Naturopathic medicine is also known as naturopathy. The word naturopathy is derived from the Greek and Latin word which literally translates as “nature disease”. Naturopathic medicine is a type of alternative treatment based on the belief of what is known as vitalism. Vitalism believes in a special energy called vital energy or vital force which guides the body’s processes such as metabolism, growth, reproduction and adaptation. Naturopathic medicine is along the lines of a holistic treatment because it is non-invasive and encourages little use of surgery and drugs.
Naturopathic medicine is practiced in multiple countries. Naturopathic medicine is primarily practiced in the United States and Canada. It is continually subject to different standards of regulation and levels of acceptance. Naturopathic medicine is criticized for its reliance on unproven, disproven, and controversial alternative medical treatments. Especially, for its belief in vitalism and vitalistic undertones naturopathic medicine is laughed at. To some people naturopathic medicine is considered pseudoscience or quackery. Really the main difference is that naturopathic medicine uses natural methods while saying modern science uses synthetic or artificial ones. Any treatment is capable of helping an individual get better but may also have different side effects.
Naturopathic medicine is focused on naturally-occurring substances, minimally-invasive methods and encourages natural healing. Naturopathic medicine also emphasizes prevention through stress reduction techniques, a healthy diet and healthy lifestyle. The use of pharmaceutical drugs, radiation and surgery are not recommended by naturopathic medicine.
Naturopathic medicine includes six core values. Multiple different versions of these six core values are within the doctor’s oath when beginning to practice naturopathic medicine. Here are the six core values of naturopathic medicine:
- Do not harm. Provide the most effective health care available with the least risk to patients at all times.
- Recognize, respect, and promote the self-healing power of nature that is inherently in each individual human being.
- Identify and remove the causes of illness, rather than eliminate or suppress symptoms.
- Educate, inspire rational hope and encourage self-responsibility for health
- Treat each person by considering all individual health factors and influences
- Emphasize the condition of health to promote well-being and to prevent diseases for the individual, the community, and the world.
Naturopathic medicine uses a wide variety of treatments while staying focused on natural self-healing rather than any one specific method of treatment. Some of the treatment methods used in naturopathic medicine relies on “vital energy fields”-which have yet to be proven to exist. The effectiveness of naturopathic medicine has yet to be evaluated and the efficacy of treatment methods varies greatly.
Some of the treatment methods used in naturopathic medicine are:
- Acupuncture
- Kinesiology
- Botanical Medicine
- Color Therapy
- Colonic Enemas
- Hair analysis
- Homeopathy
- Wholefood diet
- Fasting
- Physical Therapy
- Psychological Counseling
- Meditation
- Relaxation
- Traditional Chinese medicine
- Stress Management
This does not include all the different treatment methods by naturopathic medicine. The main rule for naturopathic medicine is to neither prescribe nor undertake in the use of drugs, serums, potions, surgery or disease specific treatments or in other words practice conventional medicine. The belief in naturopathic medicine is that the body can naturally heal itself.