Naturopathy

NATUROPATHIC MEDICINE: When It’s Time For a New Approach
Naturopathic medicine is a distinct medical system and profession that is attracting a growing amount of public attention and research validation. Licensed naturopathic doctors attend four-year, accredited, graduate level programs that include over 4,400 hours of education in the basic sciences, medical diagnostics, natural therapeutics and clinical training. Naturopaths are the most highly trained healthcare professionals using natural therapies in general practice. NDs refer to MDs when drugs and surgery are necessary. Naturopathy is not bound to or limited by any single, particular treatment or therapy. Naturopathic doctors are practitioners who are guided by a unique set of rules that optimize how the body heals itself.

Naturopathy offers a unique, medical paradigm that is compatible with the work of other providers. Our current healthcare system is ailing. For example, we are living longer, but not necessarily better because chronic ailments such as arthritis or diabetes are not very well managed by conventional methods. Furthermore, the overuse of some drugs such as antibiotics for acute, viral respiratory illnesses or for acne, poses side effects and risks such as troublesome, drug-resistant bacterial strains.

Naturopathic doctors use natural alternatives that are practical and effective solutions. Patients with many acute and most chronic conditions benefit from naturopathy’s preventative, less invasive and more cost-effective measures. Naturopathy takes an integrated medicine approach that consumers find appealing because they get the time, attention and relief for which they have been searching.

First Things First: How Naturopathy Works
Naturopathy is a branch is medicine that is defined by a set of philosophical principles and a therapeutic process. This unified theory of healing is based upon observations from the natural world and time-tested clinical evidence. Naturopathic medicine believes that a person is more than the sum of their biological parts. Lasting healing must reflect that complexity.

The principles of naturopathy are a way of thinking about life, health and disease. In the clinical context, these principles form the basis for creating a standard of professional care. NDs use these principles to harness the healing power of nature and to stimulate the healing response. The therapeutic order is a clinical framework that prioritizes the process of how, when and why natural therapies are prescribed. Taken together these precepts distinguish naturopathy from other healing systems. The conventional medical approach is to “diagnose and fight disease,” while the naturopathic perspective “works to restore health.”

Principles of Naturopathy

• FIRST DO NO HARM. Utilize the most natural, least invasive and least toxic diagnostics and therapies first.
  
  
• THE HEALING POWER OF NATURE. Enhance, stimulate and support the body’s healing response.
  
  
• IDENTIFY AND TREAT THE CAUSE. Recognize that symptoms are warning signs of a system trying to return to equilibrium. Find and treat the deeper causes of illness, not the symptomatic effects, to achieve the cure.
  
  
• TREAT THE WHOLE PERSON. Consider the multiple factors effecting health and disease. Provide comprehensive treatments that meet the patient’s individual needs.



• DOCTOR AS TEACHER. Educate, empower and motivate patients to take responsibility for their own health. Create a cooperative doctor-patient relationship that allows for choice and communication.
  
  
• PREVENTION. Promote health and wellness with healthier lifestyle choices.

The Therapeutic Order

• DETOXIFICATION: Remove those factors disturbing health.
  
  
• REJUVENATION: Nourish and renew weakened systems.
  
  
• ENERGIZE: Stimulate life energy and revitalize what is exhausted.
  
  
• REBALLANCE: Harmonize systems that are not in equilibrium.
  
  
• INTEGRATE CARE: Coordinate care in a team-based approach.
  
  

Getting Well: Effective, Natural Therapies in Clinical Practice
Natural medicine means a lot of things to a lot of people and is the source of considerable debate. Two things are pretty certain. Your health is not to be found in any single pill whether it’s a drug or a vitamin. Secondly, self-treatment is not a substitute for sound, medical care. When you are not well, naturopathy teaches you the fundamental truth that the natural forces within you are greatest source of healing. Dr. Martin uses Homeopathy, Botanical Medicine, Diet and Nutritional Therapy, Mind-Body Medicine and Holistic Counseling to treat patients with many types of complaints. Used collectively, these therapies work to strengthen the immune system, normalize inflammatory function, optimize metabolic functioning and decrease toxicity and among many other things. These therapies remove the obstacles to cure and are remarkably powerful.

Botanical Medicine
Many plant substances are powerful medicines. Single, chemically derived drugs may address only one problem, botanical medicines are able to address a variety of problems simultaneously. Their organic nature makes most Botanicals compatible with the body’s own chemistry; hence, they can work gently, and with few toxic side effects. In a recent double-blind study, the herbal medication, Gingo biloba, was shown to be effective in treating depression. In addition, it clinically used to treat impaired memory, asthma and erectile dysfunction.

Homeopathic Medicine
Homeopathy uses specially prepared remedies to address symptoms based on the concept of “like cures like.” Clinical observation indicates that it works on a subtle, yet powerful, energetic level, gently acting to strengthen the body’s tendency to return to homeostasis and triggering the healing process. Homeopathy may be recommended to support many troublesome complaints when all else has failed. The British Medical Journal (1991:302: 316-323) published a meta-analysis of 105 homeopathic trials. The authors concluded that evidence was sufficient to suggest that homeopathy be included as a regular treatment for many conditions.

Diet and Nutritional Therapy
Hippocrates, the father of medicine, said “Let you food be your medicine and your medicine, your food.” Diet and nutritional therapy are two of the key principles of naturopathic practice. It is commonly accepted that many medical conditions are treated more effectively with foods and nutritional supplements than by other means, with fewer complications and side effects. In one study of men with heart muscle damage, supplementation with niacin was associated with an 11% reduced risk of mortality over a fifteen year time period. In our diets, it is an accepted medical fact that increased dietary fiber lowers cholesterol and that omega 3 fish oils are heart healthy.

Psychological Counseling and Mind-Body Medicine
Learning stress management skills is an effective tool for improving physical health. Naturopathic medicine holds that a harmonious inner life is the foundation for a happy outer life. Mind-Body medicine such as Guided Imagery enhances the immune response. Many patients find that talk therapy sessions are a way to work through issues of grief, anxiety and depression. The field of psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) has shown that one can use the powers of the mind to enhance the immune system and decrease stress hormones that effect problems such as excess inflammation and hypertension. Studies show that PNI can increase levels of IgA, a substance that helps protect us from upper respiratory infections.

From Marginal to Mainstream: Naturopathy Fills a Healthcare Gap
Naturopathic medicine is moving from marginal to mainstream because it fills the public’s increasing demand for integrating natural medicine into the healthcare system. At The Boston Natural Medical Clinic, Dr. Martin provides caring, effective, medically sound treatment that is a refreshing complement to your conventional care.

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