chapter 10-NATUROPATHY

treatments

Counseling is an important intervention because mental, emotional, and spiritual factors are part of the holistic approach. Lifestyle modification is crucial to the success of naturopathy.

healing power of nature

It is believed that the body innately knows how to maintain health and heal itself ▪Natural laws of life operate inside and outside the body, and the physician's job is to support and restore them by using techniques and medicines that are in harmony with the natural processes ▪ These natural methods are geared to strengthen the body's own healing ability ▪ Faith, hope, and beliefs may be the most significant aspects of any treatment

Concepts

Naturopathic medicine holds the same view of human physiology, bodily functions, and disease processes as conventional medicine.

preventive medicine

Naturopathic physicians focus on healthy living as a way to prevent major diseases and chronic illness ▪The goal is to support people's inherent healing abilities.

Find the couse

Naturopathic physicians look for the underlying causes of disease and try to help patients eliminate them ▪ Physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual factors are important in determining cause.

Diagnostic Methods

Naturopathic physicians practice as primary care providers. ▪They also perform a detailed assessment of lifestyle, looking for physical, emotional, dietary, genetic, environmental, and family dynamics contributing to a disorder.

view of health and wellness

Naturopathy views health as more than the absence of disease. Naturopathic physicians recognize the role of bacteria and viruses in illness but view these as secondary factors. They believe that most disease is the direct result of ignoring natural laws. Eating processed foods, having little exercise and rest, living a fast-paced lifestyle, focusing on negative thoughts and emotions, and being exposed to environmental toxins.

Wellness and Health Promotion

People are encouraged to make decisions and change negative lifestyle patterns that interfere with a state of wellness.

preparation

The education of naturopathic physicians is extensive and similar to conventional medical education ▪ In the United States, state law determines the scope of naturopathic practice, since there is no national licensure for naturopathy

physician as teacher

The primary focus of naturopathic physicians is teaching people how to achieve health and avoid disease. The emphasis is on people learning to assume responsibility for themselves and their well-being.

Integrated nursing practice

The profession of nursing, like naturopathy, has traditionally embraced the concept of the healing power of nature and the belief that the locus of restoring health is within each person and cannot be "given" to a client by health care practitioners. Nursing has always focused on education of those who have been entrusted to our care ▪ It is critically important that we monitor closely the impact of medications on the recipients

Naturopathic

medicine is not only a system of medicine but also a way of life with emphasis on client responsibility, client education, health maintenance, and disease prevention. Benedict Lust formalized naturopathy in 1902 as both a system of medicine and a way of life ▪Naturopathic journals encouraged a diet high in fiber and low in red meat

Treat the whole person

▪ Naturopathic medicine has a holistic approach in caring for clients. ▪ Practitioners consider the physical, genetic, dietary, mental, emotional, spiritual, and environmental factors influencing clients' health or illness status. In other words, they treat the person rather than the disease.

first do not do harm

▪Naturopathic physicians prefer noninvasive treatments that minimize the risk of harmful side effects.

treatment

▪The therapeutic approach is to help people heal themselves and to use opportunities to guide and educate people in developing healthier lifestyles. The goal of treatment is the restoration of health and normal body function, rather than the application of a particular therapy. Counseling is an important intervention because mental, emotional, and spiritual factors are part of the holistic approach. Lifestyle modification is crucial to the success of naturopathy.