IS NATUROPATHY SAFE?
Two of the biggest concerns about naturopathic medicine are the use of dietary fasting and a bias against immunization (vaccinations).
- Talk with your medical doctor before fasting (not eating or drinking, or consuming only liquids for a period of time). Fasting can be dangerous, especially if you have a disease such as diabetes.
- Some naturopaths do not believe that immunization is necessary. Before immunizations became available, childhood illnesses caused large numbers of deaths and long-term health problems and provided survivors with natural immunity. The benefits of immunization greatly outweigh the risks.
Always tell your doctor if you are using an alternative therapy or if you are thinking about combining an alternative therapy with your conventional medical treatment. It may not be safe to forgo your conventional medical treatment and rely only on an alternative therapy.
Naturopathy licensing varies from state to state. Not all states require naturopaths to be licensed. Also, not all naturopathic educational programs are the same. Some schools grant degrees that are not accepted by state licensing boards. In the
Before you choose a naturopath, find out whether the person graduated from an accredited college. Also check to see whether your state has licensing laws that govern the practice of NDs. If your state licenses NDs, ask your prospective ND whether he or she is licensed.
Herbal preparations are made from plants which are ground to a fine state and made into capsules for consumption. These crude herbs can have untoward side-effects and should be prescribed by a qualified herbalist, naturopath or homeopath. Homeopathic medicines are made from plants, minerals, metals, salts and animal products. They are very deep-acting and are prepared systematically to reduce side-effects, yet treat at the deepest levels. A temporary aggravation of symptoms may occur on taking homeopathics. As the medicines boost the body’s own ability to heal itself, these aggravations are only very temporary and are followed by relief of the ailments and can indicate a good "similimum" choice by the homeopath.
Homeopathy is particularly successful in the treatment of children’s conditions. With their high vitality, they respond quickly to medicines and in acute illnesses, even epidemics, homeopathy is used worldwide. The elderly, while having a lifetime of insults to the body, can be successfully treated within the limitations of their vitality and conditions. There are medicines especially good for building up weak bodies, improving digestion, aiding with sleep problems and relieving the depression so often seen in the elderly. As always, improvement depends on the level of fight in the body both on the mental and physical levels.
Homeopathic medicines act on the immune system and generally can be safely taken along with conventional medicines. However, there arises a problem for the homeopath in the assessment of symptoms in a heavily medicated patient. For an example, are the headaches a patient may experience a side-effect of the conventional medicine or are they natural to the patient? Homeopaths generally like to treat patients who are giving them clean symptom pictures. It can be problematic to distinguish these symptoms in a heavily medicated patient. Having said that, if a patient is being treated with both forms of medicines, as the homeopathic improves the state of the patient, conventional medicines can be reduced. Many conventional doctors will work hand-in-hand with alternative practitioners and will often recommend homeopathy when faced with patients who don’t seem to improve using conventional approaches.
What is CAM?
CAM: complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is a group of diverse medical and health care systems, practices, and products that are not presently considered to be part of conventional medicine. Conventional medicine is medicine as practiced by holders of M.D. (medical doctor) or D.O. (doctor of osteopathy) degrees and by their allied health professionals, such as physical therapists, psychologists, and registered nurses. Some health care providers practice both CAM and conventional medicine. While some scientific evidence exists regarding some CAM therapies, for most there are key questions that are yet to be answered through well-designed scientific studies--questions such as whether these therapies are safe and whether they work for the diseases or medical conditions for which they are used.
The list of what is considered to be CAM changes continually, as those therapies that are proven to be safe and effective become adopted into conventional health care and as new approaches to health care emerge.
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