What Is Naturopathy?

Benefits Of Naturopathic Medicine

Naturopathic medicine has many benefits when it is not used by itself. The use of naturopathy, in addition to traditional medical care, has shown to be beneficial for millions of individuals. When a patient's traditional medical doctors and naturopathic practitioners work as a team to treat them, it is referred to as integrated care. Integrated care is becoming more and more prevalent in the medical community. Naturopathic practices encourage a patient to be more involved and actively understand the underlying causes of their illness. Many therapies utilized by naturopathic practitioners help promote an individual's overall health and decreasing their stress. For example, exercising routinely, getting enough sleep, practicing yoga, eating a nutritious and balanced diet, and getting acupuncture can improve an individual's overall wellness and prevent future illness. Naturopathic practitioners also tend to spend a little more time talking to and getting to know the patient and numerous aspects of their life. Naturopathic practitioners are also known to help patients feel they have more power or control over their health and well-being.

Read about the safety of naturopathy next.

Safety Of Treatments

One of the most prevalent issues brought up about the safety of naturopathic treatments is that they are used in the place of proven medical treatments and care. Some naturopathic practitioners may advise individuals to stop taking their medications, forego other medical treatments, or avoid vaccinations. One safety argument about naturopathy is that practitioners of naturopathy know the difference between serious illness and something less sinister, and know when to initiate traditional medical therapy such as antibiotics. However, the safety flaw here is that traditional therapy like antibiotics is not solely purposed for the elimination of the infection-causing bacteria, but functions further to prevent post-infection complications like rheumatic fever. When traditional medicine encounters a flaw or presents a danger, legislation and regulations ensure this information is available to the public and thoroughly investigated. This is not required for naturopathic treatments. Safety can become a complex element of naturopathy because a patient may receive conflicting information from their medical doctor and a naturopath. Where the risks of a prescription medication are publicly and clearly identified all over its label, the risks of a naturopathic treatment are not presented in such a way, nor are the risks studied to the same extent.

Learn more about where naturopathy falls short now.