Naturopathic medicine

From ArticleWorld

Naturopathic medicine was founded upon holistic philosophy and strives to combine traditional therapies with current advances in modern medicine. It is considered an appropriate treatment option for a variety of health conditions that affect people of all ages.

1 Naturopathic physicians
2 Philosophy
3 Practices
4 Negative connotations
5 Sources

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Naturopathic physicians

NDs are the most highly trained practitioners in a broad scope of naturopathic means. In addition to basic medicine, they are educated in a variety of holistic medicine options.

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Philosophy

Naturopathic medicine is a natural approach to health and healing that takes the whole person into account. It emphasizes the treatment of disease through stimulation, enhancement and support of the inherent healing capacity of the person. Naturopathic medicine focuses on six underlying principles of healing:

The healing power of nature.
Identify and treat the cause.
First do no harm.
Treat the whole person.
The physician as teacher.
Prevention.

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Practices

The current scope of naturopathic practice includes clinical nutrition (naturopaths believe that food is the best medicine), botanical medicine (botanical medicines are believed to address a variety of problems), homeopathic medicine (which highlights the principles of “like cures like”), physical medicine (NDs use ultrasound, diathermy, exercise, etc.), Oriental medicine (which compliments naturopathy well), naturopathic obstetrics (natural childbirth outside of a hospital setting), psychological medicine (a variety of counseling and balancing are used to help patients heal) and minor surgery.

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Negative connotations

Many naturopaths say that an increasing number of patients are seeking NDs because they feel that Western medicine has failed them. However, many conventional doctors view naturopathy as a pseudoscience. Some conventional doctors cite the lack of scientific documentation of the safety and efficacy of their practices as a reason to avoid pursuing a naturopath.

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