THE GROWING FIELD OF NATUROPATHIC MEDICINE

The interest in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has grown and diversified dramatically over the past few decades, especially ramping up in the last 20 years or so. According to the latest statistics, more than three-quarters of Canadians (79%) currently use alternative medicine, complementary approaches that can be categorized as Naturopathic Doctor consultations, as well as the use of vitamins & minerals, medicinal plants, dietary supplements, and mind/body practices for their health needs.

 

The shift towards natural health has been so intense in recent years that many conventional doctors and healthcare institutions are now showing a new acceptance of CAM treatments and philosophies. As a result, the term “alternative medicine” has fallen out of use, in favour of “integrative medicine”, a vision that does not reject conventional medicine, but rather insists there is room at the table for both approaches. Of course, even within the CAM sphere, there exist different schools of thought.

 

THE NATUROPATHIC APPROACH

Naturopathic medicine is a distinct form of primary health care that believes in the whole-person approach to wellness, and that distinguishes symptoms from underlying root causes. While symptoms are viewed as the body’s way of communicating imbalances, they are not the cause of illness. Rather, symptoms express a body’s attempts to heal. Naturopathic Doctors are trained to evaluate all aspects of health and wellness including diet, lifestyle, beliefs, genetics, psycho-emotional, spiritual, socioeconomic, environmental issues, and more. Licensed Naturopathic Medicine Physicians are guided by the six principles upon which the practice is based.

 

• First Do No Harm
• The Healing Power of Nature
• Identify and Treat the Cause
• Doctor as Teacher
• Treat the Whole Person
• Prevention

 

Building on the naturopathic model of individualized treatment plans based on a whole-person vision, there are a range of medical approaches, that while similar, are also quite distinct and include; functional medicine, integrative medicine, and lifestyle medicine. Let’s explore.

 

FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE

The functional medicine approach to health care also believes in a patient-centred approach to health but differs in that it focuses especially on chronic disease management using a laboratory-based analysis system. Some of the most common conditions that functional medical doctors treat include neuro-cognitive disorders such as; Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia, arthritis, asthma, autoimmune conditions, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic digestive disorders, fibromyalgia, metabolic syndrome, pre-diabetes and insulin resistance, thyroid disorders, and others.

 

Much like ND’s, functional medicine doctors seek to find the underlying cause of chronic diseases as opposed to simply quieting the symptoms. Functional medicine seeks to answer the question, “Why are you ill?”, so personalized, effective treatment plans can be developed based on your unique needs.

 

As a multi-disciplinary approach, functional medicine physicians typically use nutrition as the foundation of their treatment plans, very much in keeping with the naturopathic approach. In addition, nutrients, and supplements are often prescribed, as well as lifestyle modifications, with a special focus on exercise, sleep, and meditation. In addition, because functional medicine physicians are licensed medical doctors (MD’s) who have adopted a more holistic approach to treating chronic illness they may also have recourse to conventional prescription drugs, and surgery, as needed.

 

INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE

Integrative medicine, like functional medicine, is practiced by licensed medical doctors (MD’s). It is a healing-oriented approach that takes the whole person into consideration (body, mind, and spirit), including all aspects of lifestyle (diet, behaviours, beliefs, sleep quality, stress levels, home life, work-life, social circle, recreation, and more). Integrative medicine, as the name implies, is a philosophy that advocates for the integration of conventional medical care with a wide range of complementary and alternative therapies (CAM). Indeed, as defined by the National Centre for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the National Institutes of Health, integrative medicine “combines mainstream medical therapies and CAM therapies for which there is some high-quality scientific evidence of safety and effectiveness.”

 

Integrative medicine physicians are guided by the principles below:

 

• Building partnership between patient and practitioner as part of the healing process
• Making the appropriate use of conventional and CAM modalities to stimulate the body’s innate healing response
• Considering all factors that influence health, wellness, and disease, including mind, body, and spirit
• Neither reject conventional medicine nor accept alternative therapies uncritically
• Recognize that good medicine should be based on good science; be inquiry-driven, and open to new paradigms
• Make use of effective, natural, less-invasive interventions whenever possible
• Make use of the broader concepts of health promotion and the prevention of illness as well as the treatment of disease
• Be models of health and healing, committed to the process of self-exploration and self-development.

 

LIFESTYLE MEDICINE

Lifestyle medicine is a medical approach that uses evidence-based behavioural interventions to treat and manage chronic diseases related to lifestyle. As such, it focuses on the use of a predominantly whole food, plant-based diet, regular physical activity, adequate sleep, stress management, and avoidance of risky substance use, to prevent, treat, and reverse chronic diseases. Lifestyle medicine is often described in terms of its six pillars:

 

• Diet & Nutrition
• Physical Activity
• Smoking Cessation
• Alcohol Harm Reduction
• Stress & Sleep
• Social Connection

 

In other words, lifestyle medicine may best be defined as, "The application of environmental, behavioural, medical and motivational principles to the management (including self-care and self-management) of lifestyle-related health problems in a clinical and/or public health setting" – or “How lifestyle impacts health”. In turn, lifestyle medicine practitioners focus on finding the causes of illness and help their patients implement healthy lifestyle choices. In keeping with the naturopathic approach, lifestyle medicine also empowers individuals to take charge of their own health care and to play an active role in managing and reversing chronic illness and disease.

 

FINAL THOUGHTS

It cannot be argued that the growing interest in a more natural and holistic approach to health and wellness has had a profound impact on the way many conventional doctors now choose to practice medicine once they graduate. Unsurprisingly, this has increased in the use of various CAM modalities across the medical professions, and while many parts of one field of medicine may now overlap with parts of another, the end result is better health care for patients. A win-win in anyone’s book!