Naturopathy is a type of medicine that has been around for thousands of years. It is based on the belief that every organism, including human, has an innate ability to maintain and return to a state of balance and health, and to heal itself. Five key principles to Naturopathic medicine are:
- Promote the natural healing power of nature. The therapies used support and stimulate this healing power of nature and they must be ‘the gentlest, least invasive, most efficient manner possible.’
- First do no harm. Naturopathic medicine uses therapies with the intent to keep harmful side effects to a minimum and not suppress symptoms. Symptoms are key to choosing the direction of healing to follow.
- Treat the whole person. People’s health is affected by many factors, including physical, mental, emotional, genetic, environmental and social. All factors are considered when choosing how to tailor treatment to an individual.
- Treat the cause. Naturopaths seek to identify the root cause of a disease or disease process, rather than its symptoms. They believe that symptoms are the body’s way to communicate and attempt to recover from disease.
- Prevention is the best cure, and the naturopath is a teacher. Part of the treatment plan is to educate the patient about taking responsibility for their own health. Providing healthy lifestyle tools and choices aid in preventing illness and disease processes.
People use Naturopaths for colds, bronchitis, allergies, as well as for heart disease, diabetes and malignant diseases. Naturopaths refer to other health care providers when appropriate, and more medical doctors are referring to naturopaths as well.
