Naturopathic Medicine

Naturopathic medicine is a distinct system of primary health care that emphasizes prevention and the body’s innate ability to heal through the use of natural therapies.

We are licensed naturopathic doctors trained as primary care physicians and utilize a combination of natural therapies such as herbal medicine, physical medicine, counseling, homeopathy, clinical nutrition, and personalized medicine.

The ultimate goal of naturopathic medicine is prevention of disease and promotion of health. This is achieved by education in and support of habits that foster a healthy lifestyle. The naturopathic approach shifts emphasis toward building and maintaining health and away from fighting already established disease.  Naturopaths believe that a healthy mind and body combined with a strong immune system is less prone to illness and is better equipped to combat disease because the “life force,” or “vital force” of the person remains strong.

The roots of naturopathic medicine go back centuries, drawing on the healing practices of cultures such as that of the Indians, Chinese, Greeks, Arabs, Egyptians and Europeans.  In the 19th century a new age of scientific inquiry dawned and with it a new approach to illness.  Soon there were new tools for fighting disease which seemed to work faster and better than the older ways.  In time, many became dependent on surgery and drugs.  Though when used properly the newer methods certainly had their place, more time-tested and natural healing methods began to fall by the wayside as the new ways took root.  Some practitioners, however, refused to let go of their heritage of healing.   They continued to retain the practice of promoting health through stimulation of “the vital force.”   And they found in the United States the freedom to both practice the old ways, and build upon them.  Far from being anti-science as some claim, nature cure embraced the depths of the new science, but applied it more to getting at the root cause of disease than simply to the elimination of symptoms.

Natural medicine as a formal discipline in America is about 115 years old, tracing its roots to Dr. Benedict Lust (pronounced “Loost”), who traveled from Germany to the U.S. to teach the hydrotherapy popularized in Europe by Father Sebastian Kneipp, who at the age of 28 had cured himself of tuberculosis via immersions in the icy Danube River upon finding an 18th century book on water cure.

In 1900, a committee headed by Dr. Lust determined that the practice of nature cure should be expanded to incorporate, along with hydrotherapy, all natural methods of healing, including botanical medicines, nutritional therapy, physiotherapy, psychology, homeopathy and manipulative therapies.

The committee called this new professional approach “Naturopathy” and the American School of Naturopathy, the nation’s first, was founded by Dr. Lust in New York City, graduating its first class in 1902.

Since the late 1970’s, three more naturopathic colleges have been founded, more are planned as successful alumni expand their influence, and the enrollment at the National College of Natural Medicine has increased.

This success reflects the changing needs and hopes of our society. Both the public and medical professionals seek an approach that celebrates the best of science, that eliminates the cause and not just the symptoms of suffering, and that is truly patient–centered and holistic. Naturopathic medicine is that approach.

By the 1940’s another threat to natural medicine arose, that of pharmaceutical drugs. It is undoubted that a great many people were saved in the early days of this medicine as widespread infectious disease was cured.  But soon these drugs became the primary approach, and more preventive and natural interventions were again lost.  The National College of Naturopathic Medicine was founded to keep the naturopathic approach alive. The National College of Natural Medicine, the oldest accredited naturopathic medical school in North America, celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2006.

The profession has experienced a resurgence in the last two decades as people have sought health–conscious alternatives for conditions conventional medicine hasn’t adequately addressed.  Conventional medicine is brilliant where strong intervention is needed, such as emergency medicine.  It is less sure in areas of chronic disease, though, as influenced primarily by lifestyle.  This is where naturopathic medicine shines.

Diagnosis and evaluation of the individual’s state of health are accomplished by integrated modern and traditional, clinical and laboratory diagnostic methods, such as: