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Archive for the ‘Naturopathy’ Category

Naturopathy
By Douglas Adams

Originally coined by the German pioneer Benedict Lust, naturopathy means, literally, “natural treatment,” and today its practitioners are generally those trained at specialist colleges in a range of skills that include acupuncture, herbalism, homeopathy, osteopathy, hydrotherapy, massage, nutrition, and diet.

Lust came up with the term “naturopathy” after he, and his fellow-countryman Henry Lindlahr, emigrated to the United States early in the 20th century. But he based his ideas almost entirely on those of a 19th century German predecessor Vincent Preissnitz, who founded “Nature Cure,” and the Austrian Dominican friar Father Kneipp. Nature Cure, and “natural hygiene,” are still terms used by practitioners who claim to follow this form of natural medicine first recommended by Hippocrates.

Training in naturopathy is becoming standard for those interested in practicing natural medicine in its widest sense. Countries such as the United Stated, Australia, Canada, Germany, Israel, New Zealand, and South Africa now run full three to four year course leading to a recognized degree or diploma.

Naturopaths hold that infections seldom occur if the body is looked after in the way nature intended and that the body will cure itself of anything as long as it takes in only pure air and water, is kept clean, and given the right food and healthy activity. But they also believe that illness is natural and that methods of cure should follow the same natural principles.

Douglas Adams is the owner of All Wellbeing.com , a website dedicated to increasing knowledge of health related issues.For high quality health care products click here.

Naturopathy Is Natures’s Medicine
By Shaun Parker
Naturopathy is one of the oldest forms medicines; as old as mankind in many ways. Our ancestors made use of the natural resources around them to treat illness and maintain good health. Naturopathy has developed over the years to treat conditions and ailments in the body while promoting good health and well-being. Using natural medicine and techniques that work with our body, a practitioner can restore health, aid our natural healing process and flush out toxins that cause disease.

One method a naturopath will use is herbal medicine and there are a number of remedies and essences at their disposal. Aloe Vera has been used for thousands of years and is an extremely powerful herb. It can be used for INFLAMMATION and to treat wounds and burns as well as fighting off bacteria. Echinacea has long been considered a powerful herb for boosting the body’s immune system. Native to North America, Echinacea is a flower and is commonly used to fend off cold and flu symptoms. Gingko Biloba originates from China and the herb is said to improve circulation, particularly to the brain where the nutrients and oxygen in the blood are needed most.

Naturopathy also promotes good health through the nutritional value found in food. The correct diet can pay dividends in fighting of infections, viruses and disease and help boost our energy levels. A good diet will include whole wheat, lean protein and fruit and vegetables. If you want a general detox, fruit juice and fruit cleanses the blood and any vegetables or fruit are best eaten raw where possible (salads are a good option). Try to avoid meat and dairy products for at least a week though.

Hydrotherapy is commonly used by naturopaths to help with acute and chronic conditions both internally and externally. In fact, water therapy was one of the first therapies adopted by naturopathy after its effects were noted on sick animals. Hydrotherapy may take the form of baths, sprays or packs used for compression. Physical therapies are applied by naturopathic practitioners to correct any abnormalities in posture or joint movement that can be the underlying cause of disease elsewhere. This can take the form of chiropractic techniques or physical manipulations to the joints and muscles.

Fasting is another technique used in naturopathy. Abstaining from food gives the organs a chance to rest from the constant action of having to digest and process food. When we eat, the body uses a large amount of energy so by fasting, this saved energy can be utilised elsewhere for healing. Fasting also prevents further toxins entering the body and can also give the liver a chance to fully expel current present toxins in the body without the need to deal with new ones.

Fasting should be closely monitored and only carried out under the direction of a trained naturopath but it will generally last for two to three days. During this period, the first day will burn glycogen stores in the body and then move on to burn fat. On the second day, some muscle tissue is broken down into amino acids which the liver converts into glucose to enable the brain to be fed with essential sugars. On the third day, the liver produces ketones, a chemical used by the heart, brain and muscles as energy and this is the point where the majority of people feel a rush of energy.

Naturopathy is an adaptable therapy and can help to treat a variety of conditions through various methods and techniques. Visit a local practitioner and ask about what naturopathy can do for you.

Author Resource:-  Shaun Parker is an expert on therapy and alternative medicine. He helps people that are looking for naturopathy find naturopaths near them.

Modern Naturopathy History: A Chiropractic Legacy
By Dr. D
Dr. Benedict Lust (M.D., D.C., N.D.) a German doctor and chiropractor who emigrated to the U.S. in 1892, was America’s first naturopathic physician. Although ridiculed by the establishment for his ‘revolutionary’ ideas of exercise, vegetarianism and healthy living, Benedict Lust, founded the first health food store as we know it, and crystallized the focus of naturopathy on diet and nutrition as the chief route to health. He also started the country’s health spa, in Butler NJ, and founded the first naturopathic college, the American School of Naturopathy and chiropractic in 1902, in New York.

