“The natural forces within us are the true healers of disease.” – Hippocrates
The Principles of Naturopathic Medicine
- First, Do No Harm
- The Healing Power of Nature
- Treat the Cause
- Treat the Whole Person
- Doctor as Teacher
- Prevention as Best Medicine
When you have a fever, you are not deficient of ibuprofen or acetaminophen, just as when you are anxious, you are not deficient in alprazolam or diazepam. Your body turns up its thermostat when it needs a more efficient immune system to ward off an invasion, just as your car shows a warning blinking light when it needs your attention for service. Taking medicines to suppress the fever is like taking out this warning light, resulting in temporary relief from the discomfort of the fever or the annoyance of the blinking, but this action does not assist the body in mounting an effective immune response nor does it address the underlying cause that lead to the blinking light.
Western Medicine points the finger at the germ for creating illnesses so prescribes antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal, and antiparasitic medicines to restore health. While this is a valid treatment approach, a more fundamental question to ask is: why does a person come down with the cold and another person doesn’t? In an enclosed space like an elevator, someone with the cold sneezes, if it were true that germs cause disease, why is it we never see everyone affected? Even the deadliest epidemics leave many survivors.
While Western Medicine may lean toward genetics to explain the differences between susceptibility, a simpler explanation may be found by observing where mosquitoes lay their eggs or where flies swarm. The mosquitoes did not cause the water to stagnate, nor did the flies create the filth. These insects are drawn to their natural habits, just as germs are attracted to theirs.
Naturopathic Medicine—and Chinese Medicine—seeks to restore dynamic equilibrium to the body so that it is strong, vital and resists disease. Just as a bandaid does not heal the wound but the body that repairs the injury, Naturopathic Medicine seeks to understand ways to support the body in its intelligent healing processes.
The Tools of Naturopathic Medicine