Originally published January 31 2006
Naturopathic medicine experts believe their practice complements mainstream medicine
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
The Star.com investigates the field of naturopathic medicine, which stresses the healing power of nature.
On the other side are the conventional medical doctors who are reluctant to recognise naturopathy without sound scientific evidence.
"Naturopathy complements not just orthodox medicine, but other forms of medicine as well.
It's taking the best of both models and combining them," says Tracy Wolf, who works part-time with Blackmores Australia to provide education and training.
Naturopathy is based on the following five main principles: the healing power of nature, do no harm to the patient, find the cause, treat the whole person, and practise preventive medicine.
Naturopathic remedies include dietary recommendations, with an emphasis on fresh foods.
However, Wolf adds that naturopathy is also hugely focused on preventive health, "preventing chronic diseases particularly heart disease or arthritis, and also maintaining physical and mental health."
"A lot of work that I do is negating the side effects of people taking long-term medications that they need" for conditions like high cholesterol, diabetes or hypertension, she explains.
For instance, she explains that the use of statins, cholesterol-lowering drugs, in patients with high cholesterol has the side effect of depleting coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) levels in the body.
"(But) high-cholesterol is a very serious disease, and you can't not be on statins.
So I use things like CoQ10 (supplements) to replace it," she says.
For people who have serious chronic conditions, Wolf believes that naturopathy can be used to help them maintain a favourable quality of life, as long as it is prescribed in conjunction with orthodox medicine.
The evidence for naturopathic practices is mostly traditional, which means that it is based on "non-scientific" observations over hundreds of years.
Consumers should have the right to contact the company for more information.
Whether or not mainstream doctors are ready to accept naturopathy, they cannot deny that many of their patients are probably taking some form of naturopathic or complementary therapy.
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