“Where there is no official recognition and regulation, you will find plotters, the thieves, the charlatans operating on the same basis as the conscientious practitioners… Frankly such conditions cannot be remedied until suitable safeguards are erected by law, or by the profession itself, around the practice of Naturopathy.”

- Benedict Lust, circa 1902, the founding father of naturopathy.

Naturopathic medicine grew through the 1910s and 1920s, but by the 1930s and 1940s, pressure from the pharmaceutical companies, political leaders, the rise of antibiotics, and numerous other factors caused a severe decline: In 1910, when the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching published the Flexner Report which criticized many aspects of medical education in various institutions (natural and conventional), it was mostly seen as an attack on low-quality natural medicine education. It caused many such programs to shut down and contributed to the popularity of conventional medicine. Schools were closed, sanatoriums shut down, and doctors had their privileges revoked. However, because chiropractic colleges excided the standards of education forced upon the medical institution by the “Flexner” reform, most of them stayed open and flourished. But Naturopathic medicine, with its herbs, Nature Cure, and holistic view of the body was considered unscientific and based on unproven folk tradition. It therefore was almost lost.

However naturopathic medicine did not go away. It was kept alive by chiropractors in Portland, Oregon where graduates of the Western States Chiropractic College could enrol in a 2-year postgraduate course of study and receive a degree in naturopathy. This lasted until 1956 when the program was dropped. To keep the practice of naturopathy going, several naturopaths and chiropractors founded the National College of Naturopathic Medicine in 1956 in Portland, Oregon. It moved briefly to Seattle and then returned to Portland where it is today. Very slowly Naturopathic medicine began to rise.

CHRONOLOGICAL EVENTS LEADING TO THE BIRTH OF MODERN NATUROPATHY

Chiropractic education was introduced in Portland as early as 1904 when Drs. John and Eva Marsh opened Marshes’ School and Cure. In 1909, the college changed its name to Pacific College of Chiropractic.
The institution absorbed the Lindlahr College of Naturopathy in 1926 and introduced one of the first four-year courses in the profession in 1928.

Pacific College of Chiropractic entered a new phase in January 1929, when the college was purchased for $20,000 by the former dean of the National College of Chiropractic in Chicago, William Alfred Budden, DC, ND (a chiropractor and naturopath). The timing was terrible, for the U.S. stock market crash and the onset of the Great Depression were only nine months away. Dr. Budden would struggle for years to keep the school afloat, eventually re-chartering the institution as the non-profit Western States College, including instruction leading to degrees in chiropractic and naturopathy. During his tenure at the reins of the institution (he died “in the saddle” in 1954), the Western States College, School of Chiropractic and School of Naturopathy, would exert a profound influence on the course of the profession, both through Budden’s activities within the National Chiropractic Association’s Council on Education (today’s CCE), and by way of the several exceptional doctors he trained.

In 1932 the Pacific Chiropractic College was reorganized and became Western States College and Drugless Physicians (1932 – 1956). The College also offered a degree in naturopathy from the mid-thirties through the mid-fifties. Now called the Western States Chiropractic College (1956 – present).

Western States College has struggled on through the decades since Budden’s demise. The school eventually divorced itself from naturopathic education, as the NCA had been urging since 1939, but maintained a very broad instructional program. Chiropractic and naturopathy were taught together until about 1955 when the National Chiropractic Association stopped granting accreditation to schools that also taught naturopathy.

In the mid-1950’s, when Western States Chiropractic College in Portland decided to discontinue naturopathic training, Dr. Bastyr knew it was time to take action, so he and few colleagues decided to open a school in Seattle. In 1956 National College of Naturopathic Medicine was born and Dr. Bastyr and other practitioners became teachers. Dr. John Bastyr, the naturopathic physician for whom Bastyr University in Seattle is named.

A chiropractor, Dr. John Bartholomew Bastyr, N.D., D.C (1912-1995), is credited with being the Father of Modern Naturopathic Medicine. Because of Bastyr’s influence naturopaths have been at the forefront of the rebirth of homeopathy in this country. He made sure that homeopathy shared equal emphasis with nutrition, hydrotherapy and botanical medicine in naturopathic education. Dr. Bastyr considered manipulation the most important therapy in his practice.

He immediately went on in his studies of choice and received doctorate degrees in naturopathy and chiropractic from Northwest Drugless Institute and Seattle Chiropractic College, respectively. He became licensed to practice naturopathic medicine in 1936.

National College of Natural Medicine (NCNM) is the oldest programmatically accredited naturopathic medical school in North America. NCNM had its beginnings in the early 1950’s, in response to the termination of the naturopathic program at Western States Chiropractic College. Members of the profession from Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia planned the founding of the College and in May 1956, in Portland, Oregon.

Dr Sylvain Desforges, B.Sc., D.C., D.O., N.D. : http://www.drdesforges.com

Dr. Sylvain Desforges is the director of Research and development for Momentus Technologies.