic system becomes sluggish. The mucous surface of nose, throat & lungs becomes congested & catarrhal. The colon too gets constipated. in a constipated colon, toxic matter from faecal mass is reabsorbed back into the circulation ,hence the headache & feeling of unwell ness associated with colon dysfunction .

The psychosomatic element is certainly influential in many diseases like ulcerative colitis, dudenol ulcer, asthma, spastic colon, psoriasis & arthritis. The naturopathic techniques vary in their emphasis as to whether the condition is acute or chronic.

THE CAUSE OF DISEASES

Naturopathy believes that if the body & mind are healthy, then diseases will not strike. Naturopathy holds that most of the diseases that affect us can be prevented by our attention to total body-mind needs & our means of attaining this balance. Naturopathy goes further & states germs & virus's infections only affect unhealthy body. We must in our own sphere become aware of our body needs. This unattainable ideal is made more difficult by universal pollution.

Top

NATUROPATHIC DIET

Much attention is paid by naturopath to food, one of the most important factors affecting health,food is a factor, which can be easily manipulated. A vast number of diseases can be traced to bad nutrition. Western diet can be summed as too sweet (too much sugar), animal fat rich & less fiber. The intake is weighted unhealthily in favour of rich food, sweet food & cooked food.

The naturopath makes sure there is large amount of raw vegetable salad & raw fruits. Nut, seeds, pulses in diet makes sure that there is good protein of vegetable origin & far less of animal origin which is high in saturated fats. Animal fats contribute to heart diseases, hardening of the arteries, strokes, blood pressure, risk of breast cancer & gall bladder diseases. Vegetable fats rich in unsaturated fats have certain fatty acids in their make up, which are essential for good liver function.

In naturopathic diet emphasis is on raw food as certain elements in it are lost in cooking & processing. These include minerals, vitamins & enzymes very essential for healing process. Also raw food places very little load on liver, digestive mechanisms, toxin elimination process & healing can go on unimpeded.

THE NATUROPATHIC DIET

Breakfast: Muesli, bran & milk or yoghurt. Whole meal toast or porridge made from coarse oatmeal. Decaffeinated coffee.

Lunch: A good mixed raw vegetable salad. Ingredients such as raw carrot, cabbage, radish, beetroot, spring onion, spinach, cucumber, etc. Nuts, sprouted seeds. Fish & chicken, if non-vegetarians. Fruits rich in fibers.

Evening meal: three cooked vegetables. Soya, cheese, nuts & sprouted seeds can provide protein. Vegetable soup & wholesome bread. Fruits to follow.

Snacks: Nuts, raisins & fruits.

Top

NATUROPAHY'S LAW OF HYGIENE

The naturopath's laws of hygiene are, in essence, extraordinarily straightforward & pure common sense. Few would despite them. The laws of health are as follows:

Be responsible for your own health, & aware of your own body needs.
Be aware that body, mind & spirit form a unity that must be regarded as such in all efforts to achieve total health.
Eat moderately but nutritional food.
Drink healthily & avoid coffee stimulants.
Perform yoga, other exercise to strengthen body resistance.
Avoid stress, do relaxing exercises, meditation are encouraged.
Ensure proper sleep & rest.
Putting all above in practice may be difficult, but is cheapest & best way to be healthy.

Diagnosis

Naturopathic doctors conduct detailed interviews with their patients. The first consultation often takes an hour or more. A full case history is developed, including the patient's current problem, diet, lifestyle, medical history, and medication. Often NDs will use blood tests or other conventional medical tests to assist in diagnosis and assessment.

Treatments

A wide variety of treatments are available through the seven main disciplines or therapeutic modalities used by NDs. Although NDs must study all of these disciplines, some may specialize in one or more of these disciplines.

Oriental medicine (including diet and herbal medicines) and acupuncture.
Botanical (plant-based) medicines.
Homeopathic medicine.
Naturopathic manipulation: using the hands to treat soft tissue, muscle, or bone conditions.
Hydrotherapy: using hot and cold water to stimulate circulation and the immune system.
Clinical nutrition: emphasizing the relationship between diet and disease; may include a change of diet, with occasional fasting, and supplementation as required.
Lifestyle counseling and prevention.

Naturopathy and HIV/AIDS

With its emphasis on preventing illness and supporting the body's ability to heal, naturopathy may help to strengthen the immune system. The guiding principle "first do no harm" allows naturopathic treatments to be flexible and adapted to the individual. Although occasional fasting, for example, may be encouraged for many patients, it would not be prescribed for people living with HIV/AIDS.